WWE Survivor Series (November 2007)

Original Airdate: November 18, 2007

From Miami, Florida; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (RAW); Michael Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield (Smackdown); Joey Styles and Tazz (ECW)

Opening ECW Title Triple Threat Match: CM Punk v John Morrison v Miz: Morrison and Miz are co-holders of the WWE Tag Team Title here. The tag champs gang up on Punk to start, but he fights them off, and cleans house. Punk dives onto both guys with a tope, and tries a springboard at Morrison on the way back in, but Miz hooks his leg from the floor to prevent that. The challengers tandem vertical suplex Punk, but Miz turns on his buddy, and side suplexes Punk for two. Camel clutch follows, which is just dumb strategy. Like, you only have a minute before Morrison inevitably recovers, and you go with a wear down hold? Throw everything you've got to finish him while you have the time! As predicted, Morrison recovers while Miz is still holding Punk in the clutch, and CM hits Miz with an enzuigiri while Miz is trying to subdue Morrison again. Morrison with a backbreaker/neckbreaker combination for two, and he makes the same dumb mistake Miz did by going to a cobra clutch. I get that those holds can finish a man, but Punk is not nearly worn down enough for that to work. Miz hits Morrison with the Skull Crushing Finale for two, and a corner dropkick follows, but a charge misses. Morrison capitalizes with a cool slingshot corkscrew moonsault for two, but Punk comes back in to rana Morrison off the top before he can follow-up - John flying right into Miz on the way down! Nice timing on that spot! Punk bulldogs Miz for two, and a butterfly backbreaker is worth two. But at least this punk gets it. The other two would have been working chinlocks. Morrison comes after Punk, but ends up knocking heads with Miz in a miscommunication, and Punk uses the GTS to polish Miz off at 7:59. It had a danceable beat, but I couldn't quite get funky to it. **

Ten-Woman Tag Team Match: Beth Phoenix, Melina, Victoria, Layla, and Jillian Hall v Mickie James, Maria, Torrie Wilson, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool: Victoria starts with Michelle, and let me just stop and say 'way to go' at 'Taker. Damn. McCool hits a big boot for two, and looks to be moments away from popping out of her top before she passes to Torrie. Victoria quickly hits her with a sidewalk slam for two, and it's over to Layla to try a roundhouse kick, but Wilson counters with a vertical suplex for two. Tags to Hall and Kelly, and Jillian tries a handspring elbow, but Kelly blocks, and hooks a somersault cradle for two. Over to Maria, who is wearing perhaps the shortest shorts legally possible. She goes some handstand move, but I'll be honest, I was distracted. She gets clobbered by Beth anyway, and they all cut the ring in half on Maria. Melina misses a straddling ropechoke to allow the tag to Mickie (after a heat segment that lasted all of thirty seconds), and Roseanne Barr the door! Melina tries to finish Mickie off, but James distracts her by kissing her, and a kick finishes at 4:42. This was basically just everyone coming in, doing a move, and tagging out until everyone had gotten a turn, and the match could end. ¼*

World Tag Team Title Match: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch v Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes: Wait, so Rhodes and Murdoch are on opposite sides of the ring? Cade and Cody start, and Lance dominates to start, but gets cocky, and eats a dropkick. Rhodes with a sunset flip for two, but a bodypress is countered with a backbreaker, and tags all around. The champs both end up getting tossed to the outside, and Holly hammers Cade with chops on the way back in, then schoolboys him for two. He fails to notice a tag to Murdoch, however, and the champs execute an inverted atomic drop/running big boot combo for two. Who would have guessed that the 'Hardcore Holly' gimmick would have such a long shelf life? They cut the ring in half on Hardcore, but miss another tandem move, and Cody gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Rhodes looks to finish Murdoch off as Cade and Holly take a spill to the outside, but Trevor pulls out a standing sunset bomb to retain at 7:19. Total paint-by-numbers tag match. *

Handicap Survivor Series Elimination Match: Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, and Kane v Umaga, Montel Vontavious Porter, Finlay, Mr. Kennedy, and Big Daddy V: Matt Hardy is out with a (kayfabe) injury, so Triple H's team goes in with only four guys. Rey starts with Kennedy, and they trade off on the mat for a bit, with Kennedy dominating, and dropping him with a clothesline for two. Mysterio fires back with a headscissors takedown, and a standing sunset bomb is worth two. Kind of surprised two guys were allowed to use that one. Tag to Hardy for Poetry in Motion, but Kennedy blocks the Twist of fate, and hits a clothesline for two, before passing to MVP. Porter does basically nothing before passing to Big Daddy, who hits Jeff with a clothesline, then walks over his chest. It's bad day for you as a wrestler when Big Daddy V is doing more in the ring than you are. Hardy manages a tag to Kane, who promptly walks into a belly-to-belly suplex for two. He slugs back at Daddy, so Porter tries coming in to lend a hand, but Kane fights him off. Kane with a flying clothesline, so now Finlay runs in, but Kane fights him off with a chokeslam. Unfortunately for him, Daddy has recovered, and a Samoan drop sets up an elbowdrop at 5:28. HHH comes in with a kneeling facebuster on Daddy, but he runs into a clothesline, and Umaga tags in. Cue a slugfest, and Umaga hits a belly-to-belly to set up a headbutt drop. Umaga tries a flying headbutt off the middle rope, but Hunter dodges that one, and Rey gets the tag. He comes in hot on Umaga, but mistimes a slide between the legs, and gets stomped. Umaga tries to capitalize with a sitdown splash, but Rey dodges, and hits a seated dropkick for two. He strikes at Umaga with some kicks, and lands the 619 to set up a springboard seated senton splash for two! Springboard bodypress follows, but Umaga catches him in a swinging scrapbuster (and a doozy, too), before sending Mysterio home with the Samoan Spike at 9:18. There is some debate over who goes next, as the heels rub in their five-on-two advantage, before the dust settles on Hardy and Kennedy. Hardy out moves him, but knocks himself silly on a missed move in the corner, and it's left to the ropes to save him at two. Porter comes in to work a chinlock, and a fireman's drop hits, but he runs into the Twist of Fate while looking for the follow-up, and Jeff pins him at 12:52. And good riddance, as MVP was anchoring this down. Kennedy rushes in to attack, but Jeff fights him off with a leg-feed corkscrew kick, and HHH tags. He hits a kneeling facebuster and a clothesline for two, and a rotating spinebuster is worth two. Big Daddy comes in to try and help, but HHH dispatches him over the top, and Kennedy is done at 14:26. Daddy sweeps Hunter to the outside to abuse, and tries to avalanche both he and Hardy on the way back in, but it misses, and a tandem DDT sends Daddy home at 15:30 - evening the score. Finlay rushes HHH with a clothesline to set up a seated senton splash for two, and he adds a short-clothesline, followed by an elbowdrop. Flying splash off the middle hits Hunter's boot, however, and Hardy gets the tag in. Stinger splash connects, and he lands the slingshot kick in the corner that he missed earlier for two. Ten-punch, but Finlay shoves him off, and Jeff runs right into a kick from Umaga on the apron. Finlay short-clotheslines him for two, but runs into the Whisper in the Wind, so Umaga comes in to prevent a tag, but Jeff fights him off with another corkscrew kick. That allows HHH to tag, and Finlay eats a high knee. Rotating spinebuster follows, but Umaga fires off a kick to prevent the Pedigree! Finlay capitalizes with a headbutt, but HHH escapes the Celtic Cross, and the Pedigree finishes at 21:20. Umaga rushes right in after him, but misses the Wrecking Ball, and HHH uses the Pedigree to set up a Swanton Bomb from Jeff at 22:12
Survivors: Triple H, Jeff Hardy
Generally fun stuff, that felt very much in the spirit of the classic elimination matches from the early days of the show. ** ½

Great Khali v Hornswoggle: See, one is big, one is schmall. Which is generally a fun dynamic, but of course, it helps when the big guy ain't Khali, and the schmall ain't Hornswoggle. The crowd wants Shaq (in the crowd) to get involved here, but Vince McMahon tells them that he 'doesn't give a shit what they want.' He's shooting, he's shooting! Hornswoggle doesn't really get anywhere with Khali, so he settles for blinding Ranjin Singh with some mist instead, and grabs Finlay's whappin' stick while Khali attends to his manager. He swings, but Khali easily catches it, and paintbrushes the little guy into oblivion. That summons Finlay out with the whappin' stick, and he manages to do a lot more damage than little Hornswoggle could, but it's also a DQ at 3:16. This was less a match than an angle, and that's fine, since it was kept extremely short. DUD

