7 things that need to happen at Survivor Series

The second longest running pay-per-view will be marking its 32nd birthday this Sunday but this will only be the third consecutive year of the ‘brand warfare’ angle. The card is already stacked, with three Survivor Series elimination matches pitting the men, the women and the tag teams against each other. On top of this, there are also three Champion vs. Champion matches, which include Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins against United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar against the new WWE Champion Daniel Bryan.

As 2018 draws to an end, Survivor Series will arguably be the most significant pay-per-view remaining to steer the storylines heading into the Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania 35. With a fair few dream matches scheduled for Survivor Series including Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey, it is easy to assume that this Sunday's PPV could be among the best pay-per-views WWE have had this year. However, there are certain things that need to happen to make sure that Survivor Series doesn’t fall flat.

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#7 Daniel Bryan doesn’t get squashed by Brock Lesnar

Daniel Bryan needs to be portrayed as strong, regardless if he wins or not.

On the go-home episode of SmackDown before Survivor Series 2018, the WWE Title storyline had two shocking twists. Not only did Daniel Bryan defeat the third longest reigning WWE Champion in the last 30 years, but he did so in a shocking heel turn despite being one of the biggest babyfaces in the WWE in recent years. Much like Styles’ victory over Jinder Mahal little over a year ago, his win has also changed the complexion of the Champion vs Champion match against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.

In an ideal world, the majority of the WWE Universe would prefer Daniel Bryan to win the confrontation with Brock Lesnar outright, but if you consider the fact that Brock Lesnar has only been pinned or submitted three times in the last five and a half years, it is highly unlikely we’ll see another shock by Daniel Bryan this Sunday.

Since Brock Lesnar captured his first Universal Championship 18 months ago (back at WrestleMania 33), Lesnar has, simply put, been an unstoppable force. With the exception of his one loss at SummerSlam 2018, he has squashed all his opponents in one-on-one action, including the likes of Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns. The only other exception to this rule is the match he had against AJ Styles at last years’ Survivor Series – although Styles came up short, the fight he gave Lesnar was not that of someone who looked weak.

Although Bryan’s recent victory means this rematch will no longer happen, the new match shouldn’t be another example of a one-sided Lesnar fight. Daniel Bryan has more than enough skill to hang with the former UFC champion, and while we may not see Daniel Bryan win, the WWE Universe shouldn’t have to see him get squashed either.

#6 Shane McMahon avoids turning into a villain

McMahon threatens to fire whoever loses the finals of the World Cup

If there is one thing that has proven to be unpopular in recent years, it is villainous characters making authority decisions to benefit themselves. From the likes of John Laurinaitis, Stephanie McMahon and currently Constable Corbin, none of them have proved that WWE Universe will support or even be remotely interested in their decisions.

In fact, it is evident from the weekly shows that the WWE Universe prefers a friendlier or fair person in charge (e.g, Daniel Bryan, Paige, or even William Regal for NXT). With the ongoing power struggle on Raw slowly shifting in Baron Corbin’s favor following Kurt Angle’s humiliating loss to Drew McIntyre, the WWE should strike a balance by avoiding both weekly shows being run by villains.

Shane McMahon’s recent appearances have been questionable at best to the WWE Universe. In recent weeks, he has threatened to fire someone from the SmackDown roster if they didn’t win the World Cup from Raw at Crown Jewel only to randomly insert himself in the finals of the same tournament against Dolph Ziggler, who already fought twice earlier in the night. The suggestion is that he is slowly going from his much-loved character to the spoilt brat character when he joined The Corporation or having purchased WCW from under Vince McMahon.

For fear of too many similarities between the weekly shows, WWE need to avoid this – especially at Survivor Series, and especially whilst Corbin and Stephanie McMahon still have a stranglehold on Raw. If Shane was to turn on anyone from the blue brand, all it means is that the brand warfare of the last two years effectively counts for nothing.

Shane and Stephanie have constantly said that wrestlers need to put their own personal feuds aside to protect their brand but if Shane decides to attack anyone for whatever reason, then brand warfare will not be a possible option for any future Survivor Series pay-per-views while Shane is still in power.

#5 The men’s Raw team to implode costing them the match

There are a lot of problems within the Raw team.

The last few Survivor Series pay-per-views have suggested that regardless of whatever motivational speech the commissioner or general manager tells their roster, there will be an implosion within one or both of the teams. Despite the SmackDown team not having any real internal problems after Daniel Bryan’s recent win against AJ Styles, this year should still be no different with cataclysmic problems in the men’s Raw team.

On one hand, you have Braun Strowman seeking revenge on the general manager and team captain, Constable Corbin after costing him the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel. On another hand, you have Drew McIntyre’s humiliating win against Kurt Angle causing Finn Balor to take offense. Finally, there’s always the option of Kurt Angle interfering, tied in with the conflict of wanting Raw to win but not Corbin.

While minor squabbles within a team won’t usually cost a match, as Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles in the 2016 edition of the pay-per-view can attest to, there are simply too many problems within the men’s Raw team, and a loss will shift the dynamic of Raw for the next few months.

#4 Shinsuke Nakamura needs to win clean

Shinsuke needs a much-needed victory.

