WWE Survivor Series Preview

If the booking for Survivor Series has showed us anything, its that the WWE's creative team is as much of a mess as it ever has been. In the span of the week, they changed their main event match and completely just over looked feuds various wrestlers were in. On one side we have C.M. Punk, who's been in a war of words with Mick Foley over the last couple of weeks. So what happens? They make those two the captains of respective Survivor Series teams and they make a match for the PPV. Okay, fair enough. But what happens a week later? That match is scrapped, and now Dolph Ziggler is the captain of Team Punk? And Mick Foley has what kind of beef with Ziggler?

Oh, and lets not forget the fact that John Cena is in a program with Dolph Ziggler, Vickie Guerrero and A.J. It would only make sense to maybe see a Ziggler/Cena singles match at the PPV, right? Nope. Ziggler is instead inserted into the traditional Survivor Series match, and Cena is in the WWE Title Match. But they continue to have Ziggler and Cena interact on TV. See what kind of jumbled mess this whole PPV is? Why should the WWE expect people to care about the PPV if it seems like they are putting such little effort into the show themselves? It really looks like Vince McMahon doesn't consider Survivor Series a Big 4 PPV. He tried to scrap it once before, and it looks like he is trying his best to get people to not care about it again.

But the WWE has hastily thrown together this PPV and expects us all to care about it. As of now, there are only five announced matches for the PPV and one for the pre-show. I would expect at least one more match to be added to the show and for that match to involve the four teams from RAW this Monday: Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio, Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd, Primo and Epico and the Prime Time Players. Those four teams had a good match on Monday and I would love to see them go at it again.

Time to get into the Preview!

3MB (Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal) vs Team Co-Bro

I may be in the minority, but I like 3MB's act. Think of it this way: Was what Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntrye doing before this gimmick better than this? No? Exactly. It's a good mid-card act that has the potential to get over with the crowd. It isn't a gimmick that will get to main event levels. But it is easily a gimmick that could get over with the crowd if handled properly. The 3MB has been targeting team Co-Bro recently. They have gotten the better of Team Co-Bro in recent weeks. But eventually the faces have to win one of these. While I think 3MB has more long term potential than Team Co-Bro, I see the faces finally picking up the win here when Santino pins Heath Slater.

WINNERS: Team Co-Bro

 Divas Championship: Eve (c) vs Kaitlyn

Is there a reason we still don't know or have seen the attack on Kaitlyn from Night of Champions? If Vickie Guerrero can get security footage from inside the hotel, how come Kaitlyn can't get the video footage from inside the arena? Oh, because the WWE doesn't care about the Divas division and they probably have no idea where they are going with this themselves? Yeah, that's probably right. Kaitlyn has picked up a serious of wins in recent weeks and is finally looking to get revenge on Eve, her suspected "attacker' from two months ago. There's really no one else to challenge Eve in the Divas Division, so I say Kaitlyn wins here.

WINNER: Kaitlyn

United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro (c) vs R-Truth

I really like Antonio Cesaro. I think he has a lot of potential in the WWE. He has the look Vince McMahon likes. He's also good in the ring. I like his upper cut that he hits from almost out of nowhere at times. Cesaro handles himself well on the mic as well and is just a natural heel with his promos. Who doesn't love to hate the foreign guy who speaks so highly of himself? The problem for Cesaro is that their is a log jam of heels on the roster, and only so many main event pushes to go around. But for now, Cesaro is perfectly fine with where he is on the card. The R-Truth program is just a place holder for Cesaro if you ask me. The two started feuding a few weeks ago when Truth saved Kofi from an attack by Cesaro. Then the two sent out a serious of Touts and Tweets directed towards each other. And of course that lead to a PPV match. Truth was barely used on TV before this program with Cesaro started. There's no reason to put Truth over here. Antonio Cesaro retains.

WINNER: Antonio Cesaro

Team Foley vs Team Ziggler: Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match

So, how many more changes can the WWE make to this match before it actually gets to the match? They should just turn this match into a running gag. Have random members of each team just slip on a wet floor, or maybe have car trouble so they cannot get to the arena. If this match isn't the epitome of the booking problems in the WWE, then I don't know what is. Lets not even consider the fact of the change from Team Punk to Team Ziggler. The first thing that gets me mad the most is just RANDOMLY MAKING MIZ FACE. I know there has been talk of turning Miz face in the future, but this isn't the proper way to do it. You don't just throw him on Mick Foley's Survivor Series team and expect people to cheer for him. There's no better way to screw up a potential face turn then by doing this.

Originally this match was suppose to be Team Punk vs Team Foley. Then Miz quit Team Punk. Then Vince McMahon took Ryback and C.M. Punk out of the match and put them in a WWE Title Match. Then Dolph Ziggler was made Captain of Team Punk, which is now Team Ziggler. Then Miz asked Mick Foley to join his team. And in the most rigged interactive poll in WWE History, Miz "beat out" Zack Ryder and Santino to join Team Foley. And on Wednesday, Cody Rhodes suffered an injured shoulder and possibly a concussion and may not be able to compete. Are you still with me? I hope so. And I am not even going to go on about how Ziggler and Foley haven't even interacted with each other in the build up to this match. I don't want to write a full length magazine article here.

