Building the Ultimate Fantasy WWE Survivor Series Teams

Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan on the same team. Kazuchika Okada and Shawn Michaels joining forces. Asuka and Manami Toyota glaring at foes from the same side of the ring.

Only in the best of WWE Survivor Series dreams are alliances such as those possible.

In reality, the latest edition of the annual pay-per-view will create two teams of five to fight for brand pride on Sunday, when Raw's best will take on SmackDown's top talents. There will be some intriguing matchups as a result, but nothing quite like what the imagination could cook up.

The following is a look at what would be possible if one could assemble Survivor Series teams using any wrestler from any promotion, from any era, alive or dead.  

The All-Hoss Squad

Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Vader

Good luck keeping all your teeth intact when going up against these guys. This is a collection of heavy-hitters, bulls in wrestling boots, smashmouth artists famous for being overwhelming forces.

There is no weak point on this squad, only a wall of flesh and fists waiting for foes across the ring.

Strowman

Strowman is 6'8'', 385 pounds of pure intimidation. He is a freight train in a singlet, a hard-charging titan who tosses opponents around like hurricane winds.

The Monster Among Men is perhaps the strongest wrestler WWE has signed. The former strongman competitor has shown off that power by throwing people through steel cages and flinging office chairs like they were softballs.

WWE doesn't need to sell its audience on Strowman being unstoppable; that's clear from the first time one sees him manhandle a foe.

He would anchor a beefy, brutish team no one would want to face.

Lesnar

Few guys in wrestling are as legit scary as Lesnar. He's a dominant athlete with eye-catching strength and unmatched intensity. He's built like a silverback gorilla.

The Universal champion has spent much of his career flinging his foes around, suplexing them repeatedly, locking on to them like a rabid dog and refusing to let go.

The Beast Incarnate's hard-hitting, to-the-point style has been under wraps to a degree of late because his matches are short and he has a part-time schedule. But fans shouldn't forget how nasty and savage he can be when let loose upon the world. 

And you know you have a badass squad when the guy (6'3", 286 pounds) is a certified monster like Lesnar.

Brody

The 6'8", near 300-pound bearded brute could overwhelm many a Survivor Series team on his own.

The nomadic Brody traveled around the wrestling world throughout the 1970s and 1980s flattening the men unlucky enough to be in his path. His style was pure and brutal, all closed fists and boots to the face. 

But even before he began the process of running a man over in the ring, Brody exuded a terrifying aura. He barked and brayed as he stomped down the entrance ramp, swinging his trademark chain. 

Intimidation came first. Then came the mauling.

Hansen

The Lariat barreled into wrestling rings like an angry bull. And once inside, he didn't wrestle, he fought, he swallowed a foe whole.

The tobacco-chewing Texan clobbered folks with his lariat, kicked them in the gut or beat them over the head with a chair. Opponents who faced him, be it in Japan or the United States between the 1970s and 1990s, surely had to use up every ice pack around to recover afterward.

His addition would make this crew even more fearsome.

Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman recalled of Hansen: "When I was a kid, I did not fear the boogeyman. I did not fear King Kong. I did not fear Godzilla. I feared Stan Hansen."

Vader

The 450-pound behemoth spent his glory days in the late 1980s and early 1990s in WCW and NJPW smashing down his hammer-like hands on lesser men. He clubbed his foes ears, battered them in the corner and bowled over them like a car hitting a traffic cone.

Vader would round out this team of big and bad men, making sure their Survivor Series matches would have an overflowing amount of physicality.  

The Aerialists

Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Kota Ibushi, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Tiger Mask

This five-man circus of athleticism would deliver a dizzying, graceful match. Survivor Series has seen some quick, agile dynamos team up but nothing quite like this.

The collection of Japanese and North American talent may have to be watched at half speed to catch it all.

Liger

The high-flying Survivor Series team would not be complete with Liger. 

The speedy, masked NJPW star changed the junior heavyweight game. Throughout the 1990s, he electrified crowds with a revolutionary style. He scampered from rope to rope, rolling, diving and soaring his way to thrilling bouts. 

Describing the experiencing of watching Liger wrestle, Josiah MacDonald of Voices of Wrestling wrote: "The elaborate and bright costume, the fast-paced matches, and his innate charisma communicated straight through the TV screen into my living room." 

