For the past few years, WWE‘s annual Survivor Series pay-per-view has been a battle for brand supremacy between Raw and Smackdown. In 2019, the theme will stay the same, but a third brand has been added to the mix. According to a teaser that aired today on the WWE Network, NXT will be part of Survivor Series this year.
This announcement comes soon after, on WWE’s 2019 Q3 investors conference call, company executives said the corporate strategy for NXT is to create another touring brand and to make it more profitable. NXT wrestlers appearing on Survivor Series would definitely give significant exposure to the brand that’s been promoted as the “No B.S.” version of WWE, which has been drawing much fewer live viewers than Raw and Smackdown since it has joined them on cable.
https://twitter.com/Malcolmvelli/status/1189962724903653376
Creatively, NXT is a much better fit if WWE wants to have an Underdog Brand than Smackdown, especially now that Smackdown is on a more widely received channel than Raw. Its have a smaller audience and a reputation as WWE’s developmental territory or minor leagues gives the characters good reasons to have chips on their shoulders. (Plus, in real life, NXT wrestlers allegedly still haven’t received the pay raises they were promised when the show moved to the USA Network, meaning they’re getting paid significantly less than their counterparts on Raw and Smackdown, so… realism!)
So far no specifics have been announced about how NXT will be incorporated into Survivor Series — will there be champ vs. champ vs. champ matches and/or a three-way Survivor Series-style elimination match? — but With Spandex will keep you updated as those are revealed.
