Survivor Series! Survival! Battle! Raw vs. SmackDown! A War of Attrition! The Stakes for Supremacy! Insert more forced-down-our-throats-cliches here!
Survivor Series, thankfully, has been one of the Pay Per Views which are supposed to be fun with the big tag team elimination matches and the toned down storylines. I like how they are taking a page from the mid-90’s, where both faces and heels are paired together on the same team. The story here, is while the Men’s SmackDown stable appear to have cohesion, the RAW team is in disarray, which may lead some to believe this is a swerve and some of the RAW team will emerge victorious.
The thing about Survivor Series, one really never knows how it will play out. I remember some years where it came down to a one-on-one for some matches, while other matches saw a complete sweep.
I hope it retains the unpredictability aspect and gives us something fun to watch. Before we get to the elimination matches, there are a few title bouts to look at.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship – Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick
Honestly, this match is giving Kendrick one more win before dropping it to one of the “real” cruiserweights. Ouch. Mean of me, right? Kalisto is main roster, and he is the only lightweight they have. Unless I’m missing someone. This will be a good match, but the belt is staying on Kendrick.
I am happy there is only one Cruiserweight Championship.
WWE Intercontinental Championship – Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
In case you missed it, Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship to the Miz this past week on SmackDown, changing the match for Survivor Series. Ziggler, who has appeared on Fox Business with Kane and recently complained about his rating in WWE2K17, is suddenly off the show, unless we see a surprise appearance tonight. This is a big deal, if Miz loses, the belt goes to Raw. Zayn has yet to win a singles title on the main roster, this could be a major win. Now, Miz had originally wanted his rematch pre-Survivor Series since his campaign was based on Ziggler losing the title to Raw. Now, this might be the cue for Miz to lose the title to Zayn, and become a major loser, or, perhaps we get swerved and Daniel Bryan gets his wish by trading Miz to Raw, and gets United States Champion Roman Reigns in return. That would be a swerve. In any case, I stick to my fantasy, Sami Zayn will win the championship.
Women’s Elimination Match:
Team Raw (Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox) vs. Team SD! (Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Carmella, and Nikki Bella)
The story here, is wrestlers on both teams don’t like each other. To be honest, I don’t like some of them either. I cringe at the thought of Nikki Bella being the sole survivor. Don’t put it past WWE to “Super Cena” her in this one. Imagine if you will, Nikki Bella all alone, in a five-on-one situation, then suddenly she hulks up and wins the whole damn thing. This scenario is unlikely. But, possible. What is more likely, is Nia Jax destroying everyone. I envision Jax being eliminated via count out, because that is the ONLY way she will be eliminated. If this doesn’t happen, Team RAW gets the win by Flawless Victory. I could see Jax just plowing through every member of Team SD and that’s that. To be fair, I have a hard time picking a winner, because I want Team SD to win. Minus Nikki Bella. On the other hand, I want Bayley to get a big PPV win to set up her starting run for the RAW Women’s Championship. I expect a lot of treachery and backstabbing, because that’s what women in wrestling do. I’ll go with the unexpected and give the win to Team SmackDown.
Tag Team Elimination Match:
Team Raw (New Day, Enzo/Cass, Anderson/Gallows, Cesaro/Sheamus, and The Shining Stars) vs. Team SmackDown (Slater/Rhyno, Breezango, Hype Bros, The Usos, and American Alpha)
I really do have a hard time calling this one. I want American Alpha to emerge as sole survivors to rightfully place them at the top of the tag team ladder, but it’s not going to happen. I expect an AMAZING showdown with Jordan and Gable and The New Day, the crowd will lose their minds, I’ll fall off the couch, and my wife will laugh at me as I cradle an injury. This will be the comedy portion of the night, so expect a lot of funny stuff to happen. I would love to see a spot where Anderson and Gallows want everyone to stop being funny, which results in everyone beating the almighty piss out of them. The downside is this will further the impression they are a complete joke. Which is a bad thing. They should be taken seriously. But WWE has them so far down the ladder they might as well go camping with The Ascension. I’m calling a Team RAW victory.
Men’s Elimination Match:
Team Raw (Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns) vs. Team SmackDown (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt with James Ellsworth)
Ellsworth HAS to interfere at some point. He is probably the most popular guy there. I do not like Shane McMahon in the match. They don’t have anyone else on the roster? Hell, Stephanie McMahon’s promo on Monday night, calling out Shane for being selfish and taking a spot which could have gone to anyone on the roster was the most valid point I have ever heard. Considering how the current trend is supposed to be for the rosters to gain more exposure, I really do not see why this is a good idea. If Shane somehow wins, I’ll have mixed feelings. Mixed, because I want Team SmackDown to win. I feel a RAW win would be expected. Then again, with a monster like Strowman, one could see the same two options as I mentioned with Nia Jax, either steamrolling through the opposing team, or somehow getting counted out. I imagine this will probably be the point where Orton turns on Wyatt. I admit I have a hard time predicting eliminations, but my pick for the win will be Team SmackDown.
What Might Be The Main Event: Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
Well, some might feel this is the rematch we never wanted, others might feel this is the match we should have seen at WrestleMania XX. I’ll let you know where I stand later. When it was originally announced, I was the former, dreading a match where Goldberg has not stood in a WWE ring since 2004, and Brock is not the NCAA wrestler we enjoyed watching. Lesnar is now the beast, the UFC champ, the MMA fighter, a guy who will not hesitate to go off-script and inflict real-life pain. Damaging pain. Goldberg, will he be able to take bumps like he used to? Can he wrestle like he used to? Sure, he took out Rusev with a few moves, but it did not show up how good he might be. I worry, because while I really want to see a great match, I want to see the match which should have been WrestleMania XX, not the sleepwalking-fest we did get. I fear we will still feel “what could have been” unless Goldberg and Brock can surprise us tonight. As for the winner, it is tough to call, Brock probably has a “I won’t ever get pinned anymore” in his contract, and Goldberg, well, this is probably his last hurrah before being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I’ll be hopeful, and let’s hope for Goldberg getting the win.
