4 ways WWE could disappoint the WWE Universe at Survivor Series

WWE seems to have made a lot of decisions lately that have not gone down well with the fans. Shane McMahon winning the WWE World Cup tournament, Brock Lesnar regaining the Universal title, and a main event which featured 4 superstars with a combined age of 106 at Crown Jewel were not popular decisions among the WWE Universe.

Just 2 weeks after Crown Jewel, WWE presents Survivor Series from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California. The card so far has seen a couple of last-minute shake-ups, with Charlotte Flair replacing the injured Becky Lynch to take on Ronda Rousey. Elsewhere the new WWE champion Daniel Bryan will take on Brock Lesnar after he defeated AJ Styles for the WWE title on SmackDown Tuesday night.

WWE has made some popular decisions recently, in part because of Becky Lynch's push, but also Daniel Bryan winning the WWE championship on SmackDown and turning heel in the process. But WWE has not won fans over with a lot of their decisions, particularly at Crown Jewel, and the build-up to Survivor Series this year has been a less than auspicious one.

One of the main criticisms of the WWE product in recent times is that there is no clear long-term vision of where the company wants to go. Losing their main Superstar Roman Reigns is unquestionably a setback, but booking decisions such as DX facing the Brothers of Destruction at the main event of Crown Jewel is a big indication that WWE are more focused on the past than the present.

At Survivor Series, WWE has a chance to pull their product in a positive direction that shows a commitment towards growing characters and storylines.

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#1 Mandy Rose or Lana being the 5th member of Team SmackDown

Lana and Mandy Rose are not currently scheduled to compete at Survivor Series

At Survivor Series, a traditional 5-on-5 elimination match will take place pitting Mickie James, Natalya, Nia Jax, Tamina and Ruby Riott for team Raw as they go up against Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville and a mystery female yet to be announced for Team SmackDown.

There has been much talk as to who the 5th member of the SmackDown team will be, with some speculating that it will be someone from NXT, whilst others predicting that it could be Paige. Paige has since distanced herself from such rumours, citing that the severity of her neck injury means that one bad bump could result in her being left paralysed.

Of the other remaining female Superstars on the SmackDown roster, one of either Lana or Mandy Rose could be the final addition to the team, however, this would be underwhelming, to say the least. If Lana or Mandy Rose were going to be added to the match then surely they would have been added already rather than it being kept secret.

A much more fitting scenario would see a female such as Nikki Cross enter the match and leading team SmackDown to victory. Having her debut in such a fashion could elevate her immediately to being one of the top females on the roster. Alternatively, Shayna Baszler could be the 5th woman in the match.

If Baszler were to lose her NXT women's championship to Kairi Sane at WarGames then the next step for her could be for her to join the SmackDown brand and introduce her as the mystery 5th woman in this match.

#2 Brock Lesnar beating Daniel Bryan in quick time

New WWE Champion Daniel Bryan replaces AJ Styles as he takes on Universal champion Brock Lesnar

The original plan for Survivor Series was for the Universal champion Brock Lesnar, representing Raw, to face WWE champion AJ Styles, who would have been representing SmackDown. However since Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles for the title on SmackDown this past week, Bryan will face Lesnar instead of Styles.

Bryan's transition into a heel and winning the WWE championship in the process was a shock to all and has helped revitalise his WWE career since he returned from injury earlier this year. That is why it's important for Bryan's momentum to continue going into this match, if Lesnar destroys Bryan with a series of German suplex's and F5's and then beats him, it will seriously damage Bryan in the long run.

A better way for this match to conclude would be to have Bryan get himself disqualified. If this were to happen then it would protect both stars as well as add heat to Bryan as the heel who is reluctant to face The Beast. It would be cheap heat for Bryan whilst growing the momentum of his run as the heel WWE champion, if WWE were to go down the route of having Lesnar destroy Bryan and pin him in quick time then he could lose this momentum.

#3 Shane McMahon being the sole survivor

Shane McMahon won the WWE World Cup after pinning Dolph Ziggler in the final

It may sound crazy to suggest that Shane McMahon will win the 5-on-5 elimination match for his team at Crown Jewel, but given he was the winner of the WWE World Cup tournament it is perfectly possible.

Shane will team up with Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy for Team SmackDown as they take on Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley. As mentioned previously, Shane could well turn heel in this match and cost his team the win, alternatively, he could steal all the glory for team SmackDown and be the sole survivor.

Both scenarios would be a mistake on WWE's part as fans have grown tired of Shane being this centrepiece of WWE matches and storylines. His victory in the WWE World Cup tournament did not elicit a reaction, good or bad, from fans, rather they were confused by the whole situation. A similar reaction would occur if Shane is to win the elimination match for his team at this event.

Shane pinning one of Raw's top stars, as he did at Crown Jewel when he pinned Dolph Ziggler, would be detrimental to whoever he gets the pinfall victory over. A 48-year-old non-wrestler has no business pinning one of the top stars from Raw, all of whom are in the prime of their careers.

#4 Burying Asuka

Asuka's run in WWE so far has not lived up to expectations

Asuka has almost become the forgotten female of the WWE roster in recent times. Asuka was tipped to be one of the top females in the company after a hugely successful run on NXT and carrying an unbeaten run onto the main roster before she was eventually defeated by Charlotte Flair at this years WrestleMania.

However since losing to Charlotte, Asuka has had a less than auspicious run in WWE with Ronda Rousey, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch touted as the top women on WWE programming.

At Survivor Series Asuka has a chance to regain the momentum she lost after the defeat at WrestleMania. She teams up with Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville and a mystery 5th female Superstar for team SmackDown to take on Mickie James, Natalya, Nia Jax, Tamina and Ruby Riott for Team Raw.

If Asuka was to give a good showing in this match eliminating all before her and being the sole survivor for the SmackDown team then it could elevate her to once again being one of the top superstars on WWE's roster.

However, a quick elimination for Asuka would be a further blow and see her much-touted run as the top female athlete in the WWE reduced to that of a superstar who is thrown in multi-person matches as a card filler.