SURVIVOR SEIRES 2013 - ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE

Survivor Series used to be the most anticipated event of the year behind WrestleMania, because of its twelve man, Survivor Series Elimination Matches. It used to be a star maker, and whilst it is the night The Undertaker made his debut in WWE, it will always be notorious for the Montreal Screwjob in 1997. However, over the years the classic Survivor Series Elimination Matches have petered out and been replaced by normal one on one matches, thus depriving the event of what made it special and making resemble a normal pay-per view event.

With the debut of The Shield at last years event, can WWE surprise us yet again in 2013 and push another young pretender to the throne, or will it be business as usual? From the T.D Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on November 24th, this is WWE Survivor Series 2013. 

Note: this was written and completed before WWE announced Big E. Langston vs Curtis Axel for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

WWE Championship Match

(c) Randy Orton vs Big Show

I have to admit that I was slightly taken aback when WWE announced this match on Raw in early November. For me, Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan wasn’t yet over with – there was so much more the company could have gotten out of that main event run, one which WWE would have reaped the rewards from when the buy rates came in. I can’t begin to see how WWE would think that Big Show – though he has lost a lot of weight since his return – could ever yield such a response as Bryan did and now the former WWE Champion seems to be out of the picture this feud only looks like going one way.

WWE missed a trick with Orton and Bryan by not keeping them apart in the ring, until WrestleMania 30 when they could have contested their first match to much approval from the fans and box office numbers. That the company has now pitted the pair together on three pay-per view main events in a row including the ending to SummerSlam should tell us that the company believe the feud has run its course and now its time to move on. Either that or WWE are trying hard to bide time until Royal Rumble which we have to believe right now, Daniel Bryan will win and then clash with Orton again at WrestleMania 30 – though what would be their fourth match will no way yield the numbers their first match would have had it taken place on the grandest stage of them all.

Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan has been so successful at the box office that its surprising WWE have ended it so soon. Usually when something works so well where cash is concerned the company will wring every last drop out of it. Should they be keeping the finale for Mania 30 then it may be a master decision. If the feud has been discontinued then its a poor choice by a company who desperately needed something to grab the WWE’s Universe’s attention going into April.

The question which has arisen now of whether Randy Orton and Big Show can make the main event feud work. Whilst its only hopefully for one month, let’s be honest Big Show should never be put in another main event again. He’s had his chance and he’s blown it over and over again. Like he has so many times before, Big Show is taking the spotlight away from younger talent who need it so much more. As part of The Corporation, or whatever WWE like to call it in 2013, Randy Orton should be elevating new talent beneath him and the perfect place to start would have been Cody Rhodes.

Imagine this for a moment: Cody Rhodes and Goldust had failed to defeat Reigns and Rollins for the WWE Tag Team Championships on Raw and Rhodes had regained his job at Hell in a Cell against Triple H. Two situations which never happened but would have been ‘best for business’ had they transpired. After his reinstatement, Cody Rhodes would have challenged Randy Orton to a WWE Championship match. After his victory against Triple H, the WWE Universe would have brought into Rhodes as a serious contender and believed that this was his big moment – that finally WWE were pushing the man who is going to be Champion one day. This would have done two things. The first would be elevate a new challenger to the throne and a new star in one night and the second; WWE would have found an answer to putting Big Show back in a spot he doesn’t deserve.

The pair have been here before, though not in a such a grand spot. Extreme Rules 2013 Randy Orton and Big Show had one of the best matches of the night, of course it was under Extreme Rules and not normal main vent rules which limits what Randy Orton can do with Show, but they made a good effort of it. And then there’re Big Show’s class matches with Sheamus last year which surpassed everyone’s expectations. So we know Big Show can put on a good match when he wants to. If he doesn’t want to put the effort in at Survivor Series then WWE are going to be put into the spotlight and the first question which will be asked is if Big Show doesn’t want to put the effort in anymore, why are the company constantly pushing him in important roles. It’s a question which is long overdue and one WWE will have to answer at some point.

Anyway, back to the point I was making. With Daniel out of the picture for now and seemingly bumped down the card yet again when he’s proved he’s anything but a mid-card player, I can only see this feud heading in one direction. With the recent return of John Cena and his World Heavyweight Championship victory over Alberto Del Rio at Hell in a Cell – which was the wrong result all around – one can only believe that WWE are planning on having the chosen one end the reign of The New Corporation. You can see it coming a mile off and it will most probably be in a match featuring Champion vs Champion with John Cena vs Randy Orton.

If that is the plan then not only is it the wrong one but WWE will have undone everything that The Corporation and themselves have done in the past few months. The whole point of this was to prove that the company could survive without John Cena and with fresh blood at the helm. If WWE reintroduce John Cena to the storyline then everything will have been pointless because in the end there can only be one winner – we’ll pick up more on this in the World Heavyweight Championship section of the pay-per view preview. At the moment in WWE there are several roads for Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan and John Cena to go down and they all end at WrestleMania and depend on other talent.

You’ll hear about John Cena’s options elsewhere on this blog and if Daniel Bryan doesn’t win the Royal Rumble match then its almost a certainty that John Cena or the returning Hulk Hogan will be brought into the story in order to do what WWE wouldn’t allow Bryan to. John Cena vs Randy Orton is one option WWE have for WrestleMania 30, Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton vs Hulk Hogan is another or the final option is Randy Orton vs Triple H vs Daniel Bryan. Either way it’s safe to say that this storyline won’t last beyond the thirty year celebrations of WrestleMania – but WWE can make an impact on how it ends.

