Weekly Wrestling Viewing Guide: Nov. 19 - 25, 2017

There’s a ton of wrestling content nowadays and unless you’re a hardcore pro-graps fan, you have to decide what to watch when and what to consider leaving out. That’s where we come in to help.

Every week, we are going to run down the big in-ring happenings for the easily accessible US wrestling. This won’t cover your indie needs, but ReverendKain always has you covered in his weekly Sermon on the Mat for that.

Bear in mind, matches could be added after this posts that would definitely change how worth a show is to watch.

Sunday

Survivor Series (WWE Network)

Credit where it is due, WWE put in a lot of work to make this feel like a big deal. The last few years, they’ve been trying to reposition this pay-per-view (PPV) as one of the Big 4 after it lost its status as such. And this year, they went all out.

They turned the idea of a Raw vs. SmackDown show with little stakes into a blood feud between the brands and did a great job of handling that. Here’s the card:

• Enzo Amore (c) vs. Kalisto for the Cruiserweight champ championship (Kickoff)
• Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte
• Usos vs. The Bar
• Baron Corbin vs. the Miz
• The Shield vs. the New Day
• Asuka, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, Bayley and Alicia Fox (Team Raw) vs. Becky Lynch, Tamina, Carmella, Naomi, & Natalya (Team SmackDown) in an elimination match
• Kurt Angle, Triple H, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, & Braun Strowman (Team Raw) vs. Shane McMahon, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, & Bobby Roode (Team SmackDown) in an elimination match
• AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

This card is stacked. There are three matches here that could probably main event any PPV. The Shield vs. the New Day is a dream match and it is being over shadowed by two other monumental matches.

Will there be swerves? Betrayals? Which brand will come out on top?

There’s just so much good stuff here, with the only possible dud being on the Kickoff. (I can see how people may not be into Baron vs. Miz, but I’m actually excited for that one too.)

Verdict: Despite this being a 4-hour show, it looks like a really fun one

Monday

Monday Night Raw (USA Network)

This will be all the Raw fallout and I’m betting it’ll be big if Survivor Series goes big.

Verdict: It’ll depend on Survivor Series, but I bet both Raw and SmackDown will have something worth watching.

Tuesday

SmackDown Live (USA Network)

Same deal as Raw. There is one thing I’d like to point out though.

Last week, Daniel Bryan told Shane McMahon that he’s still unhappy about Shane running the Raw siege without consulting him. And he plans to have words with Shane about it after the PPV is over. Will there be some issues between the usually united SmackDown Live authority?

Verdict: Unlike Raw, SD has a pay-per-view (Clash of Champions) in December they’ll have to start prepping for. And of course, this is all fallout from the PPV.

205 Live (WWE Network)

This will be the fallout from the Enzo/Kalisto title match at Survivor Series. Chances are, it’ll be Enzo who learns who his next challenger is, but I suppose you never know.

Verdict: If you like the cruisers or certified g’s, check it out.

Wednesday

NXT (WWE Network)

After TakeOvers, the next episode of NXT are matches taped prior to the event. And usually these are skippable episodes. However, one of those matches this time is Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne for the UK title. You’ll know the finish by the time it airs, but it’s probably a match worth checking out.

Verdict: Story wise, this is an episode you can skip. But that match should be good.

Thursday

Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)

Post Bound for Glory, Impact has been solid. Granted it’s only been two episodes and their pattern is usually a few good shows in the beginning of the taping and then gradual decline.

But we’re still early on in the tapings so that’s good.

This week, Alberto El Patron and Johnny Impact will be back in the building after their epic brawl two weeks ago. The other piece of this equation, Champion Eli Drake, just successfully defended his title against Petey Williams. We should get an idea what’s next for these three.

This is also the Thanksgiving episode, which means someone will be likely wearing the turkey suit. However it’s also Thanksgiving, so they may hold out on major happenings knowing less people will be watching.

Verdict: If you’re vegging in front of the set, and you’re not feeling whatever Christmas movie plays Thanksgiving night, you can switch over to Pop.

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If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:

Survivor Series

WWE has taken great strides in making this feel like a Big 4 PPV and did really well this round. They took random SmackDown vs. Raw matches and made them mean something. Sure the title vs. title matches don’t have any stakes outside bragging rights, but all of them feel unique in some way. AJ vs. Brock. Charlotte vs. Alexa. Usos vs. the Bar. I’m even interested in the Miz vs. Corbin. These feel like unique matches.

Also, two of the most dominant trios in recent memory will go one on one when the Shield and New Day fight. That’s awesome! And of course all the possibilities with the elimination matches.

It’s going to be a long one. But it could be a great one.

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There’s a ton of other wrestling out there and we can’t cover it all on here. So if there’s something you’re particularly excited for this week, let your fellow wrestling fans know in the comments.

See ya next week!