Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns make their mark. Photo credit: WWE.com
Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd and Brodus Clay defeated the Prime Time Players, Epico, Primo and Tensai in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. It was an enjoyable start to the show, with largely decent action to get the crowd going. Unfortunately the period between Tensai and Clay was rather sloppy, but the other members of the teams involved gave worthy efforts, especially Kidd and Mysterio.
The eliminations went as follows: Brodus Clay was first taken out by Tensai, then Tensai by Justin Gabriel with a quick roll up, next was Titus O'Neil by Tyson Kidd, Epico by Kidd via submission from the sharpshooter, Primo by Mysterio, and finally Darren Young by Mysterio after the remaining four members of his team all applied high flying moves for an exciting finish.
On the way out to her match backstage, Kaitlyn was attacked by a hooded assailant just like at Night of Champions. only this time she discovered that it was Aksana wearing a fake blonde wig. Eve quickly ran up to her and feigned concern, but the challenger to her title was onto her.
Eve (c) bested Kaitlyn to retain the Divas Championship in a fair effort by both women. As expected it wasn't anything terrific or that exciting, but it wasn't bad and I'll take that from the current Divas division. And as the current top talent in said division Eve was the right person to win here.
Antonio Cesaro (c) beat R-Truth to retain the United States Title in a decent contest. Cesaro was on his usual solid form, with Truth also providing a worthy display. Not necessarily the most gripping bout but still a fun watch. Giving Cesaro the US strap was certainly the right move, it hasn't been this relevant or entertaining since the (then) red hot Ryder won it last year.
AJ Lee came out and presented a series of fake images to Vickie Guerrero with her on various dates with JR, Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay as payback for the treatment she's received from the managing supervisor of Raw every week in their tedious scandal storyline. She also revealed that the WWE Board of Directors will fire Vickie if she lays a finger on her. Tamina then ran in and took out AJ for Guerrero, applying a Superfly Splash to finish her off. It wasn't a great segment, and like I've already typed I hope this feud between Vickie and AJ is resolved soon.
Sheamus won via disqualification versus Big Show (c), therefore Show retained the World Heavyweight Title. Once again these two put on an intense World Championship battle, with plenty of exciting moments. 'The Great White' dominated the start, but Show soon took over after applying a spear as Sheamus came off the top rope. The Irishman later on applied an impressive electric chair drop to the champ to even the odds. For the finish Big Show pulled the referee into the way of an oncoming Brogue Kick, then applied a KO punch for the on-two-three when Sheamus was distracted by the condition of the official.
But after reviewing the footage the referee in charge then disqualified Show for pulling the official in the way. As the furious champion argued over the decision, Sheamus came to and began attacking him with a steel chair to presumably set up some kind of stipulation match for TLC next month. Show begged for forgiveness after many strikes, but instead Sheamus applied a Brogue Kick to the giant and left. It was a nice way to prolong their feud. And I have to admit when I'm wrong, I didn't think their rivalry would be worthwhile, but it's actually provided some engaging contests and had decent build ups and segments. I'm quite looking forward their next match at TLC.
Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow and David Otunga) defeated Team Foley (Randy Orton, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, Kane and Kofi Kingston) in a tradition Survivor Series elimination match. And this was yet another fine team match for the night. Every man put in a good display (bar Otunga, who looked rather ropey as usual) and the pace was kept nice and fast to keep the fans engaged and the excitement going.
It's hard to pick out any particular performances to mention, like I said it was a solid effort by most involved, but if I had to I'd say Ziggler and Orton. For the finish Orton went a little old-school as he attempted a punt kick on Ziggler, but failed as Dolph managed to get in a nice superkick for the winning pin. The exact right man was the sole survivor here, Ziggler needed this win in a big way. I wouldn't mind seeing him now feud with Foley if the rumours are true about Mick jumping into the ring again for TLC.
The eliminations went as follows: Damien Sandow by Kane after a Choke Slam, Kane quickly followed by Ziggler after arguing with (who else?) Bryan, Otunga via submission via the No Lock by Bryan, Kingston by Barrett, Bryan by Del Rio (which the fans were not pleased with), Barrett by Miz, Miz by Del Rio, Del Rio by Orton and finally Orton by Ziggler.
CM Punk (c) bested John Cena and Ryback in a Triple Threat to retain the WWE Championship, and it was an...interesting main event. The match itself varied in quality, and on the whole was decent enough but nothing spectacular. Not up to the quality you expect for a WWE Title bout anyway.
But fortunately a very nice twist at the end turned the match into something far more interesting, and has got many fans already buzzing. During the end as Ryback went to pin Cena after applying a Shell Shock, three men posing as workers at ringside dragged him out of the ring and powerbombed him through the Spanish announce table, allowing Punk to cover Cena and retain his strap.
These three men were Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins of NXT. If you haven't heard of Rollins or Ambrose (and really, you should have) then look them up, because if WWE book this angle correctly they should become big names and fast in the company. I'm certainly excited by the ending, with the current ratings drop for Raw they knew they had to bring in some fresh talent and they made some smart choices. And most importantly this actually has me greatly anticipating Raw tomorrow night.
Overall Survivor Series was a pretty successful pay-per-view, with no bad matches on the card and a very strong ending. The Team Foley versus Team Ziggler match and World Heavyweight Championship collision were the highlights for me, and of course the debut of Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns. My only real gripe with the event was the main event, while it wasn't bad by any means it wasn't that strong and certainly not up to the standard of a main event of one of the big four PPV's. Otherwise I quite enjoyed it.
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