Right now, it’s up to Randy Orton to carry Big Show in a match which should never have happened. Where WWE go from here is anyone guess, but after so much good work and build up the company cannot allow the wheels to come off of this freight train now. With Big Show far from WWE Championship material or WrestleMania main event material in 2013, I believe its safe to say that the WWE Championship is leaving Survivor Series around the waist of Randy Orton.

Winners Prediction: Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship Match
(c) John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio

Okay, let’s not pretend that this match is going to end any way but the John Cena way. After his comeback at Hell in a Cell – which was way too soon in my opinion – and World Heavyweight Championship victory, WWE have no intention of taking the Championship off of Cena unless something drastic happens, like he reinjures himself before or after Survivor Series. Like every other time, WWE never gave a thought to what losing the Championship would do to Alberto Del Rio’s image or that of the rest of his challengers over the last few months.

What the WWE Universe see now is a bunch of wrestlers, one of which is the future of this business, who failed to defeated Alberto Del Rio who was a supposed roll over for John Cena. It only further damages their claim to the gold when it comes back around. But as it always has been in WWE these last few years, only John Cena matters. It doesn’t matter that Alberto Del Rio was adding some real clout to the Championship before Cena stormed back in and reclaimed the number one spot or that his heel character was genuinely getting over with the audience thanks to his harsh treatment of Dolph Ziggler in their feud which produced some gripping encounters. WWE are single minded when it comes to John Cena – he must be protected at all costs and hang the rest of the roster.

WWE could have both avoided Alberto Del Rio’s downward spiral and kept John Cena in the public eye had they allowed Del Rio to do what he did with Ziggler and exploit the injury of Cena in order to win the match. There would have been no need for John Cena to tap out to the arm bar; instead Del Rio could have either won by pinfall of disqualification. Had he pinned Cena in the middle of the ring after a kick to the head then WWE could have played on a concussion storyline and Del Rio would have looked stronger going into the year. Undoubtedly, Del Rio would have ad to lose the Championship to Cena, but it should have been after a titanic struggle. John Cena should have fell at least twice on Pay-Per View before he lifted the gold, people would have really brought into the Alberto Del Rio character then and WWE would have had no trouble convincing people he was a major threat heading into WrestleMania 30.

Had the company allowed Del Rio to retain via DQ, then they would have added another layer to John Cena had he levelled Alberto Del Rio with a steel chair. People would have looked upon John Cena as somewhat of a badass and whilst he’ll never be in the Stone Cold Steve Austin category, it would have been a welcome release from his usual repertoire. Maybe WWE could have used this method to begin to tease a hell turn even if they never actually pulled the trigger. 

It makes no sense at all in burying Alberto Del Rio now, not after so much good work over the last few months. Instead of immediately bumping John Cena back up the main roster, WWE should have taken a chance and rewarded Del Rio with a mega push over John Cena. Not only would it have been a nice surprise – Cena’s victory at Hell in a Cell wasn’t exactly surprising – but it would have meant WWE had a ready made standby if something does happen to John Cena. Now, should John Cena’s injury re-effect his in ring work and he has to take another couple of months out, no one will believe that Alberto Del Rio is a serious Champion. He’ll be looked upon as a caretaker champion until Cena finally returns.

With John Cena being their biggest star in 2013, I would question the intelligence of both the company and John Cena in returning to the ring so soon. Surely the six months which it was originally thought it would take Cena to recover would have been a great amount of time for JC to take out, whether he was ready to come back sooner or not. WWE should have seen how the main event was flourishing without him and kept him on the sidelines. The excuse that they needed a star name at the top of their cards hasn’t cut it this time around as Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio and others have been ample stand-ins for Cena and yielded much better matches than WWE’s poster boy usually produces.

Apart from that gripe, am I the only one who thinks this would have been as a traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match? Younger talent would have prospered from the exposure of teaming with John Cena and being on the winning side, it would have jump started at least one or two careers and John Cena would have been credited for that. The other thing it would have done was protect Alberto Del Rio’s image. Another pinfall loss in a one on one match to John Cena here would all but end his claim to the gold and allow John Cena move on. Though John Cena won’t lose the Championship at Survivor Series, Alberto Del Rio needs to win in order to prolong the feud into TLC.

If WWE had booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match then the company could have had John Cena and Del Rio battle to the back – thus getting counted out – and allowed the younger talent to thrill the audience. It would have been the perfect star maker. But alas, WWE are hell bent on harming Del Rio even though without him this year Smackdown’s output would have been absolutely desperate. If this is how WWE treat the people who put the most into the company then it’s a poor message to send to future talent as well as those currently in WWE development. The younger wrestlers still to make their main roster debut are going to be looking at treatment like this and ask why they should dedicate their lives to WWE when all the thanks they’ll get is to be cannon fodder to men like John Cena.

Treatment and booking like this is exactly why WWE’s main event output has been stalled over the past few years. Unless it begins to change its ways and moves with the times, then it’s going to be history repeated and then who knows how baron the main event landscape will look then?

