Update: check out our review for WWE Survivor Series 2019 right here.
WWE’s brand warfare focused event has returned for its traditional November slot.
And this time, the stakes are even higher than ever. Not only will Raw and Smackdown’s top Superstars participate in the Survivor Series festivities, but NXT will also join in on the fun. The reigning champions from all three brands will do battle and attempt to do their brand proud. The red, blue and yellow corners of the WWE are prepared to leave it all out in the ring during a night full of triple threat champion showcases and other bout types. This year’s Survivor Series looks to be one of the best editions in recent memory simply because Triple H’s NXT army always performs at the highest level.
Now let’s get into this Raw vs. SmackDown vs. NXT warfare by covering all of the announced matches for this year’s Survivor Series.
Adam Cole (c) vs. Pete Dunne (NXT Championship)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: NXT Champion Adam Cole (BABAY!) sure has his work cut out for him during this year’s Survivor Series weekend. The night before the main roster PPV, Adam found himself getting planted through a table from the very top of the WarGames cage during the latest NXT TakeOver special. And the very next night, he’ll be pitted against the winner of the triple threat match that took place at the same NXT TakeOver event – Pete Dunne.
You definitely have to take Adam’s wellbeing into account considering the painful bumps he took at WarGames. Pete’s obviously the fresher of the two, so logic would dictate that he’d be the one most likely to win this match. But this is Adam we’re talking about here – he’s a pretty resourceful guy who always finds a way to sneak away with a win through any means. Through a combination of outside interference from his Undisputed ERA brothers and some good old fashioned offensive maneuvers, Adam will find a way to leave Survivor Series with his NXT Championship intact.
Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton and Ricochet) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, Braun Strowman, King Corbin and Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (Five Members TBA) (5-on-5-on-5 Men’s Survivor Series Triple Threat Elimination Match)
WWE
Predictions & Winners: The black and yellow brand has floated down from the wrestling heavens and saved the card for this year’s Survivor Series. If it was just another case of Raw vs. SmackDown for main roster brand supremacy, then I’m sure a lot of fans wouldn’t care too much about it. But NXT has been thrown into the fray and breathed some much-needed life into an aging PPV concept.
Team Raw is comprised of two dynamic high-flyers, a towering powerhouse, a hybrid athlete and a conniving “viper.” Team SmackDown features two lovable babyface jr. heavyweights, a massive brute, a royal pain in the ass and WWE’s resident “big dog.” And Team NXT…still hasn’t been announced yet. Strange, right? I get the feeling that Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and Dominik Dijakovic will represent their Wednesday night brand proudly.
There’s going to be a lot of mayhem unfolding during this 15-man matchup. After taking a good look at the teams put together for this bout, it looks like Raw has a slight edge when it comes to the quality of their members. But I think Team Blue will end up being the ones taking the big victory for this Survivor Series match. Team NXT will put in a great performance, no doubt. But the previous evening’s NXT TakeOver WarGames matchup featuring most of Team NXT will be the reason why they won’t be able to survive for too long. Even though Team Red looks strong, I think Roman Reigns will end up being the last man standing as he gets into a final encounter with his former Shield brother and cuts him down with a Spear.
Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane and Sarah Logan) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans and Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai and Toni Storm) (5-on-5-on-5 Women’s Survivor Series Triple Threat Elimination Match)
WWE
Predictions & Winners: Now the ladies are up at bat. Tem Raw, Team SmackDown and Team NXT are going to engage in their own multi-person war and also throw five of their best roster members into the ring. Team Raw’s strongest members are clearly Charlotte, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Team SmackDown’s best athletes are definitely Sasha Banks and Nikki Cross. And Team NXT easily takes the cake as the strongest squad out of this match’s entire 15-lady lineup. The only issue that may hamper four of their members’ performance is the effect of the previous evening’s WarGames. Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair and Io Shirai are not going to be a hundred percent for this one. A healthy Toni Storm will have to rise up as her team’s MVP.
Now this prediction may sound a bit insane, but it must be said – I think NXT will be getting its one and only victory of the night here. Team Raw and Team SmackDown’s worst members are jobber material, which makes the entirety of NXT’s women’s lineup look super dominant in comparison. Charlotte, the Kabuki Warriors, Sasha Banks, and Nikki Cross will all do their best to hold their weaker teammates down. But it will ultimately be to no avail. At the end of it all, the black and yellow brand will show the WWE Universe why their women’s athletes stand tall above the competing brands. Seeing Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm stand tall together once this match concludes sounds like a scenario we’re all going (and hoping) to see here.
AJ Styles (United States Champion) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT North American Champion) (Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: What a time to be alive. In the year 2019, WWE is giving us an indy wrestling fan’s wet dream. What we have here is a bonafide TNA Hall of Famer taking on an NJPW legend and a former ROH mainstay. All three men have staked their claim in the WWE and are all holding championship gold. Who would’ve ever thought we’d see all three men in a triple threat match, let alone one that’s set to take place on a WWE PPV? AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Roderick Strong are going to rock the house. And if I’m a betting man, I’m putting all my chips on this one starting the show.
