WWE Survivor Series 2020: Ranking the build-up of each match
Survivor Series is one of the original four pay-per-views that WWE made its name on. Alongside SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania, Survivor Series used to have titles defended and several traditional five-on-five elimination matches.
Once the brand split happened in 2016, however, WWE made the pay-per-view more about pushing 'brand supremacy' rather than ending feuds. If RAW or SmackDown won, it gave them bragging rights and not much else. If tangible rewards were attached to winning certain contests, then perhaps the pay-per-view would have the same allure as in the past.
But regardless, WWE has had several Champion vs. Champion matches since 2016 and even added NXT to the festivities last year. NXT ended up notching the most wins on the night, but after that, things went back to normal. Dream matches like Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles have been great since the brand split.
This year's pay-per-view has a total of seven matches. WWE has built some matches well ever since the end of Hell in a Cell. Others have only had a week or two of story behind them. Some have had title swaps that changed the dynamics of the planned bouts. Here are the matches from Survivor Series ranked from the worst build to the best build.
#7 Dual-Brand Battle Royal at WWE Survivor Series
WWE literally announced prior to SmackDown that a Dual-Brand Battle Royal would take place on the Kickoff Show. What would the winner get? Bragging rights. In order for this to mean something, it needed to offer up a title shot or something of value to the winner. If a shot at the mid-card title of the winner's brand was on the line, it would add some more intrigue.
Since the announcement was made two days before the actual pay-per-view, it's hard to have any type of build for it. Had WWE announced this a week or two ago, it could have booked some of the matches to mean something rather than randomly adding the contest to the event.
With so many people not in matches, the field could include almost anyone in WWE. We will likely get tag teams like Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz and John Morrison in this match. The likes of Jeff Hardy, Lars Sullivan, Elias, Ricochet, and members of The Hurt Business not named Lashley will also probably be a part of the match. Could we see some sort of party-crashing by RETRIBUTION? That could make it interesting.