5 things WWE should have done differently at Survivor Series

Survivor Series has been received fairly well by the WWE Universe, with a lot of surprises, some great action, and entertaining storylines. We saw Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan put up a great show in the finale, while we saw an interesting heel turn by Charlotte Flair, who faced Ronda Rousey but lost by DQ, in a match that showcased both Superstars' phenomenal talents.

But there have been a few things that the WWE Universe weren't impressed about or what WWE could have differently/better to make storylines or the show much more interesting and a better spectacle.

Here are 5 things WWE should have done differently at Survivor Series

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#1 No surprise 5th pick for SmackDown Women's team

Mandy Rose was the fifth member of Team SmackDown

The women's elimination match was to feature five Superstars from RAW and five from SmackDown, but the final Superstar of SmackDown wasn't announced till Survivor Series day.

Charlotte was supposed to be the fifth member of Team SmackDown, but following Becky Lynch's injury which resulted in her being removed from her match with Ronda Rousey, Charlotte was added to the singles match and there was one final member to be added to Team SmackDown.

Prior to the match, there were more changes as Ruby Riott and Natalya were removed from Team RAW, and replaced with Sasha Banks and Bayley. The fifth member of SmackDown was Mandy Rose, which was not much of a surprise and what was expected from WWE.

The WWE could have added a curveball and brought in a new Superstar, someone like Shayna Baszler, to fill in the huge shoes of Charlotte Flair.

Baszler is the NXT women's champion and it would have been fitting to add her to the match after winning her match against Kairi Sane a day earlier.

The SmackDown team lacked star power, with Asuka the only big name in the match, while RAW had Sasha Banks and Bayley, who are crowd favourites, while Nia Jax was the biggest name in the match.

#2 Mustafa Ali losing

Mustafa Ali

Since signing with the WWE in 2016, Mustafa Ali has wowed fans on 205 Live with high-flying, death-defying moves and action. Ali is one of the fan favourites on 205 Live and fans have been clamouring for him to be given more opportunities at the Cruiserweight title.

The 32-year-old won a No. 1 Contender's match on the October 31st episode of 205 Live and was given a shot at the Cruiserweight title at Survivor Series, against Buddy Murphy.

Mustafa Ali vs Buddy Murphy stole the show and they proved how talented they both are once again. The announce table Spanish Fly spot was this match in a nutshell.#SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/yVHBXug6n5

— #ThankYouStanLee (@thegsatgaming) November 19, 2018

The two Cruiserweights put on a great show, with some exceptional high-flying moves, and was one of the most exciting matches of the night, purely from a wrestling point-of-view. The match was Murphy's first title defense since winning it in his homeland of Australia at Super Show-Down, and after a knee to the face of Ali, Murphy got the win.

Ali is one of the most talented stars on 205 Live, and even on WWE, and should have won the belt as it was much deserved.

#3 Squashing Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe was squashed in under a minute

Much like other former NXT Superstars like Finn Balor or Booby Roode, Samoa Joe has often been underutilised and not pushed on the main roster. The former NXT Champion, who was a part of Team SmackDown was squashed in just 35 seconds in the men's 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match, by Drew McIntyre.

McIntyre delivered a Claymore Kick to Joe, in a match that was dominated by the two big men on RAW - Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman.

It seemed like the match was set-up just to make the aforementioned two RAW Superstars look good and push them, and everyone else was just a pawn in their destruction.

It was a pity that Joe wasn't used well as he was the only legitimate big man who could have taken on McIntyre and Strowman from Team SmackDown.

It remains to be seen what Joe's future is on SmackDown with the potential feuds slowly diminishing, and it seems like he may go the Finn Balor way on the blue brand.

#4 SmackDown not even getting off the mark

Daniel Bryan lost to Brock Lesnar

RAW finished the night 6-0, with the sole victory for Team SmackDown coming in the Kickoff show, where the tag teams on the blue brand won the tag team elimination match. But, WWE, surprisingly, haven't counted that victory in the overall wins tracker.

It was quite obvious that Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar, two of the main people of the women's and men's divisions on WWE television, holding the two most prestigious belts, respectively, would not be beaten at Survivor Series.

But WWE could have given more victories to Team SmackDown elsewhere. The women's team could have won their 5-on-5 elimination match, with perhaps Nia Jax turning on her teammates to add more heat to her character.

Shinsuke Nakamura could also have won his match against Seth Rollins to give him a much-needed push in his slowly fading NakAmerica gimmick, while a loss for Rollins would've also made his feud with Dean Ambrose interesting, which would've shown that Rollins can battle adversity and get back to winning ways like any great babyface.

#5 Finish to the Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair match

Charlotte Flair assaulted Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series

The heel turn by Charlotte against Ronda Rousey was something we did not see coming. At the moment, it does not make sense as Becky Lynch, Charlotte's possible rival on SmackDown, is also a heel.

Are WWE setting up a feud between WWE's Four Horsewomen and MMA's Four Horsewomen? That seems unlikely considering how Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir - the two other Four Horsewomen of MMA alongside Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, haven't even debuted on WWE.

In the match between Rousey and Flair, which was one of the matches of the night, we could've possibly seen more action before Flair hit Rousey with the kendo stick and chair to get a DQ. The finish to the match left us with more questions than answers, which is great storytelling, but there could have been more in-ring wrestling to showcase both Superstars' talents.

Rousey left the ring with boos directed towards, which is surprising considering how she put on a great match, but WWE could have got her more sympathy if they had finished the match a little differently, maybe Charlotte walking away from the ring and counted out.