Every Monday and Friday I have a column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Today’s was focused on Steelers starting running back, DeAngelo Williams talking Survivor Series predictions with me. Here’s an excerpt of his thoughts:
DeAngelo Williams watches wrestling. He loves wrestling.
He’s not uncommon among NFL players. Many are fans of wrestling, the WWE in particular. Many have sat ringside when events are staged in their city.
Williams’ teammate Ben Roethlisberger became part of the show on an episode of Monday Night RAW in 2009 along with his entire offensive line.
Williams is invested in wrestling more than your average athlete. His interest and knowledge are that of someone who watches everything and has been his been doing so his whole life.
That’s because he does, and he has. Monday Night Raw takes precedent over Monday Night Football. He began watching as a kid and has kept a vivid memory of major events.
This time of year, Williams usually works on Sundays. With the Steelers on a bye week, he has a rare fall Sunday off. On this Sunday, the Steelers’ starting running back wants to watch the Undertaker go over at Survivor Series.
“Undertaker is definitely going to win,” Williams said, his passion for the topic visible on his face as we sat at his locker earlier this week.
“There’s no way he’s going to lose again. He lost to (Brock) Lesnar. There’s no way he can lose again. You can’t pump a guy up that much, and then he loses on the 25th anniversary of him (debuting) at Survivor Series.”
General fan opinion, including mine, is split on this. A win on the anniversary makes sense for Undertaker, but The Wyatt Family desperately needs a victory at a major event to break increase their credibility.
Williams has noticed this and a formula for how the WWE does business.
“What I’ve seen is they win all the little ones leading up to the big ones, and then they can lose the big ones because they’ve generated so much publicity and wins,” Williams said.
“It’s always evident who is going to win based on their last performance. Whoever got beat in their last performance normally is the one who wins it. I think the Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane) will win it, and they will have some unlikely help from someone.”
The Wyatt Family likely will have all four of its members present, even though only two officially will be in the match. A surprise appearance would create an impact moment in the show.
CLICK HERE for who Williams thinks will make a surprise appearance, which wrestler he’s found the most interesting and more.
Full audio of our conversation:
