WWE Survivor Series 2009 Preview

First of all, let me apologize to the two people I asked to help me preview this list. I waited on you guys as long as I could but today IS Sunday which means the PPV IS today. That being said, I needed to get this up way before the actual show and since I didn’t hear from you in a timely manner, I’m doing it all myself. It’s no knock against you guys but we got to keep things moving. Vince McMahon waits on nobody. The show must always go on. Just ask Bret Hart. Now on with the preview!

Team Kofi Kingston vs. Team Randy Orton

Credit: MissShagrath at deviantART.com

After Randy Orton lost his belt at Bragging Rights, he decided to take all of his anger out on the former Jamaican Kofi Kingston. Kofi retaliated by dropping his fake accent (weeks prior to the new PPV) and destroying Orton’s race car, a gift from his fellow Legacy member, DiBiase. This led to the two of them fighting each week in a series of tag matches ending with a fight last Monday night in MSG. Kofi took a dive through a table onto Orton cutting him open. Woot Woot for Kofi, as he was the man standing tall last Monday night. Kofi Kingston is still learning the ropes but the crowd loves him. I think the WWE recognizes his popularity and are really trying to give him a huge push. If anything, I think this match could give Kofi top star credibility since he is the team captain.

Mark Henry, MVP, Christian, and R-Truth round out Kingston’s team while Orton’s leading the team of Legacy, Punk and William Regal. So many things could come out of this match. Henry and MVP have been back and forth with the two younger members of Legacy so I’m sure we’ll see plenty tension between those parties. Regal has yet to take down the ECW champion Christian while Punk and Truth are no strangers to each other either. This past Tuesday night we saw some tension between Christian and former ECW Champion and WHC CM Punk in a backstage segment. Punk and Regal also managed to outwit the champ and his partner Truth beating them in a tag match.

If we look at the match as a way to help Kingston get over some more, I’d have to say Team Kingston gets the win. Most people think Team Orton but if Kingston’s team wins at Survivor Series, Orton can still brag and say that Kingston has yet to beat him in a single’s match. A Team Kingston win here would also showcase the ECW champ’s dominance as well as give MVP and Henry more momentum. Henry seems to already be over, but MVP could sure use some more after that loss on Monday night.

I’m also thinking ECW is giving Regal the frustrating climb to retain the championship but every time he just can’t quite get the win. A loss here for him would only add fuel to that fire. Randy Orton and his fellow Legacy members have been struggling each pay per view to stay together. Dibiase and Rhodes are just itching to start doing things their way and a loss for team Orton could possibly be the final straw for their group. If not, it could possibly put them at the breaking point. This stable is going to break up and with The Marine II coming out soon, it’s going to be sooner rather than later.

Ideal Winner: Team Kingston

Projected Winner: Team Kingston

Team Mickie James vs. Team Michelle McCool

I’m not the biggest fan of the WWE Women’s Division. In fact, unless it’s Maryse, Nattie, Layla, or Beth I don’t pay attention to the matches. That being said, I really don’t care who wins this match and I’m sure most of my co-workers feel the same way. However, I’m going to put my faith in WWE creative and say that they plan to restore some kind of faith I once had in the division by letting Mickie James’ team get crushed by McCool’s team of talent.

Beth should be highlighted during the match letting the world see her dominance while Fox needs to make me believe she’s any kind of worthy to hold a belt. (Yes. Even that God awful butterfly one.) I’m so ready for Beth or Nattie to step up and get in the running for the Women’s Championship because both women are too talented to just waste away. However, WWE booking says otherwise which means they could care less about the Women’s Division.

Ideal Winner: Team McCool

Projected Winner: Team Mickie James

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio

I don’t know about you, but I’m actually looking forward to this match. I’m not the biggest fan of Batista. I do think he’s good looking but his persona started to bore me as a face. His heel turn at Bragging Rights couldn’t have come at a better time. While he was still over with the fans, most of us older people were bored with him. I marked out watching him destroy Rey Mysterio, another superstar that I don’t particularly care for anymore since his WCW days.

Ideally there’s no way in hell Rey Mysterio is going to win this match. Big Bad Dave is out to kill and unfortunately Rey’s about to become his victim. In the long run, Batista beating the hell out of Rey could possibly carry on (hopefully) to Wrestlemania if done right. Most people like to talk bad about Dave but I have no complaints about his last Mania matches. Rey’s no pushover either. I’m sure the two of them could put on a decent match at Wrestlemania full of emotion and all that good stuff that makes matches memorable.

Ideal Winner: Batista

Projected Winner: Batista

Team Miz vs. Team John Morrison

Credit: CaptainCarisma at deviantART.com

Both teams are just chocked full of talent and based on how each captain has been booked lately, it’s really tough to call. However, I’m going to say that John Morrison’s team picks up the win if only because Miz bested JoMo at Bragging Rights. Otherwise the people on Miz’s team actually WIN matches on a regular basis which is why they should be allowed the win here.

