WWE Survivor Series (November 2008)

 

Original Airdate: November 23, 2008

From Boston, Massachusetts; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler (RAW); Jim Ross and Tazz (Smackdown); Todd Grisham and Matt Striker (ECW)

Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: Shawn Michaels, Great Khali, Rey Mysterio, and Cryme Tyme v John Bradshaw Layfield, Kane, Montel Vontavious Porter, John Morrison, and Miz: Rey starts with MVP, and gets immediately trapped in the corner. MVP decides to criss cross, but that ends badly, and Rey sticks a dropkick for two. Over to JTG for stereo dropkicks for two, but Porter throws a dropkick at the knee to shake JTG off, and a running knee ends his night at 1:29. Porter does a big celebration, but fails to notice Khali sneaking up behind him, and a big tomahawk chop finishes MVP at 1:45. Serves him right. I mean, if you GREAT KHALI can successfully sneak up on you, you deserve whatever you get. Kane comes in for a battle of the giants, but he's decidedly out giant'd, and gets dropped quickly. Khali unloads in the corner, so Kane tries a chokeslam, but that idea does not go anywhere good for him. It all ends in Rey tagging in and diving off of Khali's shoulders with a flying splash, and Kane is done at 3:17. Flying through this like it's the Attitude Era again. Morrison rushes in to attack Rey right away, but misses a charge in the corner, and Mysterio uses a well executed headscissors takedown. Tag to Shad Gaspard for a press-drop on Morrison, but he also misses a charge, and gets worked over by the heels in their corner. He manages to fight Miz and Morrison off long enough to unload with clotheslines, and Miz eats a front-powerslam. Shad adds an elbowdrop, but gets distracted by John while going for the kill, and Miz uses a neckbreaker on him at 6:20. Dust settles on Shawn and Miz next - in what may technically be the first of the three million Miz/Ziggler matches. Miz dominates, and uses a catapult into a fist from Morrison to set up a slingshot elbowdrop, and then it's over to JBL to hammer on Shawn in the corner. Swinging neckbreaker sets up an elbowdrop for two, as the heels cut the ring in half on Michaels - Shawn bleeding hardway from over the eye now. This heat segment is nothing special, but if you need a guy to go out and get a heat segment over, there are a lot worse choices than Shawn Michaels. Though he was better at it during the 90s, he's still better than most in 2008. Morrison decides to use Shawn's own comeback sequence against him (complete with kip-up - the chutzpah), but the flying elbowdrop misses, and Rey gets the hot tag. Miz takes a springboard headscissors takedown and the 619 sets up a flying splash at 11:36. Morrison tries to rush in, but gets set up for the 619, and Bradshaw has to save him. JBL with a series of elbowdrops on Rey for two, and the remaining heels settle into a new heat segment on him. Rey manages to fight Bradshaw off in the corner and hit a flying moonsault press for the hot tag to Shawn, as thankfully the workers are just pretending Khali isn't even there. Shawn runs through his comeback sequence on JBL, but Morrison prevents him from hitting the elbow, and Bradshaw bails. Shawn reroutes with a plancha out after him, and Bradshaw gets counted out at 17:44. Morrison tries to sneak up with a superkick from there, but Shawn reverses at 18:03 - in a nice little callback to the earlier sequence with Morrison stealing all of Shawn's moves.
Survivors: Shawn Michaels, Great Khali, Rey Mysterio
I didn't think much of it, but it was well structured, kept Khali mostly on the apron, and the crowd was hot the entire time. * ½