Winners Prediction: John Cena

Survivor Series Elimination Match

Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Usos vs The Shield and The Real Americans

Call me an optimist but this is one match at Survivor Series which I am really looking forward to and it’s not every month you hear me say that. We know the old adage that WWE have somehow deemed Survivor Series just another pay-per view event by watering down and then eventually all but doing away with the traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches, but it’s good to see not only have the company made time for not one but two on this card, but they feature mostly up and coming talent who really have a chance to shine and show the company what they’re capable of when given the chance and ample time.

Of course that’s the big word – time. WWE can’t rush this match. If they truly want to get at least four of the ten over then this has to be a thirty to forty minute spot which WWE give the competitors their consent to go out and out on a real show. All the best Survivor Series Elimination Matches over the years, the ones which have actually gotten talent over and elevated them to the next level in the company have been ones which have been drawn out over a period of over half an hour. I have been watching some old Survivor Series matches recently and one that strikes me was from 1991 and featured Ric Flair, Ted Dibiase, The Mountie and The Warlord fought Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, The British Bulldog and Virgil. Technically the match was okay but it was the amount of time WWE allocated to it which allowed Bret Hart to truly break away from the pack and shine. Had WWE in 1991 allocated the match ten minutes then it would have been a waste of time and talent. But it allowed it to prosper and the result of that was the evolution of Bret Hart as a singles star. One year later he was defending the WWE Championship in the main event of the show.

This year and twelve years after Bret Hart broke away from the pack, WWE have no reason whatsoever to doubt anyone in this match. Cody Rhodes and Goldust have as of writing this been a revelation in the tag team division. The Usos have all the skill in the world to be one of the greatest tag teams the company has seen in a decade. Rey Mysterio is fresh back from an injury which has sidelined him since February so believes he has something to prove. The Shield are the three greatest rookies to have come out of WWE’s development system (and of course Ring of Honour in the case of Seth Rollins) in many years and The Real Americans are all business when not pitted in comedy matches. Swagger and Cesaro have an abundance of talent which WWE need right now in order to lift its tag team division.

I have a horrible feeling that WWE will only allocate this match fifteen minutes and expect it to bring the house down, in which time they’ll have The Usos easily eliminated by Swagger and Cesaro and in turn Swagger and Cesaro dispatched by Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio in order to build some kind of feud between Cesaro and Mysterio. If this is WWE’s plan then it’s a terrible one. Yes, of course people have to be eliminated but it should be after a titanic struggle and not ten seconds after the bell rings in a comedy moment. That would all but bury whoever is on the receiving end.

The Real Americans have to come off strong before their eventual elimination, dispatching at least Rey Mysterio before they themselves are sent packing most probably by The Usos. This would open up a fresh tag team rivalry between The Usos and The Real Americans which we could reasonably believe in. Before, when the four have collided on Smackdown it wasn’t totally believable. It resembled a match which had been thrown together without any thought as to where it was going when the final bell rang. Now though, WWE have the perfect chance to build a slow and heated feud which is of course what the division needs under the Tag Team Champions.

Could WWE sustain a feud between The Usos and The Real Americans? For the short term yes. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a long term solution to the problems WWE face. There would be some interest in the feud if it were to run until Royal Rumble but after that WWE have to find something else to fill the spot. Of course a feud between the teams would only have legs if WWE didn’t book The Usos to continuously lose to Swagger and Cesaro and any other teams they threw together in the mean time. To make this a feud people will buy into and one that can strengthen the foundations of the tag team division, WWE needs to even out the score. If The Usos eliminate The Real Americans here then Swagger and Cesaro should go over at TLC in what could be a terrific Ladder Match for the number one contendership for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

With a little thought, WWE could make this feud and the division even more interesting in a matter of weeks by forming enhancement tag teams with wrestlers who they have no plans for in 2013 and have The Real Americans and Usos go over them on weekly television. Of course if the company wanted a truly memorable TLC event in December then what better than to have Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs The Real American vs The Usos in a TLC or Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships. It would be a spectacle no one soon forgot.

Whatever WWE do with The Real Americans at Survivor Series it would be an ill advised move to split them now, by building a feud between Antonio Cesaro and Rey Mysterio. Yes Cesaro is much better than tag team action, as is Swagger, but the team is getting of the ground and could a lot for the doubles division. WWE have tried and failed to push Cesaro as a singles star before. If the company do want Cesaro as a singles star – which they should do – and can’t wait a few months until they’ve aided the doubles division in its plight then begin his singles push as Royal Rumble. Many a singles career has been made with a strong showing in the 30 man over the top rope battle royal.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and state that WWE won’t split The Real Americans at Survivor Series, instead hope to build a new feud between Dean Ambrose and Rey Mysterio. It would be a wise move. Mysterio comes with the type of reputation which could do the United States Championship only good and the pair are virtual strangers to each other in the ring as far as a singles feud goes. Plus, WWE have run out of challengers for Dean Ambrose’s United States Championship and unless they wish for the title and the holder to drop in viewers estimates then they need a high profile challenger to the gold.

