5 reasons why Survivor Series was the best pay per view of the year

Pay-per-view of the year?

While some members of the WWE Universe might be a little cautious to call it that, especially after NXT ran away with the victory, the show still had a lot going for it. It even felt like a changing of the guard moment at some points, which was very entertaining to watch play out.

Beyond that, WWE booked the show in a way that absolutely made sense and helped some very deserving Superstars shine in the process. Was it perfect? No, not by any means and no one should expect it to be. The point is however, WWE delivered when it counted and made Survivor Series worth watching.

With that being said and another fall classic in the books here are five reasons why Survivor Series was the best pay-per-view of the year. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to tell us what you thought of this year's Survivor Series.

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#5 The Fiend vs Daniel Bryan

The Fiend versus Daniel Bryan was a thriller from beginning to end.

Did WWE just show cracks in The Fiend's armor?

It certainly seems that way after Daniel Bryan took it to 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt throughout their Universal Title match at Survivor Series and while Wyatt would ultimately win, it definitely wasn't as one-sided. In fact, Bryan started things off with a flurry of dropkicks that stunned The Fiend for quite a while and even almost laid him out with his famous running knee.

Of course, that wouldn't last long and Wyatt would soon lock in the mandible claw to knock Bryan out cold, but it was a pretty decent back and forth match. Furthermore, it showed that The Fiend might be a little bit more vulnerable than originally thought, which will be interesting to see how WWE follows that up.

In the end, it was just an awesome back and forth match between two guys that had a history with each other. It was also a match that had the fans behind both Superstars throughout the contest and that only amplified the magic that took place.

#4 The Women's division shined

The Women's division shined at Survivor Series.

WWE has been in the middle of a Women's Revolution in the last couple of years, but who would have thought that female Superstars would absolutely steal the show at Survivor Series? In fact, between Shayna Baszler vs Bayley vs Becky Lynch being the main event, to the amazing Women's Survivor Series match, it's safe to say that the women were the star attraction.

Speaking of shining, the women of NXT seemed to shine the most by convincingly winning both matches and decimating the RAW and SmackDown rosters. Sure, both The Red and Blue brand made their presence felt here and there to make things interesting, but it was ultimately NXT that brought the fight at Survivor Series.

And maybe the best part of all this was the fact that WWE didn't even use words like Women's Revolution or even try to verbally put them on the same level as the men. What WWE did do, however, was prove just how great the women's division are by showcasing it in the ring.

In the end, WWE essentially proved that the women and men are on the same level and everyone saw it for themselves at The Survivor Series.

#3 Overarching storyline

WWE actually made the war for brand supremacy work this time!

While WWE hasn't always been very good at keeping score, especially after last year's finish at Survivor Series, they turned all that around at this year's edition of the fall classic. Interestingly enough, they did so in a way that kept the integrity of all three brands intact, which had to be difficult.

It all started off during the preshow of the pay-per-view, where RAW, SmackDown and NXT all notched a victory heading into the main card. WWE followed that up by giving NXT the victory during the Women's traditional Survivor Series match and then again during the Roderick Strong vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles encounter.

Of course, SmackDown did get some of their momentum back with a key win in the men's Survivor Series match, but the victory wasn't without its controversy. In fact, the ending of the match pretty much guarantees that Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin are on a collision course in the future, but that's another story for another time.

Then WWE did the unthinkable and instead of allowing SmackDown to tie up the score, they had NXT win outright when Baszler made Bayley tap out. The victory essentially cemented NXT's dominance over the rest of WWE and was a pretty good ending to a pretty amazing pay per view.

#2 Dream matches

WWE delivered in terms of dream matches at Survivor Series.

Who knew WWE could stuff so many dream matches into one pay-per-view?

From Becky Lynch vs Bayley vs Shayna Baszler, to AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs Roderick Strong, WWE offered a variety of dream matches at Survivor Series and it really added to the pay-per-view. It also left fans in awe at some of the booking decisions that WWE ultimately made.

WWE also had a decent supply of dream encounters during the men's and women's Survivor Series matches, which included, Randy Orton vs Matt Riddle, Seth Rollins vs Tommaso Ciampa and several others. If nothing else, WWE went all out to make sure that this was something fans wanted to see.

Of course, someone had to lose and someone had to win, thus putting some very difficult decisions on WWE, but it was worth it at the end. Beyond that, it gave NXT the key wins they needed and a lot of momentum going forward.

In the end, Survivor Series gave the WWE Universe things that they thought they would never see and did it in a way that made sense. It was a perfect night and WWE should be praised for it.

#1 Booking

WWE made a lot of genius booking decisions during this PPV!

Believe it or not, WWE made the right decisions throughout the pay-per-view and it is a series of moves they were absolutely genius. Not only is that evident by Keith Lee almost overcoming Roman Reigns and then getting a nod from The Big Dog, but also by the wins of Roderick Strong, and Shayna Baszler.

If nothing else, NXT defeating RAW and SmackDown in these matches gave them a level of legitimately that nothing else would have. It also did so in a way that made sense to the overall product and didn't really hurt anyone in the process. It even seemed to benefit everyone involved and had the fans support throughout.

Sure, WWE made a few moves that seemed cheap in the moment, like Lo Shirai and Candance Larae getting injured and returning to help Rhea Ripley win the Women's Survivor Series match, but it was brilliant once you thought about it. The move even gave NXT that win at any costs feel, which was a fun trend to follow.

WWE did this again during the dream match between Roderick Strong, Shinsuke Nakamura, and AJ Styles, where Strong capitalized off of an opportunity and pinned Nakamura for the victory. Again, it seemed cheap in the moment, but it was actually the perfect way to make Roderick look good and protect Nakamura in defeat.