WWE Survivor Series 2013: Predicting Order of Exits in 10-Man Tag Match
WWE Survivor Series 2013 is coming our way this weekend and with it, the tradition continues to have multiman elimination matches.
This year, WWE has planned two: one featuring The Shield, The Real Americans, The Usos, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Goldust, the other featuring nearly every woman on the roster.
The latter of which clearly serves the purpose of promoting the Total Divas television show as its primary function, but what is the former about?
What is WWE trying to achieve by having these two groups of men pair off to face each other?
Is there a reason why The Usos and The Real Americans were included instead of The Wyatt Family, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan?
Was Rey Mysterio added to provide star power and be the standout sole survivor, or is he going to just be another sacrificial lamb?
Let's try to figure out how WWE is going to book this match and break it down elimination by elimination.
1. Jimmy Uso or Jey Uso
1 of 10
Unfortunately for The Usos, they are both expendable.
In fact, that's the entire purpose of them being in this match instead of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
Jimmy and Jey have had a good year in 2013 with a new peak in popularity that they've been able to maintain for quite some time.
However, history has shown us that within these elimination matches at Survivor Series, no matter what improvements you've made, everyone is in danger of being fodder for the one or two people that WWE wishes to showcase.
Standard practice is to have the babyface team need to fight back, so look for a rather quick elimination for one of these two men in particular.
If WWE puts extra thought into it, Jey Uso will be the one to take the first bullet.
2. Jimmy Uso or Jey Uso
2 of 10
Since both of The Usos are expendable and the story to tell involves the babyfaces needing to fight back against the odds, it makes sense for the other Uso brother to be eliminated right after the first one.
In terms of ranking the 10 men involved in this match in order of importance and how they're featured on WWE programming, both Usos are pretty evenly matched.
However, there is one distinction that may point to Jimmy Uso surviving a tad longer than his brother, if WWE is looking to play favorites.
His involvement in the Total Divas show could spare him the burden of being the first person eliminated from the match.
That being said, WWE has illustrated many times in the past that there is not always this mentality when it comes to booking Survivor Series matches.
If WWE is in the mood to give something a little extra to Jimmy Uso for his part in their latest pet project show, he will outlast him by a short amount of time.
All in all, though, both Jimmy and Jey are just numbers to drop on the babyface team, which will start diminishing rather quickly.
3. Jack Swagger
3 of 10
Keeping with the theme of importance dictating how long you stay in the match, easily the least valuable player on the heel side of things is Jack Swagger.
If it wasn't for Zeb Colter's character and Antonio Cesaro catching the attention of the WWE Universe and management alike, Jack Swagger would not be involved in this match whatsoever.
Instead, he would be sitting off on the sidelines with people like Fandango and Tyson Kidd, who haven't made themselves important enough in WWE's eyes to warrant finding a spot for them on the card.
It's rare that a Survivor Series elimination match has a clean sweep, so it's unlikely that the trend of babyface exits will continue past the first two rounds of knocking out The Usos.
Your best sacrificial lamb on the heel team, Jack Swagger, will take the fall and give the babyfaces a beacon of hope and the motivation that they can even the odds and win.
4. Goldust
4 of 10
Things can't stay peachy for too long, and this is the point in the match where things dip down a bit in excitement.
The first elimination is always important, as is the second, as they dictate the style of match we're going to see.
Is it going to be a competitive back-and-forth trading of teammates or will one side have a disadvantage to overcome?
Jack Swagger's elimination wakes the crowd up and gives them hope, but it's too early for the heroes to start winning just yet.
Speaking from a writer's mentality, you want to keep the momentum going and throw some twists and turns to keep the audience guessing.
The face team just started fighting back, so it's time for them to get the wind taken out of their sails.
Rey Mysterio is the biggest star of their team and Cody Rhodes is right behind him in second place as the workhorse that has a big year coming up, so it is Goldust's responsibility to go next.
5. Seth Rollins
5 of 10
Now that we're midway through the match, it's time for another turnover.
After losing both of The Usos and now Goldust, things will pick up for the babyface team as Cody Rhodes has his vengeance.
It would be too obvious for all three members of The Shield to be the final three on their team, so in terms of importance, Seth Rollins falls behind everyone else.
Rhodes has the responsibility of carrying the rest of this match on his shoulders, for the most part.
He needs to usher in the comeback for his team and keep the pace at an energetic level.
In that scenario, Rollins is the perfect man to throw to the wolves and be trusted to sell everything that Rhodes gives him as being worthy of turning the tide.
6. Antonio Cesaro
6 of 10
After eliminating Seth Rollins, it would be too much of a downer for Cody Rhodes to be taken out of the match next.
Instead, here is where the official reversal takes place to give the audience that feeling that things are going to work out OK for the good guys.
Antonio Cesaro has his supporters, but he's not being geared toward a world title reign or anything that important right now, so the likelihood that he will last until the end is very minimal.
Since he is the next lowest member of the totem pole, he needs to bite the dust to keep that momentum rolling for Rhodes and Rey Mysterio.
If WWE really wants to go all out on making this a moment to cheer when Rhodes and Mysterio even things up, the duo will show their unity by having Mysterio hit the 6-1-9 on Cesaro, who falls backward and turns right into a Cross Rhodes.
Rather than swinging his opponents around, it will be Cesaro's head that is spinning after that combination.
7. Cody Rhodes
7 of 10
That cohesion and triumph cannot last forever, and we're now at another turning point in the match.
This is the time where we're in the home stretch and eliminations are going to happen quicker than you'd expect.
The bulk of the bout is over with and we need to wind down.
Cody Rhodes will get to have some more time to feature himself and show how much of a fighter he is, but the heels can't lose three members in a row.
After a valiant effort, Rhodes will fall, probably to a spear from Roman Reigns, as he is the powerhouse who could take down the man with the most fight in him.
8. Dean Ambrose
8 of 10
Although it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility, it would seem odd for Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to follow up the elimination of Cody Rhodes with taking out Rey Mysterio and winning, wouldn't it?
Ambrose will play up the slimy nature of his character and stalk the prey that is Mysterio.
He's up against two men who are bigger than him. What could Mysterio possibly do?
That is when Mysterio, the king of overstepping his boundaries and being booked by WWE to prove people wrong when his back is against the corner, will take advantage.
Ambrose's overconfidence will be his downfall and Mysterio will capitalize on a mistake of sorts.
This may even lead to a potential title feud between the two, with Ambrose putting his United States Championship on the line to get his hands on Mysterio and pay him back for his loss.
After all, when was the last time we've seen Mysterio wrestle and not be positioned to look like a superhero?
9. Rey Mysterio
9 of 10
Rey Mysterio might be the superhero of this team, but sometimes, superheroes lose.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestlingInc.com) reports that Mysterio has not only returned early and not fully healed, but that he's also expected to not have to do much in this match.
In typical WWE fashion, workhorses are still not as valuable compared to the people that are viewed as bigger stars.
This would explain the booking philosophy where Cody Rhodes shoulders the majority of this match to take that responsibility off Mysterio, but he gets eliminated before him.
Rhodes will have his time to shine as the one who is featured more within the match itself, but Mysterio will be the star who has everything riding on his shoulders.
Nobody would believe Jey Uso possibly winning as the final member of the babyface team, but there's always a chance Mysterio will win, no matter what he's up against.
Sadly for him and his fans, Mysterio is going to come up short and catch a spear out of nowhere from Roman Reigns.
10. Roman Reigns Is the Sole Survivor
10 of 10
When all things are said and done, the man who will have the distinction and honor of being the sole survivor will be Roman Reigns.
He has a finisher that looks nasty and can come out of nowhere, giving him the perfect shock ending to eliminate Rey Mysterio.
Reigns also has a habit of looking strong, even when he's on the losing end of things, as Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and others have been booked to take the bullet for him most of the time.
It is easy to speculate that Reigns will be given this spot due to WWE's history of treating him as a future star, so why wouldn't he be the focal point of this match?
The Authority has suffered quite a bit of losses as of late, and this will help make up for that.
The heels—most prominently Roman Reigns himself—will stand tall and reiterate the fact that The Authority is powerful and here to stay.
Not much has been able to keep Reigns down and very quickly after Mysterio eliminates Ambrose, Reigns will emphatically prove this point once more by winning the match for his side.
Do you think the match will go down differently? Who are you expecting to see as sole survivor or survivors of the winning team?
Tell us your predictions and list the order you'd like to see these eliminations take place in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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