Last chance to get this right!

[The Architect of Anarchy]

Only one Raw is now standing between now and Survivor Series. I believe WWE have destroyed quite a lot of momentum since they announced the tournament to crown a new champion. With the brackets they had; they have squandered an opportunity to build excitement and change the landscape of WWE towards something awesome.

With the quarter finals left, they still have a chance to get things right. With a few solid matches, logical booking and a couple swerves, they might be able to build excitement again for Survivor Series.

As it stands, this is the current SS card;

There's only one Raw left and they have only three announced matches and still no traditional elimination tag match.

The booking last Raw was quite mediocre at least. Today, can they pull their socks up and deliver the necessary momentum that this Raw needs to inject Survivor Series with? Last year's Survivor Series totally ended in chaos and caused one of the biggest shocks of 2014. Can they live up to last year's standards?

It looks grim unless they do something about it today and they better do it fast.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Doesn't matter what kind of show they put on. People will still complain.

And swerves for the sake of swerves do not make a good show. Just ask Vince Russo. To have a swerve or 2 in the quarterfinals of a tournament is just anticlimactic. Save the big stuff for the championship match.

Should they put on a good show? Duh. Should they do dumb shit to make it "unpredictable"? No.

And aren't there only 4 tournament matches today? That would mean the semis would likely be on the PPV, unless they put them on Smackdown. I guess they haven't clarified.

I will add that unless they make the BoD storyline a traditional Survivor Series match, I don't think there's any saving whatever "story" they try to cook up for whoever is in that match. At this point I half expect them to make a SS match with random midcarders that doesn't mean a damn thing. Of course at this point that looks like the kind of matches that are going to fill out a lot of the card.

 

[kadroan]

Only one Raw is now standing between now and Survivor Series. I believe WWE have destroyed quite a lot of momentum since they announced the tournament to crown a new champion. With the brackets they had; they have squandered an opportunity to build excitement and change the landscape of WWE towards something awesome.

With the quarter finals left, they still have a chance to get things right. With a few solid matches, logical booking and a couple swerves, they might be able to build excitement again for Survivor Series.

As it stands, this is the current SS card;

There's only one Raw left and they have only three announced matches and still no traditional elimination tag match.

The booking last Raw was quite mediocre at least. Today, can they pull their socks up and deliver the necessary momentum that this Raw needs to inject Survivor Series with? Last year's Survivor Series totally ended in chaos and caused one of the biggest shocks of 2014. Can they live up to last year's standards?

It looks grim unless they do something about it today and they better do it fast.

I was worried about the undercard. I don't recall a PPV being this underdeveloped. I believe some feuds that were halted before the Rollins' injury will resume and make it's way on the card like Del Rio vs. Swagger, New Day vs. The Usos (they've been going at it the past couple of weeks), Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze (if Breeze costs Ziggler the match because he's already eliminated from the tournament).

 

[Kamala316]

This isn't a complaint, this is fact: The only PPV that WWE actually puts any ounce of thought and advanced planning into now is WrestleMania. They make such a killing that week with everything going on, I can't even fathom the profit they make. Like many lifelong fans, I watch (more like DVR/fast forward) weekly programming, but I also realize that if I only watched WWE between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, I wouldn't miss a thing.

 

[Shotaro]

The problem with what you're saying at it's core is that by booking literally any other matches they're giving away results for the tournament. The US and IC champion are both still in the bracket so a match for them can't be booked until we know as an audience if they're still in the tournament or not. Also bear in mind that the tournament will take three slots on the card (2 semis and the final itself)

Let's assume 7 or 8 matches including the pre-show.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final

*** This match is the least likely one to happen ***
US or IC championship match (gun to my head I'd guess US since Del Rio is more of a draw than Owens to most fans) for argument's sake let's say it's Del Rio vs Neville hell we could even see Bryan return if he's fit to give the show a lift - next time he'd make a real impact would likely be the Rumble anyway so if he's fit Del Rio vs Bryan is a pretty damn good money match.

The Brothers of Destruction vs The Wyatt Family - I fully expect this to become a Survivor Series match if Del Rio stays in the tournament. Lord only knows who will be on which side in this one.

Charlotte vs Paige - WWE Women's Championship

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final #2 - This will be Reigns, his match is closer to the final. Adds suspense (allegedly)

The New Day vs. The Usos - WWE Tag Team Championship. They're a reasonably popular face team against the hottest heels in the company right now (holy shit I can't believe I just typed that but it's true...)

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final #1: Ambrose vs. Owens

As for the Pre-Show my guess is Tyler Breeze vs someone he's going to beat who he hasn't yet beaten. Maybe even Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks or something (though that really should be on the main card)

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

So far...ZERO Survivor Series elimination matches ..a shame. They really need at least one elimination match. In a shameful move, WWE will force one in....at the pre show.

