5 reasons why Vince McMahon won't be allowed to bury SmackDown at Survivor Series 2019

Survivor Series for the last few years has had a very unfortunate tradition in that SmackDown is always made to look like the weaker brand. It was only in 2016 where SmackDown looked remotely close, but even then the brand lost 2-1.

Last year was the example of a complete burial of SmackDown and we're not even sure why. RAW won every single match in the interbrand warfare and the entire purpose of it seemed bizarre. Atleast in 2017, there was a 4-3 win for RAW, but even in that case, the main event was underwhelming.

2016 was undoubtedly one of the best Survivor Series shows of all time and the men's Survivor Series match was an all-time classic. However, this article isn't about the past. It's about the upcoming Survivor Series in 2019.

Many fans are worried that WWE will continue to bury SmackDown, but that doesn't seem feasible this year and here's why it won't be happening!

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#5 A change in tradition

2018's incredible main event

Things need to change and WWE knows this. If they constantly have Survivor Series be a repetitive PPV year after year (like Hell in a Cell), then the show itself will lose a lot of prestige.

We must remember that it still is one of the big 4 PPVs and WWE will want to break the tradition and cycle that has been happening for a while now. This would mean that WWE can't bury SmackDown the way they have before and make the brand look like it's the weaker brand.

This would mean that some other brand would have to take the fall but that's ok because it's a change in the way things should go. Simply put, they can't afford to have SmackDown lose as badly this year. Not that there are too many interbrand matches anyway.

#4 Pressure from FOX

There's a lot of money involved

FOX's WWE deal involves big money. It's the biggest TV deal that WWE has signed and FOX undoubtedly has a lot of leverage, including having a say on what the roster was. They're going all-in on their investment in WWE and that includes their marketing and social media presence.

FOX Executives know how much money WWE brings in for them and will rightfully want SmackDown to look like the stronger brand. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if FOX has a direct input in which team goes over and how things entirely play out.

Even though the "brand wars" are fictional in the WWE Universe, the reality is that NXT and RAW are both on the USA Network while SmackDown is on FOX. There's no doubt that FOX will vehemently disallow Vince McMahon to bury SmackDown the way he has in the previous years.

And that's a good thing, in our opinion, as sometimes the higher-ups in WWE need to be kept in check. In this case, they'd have every right to prevent that from happening.

#3 SmackDown can't afford to look like the weaker brand

A huge risk for SmackDown

Simply put, SmackDown can't afford to look like the weaker brand this year. So much damage has been done already over the past few years that it's taken time for the blue brand to recover.

Moreover, there's the aspect where SmackDown's ratings on FOX are falling a bit, which means that they'll need to have a lot going on to garner interest again. If they're made to look like the weaker brand and are buried yet again, then it could play a huge role in affecting the ratings and FOX knows this.

Among all the brands that really need to win the most at Survivor Series, it's team blue. WWE needs to establish SmackDown as the #1 brand for the first time over Monday Night RAW and if they do, it would be a huge shift in their approach with the presentation. RAW has been the "superior" brand for so long that many fans truly believe that to be the case.

#2 RAW or NXT will take the fall

Survivor Series could be a bad outing for either brand

This year, it needs to be either RAW or NXT that takes the fall at Survivor Series and we're more inclined to say Monday Night RAW. Sure, it's the flagship show, but it would likely take lesser damage than if NXT took the fall.

NXT could do with the win a lot more if they're to look strong in the Wednesday Night Wars and it doesn't make sense for WWE to bury NXT and make it look like a weak brand after Survivor Series.

In that way, WWE has certainly booked themselves into a predicament, but it's not an unavoidable one like we saw with the entire Seth Rollins vs Bray Wyatt rivalry.

Either way, expect either RAW or NXT to take the fall and for SmackDown to look like the strongest brand when the night is all said and done. All we can hope that it's team red that ends up taking the big loss in this one.

#1 The roster is far too stacked

The WAR Room during the draft

SmackDown's roster is superior to RAW's. While RAW may have a slightly stronger women's division, the word "slightly" is key here. As a whole, it certainly feels like SmackDown has the biggest stars and that's only to be expected since FOX is throwing more money at WWE, which means that they're entitled to a better roster.

WWE needs to protect a whole crop of Superstars and SmackDown contains many of them. It's going to be tough for them to protect all of them, but without a doubt, there will be more SmackDown superstars protected than RAW.

One such example from RAW who they can afford to not protect, for example, is Seth Rollins. The storyline he's in now is one where he's in a downward slump, which means that he can easily be pinned clean by a top SmackDown star such as Roman Reigns or Baron Corbin. The same can't be said about many other superstars on the red brand.

It's going to be interesting to see how WWE handles the entire situation. Either way, they can't afford to bury SmackDown the way they did before and NXT is a brand that should ideally be benefiting out of the PPV. Will WWE do the right thing?