WWE Survivor Series (November 2018)

Original Airdate: November 18, 2018

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Renee Young, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves with Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, and Vic Joseph swapping in for the 205 Live match

Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, Mickie James, and Tamina) v Team Smackdown (Carmella, Naomi, Asuka, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville): Bayley's dressed like Bob Holly circa 1995 tonight. Tamina and Naomi start, and Naomi surprises her with a sunset cradle for two, but gets dumped to the outside, triggering a brawl between the two teams. Dust settles back on Tamina and Naomi, with Tamina sending her home with a superkick at 1:21. Easy money for Naomi tonight. Tamina gloats, but that backfires when Carmella sneaks in with a schoolboy at 1:32. Carmella's dance break gets a big reaction, and speaking of big reactions, here comes Nia. Carmella tries to schoolboy her too, but that ends badly, so she passes to Mandy. Rose charges, but gets drilled with a shoulderblock for two. She won't back down, however, and a series of strikes actually sends Nia running for the hills - tagging Mickie in. Mandy gets her in an abdominal stretch (AKA the boob display), but James counters to a Muta-lock, and Rose needs the ropes to escape. Mandy passes to Asuka, and they measure each other for a bit, both posturing. Asuka gets the first takedown with a hip attack, and she puts Mickie back on the boob display, but James turns it into a cradle for two. Asuka responds with a spinning backfist, and she brings Sonya in to unload in the corner, but Mickie fights her off with a headscissors takedown. Snapmare follows, but Bayley tags herself in as James goes for the kill, and hits Deville with a pair of elbowdrops for two. Over to Sasha for some double teaming, as the RAW girls cut the ring in half. James tags in with a flying seated senton for two, but Deville ducks a kick, and spears her down. She goes for the kill, but Mandy tags herself in, and steals Sonya's thunder by covering Mickie herself at 7:38. Sonya's all pissed about it, but who cares, really? Same result either way. Bayley tries to sneak in as they squabble, but she can't even manage to do that right, and she ends up getting triple teamed. Dust settles on her and Carmella, and a sequence ends in Carmella dropping her ponytailed ass with a DDT. She goes for the kill, but a charge is countered with the Bayley-to-Belly at 9:13. Mandy jumps her as soon as the fall is counted, and works her over in rather dull fashion. Corner whip works, but a charge in doesn't, and Banks gets the tag. She comes in hot on Mandy, and she uses a lungblower into the Bank Statement at 10:52. Sonya dives in before Banks even breaks the hold, and unloads knees. Into the corner, the remaining Smackdown gals double team, and Asuka hits a hip attack for two. They cut the ring in half, and Sonya's really kind of an underrated hottie. Banks slips out of her grip long enough to tag Bayley, and Sonya eats turnbuckle, with a side of knee. Deville tries dumping her, but Bayley hangs on, so Sonya just punches her in the gut instead, and hits a spinebuster. Cover, count, but Nia comes in for the save, triggering another brawl between the teams. Bayley hits Sonya with a side suplex for two in the chaos, but they spill to the outside from there, and it's a double countout at 15:17. The dust settles on Banks and Asuka next, and the crowd is really into that particular showdown. Asuka takes her down with a dropkick, and then pops her with a knee as Banks tries to reverse a hiptoss. I love how casually Asuka can destroy someone. German suplex sends Banks to the outside, but Asuka gets dropped on the apron while going after her. That allows Sasha to dive off the apron at her, but Asuka dodges the flying kneesmash, and hits a missile dropkick for two on the way back in. Hip attack, but Sasha blocks, and a reversal sequence ends in Asuka trying the Asuka-Lock, but Banks countering into a cradle for two. Sasha manages to blast her with the kneesmash in the corner from there, but a trip to the top ends badly when her own partner shoves her off! I guess Nia's not content with only injuring those she's opposing anymore. That lands Banks in the Asuka-Lock, and she's done at 19:36. Unfortunately for Asuka, there's no time for celebrating, as Nia rushes in with a trio of legdrops, followed by a Samoan drop at 20:15.
Survivor: Nia Jax
They weren't trying to reinvent the wheel here, but it was all action, and an easy watch. ** ¾

Seth Rollins v Shinsuke Nakamura: Neither man's title (Intercontinental and United States, respectively) is on the line here. Nakamura eyes him like he wants to fuck at the bell, and they feel each other out. Yeah, Nakamura is now actively trying to blow Rollins during a rope break, to the point where even 1996 Goldust would be, like, 'dude.' Meanwhile in the crowd, a guy wearing a hoodie that covers most of his face takes a seat in the second row, which becomes important later. Nakamura bails to the outside after Seth rejects his advances, but manages to unload a knee on the way in, and he pounds Seth in the corner. Cross corner whip backfires when Rollins rebounds out with a clothesline, and a reversal sequence ends in Seth hitting a nasty rocker dropper on the apron. He tries a tope, but Nakamura kicks him in the head to block, and he puts the boots to Rollins on the floor. Back in, Nakamura hooks the leg for two, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. He grounds Seth in a double-chickenwing, but Rollins starts to escape, so Nakamura bootchokes him down. Nakamura works a front-facelock, and more bootchoking follows, but Seth fights him off with a reverse STO into the turnbuckles. Sling blade leads to a dive off the middle, but Nakamura dodges, and goes up to the middle himself. Rollins pulls him off before he can dive, however, and dumps his ass over the top with a slam to the floor! Seth dives with a tope, then hustles in for a second one to make sure his point is made. And then a third for good measure. Rollins uses a springboard flying clothesline for two on the way back in, but Nakamura slips out of a suplex, and throws a kick that leaves both men down. Nakamura is up first, and starts unloading strikes into the corner for two, but Seth blocks the inverted exploder suplex. Nakamura tries a sleeper, but Rollins counters with a superkick for two. Bucklebomb, but Nakamura slips out, and pounds him in the corner. That serves to fire Rollins up, however, and he goes crazy on Nakamura with stomps. Short-clothesline, but Nakamura counters to a triangle choke, and Seth struggles to turn it into a cradle. He muscles Nakamura up for the bucklebomb from there, but the curb stomp is countered with a big boot. That allows Nakamura a fireman’s brainbuster for two, but a trip to the top rope ends badly when Rollins is ready with the superplex/falcon arrow combo for two. Slugfest goes Nakamura's way, allowing him his inverted exploder suplex, but a corner charge misses. That allows Seth the short-high knee for two, but a flying frogsplash misses, and Nakamura blasts him in the back of the head for two. Nakamura goes for the kill, but Rollins is ready with a superkick, but the curb stomp misses. That leads to a reversal sequence, but Rollins is able to turn it back into the curb stomp at 21:28. Remember when everyone was really excited about Nakamura coming in, and couldn't wait to see him tearing it up in four-star matches every week? Yeah, those were good times. ** ¼

AOP v Sheamus and Cesaro: Neither the RAW Tag Team Title or the Smackdown Tag Team Title is up for grabs here. As the bell sounds, that hooded man in the crowd bursts out of his cover, and hops up onto his seat - revealing himself to be Enzo Amore. He cuts a promo on the crowd until being violently removed by security. Too violently, frankly. Like, calm down, woman! This was not part of the show, and the camera ignored it, but you can easily spot it going on in the background. What a doofus. The Bar dominate Rezar in the early going, as the crowd gets distracted by the ongoing Enzo situation. Cesaro tries a giant swing on an incoming Akam, but Rezar is able to charge with a clothesline to stop it, and the AOP hit him with a combo for two. They cut the ring in half on Cesaro, as I wish Enzo would come back, simply to give me something interesting to type about. Seriously, there's a whole lotta nothing going on here, as the AOP cut the ring in half with paint-by-numbers stuff. Cesaro fights Akam off with a springboard to allow the hot tag to Sheamus, and Rezar eats a flying clothesline for two. In comes Cesaro with an uppercut to set up the Brogue Kick, but Drake Maverick puts Rezar's foot on the ropes at two. That gets him chased off by Cesaro, and he runs into Big Show out there as well, with poor Drake literally pissing his pants in fear. That draws Sheamus over to make fun of him, but this whole pants pissing drama allows the AOP to sneak up and finish him at 9:05. Well, that was certainly a unique finish. ½*

