Survivor Series is one of the few special WWE Pay Per Views that still exist. Even if the WWE has cut back on the amount of traditional 5 on 5 and 4 on 4 matches the Survivor Series still brings back great memories of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Mr. Perfect and The Rock.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the first Survivor Series. There is only one traditional 5 on 5 match but hopefully the magic of the Survivor Series will still be there. Let’s take a look at how this Survivor Series turned out.
CM Punk (c) vs. .John Morrison vs. The Miz – ECW Heavyweight Title I never thought these four words would ever come out of my mouth: The Miz was good. I’m not sure that the Miz has a great offensive repertoire yet but he’s definitely gotten good and selling and some other basics. CM Punk and John Morrison are both very capable so this was a good opening exciting match. Definitely a good start for this year’s Survivor Series.
Torrie Wilson, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool and Maria vs. Beth Phoenix, Victoria, Layla, Melina and Jillian The women’s match is a 5 on 5 match but it’s a single fall match. I guess the WWE didn’t have faith in letting the women go long enough for an elimination match. The women’s match at Survivor Series was one of the better women matches I’ve seen in the WWE. There were no botched moves that I remember and with this man ladies that is uncommon. Michelle McCool is coming along nicely so when she, Victoria, Mickie and Beth Phoenix were in the ring the match was good.
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly – World Heavyweight Tag Team Title The Survivor Series match for the tag team division wasn’t necessarily a bad match it was just very bland. None of the wrestlers in the match interest me as they don’t have much of a personality. Trevor Murdoch has a character that has potential and Cody Rhodes has the abilities but they’re both being kind of held back by Cade and Hardcore Holly.
Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Kane and Rey Mysterio vs. Umaga, MVP, Ken Kennedy, Big Daddy V, Finlay This is the one Survivor Series elimination match of the night. MVP gave a very good interview earlier and told us that Matt Hardy would not be competing. Team Triple H also did a cute interview where Kane pointed out that Triple H once pretended to be Kane and had sex with a mannequin that was supposed to be his dead girl friend and now Kane has to team up with him.
The match itself started out pretty slow. Kane is the first one eliminated, which makes me realize that Kane has really dropped in importance in the past 5 years. Mysterio is out next and that is when it starts to get fun as Jeff Hardy and Triple H go 5 on 2 against the other team. Triple H and Jeff Hardy, with the crowd behind them, do the typical baby face comeback and methodically eliminate every member of Team Umaga. Slow start, but good ending for the Survivor Series match.
The Great Khali vs. Hornswoggle I hate to say that I actually enjoyed this match. From Hornswoggle getting pumped up to Shane McMahon cheering for Hornswoggle and Finlay coming to make the save was a nice touch.
Randy Orton (c) vs. Shawn Michaels – WWE Championship Title Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels’ match at Survivor Series wasn’t bad but they didn’t take it up to that next level that it’s supposed to go to for a huge Pay Per View. The psychology in the match with Shawn Michaels not being able to use the Super Kick was good but overall this match was a letdown.
Batista (c) vs. Undertaker – World Heavyweight Title The main event at Survivor Series was a lot like the previous match. It wasn’t a bad match, it was a good match, but in the past year Batista and Undertaker have wrestled four times and I think all of them were better than this one. The match didn’t really reach expectations. The Edge run-in was great though and gives Smackdown some much needed star power.
Unfortunately this Survivor Series didn’t stack up really well. The first match of Survivor Series up through the traditional Survivor Series match did their job and were building towards a good show but the two main events were just really flat and that made Survivor Series seem like one of the less important Pay Per Views.
