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Here we are then, the 2018 edition of the Survivor Series is now officially in the record books. Taking place at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, the event was largely based around the Raw brand going up against the SmackDown brand. Or, y’know, Stephanie McMahon vs Shane McMahon – because you’ve gotta get those McMahon's front ‘n’ centre, right? Seemingly, a major PPV wouldn’t be a major PPV without it having some sort of involvement from a list one McMahon.
As it would happen, Raw would dominate the Blue Brand, claiming a 6-0 decimation when all was said and done. Well, unless you count the pre-show win for SmackDown in the many, many, many-man tag match, but let’s face it, who really counts the pre-show these days?
Whilst some WWE PPVs *cough* Crown Jewel *cough* have been awful in the past few months, Survivor Series was, for the most part, a good show. Even with the Raw brand winning out in every match, the PPV still came off as engaging and entertaining for the majority of its runtime. Sure, there were some so-so matches, but there were also some fantastic matches, too.
With all of that in mind, then, let’s take a look at the 5 biggest winners now that Survivor Series is in our rear-view mirror.
5) Charlotte Flair
Sure, a good chunk of Charlotte Flair’s match against Ronda Rousey saw fans chanting for Becky Lynch, but still, by the time all was said and done, The Queen’s stock had massively risen once she’d finished with Rousey.
Flair would end up losing the bout via DQ after assaulting Ronda with a kendo stick, then continuing her assault even further by bringing a steel chair into play. And that, dear readers, is when Charlotte received the shot in the arm that she’s so desperately been in need of over the past several months.
Let’s face it, the seven-time Women’s Champion has lost a whole lot of steam, particular in how WWE creative bungled her feud with Becky Lynch. Going up against Becky right now was an unenviable slot for Flair, largely due to how WWE continued to reinforce Charlotte as the babyface and Lynch as the heel – something that many vocal fans were against.
Added to this, if we’re all honest with ourselves, Charlotte Flair is far, far more effective as a cocky, vicious heel. By the time that her Survivor Series match was over, Charlotte had turned heel, yet was actually getting some notable cheers from those in attendance.
On both fronts, at least getting a strong reaction is something for Flair right now, and even more encouraging is that much-needed heel turn.
4) The Cruiserweight Division
Wait, what? Yes, yes that was indeed a cruiserweight match that we all saw on Survivor Series. Crazy, right?!
Bar October’s Super Show Down event, which was purely due to Australian native Buddy Murphy getting showcased in his hometown, the WWE hasn’t featured a cruiserweight match on the main portion of a PPV since Greatest Royal Rumble. Shockingly, that was way back in April of this year. Even at WrestleMania 34, the Cruiserweight Championship wasn’t featured on the main show; instead, Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander doing battle for the belt on the pre-show.
The point being, one of the big winners coming out of Survivor Series is the cruiserweight division as a whole. It may not seem like much to many, but having Buddy Murphy defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Mustafa Ali on the main card is a huge win for the 205 Live crew.
Going one better than that, of course, Murphy and Ali put on a massively impressive match that was one of the very best on the Survivor Series show.
Whether this was all merely a one-off remains to be seen, but purely for their showing here, Murphy and Ali have surely shown that the cruiserweights deserve a regular spot on the main card of each and every PPV going forward.
3) Nia Jax
How do you reward somebody who legitimately punched your hottest star so hard that she suffered a “broken face” and concussion that was so severe that she’s had to miss out on the most anticipated match of one of your biggest shows of the year? Why you take all of that hatred and run with it.
That has certainly been the case with Nia Jax, with the WWE making the smart move to maximise the fan hatred towards Nia and embrace her as an uber-heel.
From the moment she stepped out from behind the curtain, Jax was constantly booed in whatever she did. The fans in attendance had such anger towards the former WWE Women’s Champion for robbing them of seeing Becky Lynch battle Ronda Rousey, and the WWE manipulated this situation perfectly.
Coming out of Survivor Series, Nia Jax is arguably the most hated heel in the entire company. And that is definitely a huge bonus for Nia following her so-so heel turn and allegiance with Tamina Snuka. Now, Jax is legitimately booed at every turn and, for her part here, she played up to that brilliantly.
Added to this, up next for Nia is a Women’s Championship match against Ronda Rousey, not to mention surely a money bout against Lynch at some point down the line.
2) Daniel Bryan
Granted, he ultimately got beat by Brock Lesnar, but Daniel Bryan and his new heel persona came out of Survivor Series looking great.
Of course, for the first part of that bout, D-Bry was handed an absolute beating by Lesnar, including plentiful scary looking suplexes by Paul Heyman’s Beast. At that point, you’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe Bryan was about to be squashed by Brock in a similar way to John Cena at SummerSlam 2014. Fortunately, that was only part of the story here.
Once the Bryan vs Brock match got going, you realised that the whole point of that decimation was merely to set up the underdog comeback by the recently anointed WWE Champion. When it came to it, Lesnar would beat Bryan with a clean 1-2-3 in the middle of the ring, but the former American Dragon had put on a great showing and brought a fantastic match out of Lesnar.
Since Brock’s WWE return in 2012, he’s had a few good matches and very few great matches. Most notably, it was against CM Punk and AJ Styles that Lesnar has looked at his best, and here we saw Daniel Bryan again bring out the best in the one-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Not only does Bryan have a whole bunch of credibility on his side after Survivor Series, but now we as fans hopefully have an utterly engaging feud between Bryan and Styles to look forward to over the next few months.
1) Becky Lynch
How does somebody not even on the show manage to come out of Survivor Series looking and feeling like the biggest star in the company? Quite simply, because it’s Becky F’n Lynch.
Over the past several months, Lynch has become the hottest star in the entire WWE. Despite of – or should that be in spite of? – the WWE attempting to turn Becky Balboa heel, the fans have rallied behind the Irish Lass Kicker and given her reactions that are hands-down the biggest pops on whichever show or PPV she appears on. Lynch is a star. The fans know it, and finally, it appears as if the WWE has started to acknowledge it.
Many have compared Becky to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and that in itself is a bold, bold claim. Truth be told, though, in the modern climate, it’s a comparison that has to be taken seriously. Lynch is on fire right now, she’s white-hot, and now it’s a case of hoping that she’s not out of action for too long following her “broken face” and concussion suffered at the (literal) hands of Nia Jax.
At Survivor Series, the person who fans were behind the loudest was Becky Lynch; chants for Becky erupting at an intense volume throughout the Ronda vs Charlotte fight.
Right now, Becky Lynch has proved how a talent can become something special if only afforded the opportunity. So much so, that she was the most popular performer on a show where she wasn’t even involved in, period.
Now, can we just get to Lynch vs Rousey at WrestleMania already?
