Upcoming weekend should be one of the best in WWE history (Opinion)

Survivor Series and NXT Takeover: WarGames should provide us with some great action this weekend.
Survivor Series and NXT Takeover: WarGames should provide us with some great action this weekend.

If you consider yourself a fan of the WWE, you better make sure not to miss the action this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday.

As is customary with the 'Big 4' PPVs, NXT is also holding an event the same weekend. While sometimes the Yellow Brand has outshined the main roster shows (Takeover:Brooklyn 1-4, last year's WarGames), this weekend both shows should deliver.

NXT Takeover: WarGames kicks off the festivities on Saturday night.
NXT Takeover: WarGames kicks off the festivities on Saturday night.

Almost all of the top stars will be a part of the second version of WarGames, with EC3 one of the glaring omissions from the card. But with such a talented main-event crop of talent, someone was going to miss out.

One big change from the usual Takeover lineups is the number of matches. Typically, an NXT PPV card features five matches in total.

This Takeover will only feature four, but what a hell of a lineup of four matches.

We have what should be an amazing match between the returning Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano.

NXT creative played the long game with the slow burn of Gargano's descent into madness. He was obsessed with Tomasso Ciampa, fighting him in three big matches. He failed to win the NXT Title in the latest showdown, so him snapping seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Black has always delivered in his PPV matches and with an opponent the calibre of Gargano, this match will be a study in character-driven showdowns.

Black is the cool antihero who was attacked from behind before he had a chance to regain his NXT Title. He's furious and wants his revenge on Gargano. Gargano was the underdog hero pushed to the brink of madness, only to give in to the madness.

Whoever loses this match should debut in January's Royal Rumble.

If that match wasn't personal enough, the fourth meeting between Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler should be just as, if not more, personal than the Black/Gargano match.

The two ladies have exchanged the title twice with Baszler regaining the title at WWE Evolution thanks to interference from Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

To up the stakes, the ladies will be competing in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. These matches are usually marathons, so along with the WarGames match, the drop to four matches is understandable.

We also have to of the best character performers in NXT vying for the NXT Title. Champion Tomasso Ciampa will be defending against one of the best homegrown talents in WWE history, the Velveteen Dream.

No matter where Dream has been placed on the card, he's always delivered fantastic matches. Will he make the rest of NXT purple with envy with a title win?

The Undisputed Era has the only wrestlers to compete in both versions of NXT WarGames.
The Undisputed Era has the only wrestlers to compete in both versions of NXT WarGames.

And capping off the matches is the WarGames match itself between the Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong and Adam Cole) vs. the team of War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne.

The War Raiders will throw people around and Ricochet will provide many high-flying spots. Expect everyone to pull out all the stops like they did last year. All of the wrestlers involved are amazing sellers, so this match should leave viewers full with the first helping of WWE action.


AJ gets another crack at defeating the beast this weekend.
AJ gets another crack at defeating the beast this weekend.

Ever since the brand split returned, the Raw vs. Smackdown angle has helped to rejuvenate the Survivor Series PPV.

The thought of the top champions of both shows doing battle with one another is a smart move and almost feels like a version of Night of Champions.

Even if the highly-anticipated match between Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey does not go down as reports have suggested, the rest of the matches on the card are more than enough to make up for the potential postponement of the showdown between each brand's Women's Champion.

If it does go down, this will be Ronda's toughest and most likely best match since joining the WWE.

The Cruiserweight Title match between champion Buddy Murphy and challenger Mustafa Ali should be a barnburner. Both performers are among the best on 205 Live and both have delivered in every match on the show. The brand has been rebuilt around those two and Cedric Alexander and each performer has made it must-watch TV.

The Tag Team traditional Survivor Series match should be a fun spot-filled match. There will be tons of men on the ring apron, so it will almost have the look of a lumberjack match with the lumberjacks on the apron.

The ladies' 5-on-5 match has an interesting dynamic with the announcement of the Raw's team on Monday.

It's made up of mostly heels (Nia Jax, Tamina, Ruby Riott, Mickie James) and Natalya, so expect the Smackdown women's team to be the underdog and fan favorite even after the beatdown they gave Raw's women last night.

And then we have the Champion vs. Champion matches.

Seth Rollins has been possibly the best WWE performer this year. Almost all of the matches he's had regarding the Intercontinental Title have been gold. He even stamped that beforehand with an hour-long performance in Gauntlet Match on Raw.

Nakamura has been underused as United States Champion, but this should be a dream match on paper.

Both guys always deliver in straight-up wrestling matches (no gimmicks) so expect this one to be one of the best of the night.

The Authors of Pain will probably win their match against the Bar because they just won the titles last week.

Nonetheless, Sheamus and Cesaro aren't exactly the normal guys AOP throws around. They can likely match AOP strike for strike and power for power, so this could steal the show with four brutishly strong guys in the ring at the same time.

Who takes home the men's battle for brand supremacy?
Who takes home the men's battle for brand supremacy?

If you look at the picture above, the teams clearly don't appear to be equally matched.

Outside of the Miz, Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe, Smackdown's team isn't that intimidating. Shane isn't a wrestler but always gets his punches in. Rey Mysterio always provides some fun spots, but does he really pose a threat to anyone other than Finn Balor on Team Raw?

Raw's team is riddled with storylines. Will Braun keep up his team spirit or will Corbin be a tool and force Braun to 'give Corbin his hands'?

When will Dolph and Drew break up? Could this be the start of the downfall? And will Lashley do more for the team than bending over as he did on Monday Night Raw?

It just seems too stacked for Raw to lose, so those are usually the moments when the underdogs win. If Bryan and Miz can co-exist, they have a great shot of taking home the first win for the Smackdown win in three years.

Even though we saw Brock and AJ battle at last year's Survivor Series, AJ got perhaps Brock's best match since he became the Universal Champion the first time.

Expect this to be another great match regardless of who wins. AJ can hopefully get the best out of Brock again and give the fans another match to chant 'this is awesome' at.

Instead of predicting which show will be better, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy both shows.

Each offers something totally different than the other and each is filled with matches that should not disappoint.

If everyone or at least 75% of the matches deliver, it should be considered a success. It's also extremely important for all three brands because it will set the stage for the rest of 2018 and the lead up to the Royal Rumble.

Several storylines may be set in motion (Dean vs. Seth singles matches, Braun vs. the world, Daniel Bryan vs. Miz).

So if you've soured on Survivor Series or have nothing to watch this weekend, tune in on both Saturday night and Sunday night. We just might be watching one of the best weekends in WWE history.