Your Fondest Survivor Series Memory (2000-2014)

[Liam O'Rourke]

For this week's podcast, we're doing the second part of our look at the history of the Survivor Series PPV, analysing its struggle for identity and relevance, going show by show, and as always we're looking for your thoughts on the former Thanksgiving Eve Tradition.

Question - What is your favourite Survivor Series memory between 2000 and 2014?

It can be a great match, moment, promo, anything - the more detail the better. As usual, the best contributions will be read on the show and you'll be credited accordingly, so whaddya think?

 

EDIT - The show discussing Survivor Series from 2000 to 2014 and your fondest memories is now online and available to listen to at the following link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/e64gip/SCGRadio60-HistoryoftheSurvivorSeriesPart2.mp3

[libertine]

For a plus it has to be Team Bischoff-Team Austin 2003, HBK's one man show with all the odds stacked against him, he managed to break your heart but win your love, everything about HBK here was utterly perfect

 

a minus, HBK again with his beautiful Poo Brown outfit from 2002 with HBK stiched on the butt by a Chinese 5 yr old while he was still wearing the outfit, combine with a pair of cowboy boots, you have one damn fine outfit

 

oh and Molly Holly pouring her heart out in 2000

[tiger_rick]

I'm actually scared by how little I can recall from 14 years of Survivor Series'. Even reading the results through Wikipedia doesn't bring most of it back. It's so utterly unmemorable. In some ways though, I'm glad that stuff like Mr Kennedy beating the motherfucking Undertaker and Vladimir Kozlov getting a world title shot has been eroded from my mind.

 

The two things that immediately jumped out me were the whole "John Cena is fired" angle that WWE completely missed the boat with. What a great opportunity that was to freshen things up and it ended up about as creative as a glitter covered turd.

 

My favourite memory is probably the 2002 Elimination Chamber. I know Michaels gear made him look like a hobo and he had hair like a lesbian who'd been through a car wash but it's a fantastic match and the outcome with Michaels overcoming the evil Triple H was something I was really into at the time once I'd made it through their SummerSlam match and subsequent angle without dying of a stress related heart attack.

[Your Fight Site]

For me, it can’t be anything but Sting’s début at the 2014 edition. The man who every one thought would never step foot in WWE, doing so. Especially after Team WWF easily dispatched of a team from the Alliance that was comprised of two WWF turncoats, an upper-mid-carder from both WCW and ECW, and a part-time wrestler and then-WWF board member at the 2001 edition.

[HarmonicGenerator]

I'm just going to write my prevailing memory from as many of them as I can. By the process of elimination, I can then discover my favourite.

 

2000 - great roster, unmemorable show. I have vague memories of the T&A match, the DX match and the RTC match, and for some reason I remember really liking Undertaker vs. Angle. But mostly, I remember being amazed at - and then hating - the ending. Austin JUST DROPPED TRIPLE H (IN A CAR) FROM A FUCKING CRANE. What went through my young mind as I rewound it again and again was 'how could he even survive that?' followed by 'are people supposed to like Austin? He just TRIED TO KILL TRIPLE H!' Today, I suspect Triple H may not have in fact been in that car.

 

2001 - You know what, I was invested in this one. As a WWF-only, WCW-ignorant viewer, I enjoyed the Invasion, and I wanted to see how it would end. My main memory, however, is this video package which played before the main event.

 

 

I don't know who WWE had working on their video packages at the time, but they earned every penny of whatever they got paid. That video is just glorious. I love it.

 

Oh, also there was the poster.

 

 

Greatest in wrestling history. As a 14-year-old at the time, 'fond' is certainly a way to describe how I felt about this poster. Torrie Wilson

 

2002 - I really liked this show from start to finish, so I'll say the whole thing. The chaos of the opener, the cruiserweights (didn't like Noble at the time, would probably appreciate him more now), Lesnar F5-ing Big Show, Trish and Victoria going hardcore, Steiner debuting, a brilliant tag match, and the first - and best - Elimination Chamber. What's not to like?