So who wins this match? Everything in my mind wants me to have the heels win. Whoever survives could use the rub they get from being a survivor in the match. But I think the faces win here. The WWE seems to be getting behind Kofi Kingston again for some reason. I've thought he could be at least a temporary main eventer for a while, but I don't know if it is too little too late. Plus, Randy Orton is on the face team. If the WWE wants to get behind him again, he needs to start winning on a more consistent basis. Plus, Kofi and Randy Orton lost on RAW Monday. Usually, in WWE land, if you lose on RAW then you win at the PPV. It isn't always like that, but it is like that more than it isn't. I'll say Orton and Kofi survive after they deliver a Trouble In Paradise/RKO Combo to Dolph Ziggler.

WINNERS: Team Foley (Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston Survive)

World Heavyweight Championship: Big Show (c) vs Sheamus

I was just as surprised as everyone else to see Big Show walk out of Hell In A Cell with the World Title. I have never been a big fan of Big Show holding a Title this late in his career. It seemed a little bit like what they did with Mark Henry last year. Henry had been around for so long that they decided to finally give him the World Title. But the difference between Show and Henry was that I thoroughly enjoyed the push Henry received all the way up until he lost the World Title. They finally knew what to do with him and how to use Henry properly. That is why I am willing to give this Big Show thing a chance. Show can cut a decent promo and when he is a serious, no nonsense heel he can be watchable before his matches.

I also was willing to give the Big Show World Title run a chance because I figured they could use this opportunity to build back up Sheamus as a face. Sheamus has lost a lot of his luster in recent months, and he was getting dangerously close to John Cena levels of facedom. Fans were even inexplicably chanting for Big Show at the last PPV. So what does Sheamus do the RAW after Hell In A Cell? Instead of being angry about losing, he comes out SMILING and talks about how it was a good fight, and he was happy to be a part of such a good fight. How do you expect fans to get back behind your quest to regain the World Title when it doesn't even seem like you care about losing the Title that much? Hell, at least John Cena complained about not winning the WWE Title after Night of Champions.

The WWE has been using William Regal in an attempt to regain some sympathy for Sheamus in this feud. I don't think Regal gets involved in this match since he will be selling the beating he received on Smackdown, so know need to think about a Regal heel turn. This is actually a tough one for me to call. Besides Randy Orton, there really are no other face challengers on Smackdown for Big Show. But I also don't think the WWE will be starting any new programs at the end of the year. Things going on now will finish at TLC and new feuds will start in 2013. That's why I think Big Show retains here. I don't like the idea of giving someone a Title for only one month as well.

WINNER: Big Show

WWE Championship: Ryback vs C.M. Punk (c) vs John Cena

If you ask me, this is the match that the WWE should have booked from the beginning. It would have been simple enough. Ryback should get another shot at the WWE Title, and John Cena is healthy and still deserves a rematch from Night of Champions. And C.M. Punk still has to continue to demand respect from everybody in the WWE. And if they really wanted to get Mick Foley involved, they could have just made him the special guest referee. See how easy that would have been? But nope. The WWE had to change things around multiple times in order to get what they wanted.

Of course, the big story going into this match is if C.M. Punk retains the WWE Title, he will more than likely hold the WWE Title for one whole year. Unless the WWE does something stupid and has Punk lose the Title the next night on RAW. Of course, the outcome all depends on where the WWE wants to do the eventual C.M. Punk/Rock match that is going to happen. I've stood by this point since July, but I really think Punk/Rock should happen at Wrestlemania. There's no need to hype up or do another Cena/Rock match at Wrestlemania. I would much rather see Cena/Rock at the Royal Rumble, then have Punk win the Rumble, then do Punk/Rock at Wrestlemania. And with a story coming out this week that the WWE is thinking about giving C.M. Punk the main event at Wrestlemania, that scenario is getting more plausible. Which is why if it did happen, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with Punk losing this Sunday.

Except to Ryback. I understand the WWE has high hopes for Ryback. But the guy just isn't ready for a WWE Title run. And plus the momentum he had with the crowd a month ago has gone away. It seems like his crowd reactions have been dying down quite noticeably. I don't think the WWE would be dumb enough to put the WWE Title on him here.

Then there's John Cena. Logic would dictate that after Hell In A Cell, Cena would have come out and said that he is fully healed and wants a rematch with C.M. Punk at Hell In A Cell. But instead, Cena has been thrown in an absolutely awful program with Dolph Ziggler, Vickie Guerrero and A.J. It is getting so dumb. But this is what happens when you have soap opera writers booking your show. Even after Cena was thrown in the WWE Title Match, he hasn't said anything about it. He's still more concerned about this whole Vickie Guerrero stuff. That leads me to believe that John Cena is not winning here.

So who comes out on top? All signs point to C.M. Punk. Ryback won't win the WWE Title and then lose it the next month at TLC. Cena's main focus is with A.J. So unless Cena/Ziggler is going to turn into a WWE Title program, he isn't winning it. C.M. Punk lost on RAW, which usually means he will win at the PPV. Punk retains the WWE Title and holds onto it for one year.

WINNER: C.M. Punk

I will be doing a live report on Survivor Series Sunday night.

Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka