Now with the last of the big four PPV's out of the way we now can look forward to the new year and the start of the hottest time of year for WWE. After catching up on the action and seeing who came out the winners and losers from Survivor Series there are somethings we need to question. At first I didn't understand the ending of the Women's Tag Match, but then I saw it and still have questions. Specifically about how pointless it was to have Io Shiari and Candice LeRae get "injured" mid-match only to return at the end to give Rhea an advantage against Sasha Banks. Number one Sasha is the heel and one of the top heels in the Smackdown division for that matter Io is a heel on NXT and Candice and Rhea are faces so it was really questionable booking. Now NXT winning did make the division look strong, but it could've done a lot cleaner and they didn't need to protect Sasha at all. 

Other than that Survivor Series seemed like a very solid event, but is a little to repetitive in the match types and there has to be another way to battle for brand supremacy and build matches with actual depth & story to them rather than leaning on a concept a lot of fans don't care about. Mind you about a month ago both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were able to appear on either Raw or Smackdown, but now after the draft in October they are insanely loyal to Raw and Smackdown respectively and we are suppose to believe that without question? I don't understand it as it makes fans think that WWE thinks they are stupid. That point aside if WWE wants to make brand loyalty such a big deal then keep the brands a part from now until Survivor Series next year with no interaction between them and build off this years event have a feud or two about brand loyalty. 

Overall it seems like they have finally caved in a turned Seth Rollins to the other side officially embracing the recent course of boos he had been receiving from the audience and will be one of the top heels on Raw. This could open the door for a new face to rise to the top of the red brand which could make for some interesting television the next few months. After Raw it is pretty clear that Seth Rollins could end up feuding with just about anyone after his address to the Raw roster. Later on in the week I will looking at Smackdown and NXT the same way I reasoned things out with Raw. 

Survivor Series 2019 

Pre-Show: 
NXT Cruiserweight Championship:
(C) Lio Rush vs Angel Garza 

NXT Championship: 
(C) Adam Cole vs Pete Dunne
Dunne netted this chance last night winning a triple threat match against Killian Dain and Damian Priest. This is one of if not Pete's first chance at the NXT title and we won't be seeing a real finish as this will likely be the start of things to come for Pete. With that being said Adam will take the win tonight. 

Women's Survivor Series Elimination Match 
Raw (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, The Kabuki Warriors & Sarah Logan) vs. SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Nikki Cross) vs. NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LaRae, Biance Belair, Io Shirai, Toni Storm)
I am going to use the same prediction for both of these matches because I think it's a big mistake having these type of matches as they never work and are nothing more then rushed clusterf***. In my opinion it would be better to have a triple threat tag match to cut down on the amount of people in the match and allow more time to showcase the talent involved especially for the debuting NXT stars. I believe that the fans will likely turn on both matches if they go for too long. Team NXT gets the win, because I think they'll let them win one of the matches and it is more likely they let them win the win this one instead of the men's match. 

Men's Survivor Series Elimination Match -- Raw (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre & Ricochet) vs. SmackDown (Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Ali, Shorty G, and Braun Strowman) vs. NXT (TBA)
I am going to use the same prediction for both of these matches because I think it's a big mistake having these type of matches as they never work and are nothing more then rushed clusterf***. In my opinion it would be better to have a triple threat tag match to cut down on the amount of people in the match and allow more time to showcase the talent involved especially for the debuting NXT stars. I believe that the fans will likely turn on both matches if they go for too long. It is kinda pointless to have Shawn Michaels announce the men's team for NXT on the day of the show, because knowing the team ahead of time would allow fans to anticipate the moments they will see in the match tonight. Either way I'm going to take Team Raw as I think  the tension will be too much for Smackdown to overcome.

Champion vs Champion vs Champion
(c) New Day vs (c) Undisputed Era vs (c) Viking Raiders
WWE has a tendency to try and pack all the talent they possibly can on the big shows which always negatively effects the big shows. I know I mentioned that the Traditional Survivor Series elimination match should be a triple threat match instead of a 15 man triple threat tag match, but seeing to many multi-person matches is a bit of overkill and brings up the question of why not give more singles matches and squeeze so many people into one show. I would like to see Undisputed Era win this one as it is their main roster debut, but they don't need a win and could just give a solid performance especially if they aren't going up to the main roster for a while. New Day could get the win as they are still fresh as champions at this point. 

