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Survivor Series - it's one of the big four pay per views of the year, and while it doesn't exactly match the excitement of WrestleMania or Summerslam, it is still the one time a year that Raw and Smackdown Live compete head to head to determine brand supremacy. With that being said, who should come out on top at the pay per view and how exactly should WWE go about it?
Beyond those pressing questions, what does WWE need to do to make sure that Survivor Series is a success and not just a B-level pay per view masquerading as the one of the big four. While that question might seem impossible to answer, there are certain things that WWE can do to send the fans home happy when Survivor Series is all said and done.
With that being said, here are five things WWE must do at the upcoming pay per view and five things the ultimately must avoid doing. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to tell us what match you are must looking forward to at The Survivor Series pay per view.
Must do: Give Shinsuke Nakamura a win
Let's be honest here, Shinsuke Nakamura has made The United States title completely meaningless since winning it from Jeff Hardy, which means he is in desperate need of a momentum boost. With that in mind, and Seth Rollins, his opponent for the pay per view at an all time high as a babyface, why not let Nakamura get a win over Rollins to reinvigorate his run.
Not only will the loss mean virtually nothing to Rollins, especially if they script it in a way where he could look strong in defeat, it also gives Nakamura a big win and a chance to use that momentum to salvage his boring title reign. If nothing else, its the perfect way to help Nakamura gain some momentum back, which will be important heading into the winter months.
Avoid doing: Keeping Ambrose off the pay per view
Believe it or not, WWE actually kept Dean Ambrose off of the Crown Jewel a week ago, which was very surprising to see given the fact that it would have been an interesting plot point to explore in the best in the world tournament. In fact, it could have gone a long way in helping explain Rollins lose at the event while also furthering his storyline with Ambrose.
With that being said, it makes perfect sense here for Ambrose to cost Rollins the match, which will also help Nakamura get a much-needed victory in the process. It also furthers the feud between Rollins and Ambrose and allows WWE to set something up between the two at the next pay per view.
In the end, if WWE is really committed to this heel turn of Ambrose, they need to start showing with better segments and more intriguing storylines. If not, it will slowly become the worst storyline on the entire show and the WWE Universe deserves much better than what the company has given them so far regarding this.
Must do: Have AOP beat The Big Bar Show
It's no secret that the Authors of Pain have been victims of start and stop pushes for quite a while now, which means WWE needs to do something big in order to show that they are officially behind AOP. With that being said and their opponent for Survivor Series being the multi-time champions, The Bar, why not script the match as a huge upset?
Think about it! This is WWE's definitive chance to show that AOP is a big deal and while it might hurt The Bar in the short run, a win over them would give AOP a lot of instant momentum. It also sets the stage for WWE to book AOP versus The Revival for The Tag team titles, which is a dream match for some fans.
In the end, The Bar loses next to nothing in defeat her and could instantly get their momentum back the following week on Raw. Compare that to how bad it would look for AOP to come back to Monday Night Raw after losing to The Bar and you start to see why AOP absolutely needs this!
Must avoid doing tag team Survivor Series match going long
Whether fans want to admit it or not, each brand's tag team division is in absolute disarray right now and it's only going to get worse with this five on five tag team match at Survivor Series. In fact, with the minimalistic booking WWE has done for it at this point, it's hard to see it as anything more than a point on the board for either Smackdown Live or Raw.
Beyond that, the booking that WWE did do for this match was absolute garbage and gave fans no reason to get behind this match at all. With all that in mind, and the tag team Survivor Series tag team match fast approaching, its probably best that they keep this match short, sweet and to the point.
That means maybe having Lucha House Party and Bobby Roode and Chad Gale competing for the Raw side, which would give the match a very fast paced aggressive style. It would also allow for the superstars involved to do minimal storytelling and focus on keeping the crowd happy with their amazing athleticism.
Must do: Becky Lynch versus Ronda Rousey end in Disqualification
Its extremely unlikely that fans will see either Ronda Rousey or Becky Lynch take a loss at Survivor Series, and that's exactly why WWE needs to end this match in a no contest. Not only does it allow both superstars to finish the night without taking a key loss, it also helps set up the feud between Rousey and Jax, which could be the biggest feud on Raw heading into the winter months.
