WWE Survivor Series 2019 airs this Sunday, November 24, live on WWE Network. The show features a number of Raw vs. Friday Night Smackdown vs. NXT matches, a no holds barred match for the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan challenging The Fiend for the Universal Championship, and more. Here’s the full card, as we know it.
WWE Survivor Series 2019 Card:
1. No Holds Barred Match for the WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
2. Universal Championship Match: The Fiend Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
3. Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match: Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
4. Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match: United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong
5. Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Tag Team Match: Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders vs. Smackdown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era
6. Survivor Series Elimination Triple Threat Match: Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Ricochet) vs. Team Smackdown (Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, and Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
7. Survivor Series Elimination Triple Threat Match: Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan) vs. Team Smackdown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
8. NXT Championship Match: Adam Cole (c) vs. TBD (winner of Pete Dunne, Damien Priest, and Killian Dain triple threat at NXT TakeOver War Games)
As always, we’ve got your complete rundown of the card and analysis below, featuring predictions for all eight matches.
Here’s what we think will happen at (what the) Hell in a Cell. Drop a comment in our comment section below to let us know who you think’s winning.
NXT Championship Match: Adam Cole (c) vs. TBD (winner of Pete Dunne, Damien Priest, and Killian Dain triple threat at NXT TakeOver War Games)
What Should Happen: Can you imagine WWE setting up Adam Cole vs. the winner of a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver War Games for Survivor Series, having that match be Pete Dunne vs. two big heels, and not picking Dunne to win? Pete’s definitely gotta take it. And honestly? I wouldn’t hate it if Dunne won the championship here. There’s gotta be a good reason he bailed on NXT UK (besides fear of WALTER) and moved to the United States. Maybe a run with the NXT Domestic Championship is why? Survivor Series is a big platform for them to steal the show and make it memorable with a big title change, and I’ve always thought the next step in Undisputed Era’s story is, “what happens when everyone EXCEPT Adam Cole has a championship?”
What Will Happen: Pete wins at War Games, but the match at Survivor Series ends in DQ when Undisputed Era runs in at the last second. Right? Best case scenario, maybe it sets up something for weekly TV.
I’m worried — no, I’m exhausted and resigned — that this is going to end up as the “kickoff show” match instead of as the banger show-opener it should be. SOMETHING at Survivor Series has to matter in the long run, doesn’t it? I’ll be okay with a pre-show version as long as they get like, the entire kickoff show to work. Would you prefer 8 minutes on pay-per-view, or 25 just before it, you know? Plus, maybe the tag teams are less important than brand three’s top guy.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – Given that I’ve predicted a lot of Undisputed Era this weekend, I could *also* see Cole dropping the belt, particularly if Dunne wins. On the other hand, it would be weird for Cole to drop it to someone who doesn’t even really get a build after War Games. On the OTHER other hand, I should trust NXT to do the whole thing justice. I’m just gonna play it safe and go with my UE Fest gut.
Scott Heisel – What a week this dude’s having: A ladder match on Wednesday, a WarGames match on Saturday and now his third NXT Championship defense on a non-NXT program in under 30 days? Give the guy a day off to sit in an epsom salt bath already. I’m predicting Pete Dunne to come out on top in the triple threat on Saturday night to earn the rights to face Cole, and while part of me thinks maaaaybe they’d switch the title here and take that opportunity to move Cole & Co. to Raw to continue feuding with the OC, he’ll probably retain, and be very sore afterward.
Raj Prashad – We won’t know who Cole is fighting against until after War Games, but it’s hard to imagine him dropping the belt as one of the top stars in the company. Keeping up with Cole, bay-bay.
Emily Pratt – I’m guessing this is Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne and Cole wins a very good match. Keep the Cole promotion going after he main-evented both Raw and Smackdown rather than show him get beaten by a guy who a lot of viewers might just remember from the Royal Rumble.
Elle Collins – At least there will be one match at Survivor Series with a winner from NXT. I think this is probably Pete Dunne’s spot (or should I save that for the TakeOver predictions?), but I definitely think Adam Cole is retaining his title.
Survivor Series Elimination Triple Threat Match: Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan) vs. Team Smackdown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
What Should Happen: It’s very hard to pick winners for a match when they aren’t really fighting for anything, they’re on separate shows so they aren’t going to continue any feuds afterward, and one of them team doesn’t even have their members announced. Maybe Madusa will show up leading a WCW women’s team and make it a fatal four-way 20-person elimination match? Did WCW even have five women they could put on a team?