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Buddy Murphy v Mustafa Ali: Murphy goes at him right away, with Ali trying to evade, but getting trapped in the corner. Ali turns the tables, but Murphy blocks a sunset cradle, so Ali straight up decks him. Murphy tries a side suplex, but Ali back flips out of trouble, and sends the champ to the outside with a running headscissors. Ali dives after him with a flying somersault senton, but it doesn't even get him a one count on the way back in. Ouch! Murphy tries sweeping him to the outside, but gets sent into the barricade instead, and Ali goes back to the top for another dive - only to get shoved off, and into the barricade by Murphy! That looked great! Murphy throws him into the barricade a couple more times for good measure, before rolling his challenger in to cover for two. Corner whip sets up a backdrop for two, and Murphy works a chinlock. Slam, but Ali topples him for two, and he sends the champ into the corner with a catapult. Buddy tries a pop-up, but Ali is ready with a dropkick, though an attempt at a weird (needlessly flippy) follow-up ends badly when Buddy chucks his ass out of the ring! Nasty! He was just free falling there. Murphy follows with a somersault suicida, but he misses another dive as they head back in, and Ali fires off a pair of superkicks ahead of an inverted rana for two! Spiked his head into the mat like he just scored a touchdown there! Ali throws a spinheel kick to send Murphy to the apron, and a cool tilt-a-whirl DDT brings Bubby back in for two. Ali goes up to finish, but Murphy sweeps the leg as the challenger climbs, and Ali takes a bump into the apron on the way out to the floor. Murphy follows to prep an announce table, but Ali fights him off before he can use it, sending Buddy to the floor with a Spanish fly off the table! How is this not a double countout, already? Ali rolls him in to finish, but Murphy superkicks him as he climbs the ropes, and a two-alarm powerbomb... gets two. Oooh, I totally pegged that as the finish. He tries Murphy's Law, but Ali slips free - only to have a springboard countered with a knee to the noggin. Murphy's Law, and the champ retains at 12:20. Well! That was pretty freaking great! They gave this plenty of time, and Ali was just bumping all over the place. *** ¾

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, and Bobby Lashley) v Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, Miz, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, and Rey Mysterio): Samoa Joe sneaks up on Drew with the Coquina Clutch while Drew is arguing with Braun over who gets to start the match, but McIntyre escapes, and bicycle kicks Joe at 0:37. Easy money, baby, easy money. Hardy comes in next, and I'm surprised Drew can even take him seriously with that makeup job. Jeff sticks and moves, but runs into a clothesline, and Dolph tags in for a superkick, but Hardy falls into a tag to Shane before Ziggler can deliver. Shane unloads in the corner, but Ziggler turns the tide, and puts McMahon down with a standing dropkick. Shane responds with uppercuts and armdrags, but Dolph counters a floatover DDT with a cradle for two. Rocker dropper gets two, but McMahon catches the foot on a superkick attempt, and drills him with an elbow. Jumping backelbow follows, but Dolph counters with the Zig Zag, and Miz is forced to dive in and save at two. He tags in, but Dolph blocks the Skull Crushing Finale, and a reversal sequence ends in Ziggler hitting a dropkick. He looks to pass to Drew, but Braun steals the tag - prompting another jaw session between the two big 'uns. That ends in them actually throwing down, and the idiot Smackdown guys come in instead of letting them self destruct. They manage to gang up on Braun, and Rey hits him with the 619 before they all muscle him to the outside to sprawl on an announce table for McMahon to put through with a flying elbowdrop! Wow, nearly twenty years after SummerSlam '99, and the kid can still sail. The dust settles on Drew and Miz back in the ring, with Miz working him over. Drew fights him off, but Balor's the only guy on the apron, and Drew doesn't want to tag him in. That results in THEM fighting it out, and Balor tags himself in. He nearly kills Miz with a double stomp, and hooks a victory cradle for two. Flying double stomp misses when Miz bails to the outside, so Balor follows with a baseball slide, and adds a running dropkick against the barricade out there. Unfortunately for him, Rey tags in as they go back inside, and he starts springboarding all over the place. He's beboppin' and scattin', Jerry! 619 misses, allowing Finn a sling blade, and he blasts Rey with a running dropkick into the corner. Flying double stomp, but Mysterio moves, and another try at the 619 goes better. That sets up a springboard flying frogsplash, and Balor's done at 12:05. Drew attacks as the fall is counted, but he's actually more interested in beating up Balor than Mysterio. That allows Rey to sneak up with a dropkick, but he ends up knocking Drew right into a tag to Lashley, and Bobby creams him with a big boot. He tries a press-drop, but Rey lands on his feet, so Bobby throws him into the corner with authority. Neckbreaker leads to the hanging vertical suplex, but Rey counters with a DDT, and Mysterio adds an enzuigiri. Bobby tries a charge, but ends up going over the top - but not before tagging Dolph in first. That allows Ziggler a sneak attack, but Rey tags Jeff before he can get too far. Hardy comes in hot, and a legdrop to the groin gets him two. Twist of Fate, but Dolph blocks, and Drew runs interference to buy him recovery time. That allows Ziggler to drop Jeff with a jumping DDT for two, but the superkick gets countered with a stunner, and Hardy goes up with the Swanton Bomb - only for Dolph to lift his knees! Jeff tags Miz before Ziggler can capitalize, however, and Miz destroys him in the corner - leaving Dolph in a heap to set up the Coast to Coast from Shane at 18:10. Bobby grabs Shane with a pair of overhead suplexes right away, but the second sends him right into a tag to Miz. Bobby picks right up where he left off with Shane, but misses a charge in the corner, and is left in a heap to set up another Coast to Coast. Unfortunately Shane is still really battered this time, and Braun is able to clothesline him out of the air as he dives! That allows Bobby to hook the leg, but Rey breaks up the count at two, and drags McMahon back to the home corner so he can tag. Dust settles on Braun and Jeff, and Hardy comes at him hard and fast! Twist of Fate, but Braun countered with a front-powerslam at 20:46. Rey flies in with a dropkick on Braun, and starts peppering him with kicks. Leg-feed enzuigiri sets up the 619, but Braun catches him in the front-powerslam at 21:21. Shane's still dead in the corner, so Miz has to go in next, and that dude don't want none. Braun chases him in, and the front-powerslam quickly wraps him up at 22:24. Shane's still dead, but there's no one left, and he's got no choice left now. Braun takes his time letting McMahon stagger in, and Shane puts on his brave face, but quickly gets murdered at 24:01.
Survivors: Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley
Like the opener, this was also all action, and an easy watch, but there was nothing especially great about it. ***

