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The 2019 installment of Survivor Series was a refreshingly entertaining one. The addition of NXT added a new dimension, putting newer superstars from the lesser known NXT against 'main roster' staples.
Ultimately, NXT dominated proceedings in terms of the scoreboard. By the end of the night, NXT had established themselves as a force in WWE with the scoreboard reading NXT 4, SmackDown 2 and Raw 1. A clear victory for the newer brand.
Statistics - The Totals.
The above image charts each brands totals from the statistical breakdowns from all four of their matches on the main card of Survivor Series. We have not included the pre-show in these statistics as as everyone knows, the pre-show doesn't count...
NXT saw their overall victory underpinned by the largest total of offence dealt by any brand. Their 12 wrestlers dished out 3% more of the offence than SmackDown and 5% more than Raw; 36% compared to 33% and 31% respectively.
Interestingly, Raw dealt more damage in the Men's Elimination match than any team or wrestler did across any of the 4 main show brand vs brand vs brand match ups. In this match they hit 104 offensive manoeuvres but still managed to end the show with the lowest total of the three brands.
When we dive deeper and look at efficiency of offence there really is not much of a difference between the brands. Suggesting the speed and quantity of NXT's offence was key.
'Strike Downs', a strike that knocks an opponent to the mat was inconsequential in the end with NXT faring worst in this category. In terms of how many manoeuvres it took to earn a fall NXT and Raw were more efficient than SmackDown. Additionally, NXT used slightly less finishers to earn falls.
At the end of over an hour and a half of action with involvement of 36 superstars across the three brands, NXT didn't massively dominate any match however it was their consistency that counted.
The 'Total Offence per Match' graph shows that NXT had by far the least fluctuation between matches with overall losers, Raw, having the biggest fluctuations. SmackDown were unable to maintain their early promise.
In the end consistency and a lack of weak links was key for NXT.
Match 1 - Women's Elimination Match
Click on the picture to visit my article about this match at SEScoops.com. Or click here.
This match saw the early SmackDown surge with Sasha Banks dominant. However, it was the force of nature that was Rhea Ripley over Survivor Series weekend as she added another huge victory to her collection. Again, click the picture to be linked to the SEScoops article for more.
Match 2 - Men's Triple Threat
This clash between the mid-card champions of the three brands featured three men with extensive championship histories including top titles in WWE, NJPW and ROH. The majority of this match was dominated by Strong and Nakamura with Styles supplying the blow that led to the pin.
Nakamura shone through this match in terms of his striking ability with a 'strike down' percentage of 27%, significantly more than his competitors. His desperation to win this match shone through as he was most keen to gain a pin fall, attempting on six occasions.
Although Styles' Phenomenal Forearm downed Nakamura he was unable to make the pin fall. Additionally, he struggled to find his place in this match often ending up outside the ring. He had to make the most reversals in the match and managed the least offence.
Strong was the man who picked up the win taking advantage to Styles' killer blow. His performance was consistent and balanced, scoring well across all categories. He did however manage to hit more offence than any other competitor in this match, just.
Match 3 - Men's Elimination Match
It may have been a bad night for Raw but they were a force in this match. They dominated proceedings with 45% of this match's offence coming from Raw superstars. A lot of their offence coming from their huge striking total.
It isn't very often superstars are put away by strikes. Raw and NXT both managed to put away five opponents. The interesting statistic here was that Raw hit one finisher per fall they earned however NXT managed for gain five falls with only one finisher, 0.2 finishers per fall!
This was the only main-show brand warfare match that NXT did not win with SmackDown prevailing. Interestingly, SmackDown hit the smallest percentage of offence out of the three teams in this match, only 23% of the offence. They prevailed, simply, due to Roman Reigns resilience and big-match acumen.
Match 4 - Women's Triple Threat
The evenings main event saw the three women's champions of the three brands clash in an intriguing match. This clash saw one of the Four Horsewomen of MMA clash with two of the Four Horsewomen of NXT in a Triple Threat match for the second time this year.
The only participant from both of these matches, Becky Lynch, did not have a good night. Not only did she fail to walk out victorious but she also factored in this match the least, only 25% of the match's offence came from Lynch.
She may have eventually fallen to Bazsler but Bayley was on a mission to prove herself here. Bazsler and Lynch both had huge peaks in this match where they dealt significant damage to their foes. On the other hand Bayley didn't see the same sort of peak but instead was consistent throughout.
Bazsler was determined to win here, going for her finisher on five occasions. Incredibly this was 50% of the finishers attempted by NXT superstars all evening. With this tenacity and a match leading 43% of the total offence she was undeniable.
Conclusion
Roderick Strong and Shayna Bazsler won there individual battles and added prestigue to titles not known as well to the wider WWE audience. This set up NXT nicely and in the end proved the difference.
Rhea Ripley, Tommaso Ciampa and Keith Lee also proved themselves as potential forces in the WWE. These NXT superstars each eliminated more recognisable and established WWE stars.
At the end of 2019's Survivor Series the new kids on the block, NXT, see their reputation enhanced beyond what many would have predicted. SmackDown find their reputation a little enhanced. A rebuilding job will be required to the reputation of Raw.