WWE Survivor Series (November 2010)

Original Airdate: November 21, 2010

From Miami, Florida; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Matt Striker, and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE United States Title Match: Daniel Bryan v Ted DiBiase: They trade wristlocks to start, and the lights die for a few seconds, in a WCW-like moment. Luckily, they fix it within a moment, unlike the actual WCW. DiBiase suplexes the champion out of the ring, and he dives with a 2nd rope elbowdrop to knock Daniel off of the apron. Inside, Ted hooks the leg for two, and he grounds Bryan in a chinlock, wearing him down. Ted lets off to deliver a standing dropkick for two, and he goes back to the chinlock, but Bryan blocks a suplex. He tries a rollup, but Ted blocks, so Bryan throws a dropkick of his own to buy some time. He starts making a comeback, and dumps his challenger to the outside, diving after him with a tope - only to bang up his shoulder on the landing. Daniel rolls him back in with a flying dropkick for two, and he unloads a series of kicks. Small package gets the champion two, so he goes for the LeBell lock, but Ted manages to block. DiBiase delivers a clothesline for two, and he goes for the cobra clutch, but Daniel kicks off the ropes into a cradle for two. DiBiase responds with a sitout spinebuster for two, but Bryan blocks a superplex, and delivers a side superplex for two. He aggravates the shoulder on the landing, however, and Ted is able to block the LeBell again. Ted with a catapult into the corner to set up a schoolboy for two, but Bryan slips into the LeBell, and manages to hang on long enough for the submission at 9:56. Bryan continues to consistently deliver the goods in the ring. *** 

Sheamus v John Morrison: John wins a slugfest to start, and a headscissors takedown leads to a dropkick to put Sheamus on the outside. John dives after him with a corkscrew, and he unloads mounted punches on the floor, but gets shoved into the barricade out there. Sheamus blasts him with a clothesline on the floor, and he rolls John in to cover for two. Sheamus with a trio of kneedrops, and a short-clothesline is worth two. Inverted DDT gets two, so he goes to an armbar, and throws a knee when Morrison fights to a vertical base. Sheamus with a series of forearm smashes to the chest for two, as the announcers giggle at their jokes like teenagers calling a backyard wrestling match. Sheamus tries a superplex, but John blocks, and dives with a flying bodypress - only for Sheamus to roll through, and into a front-powerslam for two. Brogue kick misses, however, allowing Morrison an enzuigiri to buy time. Morrison makes a comeback, and a leg lariat gets him two, but a clothesline gets countered with a uranage backbreaker for two. Piledriver, but John counters with a catapult into the corner to set up a Russian legsweep for two. He tries a charge, but Sheamus dodges, and clips the leg. Sheamus goes to work on the part, and he slaps on a half-crab to try for the submission. John makes the ropes, and hooks a schoolboy for two, so Sheamus clips the knee again. He gets arrogant, allowing John a leg-feed kick, but Sheamus blocks the Starship Pain. That allows Sheamus to try for the crucifix powerbomb, but John blocks. Brogue, but John dodges, and lands a knee strike at 11:10. Good action here. ** ½ 

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Dolph Ziggler v Kaval: Kaval blitzes him in the early going, and delivers a shoulderblock for two. Dolph fights him off with a somersault necksnap for one, but Kaval manages a schoolboy for two. Handspring bodypress gets him two, so he goes to a ten-punch count, but Ziggler drops him across the turnbuckles to shake him off. Dolph goes to a chinlock/bodyscissors, and a neckbreaker gets him two when Kaval starts fighting to a vertical base. Dolph goes back to the hold, but a corner charge hits boot, and Kaval makes a clothesline filled comeback. Kaval with a springboard flying moonsault press for two, and a handspring enzuigiri is worth two. Kaval goes upstairs for a flying 450 splash, but Dolph dodges. Zig Zag gets the champion two, but Kaval escapes a sleeper, and dives with a flying enzuigiri for two. Kaval gets lost trying to figure out his next steps, and we get an awkward few moments with nothing going on, until Ziggler cradles him for two. Kaval tries a victory cradle from there, but Ziggler rolls through at 9:34. Kaval looked like he was trying too hard, but it was a decent bout. * ¼ 