Many believe that in 2013, after his image was heavily brought down by his relationship with Sin Cara in 2012 and his lengthily injury which has seen him out of action since February this year, that Rey Mysterio cannot be seen as high profile in WWE anymore. That’s rubbish. Sheer bull. Rey Mysterio is still a very good wrestler despite his injury woes and could easily put someone like Dean Ambrose over in a heartbeat. In fact Dean Ambrose doesn’t need to be put over or carried. He’s more than capable of getting himself over in the ring – but a victory over a name like Rey Mysterio would do wonders for him, the title and The Shield. Plus consider this. Where else is Rey Mysterio going to be placed? He’s not WWE or World Heavyweight Championship material anymore so no one would sensibly believe he could challenge for either and he’s held the Intercontinental Championship too many times though his presence at the top of that division would give it some clout.

Speaking of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, wouldn’t it have been a better idea and put Dean Ambrose in a stronger position had he defeated Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 18th Raw? Had WWE booked a two out of three falls match in which both the United States and Intercontinental Championship were up for grabs they could have given the I.C division a massive boost by having Ambrose capture the I.C gold and Langston – if he had to win something – the U.S title. It makes no sense whatsoever to have a wrestler like Big E. Langston hold the WWE Intercontinental Championship when Dean Ambrose as part of The Shield could have done a lot more with it.

And finally attention turns to the current WWE Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes and Goldust and two thirds of The Shield, Seth Rolling and Roman Reigns. I was wrong. It doesn’t happen too often but this time, it did. Cody Rhodes and Goldust as a tag team have been a masterstroke by WWE. They have been more than great in the ring and their entertainment value has been precious to the recent programming WWE has put out. As brothers they naturally spark off of each other and Goldust has been an asset instead of a detriment to the company, proving that at his ripe old age he can still go in both singles competition (his match against Randy Orton a few weeks back was excellent) and tag team action. Happily, Cody Rhodes is looking every inch the star we all know he is.

This is going to be a tricky situation for WWE to book. On one hand, Cody Rhodes and Goldust are a sensation putting the tag team division back on the map, but Rollins and Reigns are a great talent who need to be protected and who have lost too many times on television in recent weeks. What another loss on pay-per view would do to their image is unthinkable right now. One year after their debut in the company, WWE did everything right with them apart from booking them into a situation which they couldn’t get out of. Yes the Tag Team Championships had to swap hands eventually but shouldn’t it have been done on pay-per view instead of given away on free television? It only served to diminish the titles and The Shield.

Now though, I see great things for both teams. The Rhodes / Runnels brothers and Rollins and Reigns are exactly where they need to be in order to manipulate the perfect beginning to 2014. WWE have handled Cody Rhodes well and he has to be one of the favourites to win the Royal Rumble Match behind Daniel Bryan, but with the recent news coming from WWE that The Shield are headed for a six man war with The Wyatt Family at WrestleMania XXX, one has to believe WWE are on the brink of turning the law enforcing trio face. Certainly if Reigns and Rollins don’t begin racking up victories as a team then who is going to buy into or believe they can overcome The Wyatt Family at Mania XXX? For the feud to work they need victories under their belts and fast.

Cody Rhodes is headed for greatness and that means that in the end he’s going to have to drop his brother like a bad habit. It’s the natural progression in wrestling and let’s just hope Triple H can see his way to at least putting Rhodes over on a major stage once before Rhodes ascends the to the throne. If his time doesn’t come at Royal Rumble – which it should when you think about what it could do for business with Mania XXX approaching and the amount fans have invested in the Rhodes storyline – then it will almost certainly happen at Money in the Bank 2014. It may seem like a long time to wait for the ascension of a star but if WWE build it properly and allow Rhodes to have more fortune after he claimed the briefcase than Sandow did, it could be the wisest move WWE has made all year.

As good as this match could and should be, The Shield really need some luck and on a stage which more people watch than the weekly television shows. One year after their debut, it would a great way to mark their first year in the company and a base on which WWE could really use to launch the trio into 2014.

Winners Prediction: The Shield and The Real Americans

C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan vs Luke Harper and Eric Rowan

WWE can list this match in two columns. The first is the wasted opportunity column which already has many additions over the last fifty years and the second is the column for biggest opportunity for shock and star making quality of the night. Because, as with last year and the introduction of The Shield which was one of WWE’s best booking decision in many years, WWE have the chance to finally make The Wyatt Family a major threat in the company and even though only two thirds are in action here, careful booking with the introduction of Bray Wyatt to the match could be the story of the night.

First though, let’s cover the first point mentioned. The reason this has to be put down to a wasted opportunity, just one of many in WWE this year, is because had this match been made a Survivor Series Elimination Match WWE could have put forth many other younger stars to serve under Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk. Of course they could have been eliminated because the storyline revolves around Punk and Bryan’s battle against The Wyatt Family, but it would have been a start for WWE. No one could have accused them of failing to push new talent – which now it can.

You may think that I bang on and on about a Survivor Series Elimination Match, but after all why keep the pay-per view if you’re not going to stick to tradition? That would be like having the Royal Rumble without the Royal Rumble Match or King of the Ring – which WWE need to reintroduce as a pay-per view – with a King of the Ring tournament. It’s madness. WWE was at its most watchable when it stuck to all its own rules because some really are not for breaking. I task anyone to point out where Survivor Series was better when the show format had been altered. When we used to have a packed card of five Survivor Series Elimination Matches and one main event for the Championship it was a much better show. Now WWE have watered it down, they’ve made it just another pay-per view.

