LIVE Survivor Series thoughts - November 20, 2016

10:28 - I kept waiting for something else to happen....but I guess the show is over.

Nothing was outwardly bad.  Some of the matches were actually quite good.  But it was just a strange show overall.

10:24 - Wait, did that just happen?

10:23 - As a general rule, I'm a sucker for matches that begin with a finishing move.

10:17 - I am curious about this match.  Goldberg hasn't really wrestled in over a decade.  And how will Brock perform against somebody he can't just toss around a bunch of times?  This is going to be unlike any Brock match we've seen in years.

10:08 - The right team won but overall very, very strange booking.  Well Smackdown was already the more "favored" brand amongst a lot of fans, why set up the match to make Raw the faces and Smackdown the heels?  Especially when Smackdown was going to be swept?  Further, since the Wyatts haven't done particularly anything, why make them the winners?  Overall pretty strange.

10:05 - That WAS a really cool looking RKO.

10:01 - I'm a pro-Smackdown guy but I have to admit, I did love the moment of unspoken revelation when Rollins and Reigns decided that they would save Ambrose.  And then the three of them coming together to take out AJ.  After TEARING APART Reigns all night, the fans were yelling alongside him prior to that powerbomb.

This does create an odd dynamic, though, with the face Ambrose now seemingly being at odds with the face Bryan and face Shane.

9:49 - Again, odd booking here in this match.  Leading up to tonight, Raw has primarily been the "heel" team.  The captains are Jericho and Owens (top heels) and they're championed by Stephanie McMahon.  Meanwhile at the helm of Smackdown has been Ambrose and Ellsworth, with the support of Shane and Bryan.  Let the closing moments of this match has underdog Reigns and Rollins (top faces AND a Shield reunion) against mostly heels (Orton, Wyatt, and Styles....plus Shane).

9:38 - The last 20 minutes hasn't even been a match.  It's just been one action spot after the next.

9:33 - How did AJ not die just then?

9:31 - Wow, Ambrose is the FIRST elimination?  And they didn't even do a Shield showdown?  Very, very surprising.

9:21 - I liked the callback to Ambrose destroying Jericho's jacket.  Well done, Jericho.

9:17 - The one really nice thing about having Goldberg vs. Brock is that they could actually put all of their top stars into this match.

Also, I'm wondering if we're seeing egos at play here.  The biggest Raw vs. Smackdown match of the night, yet the least amount of Raw and Smackdown (or even red and blue) gear.

9:11 - Surprised they didn't have Rollins come out first to get a bigger reaction.  Also, I personally like his half Raw/half Rollins shirt.

Also strange that Reigns HAS a red trim version of his gear, but didn't wear it tonight.

9:06 - How can you be a sole survivor but not the winner?  Anyway, I'm guessing that Bray, Orton, and Braun all get eliminated together.

Also, I get that proudly wearing a Smackdown shirt is totally against Wyatt's character, but they already pulled the trigger on that on Monday.  Might as well go through with it tonight.

9:03 - I actually have really high hopes for this match.  There are a lot of fun opportunities:  Seeing Reigns and Rollins teaming together, Rollins and Reigns going up against Ambrose, Bray and Braun against each other.  I think we all agree that Smackdown NEEDS to win this one.  My guess is that Ambrose and AJ survive.

8:56 - Well, that was an ending.

I'll continue to give Survivor Series a chance and will watch The Walking Dead tomorrow.  Now, to just avoid spoilers.

8:49 - While I hate seeing anybody risk injury, I do appreciate that they're at least doing some high flying things.  I do like that the CWC established that Cruiserweight is just that -- a weight limit, it's not a particular style.  But I do think the casual audience needs to see that, yes, the division does do some really exciting things.

8:40 - You know what?  I'm going to take a risk and say that Kalisto wins here.  The Cruiserweight division already needs to be at the Smackdown arena for 205 Live, so why not just do the sensible thing and move them to Smackdown?  Plus, it's not like having the division is doing anything for Raw.

Having said that, I do really, really like the Brian Kendrick character.

8:31 - Unusual booking that only did make sense because of the people who won.  I did ultimately like the story -- the match came down to the one non-team (Sheamus and Cesaro) and the one team not totally committed to the cause (Usos).  I understood needing the Usos to be the last team in there (Sheamus wouldn't have gotten cheered against any other team).  But similar to the Women's match, there seemed to be A LOT of awkwardly timed and blown spots.

8:24 - Are the Usos still in this?

8:13 - Nevermind.

8:12 - Conventional wisdom says that Smackdown wins to make the final match the "rubber match," however if we view the singles matches we're already tied at 1-1.  I do think Raw wins this as they have more established and more (overall) over teams.

Should Smackdown win, I think American Alpha and PERHAPS Slater/Rhyno survive.  If Raw wins, I say Enzo & Kass and probably the New Day survive.

8:08 - Looks like Cesaro was already eliminated by his jacket.

Minus one million points to the New Day for not whipping out their old red gear.

7:58 - Good enough match but lacked some real passion at the end.  At no point did I really think the match was about to end.  I liked what they were going for with the finish, but too much time had passed between the false bell ring and the Miz roll up.  As a result, Zayn looked a little foolish.  It was quite obvious base don the ref's expression that the match hadn't actually ended....why was Zayn still celebrating?

The ending was also not SO complex that it needed that many replays.

7:45 - Zayn always wears red designs on his tights, but Miz at least went with some blue colored trunks.  Nicely done.

7:40 - I sincerely hope that Byron and JBL aren't the constants for tonight.

As noted in my previous post, I see the Intercontinental title remaining on Smackdown.  I previously thought that Zayn may win only to announce that he signed a deal to Smackdown, but after the love fest between him and Foley on the kickoff show, that seems unlikely.  So I guess Miz retains.

7:39 - Haha, fun little throwback to the introduction of Ellsworth there.  Inoffensive fun.

7:31 - The story was right here, with Charlotte referring to Bayley as the weak link of the team and then making the winning pinfall.  Plus Charlotte continues her undefeated PPV streak.  Good way to move on to a feud with Bayley and Charlotte now as well.

7:27 - The girls do not seem entirely on the same page here.  A lot of mistimed spots.

7:22 - I never much cared for the whole routine where you go 15-20 minuets without an elimination, and then there are 5 eliminations in the span of a minute.

7:13 - As noted in my previous post, I see Raw taking this one.  I'm thinking Charlotte, Bayley and Sasha survive.

7:07 - I like how all of the Raw females are wearing red in their attire.  Hopefully the Smackdown ladies follow suit.

7:04 - Wait, after that WWE 2K17 opening, the show isn't even being sponsored by the video game?  If I were Mattel, I'd be asking why they didn't use action figures in its place!

6:58 - Let me just say this:  I don't understand why they continue to put Kane over people they might even remotely be interested in pushing at some point in the near future.  In 2016.

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Pre-Survivor Series thoughts

I'll do my best to post a "LIVE" stream of thoughts for tonight's show, but just in case I don't here are some predictions.

I predict that Team Raw takes the tag team Survivor Series match (since they have a much more established division, all things considered).  I think it's likely that they take the Women's Survivor Series match too, to continue Charlotte's undefeated streak at PPVs.  If that happens, I see Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley surviving.

I see Smackdown taking the main event Survivor Series match, since Smackdown needs a big win.  Smackdown is also the de factor babyface brand, since Bryan and Shane are both very popular, while Stephanie is usually a heel and Foley's character is, in my opinion, less than likable.  I see Ambrose and AJ surviving.

I also see Smackdown coming up big in the one-on-one matches.  I think Kalisto wins the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, transferring the entire division to Smackdown (the whole roster has to be there anyway for the 205 Live show, so it just makes sense).  Plus Bryan and Kendrick on the same brand has a lot of storyline opportunities.

I also would not be shocked to see Zayn win the Intercontinental title, but to then announce that he's signed a deal with Smackdown.  Regardless, I don't see the title going to Raw.

And I see Brock getting his win back over Goldberg.  More than anything else, I just don't see them using the "big Brock win" on Goldberg.  Very little benefit there.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the show.  But if it living up to expectations, I'm not afraid to switch over to the Walking Dead.

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