WWE Survivor Series 2016: Why Team SmackDown Needs to Beat Raw

With the 2016 Survivor Series right around the corner, Team Smackdown Live needs to leave the night victorious over Team RAW.

The 30th anniversary of the Survivor Series is setting up to become a very special event. For the first time since the brand split, Superstars from RAW and Smackdown will battle. The show will consist of 5 matches that will pit RAW against Smackdown, with two of the matches being for titles.

The main event and the match that will determine who is the dominant brand is the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match featuring the top stars on RAW battling the stars of Smackdown Live. RAW has presented a stacked lineup with Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman.

Smackdown countered back with an equally impressive team featuring AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Smackdown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon. With the bragging rights being huge in this match, the Blue Brand needs to win this epic bout.

Despite being the overall stronger show since the brand extension, Smackdown Live has still been viewed as the “B” show to many. RAW has the legacy and the reputation of always being the “A” show.

RAW is three hours and has a larger roster compared to Team Blue. With everything against them, Smackdown defeating RAW would do wonders for the brand. Smackdown showing that their top guys can hang with the boys in red would prove that the talent of Smackdown is just as good as it is on RAW.

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The win would also help establish guys like Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt as legit main event caliber stars. With it looking like Randy Orton eventually turning on the New Face of Fear after the PPV, this win could really help Wyatt turn into a top star. Smackdown is lacking a big time heel after AJ Styles, so Wyatt leaving as victorious would finally give him a long overdue win.

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Ambrose started hot on Smackdown Live, being the first pick by the brand and bringing over the WWE Championship. However, after a lackluster title run, the Lunatic Fringe might not be more than an upper-mid-carder.

Ambrose is slated to face Styles for the championship at TLC. However, the smart money is on the Phenomenal One winning the match and retaining the gold. A win for Team Smackdown Live would show that Ambrose is not only a main event star, but on the same field as his former Shield brothers (Rollins & Reigns).

Reigns and Rollins have been flourishing on RAW as the top two faces on the brand, and Ambrose surviving the match would put him on par with these two. This would then help elevate back into the top face of the Blue Brand going forward.

With the potential of this main event doing huge things for the brand that wins the match, it is vital that Smackdown leaves Survivor Series as the winning brand. Fans may be expecting RAW to win the match since they are the bigger show. However, a win for the underdog brand would be both shocking and entertaining.

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If the underdog brand can beat the powerhouse it would almost instantly show that Smackdown can match up with RAW any day of the week. The continuous stigma of Smackdown being the “B” show would fade away, and the brand extension would finally be viewed as a battle of equal shows.