Ever since Bourne has moved up in the world (theoretically) he has become Raw’s resident jobber. Bourne to win? Not on Raw. Finlay has a few wins here and there; so does Matt but nothing significant to make them a threat in this match. As for Shelton Benjamin (sorry Albert) but we all know how badly he’s booked.

And I don’t care who you are. You cannot honestly tell me that John Morrison’s team has anything on the talent making up Miz’s team. Sure Team JoMo has Shelton Benjamin but he loses so much that most people rarely take him seriously. And we all know how people feel about Matt. (Unfortunately Jeff > Matt.) But Miz has everybody who will be top stars next year (WWE booking, don’t ruin it this time!) – guaranteed.

I’ll start with Dolph Ziggler aka Mr. Ziggles. Say what you will about this guy, but he should have gotten the big push before John Morrison. However, due to Rey Mysterio picking up habits from his best friend Batista unforeseen circumstances Mr. Ziggles’ push was held back. I also think some of the internet rumors held him back as well but you know what? It’s still all good. Why? Because Dolph has proven in his matches against guys like Mysterio that he has what it takes in the ring. He’s also not half bad on the mic while JoMo is well…he should take a few acting classes.

Rounding up Miz’s team is the All-American American Jack Swagger, Sheamus, and Drew Mcintyre. Jack Swagger is probably the best in ring technician on the Raw roster; his amateur background being a force to reckon with. He’s decent enough on the mic and seems to be slowly building momentum each week on Raw. Sheamus is a destroyer with the potential to become a top heel by this time next year while Drew is the real deal. This guy…I’m already marking out for him. Easily the break out Smackdown star of the year and the future of the WWE. This guy has it all and if Raw was actually centered around wrestling like it used to be, I’d advocate for him to be placed with the big boys because he sure as hell is ready to shine.

Ideal Winner: Team Miz

Projected Winner: Team John Morrison

Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show vs The Undertaker

This is a tough match to call. I don’t always pay attention to internet rumors and whatnot but it’s a known fact that The Undertaker wrestles with injuries. That being said, lately his matches tend to last around the 8 minute margin. That’s not bad but most main event matches will go for at least 20 (give or take). Still I’m not too sure The Undertaker’s dropping the belt to one of the unified tag champions.

Chris Jericho and Show have been able to journey back and forth between the other shows just because they are the unified tag champions. Because of this, they’ve usually been able to make Raw more interesting. If the two stay champs, there’s still a slim chance we’ll get a DX vs. Jerishow feud. They had a short feud with Henry and MVP but they came out successfully managing to keep the belts. There aren’t many tag teams established in the WWE right now but whoever beats Jerishow should be able to get over quickly since they’ve held them for quite a while.

Ideal Winner: The Undertaker

Projected Winner: The Undertaker

DX vs. John Cena

Credit: dwgrafix @ deviantART.com

Because that’s exactly how this match will go. DX will more than likely kick the crap out of Cena for a while before trying to decide who should lay down for the gold. I can tell you this. The old HBK laid down for “absolutely nobody”. Will he do it tonight? Who the hell knows? In fact, this is by far the hardest match on the card to call considering WWE’s inconsistent booking strategies. Sometimes they actually book endings that make sense while other times they go for the “shock factor” ignoring such things as title prestige.

Pretend this is the year 1998 and these three guys have this match. If I were the booker, I’d have Shawn win the match and after a DX celebration, Shawn would kick Hunter’s head off and proclaim that the Showstoppa doesn’t share the spotlight with anybody before exiting the ring to “his” music. Yep. Great TV right? Sure beats the hell out of a potential Swoggle interference.

Right now, I have absolutely no good reason to want to watch this match except to see Shawn wrestle. Other than that, why the hell should I be excited about this match? DX and Cena have been treating this match like it’s just another day at work. Maybe it’s for the purpose of the Swoggle angle or maybe it’s because the guys don’t really care for the angle all that much anyway. Who the hell knows? I just know that the fact that there’s absolutely no kind of tension bothers me a little. So much could have been done to make this match a little more exciting, but I don’t work for creative. Therefore since I have no clue what the hell creative is thinking, I’m going to go the safe route here and say Cena overcomes the odds again beating DX. It sucks but hey. At least Cena can’t wrestle Orton anymore.

Ideal Winner: Shawn Michaels

Projected Winner: John Cena

This is what I think will happen but I’m never 100% right. They (as in creative) always do something seriously screwed up just to throw everybody off. In fact, I am so convinced that the DX/Cena match screams “screw job” that I almost projected that inevitable Bret Hart return. (Yeah. I know. I’ve hit my head one too many times, but I can’t bring myself to believe that a member of DX loses this match due to a Swoggle interference. I can’t and won’t think like that.) So what do you guys think? Am I on to something or what?

–T

The opinions in this preview do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TWD as a whole. Be sure to come back for live Survivor Series updates tonight during the PPV. Between matches, you can always check out TWD’s Top 50 or fan us on Facebook.