Ibushi

It doesn't matter if he's wrestling a blow-up doll or Kenny Omega, Ibushi does amazing things in the ring.

Last summer, WWE fans got to see what Japanese audiences had already savored when he competed in the Cruiserweight Classic. The Golden Star springs from the mat to the ropes, from the ropes to the air with fluid, beautiful motion.

He would provide this Survivor Series side with an array of gravity-defying corkscrew moves. 

Mysterio

Mysterio is still a dazzling artist, but in his prime in the 1990s and 2000s and before all his knee surgeries, he was second to none.

The former WWE champ embodied Mexico's lucha libre style with his top-tier athleticism and blinding speed. Mysterio's offense always felt like something out of a comic book, the luchador spinning and flying like he belonged in the X-Men.

From the 619 to the hurricanrana, Mysterio's arsenal would bring all kinds of adrenaline to the action for this Survivor Series team.

Ricochet

It's hard to argue Ricochet isn't the best high-flyer in wrestling today. 

The NJPW and indy star does stuff in the ring that makes a fan question if what they're seeing is real. He cartwheels across the canvas with ease. He spins in the air, bounds from the ropes and wows time and time again.

The Survivor Series match featuring a team with Ricochet on it would be one brimming with action, a display of physical artistry. 

Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama)

When the original Tiger Mask crafted his instant classics with Dynamite Kid in the early 1980s, he was performing at a level ahead of his time. Wrestling had not yet moved to so often feature aerial exhibitions. Satoru Sayama was doing aerobatics when the wrestling world was still in the age of the Wright Brothers.

The masked speedster made escaping out of a wristlock a work of art.

Backflips and spin kicks were key parts of a high-octane repertoire. Watching him Liger, Ibushi, Mysterio and Ricochet take turns defying gravity would simply be special.

The We-Make-Classics Crew

AJ Styles, Kazuchika Okada, Kenta Kobashi, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels

This five-man crew could put on a barnburner with a team of brooms. 

Each of these wrestlers has a resume bursting with masterpieces. Each has produced some of the best matches in wrestling history.

Pairing them all up is almost unfair. 

Styles

The Phenomenal One followed up a stellar run in Japan and the indies with a year for the ages in WWE. There was no one better in the company in 2016 at thrilling between the ropes. 

Styles is a quick and exciting performer who has a knack for coming through in the biggest of spots. His matches against Shinsuke Nakamura, Roman Reigns and John Cena all speak to that. This is a guy who made James Ellsworth look good and helped lead a 47-year-old Shane McMahon to a WrestleMania classic.

His high-octane offense would be a welcome part of this team's weaponry.

Okada

There may be no better at the art of wrestling today than Okada.

The Rainmaker has improved each year, going from great to astounding to untouchable. His work with NJPW is off the charts, forcing Wrestling Observer Newsletter Dave Meltzer to recalibrate his match ratings scale.

The IWGP champ is a world-class storyteller. He infuses every bout with poetic, lasting images. 

Ian Williams of Vice Sports was spot on when he described Okada's stellar recent run as "an unending string of match-of-the-year candidates or stories you tell your grandchildren about."

Kobashi

Kobashi owned the 1990s. The barrel-chested warrior killed it again and again in Japan against the likes of Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama and Toshiaki Kawada.

Tokyo Sports gave him its annual Match of the Year award so often it should be named after him. 

Mr. Puroresu thrived in slugfests or lengthy in-ring dramas. He played the big-hearted, gutsy babyface better than just about anyone. And his presence in the ring was second to none.

He'd be an anchor for this team of all-time greats. 

Angle

Not long after Angle exploded on the WWE scene in 1999, the Olympic gold medal winner was producing works of art on the mat.

He infused his amateur wrestling background into his new larger-than-life world perfectly. His matches were built around first-rate technical skill and elevated by great energy. 

A good number of wrestlers, from Brock Lesnar to Eddie Guerrero, had the best matches of their lives with him. And if one compiled the greatest Impact Wrestling bouts of all time, Angle's name would be on that list over and over again.

It didn't matter if it was a TV clash or a collision inside a steel cage, fans knew Angle would deliver something special. 

