Been a while since I’ve been on here. Nursing school ain’t no joke. But it’s Survivor Series weekend, and between this and War Games, I have a feeling I’m gonna be enjoying myself. So with that said, let’s just get right into the nitty gritty.
Enzo Amore (C) vs. Kalisto – Cruiserweight Championship
So I haven’t paid much attention to this, and I quite frankly couldn’t care less about who wins or who loses here. All I know is that Enzo is probably coming out on top because having Kalisto win again does little good for the CW’s. I have nothing else to add here.
Winner: Enzo Amore
Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus
Many people forget, but in the 10 on 10 tag team Survivor Series match last year, the final two teams remaining representing each brand were Cesaro and Sheamus representing RAW and The Usos representing Smackdown LIVE, and now, one year later, things come full circle. They had quite the sequence to end that match and now we get them going full throttle. You can argue that these have been the two best tag teams of all of this year, and it was only appropriate that this was the match that would go down to represent the best of the tag team division.
The Usos have anchored the tag team fort for Smackdown LIVE despite their lack of depth with an incredible feud with The New Day, and Cesaro/Sheamus have been the model of consistency for the RAW brand, playing roles of faces to start the year and eventually a heel turn in a feud with the Hardy Boyz and eventually The Shield. In addition, both teams have won each brand’s respective tag team championships multiple times, showing their consistent stay at the top. I believe these two teams will have an excellent, physical match that can set the tone for future matches on the card, and as for who will win? That’s very hard to say, but I’m going to go with The Usos. They’ve looked very dominant as a tag team and have shown great cohesion as a unit. The Usos are the tag team of the year barring an utter collapse, and I think they will show why this Sunday. Score 1 for Smackdown.
Winner: The Usos
RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte
Since the brand extension, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte have been far and away the two best female performers on the main roster. It’s kind of ironic, however, because the best work of both women has come on the opposite brand. Alexa Bliss proved to be the standout performer in the women’s division for Smackdown LIVE and Charlotte for RAW since the brand split, but now, one year later, they find themselves wearing different colors. Both women have also made history in their respective ventures. Alexa Bliss became the first women to become both RAW and Smackdown Women’s Champion when she beat Bayley at Payback. Charlotte, on the other hand, became the first women in history to win the Divas Title, NXT Women’s Title, and both RAW and Smackdown Women’s Championship.
So I think it goes without saying that both women have come a long way and have become standard bearers in WWE. In the battle of supremacy for women, I think Charlotte will come out on top. Alexa Bliss wins her matches by taking advantages of situations while Charlotte has shown to be effective in beating her opponents straight up, as she did with Natayla last night to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Alexa did have the last laugh last night during RAW’s raid of Smackdown with a vicious slap to the face. I expect Charlotte won’t be taking too kindly to that. Score 2 for Smackdown.
Winner: Charlotte
The Shield (RAW) vs. The New Day (Smackdown)
In the battle of two of the most successful three-man factions in WWE history, what we have here is a potential dream match. The New Day is the longest reigning WWE Tag Champs in history and will probably break the record for most tag team title runs by a tag team when it’s all said and done, whereas The Shield is comprised of three individually successful men who have each held the WWE Title and a secondary title to boot. The Shield also has a record of incredible six-man tag team matches against the likes of The Wyatt Family and Evolution to name a few. They’ve perfected the art of that kind of tag match to an art form, and this Sunday, I expect them to continue to show that same dominance.
The reunion of The Shield was delayed by a viral infection to The Shield’s resident big dog, but now their PPV return will come full circle, and after some back and forth Twitter banter, along with The New Day costing The Shield the RAW Tag Team Titles, we finally have a good reason to see these two teams tear each other apart. The bottom line is that The Shield is the bigger and stronger team, and The New Day losing here wouldn’t hurt them at all because it’s The Shield. I expect Dean, Roman, and Seth to be victorious in their return, and with the performance from The New Day on PPV this year, I’m expecting both teams to bring out the best of each other. Chalk up 1 for RAW.
Winners: The Shield
Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, Asuka and Bayley (RAW) vs. Becky Lynch, Carmella, Tamina, Naomi, Natayla/Paige/Nikki Bella (Smackdown)
I was anticipating that Natayla would be immediately inserted into Charlotte’s spot on Team Smackdown after she lost the Smackdown Women’s Championship, but it looks like that remaining spot will remain a mystery, for now, adding more intrigue to who the final spot will go to. Speculation lends itself to suggest that Paige will make her return here and be the final member, while other rumors suggest Nikki Bella could be making her return to WWE here. It’s a tough gamble, but with all of the huge last minute changes that have occurred on PPV for the past month in WWE, I think there’s a good chance we can see Paige return on behalf of Team Smackdown this Sunday.
That said, RAW has the edge in star power, and they also have a woman that has yet to lose a match since her debut in Asuka. Now I’m not sure how it would work and if it would count against Asuka if she were to be, say, counted out or disqualified. I guess that would technically qualify as a loss, and I think it would be very stupid for Asuka to take her first pinfall/submission defeat in a five on five tag match. She gives RAW a major edge, and couple that with two other women who have held the RAW Women’s Title in Sasha Banks and Bayley, and I see team RAW taking it for the females once again this year. RAW, for the most part, has held a slight edge over Smackdown when it comes to the women’s department, and I think they’ll get the better of Smackdown this Sunday in a valiant effort. That’s another one for RAW and we’re nodded at 2 a piece.
