WWE Survivor Series 2017: Matches & Predictions

Raw vs. SmackDown Live will once again be the centerpiece feud of Survivor Series.

For this year’s edition of the long-running PPV, the champions and top talent from both brands will butt heads during interbrand matches. The most shocking match of all will be between Raw’s Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and SD Live’s WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. Along with that massive main event, the Intercontinental Champion will take on the US Champion, the Raw tag champs will battle with SD Live’s respective tag title holders and the women’s champions of both brands will vie for brand supremacy. These bouts, plus the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination matches, have me anticipating this show as one of 2017’s best.

It’s time to break down the competitors from each match and predict who’ll walk away as the winner for their brand at Survivor Series 2017.

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Enzo Amore (c) vs. Kalisto (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

Predictions & Winner: What’d I tell ya? That Kalisto title win was simply done to show love and respect to the late, great Eddie Guerrero (the first time this match happened, it was around Eddie’s birthday). I knew Enzo’s act as the slimy, cocky, trash talking heel champ was still a hit, so it made more sense to put the Cruiserweight Championship back on him. So of course it makes all the sense in the world that Kalisto will get his rematch at the next PPV. And that PPV is Survivor Series. Once again, I’m gonna go with Enzo simply because there’s still money in him being the champ and main focus of 205 Live. Enzo has a lot of life left in him as the Cruiserweight Champion and I don’t think he’ll drop the title again so soon after getting it back. Who will be his next challenger, though? If the rumors are true, Hideo Itami could get that main roster callup and be the man to finally make Enzo “GTS.”

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Team Raw (Alicia Fox, Asuka, Bayley, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks) vs. Team SmackDown (Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Tamina and Natalya) (with Lana) (Women’s Traditional Interbrand 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match)

Predictions & Winners: Some of the ladies representing this Women’s Traditional Survivor Series match are a nice bunch. The ones that really stand out amongst the pack are Asuka, Banks, Bayley, Jax, Naomi and Lynch. Fox, Carmella and Tamina are just warm bodies that’ll be there to get eliminated early, honestly. Expect Ellsworth to get thoroughly embarrassed at some point by every lady in a rare moment of WWE brand unity. I can even see Lana joining in on the Ellsworth beatdown fun before she gets some punishment of her own from the Raw women.

I envision a situation in which the final two women will come down to Asuka and Natalya in a sort of tease of a future dream match. They’ll just give us a sample of what a full match between them could look like, which will be the standout moment of this bout. Asuka will eventually come out on top and continue her mean streak as the top up and coming women’s wrestler on Raw.

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Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Finn Bálor, and Triple H) vs. Team SmackDown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and John Cena) (Men’s Traditional Interbrand 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match)

Predictions & Winners: Mega. Star. Power. This year’s Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match between the fellas looks awesome. Shane McMahon’s brand has gotten the upper hand on Kurt Angle’s roster for a while now, but I expect Raw to deliver some much needed revenge before this PPV. With the announcement of the last member of Team SmackDown being announced via social media, we now know both teams are finally ready for war.

There’s gonna be a ton of interesting matchups here – Angle and Shane will rekindle their feud from 2001, Strowman will try everything in his power to steamroll through the competition, HHH will lock up with Roode in a battle of father vs. son (HA! They look so alike! Get it? No? Ok…) and Joe will make a beeline for Cena while Finn beefs with Nakamura. This match will eventually erupt into pure chaos near its closing moments (I’m guessing Strowman will turn into an uncontrollable wrecking ball…again). I get the feeling that Angle and Shane will be the last men standing for their respective teams. My money’s on Angle making Shane tap out and walking tall as Raw’s GM/conquering hero.

