Welcome to another edition of eWN Round Table, where we gather some of the most active writers here on eWrestlingNews and share the platform to answer some questions surrounding a centralized topic, upcoming event, etc.
This is meant to showcase the potential for both a wide range of perspectives as well as how sometimes, there can be a group consensus no matter what your viewpoint is, so we also invite all of you to join in on the discussion by answering these questions yourself in the comments section below.
For this particular volume, we’ll be focusing on both NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series 2018.
Participants for this round = Anthony Mango, Richard Staple, Ethan Absler and Yiannis Bouranis.
1) “#JohnnyGarganoDidNothingWrong. Agree or disagree?”
MANGO: As much as I don’t want Gargano to be a heel, in the context of the story, he definitely did something wrong. He should’ve gotten the job done in his solo match against Ciampa and it wasn’t Black’s fault, right? But still, I’m rooting for Gargano as I like him better than Black…so…yeah, he did nothing wrong. 😛
STAPLE: If we are talking in the context of WWE reality, he’s technically in the wrong. But if I thought what I was watching was real, then I’d say that Johnny didn’t do anything wrong. Aleister Black had no problem delivering Black Mass to Johnny from behind and Gargano merely returned the favor. Gargano’s obsession with wanting to defeat the demon in the form of Tomasso Ciampa forced him to eliminate the obstacle standing in the way of him to achieve that goal. Now he has to embrace a necessary evil for him. Who are we to judge?
ABSLER: I think Johnny Gargano is in the wrong here. I know that his losses to Ciampa have really put a strain on his mental health, but Black isn’t the root cause of his problems. Johnny has allowed Ciampa to make him delusional and in my opinion, this is one of the best stories I’ve had the pleasure of being a fan during.
BOURANIS: n/a I haven’t watched the latest episodes of NXT.
2) “Between Raw and SmackDown, which brand has the advantage for these Survivor Series matches overall?”
MANGO: The tag teams are entirely in SmackDown’s favor, it’s about even for the men’s tag match, Raw’s women have the edge because of Nia Jax’s size and no heavy hitters on SmackDown, Lesnar beats Bryan because he’s Lesnar, Rollins should beat Nakamura but won’t, AOP beats The Bar and Rousey beats Flair. I’m thinking Raw wins 4-2 this year unless SmackDown gets one more from a DQ win from a DQ or something.
STAPLE: I’d think that the brand with more superstars and more air time would have the advantage. Smackdown has some formidable challengers representing them, but one brand is carrying Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, two vastly overpowered superstars. That alone tips the odds in their favor. And Smackdown is carrying Shane McMahon of all people on their Smackdown men’s team for the 3rd straight year. Pathetic.
ABSLER: I’ve gotta say RAW has the advantage. Smackdown has some great wrestlers, but RAW is still clearly favored by WWE management as the flagship show. In addition, RAW’s team will feature both Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre, two guys that WWE have decided to book like monsters right now.
BOURANIS: SmackDown, since almost all of the roster’s top superstars will participate in it.
3) “Do you like the brand warfare concept as it is, or do you prefer the old Survivor Series style with themed teams like The Warriors, The Foreign Fanatics, Guts & Glory, etc?”
MANGO: I used to like the themed teams a lot, but they do so many six-man tag team matches and stuff now that it wouldn’t be anything special anymore. The brand warfare is MUCH better, as it effectively merges Survivor Series with Bragging Rights and also gives us the champion vs. champion matches, which are fun. I’m definitely more in favor of the current setup.
STAPLE: The brand warfare deal is actually something I’ve been a fan of. The problem is other storylines have to stall and we revert to this period where people hate each other because one person wears red and the other wears blue. There’s rarely little pay off in brand warfare themed Survivor Series matches, but if there’s one thing it has going for it, it’s that we get to see matches we would never otherwise see because of the brand split such as Rollins vs. Nakamura and Bryan vs. Lesnar.
ABSLER: I don’t think I have a preference. There are both pros and cons with each type but I don’t think both are easy to get invested in and have equally high stakes.
BOURANIS: I think the current one is better, although the WWE could schedule and build-up the matches in a better way.
4) “Do you think anyone will be a ‘sole survivor’ and if so, who?”
MANGO: Drew McIntyre for the Team Raw on the men’s side if they win, Shane McMahon for SmackDown if they win, Nia Jax for the women if they aren’t too mad at her for the Becky Lynch situation, no sole survivor for SmackDown’s women if they win, and no one tag team will be final for the tag team match no matter which side wins.
