WWE Survivor Series Predictions

This Sunday the 30th annual Survivor Series takes place and its the second dual brand PPV since the brand extension. This year Survivor Series is being dubbed “the night fantasy warfare just got real.” It’s a fitting slogan since the main event is a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg and the rematch became a hot topic fantasy affair when Goldberg was announced the as the pre-order special in WWE2k17. The rest of the November spectacular is focused on the battle of brand supremacy between Raw and Smackdown. Survivor Series has repeatedly been claimed as the one show of the year where the two brands will battle each other. Thank god, because I hated the whole “Bragging Rights” PPV. The battle between brands will be contested in three traditional Survivor Series Elimination matches where each brand is putting their best men, women and tag teams against each other. However there are two other matches on the card that hold high stakes for each brand. The Intercontinental Championship will be defended in a cross promotion match, where the winner of the match will be the taking the title back to their respective brand. This would mean Smackdown could lose their prestigious mid card championship to Raw. The other major match is that Raw’s Cruiserweight Championship will be defended against a Smackdown superstar. Therefore if the Smackdown superstar is victorious, not only does the Cruiserweight title go to Smackdown but the entire division moves to the blue brand. All current ongoing storylines from previous months have been put on hold for Survivor Series. All the superstars are going to battle in complete loyalty to their brand.
The card is full of matches that will be filled with suspense. The WWE fans will be divided rooting for their favourite brand or superstars to walk out victorious. It’ll also be taking place in my home country of Canada, which usually means a wild bizzare crowd that usually cheer for whomever they feel like they want to cheer for, no matter how odd it may make the babyface/heel dynamic. My predictions for this event will most likely be wrong. I might have the worst prediction record for this particular event and thats because if history has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen at the Survivor Series.

When the brand extension took place, I thought Smackdown really got shafted in the tag division. Raw got most of the already over and popular tag teams while Smackdown got American Alpha. The rest of Smackdown’s tag teams either had to reinvent themselves such as the Usos or get themselves over. The first ever Smackdown tag team champions is a pairing that weren’t even a tag team when the draft took place. The Smackdown tag division is showing some promise now but is still under construction. The Raw tag scene however has teams that are over such as Enzo and Cass and the New Day. As well as a popular team such as The Club. They also have their own team that wasnt around when the draft took place in Cesaro and Sheamus but regardless the Raw team is stronger. The Raw team in recent weeks seems to be having more of a hard tie getting along compared to the Smackdown team. On that note, I think Team Smackdown finds away to overcome Team Raw. I feel like we could come down to American Alpha and The New Day with American Alpha finding a way to overcome the New Day’s three on two advantage, when including Xavier at ringside to the equation.
Prediction – Team Smackdown

The Cruiserweight Division on Raw was one of the most anticipated changes when the brand extension was announced. When Stephanie announced that it would be exclusive to Raw we all got nostalgic about the good ol’ days when the Cruiserweight’s were exclusive to the Smackdown brand and a lot of people felt they would fit better there. However, they made their appearance on the Raw brand. Now since their debut on the Raw brand,  the cruiserweight division hasn’t felt the same as they did during the CWC tournament. Excluding the rivalry between TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick, which was focused on Kendrick’s desperate fight to redeem himself due to his previous failed run in the WWE, the cruiserweight’s haven’t been that impressive. The WWE also recently announced a new one hour show following Smackdown every Tuesday on the WWE Network called “205” which will exclusivley feature the Cruiserweight roster. This in my mind is the perfect way to further develop the roster and give them more exposure to more fans who might have not watched the CWC. The fact that the show is being taped right after Smackdown made think that the Division could be moving to the blue brand because then the Cruiserweight division wouldn’t have to work both Monday’s and then Tuesdays. Although, I remembered that Raw is the three-hour show which means they really need the division to fill time up on their show more than Smackdown does for their 2 hour show. The other thing I took into consideration is that they spent months building up Kendrick’s story as a wrestler who was so desperate to win the Cruiserweight Championship because this might be his last chance in the WWE. It would be a shame to see him lose it so soon and to Kalisto out of all people when they have absolutely zero history with each other. My prediction for this match is that Kendrick cheats to retain and the division stays on Raw.
PS. I wish they had a cruiserweight traditional Survivor Series match for the four-hour extravaganza.
Prediction – Brian Kendrick

