WWE Survivor Series 2017: Which Brand Has the Superior Champions?
As if you haven't heard it enough in the past few weeks, Survivor Series is the only time of the year when Raw and SmackDown Live Superstars face off against each other.
This used to be the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, but after the 2016 brand split, Survivor Series became the new home for this kind of gimmick event.
The 2017 Survivor Series card has taken things up to a new level from last year, as there aren't just the elimination matches but also four different champion vs. champion bouts.
The respective world champions, tag team champions, midcard champions and women's champions from Raw and SmackDown are set to square off as another form of determining brand supremacy.
Even though none of the titles are on the line, pride is still at stake, meaning whichever brand has the most victories is going to theoretically look like the stronger show.
With all titles supposedly being equal to the opposite brand's equivalent, these matches should come out to stalemates—at least, on paper—but one quick glance at the competitors shows that is certainly not going to be the case.
Which brand has the better champions and will come out with the most wins at Survivor Series?
Let's examine all the participants and try to predict the outcomes of these champion vs. champion fights.
Tag Team Champions: The Bar vs. The Usos
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With the way WWE has traded belts back and forth in 2017, it shouldn't be so surprising that just a few weeks ago, this match would have featured a different crop of wrestlers.
Not only was The New Day a thorn in the sides of Jimmy and Jey Uso, but up until the November 6 edition of Monday Night Raw, the Raw tag team champions were Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, not Cesaro and Sheamus.
Both The Bar and The Usos are on their third tag title reign of the year, which effectively makes them equals.
That, in itself, is as good of a pairing as WWE can hope for since fans should be unable to predict which team will come out on top instead of expecting an obvious one-sided victory.
The Usos have more experience together as a tag team and have had more overall success in that division over the years, but Cesaro and Sheamus are much better singles competitors than Jimmy and Jey.
In any singles pairing, The Bar has the advantage. But in a tag team scenario, it's not a particularly massive lead.
What might be the difference-maker is that The Shield's Ambrose and Rollins will surely be looking to regain the tag titles and are arguably the most powerful team in WWE.
In order to balance out the equation, The Bar could use a win at Survivor Series to look stronger for their title defense, whereas The Usos don't have that same problem.
Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin have been the top contenders for the SmackDown tag titles and are already being pushed aside quite a bit, meaning there's nobody The Usos have to look imposing toward.
For this match, the point goes to The Bar and Monday Night Raw.
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. United States Champion Baron Corbin
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This is an interesting pairing for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being how both men are decidedly heels.
Based on his ability to entertain the crowd in a different way, it can be surmised The Miz will end up playing the part of the babyface in this match, especially considering how he's the weaker of the two.
When it comes to strength, Baron Corbin is nowhere near on par with the likes of Braun Strowman and company, but he is booked as more of a hard-hitting wrestler than The Miz.
Instead of fighting power with power, The Miz will have to resort to his intelligence to outwit Corbin not just in terms of cunning strategy but also his status as a veteran, having many more years of wrestling experience than The Lone Wolf.
If The Miztourage is ringside and able to cause distractions, that could spell the end for Corbin, who is easily flustered and prone to letting his anger get the best of him.
However, it's much simpler to have The Miz be overpowered and fall victim to an End of Days, which is probably the best call to make as Corbin could use the victory much more than The Miz, who can bounce back more easily after taking a loss.
When it comes to pairing up the midcard champions, Corbin should earn a point for SmackDown.
Women's Champions: Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Flair
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When this was the originally scheduled match between Alexa Bliss and Natalya, it was hard to see any outcome other than Bliss coming out on top because she is a much bigger personality than The Queen of Harts.
After Charlotte Flair snatched the SmackDown Women's Championship away from Natalya, though, the momentum shifted considerably toward the blue brand's favor.
Outside of Asuka, it's hard to argue there are any two women higher on the totem pole in WWE than Bliss and Flair, who have been taking charge of their respective brands since the split.
Originally, they were separated, with Bliss on SmackDown and Flair on Raw—both the champions for the better part of their tenures.
Since they swapped brands during April's Superstar Shake-up, they have found themselves back to being the heads of their divisions once more.
The one factor that could tip the scale toward Flair is she is the babyface in this confrontation, so it's easier to digest having her come out victorious.
On paper, she has several other advantages as well: growing up with a legend for a father, having more time and experience in the business, being the taller and more powerful of the two and having one more title reign to her name than Bliss.
When The Goddess and The Queen clash, the safer bet is a win for Flair.
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles
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This is such a drastic change from the originally scheduled match between Brock Lesnar and Jinder Mahal, which would have seen The Modern Day Maharaja decimated by The Beast Incarnate.
AJ Styles, on the other hand, stands a significantly better chance of putting up a fight against Lesnar, even though he'll also come up short.
The difference between the two scenarios is The Phenomenal One is a credible champion with a track record of great performances and digging down deep to get the win.
Mahal was the opposite, being booked as a fluke who held on to his title through shenanigans and underhanded tactics.
Even someone with the popularity of Styles will still struggle against Lesnar, though, since the universal champion is perhaps the strongest-booked Superstar in WWE history, frequently running through top-tier talent like a hot knife through butter.
As good and as beloved as Styles is, WWE's primary motivation for the coming months will be to set up Roman Reigns to win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania, so Lesnar will be booked as strong as possible in the meantime.
There is no way Lesnar loses this match, so the best SmackDown can hope for is that Styles puts up a decent enough fight and doesn't get embarrassed.
The Final Verdict
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This would be a toss-up and a potential tie, seeing as these four matches and the two elimination fights would create a chance for the brands to get three wins apiece and call it even.
What makes all the difference in the fight for brand supremacy is the outlying match between The Shield and The New Day, which bumps this competition up to an odd number, meaning one show must get the victory.
The short story is that The Shield will take the win there to seal the deal, with Raw having a final score of at least four wins while SmackDown will settle with three—likely from Corbin, Flair and the men's elimination match since Asuka will probably dominate the women's match and secure a win for the red brand there.
SmackDown will have won enough to make this interesting, but Raw will have one more victory to be able to claim superiority, even though the champions will seem quite evenly matched.
Since nothing is on the line but pride, both Raw and SmackDown will continue to feel the same as before and WWE will be back to the status quo in within a week or so following the event.
Until then, the fans should just strap themselves in and enjoy the ride.
Which champions do you feel have the advantage, and are you rooting for Raw or SmackDown Live? Tell us your thoughts and predictions in the comments section below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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