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WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz (with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) vs. WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin (Non-Title Champion vs. Champion Interbrand Match)

Predictions & Winner: The Miz has managed to breathe new life into the Intercontinental Championship, while Baron Corbin has enjoyed a less than stelar run as the newly reigning US Champion. On paper, this looks like a case of complete domination due to Corbin’s domineering stature and Miz’s cowardly heel nature. But I can’t see The Miz being taken down so easily by an opponent that’s been made to look less than intimidating these days. You can probably count on Miz’s cronies doing their best to distract Corbin, which’ll lead right into him tearing them apart and falling right into Miz’s signature Skull Crushing Finale trap. Raw’s midcard title holder will emerge victorious here in a match I’m predicting as the worst bout from this show’s lineup.

The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Six-Tag Team Match)

Predictions & Winners: WOW! This one was rumored to be in the works for a while, but the high chances of it being announced hinged on the return of Roman Reigns. Now that he’s healthy and back in fighting form, he can finally align himself again with his Shield brothers in the ring on PPV. And their foes are SmackDown Live’s trio of happy go lucky Superstars, The New Day. Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have tormented Raw on two occasions ever since this year’s brand warfare storyline kicked off. Plus they cost Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose the Raw Tag Team Championship!

There’s a lot of bad blood between both stables, so I get the feeling that this match will go long and be pretty damned amazing. Since this is such a big comeback moment for The Shield, I can’t see any one of its members eating the losing pinfall here. While they’ll no doubt be competitive, The New Day will eventually fall and one of their members will succumb to the Triple Powerbomb.

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WWE Raw Tag Team Champions Sheamus & Cesaro vs. WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) (Non-Title Champions vs. Champions Interbrand Match)

Predictions & Winners: DAMN! I really wanted to see Rollins and Ambrose put on a MOTY candidate with my pick for this year’s top tag team, The Usos. But there’s really no need to worry since the chances of this match being the best on the show are still high. “The Bar” have regained the Raw Tag Team Championship and can always be trusted upon to bring the best out of anyone they face. I’m really looking forward to this one. It’s just so hard to pick who’ll actually prevail after all the smoke has cleared. I’m gonna hand the win to The Usos here since they’re a bit more viable and hot than their Raw Tag Team Championship counterparts. I can’t imagine any crazy shenanigans taking place. Expect a great match that will end without any outside interference from the teams that have revenge on their minds in regards to the teams in this match.

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WWE Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair (Non-Title Champion vs. Champion Interbrand Match)

Predictions & Winner: CHARLOTTE DID IT! In another case of shocking booking decisions for the month of November 2017, Charlotte defeated Natalya for the SmackDown Women’s Championship and took her place against Alexa Bliss at this PPV. Now I’m a lot more interested in seeing how this plays out. I can’t remember if these two ladies ever locked up in a singles situation back on NXT, but I’m sure they’ll put on a fun contest here. Seeing as how Charlotte JUST claimed her brand’s Women’s title, it’s hard for me to envision her eating the pinfall loss so early into her reign. Bliss will give her a good fight, no doubt. But Charlotte will notch a point in the win column for SmackDown by making Bliss tap out.

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WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles (Non-Title Champion vs. Champion Interbrand Match)

Predictions & Winner: Thank you, Based God AJ! He saved the day and prevented us all from having to sit through another Jinder Mahal PPV main event. He is truly “Phenomenal.” And now we actually have a marquee match at Survivor Series to look forward to – Brock Lesnar’s first ever matchup against AJ Styles. I wouldn’t exactly call this a dream match, but it still presents a clash of styles (no pun intended) that I can’t wait to see play out. Since AJ is obviously smaller than his Raw opponent, I can totally picture Styles being dominated during the opening moments of this match.

But AJ will do his due diligence and pick away at Lesnar’s lower extremities with kicks and submissions. This bout will turn into a story that follows AJ as he breaks down Lesnar and forces him to his knees at certain points. Lesnar getting locked into the Calf Crusher is definitely a possibility here. But when Lesnar refreshes himself, “Suplex City” will come into play and AJ will be on the defensive end once again. When all is said and done, Lesnar will shake off the limb damage he was forced to sustain and finally finish AJ with a definitive F5.