Whether you believe the importance of buying the show has been lessened or heightened because of WWE’s changes over the years, one thing remains certain. Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk are way too good to be this far down the card. Only one month ago Daniel Bryan was setting the world on fire at the top of the card with Randy Orton and now he’s been relegated to this. As stated, WWE had miles to run still with the Orton vs Bryan and Bryan vs The Authority feud so why cut it short now? Of course this could all be a momentary ruse by WWE to give fans a rest from Orton vs Bryan by distracting us with more scenarios, but still – Daniel Bryan is way too good to be in this spot.

And so is C.M Punk before I get messages telling me I’ve missed out his importance to the card. Over the past few months, it’s been shocking to see how WWE have treated one of its very best wrestlers. Punk didn’t flourish in his feud with Heyman and Ryback who he will be combating on WWE’s tour of the United Kingdom – or will have done by the time you read this – and could not, as predicted, make a star of Ryback because of the monsters limitations in the ring. It was senseless pitting him against Ryback and WWE would have been better served waiting to end the Heyman feud until the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 30 when they could have done so whilst booking a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Punk. Waiting those extra few months would have been preferable to what we have been given over the last few months.

There is a train of thought that tells me WWE want The Wyatt Family to do well in WWE and recognise that their failings with the company since their debut in August. The reason I’ve convinced myself WWE have shuffled up the pack at the top of the card is to make sure they have the best possible base on which to springboard The Wyatt Family off of and there’s no better wrestlers in WWE today to do that with than Punk and Bryan. The pair can make stars of The Wyatt Family if they’re in the mood to do so on the night. There’s no question over Daniel Bryan’s commitment to the cause at hand on November 24th, but I would place a question mark over the commitment of C.M Punk.

Don’t get me wrong, Punk is one of WWE’s highest hopes of returning the company to its former glory in the future. But his handling of pressure over recent months has been anything but that of a model employee. A man in Punk’s position should be able to be relied upon to do whatever whenever on the understanding that his position at the top of the card will never be jeopardised by the company. But recently, Punk hasn’t handled that pressure so well.

Case in point: Night of Champions 2013. WWE were relying on his to make Curtis Axel the star they need him to be. Theoretically on the night, Punk should have used all of his skills and knowhow to take the WWE Intercontinental Champion to the next level. It’s what other talent did for him – after a fashion. But on the night, Punk produced a display of lethargy. Curtis Axel’s future didn’t seem to matter to him and neither did the match. It’s the first real time I’ve seen Punk just go through the motions and look like he didn’t want to be there. If the storyline didn’t suit him then he should have said something to WWE management. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s refused to do something he’s been told. If Punk needs to stay stimulated to produce the best in the ring then he should demand a say in his characters stories. A talent of his level does have the clout with WWE to make those kind of demands – WWE won’t do anything to risk losing him now.

And then there’s the famous ‘The night after the night before incident’ when C.M Punk went absolutely ape shit at a fan on Raw, because the fan dared to boo him. The sight of C.M Punk going off at the fan who at one point I thought was going to be dragged into the ring by ‘The Best in the World’ and beaten until he hailed Punk’s supremacy, will be one which lives long in the memory. The point is, Punk is a wrestler. He performs for our entertainment which means he takes whatever we fell like throwing at him. Punk’s been booed before, its second nature to him and he certainly should have conducted himself with more decorum than he did on that night.

I don’t know whether the pressure is getting to C.M Punk or the expectation really is too much but it has affected his performances in recent months. Even his selling is becoming reminiscent of John Cena’s. Maybe its time WWE let Punk rest for a couple of months for his own good. He certainly returned too soon from the knee injury he suffered in 2012 and took time out to recuperate after WrestleMania 29. WWE shouldn’t have brought him back until at least SummerSlam but rushed him back onto the main stage so they could promote the Punk vs Brock Lesnar story and match at the summer’s biggest event. It was a mistake, one WWE are making with John Cena.

Whether C.M Punk can find the drive to make Harper and Rowan stars at Survivor Series remains to be seen, but if he carries on like this then he may lose more than his main event spot. He’ll lose the respect of the fans who adore him so dearly.

So how can WWE, in one foul swoop, make The Wyatt Family a serious threat in WWE and make up for their lacklustre beginning after what promised to be another memorable debut? The answer is relatively simple and one WWE should have seen and utilised before now instead of wasting time having the trio of supposed backwards, inbred athletes (one happening to be the son of WWE legend Irwin. R. Schyster) feud with Kane and Kofi Kingston. Simply put, Luke and Eric have to stand out. If they don’t and they come across as inferior to Punk and Bryan on the night then WWE may as well axe The Wyatt’s now because it’s never going to work.

Unusually, the way it happens isn’t as important as it actually happening. WWE can have this done by the duo simply pinning Punk and Bryan in the ring, clean or having Bray interfere to have the oddball team come out victorious. What is vital is that the pair come away victorious and WWE build on the fact they’ve beaten Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk on pay-per view. If the pair do win and WWE revert to type and allow them to tread water in the opening spots then the company may as well have not booked the match.

Something has to happen with The Wyatt Family and it has to happen quickly. A six man feud with The Shield – who are rapidly turning face and will have completed the transformation by summer 2014 – may be on the cards in months to come (as long as it isn’t WWE’s big idea for The Shield at WrestleMania 30) but WWE must atone for feuds against Kingston and Kane and even more so for not giving the fans a solid conclusion to the feud when Kane returned.

