It has been a fascinating year in WWE. There was Brock Lesnar’s prolonged Universal Championship reign and surprise return at Hell in a Cell. We’ve seen the rise of Braun Strowman to the main event picture and The Shield running wild once again. AJ Styles has heldi the WWE Championship longer than anyone expected and Daniel Bryan beat the odds to get back into the ring. Ronda Rousey arrived and proceeded to dominate the Raw women’s division, while Becky Lynch found new life as a heel on SmackDown. Even on the announce side, there has been some shake up, including the return of Jonathan Coachman, as well as Renee Young getting promoted to become the first full time regular female color commentator for WWE.
So what’s next?
After Survivor Series, we’ll truly be in the homestretch for the year 2018, and if history is an indicator, WWE may as soon as that point set its sights on building toward WrestleMania. Who will get big pushes, and who will recede to lower profile positions in WWE? Who might debut or return and who might be on their way out the door? What heel or face turns, or brand switches might be in store? What’s the next slate of big programs and matches on their way?
We can rest assured that WWE will have its share of surprises in store. This article takes its best guesses based on current trends, rumors, and historical perspective about what might happen in WWE after the Survivor Series PPV has come and gone this year.
20 Braun Strowman Wins The Royal Rumble
From the very first time WWE fans saw Braun Strowman, it was evident that he might have a very big future with WWE. After all, the company historically favors big men who come across as super human for their size and strength. Since that time, Strowman’s build hasn’t necessarily been steady, but he has inched his way forward to include being featured in main event scenarios and being positioned in world title position.
Some might suggest the bloom is off the rose, and it’s a bad sign WWE hasn’t gone all the way with Strowman despite having had multiple world title shots and even a blown Money in the Bank cash-in. However, it’s also entirely possible the powers that be are saving his biggest push for the companies biggest stages, which may include winning the Royal Rumble en route to challenging for a title at WrestleMania.
19 A Heel Turn For Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey is a remarkable athlete who has transitioned to wrestling brilliantly.
WWE is butting up against an awkward dimension of her participation in the Raw women’s division who could believably beat her?
Rousey has bested the biggest opponent available in Nia Jax, the incumbent champion in Alexa Bliss, and the heel authority figure in Stephanie McMahon. While Rousey does still have a dream match waiting with Charlote Flair and a few other intriguing pairings from SmackDown and NXT, she’s nonetheless very low on credible opponents, and the next logical move may be for WWE to play into her dominant presence, and make her an unstoppable heel champ.
18 Shawn Michaels Makes His Presence Felt On SmackDown
One of the nuances of WWE’s international stadium shows has been that part time legends can come back and essentially operate as if they’re in a separate universe from the rest of WWE. While Shawn Michaels has appeared on Raw throughout the fall, there’s no clear indication he’s truly a part of that roster, and thus it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to jump to SmackDown on his comeback tour.
While Michaels has dream matches awaiting him on either brand, if WWE wants to get the most out of great matches from him in a limited time tour of the company, the blue brand is the place to be. There, he can work with Andrade Almas, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, and of course AJ Styles, whom the rumor mill has him paired off against for WrestleMania.
17 Daniel Bryan Vs. The Miz Enters Its Homestretch
The feud between Daniel Bryan and The Miz has been quite good, shrewdly playing off of the long history between these two performers to lend their issue a sense of something epic. Their match at SummerSlam largely delivered and each outing between the two has left the door open for them to revisit their issue once again.
All good things must come to an end, though, and for as much chemistry as Bryan and The Miz have demonstrated on the mic and in the ring, they are increasingly running the risk of fans tiring of their story. Some rumors peg them blowing off their feud once and for all at WrestleMania, potentially with the WWE Championship in the mix. If so, we can expect their issue to heat up once more post-Survivor Series, to lead into one last go-round between the two.
16 Finally, The Rock Comes Back
After working the main events of WrestleManias 28 and 29, The Rock has scarcely been seen in WWE. Sure, he’s made one off appearances here and there, and even worked a lightning quick match at WrestleMania 32. At the end of the day, though, he has come across more like a WWE alum than a current star for these past five years.
Rumors abound that The Great One has the itch to get back in a WWE ring.
Pundits are particularly pegging him for a WrestleMania 35 match opposite the likes of someone like Roman Reigns or Triple H.
We’ll have to see how that plays out, but the odds seem better than ever that we will see The Brahma Bull on WWE television post-Survivor Series.
15 Charlotte Flair Switches Brands
Charlotte Flair was set up as the face of women’s wrestling for WWE—a fitting role because she’s not only talented, but had a wrestling lineage, and was both traditionally attractive and looked like a legitimate athlete. Flair has since been overshadowed by Ronda Rousey, who came to WWE with unparalleled legitimacy and celebrity.
