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Survivor Series Preview: Men’s Triple Threat Elimination Match

Survivor Series

Survivor Series is here on Sunday, which means the previews for all the matches continue on. This one, at least in years past, has always been one of the more entertaining as each brand sends their five best male wrestlers to defend the brand and grab a huge leg up in a match that is tradition. The Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match is one of the best and should continue that trend on Sunday. Regardless, this year has a more unique version than ever before as three will be three teams of five instead of two which leaves fans wondering if there are three men in the match at once or not as it is elimination.

Raw, SmackDown and NXT send in their elite to get the advantage with only one brand coming out superior. As a preview, this is a bit different so let’s take a look at each team’s members and the story of how we got here. Kicking off with the flagship show, Monday Night Raw.

Team Raw

Captain — Seth Rollins

The man that everyone loves to hate will be leading Team Raw on Sunday. What’s there to say about Seth Rollins besides him being the top dog of Monday night’s for the past year and has already done it all in his seven years since debuting at Survivor Series alongside his Shield brothers. You can hate him, you can love him, but the one thing you know Seth Rollins will do is Burn it… no. Not that. What he will do is put on a show for the live crowd and has a good shot at leading his team to victory as he wears the Team Raw colors proud.

Kevin Owens
Survivor Series
Photo / WWE

Kevin Owens is coming off the best match of the week when it comes to WWE television and possibly the best match of the weekend as he joined Team Ciampa for WarGames in a complete surprise on Saturday night. First, he and his partner at Survivor Series, Drew McIntyre, tore each other apart all in the hopes of just winning a simple match. Unfortunately for all of us, we never got a finish but there’s no need to be sad about that. That no finish led to Owens getting his revenge on The Undisputed Era in WarGames. Kevin Owens was missing from TV since the SmackDown debut on FOX and can now establish himself as one of Raw’s top faces. A good showing here can start that rise. But it’s hard to not wonder if he will even be on Team Raw following his involvement on NXT. We will see in due time.

Drew McIntyre

This could be the match that sets McIntyre ahead of the rest. Not only should he receive a dominant showing in this match, but one that should at the very least leave him as Raw’s final survivor or elimination. McIntyre in every single way is ready for more. A strong championship run and this can be the start to exactly that. Since his return a month ago, he has been showing more intensity than ever which should mean his rise to the top is coming.

Ricochet
Survivor Series
Photo: WWE

“The One and Only” seems to be on his way to a feud with Randy Orton. Or at least we thought so? Most recently he has teamed with “The Apex Predator” in a tag team championship match. Regardless, this is another opportunity to show for Ricochet to show the world why he is a one of a kind talent and is so special inside the square circle. Expect greatness per usual, but don’t be shocked if he is eliminated due to his own team.

Randy Orton

“Mr. Survivor Series.” Statistically, there is not a single person better in the history of the Survivor Series than Randy Orton. Orton has won five total Survivor Series matches, being the sole survivor three times, and surviving all the way five times total. He has 15 eliminations in the special match and is the reason Raw goes in as the favorite. The only way he doesn’t succeed once again? Is if he doesn’t want to. Remember on Raw two weeks ago when he told Ricochet he does what he wants when he wants? Expect that to come back into play this Sunday night.

Team SmackDown

Captain — Roman Reigns
Survivor Series
Photo: WWE

“The Big Dog” demanded the fight on Friday and he will do the same at Survivor Series. The locker room leader Roman Reigns opened the door for both Raw and NXT to pour on in and now he has to back up that decision as the captain of SmackDown. Reigns has been a sole survivor in his career before and surely could accomplish that again. He has been out of the spotlight for long enough, as this match could be the start to a bigger and better 2020 by leading Team SmackDown to victory. Of course, he is going to have to watch out for Baron Corbin at the same time.

King Corbin

It’s come time to wonder who the crowd hates more. Seth Rollins or King Corbin? All signs point to the dreadful Corbin who has been a thorn in the side of Roman Reigns for the past month or so, pinning him just two weeks ago. Corbin tried to get two members of his team this Sunday off as well. Something tells me an elimination of Corbin early could do more to help the blue brand than hurt them.

Braun Strowman
Photo: WWE

“The Monster Among Men” has had a disappointing 2019 in all ways you could think of. His only championship run of the year was a Raw Tag Team Championship run with then-rival, Seth Rollins, in a reign that lasted less than a month. He lost to Tyson Fury at Crown Jewel and has been more than absent since. That doesn’t take away from his size, strength, and overall advantage Team SmackDown has with a guy like him on the team, but this match could be most important for him out of anybody.