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Montel Vontavious Porter, Kofi Kingston, and Chris Masters v Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, and Tyler Reks: Mysterio and Del Rio start, but Del Rio refuses to engage, then passes to Cody to frustrate him. Reversal sequence ends in Cody springboarding with a kick for two, and he passes back to Del Rio - more than willing to engage now that Rey is on the defensive. Del Rio hammers him for a bit, but walks into a headscissors out of the corner, and Rey delivers a seated dropkick in the corner. Tag to MVP with a shining wizard for two, and a corner big boot is worth two. Tag to Kofi for a springboard, and a snapmare gets him two, as Lawler reminisces about his team at Survivor Series ‘94. Well, that was a random direction to go in. MVP and Drew end up trading off, and Porter gets control, but Del Rio sweeps his legs while he’s trying a vertical suplex, and McIntyre topples at 5:33. MVP was over pretty huge with the Miami crowd (his hometown), so, of course, he’s the first eliminated. Masters comes in, as the annoyed crowd loudly chants for MVP. Chris hits Del Rio with a jackhammer for two, but Del Rio blocks the full-nelson, and applies a cross-armbreaker at 6:43. Show comes in to take the smirk off of Del Rio’s face, but Alberto quickly passes to Swagger to handle him. Jack tries for a waistlock takedown, but that ends very badly, and Show abuses him in the corner. Swagger manages to clip the leg during a criss cross, and again, Del Rio is glad to tag in now. Show no sells his attack, however, so Del Rio wants out, but no one on his team is willing. That allows Show to knock him out, and Del Rio is ruled as unable to continue at 9:00. Dust settles on Kofi and Cody, and Rhodes decides to throw a tantrum. Kofi ignores it and slaps him, then passes to Show to punch him for the pin at 10:55. The heels gang up to take Show down, and they work him over, cutting the ring in half. Swagger hooks an anklelock to finish, but Show reaches Rey for a tag while in the hold. Rey springboards on Jack a bunch of times, but walks into a big boot for two. Anklelock looks to put it away, but Rey escapes. 619, but Reks tags in before he can execute it. Rey manages to reach Kingston before Reks can wreck him, however, and Kingston peppers Tyler with quick strikes. Flying bodypress gets Kingston two, as the announcers note that the “complexion of the match completely changed once Kofi came in.” Uh. Kingston blocks a corner charge with his boot from there, and hooks a cradle at 15:07. Drew rushes in, but eats an enzuigiri before he can attack. It knocks him right into a tag to Jack, so Kingston cradles him for two. Trouble in Paradise looks to finish, but Swagger counters to the anklelock at 15:54. Show rushes in to nail Swagger as soon as the submission is noted, and he passes to Rey for an assisted dive, but Drew saves. That allows Swagger a pump-splash on Rey for two, but Mysterio blocks a superplex, and delivers the 619. Rey goes onto Show’s shoulders for a flying splash, and that’s it for Swagger at 17:32. Drew goes after the still battered Mysterio, but Rey fights him off with a 619 immediately, and Show tags in with a chokeslam at 18:09.

Survivors: Rey Mysterio, Big Show

This wasn’t anything particularly special, but it was well paced, and generally fine. ** 

WWE Divas Title Handicap Match: Michelle McCool and Layla v Natalya: McCool is technically the champion here, though she and Layla have declared themselves 'co-champions.' Michelle starts off, and wins a scuffle on the mat. Over to Layla with a clothesline for two, and a spinkick knocks the challenger to the outside, where McCool pounces with a cheap shot. Inside, the champs try a tandem suplex, but Natalya reverses. They spill to the outside, where McCool pounds her down, but misses a big boot, and ends up going into the first row. Layla rushes over to help, but Natalya chucks her over the barricade into her partner, and the challenger drags McCool back inside. Sharpshooter finishes at 3:35. This was barely a match, with no storytelling to speak of. DUD