For now, Flair and Rousey have not meaningfully crossed paths, and certainly not physically engaged with one another. This showdown will happen eventually, though, as a dream match scenario worthy of a WrestleMania, and likely as not when they seem like the only credible challengers left for each other. Some rumors suggest Cris Cyborg may get brought in to work Rousey at WrestleMania, but if that doesn’t come together, it’s reasonable to think Flair will jump to Raw—either by a Royal Rumble win or other machinations—to face the Baddest Woman on the Planet.
14 Rollins And Ambrose Move Up The Card
Dean Ambrose's heel turn took place a little quicker than many expected. Once Roman Reigns announced he was relinquishing the Universal Championship, many expected that Rollins and Ambrose would stay together a little longer to provide a feel-good team, winning titles in honor of their fallen brother. However, with Rollins and Ambrose now split, this feels like a feud that's set to last months and go into WrestleMania season. The only question is, whether they'll remain entrenched in the upper midcard, or if they'll move up to the main event picture. With this feud set to be the top story on RAW, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Universal Championship ends up getting involved at some point.
13 The Authors Of Pain Strike Gold
The Authors of Pain were a terrific team in NXT, where they combined an imposing presence with actual athleticism and technical wrestling ability to start out as exceptional monster heels. All the better, feuding with The Undisputed Era demonstrated the team’s ability to sell and work as (at least de facto) faces.
WWE hasn’t seemed certain what to do with AOP on Raw, and there were reports of injury and visa issues temporarily holding them back. From there, the tag team titles were locked up in storylines involving Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and The Shield. When the dust settles and the tag division starts focusing on full time teams again, Akam and Rezar are the obvious choices to get a dominant run with the belts.
12 Randy Orton Slides Into The Main Event Picture
Randy Orton is on the short list of legends still working a full time schedule who can credibly be positioned in the world title picture whenever WWE needs it. Sure, a number of critics will argue Orton grew stale in the main event, and particularly as a face. After working the mid-card for most of the year, though, and as his latest heel persona continues to click, he would be a sensible enough choice to transition to the top of SmackDown, if only as a placeholder between programs.
Orton could play the spoiler for a B-PPV title match in December, or between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
He could also be a red herring threat to win the Rumble itself, or even subbed into a Triple Threat situation for the WWE Championship at ‘Mania. One way or another, WWE never seems to keep Orton in the mid-card for too long.
11 Kurt Angle Back In The GM Role
Most fans seem to agree that Kurt Angle is more entertaining as a wrestler than as an authority figure. Just the same, he’s also not quite the dazzling athlete he was in his prime, and is arguably the kind of talent best kept working part time to both keep him special and protect his body.
So, to make continual use of one the company’s most over legends, we can expect to see Angle transition back to the Raw GM position. Perhaps that will come after beating Baron Corbin one on one, or in his team beating Corbin’s in a rumored Survivor Series match for control of the brand.
10 Drew McIntyre Betrays Dolph Ziggler
When Drew McIntyre returned to Raw as Dolph Ziggler’s sidekick, it left a lot of fans scratching their heads. McIntyre had thrived on the indies and gone on to a rock solid NXT run before coming back to the main roster, and looked like he could be a star of at least Ziggler’s caliber on his own.
McIntyre and Ziggler’s partnership has since paid dividends in a fun run of the two working as a tag team, and joining Braun Strowman as a threat to The Shield. Looking ahead, it appears McIntyre may feud with Strowman. In the long run, though, his partnership with Ziggler looks destined to self-destruct, and the only real question is which man will betray the other first. Regardless, the outcome should be the same—McIntyre winning decisively to move on to bigger things.
9 The Undisputed Era Gets Its Call Up
The Undisputed Era was a big deal from its debut on NXT, first appearing at the third NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn show to jump new tag team champions Sanity, and new NXT Champion Drew McIntyre. From there, the group has held the tag titles for most of its run, and Adam Cole was the original N.A. Champion, besides being in the NXT Championship mix.
It's clear WWE is behind this group, and they could make a welcome addition to Raw or SmackDown as heels with big personalities who can more than back up their talk in the ring.
Cole actually got an unofficial main roster debut when he took part in last year’s Royal Rumble, and could move up for good after Survivor Series.
8 Bray Wyatt Turns Heads
Bray Wyatt has been a bit of a lost soul. After peaking when he carried the WWE Championship into WrestleMania 33, Wyatt found himself lost in the shuffle on Raw before he was on the losing end of a rivalry with Finn Balor, and then feuding with Matt Hardy in a largely incoherent attempt to recapture Hardy’s Broken magic from the indies.
