Survivor Series 1998.... I mean, 2015.

[Blade]

So yeah, the WWE championship has been vacated. At Survivor Series, a tournament will be held to determine the new champion.

Hmm. Doesn't this sound familiar? Wait, doesn't this sound exactly like Survivor Series 1998?

Right now, all of WWE's top stars are away. Lesnar, Cena, Orton, Bryan, and now Rollins. And you can't put the Undertaker in the WWE title picture. So WWE needs to make new stars, and they need to stop ratings from plummeting. So why not give the audience a huge swerve?

Let's say the Authority are on the look out for a new golden boy. They consider Sheamus, Owens, Cesaro. Maybe they consider a few NXT guys. The week before Survivor Series, they announce they've found their new guy, but won't reveal who it is until the PPV.

At Survivor Series, we end up with an Ambrose vs. Reigns final. After a good match, the Authority come out and screw Ambrose, just like the Corporation screwed Mankind. They pick Reigns as their new Golden Boy, just like the Corporation picked The Rock as their Golden Boy.

It would be a big angle, and a major heel turn might do the ratings some good. Plus, the fallout angles write themselves. We could see a short Ambrose vs Reigns feud until Cena comes back to feud with Reigns. Eventually, we'd see returning babyface Rollins vs. heel Reigns. I dunno about y'all, but that sounds entertaining to me.

There's plenty of possibilities. All I know is that there are a lot of similarities between two Survivor Series that are 17 years apart. And I don't expect this year's tournament to be any cleaner than the one in 1998.

Rant over.

 

[Runman222]

Sounds good to me. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing this happen.

 

[dkorolenchuk]

And it perfectly sets up Rollins face return vs the Authority that replaced him so quickly.Rollins could start with some HHH style rehab vignettes,just have to find a song as cool as Beautiful Day sounded during Hunters rehab.Then return during a Raw to a HUGE pop and talk about how the Authority left him to rot during rehab,talk about how the only person that texted him while he was in rehab was a former Shield brother NOT named Reigns,and then demand a title shot seeing he never lost the belt.

 

[Anger]

I honestly am hoping that this is the direction in which things go. It would be a huge heel rub for Reigns, a nice babyface rub off of which to build into the future for Ambrose, and especially a returning Rollins who never actually lost his belt. I just hope "creative" (Vince) doesn't go the vanilla Reigns face victory route. I'm afraid he will.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Am I the only one who hopes its a part timer, maybe someone who makes a comeback from a very long absense, and just wins the tournament and becomes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion?? I've got about 6 guys I'd love to see pull the nostalgic George Foreman comeback. Now would be the time to pull off the fluke.

 

[Checkmate]

The Reigns win seems too obvious. Granted, this is the WWE, AND this is the WWE on short notice, AND the plan MAY have been to put the title on Roman sometime soon (maybe even Survivor Series soon) anyway. But, still, this is Survivor Series, and if there is one PPV with a history of screwy finishes, it's this one.

The Reigns heel turn might be the best plan. Reigns/Ambrose in the finals definitely seems like the best plan, although a deep pain in my gut says Big Show is gonna rear his giant head somewhere in this. I don't know who else fits into a "final match" scenario though. Maybe Sheamus, I guess, but the heel to Reigns is Wyatt or Rollins, and one will be at home while the other is busy facing Taker. So, short of a surprise, I think the SHIELD Bros are in the final together.

Should the Reigns/Ambrose match take place, I honestly think they could turn either guy with the exact same storyline. It makes a little more sense with Ambrose, mainly because of his jealousy of Roman, but it works both ways. Turn one, have a new Authority heel guy. The other chases into the Rumble, if not, Mania, and Rollins returns and turns face because he got kicked to the curb. Win, win, win.

 

[MWRedskins]

i am a fan of this if they want to go that direction. i like how Reigns has improved in the ring and while his mic work still isn't that great, he's got the look of a champion and having him as a heel wouldn't be a bad thing and could set up with great stories like Rollins' return and of course Ambrose being screwed by ANOTHER former "brother" of the Shield. it would also put Ambrose as a top face in WWE which WWE could use to their advantage....Ambrose's mic work is very much stellar, so having him chase a heel Reigns would be a great story and then when Rollins returns, it would be entertaining to see him chase the title and his mic work also would help the story.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Why can't you put the Undertaker in the title scene? I'm not saying they should, or that it would be good. Lesnar held the title as a part-timer, why not one of the all-time greatest? I doubt the world title alters the Survivor Series plan for Taker vs Wyatt.

