Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn On Survivor Series Pre-Show

WWE have announced two very late additions to the Survivor Series pre show. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will take on Tyler Breeze and Fandango, while Matt Hardy will square off against 'The Drifter' Elias. It's interesting to note that these bouts do not follow the brand vs. brand format of the rest of the pay per view.

These matches will join the Cruiserweight Championship bout between Enzo Amore and Kalisto.

Owens and Zayn are reportedly in the dog house, having been sent home from WWE's UK tour earlier this month. This stemmed for an incident where they apparently 'went into business for themselves', avoiding a planned post-match beatdown from the New Day and simply rolling out of the ring instead.

Although it's not especially unusual to see a major star or two on the pre-show, given the crowded nature of WWE's roster, it is strange that Owens and Zayn would be left off the main card given their current storyline.

The pair caused huge shockwaves by aligning at the end of October's Hell in a Cell pay per view - an event which saw Sami pull his nemesis out of the way of a plummeting Shane McMahon. Since then, the pair have railed against the authority figures of SmackDown, particularly for claiming that the blue brand is 'the land of opportunity'.

Some online have speculated that the duo could run in at some point during the event, disrupting Team SmackDown's chances in a match - most likely the men's 5-on-5 traditional elimination bout.

However, this may have been more likely when the pair were absent from the card completely. Now that they've been announced as part of the pre-show, it seems decidedly less of a possibility.

Other rumours have revolved around the possibility of Paige returning during a women's match, as she was reportedly supposed to have been a member of Team Raw - only to be replaced by Bayley at the last minute.