Survivor Series 2019: 5 biggest questions from the pay-per-view

On Sunday night, WWE delivered one of their best pay-per-views of the year, as NXT competed in Survivor Series for the first time ever and managed to go over both RAW and SmackDown.

The Black & Gold brand achieved this feat just 24 hours after delivering their greatest event of the year in the form of TakeOver: WarGames. Both events put the spotlight on the NXT brand, which they are sure to capitalize on now and in the future.

Although Survivor Series was incredible, it left WWE asking a few major questions. The answers can reveal a lot about WWE's future, as well as the direction for several of the company's top Superstars and storylines. In this article, we will look at the biggest questions that fans have after Survivor Series.

---

#5 Are all three brands now on equal footing?

NXT Superstars made a HUGE statement

Unill last year, NXT was always looked at as WWE's "third show" and often called the “developmental brand." This year, we’ve seen NXT prove many people in the industry wrong and jump many hurdles to become on par with the other three brands, especially in the eyes of many fans.

NXT earned its first major network deal this year and began airing on the USA Network live from Full Sail University. This allowed the world to watch a lot more of the Black & Gold brand, and the Superstars involved received significantly more exposure.

By adding NXT to Survivor Series, the company allowed the Black & Gold Superstars an opportunity to break the shackles, and build the brand to become as good as any other wrestling show in the world.

With so much exposure, can we now safely say that NXT is not just a developmental brand or the third show, but the show everyone waits for each and every Wednesday night?

By frequently appearing on RAW and SmackDown, and defeating both shows at Survivor Series, it seems like NXT is now parallel to the company's other two brands.

Will we also begin to see NXT Superstars feature in WWE Drafts, rather than seeing NXT Superstars “move up” to the main roster? Only time will tell.

#4 Will Drew McIntyre challenge for the NXT UK Championship?

McIntyre managed to eliminate the massive WALTER

Drew McIntyre is a beast of a man who did not do as well in his first run with the company, as he has managed to do now in his current run.

The former NXT Champion was brutal during his time on the brand and has run through the entire RAW roster since moving to the main roster. This has allowed him to stay on top of the roster, but he hasn’t managed to win any singles championships to prove his dominance.

At Survivor Series, he was part of Team RAW and was the first man to score an elimination after he dropped NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER with a Claymore Kick. This was an interesting piece of booking, as fans expected the only champion on Team NXT to play a significant role in the match, instead of being eliminated without making an impact.

McIntyre has expressed his desire to challenge for the NXT UK Championship in the past, and the company may have just teased that with the way he and WALTER were booked at Survivor Series. 'The Scottish Psychopath' seems to be nowhere near a championship feud on RAW at the moment, and moving to NXT UK could help his case while also increasing NXT UK's overall viewership.

Did the company deliberately allow McIntyre to drop WALTER in order to build a potential feud for NXT UK? Will we soon watch the two men go head to head in NXT UK? It will be interesting to watch how the company continues this angle.

#3 Is Keith Lee the monster the company should be investing in?

Keith Lee has shown much more promise than many other 'monsters'

Earlier this year, RAW and SmackDown were invaded by an unstoppable force in the form of Lars Sullivan. The Superstar enjoyed a lengthy undefeated steak in NXT and was moved to the main roster as a freak who could not be leashed. However, injuries caused the company to halt his push and instead Sullivan took some time off to recover ,causing fans to forget the monster that haunted the company for a short time.

Before Sullivan, we saw Braun Strowman pushed as 'The Monster Among Men,' and the Superstar was a wrecking ball, but could never get over the way fans hoped he would. Strowman is yet to win a singles championship in WWE.

Keith Lee is yet another man who is both big in size and strength. Fans seem to have gotten behind the Superstar in a short period of time, and although he hasn’t had the bookings and hype that Sullivan and Strowman received, he still seems to be the right man the company should be pushing, especially after Survivor Series.

During the traditional Men’s Elimination match, Lee did the unthinkable and pinned Seth Rollins to knock RAW out of the match and become the sole remaining survivor from NXT. Only SmackDown's Roman Reigns stood in his way.

Even though Reigns went on to win the match for his brand, it was great to watch the company push Lee to such an extent and give him such a big moment by pinning such an important Superstar in Seth Rollins.

With this, we wonder if Keith Lee is the monster that WWE should be pushing rather than anyone else, and whether his persona fits perfectly with what the company has been trying to create for a long time.

#2 Is WWE focusing on building more female stars?

Rhea Ripley came out looking like the biggest star after the PPV

One of the biggest questions we have post-WarGames and Survivor Series is whether the company has finally shifted focus from just building a handful of top female Superstars to building many top women.

Earlier in its history, the Women's Division was built on a handful of female talent, such as Trish Stratus and Lita. Recently, we’d seen WWE invest heavily in the Four Horsewomen, but the roster's other females only received the spotlight for a short amount of time, if ever.

In the build-up to Survivor Series, we saw the company focus as much on the women’s matches as they did on any of the men’s matches, and some women made much bigger impacts than any male in WWE.

During the event, we saw rising star Rhea Ripley once again stand tall after scoring a victory for Team NXT. The Survivor Series main event saw the company's three female singles champions go head to head, with NXT's Shayna Baszler ultimately picking up the victory.

With women earning a more prominent role in WWE, we feel that the company has finally shifted focus to building NXT's female roster and also the Women's Divisions company wide.

Such top matches have allowed the company to come out with more top female stars, which is much better than relying solely on a handful of women, as they did in the past.

#1 Will Ronda Rousey ever return?

Fans were bracing for a Ronda Rousey return

One of the biggest rumors making the rounds before and during the Survivor Series pay-per-view was the return of former RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey. Rousey was last seen in a WWE ring at WrestleMania, after which an injury forced her to take time off.

The fact that three women’s champions were main eventing the show led to even more speculation about Ronda Rousey returning and possibly attacking Becky Lynch or helping Shayna Baszler get the win. However, none of that happened.

Ronda had recently tweeted, suggesting that she might be done wrestling for good, but that might not be entirely true.

Arguably, the biggest question from the night is if Ronda Rousey did not return to the company at Survivor Series, will she ever return at all?

This was the perfect opportunity for her to make her return and also help Baszler pick up a victory while protecting the other two champions. Her no-show could suggest that fans should now taper expectations regarding a possible Rousey return.

It is also possible, however, that the company has something even bigger up their sleeves for the Superstar in the future, and they are saving her for the most opportune time.

---

We want to know what you think of the matches that you see on TV! Go to our WWE page here to rate them!