Survivor Series is a notoriously hard premium live event to predict. Anytime you’re jamming a lot of people into a single match, the point is less about who wins and loses and more about the big storyline takeaway from the event. And there are so many different possible takeaways we could get here. Both Damage CTRL and Judgment Day are fighting as heel factions inside WarGames and seem to have major dissension within their ranks. There are still a lot of questions about whether the baby faces on either the men’s side or the women’s side can co-exist, and perhaps most importantly, there is still a ton of chatter, despite WWE denials, about a CM Punk return.
Could that be CM Punk? Could that be Randy Orton? Could that be someone else we haven’t even considered? I have no idea, but the possibilities are endless, which is making these predictions so complicated. Thankfully, we also have a few much easier matches on the card to prognosticate as dominating juggernauts Rhea Ripley and Gunther have their own matches too.
Here’s a look at how I’ve done with my predictions so far this year, as well as a headlock on the overall picture since I started…
I don't want to pat myself on the back too hard, but I will say it was nice to get to 100 career accurate predictions. I'm not too confident Survivor Series is going to improve my overall win percentage, given the format of the PPV, but I do have some theories I'm excited to talk out.
And even more excitedly, the next time we do one of these, it's going to be for the next WWE premium live event: Royal Rumble, which is by far my favorite PPV of the year. I can't wait.
Gunther (Champion) Vs The Miz For The Intercontinental Championship
No one on the Internet is more of an unapologetic homer for The Miz than I am. I even wrote a whole ass article about how there’s a very real case for the WWE legend to be the one to finally dethrone Gunther, but just because there’s a case doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. And if it was going to happen, I think we would have seen a more prolonged build to what we got. So, I’m pretty confident The Ring General is going to retain. The better question is how dominant is he going to look doing it.
Are we going to get a squash match to make Gunther look more dominant and powerful than ever, or are Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the other writers going to continue building The Miz back up and let him have a real back-and-forth match? I think they’ll probably let these two cook. The Miz has shown the last few weeks that the crowd will get behind him as a babyface. He doesn’t need to win here to continue that momentum, but he will probably lose it if he gets obliterated. So, I say Gunther wins in a match that goes 15 minutes and is closer than you’d guess.
The only potential wrinkle here is if WWE decides to have Ludwig Kaiser turn on Gunther. I don't think they're ready for that betrayal yet. There's way too much story to mine there, especially with The Bash At Berlin coming up next year, but if The Miz does win, it's going to be because the Imperium storyline advanced in a big way.
Predicted Winner: Gunther
Rhea Ripley (Champion) Vs Zoey Stark For The Women's World Championship
I would be surprised if Gunther loses to The Miz. I might have a heart attack if Rhea Ripley loses to Zoey Stark. And that’s not even meant to be some huge shot at Zoey Stark. She’s extremely talented, has a physically imposing look and is developing on the microphone. I think she could be a real player in this division down the road, but she’s really not very over with the crowd and hasn’t been on the main roster very long. Rhea Ripley is Rhea Bloody Ripley, and she’s probably going to go down as the greatest female superstar in wrestling history.
I don’t think we’ll get a squash match. I think WWE wants to continue building Zoey up and show what she’s capable of, but I can’t think of a single reason why it would make sense to pull the title off Rhea right now. Even if the point is to set up a feud with Jade Cargill, which my co-worker is convinced is coming, that feud is going to be better and more interesting if Rhea still has the title. So, yeah, the real leader of Judgment Day is going to win this.
Predicted Winner: Rhea Ripley
Carlito Vs Santos Escobar
I was at the recent SmackDown show where Santos said he hopes Rey Mysterio gets an infection and they have to amputate his leg. To say the crowd was hot would be an understatement. It was, by a country mile, the biggest reaction Santos has gotten on the main roster, and it’s taken me from casually excited about his heel run to as fired up as I am about any other current storyline.
