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 NXT TakeOver WarGames and Survivor Series 2019.
Participants for this round = Anthony Mango, David Varnes, Ethan Absler and Richard Staple.
1) “WWE dodged Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Adam Cole as another champions showcase match. Why do you think that isn’t happening?”
MANGO: They didn’t want Adam Cole to look small next to the other two (or, worse, put up a fight against them and make them look weak by having a smaller guy not decimated), plus they didn’t want Lesnar vs. Wyatt vs. Cole as fans would then make The Fiend or Cole babyfaces by default. This is a means to dodge problems rather than actually care about the Rey Mysterio match as SO important that it had to sacrifice the Triple Threat.
VARNES: Two reasons. One, neither The Fiend nor Brock Lesnar have had great title matches recently. Wyatt’s have been ruined by the idiotic red lighting, while Lesnar… is Lesnar at this point. And while Adam Cole (bay-bay!) can put on good matches I think with either man, both? That’s hard. Second is WWE trying to keep both NBC Universal (the owners of the USA network) and Fox happy. If I were an executive for either company I’d be pissed at this point with WWE. The idea of brand exclusivity seems to have been dropped as soon as it started, and it’s back to normal WWE shenanigans. Having one of the champions come out as the ‘best of the best’ would just be a further dig at the networks. No bueno.
ABSLER: I think WWE dodged Lesnar vs Wyatt vs Cole for a few reasons. One, Adam Cole was in a Ladder match on NXT Wednesday, a War Games match on Friday, and then is being used for the Survivor Series Tag Team match on Sunday. In addition, Wyatt vs Bryan and Mysterio vs Lesnar are both intriguing matchups on their own. Lesnar would most likely win a triple threat between the three and this protects both other champions.
STAPLE: Well, the matchup is about as unorthodox as it can be. On one hand, you have the workhorse and soul of NXT, Adam Cole. On the other hand, you have someone who is barely around and won’t be on RAW week after week. On the third hand, you have an extraterrestrial, bipolar entity with multiple personality disorder. To be honest, while some may view it as an interesting matchup, it wouldn’t really be all that fun to me. Only Adam would probably care about winning the match for the sake of “brand supremacy”. If it was something like Cole vs. Rollins vs. Kingston, it would make more sense.
2) “Do you think anyone will be a sole survivor this year? If so, who?”
MANGO: Not this year. There are too many eliminations that have to be made to whittle it down to just one person on one team. However, if I had to venture a guess if it was to happen, I’d say Charlotte Flair stands a chance, or Seth Rollins if they want to drive home the point that we should bow down to either of them.
VARNES: If anyone, I’ll say Ricochet for the men. The announcers have been talking up Randy Orton’s sole survivor stats recently, and Orton seems to be in some sort of situation with Ricochet… so having Ricochet be the Sole Survivor adds tenstion to their program.
ABSLER: I could see Kevin Owens being a sole survivor this year. With the direction he is moving in and the emotional Triple H promo directed at him, I think something big is on the horizon for KO.
STAPLE: I predict that one of two things will happen at Survivor Series. Either it’s going to be a close finish where each brand gets a win and it comes down to one match, or NXT is going to sweep the floor. There is no way there’s going to be one lone survivor in the match. At least I don’t think so. You already have two 15 person elimination triple threat tag team matches. Doing 14 falls for each match is highly unreasonable and may just waste time. The card is loaded enough as it is.
3) “Between Raw, NXT and SmackDown, which brand are you rooting for to come out on top? Which had the best advantage?”
MANGO: I’m actually rooting for a pretty even split, although someone has to come up short. With the 5 matches, even if they did 2-2-1, who do you take the point away from? With how poorly SmackDown was booked last year, I’d almost rather it be 3 for SmackDown and 1 a piece for Raw and NXT just to give the blue team the morale boost. Raw has the advantage in nearly every match, though.
VARNES: My heart says NXT, but my brain and my gut says it’s going to be a split between Raw and Smackdown. With 5 interbrand matches you can’t go perfectly split, but I can see Vince & Co. saying “Give one 5 on 5 and one Champ v. Champ v. Champ match each to Raw & Smackdown… and uh… well… screw it, let Roderick Strong pin Nakamura.” Like I said above, WWE needs to keep their networks happy, and by giving them some semblance of balance, they can do that. The fans? Well, when has Vince ever given a damn about the fans over the past few years?
ABSLER: I am rooting for NXT because they have consistently delivered the best show out of the three brands. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but NXT has a certain aura to it that just draws me to it. All three brands have pretty stacked teams, but I am hoping NXT can come out on top.
STAPLE: It’s hard to root for a brand since superstars such as Becky Lynch and Bayley have said themselves that they don’t even care about who the best brand is. So why should I? We don’t even know what the women’s and men’s teams for NXT will be, so I won’t even know regardless.
4) “Which event do you think will be better overall, TakeOver or Survivor Series?”
MANGO: TakeOver. There are way too many opportunities for bullshit booking to get in the way of Survivor Series. People will be eliminated super fast without doing anything just to make the matches go by faster, which will hurt their credibility, for instance. Plus, Survivor Series has a Brock Lesnar match and I never have much faith in those.
