This year’s Survivor Series will be the 30th edition of WWE’s annual November event.
Survivor Series takes place at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, which is the first time a pay-per-view has taken place in Toronto since Unforgiven 2006.
As we sit here less than two months out from one of WWE’s “big four” events, there are a lot of potential main event matches that could take place. Before we get there, Smackdown has to do the No Mercy pay-per-view on October 9 and Raw has to do the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 30.
The assumption here is that Kevin Owens is likely going to remain the Universal Champion heading into Survivor Series because he just won the title one month ago. Then there’s AJ Styles, who won the WWE Title for the first time this month, so it’s also unlikely that he would head to Survivor Series without the title. Since they are the respective champions, it’s fair to assume that one of them may be in the main event of Survivor Series.
Could it be a triple threat? It’s possible, but with WWE doing a triple threat at No Mercy and perhaps at Hell in a Cell, it seems unlikely that they will do a triple threat at Survivor Series also.
On a personal note, I’ll be at Survivor Series (and NXT Takeover the night before), so I’m excited about it more than usual this year. The hope is that WWE does what they can to make it feel like a big event again because some years it really doesn’t feel that way.
Here are five ideas for what WWE could do in the main event of Survivor Series.
WWE.com
5. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Title
Ever since the brand split started in late July, WWE has made a point to not have current WWE Champion AJ Styles interact with Randy Orton. That was done for a reason – to keep the rivalry fresh so that when they do have a match it will feel fresh.
It would be easy to see why WWE may want to do this as a main event because Styles is the WWE Champion and Orton is one of the top faces on Smackdown.
The argument against this match is that Orton hasn’t been portrayed as a mega star on Smackdown. He got his ass kicked by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, then he got into this weird feud with Bray Wyatt and hasn’t really done anything memorable.
Would fans really get excited to see Orton in a main event of Survivor Series at this point in his career? Some would because of his historical star power, but some fans think he’s stale too. Orton has also been better as a heel in his career, so there are people that don’t want to see him as a face.
If the match happened, Styles likely would get the win and keep the title. He should be the champion long term.
Reigns confronting KO during RAW.
4. Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal & United States Titles
Owens is currently feuding with Seth Rollins. It could stretch several pay-per-views, but I think it’s very possible that Rollins ends up having a big match with Triple H at some point in the near future. Holding that match off until WrestleMania seems unlikely, so Rollins vs. Triple H at Survivor Series could be a reality.
If Rollins is busy feuding with Triple H then Owens would need a rival. That’s where Roman Reigns steps in because he’s the next face on the totem pole.
It would be nice if WWE believed in Sami Zayn enough to put him in this spot, but the guy is forgotten about by management more times than he is actually used. Cesaro never seems to be able to break through. Chris Jericho could turn face when Kevin Owens turns on him (it’s obvious that is going to happen), but that doesn’t seem like a Survivor Series main event like match.
Owens vs. Reigns would work well because both guys are holding titles right now, so it would be a way to merge the titles together at least temporarily. Since the Universal Title is still new, some fans may not see it as something that is that valuable. The US Title has become more valuable again in the last two years thanks to the likes of Rusev, John Cena and now Reigns.
At Hell in a Cell, Owens will likely get by Rollins somehow (thanks to Triple H interference?) and Reigns should finally end his rivalry with Rusev.
After that, Owens vs. Reigns sets up as a pretty big match where WWE can either put the Universal Title on Reigns (stop groaning) or really try to legitimize Owens as a top guy by having him win both titles. He can give up the US Title after the match, but I think holding both of them at the same time really would help Owens in the eyes of some fans that may not believe in him as a main eventer right now.
WWE.com
3. AJ Styles vs. John Cena for the WWE World Title
It could be argued that WWE’s feud of the year so far has been AJ Styles vs. John Cena. When Styles turned on Cena leading to their Money in the Bank match, it set of Styles’ awesome heel run.
At No Mercy, they are in a triple threat with Ambrose. The guess here is that Ambrose gets pinned in that match and Cena asks Styles for one more match with the WWE Title on the line.
A recent report noted that Cena’s going to work Survivor Series even though he will also be filming the American Grit TV show for Fox. Cena working Survivor Series was likely done because WWE knows they need his presence to make the show a big deal. It’s also the perfect spot to do Cena vs. Styles in a singles match one more time.