Ronda Rousey v Charlotte Flair: Ronda's RAW Women's Title is not on the line here. They spend time sizing one another up at the bell, with Charlotte looking for quick strikes to avoid getting grabbed by the Rousey. Ronda catches the arm and sweeps her down for a cross-armbreaker, but Flair fights her off. Figure Four, but Rousey fights her off by grabbing at the arm again, and she tries her fireman's carry slam, but Charlotte slips free. Nice sequences here. Flair grabs a headlock to ground her, but Rousey starts fighting free, so Charlotte violently throws her into a turnbuckle smash. Suplex gets two, and Charlotte starts going after the leg. She grounds Ronda in a stepover-toehold, and Rousey is badly bleeding from the mouth after an elbow gets away from Charlotte. Flair goes to a leglock as Ronda starts to escape, but Rousey fights her off with a leg-feed enzuigiri, and punishes her with a triangle choke on the ropes! Ronda goes up, but she's unsure of herself, and Flair is able to capitalize by crotching her up there. She follows for a superplex, but Ronda fights her off, and drops to the mat with a cross-armbreaker. Flair powers it into a cradle for two, so Ronda tries shifting to a triangle choke, but Charlotte counters to a Boston crab! Rousey nears the ropes, so Flair switches to the Figure Four, but Rousey blocks. Natural Selection, but Rousey counters by grabbing the arm, and she cranks on that thing! Charlotte fights free, but her arm is hurt, and she's not quick to follow up. She gets to the top for the flying moonsault, but Rousey lifts her legs to block (like, STRAIGHT UP), and drops Flair with a rolling fireman's carry slam. She gets pumped up about it, but that allows Charlotte to recover, and she drills Rousey with a spear for two. Ronda goes for the arm, but Flair is ready with a counter to the Figure Four! Ronda reverses before Charlotte can bridge into the Eight, but Flair rolls through, and they end up spilling out of the ring with the hold. Ronda is up first, and chucks Flair into the barricade, then rolls her in for some armdrags to disorient her. Rousey with fists of fury, but Charlotte fights back with chops, and she kicks at the knee to take the growl off of Ronda's face. Big boot gets two, and both women are, like, sobbing here. This is intense! Flair tries a slam, but Ronda grabs the arm, so Flair bails to the floor to avoid getting grounded. Ronda pulls her back in for a fireman's carry slam, and it's arm breakin' time, but Charlotte refuses to get trapped! She manages to get to the outside, and holy fuck, Ronda's chest is bruised up like crazy from the chops earlier on. They're not playing around here. Charlotte milks the count to frustrate Rousey, until Ronda loses it and chases, but Flair is ready with a kendo stick out there! She bashes Rousey for an immediate DQ at 14:11, but the sound of the bell does nothing to stop the attack. Flair continues beating her with the kendo stick in violent fashion (with Ronda left covered in bruises and welts by the end of it), but that's not enough. Next, she grabs a chair, and decides to pillmanize Rousey - but not her ankle. No, she wraps the chair around her motherfucking NECK, and stomps that shit like she wants her dead! Wow! This was maybe the hardest hitting women's match I've ever seen in the WWE. Even the various gimmick matches they've done weren't as intensely brutal as this was. This one had real emotion, and felt like an actual fight, as opposed to a choreographed show. Ronda is just a total mess at the end of this - covered in bruises, and bleeding from the mouth and ear - but she still pulls herself to a vertical base to walk out on her own, and man, Charlotte is gonna get destroyed in the rematch. ****

