WWE Survivor Series (November 2014)

From St. Louis, Missouri; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE Tag Team Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Goldust and Stardust v The Usos v Los Matadores v The Miz and Damien Mizdow: First fall gets it. Stardust starts with one of the Matadores, but it doesn't go anywhere, so Miz sneaks in and schoolchicos the Matadore for two. Mizdow doing the voodoo doll act on the floor remains brilliant, and easily the best part of the entire tag division. Hell, one of the best parts of the entire promotion at this point, frankly. Usos tag themselves in and tradeoff with the Matadores, but Stardust tags back in, and one of the Usos gets worked over by the champs. They get bored of him and work over one of the Matadores instead, until the whole thing turns into a brawl while the announcers discuss Grumpy Cat. About says it all there, doesn't it? Everyone ends up in a heap on the floor, then in another heap as they all dive on each other on the way back in - Mizdow diving onto a downed Goldust for the title at 15:42. Anything with Miz and Mizdow was entertaining, but the rest was the usual paint-by-numbers stuff the division is built around these days. And the crowd was not shy about letting them know it. The right team went over, though. *

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Fox (Alicia Fox, Emma, Natalya, and Naomi) v Team Paige (Paige Layla, Summer Rae, and Cameron): If this goes anywhere over ten minutes, we're probably looking at a pretty epic train wreck here. Nattie starts with Paige, and they tradeoff on the mat for a bit, until Nattie manages to double-underhook suplex her pale opponent out of the ring. Tags to Emma and Layla, and a missed legdrop allows Emma a somersault necksnap for two. Schoolgirl gets two, and an inside cradle is worth two. Layla catches her with a kick to allow the tag back to Paige, and she hammers on Emma while screeching a bunch. Girl, relax. Emma manages to superplex her, but Cameron tags in to cutoff Emma from doing the same. Snap suplex sets up a splitlegdrop for two, and that's about all Cameron knows how to do, so it's chinlock time. Tag to Naomi triggers an eight-way brawl, and a rollup sends Cameron packing at 6:27. Summer comes in next, and rivals Paige with her own annoying screeches. I feel like someone told these girls that Sensational Sherri was a really good person to emulate, but accidentally gave them tapes of her managerial career, or something. Another brawl breaks out, and Alicia Fox apparently thinks all the heels are chickens. More screeching, until Layla takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker at 9:36. Paige rushes in to cut the ring in half, but Alicia quickly shrugs both she and Summer off to get to Nattie. Nattie snapmares Summer to setup a seated dropkick, but walks into a cheapshot from Paige. They cut the ring in half briefly, but Summer stops to gloat, and gets knocked off the apron. That pisses Paige off, so she rolls Summer back in for Emma to finish with a bridging STF at 12:04. Wow, talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. So, yeah, now Paige is left four-against-one, so she decides to walk out and lose via countout, but Emma drags her back. Paige fires off a superkick and some mounted headbutts to try and save things, but quickly gets overwhelmed, and pinned with a Slaymission from Naomi at 14:19.
Survivors: Alicia Fox, Emma, Natalya, and Naomi
I wouldn't exactly call it a train wreck, but it was certainly a mess, and too long. ¾*

Dean Ambrose v Bray Wyatt: Slugfest goes Dean's way, so Bray bails, but Ambrose is on his tail, and clotheslines him on the outside, then hits him with a tope. Back in, Dean hits a seated lariat, but runs into a backelbow, and they spill out to the floor again, where Wyatt tosses him into the steps, then stomps his hand on them. Bray hits a snap suplex and a senton splash for two on the way back in, then grounds him with a full-nelson, but Dean escapes and tries a bodypress - only to literally bounce off of Bray like he's Yokozuna. I know people are more health conscious today, but come on guys... he's not THAT fat. Out to the floor yet again for a goofy double-knockout spot that felt really awkward and out of place, then immediately back in again for Dean to bulldog him. Ambrose keeps coming, so Bray tries turning it into the Sister Abigail, but Dean counters with a schoolboy for two. Dean hangs him in the ropes for a dropkick, then adds a guillotine legdrop for two. Flying axehandle, but Bray catches him in a choke on the way down, and hits a uranage for two. 2^nd rope senton splash misses, however, and Dean cradles him for two, then blasts him with a lariat to setup a flying elbowsmash for two. Ten-punch count, but Wyatt blocks and levels him with a lariat to knock Dean out of the ring - Bray quickly following with another uranage, this time across the steps. Back in, that's worth two, so Bray literally starts crying, and grabs a microphone to ask Dean to be friends. Um, okay. Then he randomly changes his mind right back, and goes for a chair, but Dean takes it away from him, and gets disqualified for using it at 14:01. Boo! Decent enough match for the most part, but that finish was absolutely atrocious. Honestly, given the number of shit finishes to big matches they've done in the last year or so to extend the feud so they can get another show out of it, it just makes me wish they'd scale back to five or six pay per views a year all the more, because they just don't have the depth for a monthly model anymore. They just don't. And I know it'll likely never happen, but given the fact that they don't rely on PPV nearly as much in this post-Network era, I'd love to see them try something like that again, and I think it would do wonders for the product. * ½

Slater Gator v Adam Rose and The Bunny: This match was signed earlier in the show, after an altercation over action figures. Bunny starts with Heath Slater, but quickly tags out to Rose for whatever reason. Slater destroys him and passes to Titus O'Neil for a two-alarm no-release backbreaker, but O'Neil misses a corner charge, and Bunny gets the tag. He's a cage of fire, and hits Slater with a flapjack, then finishes with a 2^nd rope dropkick at 2:35. This was Gobbledy Gooker level stuff. DUD

