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Last year, WWE booked a huge Survivor Series event by bringing in the NXT brand for the first time to take on RAW and SmackDown. All three brands had some great matches — and even better invasion angles before the show — that saw NXT win the entire affair.
While the WWE Universe expected NXT to take part in Survivor Series once again this year, WWE delivered a shocker this week on RAW as they announced only matches between RAW and SmackDown would be taking place at the event.
This means that NXT could be out of this year’s Survivor Series, keeping many of its young and talented Superstars out of the mix. While a huge opportunity for several of the newer stars may have been taken away by the company, there may be several good reasons why WWE has decided to go forward with Survivor Series without NXT this year.
Recently, Orton spoke to Sportskeeda and had a message for the NXT roster. You can check it out in the video below.
Keeping that in mind, we will look at the five reasons why NXT may not be part of this year’s Survivor Series.
#5 To have a shorter WWE Survivor Series event this year
It seems like WWE has been booking shorter pay-per-views for the past few months to ensure that the fans stay interested in the product with no live audience in attendance.
At WWE Payback, only seven matches were contested on the main card. WWE Clash of Champions saw only the titleholders have matches at the event without including any other matches. WWE Hell in a Cell earlier this month only had five matches announced for the night, and WWE ended up adding a couple of more matches to increase the length of the event.
WWE even decided to host WrestleMania 36 on two nights instead of one to ensure that the fans remained interested in the show without any live audience. The move turned out to work well for the company.
Similarly, WWE might be looking to reduce the runtime of Survivor Series by having RAW and SmackDown compete without adding NXT to the mix. The fans at home could possibly have more interest in a shorter event without the third brand involved, particularly without a live crowd at the show.
Last year, with NXT’s inclusion, both the men’s and women’s elimination matches went on for nearly half an hour each. With only 10 Superstars from RAW and SmackDown's men's and women's rosters involved, respectively, WWE can cut down the time and ensure that the PPV does not run too long.
Last year’s Survivor Series hosted a total of 10 matches during the event. This year, WWE could wrap up the event with six to seven matches to ensure the quality of the show remains high.
With no live audience in attendance, WWE could aim to make the show shorter and more impactful while relying on the ThunderDome once again.
#4 COVID-related concerns could have forced WWE NXT out of Survivor Series
WWE has been very cautious in their approach during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have not shied away from giving top Superstars such as Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, and others time to stay away from the ring to not risk their health. This could be a reason why the company has kept NXT out of the Survivor Series this year.
Last month, it was reported that there was a COVID outbreak in NXT that was taken very seriously by the company. Earlier this month, several Performance Center recruits and NXT talent reportedly approached the management to lodge their complaints regarding COVID protocols that were not being followed.
These concerns may have played out in the decision to take out NXT from Survivor Series this year as Superstars of RAW and SmackDown may not have been comfortable competing alongside NXT Superstars at this point.
Other than that, WWE will not be able to plan huge invasion angles like they did last year simply for the safety of the Superstars involved. NXT had some great invasion angles last year, but they won’t be able to do the same this time around.
Therefore, keeping them out of the mix could end up being a smart move and a way to keep their Superstars protected from additional health risks.
#3 The pandemic will not allow WWE NXT UK Superstars to feature in Survivor Series
Just like every other industry, WWE has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in several ways. This could play into the plans for Survivor Series, too.
While many of WWE’s top Superstars had to stay away from competition for extended periods, some wanted to compete but couldn’t due to travel restrictions.
NXT’s United Kingdom wing also took a blow due to the pandemic as the company stopped NXT UK events, and NXT UK Superstars could not compete against NXT Surpertstars due to travel restrictions.
NXT was forced to crown a new NXT Cruiserweight Champion as well during the restrictions to ensure that the title held by NXT UK’s Jordan Devlin at the time remained in contention.
While NXT UK is up and running again, the involvement of NXT UK Superstars in Team NXT for Survivor Series will not be possible. This will be a big blow to the brand that relies on its UK Superstars to round out their brand's image.
Last year, WALTER, Pete Dunne, Toni Storm, Fabian Aichner, and Marcel Barthel were a few of the NXT UK Superstars who represented NXT during the event. Similarly, WWE may have planned to have some NXT UK Superstars perform at the event before scrapping the idea completely due to travel restrictions.
#2 The status of Finn Balor could hurt WWE Survivor Series plans
Since his return to WWE NXT, Finn Balor has been one of the biggest Superstars performing on the brand and someone who could have pulled in viewers for Survivor Series.
The Prince of NXT defeated Adam Cole in an epic battle to become a two-time NXT Champion, and he has ensured that all eyes have remained on him whenever he has been scheduled for a match.
During his defense against Kyle O’Reilly at NXT TakeOver 31, Balor severely injured his jaw and is currently out of action. While he has had surgery and is recovering well, we are not sure when he will be back in action and whether he will be 100 percent healthy in time for Survivor Series.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns is set to take on WWE Champion Randy Orton at Survivor Series, and Balor would have most likely made it a Triple Threat match had NXT been involved.
However, with the uncertainty surrounding one of the biggest Superstars of NXT, it would be difficult for the brand to go all-in at Survivor Series. Keeping that in mind, WWE could have planned to completely do away with NXT’s involvement at Survivor Series to keep their big stars out of competition, or Balor's injury could have influenced the decision.
#1 WWE could be saving Asuka vs Io Shirai for a bigger stage than Survivor Series
Talking of big stars, there seems to be no bigger in NXT right now than Io Shirai. Shirai is the current NXT Women’s Champion and she will likely be holding the title once Survivor Series arrives.
We typically see several dream matches take place during Survivor Series, such as the epic contest between Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan during the 2018 edition of the event.
However, some dream matches are best saved for later, and WWE could be looking to employ that logic for this year’s event. Last year, WWE did the same by keeping The Fiend Bray Wyatt away from Lesnar.
Shirai vs. Asuka could be considered a dream match, and the creatives could be waiting to have the two women face each other one-on-one on a bigger stage. This could work even better when one of the two women is working as a heel.
While Shirai has already competed against Sasha Banks in NXT, WWE could look to protect her against Asuka. Along with that, all three of the Women's Champions are babyfaces, and therefore the booking of the contest could get very tricky.
With the NXT Champion and NXT Women’s Champion out of the equation, WWE may have decided to go into this year’s Survivor Series without NXT’s involvement.