What Will Happen: Based on the announced teams, you’ve gotta think Team Raw takes this one. Their team has the Women’s Tag Team Champons, one of whom is Asuka in at least a mildly NXT setting, and Charlotte Flair on it. I might pick Charlotte Flair to win if she was the only person on her team against two five-woman squads, honestly.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – It’s a shame so many talented wrestlers are rounded up in this “Kitchen Sink”-style match. It’s hard to imagine a team with Charlotte, Asuka, and Kari Sane taking the L but Smackdown has to win SOMETHING, right? Soooooooo Sasha pins Natalya I guess?
Scott Heisel – Where on earth did Sarah Logan come from? This match looks like a total mess on paper, with the Raw team full of “can they coexist?” vibes, the Smackdown team loaded with also-rans, and the NXT team still TBA as of press time. This has pre-show written all over it. Raw wins, with Charlotte and Natalya surviving.
Raj Prashad – Easily one of the strangest matches on the card, this could be one of Charlotte Flair’s defining, non-title moments. Selecting Team Raw here to pick up the victory.
Emily Pratt – Same comment from the men’s match about this looking like the biggest and most convoluted match of all time when it definitely isn’t. I’m guessing we get some stuff between Kairi and Io after their interaction this Wednesday, and, I don’t know, Sarah Logan is the sole survivor and fights off all of Team NXT by herself or something.
Elle Collins – It’s tempting to pick Raw here because they have Charlotte Flair and the Kabuki Warriors. I think it’s a better story, though, if Sasha Banks survives the elimination of Dana, Lacey, Carmella, and eventually even Nikki, and then manages to win. That’s my pick.
Survivor Series Elimination Triple Threat Match: Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Ricochet) vs. Team Smackdown (Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, and Shorty G) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
What Should Happen: The match should come down to the three captains: Seth Rollins for Raw, Roman Reigns from Smackdown, and NXT’s Velveteen Dream in a white tank top and jeans doing slow-ass suicide dives and trying to hit them with a hot dog cart.
What Will Happen: They’ve put a lot of work into putting Randy Orton over as the King of Survivor Series, so I figure he’s one of the survivors here. Fox would probably really like it if their team won one of the marquee team vs. team matches, though, especially since they have FOX across their backs in big white letters, so it could go either way. Maybe Team NXT will have Triple H on it after all, and that’ll be a whole thing. Given how Raw and Smackdown (and even this week’s NXT) have been booked lately, can this end with all teams just brawling, the referee throwing it out, and the show casually moving on to the next backstage segment?
Ideal finish: everyone in the match who was in NXT banding together and forming the New New Nexus.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – Sorry, no matter how much I focus on Ricochet and Mustafa Ali and Kevin Owens and whatever NXT guys are involve, this just feels like a big, old, schmozzy mess waiting to happen. My Spidey Sense tells me WWE will ultimately do everything they can to protect Rollins which means Team Raw *probably* gets the win.
Scott Heisel – Fuck it, let’s go with Team NXT — they’ll win when Kevin Owens defects from Raw and joins the Yellow brand permanently.
Raj Prashad – Despite not knowing the full NXT team, I’ve got them coming out on top. This seems like a spot for someone like KO to flip on his Raw teammates and rejoin his old squad. This one could always come down to someone like Rollins against Reigns.
Emily Pratt – There are so many people in this match! This is like a Dragon Gate match but with tags and probably no one getting hit with a box. Will it be good? Will it make sense? Somehow, giant gimmicky WWE matches always seem to, so I’m optimistic. I do not know or care who’s winning, but I’m guessing Finn Bálor ends up on Team NXT.
Elle Collins – This match could go either way (Raw or Smackdown, not NXT), but looking at the lineups involved, I think it probably goes to Raw. Both teams are full of talented guys, but Seth’s team has more guys that WWE is definitely behind than Roman’s does.
Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Tag Team Match: Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders vs. Smackdown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era
What Should Happen: A good match, ostensibly for nothing. But a good match.
What Will Happen: Again, it’s hard to say why anyone should win a match without any consequences attached. Winning doesn’t get them anything, or get them a title shot, or mean anything for them in their divisions in the long term because they’re already on top of them. It seems like a lot of the show is “entertainment” for the sake of entertainment. That can be fun, so I’ll just say, “New Day wins to promote their upcoming podcast, I guess?” Wish the Smackdown team was still The Revival, especially after Wednesday.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – This is the “brand-v-brand-v-brand” match I’m most excited about and maybe most excited about on the whole PPV besides Wyatt-Bryan. All of these guys came through NXT and they’re all capable of 5-star glory. If Vince can get out of the way and just let these guys be themselves, this could be explosive fun. This should be match of the night and could go any which way. But I think some fun Adam Cole (Baby!) shenanigans will give the dastardly Undisputed Era the win despite being beat up from War Games.
