MANILA, Philippines – The authority of, well, The Authority and the jobs of 4 Superstars are on the line in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match at WWE’s 28th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view on Sunday, November 23 (Monday in the Philippines).

After weeks of struggling to form a team, John Cena has finally brought together Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Erick Rowan, and Ryback to battle the formidable team WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H and principal owner Stephanie McMahon had assembled.

Will Seth Rollins, Kane, United States Champion Rusev, Mark Henry, and Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper be able to keep The Authority in power? Or will Team Cena put an end to the McMahon-Helmsley rule?

Wrestling columnist Joe “The gRappler” Marsalis and WWE fan Michael Bueza discuss the main event and the possible scenarios after Survivor Series, plus their predictions for the main event and the other matches on the card.

What if Team Cena wins?

Joe: Before the match was rounded out with the second stipulation (all of Team Cena except Cena himself will be fired if they lose), the whole affair was completely foregone: what did Team Cena have to lose? But taking into consideration the original scenario, had Team Cena won, we’d have an interesting shake-up of the status quo.

The biggest possibility is that a face authority figure would rise in the vacuum left by the McMahon-Helmsley Authority. While that is a breath of fresh air, history has shown that it’s kind of boring; Teddy Long was beloved, but all he ever did was facilitate. An evil boss helps the roster out more by giving them constant stress and tension to work with and overcome. No pressure, no diamonds, says Kofi Kingston.

Michael: I wouldn’t be surprised if Cena would come out of this match a survivor, yet again. But what would make this match very interesting is having Cena eliminated from his team. From there, for the remaining 4 combatants whose jobs are at stake, it would truly be a fight for their lives.

But what happens after Survivor Series? Without evil authority figures to defy, and with an absent WWE Champion, what would the good guys do next?

It would be fun to see a repeat of the 2004 Survivor Series outcome, where each of the winners in the Survivor Series match main event (Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Maven) took over the 4 succeeding Raw shows as General Manager.

What if Team Authority wins?

Joe: Here’s the funny thing: before the stipulation to Team Cena was established, the match was lopsided in favor of the Authority. But now, after this… the match is still lopsided, but now in favor of Team Cena. Authority figures are a dime a dozen nowadays, but the kayfabe contracts of 4 guys? That’s irreplaceable.

The real story here, however, is that only Cena would remain employed should they lose. We now assume that everyone on Team Cena not named John Cena will be doing their damndest to win the match, but I believe the gloves are off after the victory. Cena won’t have any friends left. The pendulum quickly shifted from “one-sided” to “totally ridiculous, and not in a good way.”

Michael: I think it’s better to keep Team Authority in power than to oust them, for storyline reasons. Triple H and Stephanie might be annoying to watch, but come on, we love to boo the heck out of them.

After Survivor Series, the rest of Team Cena would have to beg for their jobs. Perhaps Cena himself, to save face, would plead to Team Authority himself. It would be nice to see Cena fight for others, for a change.

Predictions: Joe picks Team Cena. Michael chooses Team Authority.

Completing Sunday’s card are two championship matches, an exciting match between The Fringe Lunatic and The Eater of Worlds, and a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match. Here are Joe and Michael’s picks.

WWE Tag Team Championship – Fatal 4-way Match
Goldust & Stardust (c) vs The Usos vs The Miz & Damien Sandow vs Los Matadores

Joe: The ideal scenario here is that The Miz and Damien Mizdow win the championships as a reward for Mizdow getting what looked like a written-off gimmick madly over. It wouldn’t surprise me, however, if the Dust Brothers retained the championships for kicks.

Michael: Expect high-flying and fast-placed action, plus shenanigans care of The Miz and Damien Sandow. Picking Goldust & Stardust to retain the titles here, though. I’d like to see the Miz-Sandow tandem win in a regular tag team match.

Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt

Joe: While the build-up to this feud had been less than what was originally anticipated, to completely blow it up at Survivor Series now would be to pull the plug prematurely. Let Bray win here using his magic tricks again and then take it all the way to an explosive match at TLC. That should be a lot more fun.

Michael: Having Ambrose lose for the second PPV in a row might not be good for him. But Wyatt needs a win, too, now that he’d set Luke Harper and Erick Rowan free. Besides, it’s Dean freakin’ Ambrose, so I guess a loss would not hurt.

WWE Divas Championship
AJ Lee (c) vs Nikki Bella

Joe: If the rumors of AJ Lee taking another break from the company are true, then there really is no other way to go around this, don’t you think? Either way, Nikki Bella (and Brie, actually) has improved enough in the ring for her to deserve a somewhat dominant, if not competitive run with the title. The aftermath doesn’t have to be them hitting unpause on the Nikki vs. Brie feud, too, if that’s what you’re afraid of.

Michael: It seems that they’re still running with the Bella twins feud, so why not make it for the Divas Title later on? It’s sad, though, that in 2014, AJ Lee went from being a dominant Divas Champion to becoming a second fiddle in a feud between twins and total Divas (pun intended). 

4-on-4 Divas Survivor Series Match
Natalya, Alicia Fox, Naomi, and Emma vs Paige, Summer Rae, Cameron, and Layla

Joe: Total Divas isn’t really a thing here. Not much to comment on. Paige wins because, well, Paige. (Wouldn’t be surprised, however, if Natalya and/or Alicia find a way to get it in the bag.)

Michael: Since it’s Thanksgiving season – and Survivor Series remains to be WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition – a win by Natalya’s team would be great, thank you. – Rappler.com