Survivor Series could be the beginning or the end of The Wyatt Family, which one is completely up to Vince McMahon.

Winners Prediction: Luke Harper and Eric Rowan

7 on 7 Survivor Series Elimination Match

A.J Lee, Tamina Snuka, Kaitlyn, Rosa, Summer Rae, Aksana and Alicia Fox vs The Bella Twins, The Funkadactyls, Jojo, Natalya and Eva Marie

First off, let me be the first to say that it’s good to A.J back on her feet after her recent scare in London. For those who didn’t hear or read the blog – shame on you – A.J passed out on a WWE show in London, England last week during a tag team match where she teamed with Tamina to face The Bella Twins. WWE and the Divas Division would have suffered desperately without her as the spearhead of the women’s action. I doubt I’m the only one who believes she’s done an absolutely brilliant job standing out from the usual peroxide clad crowd.

Recently, A.J’s pay-per view in ring output hasn’t been great, that’s no secret but you’re only as good as you’re opponent and with Brie Bella opposing her in recent months, I doubt we were in any right to expect a classic. Though she hasn’t had a truly great pay-per view match since her series with Kaitlyn ended, A.J has been the highlight of Raw in recent weeks and her own pipe bomb promo was as brilliant as C.M Punk’s in 2011. Every word of it was true. I would just like to say though that the commentators comments afterwards, that A.J was jealous and wasn’t good enough to be in the trashy ‘Total Divas’ show – which is almost entirely scripted – were just plain dumb.

Unlike the previous Survivor Series Match above, I’m not going to go into detail about participant in this match because at least half of them are just filler material and won’t last more than ten minutes before being eliminated much to the capacity crowd’s relief. The divas in this match – who are of no consequence to what happens after the final bell rings – have just been inserted to get the storyline over. It may be their real feelings that those like Natalya, The Bella Twins, Jojo and The Funkadactyls who star in Total Divas are using the show as a stepping stone to the top of the Divas Division or another form of media – which they most probably are. Why else would you ever book Summer Rae to wrestle on pay-per view?

That brings me onto the participants. Summer Rae, The Funkadactyls, Rosa, Aksana, Eva Marie, The Bella Twins and Jojo certainly don’t have what it takes to help elevate the Divas Division to the next level. Where the division needs to be right now is where it was when A.J and Kaitlyn were battling it out on pay-per view. For those few months I truly believe that the female division was higher in stature than the Intercontinental, Tag Team and United States divisions. For a very short time, A.J and Kaitlyn made the female battle zone WWE’s second most important division. It’s just a shame WWE don’t have the talent in their ranks to back it up and push it forward.

We’ll get onto those that matter in a minute, first and before we look at the storyline which brought this about, let’s take a deep look at WWE’s female back up talent. Summer Rae is a very pretty girl – anyone who has eyes can see that for themselves. Her figure is to die for but quite frankly she stinks in the ring. When she made her debut in the WWE at the side of Fandango people criticised her dancing skills and it was widely believed that she’d find wrestling easier than dancing. For the company to take a female talent who had trained as an in ring talent – not that you’d know it to watch her – and make her learn to dance when it was obvious that she found dancing difficult was an oversight by the head honcho. It was apparent she was struggling to master one skill let alone two.

Summer Rae right now is better at the side of Fandango whilst he lasts in the company. She has nothing to offer in the ring and could be better utilised as someone who interferes in Fandango’s matches, ensuring he gets the victory when he needs it. This has been a tactic previously slammed by your Wrestling God because it makes wrestlers look feeble when they can’t win on their own. In the case of Fandango though, well, it doesn’t really matter. He may have mastered the very basics of the wrestling industry but he certainly isn’t going anywhere fast and I would love to challenge WWE on what the hell they were thinking when they put his name forward as the man to win the Intercontinental Championship at Payback, before injury struck and he was replaced by Curtis Axel. Summer Rae’s presence in the deciding falls in Fandango’s matches could lead to another storyline and the prolonging of Fandango’s career beyond what WWE have planned for him.

What can you possibly say about The Funkadactyls and Rosa? Although they’re not linked in the wrestling world apart from the teaming for this Survivor Series Elimination Match, they do fall into the same category wrestling wise. When they were introduced to the world as part of ‘Bumbling’ Brodus Clay’s harem they were adequate. The pair could dance and livened up what was one of wrestling’s liveliest and most annoying entrances – though I won’t deny Clay’s theme tune has something about it. The mistake came when WWE trained the pair to wrestle. I have said before that the company need more female wrestlers instead of models, but these two, out of the entire Total Divas team should have been the exception.

When Naomi stepped into the ring for the first time against Eve Torres at Night of Champions 2012 she was even worse than Eve was. There’s no denying that Naomi was agile, she could pull off things other divas who were, let’s say, top heavy, couldn’t. But agility doesn’t necessarily make you a great wrestler. It helps in getting around the ring and pulling off slick reversals but when it came to technique, there was none. It was apparent to the world when Eve felled Naomi to retain the WWE Divas Championship that Naomi should have stuck to dancing and that goes for her partner in crime as well. There is no where The Funkadactyls can go in the ring. They suit the Total Divas cast because they fit the profile. In the ring however, they’re a lost cause and WWE could easily cut the pair adrift in favour of hiring two new females who can make a difference.