 

[spiketbear]

So based on Raw that ended a few hours ago, the most likely match card will be:

Reigns vs Del Rio (semifinal)
Ambrose vs Owens (semifinal)

Reigns vs Ambrose (WHC)

Charlotte vs Paige (Divas title)

Undertaker and Kane vs Bray Wyatt and family member

Traditional Survivor Series Match:

New Day, Sheamus, Barrett vs Usos, Ryback, Ziggler, Cesaro

 

[BringThePain834]

It'll probably be something like Kofi, Big E, Tyler Breeze, Sheamus and Barrett vs either The Usos or the Dudleys, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville

 

[Heartbreak_Kid_707]

I thought wwe left a lot of room for matches too be announced. Isn't the divas belt and world title the only belts up? What avoyr the tag titles??

Will they make del Rio wrestle again after loosing tocreigns and ask owens to do the same?

As of now there's nothing for Zigglwr, Cesaro, Dudley's, Sasha, 2 Wyatt's, miz,l sandow,, shaemus, big show usos, ryback, Tyler breeze, Becky, bayley +appearing soon!.!), Barrett, Nevil!e, a d others. . you've got 15- superstars to figure out before Thursday!!!

 

[Navi]

Only one Raw is now standing between now and Survivor Series. I believe WWE have destroyed quite a lot of momentum since they announced the tournament to crown a new champion. With the brackets they had; they have squandered an opportunity to build excitement and change the landscape of WWE towards something awesome.

It looks grim unless they do something about it today and they better do it fast.

To be fair to the WWE they've had a hell of a last few weeks. Rollins, Orton and Nikki Bella have gone down with injuries and Cena is taking a month or so off. They are missing a lot of star power right there.

Right now it looks like they are flying by the seat of their pants. It's fairly obvious who is going to win this hurry up tournament, and who will be the next champion. The only surprise will be who facing Taker and Kane. The rest for me anyway so far is underwhelming. This is one PPV that I'm not fussed at missing.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

It's an undeveloped card because of Rollins injury.

With the tournament they have taken out both an IC and US Championship match that would have had a couple of weeks to turn into a match at SS.

Without these builds, there doesn't seem a lot to look forward too. But got to give creative some credit, given that Rollins was a freak injury, it not only blows off the WWE Championship story, they have had to interrupt a lot of others.

I would give them a pass for SS on the idea that they will have new stories going forward.

Nobody could have predicted this only a few weeks before a big PPV so think they deserve a little slack to give them a chance to show what they do now

 

[whalip15]

Does nobody else think that Reigns is going to sell out similar to Austin / Rock / McMahon angle at wrestlemania.....I jus tthink they are mentioning it too much not to be an angle....Im hoping its Ambrose who flips to heel as i think hes got the right image and 'crazy' persona for it....but we'll see...The only light i hold is that Reigns seems to be the legitimate future of the company after cena has gone so i cant see them turning him heel...I hope not...hes really establishign himself now and has been gettign some great pops, be crazy to spoil it now....

 

[TML3:16]

Does nobody else think that Reigns is going to sell out similar to Austin / Rock / McMahon angle at wrestlemania.....I jus tthink they are mentioning it too much not to be an angle....Im hoping its Ambrose who flips to heel as i think hes got the right image and 'crazy' persona for it....but we'll see...The only light i hold is that Reigns seems to be the legitimate future of the company after cena has gone so i cant see them turning him heel...I hope not...hes really establishign himself now and has been gettign some great pops, be crazy to spoil it now....

I'd love to see something like this. I'd go with the idea of having Ambrose win the belt clean and then have him try n shake Romans hand and then Roman goes nuts and destroys him, then on Raw he sells out to HHH for a match at TLC and wins the belt there.

Regardless of how they do it, I think having Roman move forward as the clean cut babyface is just boring. Something unpredictable needs to happen to breathe some life into this moving foward. If they don't, I think it's going to be hard to sell Mania based on the current roster without all the extras/part timers being added to it.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Does nobody else think that Reigns is going to sell out similar to Austin / Rock / McMahon angle at wrestlemania.....I jus tthink they are mentioning it too much not to be an angle....Im hoping its Ambrose who flips to heel as i think hes got the right image and 'crazy' persona for it....but we'll see...The only light i hold is that Reigns seems to be the legitimate future of the company after cena has gone so i cant see them turning him heel...I hope not...hes really establishign himself now and has been gettign some great pops, be crazy to spoil it now....

Ambrose turning heel helps no one but Ambrose. Reigns going heel helps both wrestlers.

 

[L@RISANO]

Ambrose turning heel helps no one but Ambrose. Reigns going heel helps both wrestlers.

lMO, Ambrose going heel helps no one given that he'll probably be cheered even more.


That said, with Sheamus left off of the last RAW, I can smell an unwanted cash-in on babyface Roman. Boring but

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

lMO, Ambrose going heel helps no one given that he'll probably be cheered even more.


That said, with Sheamus left off of the last RAW, I can smell an unwanted cash-in on babyface Roman. Boring but

Yeah sadly that seems likely. IMO a Reigns heel turn would be perfect on Ambrose at SS. It gets both guys over huge. Sheamus has until mid next year to do his cash in.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

I'd love to see something like this. I'd go with the idea of having Ambrose win the belt clean and then have him try n shake Romans hand and then Roman goes nuts and destroys him, then on Raw he sells out to HHH for a match at TLC and wins the belt there.