Reigns and Ambrose seem like the logical candidates to headline the title match. The parallels between 1998 and 2015 and between Roman/Dean and Rock/Mankind are impossible to not acknowledge.

WWE has a habit of rehashing, but they also have a habit of swerving for swerves sake. Roman becoming the new corporate star isn't written in stone. They could swerve on that and repackage Ambrose as well.

Either way, Ambrose or Reigns turning on the other pays off their bromance storyline and may very well have been the storyline coming out of Survivor Series even before the Rollins injury.

WWE is low on heels and just dropped their top heel to injury. I think we're due a heel turn. Another factor to seriously consider is whomever wins at SS will likely be the champion heading in to Mania.

I'd say Ambrose turning heel makes more sense then Reigns. Dean becomes jealous and takes Rollins spot. It becomes a rehash of what Rollins did though, and really makes Rollins betrayal less special when the Shield eventually reunites.

Turning Roman heel would more than likely allow his character to develop to a point that will get him fully over. It's also the easy and more logical answer to the question a lot of people have had over Reigns. I'm not certain it's the right one though considering Roman has improved as much as he has.

If there is a big heel turn in this tournament, I doubt they rehash a 17 year old angle, even if it was one of the all time biggest, regardless of the stars aligning to give us the different parts. If someone does turn heel, they shouldn't join the Authority. WWE needs a fresh angle in this time of depleted roster, not a predictable end to the PPV.

 

[Checkmate]

WWE has a habit of rehashing, but they also have a habit of swerving for swerves sake.

In essence, they'd be rehashing something from 1998. Yes, I know that these screwy finishes happen all the time, but if we're talking about a heel turn to conclude a tournament for a title at Survivor Series, that's 1998. This is 2015. The WWE has plenty of viewers who didn't watch the product in 1998. Hell, the WWE has plenty of viewers who weren't even alive in 1998. This is the same company that completely glossed over the Brock/Taker feud of 2002 and their first Hell in a Cell match. They don't expect people to look back that far, or, even in the lifetime fan case, they expect us to have selective memory.

I don't think we get a swerve for the sake of a swerve at Survivor Series. I think the WWE are hurting right now. Rollins was "the man". Rusev is out. Orton is out. Cena is on break. Bryan may never return. Lesnar comes and goes. So does Taker. Sting may never wrestle again. Without all those names, you essentially delete the entire main event picture of 2015. With ratings the way they are, people have been clamoring for something new, but right now, all they need is a void filler. They need a big face and a big heel with something to fight for. That's really simple and Ambrose and Reigns can be those guys.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I have to be honest, I don't watch Raw much these days anymore. I don't know who is sufficiently over? Perhaps they could have Daniel Bryan return if he is cleared and get to the final and have someone screw him over and turn heel on him - such as Reigns, Ziggler or Ambrose.

Many of the top names of the year - Cena, Rusev, Orton, Lesnar, Sting, Rollins - all out the game. Undertaker is back but on a P/T schedule. It is times like these WWE will realise the errors of not creating more stars. I think the immediate answer is either a Heel Roman Reigns or a HHH title reign from Survivor Series to WM.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I would be perfectly ok with this. I'm not sure they're willing to turn Reigns yet though. More likely Reigns wins the title and Sheamus cashes in. Will he be backed by the authority? Probably.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I would be all for WWE running the 2015 tourney they same way they did back in 98. Fans want to boo Reigns, WWE wants him to be the man, this would solve both of those items. Give him a run as the top heel, let him run through a few guys and continue to work on his non ring related stuff and hope it clicks for Reigns like it did for Rock in 99.

 

[sMark]

The final 4 should be Reigns, Owens, Ziggler & Del Rio, Reigns should pin Ziggler and turn heel next night - Owens vs Del Rio and Ziggler vs Reigns programs will be fun to watch.

 

[That N Word]

At Survivor Series, Reigns wins the tournament in a hard fought battle. Triple H takes Seth Rollins title rematch for his self at TLC and Reigns defeats him in a TLC match. Triple H tries to screw over Reigns again the next night on Raw by introducing his opponent for Royal Rumble "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. At Royal Rumble, Reigns is getting his ass whipped and starts to fire back at the end. Roman Reigns defeats Lesnar to retain in a hard fought battle. Roman is celebrating and Triple H tells him his night is not over yet and sends out Sheamus to cash in. The match is underway and Reigns defeats Sheamus with a spear in a fairly quick match. After the match, Sheamus attacks Reigns and...If Ya Sm-me-ll!!! Rock makes the save and Rock Bottoms Sheamus. He goes for The People's Elbow and get's F-5'ed by Brock Lesnar outta nowhere.