As for Rosa, the outlook was promising. Whilst she wasn’t the best wrestler in the world there were glimpses of hope when she briefly stepped between the ropes. That has all gone now. WWE’s treatment of her has been pitiful. Instead of trying to wring out every last drop of promise Rosa had, they decided to effectively shelve her from constant action and instead focus on those who were taking part in the Total Divas show. To get the best out of Rosa they should have kept her in development another six months. The hunger to get to the main roster could have had a positive effect. It could have drove her to brush up her wrestling skills and thus be ready for competitive action when came to WWE’s main stage. But they didn’t do that and now Rosa is just another faceless name who I don’t expect to have any impact on the Divas Championship of WWE as a whole.

I’m going to skip over Eva Marie, Jojo and Aksana in order to focus on The Bella Twins. Brie and Nikki undeniably try their best in the ring. To some degree they are workhorses but let’s not take that to mean that they should be where they are. Neither have they earned their spot on the card at the top of the Divas division. Anyone who reads this can argue that the pair have paid their dues – a phrase I hate – and taken their lumps in the ring but I will always believe that the pair has featured so prominently on WWE’s programming because they’re romantically involved with two of WWE’s most prominent stars.

Real stars, those who have earned their spot on the card at their current level don’t just put on one good match; they do it again and again and again. One good match doesn’t mean you should be rewarded with a gigantic push and lined up to replace the current WWE Divas Champion – which I fear Brie Bella is being groomed to – it means you have potential and that you should harness that potential in order to persuade the company to give you a shot higher up the ladder. One good match doesn’t mean you have a wealth of talent and because of your connections should have a rocket stuck up your backside and fired into the stratosphere. As far as I’ve seen, neither of The Bella’s have had anything that remotely approaches a good match since they returned to the company.

Brie Bella, the real focus of this storyline has constantly dragged down A.J and everyone else she’s stepped into the ring with. If she truly deserved her place then she would have helped A.J make their pay-per view bouts truly memorable and ones that rivalled A.J and Kaitlyn’s. But she didn’t and if you go back and watch those matches you can see A.J was game to create something brilliant and was constantly frustrated when it didn’t happen. There really is no way WWE can ever justify why The Bella Twins are where they are in the company and if their argument is that the company don’t want to annoy John Cena and Daniel Bryan then what kind of that message is that sending to the rest of the locker room? WWE may as well tell them they stand more chance of getting somewhere if they hook up with a main event talent than they do if they work their lives away for years and improve their in ring skill until they’re the best in the division.

Now that’s said, it is a huge relief that WWE have booked a second Survivor Series Elimination Match on the show. What is usually an annual excuse to get the women out there on television at one time – resulting in a burial of most of them whilst WWE concentrate on the main Divas – may this year result in a half decent match despite there is no one of really quality apart from Natalya on The Bella Twins’ team. I don’t expect WWE to get all it women over here, there’s no way they’ll have the time. The match will be allocated less then fifteen minutes and see those such as Summer Rae dispatched easily until the field is narrowed down to A.J, Kaitlyn and Tamina vs The Bella Twins and Natalya. It’s where the storyline is going. The big question is, how is WWE going to protect all of its talent without harming any of their images. The answer is simple.

As far as WWE are concerned Tamina and Natalya are the most expendable of the six I mentioned. The company believe that the pair have lost and excluded from their programming so many times that another loss on a major pay-per view won’t hurt them. They may be right. In 2013 Tamina is so worthless to the company they won’t think twice about sacrificing her to Brie or Nikki Bella in order to get one of the twins over. Natalya on the other hand is still taking Bret Hart’s punishment for leaving the company in 1997 and I’m confident will never be Divas Champion again. WWE aren’t bothered about sacrificing Natalya because they know thanks to the audiences love for her family name, she’ll be cheered whatever they do to her.

Which leaves four women; two important to the future of the company and two who could leave tomorrow and we wouldn’t bat an eyelid. The Bella Twins, Kaitlyn and the reigning WWE Divas Champion, A.J. WWE won’t want to sacrifice both Bella Twins which means Nikki is the most likely to be eliminated leaving Brie alone to face both A.J and Kaitlyn. From here the match could go one of three ways. The first is A.J and Kaitlyn could batter Brie and walk away as the sole survivors – this however would make Brie look even more incompetent than she already is. The second is that Brie could fight valiantly against the odds and eliminate Kaitlyn and A.J thus overcoming the odds and being placed in a string position. The problem with this is it that I don’t believe Brie could look capable after the last few months even if she were to eliminate two of WWE’s best prospects. The third is that Kaitlyn will turn on A.J and side with the cast of Total Divas.

The last option would be dumb. Kaitlyn has the size and the skill to be effective in a heel role in WWE. In fact she should have been unveiled as A.J’s bodyguard on Raw; it would have made much more sense. I know WWE want The Bella Twins to succeed, its part of the reason they’ve pushed them so hard. But in reality the real life sisters aren’t getting anywhere. WWE believe that if they book Brie Bella to take on and eliminate both A.J and Kaitlyn from the match single handedly then it would get her over with the fans. The company fail to realise that the WWE Universe have a lack of patience and good will for those who choose to find fame via other means than a wrestling ring and its what we see The Bella’s as well as the rest of the Total Divas cast trying to do. I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that A.J is one of the most popular female wrestlers since Trish Stratus and Lita and it would be highly unwise of WWE to try and book Brie Bella against that.