When the brand extension took place I thought the Smackdown women’s division got the short end of the stick. Raw got some of the most over and popular women such as Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Paige and Emma. Raw also got the veteran Alicia Fox and also acquired Nia Jax and later Bayley from NXT. Smackdown initially got Becky Lynch, Natalya, Eva Marie and Naomi. From NXT Smackdown acquired Carmella and Alexa Bliss who regardless how talented they are were never as over as the Four Horsemen on NXT. At Summerslam when Nikki Bella returned for the blue brand, it felt like Smackdown finally filled that final piece of their women’s division that felt missing. If you were looking in as a casual fan who only watched once in a while but knows all the women, the Raw team seems a lot stronger and popular. However, if you’re a hardcore fan who watched weekly, you’d see the development in the Smackdown Women’s roster every week. Carmella and Alexa Bliss have come into their own as the brands top heels. Becky Lynch is our fighting champion who is majorly over with the crowd. Naomi’s new look and gimmick is a spectacle to watch and doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s extremely athletic. Nikki Bella and Natalya are the two already established stars that even casual fans can recognize off the bat. However, on Raw they have been making history as Sasha Banks and Charlotte played hot potato with Raw Women’s Championship. The two women were the main event of Raw and they were the main event of a PPV inside the first ever Women’s Hell in a Cell match. Dana Brooke and Bayley briefly feuded but it was nothing spectacular. Nia Jax and Alicia Fox are kind of just there. The Smackdown booking of the women has been better in developing their entire division for the long-term, but the Raw women have made more history leaving more statistics for women’s wrestling in the long-term. I think on Survivor Series the Smackdown Women get to leave their mark on history somehow overcoming the Raw Women’s team. Charlotte’s single winning streak stays intact and I believe the Raw women implode as the Smackdown women agree to get a long for just one night.
Prediction – Team Smackdown

Dolph Ziggler vs Sami Zayn could have stolen the show. However, this week on Smackdown Live we saw The Miz overcome Dolph Ziggler to reclaim the Intercontinental Championship with the help of the Spirit Squad and Maryse. Dolph Ziggler was the one who made the open challenge to any Raw superstar to try to defeat him for the IC title when this PPV became all about brand supremacy. Zayn answered the challenge. Thankfully he did because he didn’t have much direction on Raw and even got ripped apart by heel…babyface..heel..I don’t really what she is right now, Stephanie McMahon as being useless. The Miz was angry that Ziggler would sacrifice the chance of losing the IC title for Smackdown and requested he deserved his rematch. Daniel Bryan gave him the rematch for Smackdown Live, also stating that if The Miz didn’t win the title that his contract would be up for trade negotiation for one of Raw’s stars such as Zayn or Cesaro. However, The Miz won. Now I think he’ll find a way to beat all odds against Zayn just like he did with Ziggler, which means cheating is not ruled out, but expected. I know I don’t want The Miz and Maryse to leave Smackdown Live because they fit there. I mean The Miz has done some of his best work on the mic and in the ring during this most recent run on Smackdown Live. Although, I was hoping that this match would somehow lead to Sami Zayn getting signed or coming to Smackdown to shake things up. I still have hope that there is a way this leads to Zayn coming to Smackdown because he’s done nothing notable since the brand extension on Raw. I still stick to my prediction that The Miz retains. Hey, for the sake of brand loyalty we could even see Ziggler help him retain the title, thus requesting a rematch the following Smackdown Live.
Prediction – The Miz