Winner: Team RAW
Intercontinental Champion The Miz (RAW) vs. US Champion Baron Corbin (Smackdown)
This is probably the match that will get lost on this card as the match no one will care about. Call it the odd match out. Both men haven’t been booked like a big deal going into this match, with Baron Corbin having his hands tied for week son end with Sin Cara of all people, and the Miz taking pinfall defeat after pinfall defeat. Both men really don’t have a lot going for them right now, so it’s very hard to say who will come out on top. The Miz has been Intercontinental Champion since May or so while Baron Corbin has just started to get into the meat of his US Title run.
I suppose predicting who will win this match will all come down to who needs the victory more, Corbin or Miz? With that logic, it’s simple and with that, I predict Baron Corbin will win. Braun Strowman is probably the next challenger for The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship and things will fall apart at the seams for him sooner than later, which is sad because The Miz has remained consistent as ever as a heel that everyone hates. Corbin, on the other hand, continues to have problems in making people care enough to give him visceral hatred and heat that he desperately needs. In any case, I’m not expecting a lot out of this match, because their styles of performing really don’t correspond well with each other, but I won’t put it past The Miz to get something decent out of Corbin, which is a tall order these days. Smackdown’s back on top with 3 to RAW’s 2.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (RAW) vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles (Smackdown)
This match was changed at the last minute, so I can’t really say that this should be the main event, but I wouldn’t mind it either way. This match has uber potential. Remember Summerslam 2013 when Brock Lesnar tore down the house against CM Punk? Lesnar has a successful history of great matches when it comes to facing smaller folks against guys like Punk, Angle, and Benoit. Styles comes into that category, and you can make the argument he’s a better performer than all of them. Brock has been mailing it in on PPV for the majority of this year with the exception of WrestleMania, and can you blame him? He’s part-time and he’s not coming on RAW every week. So why not have a half-assed 7-10 minute sprint against guys like Joe and Strowman and get my money’s worth? That’s a great line of thinking, but I really hope he has some sort of motivation facing someone like AJ Styles. Just imagine if Jinder was in AJ’s position? This is a legit dream match I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see. I know Styles will be game for a new challenge as he was against Finn Balor at TLC last month.
But this time, Styles faces a superstar that has arguably the greatest combination of power, speed, and athleticism in WWE. Lesnar’s matches have become gentrified due to time and his gimmick of Suplex City, but if these guys get the time, I wouldn’t put it past them to have the match of the year, and I honestly believe they can go out there and have just that if they want it bad enough. We shall see. Brock’s winning by the way. It’s either going to be Lesnar just being too dominant a foe or Jinder coming out and costing Styles the match. I don’t really see any avenue AJ wins here unless Lesnar’s next challenger for the Universal Title makes himself known. Either way, I have the beast winning. It’s tied 3 all now from RAW and Smackdown.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Kurt Angle, Triple H, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman (RAW) vs. Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, John Cena, Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)
Goodness, look at that lineup. This is probably your main event simply because of the build this has gotten, but there’s no way of knowing. But let’s assume this is what goes on last. Triple H replacing Jason Jordan on team RAW threw an unexpected wrench in many things which gives RAW more star power and veteran experience while Smackdown countered with free agent John Cena, who’s not new to these kinds of situations. What I’m going to be looking for in this match is how the underlying storylines here are going to affect the outcome. Daniel Bryan teased some tension with Shane McMahon for not informing him of Smackdown’s raid over RAW. Does Bryan come out and cause a distraction or something? Triple H came out and pedigreed Jason Jordan and Kurt Angle reluctantly agreed with the decision and watched his son lay helpless in front of him on RAW. How does that affect the outcome? Does someone from Smackdown defect like Randy Orton was rumored to? The plethora of possibilities are what makes this match so intriguing, and the uncertainty of what may happen furthers that intrigue.
Last year, the team of AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon and Bray Wyatt came out on top over RAW. This year, RAW has undergone many changes and comes back with what has to be considered a dream team on paper. If this were a real sport, I’m looking at it like this. Smackdown doesn’t have the raw strength to keep up with team RAW. Who on Smackdown can counter the power of Joe and Strowman? Of course, Strowman was eliminated in last year’s match as a result of a count-out, so we can’t discount that either. See what I’m talking about?! We have no idea of knowing. RAW winning makes more sense simply because there’s so many underlying stories with RAW that we don’t see with Smackdown. Case in point, guys like Nakamura and Orton don’t have any active storylines, Cena was added as a last minute addition and Roode just finished a brief sprint with Ziggler. Give me team RAW for the men’s match. With this, RAW comes out Survivor Series the big winners by the score of 4 to 3.
Winner: Team RAW
Do you agree with my predictions? Disagree? Who’s winning the war between RAW and Smackdown? Let me know! Until next time. Deuces.
