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. 

If you go back to the start of the WWE in 1963 the company was very simple back then with Bruno Sammartino leading the charge as the "Franchise of WWE." Through the years WWE has had a number of stars that would be able to punch their tickets to the mount rushmore of wrestling for one reason or another. But like a lot of things it seems like the "Franchise" has been lost to the passage of time. In the days of Hogan, Austin, Cena, Rock, and others they were the difference makers and helped bring business forward or elevate a weak period of time. 

In modern WWE that doesn't seem like something anyone can do it's like the drawing power that the top guys once had is gone. I know a lot of reasons could be thought of as the culprit, but I think the business has changed and because it changed the booking changed and Vince or others forgot the way they use to make a franchise player look like the best guy in the company. Think about it compare Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins to Steve Austin and The Rock there is no comparison though they might seem semi equal if Austin & Rock were limited like Rollins & Reigns are they wouldn't have become as big. 

Overall in my opinion, a problem in WWE is they forgot that sometimes simple works and that they ignore the emotion that only the person behind the character can tap into. All I am saying is that Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena, and other franchises had the ability to have some form of freedom to create and integrate a bit of themselves into their on screen characters. Today it's more the writers write and the wrestlers repeat what the writers say and there is little creativity or the same feeling that existed back in the day. We don't need a superhero anymore, but I think someone like Austin or Rock is what the company needs to help them figure things out. In periods of weakness finding what worked in the past normally helps. 

Following the WWE draft it seems like Raw will be branded as the up comer show and Smackdown will have the established stars like Roman & Brock. However, I think another why Raw might've lacked some star power following the draft is that Raw's executive director Paul Heyman has his eyes on making new talent stars. Recently it has been passed around that names such as Andrade, Drew McIntyre, Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, Murphy and others have been talked about as future stars. 

I know a lot fans have been wondering why Raw was left so weak after the draft and it seems like Paul Heyman wants to bring up new stars and fresh talent. Fans have been hungry for months and in some cases years for new stars on top and with Paul Heyman build for the future Raw is in good hands, but fans need to be patient. 

Overall if matches like what we saw last Monday between Humberto & Rollins is an indication of what were going to see in the future on Raw then I am excited for a Paul Heyman ran Raw brand, because WWE's future could be a lot brighter.  

The most anticipated month in modern wrestling with the debut of All Elite Wrestling, debut of Smackdown on Fox, and the WWE draft. For the first time the draft was presented in a way similar to sports drafts. The picks were announced by Stephanie & Triple H, but didn't really do much to boost more interest to the way they had presented the draft in the past. I feel like they could've brought back the old way of drafting similarly to the way they use to draw entrants in the Rumble and how they did the draft in 2004 with Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff. I know it was there first time and mistakes were bound to happen, but hopefully it's a learning experience. 

Looking at the rosters they need to reset the meaning of brand exclusivity and keep the brands apart for the time being. It is clear that they are trying to change the images of both brands with the Smackdown roster having a lot more entertainers and less skilled in ring wrestlers and Raw being the opposite. With Fox wanting the brand to be presented in a certain way that explains the moves, but how WWE books it will determine if it fits together. 

It is questionable why Raw has such a small tag team division with only three teams included in the title picture. Looking at it the opposite way though Raw has a deeper Women's division excluding the Kabuki Warriors who should still be able to appear on both brands as Women's Tag champions. Some of the un-drafted talent also leaves hope that previously underutilized talent can get a little bit more of the spotlight. As far as the unlisted draft picks I didn't even know that The Colons were still members of WWE shows how long they've been gone. 

WWE pulled out all the stops on Friday for the first episode of Smackdown on Fox with a shocking debut of Cain Velasquez confronting Brock Lesnar. ​I was dumbfounded at the sight of Cain appearing on stage with Mysterio to close Smackdown last week. I applaud WWE for playing up the history between Brock and Velasquez as that isn't something they normally like doing if it didn't happen within the walls of WWE. Also want to point out that it does seem pretty clear that Cain has signed with WWE, but the details of his contract are unclear. The only thing that is known about Cain is that he will be fighting Brock Lesnar on October 31, at Crown Jewel. 

According to reports the match is rumored to be for the WWE Championship which is alarming to me for a variety of reasons. First off Brock Lesnar just defeated Kofi Kingston and yet they aren't giving Kofi a rematch and a chance to undo the random match they had on Smackdown this past week. Letting Kofi have a rematch against Brock at Crown Jewel would've given their match on Fox a bit more weight, because it would've been looked at as "oh that's why the match on Smackdown was short." 

Another reason that the company holding the match so soon is alarming to me is, because Cain Velasquez has never competed in a match in WWE and will be fighting for the title in his first match. I know Cain has competed in a few matches in Mexico since retiring from UFC and MMA, but has a very limited history in wrestling only debuting a few months ago. I understand from a business perspective that Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesnar is a marquee match and one of the few left, but it doesn't make sense to rush into the match. According to Meltzer, the main reason it seems that the match will be taking place at Crown Jewel instead of down the road is due to the fact that Cain's contract could be short term only for this feud/match which would be disappointing, but understandable. 

