Reintroducing the hard brand split in 2016 incited a storyline war for supremacy at WWE Survivor Series 2016. The men, women, and tag teams of “Raw” and “Smackdown” fought to honor the color of the t-shirt they wore that night, with Shane McMahon, the blue brand’s commissioner at the time, leading WWE Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt into battle against “Raw’s” Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, and Braun Strowman.

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However, things didn’t go according to plan for McMahon. While attempting to land his signature coast-to-coast dropkick on Reigns, the “Big Dog” hopped up as he was in mid-air and landed a spear on him that was so severe, it knocked out of the “Smackdown” commissioner. This was evident when McMahon tried to roll out of the cover on instinct but was safely removed from the match moments after. McMahon’s children were in the front row to witness the whole thing, and while they looked concerned, they were comforted by Orton, who broke character and informed them that their dad would be okay.