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Survivor Series is only a few weeks away, and WWE has added NXT to this year’s event to make things much more interesting. The inclusion of NXT has allowed the company to give fans one of the biggest and best builds towards a pay-per-view in recent memory.
Fans have already seen NXT invade RAW and SmackDown, while The O.C. has also gone into NXT to make a statement of their own. Now that the event is drawing nearer, we could see championships change hands, as each brand will try to crown their strongest competitors before the battle for supremacy officially begins.
In this article, we will look at four championships that could change hands before Survivor Series.
#4 United States Championship
AJ Styles defeated Ricochet at Extreme Rules to become the current United States Champion. It is Styles' third reign with the coveted United States Championship. While WWE has usually used its veterans to help newer Superstars grow, it seems like they are currently feeding newer Superstars to Styles to strengthen his current reign.
We’ve seen men like Ricochet, Cedric Alexander, and Humberto Carrillo fail to take the title off Styles in recent months, and while it has hurt their record on television, it has helped them gain more experience and stay relevant.
It seems like WWE's three mid-card champions will battle it out at Survivor Series, and Dave Meltzer has revealed the following:
For Survivor Series, the plan was for a three secondary title match, Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. Styles. I don’t know this is happening and was only told the plan was that it wouldn’t be that exact match, meaning either Nakamura or Styles loses before that date.
With that in mind, it is possible the company could take the United States Championship off Styles and give it to a newcomer while simultaneously giving Styles a bigger assignment for the pay-per-view. We might just see Styles battle Adam Cole for the NXT Championship in what could prove to be a show stealer.
#3 RAW Tag Team Championships
Last week on Friday Night SmackDown, the WWE Universe watched as The New Day defeated The Revival for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. This allowed them to replace The Revival in the Triple Threat Match at Survivor Series between the Tag Team Champions from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT.
For now, the Survivor Series match is set between NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly of The Undisputed Era, SmackDown Tag Team Champions New Day, and RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders.
However, there is a chance that the company will be looking to crown new RAW Tag Team Champions before the event. The reason for that is that The O.C. were recently crowned the ‘Best Tag Team in the World’ at Crown Jewel.
In recent weeks, we have seen The O.C. defend RAW and even invade NXT to send a message to the entire WWE Universe, while The Viking Raiders have been doing nothing of substance besides battling in their usual squash matches.
In light of such booking decisions, the company may want to give fans a dream clash between The New Day, The O.C., and The Undisputed Era.
In the weeks to come, the company could book a RAW Tag Team Championship match between The O.C. and The Viking Raiders, as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson pinned Erick and Ivar last to win the WWE World Cup. This could result in The O.C. walking into Survivor Series as the RAW Tag Team Champions. In light of recent events between The O.C. and The Undisputed Era, this would only add to the match's backstory.
#2 Women’s Tag Team Championships
The Kabuki Warriors have been holding the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships for the last month, after Asuka and Kairi Sane defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross on an episode of RAW. The two women have turned heel since then, and have defended their titles against some of WWE's top female tandems.
While they were off to a dominant start, we have seen The Kabuki Warriors appear vulnerable recently. Asuka and Sane have lost a few singles matches and non-title tag bouts, which has tarnished their reign. The threat of losing their titles remains high, especially after parting ways with Paige.
After what The Kabuki Warriors did to Paige, we could see her align herself with another tag team. With Paige's assistance that team has a good chance at becoming the new Women's Tag Team Champions.
Alternatively, we’ve seen The Kabuki Warriors defend their titles on NXT recently. This could lead to new challengers emerging from the Black & Gold Brand.
In such a case, we could see The Kabuki Warriors lose their titles to a team on RAW, SmackDown, or NXT before Survivor Series, with WWE setting up a three brand Triple Threat Match for the pay-per-view.
#1 Intercontinental Championship
The Intercontinental Championship, currently held by Shinsuke Nakamura, seems most at threat at the moment since we already see a storyline developing around the WWE Superstar and his title.
Nakamura’s mouthpiece, Sami Zayn, has been trying to get former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan to join he and Nakamura to become a dominant faction on SmackDown. Zayn believes that Bryan would do much better with his guidance.
While there is a chance that Bryan will turn heel again and join Zayn and Nakamura, it seems more likely that Bryan will feud with Nakamura instead. If that is the case, then the Intercontinental Championship will likely be on the line when the two men collide.
At Survivor Series, we will most likely see the three mid-card champions go to war, as NXT’s North American Champion is expected to take on SmackDown’s Intercontinental Champion and RAW’s United States Champion.
Last year before Survivor Series, the company shocked the wrestling world when they set up a last-minute match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. This led to Bryan winning the WWE Championship and taking on Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, rather than the previously advertised AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar clash.
Similarly, we could see the company book Bryan to defeat Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship before this year’s Survivor Series, setting up a huge clash between Styles and Roderick Strong at the pay-per-view.
Meltzer recently stated the following:
Styles stuff has all been changed due to the NXT program he’s doing. But the most interesting aspect is that Bryan is doing a program with Nakamura, so there is a chance of a Strong vs. Bryan vs. Styles match if Nakamura was the change expected for that match.
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