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Candice Michelle, Jillian Hall, and Kelly Kelly v Michelle McCool, Maria, Maryse, Victoria, and Natalya: Beth and Michelle start, but it goes nowhere, until Maryse tags herself in. That results in a scuffle with McCool, and the rest of the team has to pull them apart, while Beth just watches. And then Maria tags herself in anyway, since whatever. She manages to dodge Beth in the corner, and a headscissors takedown follows, so Kelly tags in with a slingshot sunset flip for two. She and Maria trade legsweeps, until Kelly hooks a backslide for two, but Victoria tags herself in. Thank God, because that Maria/Kelly sequence was laughably bad. Victoria argues with Maria about the tag, and Kelly sneaks up with a rana into a cradle at 2:55. In comes Maryse, so Kelly tries the same trick, but it only gets two. That allows Maryse a swinging scrapbuster across the knee, and Kelly's gone at 3:24. In comes Mickie with a Thesz-press to set up mounted punches, but a charge in the corner ends badly, and McCool tags back in. They do a reversal sequence so terrible that the referee has to stop counting at points to avoid an accidental elimination, and then a miscommunication with Maria allows Mickie to put her away at 5:08. Maryse got next, and she schoolgirls James at 5:28, while Mickie is 'distracted.' That looked so bad. Like, she was facing Maryse, then randomly just turned her back for no reason, and got cradled. Dust settles on Candice and Nattie, and more embarrassing reversals occur, until Natalya gets the Sharpshooter on, and Hall has to save. And then Nattie chases her like an idiot, and gets speared by Victoria at 6:47. Maryse comes in all hot and bothered, but then immediately retreats at the sight of fucking Jillian Hall, so how the fuck are we supposed to take her seriously. Hall beats on Maria instead, but walks into a victory cradle at 7:45. And then Maria eats a bridging Northern lights suplex from Victoria at 7:56. This is so, so bad. That leaves cocky Maryse alone, and she puts Victoria in an ugly looking figure four at 8:29. Okay, down to two, this train wreck is almost over. Slugfest goes Maryse's way for two, but a 2^nd rope bodypress attempt doesn't, and Beth looks for the slam. Maryse counters to a cradle for two, but gets grabbed with the Glam Slam at 9:40.
Survivor: Beth Phoenix
This was embarrassingly bad. Like, this makes Tom Magee actually look like the next Hulk Hogan. -****

Casket Match: Undertaker v Big Show: Show gets him on the ropes right away to try and knock him into the casket, but Undertaker dodges a big charge, and Show nearly falls into it. You'd think after sixteen years of wrestling these as his main gimmick match, 'Taker would have picked up the psychology a little bit. I mean, even if he can get a fresh Show into the box in the first thirty seconds, does he really expect to get the lid shut? Show dominates a brawl on the outside, but 'Taker manages to whack him with a monitor to avoid going through an announce table. That allows Undertaker to put Show through it with a guillotine legdrop (in a particular phony looking spot - Show's so obviously patiently waiting for the drop), and they head back in for the ropewalk forearm, but Show blocks. He drops Undertaker with a vertical suplex, and a cross corner whip sets up a sidewalk slam on the rebound. He rolls Undertaker into the casket, but wants the referee's to do the lid closing for him, and then stands around arguing with them about it for thirty seconds instead of just doing it. And then Undertaker blocks, of course. What a stupid fucking match this is. For two veterans, they're working like a couple of rookies, psychology wise. Undertaker makes his comeback, but runs into an elbow on a charge, and we get another phony looking spot where Show climbs the ropes, and then just stands there for a long while waiting for Undertaker to chokeslam him off. That's enough to get him in the casket, but Undertaker fails to get the lid closed, and Show chokeslams him. Show decides to go out and flip the casket over for reasons I can't comprehend, and then just hangs out in the aisle by himself. Undertaker sits up, so Show decides to walk out, but flames shoot up at the entrance, blocking his path. Cue some druids with a second casket that ends up standing vertically, and Undertaker whips him into it at 12:39. Another terrible match, but the ending spot looked cool, and just keeps this out of negative stars. DUD

