Every week, former WWE creative writer Kevin Eck runs down his thoughts from "RAW," "SmackDown" and the world of pro wrestling. This week, it's a special Survivor Series recap!
Survivor Series thoughts
Am I the only who …
… was surprised by the DQ finish in the Charlotte Flair-Ronda Rousey match and Flair’s heel turn?
Since the money match is Becky Lynch versus Rousey, I thought for sure Rousey was going to tap out Flair. I definitely did not see the heel turn coming, and once it happened, I was surprised by the crowd’s positive reaction to Flair delivering a vicious beatdown to Rousey. (Perhaps the audience was filled with millennials.)
Vince McMahon has to be beyond flustered that his heel turns keep backfiring. When Lynch turned on Flair at SummerSlam, the crowd cheered Lynch and has been anti-Flair for the most part ever since. Against Rousey, however, the fans were firmly behind Flair and popped like crazy when she attacked Rousey. As Flair whacked Rousey repeatedly with a kendo stick, the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Charlotte.” The fans even cheered when Flair picked up a chair and “Pillmanized” Rousey’s neck.
As Rousey exited the ring with welts all over her body and was bleeding from her mouth and ear, the fans chanted, “You deserve it.” I have no idea what Rousey did to deserve it, and she was visibly upset as she looked out into the unsympathetic crowd.
… thought Flair again proved that she is the most talented performer in the women’s division?
There’s no question that Lynch is WWE’s hottest act, not only in the women’s division but in the entire company, but Flair truly is “The Man” in the division when it comes to in-ring ability and presence.
Flair versus Rousey was a first-time-ever match that likely was supposed to take place at WrestleMania next April, and it certainly proved worthy of the grand stage. Even though the match had no buildup and most fans wanted to see Lynch versus Rousey, the audience was fully invested once the bout got going.
The match wasn’t always smooth, but I don’t mean that in a negative sense. It looked like a legit fight between two badass athletes. And as good as Flair was, Rousey more than held up her end. The former UFC star continues to exceed expectations.
… thought the Brock Lesnar-Daniel Bryan match should’ve been great but was only very good?
Lesnar and Bryan both delivered outstanding performances and the match was laid out really well, but this dream match should’ve been the ultimate David versus Goliath story. It would’ve written itself: the lovable underdog, who’s just seven months into his return after a two-and-a-half-year layoff due to concussion-related injuries, going against a remorseless, nearly invincible beast who towers over him.
Unfortunately, the fans in attendance didn’t know how to react, and I don’t blame them. With Bryan turning heel five days earlier and stealing the WWE title from the very popular AJ Styles, the crowd wasn’t behind Bryan and is looking forward to seeing him get his comeuppance. However, the fans weren’t about to cheer for Lesnar. Not only is Lesnar also a heel, but he has generated legitimate resentment from fans because he’s a part-timer and has been given another run wth the Universal title despite clearly being in WWE just for the money.
I have no problem with Bryan being a heel. He’ll be really good at it and his character needed a change. Bryan versus Styles with a clearly-defined heel and babyface for the WWE title will be must-see. I just don’t see why WWE couldn’t have delayed the heel turn until after Survivor Series.
In that scenario, Bryan could’ve beaten Styles for the title in a babyface-babyface match last week on SmackDown. Then at Survivor Series, Bryan puts up a good fight against Lesnar before Lesnar ultimately overpowers and brutalizes him to the point it’s uncomfortable to watch and fans legitimately fear for Bryan’s health. At that point, Styles comes down to ringside and throws in the towel for Bryan. Then on SmackDown on Tuesday, an ungrateful Bryan turns on Styles.
Bryan would’ve gotten massive heat, and his match against Lesnar would’ve been much more compelling.
… thinks WWE is making the right decision by playing up the fact that Nia Jax fractured Becky Lynch’s face?
Jax injuring Lynch certainly was unfortunate, but it happened, so why not make the most of it? Punishing Jax would be counterproductive. Jax, who got “#Facebreaker” trending, now has nuclear heat and it wouldn’t be smart business to not capitalize on it, especially with Jax about to face Ronda Rousey for the RAW women’s championship. Plus, there’s definitely money in a Jax versus Lynch match at some point.
