WWE Survivor Series 2011: Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler Must Be Sole Survivors

The match that may be of the utmost importance at Survivor Series doesn’t even have a title on the line. No, I’m not talking about The Rock and John Cena against Awesome Truth, rather I mean the traditional Survivor Series match between Team Barrett and Team Orton.

While the WWE has gotten away from elimination tag-team matches at Survivor Series, they can still play a major role. While Randy Orton, Sheamus and the rest of his teammates wouldn’t benefit that much from a win, Wade Barrett and his squad most certainly would.

Barrett has been pushed very hard in recent weeks after months of meaningless matches. Over the past few weeks he owns victories over Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and Orton. It would be an absolute shame to waste that kind of momentum, so Barrett could really use a strong performance on Sunday.

The same can be said for United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, who was added to the match due to an injury to Christian. While there isn’t much room for him presently, it has become very apparent that Ziggler is a main-event talent.

In order to reach that level, though, he first has to ditch the United States Championship, which I believe he will do in his match with Zack Ryder at Survivor Series. While such a loss might make him look weak, it would be negated if he and Barrett stood tall against Team Orton.

For whatever reason, Survivor Series matches tend to be a great springboard for prospective main eventers, and this particular match could go down in history as the one that launched both Barrett and Ziggler to superstardom.

While there is plenty of danger that the creative team could decide to give the win to Orton and Sheamus, it simply wouldn’t make sense from the perspective of momentum. Both Barrett and Ziggler need some sort of signature win to reach the next level, and this could be it.

Orton doesn’t need any help in terms of getting over as, save for the past couple months, he has hardly lost since his face turn. The same can be said for Sheamus since turning face as he has generally been extremely dominant and is one of the company’s top faces.

It usually takes more for a heel to reach the pinnacle, and that is why I think Barrett and Ziggler deserve the rub. It would be very easy to have them use underhanded tactics in order to beat Orton and Sheamus, and while it wouldn’t make the faces look bad, it would be huge for the development of Barrett and Ziggler.