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Batista, Matt Hardy, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth v Randy Orton, William Regal, Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry, and Cody Rhodes: Punk grabs Regal in the GTS right at the bell, giving us our first elimination at a brisk 0:12. Benjamin rushes in with a schoolboy for two while Layla distracts Punk, and the dust settles on Kofi and Benjamin. Kofi sticks and moves, but ends up in the wrong corner, and Henry tags in to drill him with headbutts. The heels work Kofi over, but Cody fails to hold up his end, and Kofi passes to Matt. Hardy comes in with a backelbow and an elbowdrop for two, and it's over to Truth with a tandem hiptoss for two. Batista tags to get his licks in, but Cody immediately bails to the outside, and tags out to Shelton on his way back in. Shelton gets some strikes in on the Animal, but eats a forceful backelbow, and Batista adds a hanging vertical suplex for two. Over to Hardy for a corner whip, but the follow-up charge misses, and Orton tags in. Matt gives him some fire, and manages a bulldog out of the corner for two. Bodyslam sets up a flying moonsault, but Orton dodges, and the heels go to work on Matt. Once again, Cody fucks it up, and Truth gets the tag. I think we can trace the origins of AEW back to this night. Unfortunately for Truth, he gets killed by Benjamin at 7:40. Kofi comes flying in with bodypress on Shelton for two (nearly kissing the ceiling of the arena, damn), and he starts running wild. Legdrop gets two, so Henry takes a cheap shot from the apron to stifle Kofi, and the heels go to work. Just don't tag Cody in, guys! Luckily, they don't, and Orton finishes him with the rope-hung DDT at 10:45. Punk rushes in with strikes on Randy, and throws a leg lariat so high I'm not sure it even made contact. Still gets two anyway. Randy passes to Cody to throw a dropkick, and he uses a drop-toehold to ground Punk in a hammerlock. Punk fights free and uses a bodypress for two, followed by a swinging neckbreaker for two. Corner whip sets up a bulldog for two, but Manu distracts him to prevent a dive off the top, and Rhodes capitalizes with a DDT at 13:21. Hardy grabs Rhodes in the Side Effect right away for two, but Rhodes fights off a second one, and passes to Mark. Henry misses an avalanche, however, allowing Matt the Side Effect for two, but a dive off the middle ends badly when Henry catches him in a slam at 14:22. That leaves Batista all alone, but he manages to rush Henry with a spear at 14:48. In comes Shelton, but he eats a spinebuster from a raging Batista, and the Batista Bomb ends his night at 15:07. Cody's next, but runs right into a big boot, and eats a ferocious clothesline. Front-powerslam hits, so Manu tries another distraction, and Orton is able to blind tag in while Batista is executing the Bomb. That allows Randy to sneak up on him, and the RKO finishes at 16:14.
Survivors: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes
Not particularly engaging, but not bad either, and didn't overstay its welcome. That's a big thing, too. If this were being booked in the Network era, it probably would have gotten another ten minutes, and that would have hurt it a lot. * ½