 

2003 - Never actually saw this one, but I remember one of the SmackDowns beforehand, when Team Lesnar all posed for the hard cam. They looked like monsters. Lesnar, Big Show, Nathan Jones, Matt Morgan, and A-Train. What a bunch of beasts!

 

2004 to 2012 - I can't tell most of these apart from each other. Nothing particularly stands out. I thought I remembered 2010, but as seen below, apparently I don't!

 

2013 - Roman Reigns. In that match, he was the MAN. I have to wonder what might have happened if they'd just ran with it, capitalised and had him win the Rumble in 2014. Maybe it would have failed. But based on his performance here, I'd have believed.

 

2014 - Aside from it being the most I've ever enjoyed Dolph Ziggler, it's got to be Sting, hasn't it?

 

 

 

Right, so based on that… I'm going with the 'My Sacrifice' video package and Torrie/Lita poster from 2001, rather than anything that actually happened on any of the events. I've done this thread wrong, but I don't care. The reasons for my fondness for the poster may be obvious, but the video… Watch that video and tell me you didn't get the feels.

[Cobra1000]

The state of Survivor Series is pretty tragic. I think after the first few editions they just decided it wasn't as important as the other shows but truly the 2000's show the decline of one of the most special shows in wrestling. I don't understand how they can't figure out how to book great stories through multi man matches running in to and out of the pay per view, but whatever. It's like they made this amazing concept that can tie wrestlers in to feuds and make them interesting and give us reasons to invest in them and then go 'ah fuck, why bother, we'll just have Big Show in the main event'. i hope someone mentions the Triple H, Kozlov and Edge debacle too. What a fucking joke.

 

My memory would be HBK in 2002. I think the 2002 pay per view edition is actually pretty awesome. A solid little undercard, with Rico shouting at Jeff Hardy, Kidman wrestling the always hilarious Jamie Noble with Nidia, and awesome triple threat tag team championship match between Los Guerreros, Kurt Angle and some bloke and the nifty team of Edge and Rey Mysterio. The only sour point being bit fat fucking Big Show beating Lesnar with a lame ass Paul Heyman turn.

 

Then we get to the Shawn Michaels show and the Elimination Chamber. I can't remember all that well, but I think they tied in the theme of Survivor Series as 'surviving' the chamber match but maybe I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Any disappointment at the lack of traditional tag matches disappeared after we were given a new match concept and the promise of much bloodshed and brutality. I remember at the time being a huge RVD and Booker T fan so I was pulling for one of them to win, but I kinda knew that they didn't stand a chance. Especially after Triple H derailed Van Dam at Unforgiven. Michaels, however came under the radar after his big return at Summerslam. He delivers a performance in this, that only he can do. I hate the guys' guts, and was always a Bret fan in the 90's but HBK has some uncanny ability to make himself so sympathetic despite being wrestling biggest dickhead.

 

It looked like a foregone conclusion that Triple H was going to win, and this was just before he would take over Raw and the big gold belt for an eternity, but there was HBK in his unfinished brown pants, and dodgy hair (EVEN IN 2002!) flopping, bleeding, bumping and selling like no other. He truly is an incredible performer and the fact that I was rooting for him at the end is a testament to his incredible ability, the dickhead. Of course, all 6 of these guys would establish the template for the big match, but at this moment in wrestling the EC truly felt special, original and unique. The main event gave us a new concept in pro wrestling and that is always welcome. It was probably the last great pay per view before Evolution was born and we had to watch Triple H batter everyone in sight for years.

 

Seeing Triple H flop to the ground after a sweet chin music is arguably one of my favourite moments in wrestling. He was GIVEN the title for God's sake. That infuriated me and HBK delivering that kick was what wrestling should feel like. The heel getting his comeuppance... It also marked the culmination of an incredible journey for Michaels having a 4 year smile-less absence from the WWE. I think it was particularly special for me too as it is one of the first events I stayed up for live, as I was 15 at the time and I stayed up and watched with some friends, and that would become tradition for a long time!

 

Oh and not to mention the unscheduled ass-whupping dished out by a debuting Scott Stiener.

