WWE Starrcade 2019 will take place on December 1 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT live on the WWE Network. The following is a predictive preview of the televised matches and segments on this one-hour Network special.
In terms of televised matches for WWE Starrcade, the following had been officially announced: (1) Rusev (c) vs. Bobby Lashley in a Last Man Standing Match, and (2) Kabuki Warriors (c) vs. Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks for the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
In terms of segments, Kevin Owens will host the Kevin Owens Show with WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair as his special guest. This segment will most likely lead to a match between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, who are scheduled to wrestle at this event.
Although this network special seems contrived based on recent events, the lackadaisical build up towards WWE PPVs has been a major theme in 2019 and should not be a surprise to anyone. Nonetheless, this PPV is ostensibly a one-hour network special and will probably build up potential feuds on the road to WWE TLC on December 15.
With that being said, it’s time to plunge into a plenitude of surprises for December’s first PPV. Let’s now preview and predict the televised matches and segments for the WWE Starrcade 2019 card, starting with the Last Man Standing match between Rusev and Bobby Lashley.
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley (w/Lana) [Last Man Standing Match]
Rusev and Lana’s infidelity storyline is probably the most egregious storyline in WWE history. Indeed, the majority of WWE fans desired the return of consistent and invigorating storytelling from the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era, but this is not exactly what they had in mind.
Nonetheless, this storyline picked up some steam last week on Monday Night Raw. Before Raw even began, Lana sent a restraining order to Rusev that prevented him from even showing up to work.
Rusev neglected the restraining order and vehemently attacked Bobby Lashley during his match with Titus O’ Neil. Police enforcement then ran in to arrest Rusev on the way to jail while the medical staff ran in to put Lashley on a stretcher on the way to the hospital.
This was a crazy chain of events that gauged the interest of the WWE Universe to get them sufficiently invested in watching a Last Man’s Standing Match between Rusev and Lashley at WWE Starrcade 2019. Since babyface Rusev already lost his wife to heel Lashley, he might as well win the match not only as a consolation prize but also as a moral lesson that could prove that cheaters never win, especially on a beloved Rusev Day.
Prediction: Rusev
Kabuki Warriors (c) vs. Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks [Women’s Tag Team Championships]
Although this match does not necessarily have a built-in storyline, it is undoubtedly the most exciting match on the card. Eight of the very best the women’s division has to offer on the main roster will collide for the coveted Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Many naysayers would advocate for a misty Kabuki Warriors retention, but the status quo lacks finesse. Out of every match possible, why would this championship match be televised on a network special?
The answer is that a babyface title change is occurring. With Becky Lynch being the Raw Women’s Champion and Bayley being the SmackDown Women’s Champion, their teams are evidently not winning the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Henceforth, the tag team who lost the Women’s Tag Team Championships to the Kabuki Warriors at HIAC 2019 will most likely win it back. In fact, these two superstars have advocated to become the first ever two-time Women’s Tag Team Champions.
With Alexa Bliss‘ exciting babyface return from shoulder injury as well as Nikki Cross‘ culminated championship feud with Bayley, there is a strong indication that this is the direction WWE will go. Bliss and Cross have nothing else to do on SmackDown without the women’s tag team championships and this should also smoothly transition the Kabuki Warriors into focusing on Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship on the road to WWE TLC 2019.
Besides, since Raw has the 24/7 Championship, SmackDown needs the Women’s Tag Team Championship to balance things out. Indeed, Bliss and Cross were even traded to SmackDown at the last minute for a legitimate reason: to bring the Women’s Tag Team Championships back to SmackDown where more women’s tag team feuds can take place.
Prediction: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross
The Kevin Owens Show: Starring WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair
WOO! This segment is foreseeably a kiss stealing, wheeling dealing, limousine riding, jet flying house show-style component of this one-hour Network special. Maybe Ric Flair is about to pass the torch to Kevin Owens.
More from WWE
- Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
- Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline
- WWE and AEW will put on a full court press for Kazuchika Okada in 2024
- The Judgment Day is the top faction story in WWE
- Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley is perfect for WWE Royal Rumble 2024
Whether that happens or not, it will most likely lead to a match between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, who are scheduled to wrestle at this event. Kevin Owens and AJ Styles actually had a memorable feud when it came to the United States Championship.
Unfortunately, the United States Championship is no longer in Styles’ grasp after Rey Mysterio dethroned him last week on Raw. If the scheduled grudge match between Owens and Styles occurs in the televised hour, the babyface Kevin Owens will most definitely win the match.
He needs this victory to maintain his momentum for his current feud with Seth Rollins, and Styles needs to lose so his frustrations with losing the United States Championship can resume at the same intensity. If the O.C. somehow interfere in this match, hopefully Owens’ compadres, the Street Profits, run in to help him out.
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins could also be Owens’ allies on his quest to fend off Seth Rollins and Authors of Pain on next week’s Raw. This would be an incredible foreshadowing of things to come on the road to WWE TLC 2019.
Prediction: Kevin Owens