Survivor Series comes to us in November from Toronto.
RAW the night after SummerSlam begins with the Bullet Club (minus Devitt) headed to the ring. AJ has his belt, Anderson/Gallows show the wear of the previous night, and always a beat behind, Nakamura.
AJ says the Bullet Club is again victorious and never stronger. He’s kept the WWF Title, Nakamura is now the Dark Ride Wrestling champion, Anderson and Gallows have ended the careers of the Dudley Boys. These are glory days for the Bullet Club.
Danielson appears on the stage, says he’s confused, there used to be another guy with them – but last night Brock Lesnar fractured his skull.
AJ says of course, thoughts and prayers to Prince Devitt, a long time valued member of the Bullet Club, but the Bullet Club isn’t here to talk about the past.
That’s going to be the posture of AJ, he’s running the Bullet Club, Devitt doesn’t exist – Devitt suffered a torn labrum and the aforementioned fractured skull at SummerSlam and isn’t anticipated back anytime soon.
Before Danielson gets off the stage there’s back and forth with AJ where Styles says he’s taking the night off – and Danielson says he’s not, that in the main event, AJ will be kicking off the Survivor Series.
Confusion, obviously.
Danielson explains that the Survivor Series this year will be a 64 man tournament, a series of matches to culminate at Survivor Series to claim the ultimate survivor. And it starts tonight when AJ Styles will take on….John Cena.
Cena makes a return after a long absence, he’s wearing his old school WWF T-shirt, he’s full high octane energy as he hits the ramp and points at Styles as the segment ends.
So – that’s the Survivor Series this year – 10 matches, 7 of which will be tournament matches. The full tournament and the resultant Survivor Series matches will be set up here – next month we’ll cover the rest of the card and anything else going on in the build – including the election of the 45th President of the United States.
Here’s Round One, matches take place on all 3 WWF shows throughout the build.
1. AJ Styles d. John Cena
2. Sombra d. Cedric Alexander
3. Tommaso Ciampa d. Dash Wilder
4. Luke Harper d. Eric Young
-AJ beats Cena clean in the best match they can have, it appears for a moment that Cena is going to get the postmatch beatdown and flag burial, but Styles, demonstrating his command of the group, calls it off – saying “he’s not worth the flag” and sneering as they exit the ring.
-Sombra and the injured Kenta quietly were removed from Heyman’s client roster after the Rumble, Somba goes over Alexander on Dark Ride to earn a Round 2 match against the WWF Champ.
-Also on Dark Ride, a continuation of the Revival program against Gargano/Ciampa, Ciampa getting the fall on Dash.
-It’s the return of Harper, he and Bray were destroyed the night after the Rumble by the Bullet Club, he beats the debuting EY in a good Fight Night brawl. Harper will match up with Ciampa in Round 2.
5. Chris Jericho d. Baron Corbin
6. Roderick Strong d. Mikey Nicholls
7. Scott Dawson d. PAUL
8. Tyler Black d. Xavier Woods
-Old man Jericho’s last ride continued at Summer Slam when he went over Crews, as mentioned in the build for SummerSlam the Network longform pieces documenting his career continue in this build, he goes over Corbin from developmental on RAW.
-Strong has been feuding with Roode on Dark Ride, that’s going to end in this build, we’ll discuss that when they are both out of the tournament. He beats NOAH’s Nicholls on Dark Ride and will meet Jericho in Round 2.
-The other half of the Revival wins his opening match on Dark Ride, against PAUL, the big man is entirely enhancement at this point in his career.
-Black beat Kingston in his long awaited return at SummerSlam, he and Ambrose fissure worsened postmatch, Black continued his run of getting revenge on Langston’s friends in Langston’s injured absence, he whips Woods on Fight Night and will take on Dawson in Round 2.
9. Kalisto d. Primo Colon
10. Apollo Crews d. Ken Doane
11. Dean Ambrose d. Noam Dar
12. Kingston d. Zach Ryder
-Kalisto returns after getting buried in the Bullet Club flag in the SummerSlam build, going over Primo on RAW.
-Hey, look, it’s one time prodigy Kenny Doane – he doesn’t work here, this opens up the idea that Danielson is always interested in outside talent and outside talent is interested in working for Danielson, this tournament is open to any wrestler in the world, and Doane does a one shot here on Dark Ride, going under Crews. That sets up the intriguing second round matchup between the former tag partners in developmental, Kalisto and Crews.
