5 Survivor Series matches WWE changed at the last moment

Survivor Series is one of WWE's most exciting pay-per-views, as the Superstars of the same brand put aside any bad blood to concentrate on their brand’s performance. The inter-brand competition has presented several dream matches in the last few years. For example, the WWE Universe has seen Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan, The Shield vs The New Day, and Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura just to name a few.

Apart from the ‘Champion vs Champion’ contests, WWE also sets up the traditional 5-on-5 Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series. With a number of choices in hand, WWE Creative almost always puts on a marvelous show in November.

WWE have raised the stakes this time by adding NXT into the mix for the first time, as fans will witness a three-way clash for brand supremacy. The company has already announced a Triple Threat Match featuring all three brands' female champions. Becky Lynch (RAW), Bayley (SmackDown), and Shayna Baszler (NXT) will represent their respective brands and clash at the big pay-per-view.

The WWE Universe expects the company to officially announce more matches soon, but one must know that it is not 100% certain that fans will witness the bouts as they are announced. In the preceding two years, WWE changed the following five matches at the last moment. Therefore, fans should expect the same to repeat again this year.

(Please Note - This list considers the Survivor Series shows after 2016)

#5 Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles, Survivor Series 2018

Starting with the 2018 Survivor Series pay-per-view, WWE announced a rematch of the ‘Champion vs Champion’ match from 2017 by scheduling a clash between Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and WWE Champion AJ Styles in the main event.

Since Brock defeated Styles in their first encounter, fans expected ‘The Phenomenal One’ to destroy ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in 2018. However, WWE changed this contest just a few days prior to Survivor Series, as Daniel Bryan turned heel and seized the WWE Championship.

Later, Brock and Bryan had had an excellent match in the main event. Lesnar won the exciting bout, but AJ Styles, who was once set to headline the event, watched the show from home.

#4 Ronda Rousey vs Becky Lynch, Survivor Series 2018

This was the hottest angle heading into Survivor Series 2018

Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey ruled WWE in the second half of 2018. While Becky had developed into the most over character on TV after her heel turn, Ronda proved herself as a force to reckon with by securing the RAW Women’s Championship. The two fierce female Superstars were set for a ‘Once in a Lifetime Showdown’ at Survivor Series 2018.

The build-up to this match was superb as both Superstars and WWE Creative played their part to perfection. A minor botch from RAW Superstar Nia Jax kept the WWE Universe from witnessing this ‘Champion vs Champion’ bout.

When the SmackDown Live female Superstars invaded RAW, Nia injured Becky so badly that she was forced to miss the Survivor Series pay-per-view. Lynch then chose Charlotte Flair as her replacement on the following episode of SmackDown and fans watched a Survivor Series clash between ‘The Queen’ and ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey.

That contest ended in a disqualification, but Lynch and Rousey crossed paths again later in 2019 when they main evented WrestleMania 35 alongside Charlotte Flair. At the end of the match, ‘The Man’ won both premier championships.

#3 Brock Lesnar vs Jinder Mahal, Survivor Series 2017

WWE’s SmackDown Live brand was very different in 2017. While Brock Lesnar is still the top guy on RAW, then WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, has been running after the 24/7 Title. Mahal was the recipient of a shocking push in mid-2017 as Vince McMahon sought to break into the Indian market. He crowned the Indo-Canadian Superstar as WWE Champion and aligned him with Samir and Sunil Singh.

The Indian faction reigned supreme on the ‘B’ show for nearly 6 months, during which Mahal beat the likes of Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, and Luke Harper. Mahal then proceeded to issue a challenge to Brock Lesnar for a match at Survivor Series.

Fans disliked WWE’s idea, as they did not wish to see a squash match in inter-brand warfare. This is likely why creative ended Jinder’s reign at the hands of AJ Styles on the penultimate SmackDown Live episode before Survivor Series.

Although Styles did not defeat Lesnar, the two Superstars put on a fabulous show for the Survivor Series crowd. The WWE Universe can only imagine what would have happened had WWE continued with their initial plan.

#2 Natalya vs Alexa Bliss, Survivor Series 2017

WWE wanted the heel-face dynamic in this match

Yet another Survivor Series match that WWE amended at the final second was the contest between SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya and RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. Since both female Superstars portrayed heel characters, WWE wished to have a face Superstar in the mix.

While audiences do not usually mind a one-off ‘heel vs heel’ bout, WWE had already announced another clash of the same type where United States Champion Baron Corbin was set to collide with Intercontinental Champion The Miz. To spice things up on the women’s side, WWE booked Charlotte Flair to secure the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

‘The Queen’ subsequently got the better of the RAW Women’s Champion at the inter-brand warfare to pull off a crucial victory for Team SmackDown Live.

Natalya, on the other hand, joined the other four female stars of the Blue Brand in the traditional 5-on-5 Tag Team Elimination Match. The Canadian Superstar received her rematch at Clash of Champions in December, however, she could not get her title back and has yet to return to the title picture.

#1 The Shield vs The Usos, Survivor Series 2017

WWE booked an epic ‘Champion vs Champion’ contest at Survivor Series 2017 where they pitted two-thirds of The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, against The Usos. Since all four Superstars possessed unique qualities, fans were clamoring to see this bout.

Rollins is a proven in-ring technician, while Dean is someone who can charm the crowd with odd moves. On the other side, the Samoan twins, Jimmy and Jey, are tag team professionals who had entrenched themselves as WWE's elite tag team.

Heading into #SurvivorSeries, which brand are you rooting for?#RAW #SmackDown #WWENXT
— Sportskeeda Wrestling (@SKProWrestling) November 4, 2019

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However, WWE had other ideas for the show as Rollins and Ambrose dropped their titles to The Bar just a few weeks before Survivor Series. Sheamus and Cesaro battled The Usos at Survivor Series while Roman Reigns joined forces with his Shield brothers to fight against The New Day, as the trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods cost the The Shield their championships.

Both matches entertained the fans, but now that Dean Ambrose has left WWE, we may never see the tag team bout the company advertised for Survivor Series 2017.