Who Will Survive the Series?

The November 3rd edition of Monday Night Raw gave us huge insight on the upcoming weeks and the next pay-per-view, Survivor Series. The concept of the "traditional Survivor Series match" of a 10-man, tag team, elimination match is awesome. I wish it was a more frequently used on Raw and Smackdown, but I understand why recently it hasn't been incorporated to the match card, for it would decrease the value of this PPV. This past Monday, we saw Vince McMahon add a stipulation to the match that makes this storyline even juicier: if Team Cena comes out victorious, the Authority will lose it's power.

What seems like an attempt to make up for the absences of Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and the recurring disappearing figure that is Brock Lesnar, WWE needs to keep fans enticed. Also, there have been speculations of Stephanie McMahon's pregnancy, and that this all of a sudden treat to the authority, means a fourth McMahon-Levesque may be on the way. What I find interesting about this stipulation is that it sort of came out of nowhere. I thought the Authority would stay on top until Wrestlemania or shortly after. 

Here John Cena poses for a Survivor Series ad where he will lead a team of 4 other superstars against the Authority.

At Survivor Series, we may not see one of the most prolific superstars in the history, Randy Orton. The Apex Predator suffered an injury, though not extreme, but enough to keep a guy out for a while. WWE has pulled him from SS advertisements.

 This may or may not lead to a surprise return the night of to attack Seth Rollins. What good can come out of this situation is that the spotlight can be shifted just a bit more towards Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt, who could put together a good match. Personally, I don't think they seem to fit together in a one-on-one rivalry too well.

The Teams

So far, John Cena has only recruited Dolph Ziggler to his team. Superstars like Sheamus, the Big Show, and NXT Superstars Sammy Zayn and Adrian Neville have been rumored candidates. It may seem odd that a rookie would debut at Survivor Series, but if you think about it, what better way to get your foot in the door then to align yourself with the face of the company, or the top heel faction? Also, in the past the WWE Universe has gotten their first glimpse of stars like the Kurt Angle, The Rock, and The Undertaker at this very PPV. Angle, even though he was in the Olympics a short while before hand, made his in-ring, WWE debut here.

Team Cena vs Team Authority: How Each Squad Will Shake Out

Team Cena

John Cena (C)

Dolph Ziggler

The Big Show

Ryback

Sammy Zayn

Team Authority

Seth Rollins (Co-Captain)

Kane (Co-Captain)

Rusev

Mark Henry

Cesaro

Team Cena is led by three outgoing personalities in Cena, Ziggler, and Show, who always speak their mind. This is the theme of the whole rivalry, so having these guys on this team make sense. Ryback is coming off a lower back injury that kept him out a couple months so putting him in the main event of the second longest running pay-per-view would definitely boost him back into the main event level that we all saw from him in 2012. I picked Sammy Zayn to join Team Cena because if you really want to put the title of "The Future" on someone, it would be this guy. His multicultural wrestling backgrounds make him the perfect Intercontinental Champion on paper, and his high-flying skills could make the upper midcard a legitimate position. In NXT, Sammy Zayn was in a feud with Cesaro so having the two in the ring against each other. It warms the heart of every wrestling fan, doesn't it? I'm only kidding, becuase frankly, I am tired of people obsessing over Cesaro and his dumb swing. It causes zero damage and he only gets the guy around a couple of times but the crowd counts too fast... I digress. Big Show and Mark Henry have the history to back their spot up too. In 2011 at Survivor Series, for example, the two faced off for the World Heavyweight Championship held by Henry. More recently, however, you have seen them compete with each other in a series of tag-team matches only to split up because of Mark Henry's jealousy. (Caution: the video below contains a bit of NSFW language) 

As far as my prediction for the outcome of this match, I say it will come to a close with neither team getting the W, even after a long, physical match. I think, like many other members of the WWE Universe, that you will see the Legend Killer do what he does best and RKO the living daylights out of Triple H for the DQ. I wouldn't want the match to end right there though, I would like to see some action after the disqualification. But no matter what the stipulation, or the pride on the line, the Authority will barely Survive.