Survivor Series 2021 Preview

What in the world happened to this show? Fans have not exactly seemed thrilled with the Battle For Brand Supremacy for a long time now, but this year even the wrestlers have been complaining about how worthless the show really is. There is nothing of value here as the show is all about bragging rights, without even as much as a title on the line. Maybe the action can make up for the lack of…well everything else. Let’s get to it.

Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown) vs. Damian Priest (Monday Night Raw)

We’ll start it off with a battle of the midcard champions in a match that is kind of appealing. Nakamura has come a very long way since winning the King’s Crown and then the Intercontinental Title. At the same time, Priest is one of the few people to be called up from NXT and then actually do something good on the main roster. The fact that these are two of the exceptions tells you a lot about WWE, but that’s for another time.

I think I’ll go with Priest here, but I had to keep myself from writing Nakamura. You can’t go wrong with either choice here and that is always a good situation to be in. These two are going to hit each other rather hard, though I’m still not sure what is next for either of them after this. Priest has been gone from TV a bit as of late so it would be nice to have him get a win here to re-energize him a bit.

Usos (SmackDown) vs. RKBro (Monday Night Raw)

This is a great illustration of the usual different kinds of tag teams in WWE. You have the regular team vs. the odd couple team who happens to be great together. It’s the kind of thing that could be interesting if there was something on the line, but the quick deal they did on Monday Night Raw isn’t enough to carry it over the line. That leaves us with little more than a match with big names, which is where Orton tends to shine.

Maybe it’s the purist in me but I’ll take the traditional team and go with the Usos here. They’re a better team and one of the most successful teams of all time. RKBro is great and you can’t ignore the RKO, but I’m hoping that this winds up with a Superfly Splash to Riddle. The Usos need to win here to keep Roman Reigns happy, and that’s about as important as you can get these days. We’ll go with the twins.

Battle Royal

They were going to have to add in one more match for the sake of giving us an odd number and this works as well as anything else. The match will have twenty five people included to tie in with the Rock’s debut from 25 years ago, so at least they added a tiny bit of flavor. A Rock video wouldn’t surprise me here, and that’s about the extent of excitement I can muster.

For a winner I’ll go with….Otis for a random surprise. It’s not like this is going to be anything more than one match on the scorecard so why not have a little fun. Otis has been treated as a bigger deal as of late so give him a win that they can brag about for a bit. There isn’t much of a chance of him winning but it’s not like this is the Royal Rumble or anything huge.

Monday Night Raw Women vs. SmackDown Women

I’m not sure I could remember the lineups for this match if I had to and that’s a good illustration of what is wrong with the match. These women were thrown together and there is no real reason to get excited over what we’re seeing. Odds are it’s a bunch of fast falls with no one getting much of a showcase, which would be the norm around here. At least Toni Storm is getting a shot on a bigger stage for once.

I think I’ll take the SmackDown women here, as their lineup is just a bit stronger. We should be in for some good action, at least while it lasts, but you’re only going to get so far with little drama and a bunch of women trying to get their stuff in. The women’s matches have been decent in recent years, but things have changed so much that it is hard to get my hopes up here.

Monday Night Raw Men vs. SmackDown Men

Here we have the show’s other namesake match and another match where the teams might as well have been drawn out of a hat. There is little connecting these people other than their matching shirts and I don’t know how much drama they will be able to produce under these conditions. Then again you can always get SOMETHING out of one of these matches so maybe they have some hope.

I’ll go with the red ones here as that is a pretty awesome group. Then again that is assuming Kevin Owens doesn’t turn on the rest of the team, which certainly wouldn’t be out of the question. The match should work out well due to who is in there, but it’s another one that doesn’t quite excite me. Maybe if the teams hadn’t been added to their new shows about a month ago.

Becky Lynch (Monday Night Raw) vs. Charlotte (SmackDown)

I could actually see this headlining the show. This is the match that is built off of the backstage altercation the two of them had which hasn’t actually been mentioned on TV, but WWE is assuming that we all know what they’re talking about. While it would be nice to have something fresh in this spot for a change, I can get the special feeling they’re going for with these two.

The match is basically a coin toss but I’ll take Charlotte due to reasons of her being Charlotte. Lynch is still the biggest star in the Monday Night Raw women’s division but Charlotte winning sounds about right. I’m almost scared about how they’re going to end the match though, as this could be a prime target for some kind of a screwy finish to protect them both.

Roman Reigns (SmackDown) vs. Big E. (Monday Night Raw)

This one got a lot more personal this week and that’s a good thing. Anything involving serious Big E. feels like a boost and that is what we are getting now that Reigns has attacked King Woods. I’m not sure how much doubt there is about the winner here, but this is actually feeling like a clash of two guys who could do some serious damage to each other if they get the chance.

With that said, of course Reigns wins, likely thanks to an Usos distraction. Things seem to be setting up for Woods vs. Reigns at Day One in Atlanta so having Big E. win here wouldn’t make a ton of sense. It also isn’t likely that Reigns is going to lose a match that doesn’t have any meaning, as WWE has built him up far too strong. Reigns wins here, but only after he takes a beating.

Overall Thoughts

I think you get the idea of how Survivor Series isn’t what it used to be. Ultimately there is nothing on the line here and everyone but WWE seems to know that is a problem. I have no reason to believe that will change next year, but for at least this time we’re stuck with another show that feels like two TNA One Night Only specials got melted into each other. Maybe it will be good, though don’t expect much that happens here to matter, even in the short term.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

PDFPrint