STAPLE: In the past two Survivor Series, the only lone survivor in any 5 on 5 elimination match was Asuka last year. So I’m not gonna count on a sole survivor this year, but if it is, I’m hoping it is Drew McIntyre in a Roman Reigns circa 2013 fashion.
ABSLER: Again, Drew McIntyre is slowly but surely becoming one of the hottest guys on the roster. If anybody is going to be crowned a sole survivor this Sunday, Drew McIntyre will be it for sure.
BOURANIS: I believe Braun Strowman in order to gain momentum for his rivalries with Baron Corbin and Brock Lesnar.
5) “Which superstar do you feel is the biggest omission from these two lineups?”
MANGO: My answer for this keeps having to change. At first, I said it could have been a tie between Randy Orton, Rusev, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Andrade “Cien” Almas. Then, AJ Styles got taken out of his match and Becky Lynch fell victim to an injury. It pretty much has to be those two, right?
As far as NXT goes, I’d say EC3 is the person I’m most disappointed has absolutely nothing going on.
STAPLE: Easily Randy Orton. The dude has played an essential role for Smackdown the past couple of months, and to leave him off in lieu of Shane McMahon? Come on, dude. What I hope is that he starts to build to a feud with AJ Styles, though.
ABSLER: Considering that this is the smallest match card in the history of NXT with just four matches, I think the developing storyline between Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and Kassius Ohno deserves some spotlight. If not this, Bianca Belair is UN-DE-FEA-TED, and not on the card so not seeing her is also quite a big omission. At least WWE has Nakamura on the card finally.
BOURANIS: Kurt Angle. Given his return to RAW prior to Survivor Series, he should have been added to the RAW team.
6) “If you could add one more match to either of these cards, what would it be?”
MANGO: TakeOver is good as it is. For Survivor Series, I don’t think there’s any more room to insert another match without cutting down the kickoff’s pointless recap stuff WWE refuses to eliminate, but if I had it my way, the video packages would consist of only 30 minutes of the 2 hours and that would open up enough room for Elias to have a musical segment and then a match against maybe Aiden English just for shits and giggles to have the two lyricists go at it in a Raw vs SmackDown scenario.
STAPLE: I’m not sure if there are any intriguing matchups that I’d like to see that would add to the RAW vs. Smackdown style of things that they are doing. I think the card is fine enough as it is, and I don’t think there’s anything that could be added that would pique my interest.
ABSLER: Again, I would just extend off my last point and say maybe Belair vs Cross in a rematch from a few weeks ago that ended in a no contest would be a cool match to see.
BOURANIS: Kurt Angle vs Baron Corbin.
7) “Which match are you most excited to see this weekend?”
MANGO: Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream really has my curiosity, and even though it isn’t the biggest match of the two events, I’m more looking forward to that than some of the ones which matter more. Second place would have been Rousey vs. Lynch, but I’m not as into the rushed Rousey vs. Flair situation.
STAPLE: The War Games card has me drooling to be honest. I think the War Games match, Gargano/Black and Ciampa/Dream will all knock it out of the park. I’m also hoping Seth Rollins, 2018’s best in ring performer can face a motivated Shinsuke Nakamura. That’s a match I’ve wanted to see for some time now.
ABSLER: I am hyped for Survivor Series weekend but I am most excited to witness yet another promising WarGames match, Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, and now of course, Bryan vs Lesnar.
BOURANIS: Given what happened between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch on Monday, I would say the match between the RAW Women’s Champion and Charlotte Flair (as Lynch is not medically cleared to compete) will be the most exciting one on Sunday.
8) “Which event do you think will be better overall, TakeOver or Survivor Series?”
MANGO: Survivor Series has already seen so many changes to the card that I went from having that be my answer, to feeling like it’s going to be an overbooked mess with so many flaws to it that it could just be total chaos. It could have been the better show before this week’s SmackDown changed it all. Now, I’m leaning more towards TakeOver as the safer bet, since they tend to always go over well without any problems.
STAPLE: Takeover. Because that’s how it usually goes. Always short in match number, but always delivers in the ring.
ABSLER: NXT Takeover War-games will absolutely outshine Survivor Series as Takeover does almost every time. Personally, I think the four-match card will serve NXT well, and a 4+ hour show on WWE’s end that they don’t know how to pace won’t keep my attention the whole time.
BOURANIS: n/a I haven’t watched the latest episodes of NXT.
Big thanks to everyone who took part in this edition!
Those are our thoughts, but what do you have to say about these issues? Keep the discussion going by chiming in via the comments section below!
