4 ways WWE could disappoint the WWE Universe at Survivor Series
WWE seems to have made a lot of decisions lately that have not gone down well with the fans. Shane McMahon winning the WWE World Cup tournament, Brock Lesnar regaining the Universal title, and a main event which featured 4 superstars with a combined age of 106 at Crown Jewel were not popular decisions among the WWE Universe.
Just 2 weeks after Crown Jewel, WWE presents Survivor Series from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California. The card so far has seen a couple of last-minute shake-ups, with Charlotte Flair replacing the injured Becky Lynch to take on Ronda Rousey. Elsewhere the new WWE champion Daniel Bryan will take on Brock Lesnar after he defeated AJ Styles for the WWE title on SmackDown Tuesday night.
WWE has made some popular decisions recently, in part because of Becky Lynch's push, but also Daniel Bryan winning the WWE championship on SmackDown and turning heel in the process. But WWE has not won fans over with a lot of their decisions, particularly at Crown Jewel, and the build-up to Survivor Series this year has been a less than auspicious one.
One of the main criticisms of the WWE product in recent times is that there is no clear long-term vision of where the company wants to go. Losing their main Superstar Roman Reigns is unquestionably a setback, but booking decisions such as DX facing the Brothers of Destruction at the main event of Crown Jewel is a big indication that WWE are more focused on the past than the present.
At Survivor Series, WWE has a chance to pull their product in a positive direction that shows a commitment towards growing characters and storylines.
#1 Mandy Rose or Lana being the 5th member of Team SmackDown
At Survivor Series, a traditional 5-on-5 elimination match will take place pitting Mickie James, Natalya, Nia Jax, Tamina and Ruby Riott for team Raw as they go up against Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville and a mystery female yet to be announced for Team SmackDown.
There has been much talk as to who the 5th member of the SmackDown team will be, with some speculating that it will be someone from NXT, whilst others predicting that it could be Paige. Paige has since distanced herself from such rumours, citing that the severity of her neck injury means that one bad bump could result in her being left paralysed.
Of the other remaining female Superstars on the SmackDown roster, one of either Lana or Mandy Rose could be the final addition to the team, however, this would be underwhelming, to say the least. If Lana or Mandy Rose were going to be added to the match then surely they would have been added already rather than it being kept secret.
A much more fitting scenario would see a female such as Nikki Cross enter the match and leading team SmackDown to victory. Having her debut in such a fashion could elevate her immediately to being one of the top females on the roster. Alternatively, Shayna Baszler could be the 5th woman in the match.
If Baszler were to lose her NXT women's championship to Kairi Sane at WarGames then the next step for her could be for her to join the SmackDown brand and introduce her as the mystery 5th woman in this match.