Michaels

This Survivor Series team is already fully capable of creating the best match in that PPV's history. Adding The Heartbreak Kid is liking adding LeBron James to the 1995 Chicago Bulls.

Michaels was arguably the best storyteller in wrestling history. In the 1990s, he rode his athleticism and swagger to marquee matches. As he got older, he aged extremely well, upping his art significantly in his later years.

You can't name the five best WrestleMania matches of all time without mentioning Michaels at least twice.

The Showstopper culled the best from his opponents. It didn't matter if it was the plodding Great Khali or a star such as Chris Jericho.

Michaels is a no-brainer addition for this squad.

The Women Warriors

Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Lita, Manami Toyota, Megumi Kudo

The Total Divas team from Survivor Series 2013 would get mauled and embarrassed by this team of powerful women.

The fantasy squad contains some of the best performers in women's history, gladiators who are as gritty as they are physically gifted. Their powers combined would be something to behold.

Asuka

The dominant, mysterious head-kicker has to be on the ultimate all-women Survivor Series team.

Asuka followed up a successful career in Japan with a historic NXT run. She was a marquee star from Day 1 there and has since brought her limb-wrenching ways to Raw.

The Empress of Tomorrow is both an excellent striker and a strong submission artist. She can also go from trading forearms to the jaw to goofing around in the ring in an instant.

She'd make quite the one-person Survivor Series team, but joining forces with fellow greats would create something special.

Flair 

The Queen has quickly made it clear she's not only one of the best WWE wrestlers today, but she is going to be in the conversation for one of the best ever.

Flair clearly inherited her father Ric Flair's presence and feel for the mat game. She has her father beat, though, in terms of athleticism. She wields an impressive mix of power and agility and flies like The Nature Boy never did.

Even in this studded lineup, the former Raw women's champ would be the star of the team, the magnetic, flamboyant peacock strutting down the aisle as she led her squad into battle.

Lita

In the 2000s, Lita began her WWE journey as a sidekick to Essa Rios and The Hardy Boyz but soon proved she was a star.

Her daredevil approach won over fans, as did her athleticism. She flew around the ring, moonsaulting, spinning and diving her way to fame.

Including her here would assure this team an excess of energy and a number of eye-catching moments. And if things broke down and became more of a street fight, the hard-nosed Hall of Famer could more than handle herself in a scrum.

Toyota

If you didn't see Toyota tear it up for All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, you missed a wealth of great action. The Flying Angel wowed in battles with Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue and others. She was a compelling, dropkicking superhero.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer wrote: "Toyota was on a par if not superior to any male pro wrestler of the 1990s as far as athleticism and garnering a reaction from fans, having many of the best bouts of the decade."

She was a skilled storyteller, a babyface badass who flew at foes with a missile dropkick that would make Daniel Bryan jealous. Not including her here would be like forming the Justice League without Superman.

Kudo

To give this quintet extra edge, Kudo joins them looking for a fight.

The Japanese star spent much of the 1990s battling in rings surrounded by barbed wire, handing out punishment in brutal hardcore bouts and flourishing in regular old championship matches. 

She bled, she emoted, she kicked ass. She was a tough-as-nails performer, a warrior in pink.

If this team were a Voltron-type robot, Kudo would be the fangs.

The Babyface Brood

Daniel Bryan, El Santo, Hulk Hogan, Rikidozan, Steve Austin

It wouldn't be safe to forget your earplugs when this crew arrives. The pops for these megastars around the world would be off the charts.

These are wrestlers who endeared themselves to the audience in a powerful way, amassing loud, vocal, passionate followings in the process.

Bryan 

Before injuries forced him out of the ring, Bryan was the hottest thing WWE had going. He was the everyman, the underdog, the fighter who left his heart juices all over the canvas.

WWE had no choice but to crown the undersized, dorky guy from Washington during his peak in 2014. His pedal-to-the-floor ring style made him a favorite. In fact, everything he did made crowds go nuts. 

"Yes!" chants would echo through the arena before Bryan went to battle for this all-star team of babyfaces.

Santo

To say El Santo was the Hogan of Mexico would be grossly understating his impact.

The broad-shouldered bruiser was a god-like figure in the ring. He was not only the top star south of the border, he helped popularize pro wrestling in a country where it is beloved today.

El Santo was such a big name that he appeared in countless movies where he fought off zombies, aliens and other such frightening foes in his trademark white mask.

