2018 WWE Survivor Series matches, card, start time, date, rumors, location, preview

Everything you need to know ahead of this year's Survivor Series event in Los Angeles

One of the most anticipated WWE pay-per-views of the year, Survivor Series has been billed as the one night where Raw and SmackDown Live go head-to-head. You've obviously heard that before. This year will follow the same format, and there are some intriguing bouts to look forward to featuring champions from the brands battling it out in competition and, of course, our traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series matchups. All of this despite a number of matches changing late into the week.

What's particularly interesting this year is how drastically the card changed just five days out from the show. Keep on reading to find out exactly what has gone down. Survivor Series will begin with a kickoff show at 5 p.m. ET before the main card starts two hours later at 7 p.m. CBS Sports will be previewing Survivor Series throughout the week, so be sure to stick with us. 

2018 WWE Survivor Series matches

Heavyweight Champions -- Brock Lesnar (Raw, Universal) vs. Daniel Bryan (SmackDown, WWE): In what was a rather shocking and confusing move, Lesnar recaptured the universal title when he defeated Braun Strowman for the vacant championship at the Crown Jewel event. Even more shocking, Styles dropped the WWE title on Tuesday night -- five days before the show -- to Bryan after defeating Bryan in a title match just prior to Crown Jewel. WWE apparently decided a repeat of last year's thrilling Lesnar-Styles match was not to be at this time ... perhaps they are saving it for WrestleMania 35? 

Women's Champions -- Ronda Rousey (Raw) vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown): In what was clearly looking like the main event of Survivor Series, Rousey and Becky Lynch had a tremendous war of words over the last two weeks that culminated Monday night in Lynch strapping Rousey in the Dis-Arm-Her backstage during Raw. Unfortunately, Lynch broke her face and suffered a concussion in the ring moments later, and Tuesday on SmackDown, chose Flair as her replacement for the match. Many believed this would be the first women's WrestleMania main event. That could still be the case, but it won't be the first time Rousey and Flair square off. That will be Sunday.

Men's Survivor Series Elimination Match -- Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor & Bobby Lashley (Raw) vs. The Miz, Shane McMahon, Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio & Jeff Hardy (SmackDown): The teams are now set for the match that, more or less, is telling the story yet again of the dueling McMahon siblings. Stephanie McMahon wants retribution on her brother Shane for his actions in claiming the World Cup at Crown Jewel, and a victory by the Raw team on Sunday would apparently satisfy the Monday night commissioner enough. There was an entertaining dynamic involving Bryan and Miz co-existing as captains, but that was changed at the last moment. 

Women's Survivor Series Elimination Match -- Natalya, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina Snuka & Ruby Riott (Raw) vs. Carmella, Naomi, Asuka, Sonya Deville & TBA (SmackDown): The SmackDown women's team was compiled in one night, while it took the Raw women's team and captain Bliss a bit longer as she made Sasha Banks and Bayley battle over the final spot only to name Riott as the fifth member. The SmackDown women's team sent the first message, though, as Lynch led the female invasion from the blue brand on the go-home edition of Raw on Monday night. There needs to be a replacement for Flair here.

Midcard Champions -- Seth Rollins (Raw, IC) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown, U.S.): This match was quietly made official on an episode of SmackDown Live last week, and it has the potential to be a tremendous bout. Given the immense popularity of Rollins, the crossover feud could actually end up doing wonders to this heel Nakamura character that has been just kind of hanging around recently. 

Tag Team Champions -- AOP (Raw) vs. The Bar (SmackDown): This is quite the interesting clash of heel championship teams at Survivor Series. After retaining the titles at Crown Jewel, we knew Cesaro & Sheamus would be representing SmackDown on the show. The question of who would be the Raw champions they'd be facing was answered this past Monday on Raw when AOP defeated Seth Rollins, who was unassisted by former Shield brethren Dean Ambrose in the 2-on-1 affair for the titles. 

Tag Team Survivor Series Elimination Match -- Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, The Ascension, Lucha House Party, B-Team & The Revival (Raw) vs. The Usos, New Day, Good Brothers, SAnitY & The Colons (SmackDown): The Raw team was finalized on the go-home edition Monday night with Roode & Gable earning the right to captain the team after winning a battle royal. The SmackDown team was completed on Tuesday night. The Usos defeated New Day on SmackDown Live last week to become the captains of the blue brand, and they immediately chose New Day as members of the team as a show of respect. 

WWE Cruiserweight Championship -- Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Mustafa Ali: Ali could not dethrone friend Cedric Alexander when he was champion, so now the Chicago native will try his hand at taking the titles from Murphy. These two have already had excellent matches with one another this year, so this one in Los Angeles should also be a treat for fans as 205 Live gets its rare PPV slot.