Right now, it’s Santos on an island by himself against all the other members of The LWO. I think they’ll probably outfit him with some backing members (maybe a more serious Angel Garza and Humberto Carillo), but whether they do or not, he needs to win this match to make the feud interesting. He’s just going to look stupid and weak if he loses, and besides, good work needs to be rewarded. No offense to Carlito, who I’ve enjoyed since returning, but Santos’ heel work since he turned on Rey has been fantastic. He should and will win here.
Predicted Winner: Santos Escobar
Women’s WarGames: Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch and Shotzi Vs Damage CTRL’s Bayley, Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane and Asuka (With Dakota Kai)
I know Iyo Sky is the current WWE Women’s Champion, but it still feels like, collectively, Damage CTRL has lost every big match they’ve been in, including last year’s version of WarGames. They’re in the middle of a fresh start with Asuka and Kairi Sane joining the group, and they could desperately use a win to help solidify themselves as the major heel threat in the women’s division.
On the other hand, though, it seems likely Dakota Kai, not Bayley, is going to be the primary mouthpiece for the group moving forward. That means the group’s current leader needs to get kicked out at some point. Maybe that’ll be after she takes a pinfall during WarGames, which would be a way to have the group lose but emerge looking stronger and more united. Or maybe they’ll win at WarGames, and we’ll get a few months of teases about whether Bayley is staying or she’s going.
It’s not like the faces side of the equation doesn’t have some possible character development on the horizon too. A lot of fans think we’re going to see Bianca and Charlotte at WrestleMania 40, which would require us getting some friction between the two at some point. There’s also the question of what to do with Becky Lynch, who has spent a lot of recent time on NXT and needs something a bit more compelling to do. Maybe the next evolution of her story will start here? Ultimately, I’d like to see Damage CTRL win and start living up to this new and exciting potential they have with the new members, but I feel like getting Bayley out of Damage CTRL might be the priority.
Predicted Winner: Charlotte, Bianca, Becky and Shotzi.
Men’s WarGames: Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Bálor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh and Drew McIntyre) Vs Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso And Randy Orton
I know Rhea Ripley has a stranglehold on one of the women’s big belts and Damian Priest and Finn Bálor are the tag champions, but sometimes it still feels like Judgment Day isn’t treated as being on the same level as the top babyfaces in the company. I mean Priest is probably the most protected male member of the faction, and I never even really considered picking him against Cody Rhodes in my Crown Jewel predictions. It also says a lot that when they needed to win the advantage ahead of WarGames, WWE gave that victory to Drew McIntyre, who isn’t in Judgment Day.
I would love to see that turn around and Judgment Day take a step toward really running Monday Night Raw, but I just don’t know that I’ve seen evidence that’s going to happen. In fact, all we seem to get is teases of dissension within the group and possible problems, especially around Priest. Because of all that and Randy Orton’s return after being out of action for more than a year, it’s hard not to feel like the babyfaces are a huge favorite here.
Predicted Winner: Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso And Randy Orton
Will CM Punk Return At Survivor Series?
Since the moment CM Punk was fired from AEW, there has been non-stop speculation about whether he would show up at Survivor Series. After all, he's the highest upside wrestler without a company and Survivor Series is taking place in his home town of Chicago.
WWE has consistently denied the rumors (even as they've seemed to drop some teases), and rather than have Randy Orton make a surprise return at Survivor Series, they announced it on Raw this week, almost certainly to avoid fans hoping CM Punk was the last member of the babyface team at WarGames. That's pretty strong evidence Punk is not going to show up.
But at the same time, I'll never rule out anything that makes business sense. CM Punk could walk in and be an immediate main eventer in WWE. He could be slotted into a key singles match at WrestleMania, and fans would be as excited for that as anything on the card not involving Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. I'd love to see him added to the roster. If it happens, I think it'll happen at The Royal Rumble, but that doesn't mean there's a part of me that won't be hoping as I watch on Saturday.
Predicted Outcome: CM Punk Will Not Return.