That said, I do think Jax deserves all the backlash she has received from fans. I don’t throw around words such as “unsafe” and “careless” when it comes to in-ring performers, because it is a physical business and accidents happen, but Jax has a track record of hurting people. Jax didn’t just “potato” Lynch; she punched her flush in the face. I have no doubt she didn’t do it maliciously, but if that’s her working punch, I’d hate to see her shoot one. If I was Jax’s opponent, I sure wouldn’t feel comfortable giving her my body.
… hopes Vince McMahon heard the crowd’s reaction to Asuka?
Even though Asuka has been severely devalued by bad booking, the fans haven’t completely given up on her. Not only was she the most “over” woman on the SmackDown side in the women’s elimination match, but she received the best reaction on the show last week when Becky Lynch was considering who should take her place against Ronda Rousey.
… was not surprised at how Shane McMahon was booked in the men’s elimination match?
Of course Super Shane was the last to be eliminated on the SmackDown side and was positioned as the toughest and most resilient member of his team. (Samoa Joe, conversely, was eliminated almost immediately. More on that in a minute.)
And of course Super Shane eliminated Dolph Ziggler, the man he defeated in the finals of the World Cup tournament at “Crown Jewel." That Ziggler sure is a talented in-ring performer, but the two-time former world championobviously is no match for Super Shane.
To hammer home the fact that Super Shane was the star of his team, he was the only performer on the show who got to wear his own ring attire rather than his team’s shirt.
… wonders if Samoa Joe is either injured or in the dog house?
There has to be some reason for the Samoan badass being eliminated so quickly.
… thinks it’s absurd that the tag team elimination match didn’t count in the RAW versus SmackDown score?
WWE is saying that Raw swept the series, 6-0, but it makes no sense that the tag team elimination match didn’t count simply because it was on the kickoff show. So the tag team battle royal last week on RAW and the great match between The Usos and New Day on SmackDown to determine the team captain for the elimination match were meaningless and a waste of time?
If WWE wanted to tell the story of a clean sweep, why not just have Team RAW win the kickoff match?
… was surprised that Dean Ambrose didn’t interfere in the match between Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura?
I thought it was pretty much a lock that Ambrose would cost Rollins the match, which would’ve thrown more fire on their feud and also saved Nakamura from taking the loss. Clearly I was more concerned about protecting Nakamura than Vince McMahon was.
… thought Drake Maverick peeing himself when Big Show grabbed him was amusing?
I saw some fans and pundits on social media criticizing WWE for the spot (no pun intended) and saying that it was a lame display of sophomoric humor. Oh, lighten up, Francis. It was silly, but there’s no need to get so pissed about it. See what I did there?
Looking ahead
Am I the only one who …
… is really looking forward to seeing where things are headed with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair?
Since the fans have been cheering Lynch despite her heel turn, my guess is that Lynch hugging Flair last week on SmackDown and Flair’s subsequent heel turn at Survivor Series was setting up another chapter in the Lynch-Flair feud, with Lynch cast as the badass babyface this time. Will the fans’ positive reaction to Flair turning on Rousey change that scenario if it indeed was the plan?
An interesting option would be to have Lynch and Flair join forces and form a two-woman power trip that runs roughshod on both heels and babyfaces. The problem with that, however, is that there aren’t any other strong characters on SmackDown to go up against them, unless WWE decided to heat up Asuka.
Or would WWE pull the trigger on the much talked-about Four Horsewomen of WWE (Lynch, Flair, Sasha Banks and Bayley) versus Four Horsewomen of UFC (Rousey, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke) feud? Personally, I don’t think it would work right now because a significant portion of the WWE audience has no idea who Shafir and Duke are and may only be slightly aware of who Baszler is. A better option would be to just have Flair and Lynch take on Rousey and Baszler. The others would just water it down.
… is curious as to how the RAW crowd at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday night will react to Ronda Rousey?
Will the audience be as tough on her as the Survivor Series crowd was at the same building last night? And if Rousey so, how will she react to it?
… wonders if there will be any repercussions on SmackDown for the blue brand getting swept at Survivor Series?
Will general manager Paige be fired? Will any of the wrestlers be punished?