Our 3 Cents - Survivor Series 2020
Welcome back to another edition of Our 3 Cents where myself, Jesse, and Lonnie give you our predictions on what's going to go down. It's the time of year when Raw faces Smackdown for brand supremacy. Not that the winners ever get anything. To me, it's hard to take Raw vs. Smackdown seriously when wrestlers cross brands so often. Anyways, without further to do, here's our current standings:
John: 49-13-1 (78%)
Jesse: 43-19-1 (68%)
Lonnie: 40-22-1 (63%)
Let's take a look at the card:
Dual Brand Battle Royal (Kickoff Show)
Participants TBD
Jesse: This is the hardest match to pick of the night because a. we don’t know who is in it and b. it’s on the kickoff show. I know Lonnie will pick his favorite Mysterio to win, John will probably have some scientific reason for picking his, but for me I’ll go with drawing names out of a hat. So the winner of this will be none other than.....Ali.....this should go well.
W: Mustafa Ali
Lonnie: I literally looked through the WWE roster and wondered who would have a chance. Aleister, Big E, Hurt Business, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Elias, Jeff, Retribution, Nakamura? And after considering all those good options, I thought who has been a complete and total jobber the last month? Completely getting squashed? Wasting all of our time? Someone that no one wants to win? Someone who doesn’t need to win? And that is who I am picking.....The Gobbledy Gooker!! I’m just kidding, it’s the Miz. I feel he is a bad choice, but I could see him winning just to remind people he has the briefcase.
W: The Miz
John: Looking at the roster and who could be included in this, I would love to just see The Fiend destroy everyone but there is no way in hell that The Fiend will be on the kickoff show. So, I see The Miz, Big E, and Mustafa Ali as potential winners unless we're getting a surprise winner. The Miz could win just to remind us he's in the building as a tease for a cash in after McIntyre vs. Reigns. I like Big E but the derailed his momentum after his great falls count anywhere match against Sheamus by not following up with anything. I really think he should of got the last spot on Team Smackdown instead of Otis. I like Big E as a possibility here but I'm going with Mustafa Ali to win with the help of his Retribution team mates. This way he can brag about beating "the whole roster" even though they still won't be taken seriously.
W: Mustafa Ali
Classic 5-on-5 Women's Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team Raw (Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce, & Lana) vs. Team Smackdown (Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Bayley, & Natalya)
Jesse: I am glad some of these women are getting a shot to shine during this match including Liv and Peyton. This should be a decent match, maybe, but I see the Raw women winning and Nia putting Lana through the announce table in celebration.
W: Team Raw
Lonnie: Before I predict either elimination match, I have to say I hate how people lose qualifying matches and then just get another match to try again or just get placed on the team with no match. Thankfully Bayley was added to team Smackdown to help Bianca. That being said I don’t really feel Team Smackdown has much storyline. I feel that the Nia and Lana table fiasco is being done for a reason. I’ll probably be wrong, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say that team Raw wins due to Lana picking up the victory. I think they are trying to build a redemption story with her. No one cares about the story, but I feel like that’s what they are trying.
W: Team Raw
John: Admittedly, Team Raw appears to be "more of a team" as Team Smackdown has been thrown together last minute. However, I can't stand all the stuff going on with Nia, Shayna, and Lana. I also don't like how Team Raw has had last minute replacements this week due to "injuries". It's as if creative lost faith in Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke quickly and I don't blame them. I could see Nia and Shayna easily taking Raw to the end followed by Lana getting the final win for them. However, I don't want that to happen so I'm not supporting it. I'm thinking Lana will accidentally be the reason Nia is eliminated so she will get the table treatment again. In the end, I'm taking Bianca Belair and Bayley to be the sole survivors for Smackdown. Hopefully 2021 is a big year for Belair on the blue brand.
W: Team Smackdown
Classic 5-on-5 Men's Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team Raw (AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman. & Riddle) vs. Team Smackdown (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, King Corbin, Seth Rollins & Otis)
Jesse: Last year Keith Lee put on a clinic in this match, so I expect nothing less than that from him. Plus, I look forward to the stare down between him and Otis. Like with the woman’s match I don’t see the Raw team losing this.
W: Team Raw
Lonnie: I really like how Team Raw has been handled. Having all these guys qualify and then be at each other’s throats for weeks and facing each other in matches has been a great build. On Smackdown I realize Uso fought Owens a few weeks back, but there just seems to be less of a team dynamic. I feel like Raw is the better team and finding a way to eliminate Styles, Lee, and Strowman will be tough but I think the infighting on team Raw will lead to an Uso led Smackdown victory. I feel keeping him strong is priority #1 here.
W: Team Smackdown
John: I expect this to be a good match as there are guys in this that can go. There's something to like about both teams. Much like the women's, Team Raw has been built much better but I think they're also likely to implode. On paper, Team Raw looks like easy winners but I like Team Smackdown to win simply because of Jey Uso. Of all ten guys in this match, Jey Uso has been the big story of the past month and he's getting lots of TV time and spotlight. I think he finds a way to get Team Smackdown the win to impress the Tribal Chief.