Scott Heisel – Not even WWE 2K20 would simulate a match this bizarre. New Day rocks (and rolls), I guess? This was infinitely more interesting with the Revival, but here we are.
Raj Prashad – I wavered with this one, and after initially picking the Undisputed Era, I really can’t pick against the Viking Raiders. After their run through NXT, it makes sense for their run of dominance to continue in a match for brand supremacy.
Emily Pratt – I have no idea what to predict for any of these matches that involve more than three people! This should be a very good match though!
Elle Collins – Everybody in this match is really great, but I have a hard time imagining anyone but the New Day winning.
Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match: United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong
What Should Happen: Hopefully the inclusion of Roderick Strong can make a main roster Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles match good. Yep, that’s a thing I just typed and meant in the year of our lord 2019.
What Will Happen: If there’s any order and justice in the world, this should be the “brand supremacy” match of the night. I can’t say it’ll be better than whatever Daniel Bryan’s doing, but shit, Strong vs. Nakamura vs. Styles would’ve been the most baller northeast indie main event of all time back in the day. Just let them do what they do with minimal ballyhoo and you’ve got yourself a stew goin’. Styles wins, so he can go into that Humberto Carrillo title defense on Raw overconfident enough to make us think the title might change hands.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – 2016 Marcus would be beside himself with excitement for this match. 2019 Marcus is… not. There’s still potential for this to be great but how many times can we get our hopes up for a Styles-Shinsuke match only to have it fall short?
Scott Heisel – On paper, this match looks to be the most exciting out of all the triple threats, but my worry is that it will get cut down for time — or, even worse, go on during the two-hour(!!!) pre-show before anyone’s actually in the building. AJ Styles seems like the easy pick, but I’m gonna go with Shinsuke Nakamura taking off Roddy Strong’s head for the three-count after other members of the Undisputed Era show up and get in a fight with Styles and his cronies.
Raj Prashad – This match right here is one of the best uses of turning Survivor Series into Raw vs. Smackdown vs. NXT mayhem. AJ, Nak and Roddy should be a barnburner. This seems like a great situation to give Roddy a pinfall over two top stars, but I’ve got Nakamura earning the win for Smackdown.
Emily Pratt – I’m extremely here for this match from an alternate universe version of Global Wars ’15. I’m predicting Styles will win because out of these three just because of the current state of his character compared to that of his opponents.
Elle Collins – I sort of feel like if there’s one match that NXT might win, it’s this one. To be clear, I don’t think NXT gets to win any matches, so I’m picking AJ for this one, but you never know.
Brand Supremacy Triple Threat Match: Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
What Should Happen: Shayna Baszler eats them for breakfast.
What Will Happen: Shayna Baszler eats them for breakfast. I said what I said. If this doesn’t end with Shayna choking Bayley so hard that it turns her back into NXT year one Bayley, they’re doing something wrong. Becky Lynch doesn’t need any more “and also she did THIS” accolades this year. Give it to the Shovels Queen.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – This is my second-favorite “Brand-vs-Brand-vs-Brand” match of the night because Baszler and Becky are badass and Heel Bayley is intriguing enough to make this a great wrinkle. It also means Becky doesn’t have to win because someone else takes the pin. That said, Becky is still The Man and I can see her tapping out a bruised Baszler for a win and protecting heel Bayley for now.
Scott Heisel – Shayna is one of the few wrestlers I’ve ever seen of any gender who legitimately scares me. I hope she leaves this match with a wheelbarrow full of other people’s body parts.
Raj Prashad – I could see really any of these three women winning here, but going to roll with Baszler earning the win over Bayley. Maybe, just maybe, this is finally the spot for Ronda Rousey’s return?
Emily Pratt – Like I say in the upcoming War Games prediction article, I think Shayna could win this one! This is partly wishful thinking, but she’s been NXT Women’s Champion forever and the main roster could use a really intimidating heel in the women’s division. Give me the Lynch vs. Baszler feud on Raw, please, and set it up with this match!
Elle Collins – I think Bayley’s winning this match. She’s the one with the most to prove. Everybody already knows that Becky and Shayna are badasses, and they’ll probably spend most of this match beating the hell out of each other. Then Bayley will find just the right moment to take them both down and get the pin.
Universal Championship Match: The Fiend Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
What Should Happen: WWE finally realizes everybody hates the Kane lights and turns them off, so we can watch Daniel Bryan do everything in his power to fix everything Seth Rollins did wrong against The Fiend. He can do it in the red lights, too, but enough with that bit.
