PREDICTIONS: WWE Survivor Series
After a slight hiatus, you are being blessed with another serving a Talent Alone Predictions for the second straight week. This week it’s for WWE’s annual Thanksgiving spectacle which is Survivor Series. A member of WWE’s “Big Four”, Survivor Series started in 1987 as a way to counter-program NWA’s biggest show of the year, Starrcade. Almost forty years later the Premium Live Event is still going. Survivor Series is remembered for the Gobbledy Gooker, and its multi-man elimination tag team matches, but mostly the Gobbledy Gooker. I’m still impressed to this day at Gorilla Monsoon’s ability to translate what the humanoid turkey was saying.
Last week’s predictions were for AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view. Adam and Myself had differing winners for five matches, which may be a record for this contest. After the dust settled, I was left looking like a fool. One of the five went to neither of us, but I got swept in the other four. This has given Adam a commanding 53-49 lead with only seven shows remaining in this year’s competition. It’s critical for me to get back on track starting with Survivor Series’ five-match card that features two War Games matches. Adam is in poll position and will kick off our predictions once again.
Men’s War Games Match
Cody Rhodes, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn & Randy Orton VS The Judgement Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh) & Drew McIntyre
ADAM: I’ve decided that I don’t want Damian Priest to ever use his briefcase. I want a 55-year-old Damian Priest walking around with a Money in the Bank contract just threatening to cash in on now-WWE-champ Nick Wayne.
The return of Randy and the Addition of Heel Drew throw more of a wrench into this than it would be if it was just the Faces v Judgement Day. I still think this probably tilts in the favor of the good guys but I can see a world where some chicanery gets in the way here.
THE FACES
MIKE: Should someone tell Adam you have to cash in the MITB contract within a year? Nah. Let the kid dream.
I really like the heel logic McIntyre is using by saying he’s acting the same as he always has and it’s the fans who have changed. Stuff like pointing out that he paused and looked Jey Uso in the eyes before he Claymored him during the Raw main event a couple of weeks ago are great little touches.
The return of Orton would make many believe the faces are going over, but for me, it means the complete opposite. You should never trust a snake. Randal Keith Orton here’s voices in his head and those voices are going to tell them to RKO Cody into oblivion. The American Roller Codster needs a big-time opponent to work with to keep him hot as we continue to kill time until his Mania rematch with Roman. The history between him and Orton makes it the perfect story that could fill at least the next two or three months.
JUDGMENT DAY AND DREW “LOOK AT MY BIG SWORD” MCINTYRE
Women’s War Games Match
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, & Becky Lynch VS Damage CTRL (Bayley, Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane, & Asuka)
MIKE: I’m going to get up on my pedestal real quick to lament that we don’t need to have two War Game matches on one show. It kills the gimmick. That goes for Hell in a Cell match, or really any big gimmick match that a show is built around. Whether it’s a women’s or men’s program, just go with the hottest one where it makes sense for them to have whatever type of match it is.
Now that I got that out of my system I’ll actually get to predicting this match. No offense to Shotzi, but one of these things is not like the other when it comes to the All-Star babyface team in this match. The real story at the center of this is Damage CTRL. It’s pretty obvious that any day now Bayley is getting kicked to the curb. I don’t think they subvert expectations by keeping them together, nor do I think they hold off on it any longer. The heel group will break down and the thrown-together group of babyfaces win. Think we get stereo moonsaults off the cage by Flair and Sky? Probably not. Flair is a real wrestler who doesn’t need to resort to such shallow high spots for a cheap pop.
BIANCA BELAIR, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, SHOTZI, & BECKY LYNCH
ADAM: I concur with my old friend here. Having two identical gimmick matches never works. Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble, hell even Money in the Bank, all of them feel smaller with two matches on the card.
I think we probably get one heel faction and one face faction winning in the War Games matches so I’m definitely screwing myself by picking both baby face factions.
BIANCA BELAIR, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, SHOTZI, & BECKY LYNCH
Women’s World Heavyweight Championship
Rhea Ripley(c) vs Zoey Stark
ADAM: The arm muscles in this match are outrageous. Seriously they should just have a tricep dip contest and whoever has the highest one rep max gets to walk out World Champ.
I worry that trapped amongst two War Games matches, this one could get lost in the shuffle but it should be a fun short contest that goes like 12-15 minutes has a false finish, and changes nothing in the world of wrestling.
RHEA RIPLEY
MIKE: You think Zoey Stark is so strong? I googled it. According to an almost three-year-old Muscle and Fitness article, Ripley can bench 185 lbs. That’s more than her body weight, and “Rhea Ripley bench press” is sadly not my weirdest Google search. What are we talking about? Oh yeah, who will win between Ripley and Stark? Just peep the shirt people, Mami’s always on top.
RHEA RIPLEY
Intercontinental Championship
Gunther(c) vs The Miz
MIKE: They’ve leaned into the “Miz is the guy everybody called a bitch and bullied, but has managed to stick around for a successful career” story. You may say he’s not a real pro wrestler, but he’s an entertainer and he’s proud of it. Not my cup of tea, but they’ve done a good job setting up Miz as a resilient underdog challenger to Gunther. With that said, I’m one of those smarky wrestling fans who doesn’t like The Miz and calls him a sports entertainer in the most negative context. It’s nothing personal against the guy, I just hope Gunther chops him into dust, stomps him through the ring mat, and dropkicks him out of Allstate Arena and all the way to the nearest Chicago metro station.
GUNTHER
ADAM: Okay you could not possibly be more wrong. THEY AREN’T IN CHICAGO THEY’RE IN ROSEMONT. Now that that’s settled, I can’t even quite picture what this match will look like in my head. Gunther puts on banger after banger so there is hope that this will be good but what will the middle 8 minutes of this match look like? Will The Miz get a near fall? No one knows
GUNTHER
Singles Match
Carlito vs Santos Escobar
Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar
ADAM: Remember a year or two ago when everyone noticed that every black wrestler was either in the Hurt Business or feuding with the Hurt Business? Doesn’t it kind of feel like we quietly are doing that again with the LWO storyline? I like Carlito because I started watching wrestling in 2006, but Santos is a guy with a big WWE future. I get we need to pad a card for time when people are shelling out their hard-earned 7.99 a month for Peacock, but this could have just been a Smackdown match and we would have been okay. There isn’t much question about who is winning this one.
SANTOS ESCOBAR
MIKE: Still holding out my lifelong hope for a celebrity tag team of Carlito and Matt Damon named “How do you like them apples?”. I Guess Damon doesn’t need the payday sense he has all that FTX money.
We’re early on in the Santos Escobar heel run, which is a role he definitely thrives in. It’s safe to say Carlito will be the first to fall as Escobar ramps up momentum. Also, while not the most creative idea, we are definitely getting a Zelina Vega turn. My guess is she’ll interfere in this match to help Escobar get the dub.
Update: Looks like this match got changed to Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar. This has zero impact on what I previously said. Including the comment about my dream tag team of Carlito and Matt Damon. You could even have Carlito start talking with a Boston accent.
SANTOS ESCOBAR
BONUS PREDICTION:
Will CM Punk show up?
ADAM: I broached this above but I swear to god if CM Punk shows up to a show in Rosemont he has to vacate his Chicago card for a full fiscal year.
NO
MIKE: CM Punk has been having the time of his life trolling and teasing where he could show up next. I would love it if Punk showed up, but I also feel like with how well the WWE product has been lately as a whole, they may not feel a need to bring him in. However, I’m a lifelong stan of the Best In The World, and the president of the “CM Punk did nothing wrong” association. So I’m blindly saying absolutely.
YES
