WWE Survivor Series 2016 Review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections
By Luke Norris
Brian Kendrick (c) vs Kalisto-WWE Cruiserweight Championship
What we learned: Well, we learned that the cruiserweight division isn’t going anywhere and that’s absolutely the right call. While the division does seem like more of a Smackdown Live type of thing, I just don’t think the blue brand has the time to properly showcase it. Monday Night RAW is a three-hour show and has plenty of time to do so, making what happened at Survivor Series the right play.
I think we also learned that Brian Kendrick is still the real deal and deserves this spot he’s in right now. Yes, a good match was a bit tarnished by the finish that saw Baron Corbin interfere but that needed to happen. Kendrick nor Kalisto had to do the job and Corbin continues his “I’m only looking out for Baron Corbin” thing that he’s got going. No harm done.
What’s next: It’s quite obvious that Kalisto will be looking for some revenge on Corbin and that will likely take these two to TLC for some type of specialty match to end things. Then it’s really tough to tell from there. Kalisto really does need to be on RAW at this point as there’s just too much big talent on Smackdown Live for him to really go anywhere unless he gets himself a new tag team partner. Perhaps Shane and Stephanie can work out some type of trade to where Kalisto gets himself a rematch with Brian Kendrick, saying he never lost and everything that goes along with that.
As for Brian Kendrick and the cruiserweight division itself, I think it’s got nowhere to go but up. While the crowds haven’t been the most generous towards these matches in the beginning, I think they’ll start to catch on to the brilliance of it very soon. There’s so much talent in the division with guys like Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, TJ Perkins and the new number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship, Rich Swann. Next week’s premiere of 205 Live should only help things. We can only hope that show doesn’t mean that they’ll get less time on Monday nights.