World Heavyweight Title Match: Kane v Edge: Edge sticks and moves in the early going, and lands a spinheel kick for two. Edge makes him chase him to the outside, then blasts him with a baseball slide out there, and Kane gets shoved into the barricade for good measure. Inside, Edge clips the leg, since apparently that’s everyone’s go-to tonight. Edge bashes the leg into the post to do some more damage, and he hooks a leglock. Edge tries the implant DDT, but Kane dumps him to the apron to block, and a big boot sends the challenger crashing to the outside. Back in, Kane uses a corner whip, and he chokes his challenger down. Another corner whip leads to a bootchoke, and Kane unloads with rights and lefts for two. He works a cravat, but Edge escapes, so Kane delivers a seated dropkick for two. Back to the cravat, but Edge fights free again, and this time he’s able to dive with a flying bodypress for two. Kane goes upstairs for a dive of his own, but Edge throws a dropkick to block, and he goes back to sticking and moving. He gives Kane a straddling bodypress into a schoolboy for two, but a dive off the middle gets blocked with an uppercut for two. Kane with a vertical suplex, but the challenger counters with the Edge-o-Matic for two. Kane fires back with a sidewalk slam for two, and this time manages to land the flying clothesline for two. Chokeslam, but Edge counters with a DDT. Spear, but Kane counters with a big boot, and he manages the chokeslam for two. Tombstone, but Edge counters with a spear, and both guys collapse in a heap for a double pin at 12:46. Another decent match, with lots of good back and forth in the third act, though the finish was really bad for a pay per view. * ¾ 

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel v Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella: Slater and Marella start, and Santino hooks a quick takedown, so Slater tags out. Gabriel tries some strikes, but Santino ducks them, and takes the champion over in a headlock. Tag to Kozlov to big boot Justin, but the champ escapes a front-powerslam. He tries a charge, but Kozlov shoves him across the ring to block, so Justin snaps his throat across the top rope, and delivers a DDT to properly turn the tide. Tag to Slater for a kneedrop for two, as they cut the ring in half on Kozlov. Kozlov fights Slater off long enough to tag, and Santino runs wild. Headbutt drop gets two when Justin saves, and Roseanne Barr the door! Marella goes for the cobra, so the Nexus distract him, and Slater capitalizes with a matslam at 5:07. ½*

Main Event: WWE Title Match: Randy Orton v Wade Barrett: John Cena is the special guest referee here (adding to the ever growing list of wrestlers playing referee while wearing unfortunate shorts), and it can only end by pinfall or submission. If Orton wins, Cena is fired. If Barrett wins, Cena is freed from Nexus. Oh, and Nexus are banned from ringside. Okay? Is that all? Are we sure? They measure each other some to start, and Barrett gets control after Cena inadvertently distracts the champion. Barrett whips him into the steps for two, and works a chinlock for a while, wearing Randy down enough to kick in the head for two. Back to the chinlock, but Randy escapes, and makes a comeback. Clothesline sends Barrett over the top, but Orton gets sent into the post as he follows his challenger to the outside. Barrett rolls him in with a flying elbowdrop for two, but Randy blocks the Wasteland. Barrett keeps control with a scrapbuster for two, as the crowd chants for Cena. Orton comes back with a rope-hung DDT, but Barrett bails to avoid the RKO. Randy chases with a clothesline on the floor, but Barrett fights him off with the Wasteland for two on the way back into the ring. Barrett argues the count with Cena, but goes too far, and John shoves him… right into an RKO at 15:15. A painfully slow and dull main event, but at least it felt like it had actual stakes to it. ¾*

BUExperience: This was a pretty decent card, with solid wrestling, and actual stakes in the main event (even if the match itself was garbage). It also had some of the most annoying, borderline amateurish commentary I’ve ever heard, which definitely lessened my enjoyment of even the best moments.

*