-Ambrose went over Nemeth at SummerSlam, and as mentioned, we saw a furthering of his split from Black. He works on Dark Ride here, beating young Dar from developmental.
-Kingston lost to Black at SummerSlam, he gets a win at Fight Night over Ryder. He and Ambrose will hook up in Round 2.
13. Roman Reigns d. Rhyno
14. Jimmy Uso d. Jey Uso
15. Sheamus d. Truth Killings
16. Brian Kendrick d. Tyler Breeze
-The Usos lost the tag belts to Trash at SummerSlam, Reigns works as a single on RAW, going over the veteran Rhyno.
-Speaking of the Usos, they work Fight Night in their first ever 1:1 match, Jimmy goes over, postmatch they are attacked by the Revival, that’s going to lead to a Fight Night program between the two squads. Jimmy will meet Roman in Round 2.
-Sheamus continues to be haunted by his loss to the Cuck at Mania, and then subsequent loss to the returning Kendrick in the Cuck outfit prior to Summer Slam, he takes it out on Killings on Fight Night.
-Kendrick made his aforementioned surprise return, we get a segment with he and Danielson – they cover their long history together, Danielson said he hadn’t been able to find Kendrick for a couple of years, Kendrick says Maryse tracked him down, and as a favor, Kendrick wants Danielson to let the Cuck work the tournament. Danielson hates it – but agrees. Kendrick meets Sheamus in Round 2.
17. Braun Strowman d. Drew Gulak
18. The Cuck d. Jinder Mahal
19. Johnny Gargano d. Cass
20. Karl Anderson d. Jason Jordan
-Strowman emerges from developmental to squash Gulak on RAW.
-Miz does the full Cuck gimmick for the first time since Mania, but when he gets to the point in the spiel where he’s about to offer a night with his wife to Mahal in exchange for the win, he changes the script and says he’s going to kick Jinder’s ass – they have a real match, the Cuck works as a babyface and goes over. He’ll meet Strowman in Round 2.
-His partner advanced and so did Gargano, he beats Cass on Dark Ride.
-A couple of weeks after SummerSlam American Alpha won a tag match on RAW, they’ve gotten heavily pushed since coming up from developmental as the next big thing, future WWF tag champs. After that RAW match, American Alpha goes back through the curtain and they are waylaid backstage by Anderson and Gallows. That’s a heavy beatdown angle, ending up in a shower with both Jordan and Gable getting color. It’s a callback to a Rockers/Brainbusters angle where Arn and Tully beat the hell out of Shawn and Marty in a shower, the blood running into the drain Psycho style. That turned out to be a long “vets take the pretty boy kids to the learning tree” program and it’s going to happen again here. Anderson and Gallows cut promos saying the future of the WWF tag division is the Bullet Club and they’re going to kill American Alpha in the crib. Both of the partners are at ringside in this heated round one matchup – Anderson goes over and Alpha is left laying postmatch. Anderson will take on Gargano in Round 2.
21. Kota Ibushi d.Shane Haste
22. Zach Sabre d. Tony Nese
23. Chad Gable d. Dustin Rhodes
24. Luke Gallows d. Jack Swagger
-Kota Ibushi and Zach Sabre get a couple of weeks of clip package buildup, two of the great wrestlers in the world are coming to WWF at the request of Danielson to participate in the Survivor Series tournament. They both work the same RAW, Ibushi going over Shane Haste, Sabre going over Tony Nese. Ibushi and Sabre will meet in a much anticipated round 2 matchup.
-A banged up Chad Gable goes over Dustin Rhodes, and we say goodbye to Jack Swagger, who has been managing Alpha and a huge part of the act. Swagger comes out of retirement, asks Danielson for a match against Gallows as vengeance for the actions of the Bullet Club – but he goes under and then winds up victim to the full BC beatdown, Styles and Nakamura (in one of his only appearances in the build after the first night) appear to devastate Swagger and end his WWF run. Gallows and Gable will meet in round 2. The end of Swagger’s WWF is a thing, he’s a more significant figure here than real world Swagger – it’s particularly significant to Regal (this match was on Fight Night) given his long history with Swagger and Regal becomes anti Bullet Club in an overt manner going forward.