While some fans might be upset that they wouldn't have a decisive winner at the end of the match, it would all be worth it if Lynch didn't take a momentum-killing loss here. It also allows Becky Lynch to go around on Smackdown Live claiming she took Rousey to her limits, which is another good storyline to capitalize on going forward.
In the end, Rousey and Lynch need to be protected in this situation and that's exactly why a no contest is preferable in this situation. At least that way, WWE can focus on the athleticism and the storytelling of the match, instead of worrying about who is going to come out on top when all is said and done.
Must avoid doing: Making Asuka look weak
Asuka has been on a bit of downward spiral lately since losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34 and while Asuka has rebounded a bit since then, she is still not even close to the superstar she was. With that in mind and Survivor Series marking a chance to change that, why not raise Asuka's profile a bit?
In fact, WWE could even do the same thing they did last year and have Asuka be the lone survivor for her team, which would really help give her some much-needed momentum. It would also be a great way to showcase her unique arsenal of moves and show The WWE Universe that the company considers her a threat again.
If nothing else, Asuka has fallen so far back since last year and the company really needs to do something to rectify all that. In the end, the best way to do that would probably be for her to run through the Women's Survivor Series team with relative ease and pick them off one by one in front of fans.
Must do: Have a WWE title match
This is it - WWE's grand opportunity to finally get The WWE Title off of AJ Styles and not have him look weak in defeat. All WWE has to do is make Styles versus Lesnar a gruelling match where Lesnar takes Styles to his limit. Lesnar can even target a body part or use a triangle choke to win by submission, which will make the WWE Universe go nuts.
Once the match is over, Shane McMahon can come to the ring and start berating Styles for losing the match. Styles could then try to explain himself, but be met with a low blow from Shane. Then all WWE has to do is have McMahon announce that he was giving Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan or Rusev a rematch for The title and the place would come unglued.
Not only is this the perfect opportunity to further the idea that Shane McMahon as a heel, but also finally take the WWE title off of Styles for a while. Of course, the best choice of the above candidates would be Samoa Joe, especially since this goes along with Joe's vulture-like nature and finally gives him the title he has been chasing for a while.
Must avoid doing: Keeping Finn Balor off the show
WWE has kept Finn Balor off of quite a few pay per views over the last couple of months, but all that needs to change when Survivor Series happens next week. Furthermore, WWE at the very least needs to give Balor a role that will put him in a storyline moving forward, which is something WWE hasn't done for months now.
As for how it happens, maybe the rumors of Bobby Lashley being injured are true and Balor ends up subbing for him sometime during the match. At least that will further the storyline between the two superstars and give Balor a chance to shine in a high profile match at an upcoming pay per view.
Then again, maybe WWE can finally turn Balor heel and have him help cost team Raw the five on five Survivor Series match. If WWE does that, they can have Balor explain his actions the next night on Monday Night Raw and then have him Kurt Angle fire him. Balor can then cement his heel turn by attacking Angle and writing him off television for a while.
Must have Baron Corbin cost Team Raw the match
The cookie has to crumble sometime and that is exactly what the WWE Universe has been waiting to happen ever since Baron Corbin became GM of Raw. Interestingly enough, there are a lot of ways this can happen, especially since his leadership abilities will be on display during the match, but WWE should have him cost the team the match in some way.
Maybe WWE can do it by having Corbin anger Braun Strowman, which leads to him getting a beat down from The Monster Among Men. WWE can then have Kurt Angle help get Strowman back into the match and guide him to the win. At least this way, Strowman gets a boost for winning the match and Angle shows why he deserves the leadership role on Raw.
In the end, that's what the whole match is about anyway, so why not just go through with it and give Angle his role back as GM? On The Smackdown Live side of things, one of the smackdown live superstars could lose the match for the team, which would put him in the crosshairs of Shane McMahon.
Must avoid: Forgetting About The Universal title
WWE cannot forget about the Universal title.
Of course, they have done it so many times before a big pay per view and have even gotten away with it at times, but that all needs to end at Survivor Series. In fact, WWE needs to be sure to have some kind of confrontation between Brock Lesnar and the company's next hand picked contender, or risk having the big red belt fall into obscurity.
How exactly WWE goes about that is ultimately up to them, but it would be nice if WWE spent a little time planting the seeds for a Universal title match for down the road. Not only would it help create excitement around The Raw title picture again, which came to a halt after Crown Jewel, it also might set up one more big title fight before the end of the year.