His inclusion on this team would elevate it, making it feel more like a congregation of superheroes.

Hogan

In the 1980s, WWE built itself around Hogan. No one was more popular, no one more transcendent from his generation.

Hogan was a hero to kids, the ultimate patriot, a symbol of all that was good in a black-and-white cartoon world.

And the Hulkster electrified crowds with just a few moves. He revved up a crowd by simply shaking his head and brushing off an opponent's attack.

He would be right at home with this crew of icons.

Rikidozan

When Rikidozan chopped and slammed his opponents, the audience was sucked in.

The Father of Puroresu did in Japan what El Santo did in Mexico in terms of making the business a part of the culture. The hard-hitting bulldozer was a hero to his country when it sorely needed it post-World War II.

WWE Hall of Famer Freddie Blassie wrote in his autobiography 'Classy' Freddie Blassie: Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks: "Rikidozan was more than a wrestler in Japan, and I knew it. He was this force who gave his people life."

Making him part of this team would bring in the admiration of a nation that adores its pro wrestling.

Stone Cold

The biggest name during WWE's hottest period is a no-brainer addition here.

Austin was the take-no-prisoners badass so many of us wish we were. He was the foul-mouthed rebel with an abundance of moxie. When he fought against authority or injustice, it was simply mystifying.

The pops Stone Cold generated were second to none. When fans heard the sound of glass breaking in his theme music, they became unglued.

And even after welcoming the rest of this team of babyface legends to Survivor Series, the audience would surely explode for Austin's arrival.

The Maniacs

Jun Kasai, Mankind, Roddy Piper, Psycho Clown, Wild Bull Curry

This is the team that referees would do their damnedest to avoid officiating, one parents would hesitate to allow their children to watch.

These are the unhinged and unpredictable, the brawlers who seem to enjoy the sensation of seeing their own teeth on the ground. Wrestling's wildest characters joining forces would make for a compelling kind of chaos.

Kasai

The man known as Crazy Monkey has made his living reveling in savagery. Kasai's resume is brimming with bloodbaths and matches where broken glass covered the canvas.

He brawls. He bites. He wrestles like a rabid animal trapped in a corner.

Throughout his career in various hardcore promotions, Kasai has shown himself willing to do just about anything in the ring, with seemingly no fear of pain or blood.

Mankind

The most unsettling of Mick Foley's alter egos was one of the Attitude Era's most iconic characters. He was a beast one had to muzzle, an unbalanced man who talked of eating worms and charred flesh.

Seeing his leather mask and missing teeth from across the ring would sure leave his foes disturbed from the get-go.

And as we've seen in his Hell in a Cell matches, there is no risk Mankind wouldn't take. He'd be surrounded by fellow risk-takers in this Survivor Series squad.

Piper

Hot Rod was rarely the most level-headed member of any group. He would be here, the fiery, calculating captain of this band of wildmen. 

Piper entertained throughout the 1970s and 1980s as a man on the edge.

He smashed a ketchup bottle on his head. He broke a coconut over Jimmy Snuka's head. He was a whirlwind whipping through the wrestling landscape with his fists cocked and a wry smile on his face.

Psycho Clown

Doink the Clown was a goofy pest. Psycho Clown is something born from a far darker place.

The Lucha Libre AAA star careens around the ring looking for someone to punch, stomp or torture on the mat.

He wears clown-themed attire that would be right at home in a Guillermo del Toro movie.

Like Kusai, Piper and the rest of the crew, Psycho Clown can handle himself in a hardcore bout. This team would have the clear edge in any Extreme Rules bout.

Curry

In the ring, Curry stalked his prey in an odd stance, with his arms up like one of Boris Karloff's monsters come to life. He was a barroom brawler, an unrefined, cheap-shotting scrapper. 

Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson wrote of Curry in The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels: "He made little pretense of wrestling; his actions more resembled those of an out-of-control gremlin."

Curry helped develop the brutal art of hardcore wrestling, infusing chair shots and cinder blocks into his offense in the 1950s and 1960s when that kind of stunt was not nearly as commonplace. 

The roaming, wild-eyed monster would be right at home alongside guys such as Kusai. Their team, though, would be in danger of being out of control before the opening bell even rang.