25. TJ Perkins d. Fandango
26. Tyler Bate d. Pete Dunne
27. Nick Nemeth d. Mark Henry
28. Bobby Roode d. Heath Slater
-TJP gets a storyline, years on the road have left him a battered version of the fresh faced kid who started on the independents on 19, he’s been discarded by the sport, it’s left him tremendously bitter, and Danielson brings him in for a last shot. He heels on Fandango to get the win. In Round 2 he’ll face Bate, as Danielson looks to tap the UK market.
-Henry, like PAUL, is enhancement now, and Nemeth gets the easy win. Roode rolls over Slater and those two will meet in Round 2.
29. Akira Tozawa d. Jack Gallagher
30. Mascara Dorada d. Tajiri
31. Rich Swann d. Joe Hennig
32. Bray Wyatt d. Taylor Rotunda
-Debuts from international stars Tozawa and Dorada, who will immediately start feuding on Dark Ride, they’ll meet in Round 2 here. It’s a one shot for former IC Champ Tajiri.
-Swann makes Round 2, he’ll take on Bray, who squashes Rotunda.
Round 2
1. AJ Styles d. Sombra
2. Kota Ibushi d. Zach Sabre
-Both matches on the same RAW, just workrate, they have the best matches they can have, later in the evening AJ and Ibushi are both brought back to the ring, they do a nose to nose, they will meet in the Sweet 16 with the winner advancing to the Survivor Series.
3. Luke Harper d. Tomaso Ciampa
4.Bray Wyatt d. Rich Swann
-Both matches on the same Fight Night, stablemates turned rivals Wyatt and Harper return to the ring before the night ends, they’ll hook up one last time in the Sweet 16, the winner advancing to Survivor Series.
5. Chris Jericho d. Roderick Strong
6. Nick Nemeth d. Roode
-Both matches on the same Dark Ride, Nemeth and Jericho do the nose to nose, the winner of that match will go to Survivor Series. Roode and Strong had been cutting promos on each other in advance of this night, saying that the other one would be getting eliminated – at the end of the night Roode came to the ring and challenged Strong to fight him, they got into a brawl that was stopped by Aries (Aries had to retire due to eye injuries suffered in a Bullet Club beatdown, he’s now the Dark Ride analyst). Aries leaves the announce and gets in the ring – Aries yells at both guys, says they need to stop. Aries points at Strong, says this is his tag partner, that they’re family – Aries points at Roode, says back in TNA, even though they didn’t ever get along, there was a time when they had to come together to stop a common enemy. And they did. And all around here are common enemies, one after another, including the group that took my eye.
Aries says it’s enough. You think you can do this alone, you can’t. I’m proof. You think you can’t trust each other, you can. Because you both know you can trust me.
Strong extends his hand. Roode shakes it.
7. Tyler Black d. Scott Dawson
8.TJ Perkins d. Tyler Bate
-Back to RAW, Black goes over Dawson solidly and Perkins continues his run with a win over the Englishman Bate. You can see the hunger (literally, the dude is hungry) in Perkins’ eyes as he and Black go nose to nose.
9. Kalisto d. Apollo Crews
10. Akira Tozawa d. Mascara Dorada
Back to Dark Ride, Kalisto beats his former tag partner and Tozawa gets the better of Dorada. A nifty matchup coming to get a Survivor Series slot between Tozawa and Kalisto.
11. Dean Ambrose d. Kingston
12. Karl Anderson d. Johnny Gargano
On Fight Night Ambrose torments Kingston a little bit, refusing a pinfall at one point to inflict some more damage, “is this good enough Tyler? Are we friends again?”. He’s going to take on Machine Gun Anderson of the Bullet Club, who beats Gargano.
13. Roman Reigns d. Jimmy Uso
14. Chad Gable d. Luke Gallows
Chaos at Dark Ride, Reigns beats Jimmy, but then both are attacked by the Revival, Jey comes to aid, but Reigns is pulled away by Gallows and Anderson, the announce speculating that in case Luke advances later in the evening they want to soften Reigns up – but then Alpha appears to aid Reigns in going after the Bullet Club, they hadn’t been seen since Swagger’s destruction – they’re full of fire as they hit the ramp to attack Anderson/Gallows, security is there quickly to break it up. Both Jordan and Anderson barred from ringside as Gable gets some revenge by eliminating Gallows. Reigns returns to the ring for the nose to nose.
