It was WWE's final PPV presented from the Amway Center during the COVID-19 pandemic as the ThunderDome was relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida due to the start of the 2020–21 ECHL and NBA seasons.

The card was highlighted by two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches: Raw's men's and women's teams were victorious over SmackDown's.

[7] However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set.

[8] A limited number of Performance Center trainees and friends and family members of the wrestlers were later utilized to serve as the live audience.

[9][10] In late August, these programs were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at Orlando's Amway Center.

The select live audience was no longer utilized as the bubble allowed fans to attend the events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena.

Additionally, the ThunderDome utilized various special effects to further enhance wrestlers' entrances, and arena audio was mixed with that of the chants from the virtual fans.

[11][12] WWE's initial agreement with the Amway Center expired on October 31, but with the option to extend the contract with a two weeks notice.

AJ Styles, Keith Lee, and Sheamus earned the first three spots on Team Raw by defeating Jeff Hardy, Elias, and Riddle, respectively.

[24] Riddle won the final spot on Team Raw by defeating Elias and Hardy in a triple threat match on the November 9 episode.

[26] The following week, King Corbin and Seth Rollins won the next two spots by defeating Rey Mysterio and Otis, respectively.

[27] On the November 20 episode, WWE official Adam Pearce named Otis as the final member of Team SmackDown.

The fifth and final spot was determined by a fatal four-way match that night, which Lana won by defeating Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce, and Nikki Cross.

[23] On the November 16 episode of Raw, due to Jax and Baszler attacking Rose's arm during a tag team match, and then Retribution's Reckoning later attacking Brooke backstage, both Rose and Brooke were deemed unable to compete at Survivor Series, thus Pearce announced that they would be replaced by Evans and Royce.

[26] Ruby Riott won the second spot on the following episode, where she defeated Natalya and Zelina Vega in a triple threat match.

[27] On the November 13 episode, Liv Morgan qualified by defeating Chelsea Green, Natalya, and Tamina in a fatal four-way match.

After losing the WWE Championship to Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell on October 25,[31] Drew McIntyre was given a rematch for the title.

[30] On the November 16 episode of Raw, McIntyre defeated Orton to regain the WWE Championship, thus becoming Reigns' opponent at Survivor Series.

[29] During the Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show, an 18-man dual-brand battle royal was contested, with its participants evenly divided between Raw and SmackDown.

[32] Also during the pre-show, The Gobbledy Gooker, a character that also first appeared at the 1990 Survivor Series, pinned R-Truth to win the WWE 24/7 Championship.

[32] The actual pay-per-view opened with the men's 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination match, featuring Team Raw (AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, and Riddle) (accompanied by Styles' bodyguard, Omos) against Team SmackDown (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, King Corbin, Seth Rollins, and Otis).

[33] Next, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) faced Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, accompanied by former stable member Big E from SmackDown); the trio came out dressed as their respective Gears 5 characters, available as downloadable content for the game.

[33] The penultimate match was the women's 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination match, featuring Team Raw (Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lana, Lacey Evans, and Peyton Royce) against Team SmackDown (Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Bayley, and Natalya).

In what was the show's final segment, Shane McMahon, Big Show, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Jeff Hardy, Mick Foley, The Godfather, The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas), Savio Vega, Rikishi, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Triple H, and Kane all entered the ring to kick off the ceremony.

[37] The following night on Raw, for winning the men's Survivor Series match with a clean sweep, WWE official Adam Pearce stated that one of Team Raw's members would receive a WWE Championship match against Drew McIntyre at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and allowed each to state their case.

Riddle, Keith Lee, and AJ Styles advanced to the triple threat match by defeating Sheamus, Lashley, and Orton, respectively.

However, this match ended in a no-contest by an interference from Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.