VARNES: TakeOver. Less overbooked, and the matches generally have meaning. I just pray that they stop this other brand run in crap for TakeOver, I don’t want to see matches ruined because Bayley feels the need to start swinging a damn chair.
ABSLER: Again, both events seem loaded. I am equally excited for both, but I have to go with Takeover just because of War-games. NXT hasn’t disappointed with War-games in the last two years and I don’t anticipate anything less this year.
STAPLE: Survivor Series has potential if the matches that I hope deliver does. NXT usually has the advantage, but not so this time around. I have a fear that two War Game matches will make the stipulation feel tedious, and a lack of championship matches on the card does hurt. But Riddle and Balor should tear the roof off.
5) “Which superstar do you feel is the biggest omission from each lineup?”
MANGO: Without knowing who is on Team NXT, it’s tough to pinpoint people missing on that side. The same goes for the mystery partner on Team Ciampa. But I will say that I think it’s strange the NXT Cruiserweight Championship wasn’t factored in at all to give that a boost. Johnny Gargano and Velveteen Dream are the biggest names missing, but their injuries make sense of that. Dakota Kai’s lack of involvement in the WarGames match is strange. All of NXT UK not being invited to the party is weird. For Raw and SmackDown, notable exceptions are Andrade, Bobby Lashley and Rusev (thank God, though), The Miz, The Revival, Fire and Desire, etc.
VARNES: Sort of hard to answer since NXT hasn’t shown their hand yet, but I’ll make a guess simply from who’s been showing up at Raw and Smackdown.
On the Men’s Side, Velveteen Dream. I know he’s got a back injury, but the Dream is made for big stages. And what better place to show off the Dream than at the same event that, twenty years ago, debuted The Undertaker to the world? And who better to do mic work for NXT than The Dream?
Women? That’s harder, simply because Raw and Smackdown have pretty much emptied their rosters. Okay, okay. Toni Storm. Seriously, they bring Kay Lee Ray over, they bring Rhea Ripley over, but leave Toni in England? Don’t even have her get involved when NXT UK pops up during the European tour? Not cricket, WWE. Not cricket.
Tag Teams? AOP. I’m sorry, but backstage segments where Akam talks in Egyptian and Rezar in Albanian, peppered with a beatdown of Heath Slater and No Way Jose before two more months of vignettes, then Hawkins & Ryder? That’s not a redebut for the team, that’s “Creative’s got nothing for you.” For god’s sake, the beatdowns were months apart. If there’s any place for a couple of heartless killers who just want to beat people up, it’s at Survivor Series.
ABSLER: Both of these cards have so many men and women on them, most of the key superstars are covered. With that being said, I want to see Cesaro on these cards! He is immensely talented and being greatly underused.
STAPLE: For Survivor Series, definitely The Revival for me. They’re just a better fit for me. If they had stayed, you could have told a story of three former NXT Tag Team Champions. Kofi and Big E winning the title right before the event was kind of deflating. Could have been saved for after. As for War Games, everyone involved in major storylines are pretty much accounted for, so I can’t say there are any major omissions.
6) “If you could add one more match to both cards, what would it be?”
MANGO: For TakeOver, I’d have put Lio Rush against a cruiserweight from Raw and SmackDown as a sort of taste of Survivor Series to come. Maybe those participants would have been Cedric Alexander, if he’s healthy, and Drew Gulak. For Survivor Series, I’d go with a repeat of last year’s “tag team” elimination match, or I’d say the 24/7 title is on the line in a free-for-all between all three brands and let the title change hands between SmackDown and NXT guys as well as Raw.
VARNES: This card’s already full. But if I had to, I’d add a sixth interbrand match for Tag Teams, maybe a 4 on 4 on 4 Tag Team Survivor Match? So, AOP & Street Profits (Raw) vs. Heavy Machinery & Lucha House Party (Smackdown) vs. Forgotten Sons & a NXT UK team. It’s a way to throw NXT UK a bone since they’ve been mostly forgotten in this whole mess. That way you can split the brand wins at either 2 apiece, or 3 and 3 if they want to leave NXT in the cold, or 3-2-1, giving Fox 3 wins for Smackdown, and NBCUniversal 3 wins (2 Raw, 1 NXT).
ABSLER: Again, both of these cards are absolutely stacked, but if I had to add a match, I would spice things up with an NXT UK division match somewhere in the Takeover.
STAPLE: NXT Takeover cards are always the perfect length in general so I’m not adding anything to that, and Survivor Series definitely doesn’t need another match with the lengthy matches we will probably be in for. A Cruiserweight Championship match on a Takeover event may not hurt though.
7) “Which match are you most excited to see this weekend?”
MANGO: The men’s WarGames match is the one that I think will steal the show overall.
VARNES: War Games. Compared to what Survivor Series brings to the table, mainly a bunch of overbooked, overworked matches… I just want to see people beat the hell out of each other. And War Games does that perfectly.
ABSLER: I am most excited to see the men and women’s NXT War-games matches, as well as AJ Styles vs Roderick Strong vs Shinsuke Nakamura.
STAPLE: Finn Balor vs. Matt Riddle, AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and I also want to see what direction they go with Lesnar/Mysterio. I’m thinking the No Holds Barred stipulation will serve as a free invitation for Dominick or Cain Velasquez to cost Lesnar the title, but I don’t think it’ll be that easy. We shall see.
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!
