SmackDown LIVE seemingly couldn’t wait for Survivor Series to arrive as they issued three challenges to Monday Night Raw a few weeks ago.

General manager Daniel Bryan and commissioner Shane McMahon wanted to send a statement to Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon by challenging them to three traditional Survivor Series matches.

A five-on-five elimination match for both male and female superstars, and also a five-on-five tag team elimination match.

Obviously, Raw accepted the challenge and now the buildup to one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-views can officially begin.

However, Bryan and Shane may regret issuing the challenge in the first place as it seems like they are going to be without two of their top superstars.

As previously reported, Randy Orton could be missing the event due to his wife expected to give birth a couple of days prior to the PPV.

Orton has been given time off throughout the Survivor Series period, which means he may not be available for the event.

That isn’t the only blow, however, for the blue brand, as it’s now been noticed that John Cena has been pulled from the advertising for the event.

As of last week, Cena was being advertised for the PPV in Toronto on November 20, but that has since changed, and he has been removed from the advertising as of yesterday.

This could mean SmackDown LIVE are without two of their big names and two of their most experienced superstars in Orton and Cena.

It’s well known that Cena is currently away filming the second series of American Grit, but he was expected to make a one-off appearance at Survivor Series.

Of course, this could be a tactic for a surprise appearance on the night, but if advertising is to be believed, Cena won’t be on Team SmackDown LIVE.

Cena isn’t expected back until late this year/early next year, and he’s expected to renew his feud with AJ Styles once he returns.