What Will Happen: The Fiend wins, of course, possibly (probably) in a shorter match than any of us would’ve preferred. I think Daniel Bryan’s telling a bigger story with his character than we’ve seen so far, and maybe he just needs to get his gullet massaged by a Shadow Clown to get to the next step. I trust the Planet’s Champion, whether he’s ever Blue-niversal Champion again or not.
P.S. please finally make Daniel Bryan Universal Champion sometime soon so he can spend his entire run dragging it to anyone who’ll listen.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – This should, by all rights, be one hell of a match with some great history even though both wrestlers have undergone so many twists and turns in their careers. I still believe in Bray and Bryan is Bryan, so there’s no reason to think this won’t be great as long as it’s not wrestled in a gloomy red light. That said, it’s way too soon to take the title off Bray and deep-six the Fiend’s build (though that WOULD be a Very Vince Move).
Scott Heisel – Bray isn’t giving up the championship yet, but I expect Mr. Small Package to score a few verrrrry close nearfalls before getting eaten alive by the Fiend. This should be weird and fun and unfortunately bathed in red light.
Raj Prashad – This one might be the most cut and dry result on the card. After building up Wyatt as a true monster over the last month or two, he seems to be on course to dominate all challengers.
Emily Pratt – I was on Tinder the other day and saw a profile whose only picture was The Fiend holding up the Universal Championship belt. The bio read, “5’8 if it matters.” (I swear on everything that this is real.) What was I saying? Oh yeah, I don’t know what to expect from this match! Maybe Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura will get involved? That seems like the best case scenario to me somehow. Fiend retains via no contest or DQ.
Elle Collins – After the whole Fiend/Rollins mess that everybody’s still recovering from, he definitely needs a successful title defense, and this should be it. I’m sure Bryan will give it his all, but the Fiend’s winning.
No Holds Barred Match for the WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
What Should Happen: There’s a lot of talk about this being where Dominick Mysterio finally shows his true, Guerrero colors and turns heel on his dad to set up his debut. I think the more realistic idea is that Cain Velasquez shows up and takes advantage of the “anything goes stipulation” by attacking Brock and costing him the championship to Rey. Rey can get a We Appreciate You title run for a month and a half while Lesnar and Velasquez do their thing, and then Brock (or whoever) can win it back at the Royal Rumble to set up WrestleMania season.
What Will Happen: That, probably. Or, you know, Mysterio sprints directly at Brock and jumps into an F-5 for the loss. With Brock Lesnar, those things are equally possible.
Staff Picks
Marcus Gilmer – The idea of Mysterio winning is intriguing, for sure, but in the context of WWE storylines, Brock is a monster that has destroyed other monsters and champions. Even an injured Lesnar should be able to handle Mysterio. Still, the WWE wants to create drama so I expect an early Brock struggle and the rumors of a DOMINICK HEEL TURN to come through and cost Rey the shot he didn’t really have.
Scott Heisel – The “no holds barred” stipulation kinda telegraphs interference from Cain Velasquez and/or Dominick, right? Lesnar also hasn’t been advertised for any appearances post-Survivor Series, so if I’m reading my tea leaves correctly, I’m predicting Brock getting some major comeuppance here and giving Rey his first run on top since his whopping two-hour reign in 2011. (Thanks for that one, John Cena.) Booyaka!
Raj Prashad – Love that Rey was built up over the last few weeks with the lead pipe and all, but don’t really see a situation where Lesnar loses here. Maybe if we get the full-on Rey + Dominick + Cain Velasquez, I could imagine him dropping the belt, and I guess that’s not out of the realm of possibility. But I’ve got Lesnar walking out as champ.
Emily Pratt – I was hyped for this match the first time they did it and I’m hyped for it now! Congratulations on being really good at wrestling for a really long time, both of these guys! I’m guessing a WWE Championship run isn’t in the cards for Mysterio at this stage of his career, but if I’m wrong and he wins I will have a LOT of feelings about it.
Elle Collins – I would love to live in a world where Rey Mysterio might win this match. Even if it required interference from Cain Velasquez, Dominick, and any number of other people, I’d love to see Rey get one more championship run. But we don’t live in that world. We live in the world where Brock Lesnar wins this match.
There you have it. That’s what we think goes down this Sunday when Brand® and Brand™ battle Brand©.
Who do you think wins? What do you think gets added to the card? Drop down into the comments section below to let us know, and make sure you’re here on Sunday for live results, an open discussion thread, and more.