W: Team Smackdown
Champions vs. Champions Match
The New Day (WWE Raw Tag Team Champions) vs. The Street Profits (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions)
Jesse: I bet New Day has been looking forward to this match for a while. They get to face the best young tag team in WWE right now, at a big PPV, and will make them look good. New Day puts The Street Profits over in what will be the match of the night.
W: The Street Profits
Lonnie: If you want high quality, athleticism this is the match for you. If given the appropriate time I feel this has a chance to be sneaky good. From a practical standpoint the New Day can lose all the time and still be over and taken seriously. I also feel they would personally like to do the honor for the Profits so to speak. I expect the Profits to win a good match here.
W: The Street Profits
John: This will be great if they get time and I expect them too. Both teams are beloved and will be over with fans regardless of wins/losses but I think the Profits need the win a little more. New Day will be looking to make the Profits look great. A small part of me could see the Profits turning heel as we have yet to see them as heels on the main roster. Not saying for certain but I wouldn't rule it out. No matter what, I expect a good match and hopefully the Profits get the rub for the New Day.
W: The Street Profits
Champion vs. Champion Match
Bobby Lashley (WWE United States Champion) vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Intercontinental Champion
Jesse: As much as I have enjoyed Sami’s IC reign, I don’t anticipate him holding the title for very much longer. Lashley has actually had a great reign with the US title, and I actually have a lot of fun watching the Hurt Business. I’m picking Lashley in this one since he needs it more than Sami.
W: Bobby Lashley
Lonnie: Sami is a weasel who can barely win a match, and Bobby has literally been destroying everyone. I could literally see this match being two minutes or less and then Sami on Smackdown saying he wasn’t ready, or he didn’t hear the bell or some other reason to explain away his loss. On the other side, I really thought WWE messed up Bobby when he returned and then he had the whole Lana debacle. I have to give them props though, because they finally figured it out and this is the best version of Bobby I have seen in a really long time. He stays strong here with a convincing win.
W: Bobby Lashley
John: My heart says Zayn but my head says Lashley. Sami is fantastic and Lashley is having the best run of his career in my opinion. Lashley probably needs the win more as Zayn is able to bounce back from loss after loss with excuse after excuse haha. Zayn would only win this match if there's some kind of outside interference. I see Lashley getting the win. I just hope it's not a squash.
W: Bobby Lashley
Champion vs. Champion Match
Asuka (WWE Raw Women's Champion) vs. Sasha Banks (WWE Smackdown Women's Champion)
Jesse: Okay, I take back what I said earlier, this might be match of the night. I feel like if given enough time they may even be able to pull off a match of the year contender. I’m going with Sasha since she has been red hot recently.
W: Sasha Banks
Lonnie: Sasha is currently building to a championship match with Carmella and Asuka is building to......um nothing. Sasha could win here to look strong, but that’s not going to happen. The last month Carmella has continually attacked Sasha from behind and why would that change here. That would allow Asuka to look good by winning, Sasha could say she only lost because of Carmella, and Carmella would continue to look strong before her championship match.
W: Asuka
John: I really like both of these ladies but it just feels too soon for them to be facing each other again. Banks has been great as of late and Asuka is kind of in a holding pattern. I'm not sure what's in the near future for Asuka but Banks appears to have her hands full with Carmella following this. This will be a great match but Carmella interference will cause Banks to lose. Asuka stays strong with the win and Banks stays strong but losing because of interference.
W: Asuka
Champion vs. Champion Match
Drew McIntyre (WWE Champion) vs. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champion) w/ Paul Heyman
Jesse: Well I am glad we don’t have Roman vs. Orton, I don’t think the outcome will be any different. Roman is going to beat Drew in what should be a good entertaining match that will make Drew look somewhat strong, but not strong enough to be the Tribal Chief.
W: Roman Reigns
Lonnie: What was the point in Drew losing the championship to Randy only to win it right back? It got Randy closer to Flair’s record but that is it. One thing it did show though is that WWE is willing to let Drew lose a big match. And we all know that Roman does not lose big matches. I expect a finisher fest type brawl with a late appearance by Jey resulting in Roman being the victor.
W: Roman Reigns
John: I'm more interested in this than I was Orton vs. Reigns for sure. I wish McIntyre wouldn't have lost to Orton if they were going this route as some of his momentum was taken away in the process. This two are both in a completely different position than when they faced off at WrestleMania 35. That feels like forever ago. Reigns has been gold since turning heel and that momentum needs to keep going. This should be good but I expect some interference in order to help Reigns get the win (probably from Uso). The Tribal Chief stands tall at the end of the night.
W: Roman Reigns
That does it for this edition of Our 3 Cents!! Be sure to follow along tomorrow night for LIVE COVERAGE and check back to see how we did. Join us again in a few weeks for NXT Takeover War Games!!
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