In my opinion, I really don't like the idea of a wrestler using name value to get a World Title shot even though they have limited experience in the ring. I understand that Cain Velasquez may only be here for a short time, but if the price was right I am sure he'd stay with WWE. Overall if we can hold off a marquee match for the future and give it more build then the excitement for the match should rise to. If I had a part in bringing Velasquez in I would have a few wrestlers set up to fight Cain holding off the next confrontation with Brock Lesnar until Survivor Series. In December then Cain would fight for #1 contender honors to challenge Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble giving the Rumble a massive match for the event. 

In case you missed it this past Wednesday night NXT officially made the move to network television as they are now on USA Network every Wednesday. For the first couple of weeks as USA makes room in their line-up NXT will only have an hour every week on USA with the second hour being on the WWE Network. The change in time slot will take place in early October following the ending of USA Network original series Suits. Either way though the first episode of NXT on USA happened and it lived up to the expectations. Now with a lot more time to showcase the talent of the future the WWE has the ability to give talent in NXT the opportunity to become known by it's fan base before a talent gets the call to move to Raw or Smackdown. 

One thing that everyone has been hoping for since the Smackdown deal with Fox was announced was that Smackdown would move from being a B-Show to an equal of Raw. I don't expect NXT to become equal to Raw or Smackdown right away, but what I hope for is that underutilized talent on the main roster will finally be able to make the move to NXT as a way to freshen them up. Even though NXT will be on national television now it is still going to be a different audience at least early on then the one that watches the other two brands. 

Overall with the infusion of talent from 205 Live and now possibility of some NXT UK talent joining the party from time to time the WWE is doing everything they can to make sure NXT has depth on their roster. I love the idea of allowing the NXT UK World Champion to appear on the brand, because it gives more exposure to the World Champion which is exactly what they should be trying to do. I don't know a lot about Walter or his stablemates, but what I do know is I'm interested and Kushida is definitely an interesting selection as an early opponent for Walter on NXT. So far WWE is starting high and the stage is set for Smackdown to make the move to Fox on October 4! 

Clash of Champions 2019 

WWE Cruiserweight Championship 
(c) Drew Gulack vs Humberto Carrillo vs Lince Dorado 
With now the future set for 205 Live this will be the start of the next chapter for the underrated cruiserweight division. Even though we have recently seen Murphy, Ali, and Cedric Alexander get pushed up from 205 Live to Raw and Smackdown. Drew is extremely underrated and has been the leader of the cruiserweight division for most of this year and will hopefully find a higher level when they finally begin to be featured in prominent way on NXT. As for Carrillo and Dorado there isn't much to say as both men have flown under the radar and even though Dorado has been around since the beginning he has never gotten the opportunity to stand out. Honestly, I don't think that Gulack will drop the title at this point and even though we could see them switch up very soon, but now isn't the time. 

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: 
(c) Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs Fire and Desire
Since the debut of the unexpected Women's Tag titles earlier this year the new title has struggled to find it's place in WWE. However, it is good to see they've started to try and not only integrate the title into a bigger picture, but allowing women that aren't ready to be feature on top of the division. Rose & Deville have been a solid team since they arrived on the main roster. I don't think that Alexa & Nikki will lose tonight and they will stay a top the division. 

WWE Intercontinental Championship: 
(c) Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn vs The Miz
Two months ago Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Finn Balor to capture the title and hasn't really done much with it so far, but now that he has Sami Zayn as a moth piece it's a start. Also feuding with The Miz gives two guys that weren't doing much something to do and at this point Miz is also closing in on Jericho's record for most title reigns with Miz being one behind him. I'd like to see Miz win, but I think they'll save this title change for after Smackdown moves to Fox as this feud isn't ending tonight it'll likely keep going. Nakamura wins with help from Sami to keep the gold for now. 

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: 
(c) New Day vs The Revival 
This has been a untapped feud for a variety of reasons including a number of injuries to both teams and the brand split stopping them from interacting again. It is impossible to accurately put into words the impact that New Day has had on the WWE and tag team wrestling in general. But I am glad they have, because it has been a wild ride with the New Day in WWE. Now with The Revival getting a real chance to show what they can do and associating with Randy Orton this is WWE's chance to put them in the position that they could've been in from the start and that is to bring some credibility back to tag team wrestling in WWE.

WWE United States Championship: 
(c) AJ Styles vs Cedric Alexander 
This is a switch from his last reign as champion when he was in a never ending loop with Kevin Owens. I admit I don't normally like when Main Event talent win titles designed for mid-card stars, but when it's clear that a reign will be use to elevate someone new that's when it is okay cause it's for a purpose. So far Styles has done wonders with his matches against Ricochet and now will hopefully help elevate Cedric Alexander to position in the company that he deserves, because he has earned everything. Though Cedric has earned his spot on Monday Night's it isn't the right time for AJ Styles to drop the United States title. At this point we need to have stability to those titles which haven't had a direction in years. 

Roman Reigns vs Rowan 
In all honesty this was a misstep and I believe that WWE have even admitted that they shouldn't have went with Rowan and should've gone after Daniel or another semi established talent. It's not that Rowan doesn't deserve a shot, it seems a little too familiar to Jinder Mahal's push in 2017. It's not possible that WWE forgot how to correctly push talent slowly and get them over the right way. Had the company wanted Rowan to be a believable opponent for Roman Reigns then they should have pushed Rowan a little harder recently then they have. I think there is no doubt that Reigns takes the win tonight and this might be the end of this one or you can expect it to turn to someone else being the mastermind. 

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: 
(c) Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode 
Honestly I love the idea of Roode & Ziggler being a team, because the WWE always needs fresh tag team and these two guys haven't exactly had the best direction recently so this gives them something. Also it interesting that for once tag team partner will team together in one match for the tag titles and then fight each other for the World Title. At this point, I prefer Strowman and Rollins competing against thrown together teams while they are established as a tandem. Don't get me wrong I know Rollins and Braun will not stay together as a team, but while they are I'd rather them hold off on real teams and letting them feud together when they do. Based on what I think is going to happen in the main event I think Strowman & Rollins will retain the titles as they still need to figure out what they want to do Dolph & Roode. 

WWE Smackdown Women's Championship: 
(c) Bayley vs Charlotte Flair
Though the roles have been reversed at this point and I for one am still getting use to the idea of Bayley being a heel for the first time. Due to the heel turn being very recent it has provided limited build for this match, but I am sure that similarly to the Intercontinental Championship it will not end tonight and will continue for the future. Bayley will get the win via DQ after Flair will attempt to her revenge on Bayley for her previous attack a few weeks ago. 

WWE Raw Women's Championship: 
(c) Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks 
This has been one of the most anticipated matches in a long time with it being possible that this match has never happening before I don't think. Honestly this is an easy choice, because Banks has just returned and has a ton of momentum on her side right now. To avoid some of the shine fading away from Becky she needs to be humanized to be able to continue her white hot run. Banks gets the win to grab the Women's Championship. 

WWE Championship: 
(c) Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton 
I think I was the only person that wasn't disappointed by the match they had back at Summerslam even though it ended the way it did. If I was booking this feud I would follow what I chose earlier in the predictions. With that being said Randy Orton will become WWE Champion tonight allowing The Revival and Orton to hold all the gold and setting up a possible six man tag match heading into Hell in a Cell next month or next months event. To be clear Orton will get the win giving him what could be his last title reign. 

WWE Universal Championship: 
(c) Seth Rollins vs Braun Strowman 
I am going to keep this one short, because I don't like the idea of hot shooting the World Title ever. Again the company has painted themselves into a corner with Strowman's booking, because Seth just won the title last month. In my opinion, if Rollins drops the title then it needs to be to Bray Wyatt and nobody else. Whenever that match happens hopefully it would give both Rollins & Wyatt long reigns as champion. Wyatt is by far the top talent in the company right now and should eventually be recognized for his success. Either way though Rollins gets the win and questions will come up what happens next for Braun Strowman. 

In the coming weeks a lot of talk will center around how the WWE will change after the upcoming draft in October. Since they signed the deal last year there has been a ton of talk about how high the expectations for WWE and especially for Smackdown with them moving to Fox. At this point everyone is aware of the ratings drop off the WWE has been having since late fall last year, and they have tried a lot of different things to fix and though they may have numbed the problem they need to move Fox to fix the problem. Right now the WWE need to be working on plans to change the identities of Raw and Smackdown following October 2nd when Smckdown is done on USA Network and moves to Fox. 

All we know at this point and time is that the broadcast teams will become exclusive to each brand and we might be seeing the return of a two man announce team. In my opinion, this is something that has been extremely missed, because a three man booth on both brands is just too much to handle sometimes. According to reports we could be seeing Michael Cole finally move back to the blue brand after being the voice of Raw since 2008; which will be a welcome sight and extremely fitting knowing the huge step Smackdown will be taking in October. The only other report around at this time is Vic Joseph will be making the massive jump from 205 Live to Monday Night Raw. 

Overall this is exactly what Raw needs as Vic will bring a brand new voice and identity to the red brand following the draft in October. I think Corey should move to Smackdown with Michael Cole exclusively keeping a solid team together giving Smackdown a two man booth. As far as Raw is concerned Vic Joseph should be partnered with Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness. Nigel should join Vic on Raw to help him ease into a new role with a partner that he had worked with prior and Phillips can be the experienced voice to help keep the pressure off Vic Joseph while he gets a handle on being on Raw rather than 205 Live. I know that keep Raw with a three man team might seem like we are missing the chance to downsize giving Raw three man team would allow Smackdown and Raw to have a different identity and sound. 

Note: I didn't forget about Renee Young or Byron Saxton as I believe these two will join the upcoming FS1 recap show that Triple H mentioned a few months back. Clearly, Renee has always been a step above the rest of her workers due to her previous experience and how well she did on Talking Smack and shows along those lines. The reason I chose Byron to be Renee's second is, because I think Byron deserves a chance to show what he can do without Vince McMahon in his ear and if he make it work on different type of show or if he needs the safety that comes on Raw and Smackdown.