15. Sheamus d. Brian Kendrick
16. The Cuck d. Braun Strowman
-On RAW, Sheamus has eagerly anticipated his rematch against Kendrick, more than that, it leaves him a match away from finally getting his hands on the Miz, which has driven him since Mania.
Sheamus gets the win; The Cuck doesn’t even get two words out to read to Strowman, who grabs him by the throat and throws him into the buckles. It’s the end of the Cuck gimmick, Strowman tears the latex suit from his body, just pummeling Miz, enough that Sheamus comes down to the ring and coaxes Strowman outside, Sheamus and Strowman brawl at ringside and Braun gets counted out.
There won’t be a nose to nose, Miz has to be helped from the ring – but the sweet 16 is set and Sheamus will get the Miz.
One more round on TV.
1. AJ Styles d. Kota Ibushi
-a workrate match, Styles goes over – before Ibushi leaves Nakamura hits the ring, with Dark Ride belt – he holds it up in front of Ibushi’s face, the message is clear, Nakamura wants to defend the Dark Ride Championship against Ibushi. We get that match, Nakamura goes over and that wraps Ibushi in WWF.
2. Kalisto d. Akira Tozawa
-more workrate, Kalisto will be heading to Survivor Series to face Styles in the Elite 8 matchup, Kalisto was buried under the Bullet Club flag in the Summer Slam build, causing him to miss that show, but he’s plucky and has battled his way back to get a match with the WWF Champ at Survivor Series.
3. Tyler Black d. TJ Perkins
-desperate Perkins gives every ounce he has, but goes under Black, the announce speculates if we’ll ever see Perkins again.
4. Dean Ambrose d. Karl Anderson
-We get the dream matchup in the Elite 8 at Survivor Series, the Shield explodes, Black vs. Ambrose. In promos in advance of the match, both men give some variation of “I don’t want this match, I didn’t want this fight, but it’s here, and I’m the better man”
5. Chris Jericho d. Nick Nemeth
-Old man Jericho is a decided underdog here against the athletic Nemeth, but he’s able to use the veteran wiles to pull it out and advance to Survivor Series. There’s an episode of Jericho’s career retrospective show put together with his great moments in Canada, Survivor Series is in Toronto and now we get a homecoming element to Jericho’s last ride. It is uncut babyface stuff, grizzled Jericho coming home.
6. Roman Reigns d. Chad Gable
-If Jericho wants to win the Survivor Series he’ll have to drag that old body to 3 wins in one night, seemingly an insurmountable feat – and it will have to start with Reigns, who goes over Gable.
7. Sheamus d. The Miz
-Strowman tore off the Cuck costume, seemingly ending that gimmick, Miz appears for this one without Maryse, just wearing trunks, and not using any of his chickenshit mannerisms, he survives a bunch of nearfalls, the story here being that Sheamus just can’t put him away, but Miz just refuses to die – until finally he does, earning the respect of the fans and of Sheamus – who offers a postmatch handshake, which Miz accepts. Miz walks up the ramp, to the cheers of the crowd, where he encounters Strowman, who hurls him off the ramp to the floor, breaking him in half.
8.Luke Harper d. Bray Wyatt
-They met at RAW the night after the Rumble, Harper went over in a wild brawl, seemingly ending their feud, and then both men were buried by the Bullet Club – Harper goes over again here in another brawl that extends all over the arena, it ends with a pinfall through a table, Harper beating Bray again and extinguishing their feud. Harper and Sheamus will bang heads at Survivor Series.
Okay, so here’s what we have for the PPV
AJ Styles v. Kalisto
Tyler Black v. Dean Ambrose
Chris Jericho v. Roman Reigns
Sheamus v. Luke Harper
Styles/Kalisto winner v. Black/Ambrose winner
Jericho/Reigns winner v. Sheamus/Harper winner
Finals
7 matches down. Next month, the 3 remaining matches – the WWF Tag Titles, the Women’s Title, and who is Brock wrestling? Plus anything else we need to cover from this build – including the long anticipated results of the 2016 Presidential Election. Part 2 is here.
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