That Wyatt and Hardy wound up tag team champions might seem like career advancement, but it was more of a foot note for Wyatt’s derailed career. WWE has done the smart thing, though, in keeping Wyatt off TV in the aftermath. He’s still a recognizable and reasonably over character, and the best thing for him is to essentially start over—which just might happen as fall gives way to winter this year.
7 Stephanie McMahon Returns To Weekly TV
Whether she’s simply focusing on her executive work, or WWE recognized fans were tiring of her, WWE has been well served with Stephanie McMahon making only very limited TV appearances since WrestleMania. For as good as she can be on the mic, and deceptively skilled as she can be in the ring, she was largely over-exposed for some time.
We shouldn’t expect McMahon to be off TV forever, though. She’s recognizable enough, especially to more casual fans, that WWE will bring her back at the least in time for WrestleMania, if not in the build to the Royal Rumble.
6 AJ Styles Steps Away From The WWE Championship Scene
While AJ Styles is an easy favorite of hardcore fans for his incredible talent and indie pedigree, the unlikely has happened in recent months, as fans have soured on his WWE Championship reign. Some of it can be chalked up to WWE’s booking, and particularly the WWE Championship not really being treated as a main event title.
Some of it has to do with the repetitive nature of Styles retaining over and over, even if the matches have generally been quite good.
Styles deserves a featured spot in WWE, but as Survivor Series season passes, it’s reasonable enough to expect that he’ll move out of the title picture to other featured feuds.
5 Trish Stratus Goes Title Hunting
Prior to the current Women’s Revolution period, and particularly after controversy befell the Fabulous Moolah and her legacy, Trish Stratus was WWE’s gold standard for all time great women’s champions. The interesting thing is that Stratus retired in her prime, and even a decade removed from that retirement, she remains in viable shape to compete at the highest level.
While the women’s roster is fairly loaded, there are only so many wrestlers on it now who are viable as championship contenders—particularly relative to Ronda Rousey. Stratus may well be the legend WWE brings in to offer a short term, especially intriguing match up for one title or another.
4 A Face Turn For Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe has been a work horse since arriving on the main roster, giving no lesser stars than Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and AJ Styles some of their most compelling rivalries. He’s good in the vicious heel role, but is facing the uncomfortable truth that in rivalry after rivalry, he’s wound up on the losing end of his biggest matches.
Joe is running low on top faces to work with, and might be headed down the card a bit in the near future. Another possibility, however, would be for him to turn face to give him a fresher slate of opponents to work with, not to mention a bit of a character reboot.
3 The New Day Sets Its Sights On A New Record
One of The New Day’s biggest claims to fame is having held the tag team championships from Raw for longer than any tag team in WWE history. When WWE selected the trio to take up the tag title mantle on SmackDown after Erick Rowan got injured and the Bludgeon Brothers had to drop the straps, it looked as though Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston might have been in line for another record-breaking reign. Indeed, Kingston even set a record of his own as the individual to have held tag titles for the longest period ever, albeit with several different partners.
The Bar brought New Day’s reign to an abrupt end at SmackDown 1000. Still, we shouldn’t count out the pancake enthusiasts just yet.
They may get their hands back on tag gold, and in the aftermath of Survivor Series, look for them to pursue another record-long reign.
2 Renee Young Gets Involved In A Dean Ambrose Angle
There’s a time honored tradition of WWE’s broadcasters getting involved in angles, and now that Renee Young has moved into a full time color commentary role, she may be up for own story. No, Young isn’t a trained wrestler herself. She is uniquely positioned, however, as Dean Ambrose’s real life spouse. That could be exactly what WWE plays off of, especially if they plan on a character change for Ambrose.
Particularly with WWE teasing Ambrose splintering from The Shield, and potentially turning heel, some carefully planned cruelty or even a kayfabe breakup with Young could be just the thing get WWE fans booing The Lunatic Fringe.
1 The Bar Splits Up
It’s unclear if WWE ever meant for The Bar to be a permanent tag team. Sheamus and Cesaro came together after a best of seven series between the two ended indecisively, and since gelled as a unit, to become one of WWE’s most talented over pairs.
The team may have run its course, though, having worked as faces and heels and won tag gold on Raw and SmackDown. To be fair, WWE shouldn’t be in a rush to break them apart before there are bigger plans for either of them as singles acts. Cesaro in particular is an under utilized talent with untapped main event potential, and WWE may start looking in new directions for both men this winter.