Survivor Series General Discussion

[Jack-Hammer]

It was announced at Crown Jewel that Raw, SmackDown and NXT would be participating in this year's Survivor Series PPV. No other details were given, so we're left to speculate for the time being as to how fun this might be or how much of a trainwreck it might be.

If their intention is to involve NXT in all the matches, then expect a card comprised almost entirely of triple threat matches, especially if WWE goes the rout of doing champion vs. champion matches again. Personally, I just have a bad feeling about this, a feeling that WWE is ultimately going to use NXT as something of a sacrificial lamb in order to bolster Raw and SmackDown with the result being that NXT really does come off looking like the minor leagues. Think about it...Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Adam Cole. You know what's going to happen: WWE has Adam Cole in the match so that neither Lesnar or Wyatt takes a loss while Cole ultimately winds up being made to look like some sort of scrub.

Personally, I think they should keep this simple and have a big Survivor Series match with Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT and ultimately have team NXT come out the winners. Simply have NXT involved in what one, single match, make the brand look good, elevate the brand by giving it the win in that setting rather than one of the bigger two and leave it at that. Of course, that in and of itself presents a problem as WarGames will be held the night before and you know that most of the members who'd comprise Team NXT would be in the WarGames match itself; considering the brutal nature of the match and the brutality in which it's hyped, I think it'd hurt the match a bit to just have men who'd been half to death in a double ringed steel cage match just 24 hours before compete in a match as if it was nothing.

I just hope Vince doesn't fuck over NXT.

[Y 2 Jake]

I'd keep NXT out of it but I also wouldn't do the Smackdown vs. Raw thing either. It's too soon after the Draft and I like to think that superstars might have a bit more of an allegiance towards their brand.

That said, I want to see Lesnar vs. The Fiend.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I'd be shocked if Vince makes NXT look bad. Chances are the entire point of NXT's inclusion is to shine a spotlight on the brand and convince fans to watch it each week. Vince isn't going to sit back and let AEW get higher ratings, and he definitely wouldn't intentionally damage the brand competing against it.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Don't like the inclusion of NXT, but HHH won't make his developmental brand look weak.

[Y 2 Jake]

Last year at Survivor Series Vince squashed Smackdown.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Here are 3 dominant matches with NXT involved. Obviously replace bray with seth.

[Y 2 Jake]

It's an annual tradition to change the WWE champion a week or so before the show now.

[Stone Cold Tea]

NXT should be made to look inferior because it is. You don't see NXT wrestlers on PPV cards and they dont get a spot on the Wrestlemania card. They all strive to make it to Raw or Smackdown.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

NXT should be made to look inferior because it is. You don't see NXT wrestlers on PPV cards and they dont get a spot on the Wrestlemania card. They all strive to make it to Raw or Smackdown.

Maybe I'm overthinking things, but while this show should be a great night of wrestling, it could be much more.

NXT is the third brand and behind Raw and SD in importance and popularity, but it's still going head-to-head with AEW. This show will be many WWE fans first exposure to NXT, so Vince has an opportunity to convince those fans to watch NXT each week. If WWE's "c-show" beats Dynamite in the ratings, AEW looks awful and has zero chance of ever competing with Raw and SD.

However it's also a little risky. If the third brand looks better than Raw and SD, it hurts those shows to a certain extent. They have to find a balance.

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE is definitely going for the threeway dance formula for Survivor Series as two of the three matches officially announced for the show are triple threat as the three brand's Women's and Tag Team Champions will face off against each other.

WWE is abandoning the champ vs. champ format on this year's show as it pertains to the World Championships, which is a good thing as Vince isn't having Brock lose again anytime soon, the Fiend certainly doesn't need a loss right now and Adam Cole shouldn't be used as a sacrificial lamb to protect the other two. With that being said, Brock Lesnar defends the WWE title against Rey Mysterio.

It's anybody's guess what they'll do with Bray Wyatt for the show.

As of right now, the show will probably look something like this when it's all said and done:

Men's Survivor Series Match - Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT
Wpmen's Survivor Series Match - Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT
Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion - AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong
Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion - Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Bayley
Champion vs. Champion vs. Champion - The Viking Raiders vs. The Undisputed Era vs. The Revival

The inclusion of NXT in this year's show also has the unfortunate effect of NXT also being dragged along in a program that ignores continuity. You have guys who're gonna be at each other's throats in NXT the night before, given that TakeOver: WarGames takes place the night before and, miraculously, these people are going to put aside their grudges for one night to work together in an effort to show which brand is the best despite the fact that none of this brand competition stuff exists the rest of the entire year in WWE.