Roderick’s gameplan is going to be all about that stick and move type of offense. He’ll pick his spots carefully and attack when one of the other match participants is least expecting it. AJ and Shinsuke will be the main ones tearing into each other and reliving their fiery 2018 feud. Once both men switch their focus for a while, they’ll get their revenge on Roderick for all his dirty sneak attacks. Shinsuke will play the part of the stiff striker/submission master, while AJ will use all of his slams and suplexes to ground the competition. The closing moments of this bout will see all three men pull off some innovate multi-man maneuvers that will wow the crowd. Roderick will probably be the one getting pinned here once AJ finishes him off with a final Phenomenal Elbow for the win.
The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (Raw Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (SmackDown Tag Team Champions) vs. The Undisputed ERA (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) (NXT Tag Team Champions) (Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Tag Team Match)
WWE
Predictions & Winners: So all three current tag team champions are locking up during this champions showcase. Raw’s tag team champs are the clear powerhouses of this entire lineup, SmackDown’s tag team title holders are the clear veterans and NXT’s championship duo is a smaller yet still efficient pair of tacticians. If given a ton of time, this match has the highest chances of being the most memorable bout on the entire card. In an NXT environment, this would be a guaranteed match of the year. But since this bout is taking place on a main roster PPV, this match may not reach the levels of your usual TakeOver matchup. But I’m still holding out hope for this one getting the proper time needed to produce a match worthy of all three teams’ combined potential.
The Viking Raiders are going to run roughshod over their rivals at first. But The New Day and The Undisputed Era will be forced to work together and cut down Erik and Ivar at some point. Once the Viking Raiders are put out to pasture for a while, Big E & Kofi Kingston and Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly will turn their attention on each other. They’ll get engaged in some intense action for a while before the refreshed modern-day Vikings return and wreak havoc upon them. All three teams will exchange a bunch of jaw-dropping multi-man maneuvers with each other soon after. I can totally see The New Day getting another dose of momentum late in the match and managing to pull out a shocking victory. I’m banking on the Blue Brand getting a notch in the win column here.
Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Bayley (SmackDown) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT) (Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: This bout intrigues me the most. What we have here is a tweener vs. a heel vs. another heel type of situation. Becky Lynch is still experiencing a career-high as “The Man,” Bayley’s recently made her turn to the dark side (with a hair color change to match) and Shayna Baszler is currently breaking records as NXT’s top women’s wrestler. Since Becky is the top babyface in this whole ordeal, we’re going to see another situation in which the two baddies team up to brutalize the crowd favorite. This one will play out like a handicap match for a while until one of the heels switches up and drops the other one.
Once Bayley and Shayna’s short-lived alliance breaks down, this match will truly kick into second gear. Becky will get the chance to mount a comeback against her two foes, while Bayley and Shayna will get their time to shine as well. Chances are high that Bayley and Shayna’s loyal allies will come out to help them win, which will result in a bout of mayhem unfolding near the match’s end. Amidst all that chaos, Becky will find an opening and force one of the bout’s other competitors to finally tap out. Raw’s Women’s Champion will prevail here.
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Universal Championship)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: This one came out of left field, didn’t it? It was looking more like Daniel Bryan was going to step up to challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for his Intercontinental Championship, which was set to be an amazing matchup. But with the theme of brand warfare taking over the current WWE product at the moment, Shinsuke finds himself trying to defend the Blue Brand instead of his title against a fellow Smackdown roster member. It would have been awesome to see Daniel defeat Shinsuke to capture the IC Championship and insert himself into the three-way dance against AJ Styles and Roderick Strong, though. But Daniel now finds himself contending with an old foe for the new and blue Universal Championship.
Here’s what worries me about this major rematch – Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt had some great bouts in the past. Their Royal Rumble 2014 bout was one of the best matches of that year. But that version of Bray Wyatt isn’t the one we’re getting here. Daniel will be taking on “The Fiend,” who wrestles and sells like a throwback version of Kane. I don’t think that’ll make for an interesting matchup since Daniel works well against an opponent who is willing to grapple and take a bump every few minutes. Another worry of mines is the presence of those stupid red lights that have become a staple of “The Fiend’s” recent bouts. Those two factors have me fearing that this match won’t be as good as advertised. Daniel’s getting taken down here and I think “The Fiend” will do it with relative ease.
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Rey Mysterio (No Holds Barred, No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: How crazy is it that Cain Velasquez was ultimately nothing more than a storyline tool used to further this feud? WWE knew going into Crown Jewel that Cain had a bad knee that needed surgery, yet they still chose to throw him into a terrible match with Brock Lesnar. Now Cain looks like a certified bum after getting destroyed by Brock and his much smaller handler is the one coming out of this as the hopeful beast conqueror. WWE’s main roster booking in 2019 is head-scratching, to say the least. Anyways, Brock’s hate for Rey Rey has pushed him to quit SmackDown just so he can get his hands on the luchador over on Raw. Which has resulted in this WWE Championship match getting booked.
This bout will play out like Brock’s last two Survivor Series contests, which also happened to take place against opponents of a smaller build. That’s not a bad thing, by the way – Brock’s matches with AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan were certified bangers. Brock seems to put in way more effort when he’s across the ring from someone much smaller than him. As evidenced by the past bouts contested by Brock and Rey, this championship encounter will be amazing. This “David vs. Goliath” setup will feature Rey getting suplexed to death, Rey popping the crowd with hopeful comeback spots and near-falls that may cause heart attacks. Rey’s high-flying assault and use of weapons will get Brock down to a knee at least, but Brock will ultimately get the last laugh on the challenger. Brock’s coming into this match as the champ and leaving it in the very same position.