The wrestling world is buzzing after Survivor Series 2014! I watched Survivor Series on the WWE Network on my iPad with no hiccups at all. I also started watching from the beginning at around 10pm EST. So I had the challenge of staying off Facebook and Twitter for 3 hours. Survivor Series 2014 was not the best pay-per-view of the year, but it was still a solid show. Unfortunately my prediction record was not good as my Hell In A Cell predictions. I only predicted 2 out of 5 matches correctly. Good job WWE. Here’s my review of Survivor Series 2014.
Pre-Show
Fandango w/ Rosa Mendes vs. Justin Gabriel
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Fandango made his return after a short hiatus with a new look, new ring gear, and new valet. I’m not sure why they chose the pre-show to redebut Fandango, especially with it being the first match with fans still making their way in the arena. Fandango should have been featured on the main card to reestablish him as a top mid-carder. They went through all the trouble of completely changing him for him to not make that big of an impact. Hopefully we’ll see more character development going forward for Fandango.
Bad News Is Back!
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I’m afraid I’ve got some good news…Bad News Barrett is back! Barrett has been out with an injury which cut off his momentum. I’ve been a Barrett fan since day one and would love to see him in the main event picture in 2015.
Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter vs. Cesaro
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This was another great match between the former Real American teammates. This match should have been on the main card in place of the tag match between Adam Rose and The Bunny versus Slater Gator. I don’t understand why Jack Swagger was taken off Team Cena. He was replaced because he was supposed to be injured, yet he’s competing at the event. They should have kept Swagger off TV until after Survivor Series to sell the fact he really wanted to be on Team Cena but, couldn’t get medically clearing. I also feel like Cesaro should have been on Team Authority. Cesaro has had great matches on every pay-per-view this year. If I was booking, I would have used Cesaro over Mark Henry.
Main Card
Mr. McMahon Opens The Show
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Mr. McMahon kicks off Survivor Series 2014 with John Cena and The Authority. McMahon states if Team Authority loses they will not have the power to influence any WWE superstar or show and the only person who can bring them back into power is John Cena. To me I felt like this stipulation was not needed and just made think more that Team Cena was going to win. Even though I didn’t like that stipulation I believe it was made for a future storyline. Somehow Cena will be tempted or forced to bring back The Authority.
Fatal 4 Way WWE Tag Team Championship Match
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The first match of the main card was the Tag Championship match. The match was just okay in my opinion. I feel like all the other tag pay-per-view matches were amazing this year, and this one quite didn’t measure up to my expectations. The match just didn’t seem to flow smoothly and started with a slow pace. I still enjoyed the match but, I think a regular tag team match would have been better. This was one of the two matches I predicted correctly with Miz and Mizdow winning the titles. It’s hard to believe this is Mizdow’s first WWE title. I can see Miz and Mizdow holding the titles until Wrestlemania and having a big match at the grandest stage.
Team Alicia vs. Team Paige – Traditional Survivor Series Match
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There was a lot of talented divas in the match but, this match was not that great. No disrespect to the ladies in this match but, I felt like the match went on too long. Also there wasn’t a real story behind this match to get me hooked. I did love Tyson Kidd trying to steal the spotlight from Nattie, Love the story progession in Kidd and Nattie’s on screen relationship. Every week Kidd gets more and more obnoxious. I think he will be a big time player soon.
Adam Rose and The Bunny vs. Slator Gator
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First of all I didn’t even realize Slator Gator was still together. Second of all why was this match booked for the main card? I feel this match was better suited for the pre-show. The Bunny stole the win for his team to Rose’s displeasure. Obviously we’re going to be getting a Adam Rose versus The Bunny match at some point.
Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose
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This match came at the perfect time. I feel like the audience was disconnected after the Divas match and The Bunny match and this match breathed some life into the audience. Like predicted this was a hard hitting slug fest. Both men pushed each other to the limits. WWE has done a great job at lately distinguishing Wyatt as a villain. Plus with how hot Ambrose is right now it’s almost like the fans have no choice but, to boo Wyatt and cheer for Ambrose. Wyatt picks up the win via disqualification after Ambrose goes to town with a steel chair. Ambrose then put the Wyatt through a table and drowned him in steel chairs. This sets them up for a TLC match at the TLC pay-per-view. I think their TLC match will be even more violent than this match and will the steal the show. I’m interested to see how this story progresses into TLC.
Nikki Bella w/ Brie Bella vs. AJ Lee
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I was very surprised with the outcome of this match. They used the kiss of death Wrestlemania 28 finish, with Brie kissing AJ and Nikki hitting the Rack Attack. There have been rumors of AJ finishing up with the company and this outcome could be result of that. I think AJ will be around awhile longer and the reason for this finish was just a way to shock the audience.
Team Authority vs. Team Cena- Traditional Survivor Series Match
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This was the match of the night and the match the whole show was built on. I was surprised with the quick Mark Henry elimination. The bigger surprise with Big Show turning for the 100th time and causing John Cena’s elimination and leaving Dolph Ziggler in a 3 on 1 situation. Ziggler’s performance reminded me of Shawn Micheals. He sold everything so great and emotionally connected with the crowd leaving you no choice but, to emphasize for him and cheer for him to overcome. I wasn’t 1oo percent sold that Sting was going to debut and when Triple-H was attacking Ziggler I was conditioning myself to hear Randy Orton’s theme song. I was very excited that it was Sting that made the run in and not Orton. Sting was my favorite WCW wrestler growing up and this was a major mark out moment for me. I really don’t care for his new music but, that didn’t ruin the moment for me like it did others. I did however wish there was a little bit more offense from Sting to get Hunter into the Scorpion Death Drop. Now it looks like there is potential for a Sting versus Triple-H match at Wrestlemania 31. This match made this show great and now I’m interested to see where the members of Team Cena go from here.
Great review!