Hold on to your butts, I’m writing this column. If you know me, and I mean at all, you know that I’ve grown so far disenfranchised with the WWE product that we basically cancelled our WWE recap show due to…well…the product. And with the return of Stephanie McMahon back to her castrating ways for the sake of her own ego, it’s not going to get much better. Yet, there lays a silver lining in all this; the Survivor Series card actually looks good.
Will it be booked well? Probably not, but one can hope. So let’s break down the card, see why each match has opportunity and talk about how it should go.
First up, the pre-show.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Kalisto vs. Enzo Amaore
– The WWE is trying to get the Cruiserweights over and frankly Enzo has been drawing eyes onto the product. With the rumors of Rockstar Spud and Hideo Itami joining the brand, and possibly the return of Neville, Enzo should go over on Kalisto. Kalisto could of been booked well but he’s always booked like a punk bitch, despite his amazing talent. Their previous match was entertaining and it can very easily succeed it. It won’t be the best match ever but it’ll be entertaining.
Winner: Enzo Amaore
RAW Tag Team Champions vs. SmackDown Champions Match
The Usos(c) vs. The Bar(c)
– The match works better than any other pairing. Both teams aren’t on the same level as The Shield or The New Day in name value, so changing the champs works. The match should be entertaining, they’re both solid brawlers. The lone issue is that this match would be better if it weren’t a standard match and had more hardcore emphasis as both teams do well in that setting.
Winner: The Usos
RAW Women’s Champion vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Match
Alexa Bliss(c) vs. Natalya/Charlotte Flair (c)
– I fully expect Charlotte to win the title. This card was seemingly rebooked only weeks prior. The Usos, The Bar and AJ Styles all won titles within the last 40 days, seemingly setting up a title change for the SmackDown women’s roster as well. The issue isn’t the women specifically, but the fact that if the WWE were to do a tie breaking main event, the SmackDown crew would have to win the champion vs. champion matches. So that’s why I’m going with the blue brand here.
Winner: Natalya/Charlotte
RAW Intercontinental Champion vs. United States Champion
The Miz (c) vs. Baron Corbin (c)
– I’d say a clean sweep of the under-card titles was necessary but I don’t think that’s necessary now. The title vs. title match should give The Miz some decent ammunition during the pre match shenaniganry. The match should also be tolerable, because The Miz will go out of his way to have fun at Corbin’s expense. I don’t see The Miz losing to Corbin, which is exactly why he just might but in order for this to work, it’s gotta be a RAW victory here.
Winner: The Miz
The Shield vs. The New Day
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins vs. Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, Big E
– Seeing how The Shield took The Wyatt Family and Evolution to Match of the Year candidates in 2014 it’s safe to say this could easily be the match of the night. I really don’t see how this match could be bad, especially considering how both teams are just phenomenal in the ring. It’d make more sense for The New Day to win due to their long term booking goals, and the fact this is just a reunion tour of sorts for The Shield, but The Shield are RAW’s only true draw week to week right now, so for that reason you gotta keep them strong.
Winner: The Shield
Women’s RAW vs. SmackDown Survivor Series Match
RAW: Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley vs. SmackDown: Becky Lynch, Carmella, Charlotte Flair/Natalya Neidhart, Naomi, Tamina
– Considering RAW went over the last two, this would be a tie breaker of sorts. The RAW women are stacked with name value, while SmackDown’s need Charlotte in this match. For that reason, I could see SmackDown going over just to help bolster the name value for them. A win where Carmella pins Sasha Banks to end the match would really bolster Carmella, in theory. This will be the weakest of the main level matches but it might just be entertaining.
Winner: Team SmackDown
WWE Universal vs. WWE World Heavyweight
Brock Lesnar(c) vs. AJ Styles(c)
– While this should be the main event, considering that this is a true dream match, it needs to happen here to allow for a climatic finish. Brock Lesnar is going over on AJ Styles and if he doesn’t, I’ll eat JBL’s hat. I’d love to see Styles go over but that’ just not going to happen. The match though should be amazing, assuming Lesnar does something more than just German Suplexes. Styles can bump for anyone and he’ll make Lesnar look like a top rate worker if Lesnar lets him. I’m hoping for at least two F-5’s though to finish off Styles.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Men’s RAW vs. SmackDown Survivor Series Match
RAW: Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Triple H vs. SmackDown: Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena
– This is just loaded with star power. Angle, HHH, Joe, Orton, Roode, Cena? I mean, it’s stacked. The match should come down to Roode vs. Balor or Nakamura vs. Joe but at the very least it should be Angle vs. McMahon but I doubt we’ll get any of those. I fully expect Triple H and John Cena to be the last two standing for SOME reason. Though, something to look out for is the fact that Randy Orton is always somehow the guy with the most eliminations, while winning the match. Will that happen this time? Who knows. This match could go either way. However, I do see SmackDown winning the night, mostly to help establish SmackDown as something more than the B-show, which is what they’re literally calling it on the air.
Winner: Team SmackDown