Shinsuke Nakamura is a proven Champion around the world with three IWGP Championships and two WWE NXT Championships to his name. His general behavior, mannerisms and of course wrestling ability cemented his status in the WWE and, with just over a year spent on the developmental show, Nakamura was a quick call up to SmackDown.

However, after being called up on the main shows, it is fair to say that he has done very little since. With the exception of his Royal Rumble victory in 2018, he has failed to capture the WWE Championship on six different occasions, failed to capture the Money in the Bank Contract in 2017, was the first man to be eliminated at last years’ Survivor Series 5-on-5 Elimination match, and most recently failed to even qualify for the WWE World Cup.

Shinsuke Nakamura has currently held the WWE United States Championship for over 4 months and will head into Survivor Series as the current longest reigning Champion between the two brands. However, due to his sporadic appearances on both the weekly shows and pay-per-views, his reign doesn’t really count for anything. What makes it worse is that he’s yet to have a proper feud since capturing the title with the with the closest thing to a rivalry being with Jeff Hardy, who he captured the title from in the first place – and even then, that feud was more focused on Orton’s disdain for the Charismatic Enigma.

At Survivor Series, Shinsuke Nakamura will go head to head with the Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, and to avoid any further underutilization with Shinsuke and an opportunity to make the United States Championship relevant again, he needs a clean victory.

A result against Rollins, one of the biggest workhorses currently in the WWE, will instantly bring up his credentials again. However, with Rollins’ ongoing issues with his unpredictable former Shield brother Dean Ambrose, there is every chance that Dean could cost Rollins the match – if the WWE wants to showcase the talents of their United States Champion, this can’t be the way the match ends.

Even if Ambrose doesn’t interfere on the night, there is enough substance between the two that a feud is going to build up towards next years’ WrestleMania - however, if he does interfere, it’ll be another hollow victory for Shinsuke and another mark against an underwhelming reign for the United States champion.

#3 Rousey and Charlotte to go the distance

This match has the star power to headline WrestleMania.

With the recent legitimate injury following Becky Lynch’s appearance on Raw, WWE have had to make a sudden storyline change, with the Queen, Charlotte Flair taking on Ronda Rousey in a match that has the potential to headline WrestleMania. Although Rousey’s career in the WWE is quite short at the moment, she has acquired Championships and titles in Strikeforce and the UFC. During the same time, Charlotte was building up her portfolio in the WWE starting off in NXT before going onto the main shows, where she has already achieved seven Championships to her name and counting.

Rousey’s arrival has been nothing short of destructive and she is still undefeated in all of her matches, beating Alexa Bliss along the way, a five-time champion by her own admission, in less than five minutes to capture her first Championship in the WWE. Since then, she’s continued to steamroll all of her opponents on Raw. Charlotte is arguably the best that the SmackDown women have to offer at the moment, and if the match doesn’t go the full distance on the night, it runs the risk of creating a Brock Lesnar UFC female counterpart, which, as confirmed by the majority of the WWE Universe, is a very unpopular route.

#2 Asuka to be the sole survivor again

Being sole survivor will propel Asuka back into the Women's Championship match.

Asuka’s undefeated streak at 900+ days is very unlikely to be eclipsed anytime in the near future and it can easily be argued that it will never get broken. When her streak finally got snapped at WrestleMania 34 in a very emotional ending against Charlotte, there was always going to be an element of concern as to where her character could go after such a huge high with accomplishments like being NXT Women’s Champion for over 16 months and being the first ever female Royal Rumble winner.

Whilst it’s safe to assume she was never going to be as unstoppable as she once was, the WWE seemed to take her in the complete opposite direction with her losing all four of her pay-per-view appearances since her loss at WrestleMania 34, including two Championship match opportunities to Carmella.

If WWE want to avoid keeping Asuka in the background, a victory as sole survivor on the night will throw her instantly back in the spotlight and considering she achieved that feat last year, it would be in both the WWE and Asuka’s interest to give one of the best female wrestlers in the world another title opportunity.

#1 SmackDown needs to win overall

SmackDown

need

to stand tall by the end of the pay-per-view.

When the WWE re-introduced the draft for the first time in five years in 2016, it officially split up both the wrestlers between the two weekly shows. Even though the pay-per-views have recently been merged into dual-branded events this year, it is clear that WWE are trying to advertise that Survivor Series like the one night where Raw and SmackDown go head to head against each other.

The ongoing storyline of brand warfare seems to only exist around the time of Survivor Series – it’s easy to see and safe to say that, even with the dual-branded pay-per-views, it’s been borderline non-existent throughout the rest of the year, with the exception of a few skits between Stephanie and Shane McMahon.

In the last two years, Raw has prevailed with 3-2 and 4-3 respectively on the night. Another overall victory for the Raw brand will make this Raw versus SmackDown feud very lopsided and something that could easily bury the brand warfare with an underwhelming conclusion. However, if the WWE are going to continue this storyline every year at Survivor Series, then SmackDown will need to win overall on the night this Sunday. What would make this more interesting is if SmackDown were to win convincingly, as a 5-2 result, as it’ll bring a combination of further turmoil and excitement on Raw, as Stephanie McMahon and Constable Corbin will be losing grasp on the title of the ‘A-Show’.