[air_raid]

For fondest memory, I'm not going to go for "best match" because that's too easy, and will be a wildly popular choice - that's Team Austin vs Team Bischoff from 2003 where they recycled the valiant loser-nearly beating 3-on-1 odds story, with the added bonus twists of the blood loss from Shawn and the extra pathos of one grizzled vet trying his heart out to not let down another.

 

My actual fondest memory is from Team Angle vs Team Lesnar at Survivors 2003, specifically the ending to the match. It's such a minor thing, but in Chris Benoit and John Cena, they had two guys out there that I desperately wanted to see in the main event picture to freshen things up for Lesnar and Angle without having to go back to Big Show (EW!) or BikerTaker yet again. "The Crippler" had long been my favourite wrestler, since Bret retired or possibly even earlier, and Cena had just turned and was the hottest new-ish act that everyone seemed dying to cheer for. Chris Benoit actually being permitted to elicit a submission from Brock Lesnar - even 2003 Lesnar - blew my mind and made me excited to think they were about to embark on a main event push for him, which had long felt unlikely after being a supporting player for years. Just when I was calming down from that, Cena managed to lift up the preposterously huge Big Show with apparent ease for the FU and took the pin. As well-timed as the Cena face turn had been, I was gobsmacked that on a team with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit leading the way, it was Cena that was in the spotlight at the end. His turn had seemed really organic, like they had heard the reactions of the live crowds and thought "Fuck it, let's go with it" - it was really refreshing at the time, even if Cena's ascension was delayed due to the incomprehensible push of - ICK!! - JBL.

 

2010 - Intrigue. What was going to happen in that main event? Cena couldn't win, it'd render the whole Nexus thing pointless and kill Barrett as a main eventer. But if he lost, he was getting fired, and they'd have to take him off TV for a while…. Little did I know. Daniel Bryan winning the US Title was good though.

 

 

You hella confused. Cena couldn't win because it was Randy Orton that Wade was wrestling (Cena was the ref) and Bryan won the belt at Night Of Champions, not Survivors.

[HarmonicGenerator]

 

 

2010 - Intrigue. What was going to happen in that main event? Cena couldn't win, it'd render the whole Nexus thing pointless and kill Barrett as a main eventer. But if he lost, he was getting fired, and they'd have to take him off TV for a while…. Little did I know. Daniel Bryan winning the US Title was good though.

 

You hella confused. Cena couldn't win because it was Randy Orton that Wade was wrestling (Cena was the ref) and Bryan won the belt at Night Of Champions, not Survivors.

Ha! Clearly I don't remember 2010 either then. Goes to show how unmemorable I found most of these PPVs! Off to edit my original post accordingly...

[DCW]

I loved Team WWF vs Alliance in 2001, and the rest of the card was pretty decent too if I recall. Test and Edge had a cracking unification match, plus it was Heyman's last proper night on commentary and he was in excellent form.  Someone posted the poster from it above, and it always confused me. Is the blonde girl supposed to be Torrie or Stacy? she's wearing Stacy's Dudleyz gear, but face looks like a badly photo shopped mixture of Torrie and Stacy's face.

 

Quite liked 2002 as well. Elimination Chamber, Rico shouting at Jeff for being out of position in the tag match, and Steiner's epic debut. The tape I recorded it on cut out just before the Show/Lesnar match, and I couldn't believe they put the belt on Show (who had been a joke for previous year or two) when I heard the results in school the next day. 

 

Can't really think of any other standout moments since other than HBK's effort in 03, and Austin saying "I loved the shit out of you all" or something similar after the match.

[hallicks]

Undertaker's trousers from 2000 probably deserve their own podcast discussion, I can't think of enough superlatives to describe how wondrous they were.

[Sir Steve Redgrave]

2002, despite having no Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches, was a fantastic show. Everything delivered and we concluded with Shawn Michaels winning the World Heavyweight Championship in the first Chamber Match. I was genuinely shocked at the time when Big Show won the WWE Championship too. Just seemed to come out of nowhere after Big Show had been an absolute nobody for the entirety of 2002 and Brock Lesnar was unbeatable.

[Juan Manforce]

The 2002 show sticks out to me. I was jaded with the product at the time, although I still liked Smackdown I wasn't a big fan of the brand split, and thought it was ridiculous that a Raw castoff like Big Show was suddenly getting a title shot. I ended up enjoying the hell out of this show. It felt like something big happened in every match. From Rico yelling "come on Jeff, god damn it!" and the Dudleys reuniting in the opener, to some lower card title changes, things were going nice and smooth. Then the shock of Big Show winning the WWE title was such a genuine surprise that I wasn't even annoyed that the fat fuck had been the one to end Lesnar's undefeated run. The tag title match between the Smackdown 6 was a lot of fun, and then... well, it was only the second greatest fucking promo of all time.

 

Harvard Chris and an admittedly fun Mattitude V One-aah were running their mouths off to the New York crowd when the sirens hit. Big Bad Booty Daddy himself in all his majestic gassed to the gills glory. What a pop too, that crowd went apeshit, as well they should. Nowinski and Hardy's respective trows turned brown as the man, the myth, the legend Scott Steiner approached the ring and disposed of them like the goobers they were. In a moment heartbreakingly cut from the DVD and Network releases (but still somewhere in my VHS collection) Steiner screams "gimme a fucking mic! Errybody knows-- wants to know..." And after that it's just gravy. I say the second greatest promo of all time. Scott Steiner does math holds the #1 spot. His rant on Samoa Joe's weight is #3.

 

And the first Elimination Chamber. It was something new, something special. It's become so watered down and there's so little new things that can be down with it nowadays, but that first one. I don't think there's anything else that needs to be said about the match itself or the story leading into it, as both were great. I'll admit, I wasn't yet as attached to Shawn Michaels as I would later become because I only started watching in the summer of 98, and I found it really predictable that he won the match. But who gives a shit about a story being predictable when it's told right? It didn't last long but Shawn winning the Big Gold was a perfect end to a show I'll always remember fondly.

 

Scott Steiner fucking rules.

[air_raid]

I'll admit, I wasn't yet as attached to Shawn Michaels as I would later become because I only started watching in the summer of 98, and I found it really predictable that he won the match. But who gives a shit about a story being predictable when it's told right? It didn't last long but Shawn winning the Big Gold was a perfect end to a show I'll always remember fondly.

 

See, as a long-term fan, I was dumbfounded that Shawn won the belt. I gave him ZERO chance of winning because he clearly wasn't up to a full-time schedule as I assumed a champion would be asked to wrestle. I thought the Elimination Chamber was just an elaborate gimmick to make you THINK Hunter was going to lose the title but he ends up finding a way to weasel out.

 

Of course, that scenario did play out in the next two Chambers.....

[Liam O'Rourke]

I want to thank everybody for the contributions, we got to read many of them on the show, which is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/e64gip/SCGRadio60-HistoryoftheSurvivorSeriesPart2.mp3

Join us as we discuss every Survivor Series from 2000 to 2014! Talking about the show's battle for relevance and identity in its later years, we also take your feedback on your fondest Survivor Series memories from this period, and go over each installment of the Thanksgiving Eve Tradition, the key matches and moments, the dynamic of the shows and much more. A really fun look at the evolution of the PPV this week, check it out and let us know what you think!
 

[air_raid]

Great job highlighting how rubbish /interchangeable/forgettable a lot of what the company was doing between 2006-2009, not just Survivors matches, although that was symptomatic. I had my own reasons for not watching much of it (real life taking precedence) but there was a whole lot of nothing going on.

 

I share your enthusiasm for Orton/Michaels in 2007 - it's a fantastic piece of storytelling and one of my favourite finishes ever. I just felt like writing about something slightly more obscure and an actual Survivors match.

 

I agree with you guys that the main event last year didn't end up affecting the TV going forward, but going in I did allow myself to think it was going to be a big deal assuming the Authority were going to lose, in at least that the format might change (even temporarily) and at the very least we might get a decent Steph/Trips bitchfit - which we did - so I did feel it was a fairly big Survivors match, even without knowing Real Estate Steve was going to turn up.