BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
The Survivor Series used to always be one of the biggest Pay Per Views. Some folks will say Summerslam is the second biggest show of the year, but from my perspective it’s always been Survivor Series. It’s the half way mark to WrestleMania. It’s where big things happen that shape what’s been leading up from the last WrestleMania before heading into the next one. It’s where The Rock came back to team with Cena, it’s where the Screw Job happened, it’s where they had a one night tournament that saw Mankind and The Rock further legitimize themselves, the Undertaker debuted at a Survivor Series, and so much more. And I don’t even have to get into the bad ass “Survivor Series” match itself. Two teams square off in an elimination tag match. It used to be a big deal and over the years has had a roller coaster of importance. They seem to be trying to bring it back in at least one big match these days. I’ll take what I can get.
They started the show with a “bonus match” of pretty much everyone on the roster that wasn’t booked. It was a long match, but not a bad one. It could have lived with it being shorter, but all in all the “Traditional Survivor Series Match” is always fun. I felt like it was a little fishy that Justin Gabriel didn’t hit the 450 at the end in favor of Rey’s shitty splash. The good guys minus Brodus Clay won. Eve won her match against Kaitlyn and no one cared. I wanted to like it, but it just did nothing to draw me in. I’m not anti-divas matches at all, but for some reason these two just don’t click or bring anything of interest to the table. Maybe with different opponents and with an actual interesting storyline, but not now. I did enjoy Antonio Cesaro’s victory over R-Truth. It was cool to see Cesaro wrestle someone high up on the card. They had a decent match and I’d like to see them get in a rematch soon.
Sheamus and Big Show was a letdown. This was all my fault. I let myself anticipate a Big Show match and it blew up in my face. I don’t know what happened, but the other match these two had was A LOT better. Sheamus won by disqualification, but Big Show retains his belt? What? A DQ in a Heavyweight Title Match? Wow, what a letdown. The “Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler” match was pretty fun. I fully expected Randy Orton to be the sole survivor. I was close on this, but gladly Dolph got the win. I’m always happy to see Dolph Ziggler get a time to shine after making everyone look like a billion bucks each and every time out there.
The main event was a joke. Ryback no-sold his ass off as Cena and Punk went back and forth as much as they could. You could tell that Cena and Punk were faced with the massive limitations of Ryback. His involvement was a joke. He’d hit a sloppy power move, get beat up, no sell it, and then hit another sloppy power move. His FAKE CHANT is annoying and he has not evolved at all since debuting. He’s a stereotype of a bad wrestler. Fans chant “Goldberg” at him, but I think that’s got a lot to do with his look as much as his style. In reality, Ryback is the new Ultimate Warrior. Think about that shit and tell me I’m wrong. When Cena and Punk put Skip Sheffield through the table it was like they were saying “okay, let the adults do their thing”. Once it was one on one it become a MUCH better match. This was all good and fun and then the weird screwy ending. This wasn’t an ending where the fans are shocked and want to watch tomorrow. This was yet another weak ending to a weak show. I understand the sneaky bad guy stealing the win is nothing new, but this just felt anticlimactic and cheap. It doesn’t make me look forward to the day CM Punk finally “gets his”. It just makes me want to the turn the channel. Since the late 90’s Survivor Series has always been about “screw jobs”. This year, it was the paying fans who got screwed. It’s really hard to keep watching this. I went into this with an open mind and optimism. My mistake.
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