The match that everyone will be looking forward to. Also the match I think should be the main event but instead that will be going to Lesnar/Goldberg 2, which I strongly couldn’t care less about. I’ll get to my reasoning of that on my prediction for that match. However, the big Raw vs. Smackdown match where Raws top male talent faces off against Smackdown’s top male talent. I actually don’t think one team is stronger than the other. Originally, my heart was on Team Smackdown walking out victorious for this match. Raw is the flagship show and always will be so its nice for Smackdown to get the rub and go over Raw the one night of the year they go head to head. I think during the previous brand extension, Smackdown almost always went over Raw in these brand supremacy or bragging rights matches. Although, due to a series of events that took place these past two weeks I think this may be the first time the Raw team goes over on the Smackdown Team. One of the things I noticed these last couple of weeks was that the Raw team despite their differences seem to be more on the same page. Rollins has seemed to totally forget all his beef with the Authority and JeriKO to fight for his brand. Rollins also has hinted on how things could be when Roman and himself are on the same page. I know everyone can agree Owens and Jericho are on the same page. As for Braun, he’s nearly unstoppable all alone. Looking at the Smackdown team, we’ve seen it’s really hard for Styles and Ambrose to stay on the same page. Wyatt and Orton are aligned but we really don’t know what is going on in Orton’s head. Shane McMahon, regardless how much of hyperactive daredevil that he is, has to be deemed the weakest link on the team since he’s only wrestled once this entire year. Shane O Mac could be the reason Team Smackdown has to fight the odds. I don’t know if he’s as big of an issue as James Ellsworth who will be the Team  Smackdown mascot. I can see Ellsworth being the cause of a Styles elimination. Also, the biggest signal that Smackdown Live won’t win this Sunday was the Undertaker returning, threatening that if Team Smackdown loses, than he’ll be taking care of the person or people who couldn’t get the job done. This left me thinking that for storyline progression, Team Smackdown has to lose so the Phenom can start a feud with whoever took the final elimination in the match. I don’t see him returning to feud someone on the winning team, do you? Therefore, I see Raw overcoming Team Smackdown this Sunday. This is something I’d totally be okay with since I predicted Smackdown go over in the other two traditional tag team matches and two out of three (3-2 if you count the single matches)  isn’t a bad record for the blue brand. I expect a lot of drama, near falls and suspense in this match. I welcome a bit of over-booking.
Prediction – Team Raw

The fantasy match that is going to be reality this Sunday is the rematch between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate Brockkkkk Lesnarrrrr taking on the incomparable and unstoppable force known as Bill Goldberg. I was excited to see Goldberg return. I loved seeing entrance, witnessing him kick some ass, hit the jackhammer on Rusev and spear Heyman. However, I’m scared to see him wrestle an actual match. I don’t want it to tarnish the Goldberg I grew up with. I wanna remember the man who was undefeated for 170+ matches, completely unstoppable and was only really ever defeated if there was interference or cheating involved. That’s the Goldberg I want to remember, not the one who was taken to suplex city and dominated like all of Lesnar’s opponents have been for the last 2-3 years. Brock Lesnar has not been pinned or defeated in nearly 3 years. Brock Lesnar hasn’t wrestled many compelling and storytelling match either in this current dominant run. Lesnar has been built as this unstoppable and unbeatable beast. I don’t see why Goldberg would be the one to end that dominance undefeated streak if he’s just back for this one match so his kid could see him wrestle. If someone is going to slay the beast, it needs to be someone who can really get a rub off it and not an established star like Goldberg who’s not even going to stick around following this match. I’m okay with Goldberg losing. I mean he did defeat Lesnar in their first match at Wrestlemania 20. A match that was truly a drag since both men were heading out of the company following that night and the ruckus MSG crowd knew it. This is their chance to make up for that match but I doubt that will be the case considering Goldberg must have a ton of ring rust and Lesnar doesn’t really wrestle a competitive compelling style anymore. The crowd will be in this match. The nostalgia of Goldberg and the appeal of Brock Lesnar will have the Toronto crowd lit but I really do worry for the actual match. I hope it’s better than their first one but at the same time, I question how it can be? I’m going into the match with low expectations, therefore it’ll be easy for them to exceed them and I hope they do. Brock Lesnar takes the win and continues his dominance until someone else more worthy of it slays, the beast. I just hope Goldberg doesn’t get dominated or demolished like we’ve seen with many of Lesnar’s previous opponents of the last few years.  I want Goldberg to bring the fight to Lesnar. I know I want Goldberg to win but I see no future value in having Lesnar lose to Goldberg.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar

What do you think about my predictions for Survivor Series? What are your predictions? Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts and ideas of what might happen on the show? Leave your comments and opinions below.