By Haydn Gleed
Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg: It’s very rare that the inner child in me who fell in love with wrestling gets to witness something where I can put match quality and other analytical points aside. In this case, I’m just going enjoy the spectacle of watching two men who are larger than life lock horns and do battle. The build has been solid to good in terms of setting up a reason for this match, but the real draw of this match is seeing two monsters clash and for that it’s mission accomplished.
Okay, it’s not going to be a wrestling masterpiece. There won’t be any innovative spots. There will be a lot of smoke and mirrors. I fully expect a brawl to the ringside area, along with battles through the crowd, and if there isn’t a spear attempt that leaves Goldberg flat out after knocking down the ringside barriers then you can call me Charlie. What I don’t want to see is the near 50 year-old Goldberg being thrown around “recklessly” under the illusion of being taken to Suplex City, as it will leave me cringing anytime I see Goldberg take one.
As for the result of the match, despite the feel good moment that it would create, Goldberg shouldn’t win clean. If he is going to win, and this is what I fully expect is some form of distraction, possibly in the form of Shane McMahon. I don’t expect it to happen, but the fantasy booker in me would love to see Shinsuke Nakamura make his main roster debut and cost Lesnar the match as Shane McMahon’s man to take down the beast at WrestleMania as his revenge for SummerSlam. It’s very unlikely, but think it would make an awesome and logically moment.
Goldberg wins via outside interference.
Team Raw: Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman vs. Team Smackdown: AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Shane McMahon in a Survivor Series elimination match: I have almost zero interest in this match, as it encapsulates exactly what is wrong with WWE right now. It’s messy, inconsistent, and not true to the characters type of booking. With that being said, here’s what I expect from this match: AJ Styles and Kevin Owens will square off in a moment that WWE will think will break the internet; Ellsworth will cost Ambrose somehow by trying to help, and this will eliminate Dean from the match; some tension that bubbles between Reigns and Owens leading into the reported match for the next Raw PPV; Orton will “turn” on Wyatt to get him eliminated; Shane McMahon will be made to look like Superman. My overall prediction is that Smackdown will win 2 out of the 3 Survivor Series “Red v Blue” matches so I expect when the dust settles Smackdown will come out on top here leading to some “big changes” on Raw.
Team Smackdown wins
Team Raw: Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox, and Nia Jax vs. Team Smackdown: Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, and Carmella in a Survivor Series elimination match: Speaking of booking people to not be true to their characters, whoever told Bayley to attack Nikki Bella on Smackdown should be fired. That is one of the most stupidest things I’ve seen from WWE all year and that is saying something. With that being said, I expect this match to be the best of the three elimination matches because of the talent in there in terms of match quality. So with the same format as above this is what I expect to see: Charlotte and Sasha Banks bickering; Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss bickering; Naomi will glow; Nia Jax taking out Carmella and Naomi to keep her strong; the Raw women come out on top despite the dysfunctional aspects within the dynamic of the team.
Team Raw wins.
Team Raw: New Day, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Sheamus & Cesaro, The Shining Stars vs. Team Smackdown: Heath Slater & Rhyno, American Alpha, The Usos, The Hype Bros, and Tyler Breeze & Fandango. Again speaking of inconsistencies with the characters, whoever thought it would be a good idea to see the Usos getting along with American Alpha only a month or so removed from trying to injury them should be fired…..I think you are getting my overall main point here. This has a sleeper’s chance of being a hell of a good match from an in-ring product point of view, especially with some of the innovative teams on the Smackdown side but I just can’t look past some of the character inconsistencies. Ironically, the only team that have been consistent with their characters are Gallows and Anderson, who have been abused by the booking for months. I am looking forward to this match for the in-ring action, and I predict Smackdown will go over, but once again this match and the narrative of the way the characters are being used doesn’t make logical sense and epitomizes what is wrong with WWE right now.
Team Smackdown wins.
Brian Kendrick vs. Kalisto for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship: I find this match more interesting than anything in the traditional Survivor Series matches, which is sad. Kendrick and Kalisto are both hugely talented wrestlers, with both men not having as much juice as they should have had behind them by the WWE machine. However, they should work well together and bring a sense of excitement to the card. I was an advocate of the title going from TJ Perkins to Kendrick, not because I thought Kendrick would be a good person to build the division around as a long term figurehead, but simply because he was the only true heel in the division and it would allow them to build up the championship as something that everyone is gunning for. Kendrick could be the champion who beats all-comers through devious means, which would give a nice rub to whoever eventually beats him in a month or two…….I will concede now that I was wrong and that Kendrick is not the person to do that either. He’s a good veteran wrestler in the division but should be the good hand in the ring bringing through the younger cruiserweights, not someone around the title picture. With the added stipulation of the cruiserweight division on the line, I’m looking forward to this match that little bit more than I ordinarily would. The cruiserweights belong on Smackdown where they can be given more exposure on a thin roster. With 205 Live being filmed after Smackdown each week, it just makes too much logical sense to see past a Kalisto win here.
Kalisto wins the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and the division moves to Smackdown.
The Miz vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Title: As much as I would have preferred Dolph Ziggler against Sami Zayn from an in-ring one off in a vacuum match, it didn’t have much heat behind it. With The Miz inserted into the picture it gives it that extra bit of spice. I wouldn’t put it past WWE to not care about hot potatoing the Intercontinental Championship around, but call me naïve but I can’t see The Miz losing this quickly after winning it. Just something to think about, and I fully admit that I may be reading into things too much, but I feel that the interaction between Zayn and Stephanie from a couple of weeks ago will come into play, especially because she made it seem that she found Sami irritating and only gets opportunities because he’s pals with Mick Foley. Somewhat of a long shot prediction, but if Raw loses overall and Stephanie is in a rage but can’t fire the top guys because, well they are top guys, could she fire Zayn in a fit of rage for losing this match and not bringing the IC title to Raw? I’m not sure if my opinion is clouded by a hope of Sami Zayn on Smackdown or whether this is likely, but it’s something that occurred to me.
The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
As always you can find me on twitter @haydngleed or via email haydn.gleed@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment