WWE Survivor Series 2015: Biggest Missed Opportunities with Show's Booking

As the dust settles from Survivor Series, we can take stock of the pivotal events that took place at the pay-per-view—particularly those centring around the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Sheamus was an outside pick to exit the event with the gold around his waist, but looking back, he shouldn't have been. It's unlikely that the Great White would have found as ideal an opportunity to cash in than on a champion who had already fought two tough matches.

However, the win raises some questions as to the booking of the tournament, and indeed the show—and there are other areas of the card that deserve to be analysed, too.

The Cinderella Story

Knowing what we do about how the tournament played out, putting Roman Reigns against Dean Ambrose in the finals seems like a waste.

The match was short and didn't really capitalize on the strong bond between the two close friends. Given that Reigns was set to win the tournament only to be undone by Sheamus, anyone on the roster could feasibly have been competing against him in the closing moments of the bracket.

In the light of its result being erased by a Money in the Bank cash-in, there's a sense that the lengthy tournament we've seen play out over the last couple of weeks was a little pointless. That's partly because only one storyline was really developed: the question of who is going to be the new champion.

Credit: WWE.com

Instead, there should have perhaps been another strand to the narrative, one that followed an unlikely underdog progressing much further than anyone expected. Given his win against Ryback, Kalisto would have been an ideal fit for this role.

If Kalisto had made it to the finals instead of Dean Ambrose, he'd receive a burst of momentum even if he did end up losing to Reigns. Rather than heading straight for the world title picture, it would give him a head start on a singles run.

This might have given the tournament a bit more depth and would leave more of a lasting impression given that the rest of the storyline progress that came from the bracket has now been erased.

The New Face of Fear

Yet again, weeks of strong character work by Bray Wyatt and his band of beards has led to a perfunctory loss on pay-per-view.

There's nothing wrong with the Brothers of Destruction picking up a feel-good win on a night that celebrates a major milestone for the Undertaker. However, sooner or later we need to see the Wyatt Family presented as a real threat.

Weeks ago, the unit abducted Undertaker and Kane—but somehow the pair managed to free themselves and come back stronger. It's worth remembering that even the kidnapping itself was designed to re-legitimize the group after heavy losses.

Credit: WWE.com

The Wyatt Family has all the potential in the world. Bray Wyatt is a terrific mouthpiece with a good presence in the ring, Luke Harper is one of the better wrestlers in the roster, and Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman have plenty of promise for the future.

However, it's difficult to take the quartet seriously when they're so often on the losing end of the proposition. Top-tier villains will always have to pick up defeats, but typically, they would manage a few major victories here and there.

It's a testament to the talent involved that the Wyatt Family is still salvageable. That being said, it remains to be seen how much longer it'll be before fans begin to reject them outright.

The WWE World Heavyweight Champion

Sheamus is a great performer in the ring and has significantly improved his character work in recent months—but does anyone believe that he'll still be champion going into WrestleMania?

It's less than six months until the biggest show of the year, and it seems clear that we'll see at least one world title change before WWE heads to the AT&T Stadium on April 3. As a result, there's a risk that the next few months will simply be filler until the road to WrestleMania begins.

Sheamus has the potential to be a great champion, particularly given his relationship with Triple H. However, a brief reign as a transitional titleholder does little for him as an individual and could actually detract from the prominence of the belt.

Credit: WWE.com

It might have been a better idea to begin building toward the main event of WrestleMania in the closing moments of Survivor Series.

Whether this required Roman Reigns or Dean Ambrose turning on the other, or just the defending champion for next April's show being crowned, it would perhaps have been a more prescient end to the show than the one we got.

Sheamus will likely give his best as champion—but it's difficult to be fully invested in his reign when it seems so likely that it will be cut short in time to set up plans for WrestleMania.

What were the biggest missed opportunities at Survivor Series? How would you have done things differently? Join the debate in the comments section below.