WWE Survivor Series 2016: Overlooked Stars Who Will Make Biggest Impacts at PPV
At WWE Survivor Series 2016, Raw and SmackDown will battle for brand supremacy. Although the anticipated rematch between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg will take center stage, fans are equally excited for the various Raw-SmackDown traditional tag team elimination matches.
Although we are a mere four months into the brand split, the ruthless brand rivalry has been heated, with talent from each show constantly taking shots at the other. Picking up a victory at the Nov. 20 classic would mean major bragging rights for either program.
As such, the stakes couldn't be higher for each wrestler on the roster right now. A win in one of the heavily touted tag team matches could help Superstars solidify spots on their respective brands.
The brand split has allowed for a number of names to rise to the occasion and come into their own as performers. However, there are still a handful of up-and-coming athletes who are in need of big breaks in order to pick up steam.
Since Survivor Series is a Big Four pay-per-view, several stars from both brands who haven't been prominently featured of late are likely to appear. Thus, the following five Superstars are bound to make impacts at the upcoming event.
Bayley
1 of 5
Following Bayley's second straight loss to Asuka at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, there was plenty of excitement among fans for her to be promoted to the main roster after SummerSlam.
Sure enough, less than 24 hours removed from the biggest blockbuster of the summer, Bayley debuted on Raw.
She wasted no time in setting her sights on Charlotte Flair's Raw Women's Championship, challenging for the gold in a Triple Threat match at Clash of Champions. Although she fell short of victory at the event, she still had momentum on her side.
However, she was largely directionless in the weeks that followed. Bayley was placed in a temporary program with Dana Brooke heading into Hell in a Cell, but the fans couldn't have cared less about their pair of matches.
Granted, her victory over Brooke at the latest pay-per-view helps put her back on the right track, but she isn't as much of a threat to the title as she was even two months ago. Her participation in the five-on-five, Raw vs. SmackDown women's elimination tag team match at Survivor Series could change that.
Despite their differences, Charlotte chose Bayley to be one of her partners at the November classic. Being among the surviving Superstars would put her back in title contention.
Braun Strowman
2 of 5
Braun Strowman has been conspicuously absent from the last several Raw pay-per-views. Since arriving on Raw following the 2016 WWE draft, he has stacked up several notable victories and has been building momentum in the background.
After beating one, two and even three wrestlers at a time, Strowman demanded better competition from Raw general manager Mick Foley. He then appeared to have met his match in the form of Sami Zayn, who he also decimated with ease in back-to-back weeks.
On the Oct. 31 edition of Raw, they were the two remaining Superstars in a Battle Royal to determine who would earn a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series. Zayn came close to clinching the victory, but in the end, Strowman punched his ticket to the pending pay-per-view.
Strowman now joins the illustrious likes of Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns on Team Raw. He will be the wild card among those elite athletes, but he is likely to do the most damage to Team SmackDown.
Strowman has craved competition for weeks, and he'll get just that at Survivor Series. His scary size and sheer strength will make him a force to be reckoned with in that blockbuster tag team matchup.
American Alpha
3 of 5
American Alpha was one of the hottest commodities in the 2016 draft when selected by SmackDown. While Chad Gable and Jason Jordan remain as popular as ever, they have been absent from the blue brand more often than not in the past few months.
They were initially unsuccessful in becoming the first SmackDown tag team champions back in September, thanks to The Usos. From there, they were determined to exact their revenge on The Usos, but that feud seemingly fizzled out after No Mercy.
Now that they find themselves on the same team at Survivor Series, there is a chance that the rivalry could be ignited at the event. Even so, this is as golden of an opportunity as ever to get American Alpha back in the conversation for a future title shot.
There is little question that SmackDown's tag team division has the edge over Raw's, so it should emerge victorious. But among the surviving tandems should be American Alpha, which will be able to showcase its skills against the best competition Raw has to offer in this match.
Furthermore, the former NXT tag team champions will be beloved by the Canadian crowd, potentially even more than The New Day. They have been overlooked for far too long but will have their chance at redemption at Survivor Series.
Baron Corbin
4 of 5
Similar to Raw's Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin has quietly been paving his own path of destruction in recent months. It started with his quick annihilation of Jack Swagger, and he now finds himself being one-fifth of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series.
Interestingly, Corbin has suffered few pinfall losses since debuting on the WWE main roster earlier this year. That is no coincidence, as he is primed for a push at the main event level before long.
From his intimidating presence to his dominant move set in the ring, Corbin has all the tools to thrive among the elite. Thus, not only is he a logical addition to Team SmackDown, but he also could be a valuable asset to the blue brand.
While it is unlikely he'll survive in the blockbuster bout, he could make his presence felt by scoring a few eliminations. That could be enough to impress SmackDown authority figures Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon and earn him a title shot at some point.
Needless to say, Corbin is the least experienced athlete on Team SmackDown, but that doesn't necessarily mean he won't play a factor in the finish of the match. Look for the NXT graduate to begin his ascent to the top of the card at Survivor Series by knocking off a few notable names.
Sami Zayn
5 of 5
Sami Zayn seemed poised to break out as a singles star after the brand split following his Match of the Year candidate with Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground in July. Unfortunately, he has been largely marginalized since.
Although he had a good thing going with Chris Jericho for a few weeks in September, their feud was abruptly cut short after Jericho beat him at Clash of Champions. Zayn then began a storyline with Braun Strowman, who tossed him out of the Survivor Series qualifying Battle Royal on the Oct. 31 edition of Raw.
Logically, that leaves Zayn without a match at the event unless he enters a feud of some sort in the next two weeks. That said, hope remains for The Underdog from the Underground, as there is a decent chance he could answer Dolph Ziggler's Intercontinental Championship open challenge at Survivor Series.
Considering the event will emanate from Zayn's native Canada, it would be a crime for Zayn to not accept the invitation sent to the Raw roster by Ziggler for a title match. Those two have yet to cross paths in WWE and could potentially produce the match of the night if allotted the appropriate amount of time to do so.
Not many fans are talking about Zayn at the moment due to his current absence from the advertised card, but he could walk out of the November classic as the new intercontinental champion if he plays his cards right.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a Digital Journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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