Main Event: Daniel Bryan v Brock Lesnar: Neither man's gold (WWE Title and Universal Title, respectively) are on the line here. That belt looks so massive on Bryan. It's practically up to his nipples! Bryan rushes out of the corner with a dropkick to the knee at the bell, but the attack fails to do much damage to Lesnar. Brock stalks him, so Bryan bails to the outside to stall, and suckers Lesnar into chasing him so that he can steal the high ground - then celebrates by dancing a little jig. I'm liking this version of Daniel Bryan! Brock isn't though, and he slams Daniel on his head as he comes back in, then launches him with one of those release German suplexes. Brock dragging his limp body across the ring ahead of a second suplex is such a great visual. Lesnar switches it up with a release overhead suplex that sends Bryan flying across the ring like a golf ball, and he adds another pair until Bryan just falls out of the ring. Brock stops to celebrate with his title belt before going after Daniel on the outside - tossing his tiny white ass into the barricade out there. He rolls Bryan back in, but Daniel just keeps on rolling right back out, but that just serves to piss the Beast off. He follows to toss Daniel into the barricade again, and this time Bryan doesn't have the energy to give him much trouble on the way back in. Brock grabs him in a bearhug, but before Daniel can even think about quitting, Lesnar drops him with a spinebuster. Brock sends DB Cooper on another air trip via German suplex, and another bearhug is shifted into an overhead suplex. F5 looks to finish, but Brock changes his mind, and pulls him up at two. He casually slams Daniel to the mat, but Bryan kicks him in the face as Brock goes in to do more damage. Brock shakes it off and tries again, but Bryan is ready with another kick. Brock powers through to try the F5, but Bryan lands on his feet, and BLASTS Lesnar with a kick to the balls to set up a high knee for two! Bryan buries him in a flurry of kicks, but Brock blocks a charge with the F5 - only for Daniel to dump him to the outside. He tries a plancha, but Brock catches him, so Bryan slips out, and sends him into the post! Bryan dives off the apron with a knee, but Brock STILL catches him as he tries a tope, and Daniel gets rammed into the post. A pissed off Lesnar rams him into the post a second time, and he grabs the steps to finish this punk off, but misses a charge with them, and knocks himself silly! That allows Bryan to dive off the apron again with another high knee, and back in we go. Bryan hits him with a running high knee for two, and he capitalizes on a stunned Lesnar by clipping the leg to allow him to bash it into the post! Bryan goes up with a flying dropkick, and he starts unloading cross corner dropkicks! Lesnar catches one into the F5, but Daniel counters to the Yes Lock, and the confidence has been totally wiped from Lesnar's face! He manages to power out of the hold, so Bryan starts drilling him with forearms to allow him to try again, but Brock powers free. Bryan tries a triangle choke, but Brock powers it into the F5, and Daniel is done at 18:44! This was looking like it would be business as usual from Brock, but Bryan was game to go out and kill himself to make it work, and then Brock was willing to play ball with him as well. I guess Thanksgiving puts the Beast in a good mood, because that's two years in a row that he's willing to cut loose at Survivor Series. *** ¼

BUExperience: Better than I expected! There’s two great matches, a couple of good ones, and the whole thing wrapped up in ‘only’ three and a half hours. I didn’t love it, but it was still the best main roster show since WrestleMania.

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