Later in the night, John Cena returns and wins the Royal Rumble after lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose. The fans would boo the hell out of him for eliminating Ambrose. Reigns would come to the ring getting in Cena's face and raises his hand as the fans boo. Cena then goes to celebrate on the top rope and when he get's down Reigns spears him to end the show.

The boo's become the story and Cena can start to show frustration. Like I said before capitalize on the interview when Cena said the boo's were beginning to get to him. The fans would probably cheer Reigns in this storyline here. At WrestleMania, have Cena and Reigns going at it in a classic hard fought battle and Reigns is about to finish Cena off with a spear and Cena moves out the way making Reigns hit the ref. Cena hits the AA and goes for the cover but the ref is down. Cena stops the pin and then smirks before getting out the ring and grabbing a chair. He get's in the ring and sits it down shaking his head no as if he can't bring his self to it. He see's Roman getting up and thinks fast and beats the hell out of him with the chair. Cena then hits the final AA on the cheer for the win. This would be a 40 year old Cena doubting he can hang in there with the young bucks. He would go part-time after. This would also lead to a Mania rematch between the two later down the line where Reigns would win.

This plants the seeds for Rollins/Triple H if Rollins is healthy,Triple H vs. Rock if he is not,and Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock if Triple H doesn't compete and Rollins isn't healthy.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Am I the only one who hopes its a part timer, maybe someone who makes a comeback from a very long absense, and just wins the tournament and becomes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion?? I've got about 6 guys I'd love to see pull the nostalgic George Foreman comeback. Now would be the time to pull off the fluke.

I was thinking this earlier. A great opportunity for WWE to bring in some big guns. It won't happen, but can you imagine a world title tournament featuring the Rock, Brock Lesnar, Sting, Batista, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Triple H? Or sub Sting and Trips for del Rio and Owens (given spots as the mid-card champs) It would be epic, it would sell huge numbers and it would spik interest in the product as the road to Wrestlemania begins

 

[@smarkmouth]

At Survivor Series, Reigns wins the tournament in a hard fought battle. Triple H takes Seth Rollins title rematch for his self at TLC and Reigns defeats him in a TLC match. Triple H tries to screw over Reigns again the next night on Raw by introducing his opponent for Royal Rumble "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. At Royal Rumble, Reigns is getting his ass whipped and starts to fire back at the end. Roman Reigns defeats Lesnar to retain in a hard fought battle.

I get that you're trying to build Reigns, here, but you're going to put him in two big money matches with part timers in a row, with less than a months build to each. Both Reigns/HHH and Reigns/Lesnar would deserve more time than that.

I've said in a small handful of times, that while I want Reigns to turn, I don't want it to be against Ambrose in the finals. Revisiting the course of action they took in '98, they didn't give us Austin and Rock in the finals. They saved that for down the road, it being the bigger money match. In it's stead, they gave us Rock vs Mankind. They successfully created a top sympathetic babyface, and protected a WrestleMania-worthy feud. To play the role of Foley in 2015's 'Deadly Game', I'd have to go with Cesaro. Atlanta would be eating out of the palm of Cesaro and Reigns' hands, likely with a bias for Cesaro. This would bold and underline a Reigns turn, by my estimation.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Well with the current roster here's hoping they just do an 8 man tournament instead of 14, maybe we'll actually get a pile of good matches instead of a ton of throwaways.

Personally, I don't want to see Reigns go corporate, he's pretty well suited in the role he's in and if anything, I think I'd rather have a situation where it's Sheamus vs. Reigns in the finals. After a tough match Reigns wins the title, Sheamus goes nuts on him afterwards, cashes in and wins the title that way. I don't see a reason to put Sheamus with The Authority as he can do just fine by himself and considering how well The Authority worked for Orton it's probably best Sheamus just does his own thing. I don't see it going the way it went for Rollins. I feel it fit well for Rollins because he wasn't established so having himself align with someone like Triple H and Steph could help in that fashion, since Sheamus has been established for years and he does well on his own I really don't need to see another heel getting on his knees every few weeks to service how amazing Triple H and Steph are.

I think having Reigns win 3 tough matches to win the title, only to get screwed out of it immediately afterwards could do wonders for building sympathy for the guy and if booked correctly, could really put him over huge by the time Wrestlemania 32 rolls around. Reigns is a lot more over then many give him credit for, one more solid push with him chasing the title in such a fashion could be just what he needs to put him over the top.