On November 18, the WWE Network presents Survivor Series,
live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. There are eight matches on this
card, all reminding us all that this is the one time of the year in which RAW
and SmackDown go head-to-head. Let’s look at the match-ups…
BOBBY ROODE &
CHAD GABLE, THE REVIVAL, THE B-TEAM, LUCHA HOUSE PARTY AND THE ASCENSION (RAW)
VS. THE USOS, THE NEW DAY, SANITY, GALLOWS & ANDERSON AND THE COLONS
(SMACKDOWN) IN A 5-ON-5 TAG TEAM SURVIVOR SERIES ELIMINATION MATCH ON THE
SURVIVOR SERIES KICKOFF SHOW
The story: Also, for some reason, WWE has yet to
really acknowledge the fact that Lucha House Party is three wrestlers, not two.
Sanity is too, but there’s no possibility they’ll try to put all three members
in the match. I mean, Corey Graves mentioned it a couple of times on commentary
this week — during the battle royal to determine captainship — and Renee Young
and Michael Cole basically just told him to get bent. (And even with the numbers
advantage, they still lost.)
Prediction: If SmackDown doesn’t win this match
— look, The Usos and/or The New Day could beat all the RAW scrubs on their own
— then we’ll really know professional wrestling is rigged.
BUDDY MURPHY (C)
VS. MUSTAFA ALI FOR THE WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
The story: At WWE Super Show-Down in Melbourne,
Australia, the hometown boy Buddy Murphy finally defeated Cedric Alexander to
become the Cruiserweight Champion. But during all the build to that title
match, Murphy and Ali were also in an intense rivalry themselves. So now Ali is
able to challenge Murphy with the title on the line.
Prediction: This isn’t even based on any logic:
I just want Mustafa Ali to finally win the championship. Please. He deserves
it.
MICKIE JAMES, NIA
JAX, TAMINA, NATALYA, & RUBY RIOTT (RAW) VS. CARMELLA, NAOMI, SONYA
DEVILLE, ASUKA, &??? (SMACKDOWN), IN A TRADITIONAL 5-ON-5 SURVIVOR SERIES
ELIMINATION MATCH
The story: Honestly, when it comes to Survivor
Series teams, the story is usually, “CAN THEY POSSIBLY CO-EXIST?!?” And that’s
definitely the question you’ve got to ask when it comes to Captain Alexa Bliss
putting Natalya on the same team as Ruby Riott, aka Natalya’s personal
antagonist. (Especially when she left her other bestie, Alicia Fox, off the
team entirely.) This has to be Bliss looking for a potential scapegoat or fall
guy, right? Or maybe it’s a trick like the Sasha vs. Bayley match on RAW.
Prediction: On RAW this week, Bliss called her
team the “greatest team in Survivor Series history,” which definitely requires
a very loose — and genuinely, incorrect, unless she was talking exclusively
about Mickie James and Ruby Riott — definition of “great.” On SmackDown, it
still makes zero sense that Sonya Deville is even on the team. (Mandy Rose has
a point), and now they’re even down one person — who was also supposed to be
their captain — in Charlotte, as Charlotte has been bumped up to facing off
against Ronda Rousey. Based on what’s going on with everything outside the
match itself with these characters, RAW wins (possibly with Nia Jax and Tamina
functioning as sole survivors) and looks very messy while doing it.
RAW TAG TEAM
CHAMPIONS AOP (RAW) VS. SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE BAR (SMACKDOWN)
The story: Both of these teams are relatively
new champions, and really, that’s the only story besides the whole competitive
spirit thing. Considering AOP have barely gotten to do anything on the main
roster, The Bar might actually get cheered here. Cesaro definitely will.
Prediction: AOP wins, but please let Big Show
hit Drake Maverick with the knockout punch just once. And then maybe give a
real explanation for Big Show even being part of The Bar, other than WWE still
wanting a (less sensical) version of the Braun Strowman/Dolph Ziggler/Drew
McIntyre alliance.
