WWE Survivor Series 2015: Preview
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WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament
The impromptu tournament—created in response to the devastating injury to Seth Rollins—will reach its conclusion tonight, culminating in a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
After two weeks of great matches, we are down to our last four competitors, and although Roman Reigns is the clear-cut favorite to be raising the belt at the end of Survivor Series, there is still plenty of intrigue and the potential for numerous swerves heading into the semifinals.
Semifinals: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
Another strong candidate for putting on the match of the night, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens don’t have much of a history from a storyline perspective, but the two men’s individual styles and demeanors seem like they would complement one another nicely in the ring.
On top of that, the winner of this match is far less easy to predict than the other semifinals match on the card. Both outcomes—either Ambrose winning or vice-versa—will make for a provocative main event, and both men are capable of leading what-should-be an intense finals match.
Semifinals: Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio
The biggest shocker of the night will be if this match steals the show.
Del Rio’s matches leading up to the semifinals have been the some of the worst, least engaging in all the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Ship Tournament. Reigns’ matches have been collectively better thanks to a heck of a battle between himself and Cesaro, but that still doesn’t create a lot of promise for Sunday’s match with Del Rio.
In a perfect world, this match will be one of the most thrilling in all the tournament, but in the least, hopefully it will—at one moment or another—make people doubt that Reigns is the guaranteed winner.
Finals: TBD vs. TBD
Although the competitors of this match are still “to be determined,” it’s safe to say that one of those participants will be Roman Reigns. The bigger question is: what is the plan with Reigns afterward?
It all depends on what kind of Wrestlemania moment the WWE is seeking.
Seeing as how there was an extreme backlash from the WWE Universe during the last two Road to Wrestlemanias, the WWE will need to be extra cautious as to how they build up their heroes and villains en route to the year’s biggest show.
Reigns winning the belt in an intentionally unfavorable light is the easiest situation to manage. Undoubtedly, he could become the most hated man in the WWE overnight, and by keeping the belt on Reigns all the way up until WrestleMania, the opportunity is there to build up another Superstar as Reigns’ foil (likely Ambrose). People would expectedly cheer and boo for the right people.
Reigns losing tonight at Survivor Series by being screwed over is a bit more of a delicate situation, but it gives the WWE some footing if they’re trying to build Reigns up as the next “man.” By actually putting some adversity in Reigns’ path and having him face hardship that he can’t just Superman Punch his way out of, Reigns could potentially garner a larger following of advocates and avoid a similar, negative reception to that of last year’s WrestleMania.
Next: WWE Survivor Series 2015 Live Review
The worst thing the WWE could do is have Reigns win clean at Survivor Series and as a face, nonetheless. The fans don’t respond well to someone being forced down their throat as the good guy, and it’ll be hard to build a WrestleMania main event around a babyface champion who never loses. To maintain any momentum around a champion Reigns for the next four months would be nearly impossible, and that would result in his opponent at WrestleMania being seen as the hero, regardless of whom the WWE wants people to cheer for.
All that being said there is an undeniable excitement knowing that tonight we will see the crowning of a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. What are you looking forward to the most at Survivor Series? Drop a comment below!