Chad Gable

Chad Gable, now going by the worst name in wrestling, Shorty G, is a former Olympian who has proven to be a thorn in the side of Baron Corbin for the better part of this year. On Sunday, the team together with a common goal of representing SmackDown to the best of their ability. He may be represented as an underdog and dress like a Harlem Globetrotter, but the man has talent and could be in line to show people what he is truly capable of.

Mustafa Ali
Photo: WWE

In this week’s edition of “WWE Backstage”, Renee Young asked Booker T to name one person that he thinks could show out in this elimination match and make a real name for themselves. Instantly, Booker responded with Mustafa Ali. And truthfully, it’s hard to argue with the two-time WWE Hall of Famer. Ali not only is one of the best stories going in the WWE but is someone who you want your kids to look up to. This could be the coming-out party for Mustafa Ali, who is one of, if not the, most underrated superstars in all the WWE. Not only is he a future world champion, but imagining him and Ricochet in the ring together is enough to get excited.

Team NXT

With NXT TakeOver: WarGames occupying the talent prior to Survivor Series, a team has not been named and will not be named until the Survivor Series kickoff show at 6 p.m. EST by Shawn Michaels. Well, that’s a bit late to do a preview for such a big match, so here is an educated guess based on speculation, the past couple of weeks, and what went down at TakeOver.

Tommaso Ciampa

There is not a person that bleeds black and yellow more than Tommaso Ciampa. The “Blackheart” of the WWE just captained his WarGames team to victory on Saturday night against The Undisputed Era, which makes him the absolute top candidate to captain the team once again. Ciampa stepped up to Seth Rollins on Wednesday night as he attempted to take over his show, which Ciampa was never going to let happen. The man who has said for years that NXT is the “A” show will look to show the world that his word holds truth to them.

Keith Lee
Raw
All Photos Courtesy Of wwe.com

The Limitless Leegion leader Keith Lee has been one of the centerpieces of the invaders for NXT since Week 1 when they declared war. It is only right for Lee to be apart of this match and continue showing the world what he is all about. He put down Drew McIntyre on NXT and stood face-to-face with Braun Strowman on SmackDown. Not only is Lee ready for the spotlight, but he is ready for the rest of the WWE audience to simply “bask in his glory”.

Dominick Dijakovic

Dominick Dijakovic joined Team Ciampa despite his prior problems with Keith Lee and helped the team come out with a win. Dijakovic has everything you want in a professional wrestler from his incredible size to insane athleticism. All members of Team Ciampa make sense after proving last night they could be a formidable squad against the champions of the brand. It’s time for fans to feast their eyes on this incredible athlete on the highest stage.

Matt Riddle
Photo: WWE

Despite a losing effort, “The Original Bro” Matt Riddle showed out to the best of his ability and almost pinned Finn Balor in his first night back in an NXT ring. After being originally scheduled to appear with Team Ciampa inside WarGames, it only makes sense for them to link back up. Riddle was there the first-night NXT declared war on the rest of the WWE alongside Keith Lee, so it’s only right when they finally go to war at Survivor Series, they have the “Bro” on their side.

WALTER

While the first four predictions made pure sense following the events of the past few weeks and NXT TakeOver: WarGames, the fifth and final member was a bit of a toss-up. WALTER is the choice here, as the reigning WWE United Kingdom Champion has just as much beef with Raw and SmackDown as anyone left on the NXT roster. Adding WALTER brings a championship pedigree to Team NXT that they were not bringing in. We know for a fact WALTER is in Chicago. He shouldn’t be wasted, but instead utilized to give NXT the best possibility of winning at Survivor Series.

After weeks of invasions and attacks, we are finally going to see all of these teams go head to head in a night that is sure to be full of awesome action. This match specifically should be one to remember, as any of these three teams could walk out with a win for their brand, respectively.

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch Survivor Series via the WWE Network.

Scott Edwards

Scott Edwards

Scott here. Currently an editor for LWOS Pro Wrestling. Lead for WWE content while contributing for AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and more. Also a writer for Inside The Ropes, Voices of Wrestling, and Daily DDT. Host of the Wrestling With Edwards podcast.

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