Photo: WWE

WWE will hold it’s 31st annual Survivor Series pay per view on Sunday night, and they have put together quite a card. Since the launch of the WWE Network most of the big 4 PPV’s haven’t had an issue going 4+ hours, and Sunday’s show will not be an exception. There are 8 matches announced, but I decided to look at five of those matches that have the potential to blow the roof (figuratively) of the Toyota Center and steal the show.

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Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte

Photo: WWE

While the Alexa Bliss/Natalya match would’ve probably been good, the Bliss/Charlotte bout is a huge upgrade. That’s not a knock on Natalya, either. Charlotte is an upgrade over anybody on the Smackdown women’s roster, and she and Bliss have the two best characters in the women’s division at the moment. The odd thing about these champion versus champion matches is that their isn’t much of a feud to base it on, but when you have two great characters, it really doesn’t matter. Both of these women are supremely confident and skilled, and neither one will want to give an inch.

One very cool twist heading into this match is Carmella and her MITB briefcase. While she no longer has her lackey James Ellsworth to do her dirty work, she could take advantage of a tired Charlotte after this match and finally cash in. My prediction is for Charlotte to defeat Alexa and have Carmella cash in post match.

Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The Uso’s

Photo: WWE

There are a few matches on this card that were changed last minute, and this might be the only that wasn’t changed for the better. The Uso’s vs. Ambrose & Rollins would have been a great face/heel matchup, but with the title change last week they’ll now face Cesaro and Sheamus. While this is a heel vs. heel match, I think the skill set of both teams will outweigh any alignment concerns. The only question is who will the crowd root for? My bet is for Cesaro and Sheamus, who can easily switch between heel and face depending on the style of match they wrestle. The Uso’s are way too good at being bad guys to switch anything up, so I can see the crowd getting behind Cesaro and Sheamus.

These are two of the best tag teams in the WWE and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of match they put together. My prediction is for a no decision due to some outside interference by a new team. Authors of Pain perhaps?

The Shield vs. The New Day

Photo: WWE

Cesaro & Sheamus winning the Raw tag titles might have diminished the champion vs. champion tag match, but it gave us The Shield vs. The New Day, so I’ll consider that a win. This will be The Shield’s first match together in over three years, and while Reigns illness forced WWE to call an audible at TLC, this matchup is more exciting. My favorite thing about this is how improved Xavier Woods has been thanks to the Uso’s feud. The Shield are a solid three man team with no weak links, while New Day was always looked at as Kofi and Big E being the A team while Xavier Woods played the trombone on the outside. After the New Day/Uso’s feud, Woods has come into his own and makes the New Day more dangerous than ever.

It wouldn’t make much sense to have The Shield lose their first match back together, so I’m going with Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins.

Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown (Men)

Photo: WWE

I think Robbie Fox put it best on Twitter when he said this match is basically the same as hitting randomize teams on WWE 2K18. The allure of having Asuka beat Team Smackdown by herself almost made me put the women’s match on this list, but then I remembered Tamina was in the match and just couldn’t do it. This match is insanely unpredictable, and encompasses so many different feuds.

Team captains Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon have an almost 20 year rivalry. Roode and Nakamura feuded together in NXT and are on the same team. Same goes for Samoa Joe and Finn Balor. Orton, Cena and HHH have been each other’s throats for over a decade. Braun Strowman wants to destroy every living creature on planet Earth. There’s so much happening in this match it’s almost impossible to analyze.

The one thing I keep coming back to is HHH. He inserted himself into this match and pedigreed Angle’s son Jason Jordan on Monday. Unless WWE doesn’t care about Jordan and wants him to look like a chump, he has to do something to disrupt this match. I’m not really sure why HHH is even in the match, but I can see Jordan getting involved. If WWE really wants to make things interesting, they would have Jordan side with HHH (and chalk up Monday to a misdirect between HHH/Jordan) and have JJ cost his papa the match. That sounds so good I’m going to make that my prediction.

Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles

Photo: WWE

Of all the matches that were changed at the last minute, this is the most improved one. No amount of Paul Heyman promo time could have gotten me excited for Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal, but I’d watch Lesnar vs. AJ Styles even if you told me it’d result in you chopping off my feet. This is one of the dream matches pretty much every wrestling fan has wanted to see, and I can picture it going one of two ways.

Version 1 sees Lesnar bring his working boots and put on a classic Brock Lesnar vs. a smaller guy match. Styles hasn’t had a bad match during his 10 month run since joining WWE, so you’ll know he’ll bring it, but the question mark is always Lesnar. Version 2 is Lesnar sleep walking through this match, and even though Styles could still put together something great, it won’t be as good as it should’ve been.

I hope we get a good to great one on one match, but if WWE wants to make a legit heel, they would have Mahal screw this match up somehow. I can’t imagine anyone was going to tune into this show to watch Mahal fight, but if he robs us of AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar, I will hunt him down and rob him of everything he loves. The only prediction I have for this match is that Styles won’t win clean. Either a Lesnar victory or a Mahal distraction/DQ seems like the way to go.

-Ryan