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton v Shawn Michaels: If Orton gets DQ'd he loses the title, and Michaels cannot use the Superkick. Shawn digs in with a cravat to start, really getting into it. After numerous failed attempts, Orton fights into the corner to escape, and he slugs at Shawn, but Michaels hits back! Shawn latches onto him again with a chinlock/bodyscissors combo, and he shifts it into a front-facelock when Randy starts escaping. This has all been really basic stuff thus far, but it's working because Michaels is selling the struggle of keeping the hold applied brilliantly. Randy gets to the ropes to escape, and he bails to the outside, so Shawn dives after him with a springboard moonsault press. He rolls Randy back in for a flying bodypress, but Orton rolls through for two, and he quickly adds a European uppercut before Shawn can try grounding him in a hold again. See, these guys are getting the psychology right, as opposed to the opener, when guys were grabbing holds at the least logical points. Shawn manages to lock him in the sharpshooter, but Orton makes the ropes, and he snaps the back of Michaels' head across the top rope to put the challenger down. Rope-hung DDT gets two, and Randy slaps on his own chinlock/bodyscissors. Shawn escapes, leading to a slugfest, and HBK hits him with a jumping forearm. Inverted atomic drop follows, but Randy counters the usual comeback routine with a standing dropkick for two. Another dropkick, but Michaels counters with a somersault cradle for two, and he gets back on the comeback trail with a pair of bodyslams to set up the flying elbowdrop! Despite the referee's warnings, Shawn sets up the Superkick, but it turns out to be a ploy to set up an attempted flash pin with a small package for two. Sunset cradle gets two, so Shawn tries a crippler crossface, but Randy makes the ropes. Shawn tries the hold again, but Orton counters with a clothesline this time, hooking the leg for two. Inverted headlock backbreaker sets up the RKO, but he decides to try the punt instead, only for Michaels to counter to an anklelock! I like how Shawn adopted holds from guys he had major programs with during this period in his career. It added a nice layer to the character. Orton escapes, so Shawn tries a figure four, but gets shoved into the corner to block. Orton goes back to old faithful with the RKO, so Michaels tries to counter to the Superkick on instinct alone, but stops himself - and ends up eating the RKO anyway at 17:49. I pretty much assumed that sequence was going to be the finish the moment I heard the stipulations. This was a good match, but it felt like the first third of a much longer match, which then went straight into the third act without a proper bridge. Still good, but it could have been great with ten extra minutes, or better use of the time allotted. ***

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Hell in a Cell Match: Batista v Undertaker: They measure each other some to start, with both guys absorbing blows, and not letting the other string much together. Batista blocks a chokeslam, but gets walloped with a clothesline for two, and Undertaker quickly adds a legdrop to take control. Into the corner, 'Taker unloads, and the snake-eyes sets up a big boot for two. He grabs a chair, but Batista saves himself with a spear, and they spill to the outside. Undertaker bashes him into the steps out there, and he hits the guillotine legdrop, then jams Batista's throat into with a chair so hard that the champion immediately shoots a WAD of blood out of his mouth! That was nasty! I'm assuming that was a blood packet there, or else that was truly brutal. Batista keeps hacking up blood as they head inside, where Undertaker tries the ropewalk forearm, but gets caught in a spinebuster for two! Slugfest goes Batista's way, and he throws a clothesline for two. Running powerslam gets two, and they spill to the outside, where Batista introduces him to the cage, but Undertaker snubs his introduction into the steps. That's plain rude. 'Taker sends Batista into the cage to draw blood, and they head inside for the challenger to get a two count out of it. He tries another ropewalk, but Batista counters again, this time with a vertical superplex. He crawls over to cover, but gets caught in a triangle choke as he does, and the bloody champion needs the ropes to save himself. He bails, so 'Taker dives after him with a half assed tope (mostly because the cell doesn't provide enough room for him to properly dive), but an attempt to charge Batista with the steps ends badly, and the champ bashes him into the post. Batista grabs the steps himself, and starts beating 'Taker's head in against the side of the cage - the challenger left bloody now as well. Inside, Batista makes the usual stupid mistake of trying a ten-punch on Undertaker, and just like every other time, gets countered with the Last Ride for two. I seriously hate that cliché so much that I pretty much automatically deduct a quarter-star automatically anytime we're supposed to believe someone would fall for it past 2001, or so. Let alone someone like Batista, who has wrestled 'Taker so many times before this. Undertaker hits a chokeslam, but Batista counters the Tombstone with a spinebuster for two. Another spinebuster, and the champ brings a table into the ring for a powerbomb through it for two. Batista brings the steps in next, but Undertaker counters the powerbomb with a backdrop onto them for two. Tombstone only gets two, so 'Taker decides to give him one on the steps, but the count is broken when Edge (disguised as a cameraman) pulls the referee out at two! He bashes 'Taker with the camera, then knocks him out with a conchairto on the steps, before putting Batista's still limp carcass over Undertaker's at 21:26. Pretty much their usual match, if booked by M. Night Shyamalan. **

BUExperience: This isn’t a particularly good show, but is certainly watchable enough. Plus, it doesn’t drag with endless backstage segments and commercials like today’s pay per view cards do. It’s pretty focused, and that’s helps a lot with the overall watchability. I still wouldn’t bother with it, but it’s more fun than some of the stinkers they were cranking out a few months prior.


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