A Raw Night: Survivor Series 2018 Review
Last night WWE presented the 32nd annual Survivor Series event live from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles where 21,000 fans witnessed Raw's mauling of Smackdown Live. Going into the event both brands had seen viable success when it came to competing at Survivor Series events over recent years, however, this installment would be different. Let's take a look at some of the matches, and review one of the most one-sided shows in brand versus brand history.
For the Men's traditional Survivor Series match, Raw's Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, and Bobby Lashley, toppled Smackdown's much more exciting team of The Miz, Shane O'Mac, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy. With the teams looking pretty even on paper, the fans much expected the contest to be even throughout, however, this was not the case, as after Joe, Balor, and Ziggler had been eliminated, and all was looking strong for the Blue Brand, Smackdown would be receive 4 consecutive eliminations, and lose the match at the 24 minute mark. Raw got the win thanks to a Strowman Powerslam on Shane O'Mac on what was a a path of destruction for the big man. A good match overall where both brand's superstars had time to shine, however, Strowman getting so many eliminations (4) showed a lack of creativity, and Shane lasting longer than his much more fresh and fan-favourite team mates was a pathetic excuse for an ego-trip.
The Raw female team of Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina, Bayley, and Sasha Banks took on Smackdown's Noami, Carmella, Sonya Deville, Asuka, and Mandy Rose in a stunning 18 minute encounter in which both teams fought tooth-and-nail for their respective shows. After 10 minutes of intense action, the teams were down to a 3 on 2 showdown in which Raw had the advantage, with Nia Jax, Bayley, and Sasha Banks, facing Sonya Deville and Asuka. It seemed as though the contest could go either way but that thought was quickly extinguished when both Bayley and Deville were eliminated, leaving Asuka to fend off two of the Red Brand's most intense competitors. The match ended without warning when, 5 seconds after eliminating Banks, Asuka fell victim of a Samoan Drop, allowing Jax to pick up the win for Raw. This match was entertaining and felt like it could have main evented the PPV, but was instead utilized as the opening contest in a solid effort to get the crowd pumped early on.
The show's main event, which was a show highlight and the best the talking point, pitted Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar against Smackdown's WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, in a match that was brains versus brawn, literally. Unlike Lesnar's usual affairs that last around 10 minutes, topside, this contest went over 18 minutes which is incredible, to say the action was entertaining throughout. Although the match did feature many German Suplex's, Bryan was able to counter much of Lesnar's offense and did lock on the Yes Lock, but in the end, Lesnar reversed Bryan's finishing submission into an F-5 to pin the WWE Champ for the victory. This match was Lesnar best match since he faced Triple H at Extreme Rules in 2013, and would have been even better had Bryan won. Despite Lesnar bringing the heat last night, the the result was predictable. From here, I hope to see Bryan get some vengeance on The Beast is a cross-brand attack on Raw.
Survivor Series this year was purely in Raw's favor, with Smackdown only winning on the pre-show, and was not the best night to be an SD fan like myself. Having said that, the action was continuously intense, and seeing Mysterio fight for Smackdown for the first time in 10 years was an absolute treat.
For the Men's traditional Survivor Series match, Raw's Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, and Bobby Lashley, toppled Smackdown's much more exciting team of The Miz, Shane O'Mac, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy. With the teams looking pretty even on paper, the fans much expected the contest to be even throughout, however, this was not the case, as after Joe, Balor, and Ziggler had been eliminated, and all was looking strong for the Blue Brand, Smackdown would be receive 4 consecutive eliminations, and lose the match at the 24 minute mark. Raw got the win thanks to a Strowman Powerslam on Shane O'Mac on what was a a path of destruction for the big man. A good match overall where both brand's superstars had time to shine, however, Strowman getting so many eliminations (4) showed a lack of creativity, and Shane lasting longer than his much more fresh and fan-favourite team mates was a pathetic excuse for an ego-trip.
The show's main event, which was a show highlight and the best the talking point, pitted Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar against Smackdown's WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, in a match that was brains versus brawn, literally. Unlike Lesnar's usual affairs that last around 10 minutes, topside, this contest went over 18 minutes which is incredible, to say the action was entertaining throughout. Although the match did feature many German Suplex's, Bryan was able to counter much of Lesnar's offense and did lock on the Yes Lock, but in the end, Lesnar reversed Bryan's finishing submission into an F-5 to pin the WWE Champ for the victory. This match was Lesnar best match since he faced Triple H at Extreme Rules in 2013, and would have been even better had Bryan won. Despite Lesnar bringing the heat last night, the the result was predictable. From here, I hope to see Bryan get some vengeance on The Beast is a cross-brand attack on Raw.
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