WWE Survivor Series 2013: Superstars Under Most Pressure to Deliver

Anytime the WWE presents one of its big four pay-per-view events, there is a certain pressure to deliver that accompanies any Superstar on the card.

Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series are marquee events on the schedule and have been responsible for some of the most memorable and enduring moments in World Wrestling Entertainment history.

They are the shows in which a competitor can become immortal with a single, defining performance. 

With the 27th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view upcoming on November 24, there are several of today's most talented Superstars that are facing incredible pressure to deliver, not only to assure the success of the show but also to add to their legacies.

Some of those Superstars are champions, icons of the sport who have long been established as premiere and elite performers.

Others are hungry, young up-and-comers who must make the most of the opportunities they are given to succeed because there is a whole roster full of men and women waiting for a call up to the main roster to take their place.

Regardless of which side of the proverbial fence they fall on, these are the Superstars under the most pressure to deliver at Survivor Series 2013.

The Big Show

The giant is enjoying the greatest exposure of his WWE career and has become the top babyface on the company's most watched program. He has become the recipient of a major push that most thought would go to Daniel Bryan, and now he will enter the Survivor Series pay-per-view as the challenger to Randy Orton's WWE Championship.

Big Show has been on the receiving end of major pushes before but never one in which he was unequivocally the centerpiece.

With that kind of exposure comes an extreme amount of pressure to deliver a performance worthy of the faith the company has put into the performer.

Luckily for the World's Largest Athlete, he has turned in some of the better performances of his career over the last two years, including surprisingly good matches against Mark Henry and Sheamus.

Whether he can replicate those performances on November 24 is the question.

Cody Rhodes and Goldust

Cody Rhodes and Goldust have been WWE's hottest performers in terms of in-ring production, and their matches with the likes of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of The Shield, the Usos and the Real Americans have stolen nearly every show they have been part of.

When a Superstar, or Superstars, consistently deliver outstanding in-ring product, there is always pressure on them to top their previous performance.

That is the type of pressure that will await the Rhodes brothers and whomever they clash with at this year's event.

Whether they defend the title in a Fatal 4-Way, basic tag or take part in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match, there will be certain expectations surrounding that bout because of the faith fans have in those involved to deliver an above-average, high quality performance.

Simply put, the pressure facing the WWE Tag Team Champions is a product of the respect and faith of the fans.

Alberto Del Rio

The former World Heavyweight Champion has been outstanding in pay-per-view matches this year. His outings against Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam were consistently above-average affairs that catapulted Del Rio into the discussion for Wrestler of the Year honors.

He carried the title with the class and respect that great champions like Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat did and managed to do so without any real spotlight being shone in his direction.

Sure, he struggled with promos, and his in-ring intensity did not really come to fruition until he turned heel in June at Payback, but everything he did from bell to bell was phenomenal.

So why is he facing a great deal of pressure come Survivor Series and what will surely be a rematch against John Cena for the World title?

The emergence of Damien Sandow.

On the October 11 episode of SmackDown, Sandow interrupted a promo involving Del Rio and Vickie Guerrero. Despite still showing signs of his condescending ways, he played the role of a babyface while both interacting and squaring off with the second-generation Mexican star later in the broadcast. He lost the match against Del Rio but had earned the respect of a very hot Columbus, Ohio crowd.

The night after Hell in a Cell, he confronted the new champion John Cena and viciously and violently assaulted him before cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase for a shot at the World Heavyweight title. He would lose that match as well, but through the course of it, he displayed an intensity and ability to get the story of the match over in a way that Del Rio has not.

Add to that his outstanding promo ability and Sandow is simply a better overall performer than Del Rio.

Hardcore legend and 2013 Hall of Famer Mick Foley even took to Twitter to praise the Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses for his performance in the Cena match.

So at Survivor Series, Del Rio will have to deliver a performance that goes above and beyond his typically great in-ring work if he hopes to stay an integral part of the World Heavyweight title picture. If he does not, he could find himself on the outside looking in as Sandow unseats him as the top heel contender to the championship.

The Wyatt Family

Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan have been absolutely money from a performance standpoint since debuting as the Wyatt Family over the summer. They believe in the gimmick, and they live the gimmick, which is why it has succeeded at the level it has thus far in their main-roster stint.

The presentation of the group, from the creepy entrance to the lamb mask that Rowan wears, has also had a large hand in how it has gone over with fans.

The only question remaining at this point is whether the performers have the wrestling ability to back up the work that has been done to make them a truly unique, intriguing and exciting part of the product.

Wyatt has shown flashes of brilliance in matches against Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston, but his stinker at SummerSlam against Kane created enough doubt to cause concern.

Harper was really solid in a very good match against CM Punk this past Monday on Raw, and he and Rowan have worked well enough together in matches against The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Goldust and Cody Rhodes to earn some trust. There are, however, still many questions surrounding that aspect of their work.

With all signs pointing to a match involving them, Punk and Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series, those questions are going to come to the forefront. Punk and Bryan are, arguably, the two best workers in the sport today. They have been part of some of the best matches of the last two years and have risen to the top of the WWE as a result.

The worst thing that could happen to the Wyatt Family would be for them to falter in their first match against truly elite workers. It would expose their weaknesses at one of the most important events of the year, creating a disastrous situation that would be bad for their continued growth but not necessarily crippling.

Whereas the previously mentioned Alberto Del Rio has accrued enough good will to get multiple shots at a main event push if he fails, the Wyatt Family needs to build good will with the audience and management before they can afford a disappointing performance.

For that reason, the pressure for them to deliver at Survivor Series may be the greatest of all.