After weeks of solid building across the board, WWE Survivor Series 2017 is finally upon us as the WWE universe prepares for a battle for brand supremacy – the likes of which the event has never seen before.
WWE Survivor Series 2017 represents the only night of the year in which Raw superstars battle SmackDown superstars and the WWE has done an outstanding job of getting fans invested in these Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown battles. The card for the event is jam packed with several standout matches that have great potential.
The card for Survivor Series sees Raw’s Universal Champion Brock Lesnar taking on SmackDown’s WWE Champion AJ Styles, Raw’s Intercontinental Champion The Miz battling SmackDown’s United States Champion Baron Corbin, the Raw Tag Team Champions Sheamus and Cesaro squaring off with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, the Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss battling the SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte, The Shield facing off with The New Day, and a Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown traditional Survivor Series elimination match for both the men and women.
Outside of the potential these matches have, the storylines surrounding many of the matches at Survivor Series have been well done. But just which storylines are the best? There are several major one’s that will be focused heavily at Survivor Series.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the three biggest storylines leading into the 31st annual Survivor Series.
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3. Personal Battle for Top Trio Supremacy
One of the most anticipated matches at Survivor Series is undoubtedly the showdown between Raw’s The Shield and SmackDown’s The New Day. These two trios have left an indelible mark on the WWE over the past few years and many consider this a dream match.
But the match was introduced largely because of The New Day’s brand pride. The colorful trio inadvertently cost Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose the Raw Tag Team Championship on the Nov. 6 edition of Raw when Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods teased an under siege part two. The writing was on the wall at this point, but a return the following week solidified things.
When Roman Reigns made his return to Monday nights on Nov. 13, the match was made official for Survivor Series pitting the two top trios in the WWE against each other. Rollins and Ambrose were originally set to battle The Usos at Survivor Series, but this option is arguably more intriguing than the first option given how great The Shield and The New Day have proven to be.
The New Day has been a leading force in the battle against Raw over the past few weeks and the trio’s actions led to Rollins and Ambrose losing their tag titles, so this will be a personal battle not only with a revenge factor, but a major brand supremacy factor as well. This will also be The Shield’s first pay-per-view match together with all three original members since Payback in 2014.
All in all, this match has the potential to be a match of the night or even match of the year candidate in arguably the most anticipated bout at the 31st annual Survivor Series.
Credit: WWE.com
2. Unexpected New Challenger Could Affect Brock Lesnar
The most argued match at this year’s Survivor Series was the match between Raw’s Universal Champion and SmackDown’s WWE Champion. But over the past couple of weeks, the arguing was permanently silenced surrounding this match.
Many cringed at the thought of Brock Lesnar facing Jinder Mahal at Survivor Series, but when The Phenomenal AJ Styles dethroned Mahal on the Nov. 7 edition of SmackDown, the WWE universe rejoiced. With the win, Styles earned the right to battle Lesnar at Survivor Series. It seemed far-fetched to think Lesnar vs. Styles could ever happen, but it is upon us.
But will the unexpected new challenge of The Phenomenal One throw Lesnar off his game at Survivor Series? Storyline wise, Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman were totally focused on the Modern Day Maharaja. But now with Styles as the opponent, their opinions have drastically differed.
Heyman more or less buried Mahal in a promo on Raw in recent weeks saying how nobody sees Mahal as a true WWE Champion. But Heyman’s recent promo towards Styles saw much more respect given to The Phenomenal One despite claiming Lesnar would do to Styles what he does to everyone. But that respect Heyman gave plus SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan’s passionate promo on the most recent edition of SmackDown could suggest a Styles upset is in the works.
The two world champions in the WWE squaring off should feel big and with Styles as WWE Champion, this match gained much more intrigue and his unexpected entry into the match could be the kryptonite for The Beast Incarnate.
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1. Chaos and Unpredictability Dominating Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown
The most personal battle at Survivor Series 2017 features five top Raw superstars against five top SmackDown superstars. Survivor Series has made a habit of featuring brand supremacy battles in the past, but none have had as much chaos and unpredictability in the buildup than this year’s encounter.
There have been endless twists and turns surrounding this match over the past few weeks that the match has almost seemingly changed every week. The first shot was fired when SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon declared Raw was under siege, which led to many SmackDown superstars taking out the majority of the Raw roster.
This sparked the on-screen return of Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon who said Raw GM Kurt Angle would be the team captain of Raw’s Survivor Series team and if Raw doesn’t defeat SmackDown, she will look for a new GM. It was announced in the days that followed that Team SmackDown’s fifth member would be John Cena, who had been out of action since losing to Roman Reigns at No Mercy.
Angle announced Team Raw’s fifth member as his kayfabe son Jason Jordan, but that wouldn’t pan out. Stephanie suggested Angle was playing favorites and later in the night after Jordan was kayfabe injured by Bray Wyatt after their match, she demanded Angle replace Jordan on Team Raw.
And in a surprising turn, Triple H announced he would replace Jordan as the fifth member of Team Raw before Raw took SmackDown under siege on Nov. 14 to gain the momentum leading into Survivor Series. The buildup to this match has been crazy, but an underrated element could greatly affect this match. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have developed into arguably the hottest heel duo on SmackDown, and their disdain towards Shane O’Mac could play a big role at Survivor Series.
Owens and Zayn aren’t on the Survivor Series card, so it’s safe to assume they will interfere in this match at some point. Many believe they could cost Team SmackDown just to stick it to the blue brand’s commissioner and that is certainly a possibility. No matter what they end up doing, Owens and Zayn will have a say at Survivor Series one way or another.
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All in all, this match has seen an unpredictable buildup that ranks among the most unpredictable buildups the WWE has seen in recent memory. And if the buildup is any indicator, the WWE universe is in for a very memorable showdown at Survivor Series.