WWE Survivor Series 2017 Matches: John Cena's Return, Brock Lesnar-AJ Styles

Just a few weeks ago, there wasn’t much to get excited about regarding the card for WWE Survivor Series 2017. That has certainly changed following the latest episodes of “Monday Night Raw” and “Smackdown Live.”

With AJ Styles beating Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship, the new No.1 title-holder on the blue brand will have a match against WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. WWE announced Wednesday that John Cena would make his return as the fifth member of Team SmackDown in the traditional Survivor Series match. It also looks like The Shield will finally have their reunion match at the PPV, doing so against The New Day.

All of that should make the Nov. 19 pay-per-view one of the year’s best.

Styles vs. Lesnar is certainly an upgrade over a match between Jinder and Lesnar. Since he made his WWE debut during the 2016 Royal Rumble, Styles has arguably been the best wrestler in the company. Jinder never quite got over as the WWE Champion after winning the belt from Randy Orton in May.

Cena hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since he lost a singles match to Reigns at No Mercy on Sept. 24. Even though he’s technically a “free agent,” Cena will join Shane McMahon, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton on Team SmackDown. Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe are on Team Raw.

The Shield vs. The New Day hasn't been made official, but it seems clear that’s where WWE is headed. Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods cost Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose their RAW Tag Team Championships when they caused a distraction in Monday’s title match.

Roman Reigns was supposed to fight alongside Ambrose and Rollins at WWE TLC, but Reigns was replaced by Angle when he couldn’t wrestle because of medical issues. With Reigns ready to get back into the ring, it only makes sense to put The Shield against WWE’s most popular three-man unit of the last two years.

Rollins and Ambrose were set to face The Usos at Survivor Series. The SmackDown Tag Team Champions will now take on Cesaro and Sheamus, who won the belts from two-thirds of The Shield.

A few more Survivor Series matches might be altered within the next week. Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss is currently scheduled to face SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya at Survivor Series, but that could change on the next episode of “SmackDown Live” when Natalya has a title match with Charlotte.

The same goes for the Survivor Series match between Intercontinental Champion The Miz and United States Champion Baron Corbin. Corbin will put his belt on the line against Sin Cara Tuesday night.