Survivor Series 2019 Honest Review


Last night fans sat back and enjoyed the two thousand and nineteen Survivor Series PPV and with this year’s event seeing NXT join in on the fun the stakes were higher than ever before and the competition was strong! The night showcased some of the best superstars today and the talent of the future and a huge message was sent out! Incredibly entertaining throughout fans were left hooked from the get-go but just what were the best and worse moments? Let's take a look back at one of the most memorable PPV’s of the year.


Kick-Off Show


I’ll admit that I don’t always tune into a PPV Kick-off show. Last years Survivor Series PPV highlighted the fact it’s irrelevant however this wasn’t the case this year and I highly recommend that you do go ahead and give the Kick-off show a watch if you didn’t tune in last night! Now, the kick-off shows this time around saw three huge matches take place including an opening Battle Royal. Showcasing some of the strongest tag teams of RAW, Smackdown and NXT this was a simple, fun and competitive way to kick start the evening. Things were kept short and there wasn’t much storytelling or standout moments but none the less a Battle Royal is always a fun addition to a show. Ziggler and Roode did pick up the unexpected win here and while it was nice to see The Street Profits really get their moment, I do believe the wrong booking decision was made here. This win was more a win for Smackdown LIVE than a decision that benefited the division and made sense.



Now, it wasn’t an easy start for NXT during the Kick-off Show but with Lio Rush scoring the win in a triple threat he not only retained the Cruiserweight Championship but gave NXT their first win of the evening. This was a great showing for the Cruiserweight division with exciting action from the get-go and everyone really having their moment. This match while not the longest showed fans wat the Cruiserweight division is about and despite being predictable it was a fun match to watch!



And the final match of the Kick-off show saw the current tag team champions across the brands step in the ring together for what was a sure must see. Now, I would have liked to have seen this match last a little longer but for the time they had this match did live up to expectations. I was surprised to see this on the Kick-off show which again was disappointing, but the match proved these are three of the best teams on the scene today! The Viking Raiders picked up an unexpected win which evened out the scores ahead of the main show and I have to admit that this did feel like a weak booking decision but on the flip side it was a nice simple way to start the main shows with all the brands on an even score.

Playing Nasty


So the main show kick-started with a Traditional Survivor Series elimination match up with Dana, Sasha, Carmella, Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans for Smackdown, Sane, Asuka, Charlotte, Natalya, and Sarah Logan RAW, and Candice LeRae, Ripley, Io, Toni Storm and Belair for NXT this was sure to be an exciting match up and boy did these women put on a show! We had brilliant storytelling pretty much from the get-go with LeRae and Io being taken out because of an injury early on but showing up in those final moments to give NXT the big first win of the main show. We also tensions between Asuka and Flair arguably cost RAW this match up and Sasha Banks had a true standout performance! This was a very exciting match that highlighted some true dream matches for the future and was an exciting way to kick start the evening.



The dream Triple Threat


One of the matches I was most excited about this weekend was the triple threat between Roderick Strong, Shinsuke Nakamura, and AJ Styles. As three very skilled, very talented and experienced superstars the interest in this match was high and the expectations even higher! Again, I was not left disappointed. The action was non stop from the get-go and this was one of the most unpredictable bouts of the evening, it really could have gone anyway but with Roderick Strong waiting for that perfect opportunity he timed it well and walked away with yet another win for team NXT. One of the best matches of the evening and a brilliant showing for all three men involved.


Championship Matchups


This year's Survivor Series PPV also saw three title matches with Adam Cole, Brock Lesnar and The Fiend defending their championships throughout the evening. First up we saw Adam Cole step in the ring with new number one contender Pete Dunne and after both men competed in grueling matching twenty-four hours prior both men showcased their battle wounds alongside their heart and passion. These are two of the best in the world today and what we got here was simply a fantastic wrestling match that left us all hanging onto every bit of action. Of the three title matches, this was probably the one I was expecting to be the strongest and longest and while there was unsurprisingly no title changes here nothing can take away how strong this was and the respect both men deserve after their performances this weekend.



We then had the Universal Championship match between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan. Now, I’ll be honest, I haven’t been the most loyal Smackdown viewer recently, so I haven’t seen much of the build to this match, however, their history was enough to sell me on this encounter! Again, I was expecting the title to change hands here, but it was great to see so many close calls and storytelling. I would have liked to have seen an extra ten minutes because I do feel as though we have seen better matched between these two superstars but none the less this was a decent encounter. The red lightning was rather distracting and I found that this was one of the weaker matches of the night also.

A Big Win for Smackdown


The Men’s traditional Survivor Series elimination match was simply brilliant and what we saw was some true breakout performances. I was very surprised and frustrated at the early elimination of WALTER but that aside this was a very entertaining contest and massively unpredictable. We saw tensions between Reigns and Corbin and Corbin and Ali at times cost the blue brand but overall Roman Reigns was able to score that huge win for Smackdown and in the proves created some clear dream matches with some of the opposing superstars on tam NXT. I felt the match itself was stronger than the womens and while I was disappointed NXT didn’t pick up another win this was the match of the whole night I’m likely to go back and re-watch not to mention it was the Black and Gold brand with the best teamwork. We also have to touch on the breakout performance from Keith Lee.


So Close yet So Far Away


Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio really was an interesting one. As someone who grew up a huge Rey Mysterio fan and Lucha Libre fan I was instantly interested in this rivalry and was glad to see Rey given this big storyline! The match itself, however, was what I was expecting to see. Kept fairly short, loads of heart and passion from Rey but ultimately it was Lesnar who retain the WWE Championship. Now, the no DQ element to this match was great and I really enjoyed seeing Dominic involved, it was a great touch and really tied in with the whole storyline. Of course, no one was surprised to see Lesnar retain but it was a match easy to invest in and Rey really did have the hearts of everyone watching.



NXT Takeover


And finally, we have the main event which I was surprised to see was taken up by the women’s division and the triple threat between champions Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Shayna Baszler. Now, I was surprised also at the pace of this match, it was much slower than I was expecting even when Lynch and Bayley were the only two in the ring. Now, I was expecting to see Lynch or Baszler score the win here so I wasn’t surprised to see the latter walk out with the victory but it was refreshing seeing the women given this spotlight and the chemistry between Lynch and Baszler has left me desperate to see more go down between them in the near future!



WOW! I have to say that it, this was probably my favourite WWE PPV of the year. It had everything. The title matches all brought something completely different, NXT was on fire, we had surprises and genuine yearly standout matches that have changed the game! NXT was very consistent throughout and sent a huge message. The future is very bright in the WWE but the now is on fire too!

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