Many, including WWE will plump for Brie Bella to be the sole survivor on the night but A.J has to win whether Kaitlyn is by her side or not. WWE have dealt the Champion a bum hand over the last three months which she has dealt with amicably and even put her health on the line in order to be the best that she can be. A.J is a very popular talent which WWE would be fools to waste just to try and fail to get The Bella’s over. Nikki and Brie are an experiment that has failed. A.J is one that has succeeded. It’s time WWE cut their losses and concentrated on those we do want to see instead of flogging the proverbial dead horse. WWE have failed to do what is right in the past in these matches, let’s just hope they can learn from history before they’re doomed to repeat it.

Winners Prediction: A.J Lee, Tamina Snuka, Kaitlyn, Rosa, Summer Rae, Aksana and Alicia Fox

Survivor Series Kick Off Match

Kofi Kingston vs The Miz

WWE and indeed The Miz have missed a huge trick in 2013. Being one of the men who has been booked on the pre-show or now kick-off match more than any other on WWE’s books this year, wouldn’t it have been a fresh and new avenue to go down and the company and The Miz come out on television and have the self proclaimed ‘Awesome One’ shoot the company down for their booking and handling of him then proclaim himself ‘Mr. Pre-Show’? It would have been an excellent idea for The Miz to take on and one which could, in the long run have reinstated him to the main card.

It’s a tactic that has worked previously for wrestlers. Rob Van Dam proclaimed himself Mr. Pay-Per View and Mr. Monday Night and he built such a huge fan base in ECW that as ECW World Television Champion he was constantly more important than the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. It was a regular occurrence in ECW that RVD and the Television Championship go on last. Shawn Michaels proclaimed himself Mr. WrestleMania and that simple statement made his WrestleMania matches a must watch in order to see if he could live up to that name. Everyone who has embraced an idea such as this has both been a must see and captured a percentage of the audiences imagination.

WWE should push this, if for no other reason than to get The Miz to a level that more people tune into their pre-show. It can’t do any harm. Miz’s performances in the pre-show spot are almost always respectable and should WWE really push this ‘Mr. Pre-show’ title maybe WWE could start charging for the kick-off matches. If Miz is good enough and the idea takes off, it could change Miz’s fortunes as well as make the kick-off matches a must see.

Now I’ve voiced that opinion, let’s concentrate on the match in hand. It’s not a huge surprise to find either man here. Their treatment on WWE television has been less than satisfactory resulting in the WWE Universe not really caring about either man in the grand scheme of things. And you can’t blame them. What have they been fed to be excited about where both men are concerned? Miz has repeatedly been booked to lose to men he’s better than when he could have contested a gripping Intercontinental Championship war against Axel, along with Kingston and maybe even Langston. That was a wasted opportunity and I feel that WWE are just biding their time until Miz’s contract runs out so they can cut him from their roster. Why else would they keep him if they never plan on using him in any great capacity again?

Kofi Kingston was a name spat around Titan Towers production meetings for more than two months, when the subject of who to turn heel came around. WWE decided in the end not to turn Kingston heel and have him continue on his un-merry way, even though it was clear there was nowhere left for him to go as a face. Kingston has done everything he possible can do in his current role. A heel turn would have been the correct choice for him and given his character a darker twist on which WWE could have used in order to spark a career saving rivalry. There are many talents in WWE that Kingston could have successfully clashed with.

It could have happened at Battleground at the hands of The Wyatt Family. Had they dragged Kingston away and WWE given him a lengthily absence in order to reinvent his appearance, Kingston could have been re-introduced to the WWE Universe in February 2014 as a reformed character thanks to The Wyatt Family and not only had a hand in their feud with The Shield but been taken down a simultaneous path resulting in his own feud. I want to know why WWE don’t think of these things. They’re reputed for making stars and yet here they are, allowing what talent they have to go stagnant and stale.

There isn’t going to be great interest in this match if I’m honest. And if this is the best WWE can do in order to tempt people to buy the event then the warning bells should already be ringing.

Winners Prediction: Kofi Kingston

There are a shortage of new stars on this years Survivor Series card. Whilst the male Survivor Series Elimination Match promises a new star, WWE could have done with stars like Dolph Ziggler, the new WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E. Langston – no point making him champion if you’re not going to use him – and Curtis Axel to name just a few in order to give the event that fresh feel. There’s no reason the company can’t add another Survivor Series Elimination Match featuring these wrestlers before the event goes live, but what are the chances of that?

I don’t think Survivor Series 2013 will end on the same uphill note as last year’s effort and neither do I believe that it will create that many more feuds or advance what WWE have already. More than anything this is a holding event which WWE will aim to keep the audiences interest in the feuds they already have in preparation for TLC and Royal Rumble. Certainly, if they’re now using a once historic event as a mere filler in the annual calendar then something has gone terribly wrong and those involved are going to have to steel themselves for what is to come.

Only the strong will survive.

Onwards and upwards...