Since I can't sleep just yet, I figure I would share my thoughts (and reasons) for my ratings at the Survivor Series PPV that took place Sunday night in Boston.
The PPV got off to a good start with the traditional Survivor Series match pitting Team HBK against Team JBL. I'm not used to seeing HBK lead off a PPV, but it was a good way to get the crowd going. I gave the match *** for the feuds packed into the match itself, the decent action we saw, and for the good finish. Nice payback for HBK after getting nailed with a John Morrison superkick on RAW last Monday.
The divas Survivor Series match was not bad at all. Good job by WWE to make Beth look stronger by making her the sole survivor. What I did not like was the choice to make Maryse the last person Beth dispatches of. I would rather have seen McCool, Victoria, or Natalya be the last one standing for the Smackdown team.
The casket match had some nice moments (announce table breaking), but it really did not stand out as a better match than the first match of the night. It seemed like both Taker and Big Show held a lot back in this one. The finish was just very weird, with Taker just throwing Show into a propped up (second) casket on the stage (after Big Show destroyed the first one).
Team Orton vs. Team Batista was not as good as the first SS match basically because we saw a bunch of time where there were no pins and then all of a sudden, there are a ton of pins to make up for lost time. It made me want to snooze a bit and look at my law school stuff. Batista's performance at the end saved the match, honestly.
The WWE Title match was just a big time screwup. I'm sorry, WWE, but you really screwed up big time here. I apparently see the big picture of all this, but I'd rather have Jeff Hardy stay in the triple threat match and win the title. Survivor Series is certainly a big PPV, and it would have been nice to have him win there. I mean, Hardy doesn't have to wait till like, WrestleMania to win...right?
Anyway, having Edge come back to win the title is good for Smackdown. Edge lives up to his Ultimate Opportunist monicker, and HHH is free to feud with Kozlov - at least that was the rumored storyline. However, with the "BORING" chants and the "TNA!" chants during that match, I doubt WWE will want to pull the trigger. Frankly, Kozlov's push should not have happened, at least not yet.
It appears WWE wants Edge and Jeff Hardy to feud, which would be an excellent pairing. Edge and Hardy go way back in history, and are easily capable of delivering ****+ gold. The way I see it (and I don't know this for sure) is Hardy will use the story of him being found unconscious in the stairway and say Edge was the person who did that to him (either that or Edge will admit it himself). This will lead to a feud to last a few months, and hopefully, we will see Hardy eventually win the belt. I'd aim for the Royal Rumble for the title change, although I wouldn't mind it at Armageddon or on free TV.
Finally, the World Heavyweight Title match between Cena and Jericho was very well done. Jericho focused on Cena's surgically repaired neck throughout the match, and Cena pulled out his usual array of moves to keep the crowd alive. This was the loudest the crowd was all night, helped because it was Cena's home state. This was the match of the night for its great counters, and we even got two nice false finishes out of the match. Frankly, I would rather have seen Jericho hold on to the belt. Based on last week's RAW, it appears Orton will be next in line to face Cena. I have no idea what becomes of Jericho in that situation, although he will certainly at least exercise a rematch clause.
Survivor Series was passable, but nothing to get real excited about. The World Title match was clearly the best match, and WWE should know better than to take Jeff Hardy out of any match, let alone a match where he is fighting for the WWE Title. WWE basically made all of Jeff's work from the past 3-4 Smackdowns meaningless. I say WWE should have just pulled the trigger and made Jeff champ now. They could have easily still been able to work Edge into the title equation.
Overall rating (on my five-star scale): **1/2
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