DOLPH ZIGGLER,
DREW MCINTYRE, BRAUN STROWMAN, FINN BALOR, & BOBBY LASHLEY (RAW) VS. THE
MIZ, SHANE MCMAHON, REY MYSTERIO, SAMOA JOE, & JEFF HARDY (SMACKDOWN), IN A
TRADITIONAL 5-ON-5 SURVIVOR SERIES ELIMINATION MATCH
The story: RAW team captain Baron Corbin clearly
handpicked the majority of his team; Balor was a Stephanie McMahon pick and
Lashley (LASH-LEY! LASH-LEY!) beat Elias to get on this team. The SmackDown
team, on the other hand, was mostly the result of co-captains (at the time)
trying to balance their choices, but now The Miz is captain on his own. Within
the teams themselves, Strowman made a deal with Stephanie to lead RAW to
victory in exchange for the opportunity to destroy Corbin after all was said
and done; McIntyre (and Ziggler, in tow) and Balor have major beef about what
it means to be a WWE Superstar; no one but Lio Rush likes Lashley (LASH-LEY!
LASH-LEY!); The Miz really hates Rey Mysterio because he’s basically just stuck
with this Daniel Bryan pick; Samoa Joe hates everyone. Oh, and Shane McMahon is
the worst in the world, even though we’re all supposed to pretend he’s the
“good McMahon.”
Prediction: RAW has Braun. There you go.
RAW WOMEN’S
CHAMPION RONDA ROUSEY (RAW) VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR (SMACKDOWN)
The story: Immediately post-Evolution
pay-per-view, the SmackDown Women’s Champion interrupted the RAW Women’s
Champion’s red carpet interview with faux niceties. From that moment on, the
match was official for Survivor Series. And then this week, Becky Lynch led a
SmackDown women’s invasion that ended in a
career-defining image… and also a
match-threatening injury. (Which sucks on multiple levels,
especially since it looked like it would be the main event match of Survivor
Series.) So on SmackDown, she chose
Charlotte as her replacement to take out Rousey.
Prediction: Now that it’s not a Champion vs.
Champion match, it seems like the one who is the champion should win. But with
Nia Jax waiting in the wings — as much as she says she wants Rousey to win for
RAW supremacy purposes — that could easily lead to an interference that causes
Rousey’s first loss.
INTERCONTINENTAL
CHAMPION SETH ROLLINS (RAW) VS. UNITED STATES CHAMPION SHINSUKE NAKAMURA
(SMACKDOWN)
The story: Seriously, guys — SmackDown is doing
all the work here in building these head-to-head matches. While Seth Rollins is
on RAW, saying he won’t even be thinking about his match against Nakamura until
Sunday — because he’s still focused on Dean Ambrose—Nakamura has been using his
very limited screentime on SmackDown to hype up the match.
Prediction: Nakamura wins, most likely with
Ambrose interference. We can at least hope this first-time ever dream match is
a good one, especially since an Ambrose interference will mean another big
Nakamura match that’s not even really about Nakamura.
UNIVERSAL CHAMPION
BROCK LESNAR (RAW) VS. WWE CHAMPION DANIEL BRYAN (SMACKDOWN)
The story: So, AJ Styles’ recent WWE
Championship reign actually began right before last year’s Survivor Series, in
which Styles was able to have the Champion vs. Champion match against
then-Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. It looked it would all be a bit of
history repeating… and then Daniel Bryan used Styles’ one weakness — a shot to
the crotch — to defeat him for the WWE Championship. Now this? This is a dream
match.
Prediction: Let’s just hope we get the Brock who
will actually want to wrestle a match. Due to UFC and general WWE stuff, he’ll
probably win too — as much Daniel Bryan’s “YES”-ing as a result of winning
would really be some old school, troll-like “YES”-ing. (But seriously: Brock
Lesnar will win.)
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