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Who will reign supreme at Survivor Series?
That's the question that a lot of The WWE Universe has to be asking themselves after Triple H declared war on an episode of SmackDown, which has lead to the bigger question of if NXT could pull off the upset of the century or not? Whether they do or not is still up in the air, but it's looking more and more likely that this will be the case.
Not only would giving NXT the victory at Survivor Series go a long way in justifying their spot on The USA Network and also a brand that is on par with Raw and SmackDown, it would also help establish the talent on the NXT roster. Maybe it could even be the start of NXT becoming the most popular show in WWE, which would be interesting to see.
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With that being said and Survivor Series only a handful of weeks away, here are five signs that WWE intends to have NXT win the brand war at the upcoming pay-per-view. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to tell us who you think will win.
#5 Needing to please the fans.
It's no secret that WWE has to walk a very fine line in order to keep fans engaged in the product and while the company has been able to get away with some dusty finishes in the past, it doesn't look like the same can be said for Survivor Series. Unfortunately for The WWE, it seems like anything less than an NXT victory will result in outrage.
Of course a lot of that probably has to do with the incident between The Fiend and Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell and other unpopular decisions the company made recently, but giving NXT a win at Survivor Series could very well make up for that. It could even be enough to renew total faith in the product.
In the end, that's a very important thing when it comes to the future of WWE and the company would be very wise to consider that when making the decision on who should come out on top. Sure, they could give Raw or SmackDown the win, which would surprise no one and result in little fanfare, or they could give the win to NXT and let everyone go nuts!
#4 Raw and SmackDown having nothing to lose
What do Raw and SmackDown have to lose in all of this?
No, seriously, what do Raw and SmackDown have to lose when they both are highly popular episodic television shows with fully fleshed out rosters? Beyond all that, what would a win at Survivor Series do for either brand that couldn't be accomplished further down the line in some other way?
Sure Raw and SmackDown could gain some bragging rights and maybe even impress their respective networks in the process, but it would be nothing compared to what a victory at Survivor Series would do for NXT. In fact, the former developmental brand is coming into this pay per view in an almost must win situation, which seems to point to them actually pulling it off.
Of course this doesn't mean the other two brands can't win a couple of the match ups during the pay per view to protect particular Superstars, but the overall result needs to be NXT winning it all. Maybe WWE should even have NXT somewhat dominate the pay per view in order to drive home the message that they aren't the brand to mess with.
Either that, or risk making NXT look inferior after only two months on television and giving the win to Raw or SmackDown for no reason whatsoever.
#3 Triple H willing to play dirty
Triple H has proven countless times that he is willing to play dirty to get his way and one has to imagine that the same would be the case when it comes Survivor Series later this month. Interestingly enough, The Game has proven that once again by sicking The Undisputed Era on Seth Rollins during an episode of Raw, which has to make you wonder what else is he capable of.
In fact, with the way that Survivor Series is being booked, especially with the multiple Triple Threat matches on the card. one also has to imagine that this gives the company a lot of wiggle room when it comes to booking. That likely means that Triple H and Shawn Michaels will be a fixture throughout the broadcast and will probably be sticking their noses where they don't belong.
Fortunately for WWE, Triple H doing this could actually work out in their favor, as it allows for them to make Raw and SmackDown look strong in defeat. Of course they will have a variety of other options when it comes to booking the multiple Triple Threat matches as well, but letting The Game play dirty allows them to give NXT big wins without hurting anyone.
#2 How NXT is being booked
Isn't it interesting how WWE is handling NXT leading up to Survivor Series?
Not only has the company made them the proverbial underdog in the fight for brand supremacy, but they have also given them a few key victories as well. Furthermore, even when NXT didn't come up victorious, they were always given an out to not appear weak in defeat.
Think about it this way. Between Seth Rollins getting jumped by The Undisputed Era during a match with Adam Cole, to Finn Balor interfering in the match between The OC and Matt Riddle, Tommaso Ciampa and Keith Lee, WWE has gone out of their way to make sure that NXT doesn't take a clean loss.
They also gave Adam Cole a key win over Daniel Bryan a couple of weeks ago on SmackDown, which instantaneously worked to raise his stock in the company and NXT by proxy. Interestingly enough, it also seemed to prove just how willing WWE was to make the Black and Gold brand look strong, which legitimately had a lot of fans invested.
Maybe things will change as time goes on and the other brands could slowly start to gain the upper hand over NXT, but with the way things are going, that doesn't seem very likely.
#1 NXT needing to look good
While NXT has been considered WWE's developmental brand for quite some time now, the show being moved to USA Network turned it into something else entirely. In fact, gone were the days of the Black and Gold brand being a network exclusive for die hard fans. In its place was a two hour mega show that never failed to entertain.
With that being said and WWE needing to do everything they can to put NXT on equal ground with Raw and SmackDown, it makes perfect sense for them to achieve that by having them come out on top at Survivor Series. It would also go a long way in establishing many of the lesser experienced talent on the brand as well.
If nothing else, WWE needs to make sure NXT comes out on top at Survivor Series or risk the product looking inferior. In all honesty, that's not a look the company wants the brand portrayed as, especially with them just coming to television a few months ago, which points to them doing everything they can to avoid that outcome.
In the end, WWE could always have Raw or SmackDown come out the winner in the fight for brand supremacy, but either move would fail to have the same impact that it would if NXT somehow managed pull out the unexpected win.
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