WWE Divas Title Match: AJ Lee v Nikki Bella: Barely a match, as Brie Bella hops up onto the apron and kisses AJ, allowing Nikki to take her head off with a forearm, and hit the Rack Attack for the title at 0:33. DUD

Main Event: Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Rusev, Kane, Mark Henry, and Luke Harper) v Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Ryback, and Erick Rowan): If the Authority loses, they are removed from power. If Team Cena loses, everyone on the team except Cena is fired. Mark Henry starts with Show, but walks right into a knockout punch, and gets pinned at 0:48. Well, that was an easy payday. They take a while clearing Henry out of the ring before settling on Rollins, but Show destroys him too. Seth tries a 2^nd rope clothesline, but gets punched as well - though he manages to roll out of the ring before Show can finish him. Tag to Kane, and hold on, why the fuck is Kane wrestling in slacks? I could deal without the mask, I've made my peace with the lack of shirt, but come on! Bunch of quick tags until they settle on Ryback and Harper, and Ryback vertical suplexes him until he tags Kane back in. Ryback takes him down with a Thesz press and a splash for two, and with everyone else down, Rusev tags in. Big staredown leads to a slugfest, and Ryback manages a spinebuster. Lariat follows, so Kane runs in with a big boot, this triggering a big brawl between the two teams. Seth manages to Curb Stomp Ryback in the chaos, and Rusev finishes him with a superkick at 8:08. Team Cena sends Show in to tango with Rusev, and he tries for the Chokeslam, but Rusev dodges, and tags Harper. Show tosses him around, but runs into a dropkick, and over to Rollins with a dropkick of his own for two. Kane with a dropkick for two. Authority cut the ring in half on Show, but Harper ends up getting side suplexed as he tries a headlock, and Dolph gets the tag. He comes in hot on Harper, but walks into a scrapbuster after the heels interfere, and the Authority get back to cutting the ring in half on their new victim, while Cena acts like a goof on the apron. Lana and Stephanie are pretty hilarious together as the Authority cheerleaders on the floor though, and I'd love to see them work together more. Long heat segment here, as they all just take their time kicking the shit out of Ziggler, until Dolph manages to DDT Rusev for two. That draws Harper in to break the count, so Cena charges after him, and before you know it, everyone is in the ring for another brawl. Rusev dodges a Fameasser from Ziggler as the action spills out to the floor, and Rusev decides to put Dolph through a table - only for Ziggler to dodge the splash, and Rusev to get himself counted out at 21:00. That was a long time between eliminations. But now Ziggler is still legal and barely conscious after using his last bit of energy to beat the count, so Kane scoops him up for a chokeslam - only for Dolph to slip free, and fall into a tag to Cena. John unloads on Kane and hits the FU, but Seth runs in and nails him with the Curb Stomp before he can cover, and we have a double-knockout to allow for dramatic tags to Harper and Rowan. They finally show down, with Rowan controlling in the corner, but the Authority run interference - allowing Harper a lariat at 24:11. With Dolph still down, Show and Cena decide to take on the three remaining heels in a slugfest - only for Show to promptly turn on Cena with another knockout punch, and allowing Seth to pin him off of it at 25:00. Show acknowledges his heel turn by shaking Triple H's hand, and he walks out of the match at 26:12 - leaving Ziggler at a three-on-one disadvantage. Cold, Big Show, cold. He could have at least been a team player and Chokeslammed Ziggler for good measure before leaving, or something. Stephanie walking across the ring to tauntingly wave goodbye to Cena is pretty hilarious though, and another great bit of character work from the always fantastic McMahon. So, now, Dolph is still barely conscious on the floor, so the Authority instruct Kane to finish him. Kane tosses him into the rail before dragging him into the ring, but Dolph manages to counter a superplex with a flying bodypress, and he stuns Kane with a Zig Zag at 29:31! The crowd gets behind the comeback, but Harper is there to cut it off with a brutal big boot - knocking Dolph out of the ring. Harper is on him with a tope, and he follows with a superkick for two on the way back in. Nice sitout powerbomb gets two, but as Harper grasps for what to do next, Dolph surprises him with a schoolboy at 31:40. Triple H and Stephanie are none-too-pleased, but Rollins is right on him - jumping Dolph with a series of stomps, and knocking him out of the ring for a whip into the rail. Back in, Dolph hooks a quick inside cradle for two, and snaps off a DDT, but can't capitalize, and Rollins recovers first with a crazy running powerbomb into the turnbuckles for two. Seth tries a flying Curb Stomp, but Ziggler rolls out of the way, and hits the Fameasser for two. Zig Zag, but Triple H breaks the count by pulling the referee out at two! With the official out of the way, the Authority beat Dolph down, but Ziggler fights off the goons - only to take another powerbomb into the turnbuckles from Seth. Curb Stomp, but Dolph dodges and Zig Zags him again, but Triple H takes out the replacement referee too. Now officially pissed, Hunter decides to Pedigree Ziggler, but before referee number three can count three, Sting suddenly shows up - making his WWE debut! The shock of seeing Sting actually stops the referees count, and he does the Hogan/Rock epic staredown with HHH - complete with dramatic head turns into the crowd. Great heat for this, too, and a total legit mark out moment for old school fans like myself. After an eternity of drama, Sting grabs Hunter with a Scorpion Deathdrop, and then helps Ziggler cover Rollins for the pin at 43:13.
Survivor: Dolph Ziggler
A bit too long due to the extended heat segment on Ziggler in the middle (though, that was kind of a necessary evil to setup the finish), but still good overall - complete with a legitimately cool shock ending. ***

BUExperience: Aside from the big shock ending, this was a completely forgettable show both angle and wrestling-wise, and I doubt anyone will remember anything about it other than Sting’s appearance by the time New Years rolls around.

DUD