The story of Cena going for his 16th WWE World Title reign to tie Ric Flair is likely going to be talked about a lot, as evidenced by Cena’s commentary on Smackdown this week. That doesn’t mean he’s going to get it at No Mercy or Survivor Series. It could be something where WWE waits until WrestleMania 33 next year to put the WWE Title on him again, unless The Undertaker comes back for one more match to face him at WrestleMania.
The reason to do Styles vs. Cena one more time is because we know the match will be outstanding. Their first major match at Money in the Bank was great, but had a cheap finish. The SummerSlam match saw a clean win for Styles in what many people feel was WWE’s match of the year so far. Can they top it? Maybe. Seeing them go at it in singles with the WWE Title on the line would definitely raise the stakes.
Styles should hold the WWE Title into 2017 because he’s the best performer in WWE right now. If he doesn’t that’s okay because the Cena title win story would make a lot of people happy. It’s definitely the kind of rivalry that has gotten people to talk about wrestling in a good way.
WWE.com
2. Kevin Owens vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title
Brock Lesnar’s contract isn’t known in terms of whether he is scheduled for Survivor Series this year. However, it would make a lot of sense in the storyline assuming that the divide between Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley continues to grow.
Think of it in the storyline like this. Since Owens is the handpicked champion of Stephanie and her husband Triple H (who is likely going to return to television very soon), Foley could be the one that brings in Lesnar. Remember that Stephanie has said Foley is the one that makes the matches, so it could be Foley’s call to bring in Lesnar to face Owens.
The last time WWE fans saw Lesnar on television, he destroyed Randy Orton at SummerSlam. It was a very physical match that saw Lesnar elbow Orton in the head repeatedly to the point that Orton couldn’t continue anymore. They had the rematch at a Chicago live event last week, but it wasn’t shown on WWE television.
There’s a chance that WWE could view Lesnar as a heel as a result of his beating against Orton, but some fans are still going to cheer Lesnar. The “suplex city” chants are loud. There’s plenty of merchandise shilling that phrase too.
For a lot of fans, Lesnar vs. Owens is a dream match. They are two guys that wrestle a physical style and would likely be able to put on a memorable match. It would also be a “first time ever” match, which is something WWE could push heavily.
It would make a lot of sense for Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman to want this match. Lesnar’s already won the WWE Title multiple times. Now he wants to win the Universal Title. They don’t have to do a title change. I’m just saying it would make sense for Lesnar’s character want to win a title he hasn’t won before because it’s a new challenge for him.
WWE.com
1. Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown in a 5 on 5 match
This seems like a possible idea because of the Survivor Series format where 5 on 5 (or 4 on 4) matches have historically taken place. Having five Raw wrestlers take on five Smackdown wrestlers once in a year sounds like a great move.
In order to make this really work, they would need to come up with some sort of stipulation for the winning side. Perhaps it is something like the winning side gets to pick the match that will headline WrestleMania. Another idea is that the guys on the winning team get to be the last five men in the Royal Rumble match in January. That way, there’s some value on winning the match instead of when they would do that stupid “Bragging Rights” match for the trophy that meant nothing.
If this were the main event of the show, a Raw team could consist of Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho. They could even use it as a way to elevate a newer guy by putting Braun Strowman in the match.
The Smackdown team could be AJ Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Much like Raw, Smackdown could put somebody like Baron Corbin in there.
Imagine the crowd reaction when former Shield members Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are in there against Dean Ambrose? That would be pretty cool to see.
The moment I’d enjoy the most in that match would be Styles facing off with Rollins because I think that’s a WrestleMania main event worthy match.
A reason not to do the match is because the brand split will only be four months old by the time Survivor Series comes around, so fans may not be clamoring to see Raw vs. Smackdown yet. However, this is the only show on the WWE calendar where it makes sense to do a Raw vs. Smackdown match. Chances are, if they did the match it would be really good too.
A case could be made for either side to win. Smackdown winning makes more sense just because it’s got the smaller roster and is seen as the underdog in the rivalry. It doesn’t matter too much as long as they have a stipulation that makes sense.
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