WWE Survivor Series 2014 Review

STING has arrived in WWE!!!

WWE Survivor Series 2014

Dallas, Texas 11/23/14

This show actually had TWO matches on the WWE Network Kickoff Show. The first match saw Fandango, who is still dancing, but has tweaked his gimmick, as he’s now a Salsa Dancer, with Rosa Mendes as his partner. He defeats Justin Gabriel in a relatively short match. The second match featured former partners colliding.

2.) Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter): **1/2

Of course, these two were once a tag team known as The Real Americans. I thought this was a fine pre-show match. It’s really sad to see how far Cesaro has fallen since his big victory at WrestleMania XXX. Not much to say about this match, expect that Jack Swagger gets the win.

PPV

The show kicks off…..with an in-ring promo….involving Vince McMahon, The Authority, & John Cena (is this RAW?!?!). I’m not going to give you an extensive recap (because that would be a waste of time). The gist of it is that they basically remind everyone of the stipulations of the Main Event. If Team Authority wins, then everyone on Team Cena (save for John Cena himself) is fired, but if Team Cena wins, then The Authority will be removed from power. Vince McMahon then adds that while Triple H & Stephanie McMahon will still be corporate heads of WWE, they could no longer intervene with the lives of the Superstars & Divas if they lose. Vince also adds that, should The Authority lose, only John Cena can bring them back.

1.) WWE Tag Team Titles – Fatal Four-Way Match – Goldust & Stardust vs. The Usos vs. Los Matadores (with El Torito) vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow: ***1/4

Survivor Series properly kicks off with a Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles. As you would expect, this was a pretty good opener. Things started slow, but definitely picked up down the stretch. The big story here was that the crowd hated The Miz, and LOVED Damien Mizdow, but he didn’t see much action, as The Miz wouldn’t tag him in. Things eventually broke down, and Damien Mizdow would take advantage of the chaos, tagging in and scoring the pin to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles from himself & The Miz. Again, almost a perfect opener, and the crowd popped HUGE when Mizdow got the pin.

2.) Survivor Series Elimination Match – Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi, & Natalya vs. Paige, Cameron, Layla, & Summer Rae): **

So this match is happening for….reasons. It’s not a total surprise, as they usually always have a Survivor Series Elimination Match involving the Divas. This match wasn’t that good, and not a lot of people cared. The story was that everyone on Paige’s side got eliminated, until it was eventually a 4-on-1 advantage against Paige, who was pinned by Naomi. Not much else to say.

3.) Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose: ***1/4

This match came about after Bray Wyatt cost Dean Ambrose his Hell In A Cell Match with Seth Rollins, literally using smoke & mirrors (well, technically a hologram…..a freaking hologram!!!). Despite the awful start to this feud, these two were actually having a really solid match. Then Dean Ambrose got a chair, and threatened to hit Bray Wyatt. They basically did the same thing that happened in the John Cena/Bray Wyatt feud, except Ambrose actually hit Wyatt with a chair, causing the match to end in a DQ. After the match, Ambrose continues the assault on Wyatt. He hits Dirty Deeds on Wyatt on top of a bunch of chairs, puts him through a table, and buries him under a table & several chairs, before climbing a Ladder to pose on top of it. If you guessed that this pretty much set in stone a TLC Match between these two at the Tables, Ladders, & Chairs PPV, then you would be correct! That match would be officially announced before this show even went off the air.

4.) Adam Rose & The Bunny vs. Slator Gator (Heath Slater & Titus O’Neal): N/R

So the story here is that Adam Rose has been having some issues with The Bunny, who is probably the most prominent member of The Rosebuds. This match was set up in a backstage segment earlier in the show. Not much to say here. It was basically a filler match that went under three minutes. The Bunny got the win for his team, to the dismay of his partner, Adam Rose. The Bunny celebrated with the rest of The Rosebuds after the match.

Before the next match, we get a Roman Reigns interview (via satellite). He says he’ll be back in action next month.

5.) WWE Diva’s Title – AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella): N/R

As Brie Bella’s period of servitude is coming a close, her sister Nikki Bella is getting a one-on-one shot at AJ Lee for the Diva’s Title. This was pretty much a segment, as right as the match starts, Brie Bella gets on the apron, and KISSES AJ LEE!!!!! WOAH!!!! This distraction allows Nikki to hit Rack Attack for the win and the Diva’s Title. This was basically a play off of the Daniel Bryan/Sheamus World Title Match from WrestleMania 28. After Nikki Bella turned on her twin sister Brie at SummerSlam, feuded with her, and had Brie be her personal assistant for 30 Days, The Bella Twins are seemingly, inexplicably, back together. Typical WWE…

6.) Survivor Series Elimination Match – Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Erick Rowan, & Ryback) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, WWE United States Champion Rusev, WWE Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper, & Mark Henry with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Lana, and J & J Security): ****1/4

Here we are. This match is for all of the marbles, as they say. If Team Authority wins, everyone on Team Cena is fired, except for John Cena. If Team Cena wins, however, then The Authority will be removed from power. I won’t recap the whole match, but I’ll go over the big moments. Mark Henry gets eliminated almost immediately with a knockout punch from The Big Show. Ryback then gets eliminated (which was a bit of a shocker, as he had just returned from injury). Rusev then got eliminated by count-out, after going through an announce table while trying to splash Ziggler. Erick Rowan then got eliminated. At this point, things took a horrible turn for Team Cena, as The Big Show knocked out John Cena, leading to the team captain being eliminated. The Big Show walks out on the match, meaning that it’s now three-on-one with The Authority against Dolph Ziggler. Luke Harper & Kane are eventually eliminated by Ziggler, and it comes down to Ziggler vs. Rollins. They have a great sequence for a few minutes, but Triple H interferes when Ziggler has the match won. He hits Ziggler with a Pedigree and calls his crooked referee Scott Armstrong to do the count, but then we here crows. The lights go down, and STING shows up!!!! STING IS HERE IN THE WWE!!!! He takes out Armstrong, and has a long stare down with Triple H. The Game goes for a shot, but Sting counters, and hits a Scorpion Death Drop!!! He then puts Ziggler on top of Rollins, and Team Cena wins!!!!! The Authority is out of power!!! Cena celebrates with Ziggler, while the fans sing the “Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Heeeey…Goodbye” song to Triple H & Stephanie McMahon.

This is the kind of match that WWE excels in. The stakes were high (even though the stipulation wouldn’t last very long), the action was really good, and the crowd was into this from start to finish. Everyone played their parts well, particularly Triple H, as his reactions during the match really put over its importance. This match was a drama-filled roller coaster, as their were many twists & turns. Cena being eliminated when he was unexpected, and Ziggler played a perfect underdog. Of course, the WWE debut of Sting was the biggest story here, and it was indeed a great moment.

Overall: 6.5/10

So this was basically a one match show. WWE had a lot riding on the Main Event, and it certainly delivered, with a ton or drama, some great action, and the WWE Debut of Sting, which is itself a huge moment not just in WWE History, but in wrestling history in general. Unfortunately, besides that match, and Damien Mizdown becoming one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, this show was pretty bad. There was a solid Dean Ambrose/Bray Wyatt match that, while still a good match, could have been better if not for a DQ (though it did result in a rematch being set for the next PPV almost immediately, so that’s good). The Diva’s Survivor Series Elimination Match was bad, and the other two matches got no rating because they were either just “segment matches” or total filler. The fact that the show started with a promo says a lot. This was basically one PPV quality match on top of a Sunday Night edition of RAW.