Champion vs Champion vs Champion 
(c) Roderick Strong vs (c) AJ Styles vs (c) Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn
So here is another problem with matches like this because everyone in this match is a bad guy and it will be interesting to see who if anyone is cheered by the Chicago crowd. Interestingly enough the North American Title is the most prestigious championship in the match which offers an indication of poorly the main roster championships are taken care of yearly. Considering nobody really gains anything from this match even though they really should as wins should matter, but they don't either way though. Nakamura gets the win as a surprise cause I think most people expect Styles to win. 

Champion vs Champion vs Champion 
(c) Becky Lynch vs (c) Bayley vs (c) Shayna Baszler 
This is a major test for Baszler against two of the best from the main roster's women's division much like Roddy is getting his test with AJ and Nakamura. Baszler has been a dominate force since winning the Women's title on NXT getting through every test and I have a feeling a friend of hers could give her a hand tonight, but that's just me. Baszler will get the win shocking everyone. 

WWE Universal Championship Match: 
(c) "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan 
This is the match that we should've seen five years ago when Bryan's "Yes Movement" kicked off following his departure from the Wyatt Family. My how things have changed in the last few years for both men with Bryan coming out of retirement and Wyatt finally finding his footing. In my opinion, early on in a new champions reign there are suppose to be some get me over feuds aka short feuds just to get the reign going. I disagree with Wyatt having a short feud with Bryan especially considering the two men's previous history. Either way though Wyatt will get the win as they continue to build The Fiend. 
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WWE Championship Match: 
(c) Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio 
This by far has been the most unexpected feud in recent memory as I never thought that Mysterio & Lesnar would have a feud or end up main eventing Survivor Series. I can honestly say that this has been a solid feud and a great way to introduce Mysterio's son onto WWE programming if this is there way of bringing the kid in as an active competitor. At this point I have given up thinking much about Brock matches, because I believe that they have things planned out with Brock months in advance. With that being said they know where they want Brock for Mania at this point and it likely is with him holding the WWE Championship. Brock wins a solid match and retains the gold. 

It's been five years since CM Punk walked out the door and left us with so many freaking questions and clamoring for his return. I will admit that it got to the point for me that I moved on and didn't care if he came back or not. First off CM Punk is not an active wrestler at this point and isn't even a WWE employee and is just Fox employee that's all. As he mentions he has no desire to enter the ring right now, but it could take to long to rehab and find that interest again. Basically I think one of the reasons Punk returned is that isn't a WWE opportunity and is something he hadn't done before. 

Watching him get introduced on WWE Backstage gave me goosebumps. I do have to agree with Punk's opinion that wrestling could be much better and hasn't changed much since he left in 2014. Knowing that Punk had butterflies before his return meant that this is something he is excited to be able to do and that this was the right time for his return. Knowing that he isn't a WWE employee and can freely speak his opinion on the product and be as open as he wants is a great thing for the new program and could only help catch fans attention. 

Last year Survivor Series celebrated thirty years as a PPV which matched it up nicely with the other big four events making it to the thirty year mark. Now  as this years installment approaches again we look back like always at the events from the past. Since the return of the brand split in 2016 the company has raised the expectations yearly for the traditional Survivor Series normally garnering "This is Awesome" chants from the crowd. We got about a week before the event which means only a little bit of time to look back at the past in anticipation for this years event. Jumping in the wrestling time machine we move back to one of the most underrated traditional Survivor Series matches. Overall the traditional Survivor Series match was one of the best WWE matches of the year! 
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Six years ago soon after the Royal Rumble something took place that we never saw coming at the time CM Punk would walk away from WWE. For the next six years rumors of a return plagued the internet and some fans never let go of Punk returning to the ring. A few months after Punk's departure we finally got the reason behind his departure when he sat down with Colt Cabana on the Art of Wrestling podcast. At first I thought that Punk was burnt out after being active and staying healthy for the most part during his career. Even though that's a good thing it doesn't allow for any time off to be able to recharge and get energized again. 

I for one never thought that CM Punk would ever be seen on a WWE program again and I was perfectly fine with that, because Punk wanted to do other things and stay away from wrestling. Hearing the CM Punk chants and being the one who always said get over it he's gone cheer for someone who still works for WWE. I know that Punk is likely only going to appear on WWE Backstage for the time being, but seeing him back on a WWE program is still extremely surreal and might've given me a reason to watch WWE Backstage.