Regardless of how they do it, I think having Roman move forward as the clean cut babyface is just boring. Something unpredictable needs to happen to breathe some life into this moving foward. If they don't, I think it's going to be hard to sell Mania based on the current roster without all the extras/part timers being added to it.[/QUOTE



Can I ask what about that scenario is unpredictable? Isn't that basically what they have been booking all the way back to the formation of the Authority? Orton "sold his soul" to form the Authority and be Triple H's puppet champion. Rollins "sold his soul" to be Triple H's puppet champion. Even Lesnar was originally booked as a hired gun by the Authority to get the belt off Cena. While he never had a direct association it was implied he was endorsed by Triple H until the time was right for Rollins to steal the belt.
The WWE hasn't had a true "face" as champion since Summerslam last year. Wouldn't it be more unpredictable to have a face (Reigns or Ambrose) resist the temptation of the Authority and get the clean win? Have the Authority be the hunters instead of the hunted for awhile or just do away with them altogether as its got quite stale anyways. If you want to turn somebody later on to set something up for WM32 I would be fine with that. I just see this as a good opportunity to break from what's become predictable and have yet another hand picked "face of the WWE" Triple H controlled champ.
You could even use this as the seeds for a Triple H - Seth Rollins fued when he returns. Trips resents Rollins getting injured and leaving him high and dry with no control of the belt and ending the Authority reign.
People complain about lazy booking/writing I see yet another heel turn join the Authority as lazy writing

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Unpredictable for the sake of unpredictable isn't always a good thing. Just as Vince Russo. DB winning at WM30 was very predictable. Pretty sure that went over well.

 

[mancini999]

Adding Roman to the Authority is about as lazy as they could possibly be. Somehow keep the belt away from them and have the Authority chasing for awhile. Worst case the way i see it is a Shemus cash in and hes Trips new guy

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

You could try an Ambrose Heel turn, but he also turns on the authority next night on Raw.

Goes it alone and potentially sets up the shield triple threat when Rollins returns

 

[ShinChan]

I would have Roman Reigns destroy him after losing clean to Dean Ambrose in the finals and be an dominant badass heel who beats the hell out of his competitors and talks less and beats more..... A long time since a face WWE World Heavyweight Champ...... so why not make WWE Ambrose Asylum!

 

[MWRedskins]

I believe some feuds that were halted before the Rollins' injury will resume and make it's way on the card like Del Rio vs. Swagger, New Day vs. The Usos (they've been going at it the past couple of weeks), Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze (if Breeze costs Ziggler the match because he's already eliminated from the tournament).

my guess is that Breeze will likely face Ziggler, maybe after something happens on smackdown....or maybe they'll be in a traditional survivor series type of match

I thought wwe left a lot of room for matches too be announced. Isn't the divas belt and world title the only belts up? What avoyr the tag titles??

Will they make del Rio wrestle again after loosing tocreigns and ask owens to do the same?

my guess is no....we will not see a US or IC title match...my guess is that the tag titles won't be defended either. i think a 6 man could happen with New Day vs. Usos and Ryback.....i hope WWE sets up a Survivor Series style of match. they could end up having two other guys team up with the new day and the the Usos and Ryback to make a survivor series type of team...for example, have the Usos, Dudleys and Ryback vs. the New Day, Sheamus and King Barrett or they could have Breeze and Ziggler be captains of a survivor series team.

i think the injury to Rollins changed this ppv a lot. i think the original plan was for Del Rio to battle Swagger (to put over Mex-America) and for Kevin Owens to defend the IC title and likely retain (via DQ) against Ambrose...but due to Rollins' injury, i think those matches were scrapped.

 

[whalip15]

I think everyone is expecting either a roman or ambrose heel turn.... Personally I think it should go down like this... Triple H comes down and starts a beat down on reigns with some others like big show etc looking like he's helping ambrose.... Then a returning Daniel Bryan runs down and stops the authority and lays out ambrose and drags reigns over for him to win the belt and helps reigns to win it with the odds stacked against.... Reigns wins it and celebrates then Bryan turns and finishers him.... Leaving both reigns and ambrose in the ring.... Triple H grabs the mic and introduces a new heel Daniel Bryan.... Bryan can that way take it easy and not jump back into action, he'd get tonnes of heat.... We have a new fued, a face as champion and a fresh outlook. I realise it doesn't make them too strong as wwe championship isn't with them

 

[L@RISANO]

Yeah sadly that seems likely. IMO a Reigns heel turn would be perfect on Ambrose at SS. It gets both guys over huge. Sheamus has until mid next year to do his cash in.

lMO, WWE should find a way to build Roman as a huge corporate heel and maybe somehow have Sheamus "relinquish" the briefcase to Roman somehow.

As I said elsewhere, Roman as a heel has top Babyface opposition to go againsr and given that he is the one WWE wants, him being booked Lesnar-like as a heel would be brilliant given all the other top guys are practically babyfaces: Lesnar, Cena, Orton, Ambrose, Bryan and probly Rollins on return also. Ntm, they could have Roman vs Taker if they want and also the Rock at some point also.