WWE Title Match: Triple H v Vladimir Kozlov: Kozlov goes with a simple waistlock takedown to start, but HHH manages to counter to a headlock, and they fight over the reversals for a bit. I've barely even heard of Kozlov before, but my first impression is that they were trying to use him as a Brock Lesnar replacement, of sorts. He'd only been wrestling for about two years at this point, and is clearly not ready to work at this level, but he was already pushing forty, so I guess they figured they'd better not waste time. They keep trading holds on the mat, and HHH manages to get firm control with an armbar. Hunter uses a kneeling facebuster and a DDT, followed by a series of punches for two. HHH is out there working like he's doing some indy promoter a favor, or something. Rotating spinebuster sets up the Pedigree, but Kozlov blocks, and then end up colliding out of the ropes for a double knockout spot. That turns into a slugfest, and Kozlov reverses a corner whip, sending Hunter over the top with it. The challenger follows to abuse Hunter on the outside a bit, and a fallaway slam gets two on the way back in. Kozlov's execution of everything is really... interesting. Not necessarily good or bad, but leaning towards bad. Running powerslam gets two, so Kozlov latches on with another waistlock, and hits a backbreaker for two. Now I'm getting Ludvig Borga vibes from this guy. Another backbreaker is worth two, and he grounds HHH for some amateurish stuff. Amateurish, not amateur style, mind you. Powerslam gets two, and the crowd is not buying Kozlov at this level at all. Nor should they. Note the differences between how HHH is working this, versus how Bret Hart worked the legendary Tom Magee match. Hunter is content to expose him here, as opposed to making him look like a threat. HHH escapes another waistlock, so Kozlov uses a belly-to-belly suplex to keep control, but misses a charge in the corner. Pedigree looks to finish, when suddenly Vickie Guerrero shows up, and decides to shoehorn Edge into the match – in his first match since SummerSlam. Spear for HHH, but Jeff Hardy runs in to attack Edge to prevent the pin. He grabs a chair to finish the job, but ends up hitting Hunter by accident, and Edge covers for the title at 14:23. This felt like a really basic developmental level match for the first twelve minutes, followed by two minutes of crazy overbooking. ¾*

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v John Cena: This is Cena's first televised match since August, making his return following a legitimate injury. He goes for the FU right away, but Jericho has it scouted, and manages to slip out to the apron to block. Chris grounds him in a side-headlock to calm things down, but Cena powers out, so Jericho shoulderblocks him to the outside - Cena selling the neck nicely, since he's just coming off of a legitimate injury to the area. John comes back in with a vengeance, tackling Jericho with mounted punches, and suplexing him for two. STFU, but Chris manages to block, and he goes after the neck by turnbuckle smashing his challenger. Cena fights him off with a clothesline, and he adds a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop for two. Clearly, John thinks he's returned to 1985. Throwback pushes us forward to modern times, but Cena gets cold feet about going to the top rope, and Chris takes advantage with a DDT for two. Jericho sandwiches the neck between his boot and the post, and it looks like it may be over already, but Cena beats the count. He fires off rights on the champion, but misses a charge, and goes sailing over the top. Chris follows for a trip into the steps before rolling John in for a slingshot splash for two, and he works the neck with a headvice. Cena powers out, but Chris has his comeback sequence scouted, and ducks the jumping shoulderblock. That gets Jericho two, and he punishes the neck some more by standing on it on the ropes. Full-nelson follows, but it's just not the same without Gorilla and Jesse talking about getting the fingers locked. Cena fades, but manages to power out, so Jericho corner whips him. One-handed bulldog, but now it's Cena's turn to prove he has the champion well scouted, and he blocks. That rattles Jericho enough for Cena to run through his comeback routine, but Chris still counters the Five Knuckle Shuffle into the Liontamer! Really aggressive application too, leaning hard on the neck. Cena escapes, but Jericho is ready with a clothesline before he can fully recover, and it's time for the Walls! Kind of seems tame following that badass Liontamer, and they probably should have switched up the order, but whatever. John needs the ropes to escape a hold for the first time in the match, and he staggers up with a half hearted FU for a dramatic two count. That took a lot out of Cena though, and Jericho is able to fight him off in the corner. Chris takes him upstairs for a superplex, but John shoves him off, and takes a leap of faith with the flying rocker dropper he was too afraid to try earlier. FU, but Jericho blocks, and lands the Codebreaker for two. Chris is visibly frustrated now, but holds it together with a pair of clotheslines, looking for an opening to go in for the kill. Third clothesline, but Cena counters with a drop-toehold into the STFU! Jericho inches towards the ropes, so John tries to drag him back, but that allows Chris to kick him in the head. He hooks a small package, but Cena powers out, dead lifting the champion into the FU at 21:22. Damn good main event here, with very sound and well executed psychology throughout. ****

BUExperience: The main event is great, and barely saves this from the DUD-pile. Barely.

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