Pruett’s WWE Survivor Series 2012 Preview and Predictions: A juggled card brings us C.M. Punk defending against Ryback and John Cena, Big Show and Sheamus attempting to top themselves and more!

By Will Pruett

This show is kind of a jumbled mess, but in the best way. The original main event has been scrapped in favor of delivering one of the biggest matches WWE has in their bag of tricks. The five on five tag team affair has switched team leaders and lost a reason for existing. The rest of the show seems like a bit of an afterthought. Sometimes, when I see WWE book in a 1999 WCW-esque fashion, I choose to ignore it. I can't do that with this one.

The following predictions are made from a place of complete ignorance to the finishes. They are merely predictions of what I would find logical, entertaining, or interesting. Let's all have a good time. Also, please don't steal any part of this preview and pass it off as your own. You're better than that. Rise above plagiarism.

C.M. Punk vs. Ryback vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship: This is the most interesting match on the card and it will likely be the best. John Cena and C.M. Punk know how to structure three-way matches in a way that doesn't feel tedious and is actually fun. John Cena actually had an amazing triple threat with Shawn Michaels and Triple H at Survivor Series 2009 (a fact which has no bearing on this match).

Ryback has continued with a fair portion of the momentum he had three weeks ago. He's still an exciting character and he is still capable of killing people (someone concussion test Brad Maddox). Ryback is fun to watch and the fans are still buying in.

Making a return to the main event after a one month absence is John Cena. Cena's injury may have actually done a great deal of good, in forcing WWE to elevate Ryback to the main event. It has also freshened up the Cena character just a little bit. Sadly, all the freshening has gone into the A.J. Lee storyline with Vickie Guerrero. That has been atrocious.

Finally, C.M. Punk is looking to earn his way to one year as WWE Champion. Normally when WWE starts counting the days and months of a title reign, it is about to end. This time, it was just the beginning. Punk is on day 364. With The Rock on the horizon (The Royal Rumble is just two months away!), Punk is looking as strong as possible. There's no reason to stop it now.

Prediction: C.M. Punk defeats John Cena after Ryback Shell-Shock's him to retain the WWE Championship in a SummerSlam-ish victory.

Big Show vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship: How can these two follow up on a match that was so far above their standard level last month? It was amazing to see what they put together for Hell in a Cell. Now, they have to try to top or match it.

Sheamus has a chance to be interesting again with this feud. Show has made him vulnerable and he is at least 40 percent more serious than he was before. This match will be a demonstration of that. Hopefully, that intensity brings the energy this match will need.

Big Show is capable of brilliance beyond anything I ever imagined a big man wrestler doing. He is also capable of having slow, plodding, disastrous matches. His body of work has plenty of both. This is a nice test for Big Show. Can he have an entertaining match when so many of the standard tricks were used up in their last encounter?

I tend to think WWE is setting us up for Big Show vs. Ryback in an epic WrestleMania showdown, so I'm picking Show to take the title all the way to the show of shows. Dolph Ziggler can cash in sometime around May.

Prediction: Big Show pins Sheamus to retain the World Championship and leaves the pay-per-view with it.

Team Foley (Randy Orton, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan and Kane) vs. Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow and possibly Cody Rhodes) in a traditional Survivor Series match: This match was occurring because Mick Foley was upset at C.M. Punk. That is no longer the case. Now, Dolph Ziggler took over a team and Foley is stuck coaching without his original motivation.

These things happen sometimes. This match was thrown together after the major main event change and it feels that way. There are still plenty of opportunities to elevate a few wrestlers and tell some fun stories here.

The babyface team could boil down to Miz and Kingston, which would be an interesting turn of events. It would also solidify Miz as a babyface, which WWE is attempting to do. The heel team (which may lack Cody Rhodes) should probably survive, but not without a fight from these two plucky youngsters.

On the heel side, there is a major chance to elevate Dolph Zggler and Wade Barrett with some survival skills. They're on the verge right now and the time feels right for the heel team to win this one. Sadly, I'm picking almost all heels on this show, so unless WWE is content with producing The Empire Strikes Back instead of Star Wars, they will likely go with babyfaces. I won't let logic tell me the odds though. I'm going all Han Solo on this bad boy.

Prediction: Team Ziggler takes home the bacon, with Wade Barrett and Dolph Ziggler surviving, last eliminating The Miz.

Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth for the United States Championship: I've enjoyed the build to this feud, with the exception of Cesaro's messenger bag (which is a perfectly acceptable thing to carry) and the jokes about it from Raw.

R-Truth is the kind of opponent that Cesaro can beat and gain something from, without lowering himself. Cesaro is still a character in development and he needs some big wins over known superstars. Truth qualifies.

Prediction: Antonio Cesaro pins R-Truth to retain the U.S. Championship. Little Jimmy cries.

Eve vs. Kaitlyn for the WWE Diva's Championship: Kaitlyn is still bad at wrestling. Eve is still good at it.

Prediction: Eve pins Kaitlyn to retain the Diva's Championship (or Jeff Hardy's TNA Title, since I can't tell them apart).

I'm sure a pay-per-view pre-show match is happening, but I can't be bothered to think of 3MB today. Those are my picks for this show. I'd expect some solid shenanigans and an added match or two. I'd also expect a full hour to be taken up by the five on five tag match (including entrances). The show should be solid, but I don't know that I can full-on recommend it. It won't be a bad way to spend a Sunday evening, that's for sure.

Make sure to check back here on Sunday night. Jason Powell and Chris Shore will be covering the show live and will have an audio update for Dot Net Members shortly after the show!

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.