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WWE presents The Survivor Series this Sunday night. Here’s our take on what we see happening at the show.
The Undertaker & Kane vs. two members of The Wyatt Family.
Dave: OK, the whole PPV is built around The Undertaker and his history in WWE. The Wyatts never win feuds. They could always pull the upset here but I just don’t see it working. No one is buying the Wyatts due to their past bad booking. Plus, they don’t have all that much time left to use Taker. They need him strong for WrestleMania, especially if they stay with him vs. John Cena. Kane and Taker go over here.
Mike: It's the 25th anniversary of The Undertaker's debut, to the day. The only way he isn't winning is if they have lost their minds and decide to have Kane turn on him and join the Wyatt Family. This should be Wyatt and Luke Harper, the best of the Family, in the ring and I expect a solid brawl here before Undertaker chokeslams and takes out Wyatt, since Bray always, unfortunately for the character, never gets a big win.
Richard: I agree with Dave that Taker and Kane will likely win the match. The only way I think there will be any doubt is if the team is Strowman and Wyatt since they have been keeping Strowman the strongest of the followers. I hope they do Harper and Rowan to give us the best possible matchup, but if they do that, I want Rowan to be the one who is tombstoned and choke slammed to lose the match.
WWE World Heavyweight championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Dean Ambrose vs. WWE Intercontinental champ Kevin Owens.
Dave: This match has some intrigue and if it were me, I book Owens to go over to make it heel vs. face in the final. Instead, I see them putting Dean Ambrose over here.
Mike: On paper, this is a hell of a match. I don't see Owens winning here as Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns is the match with the most intrigue going into the finals in my mind. I expect a crazy brawl but in the end, Ambrose gets the pin.
Richard: I think this will be the best of the tournament matches and it has the best chance for an 'upset'. I think Owens would add more intrigue to the finals because you won't have the 'Shield Title Match' that many are expecting. A victory by Owens would also support his 'prize fighter' mentality where he is doing this for his family. But, this is the WWE and I think they want people to wonder if Ambrose will turn on his 'brother' and join forces with The Authority.
WWE World Heavyweight championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Roman Reigns vs. WWE United States champion Alberto Del Rio.
Dave: I think there is pretty much no chance that ADR wins here. Roman goes to the final.
Mike: ADR's role here is equal to Cesaro's role on Raw - have a great, competitive bout with Roman to help set up the idea that he can hang and have great matches, so the fans take to him. That said, this should be pretty damn good.
Richard: If you go by the respective performances in the quarterfinals, Reigns will win. His match with Cesaro was on the same level as the Cena US Title Open Challenge matches and did a lot to build Reigns in the eyes of some of his doubters. The MexAmerica stuff is already getting long in the tooth and Del Rio is the one person of the four I do not want to see win the title.
WWE World Heavyweight championship Tournament Final to crown new champion.
Dave: I totally see them doing a screw job here, with Ambrose turning heel on his old friend and probably joining The Authority. Turning Roman is possible too, but it would make no logical sense other than the insipid “I pretended to say no to the Authority, RUSSO SWERVE!†I just hope if they do turn Dean, it’s not a few month throwaway run where he then gets pushed down the card. If it is, they will damage his character. A lot.
Mike: As we reported in the Elite section a week ago, there was a heavy push in recent weeks by some in creative to go with Ambrose vs. Reigns. The company needs a really hot heel to be on top and I don't see them turning Reigns. No matter who wins here (and I see Ambrose winning for the record), I believe Ambrose ends up with The Authority and at odds with Roman.
Richard: If they are going to do a turn for Ambrose, I hope it is subtle and is not finally revealed until Raw. The reason I prefer Owens/Reigns in this match over Ambrose/Reigns is because I think too many people will be watching this match expecting the 'overbooked turn to screw over Reigns' so we get our Jeff Jarrett NWA title defense from 2002 to 2005. If Reigns does win, I would potentially do Sheamus cashing in (and then make him the Authority lackey on Raw).
*WWE Divas champion Charlotte vs. Paige.
Dave: This has to be a war. Charlotte has to be out for blood from the start after the angle that aired on Raw. Charlotte should get her revenge and retain the Title. This needs to be a brutal match and one that can give us real hope for a Divas Revolution.
Mike: If Charlotte comes out smiling the way she did on Smackdown, then WWE pulled out the tackiest angle possible without any payoff. She has to be angry, it needs to be a war and she has to win by kicking Paige's ass. When Ric Flair returned to face Terry Funk in 1989 after Funk "broke his neck", it was personal and it was a war. This needs to be as personal and it needs to be as close to a war as PG WWE allows. If it isn't, as bad as it was that the passing of Reid Flair became storyline fodder, it would be even worse if they invoked his name for no discernible reason.
Richard: If there is a side head lock at any point during this match, they have lost a chance to salvage this "Revolution' from the morgue. They need to fight all over the arena if necessary and give us what I was hoping for from Ambrose and Rollins last year. Let Charlotte ambush Paige and then if they have to, let the referee give up on trying to control these women and make it a no contest and set up a stipulation match at TLC.
Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler.
Dave: There is no point in having Breeze lose here. He already lost his debut match on Raw. Ziggler loses a lot, so if he beats Breeze they have already taken the bloom off of the rose with yet another new talent. That doesn’t mean they won’t do it, but they sure as hell shouldn’t.
Mike: They should get back on track ASAP. Breeze needs to get the win here with the Beauty Shot after Summer saves him following a ZigZag. They show Ziggler could have beaten him but he got screwed. Instant heat.
Richard: With Ziggler acting like the heel, I don't know if they have set up this match properly even though I did expect to see Breeze cost Ziggler his match in the tournament to finalize this match for Sunday. I discussed with Jason that with the short attention span of so many these days, a slow start on the main roster is enough to kill a career even if there is a lot of promise. If Breeze loses, they should call him New Emma because they would have sent him into the vortex of failed NXT Call Ups with Adam Rose. Please don't make someone give Tyler's character a EuGooglely
5 on 5 Elimination Tag: Competitors to be announced.
Dave: This is the match I am most excited to see. Nothing says, “You have to watch this†like a match with no known competitors in it. I am going to a Mike Bucci here and go out on a limb. I predict that the team that doesn’t have all five guys get eliminate will win the match. The other team will lose.
Mike: I predict that someone will survive.
Richard: Doesn't the WWE know that there is a Pick Em Contest (if you are an Elite member and are interested in the 2016 version, email me) and you have prevented me from helping people who are trying to win this contest. I agree with Dave that the team that has lost the fewest people will win. If they do not have The New Day or Cesaro in this match, creative has lost their collective minds. After his appearance on Smackdown, I would put Truth in the match, or don't put him in the match and make him come out and be told he is not in the match and he walks away. This could be a good 20 to 30 minute match if they want to give it time (or even fill up the Kickoff Show with the match) but it will probably end up being 10 to 15.
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