Ratings:
Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Brodus Clay vs. Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Primo, Epico, & Tensai: ***1/4
Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn (Divas Title): **
Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth (U.S. Title): *3/4
Big Show vs. Sheamus (World Heavyweight Title): ***1/2
Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett, & David Otunga vs. Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Miz, Daniel Bryan, & Kane: ***3/4
CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback (WWE Title): ***1/2
___________________
Reviews/Thoughts:
Indianapolis is the site for Survivor Series this year. Cole, Lawler, and JBL on commentary. JBL with the heart attack jokes, and we're not even three minutes in.
Bonus traditional Survivor Series tag match! YES! Brodus with a new gold vest. Glad they decided to throw this one in to get more guys on the actual show. Kidd and Epico with nice mat wrestling to start. JBL's on a roll with the commentary already regarding Gabriel's thrill-seeking hobbies. Fast pace, fun match early on. Great spot with Kidd and Gabriel suicide dive on to PTPs, then Rey and Cara moonsault onto Primo/Epico. Tensai got a pin on Brodus?! Guess Tensai's not totally buried. JG with a rollup on Tensai to make it 4-on-4 again. Kidd rolled Titus up for three a few minutes later. Kidd then got Epico to tap out to the Sharpshooter; how fitting is that at Survivor Series? Now 4-on-2 in favor of the faces. Rey with the hot tag. Rey missed the 619 but got a cradle rollup on Primo for three. Down to only D-Young for the heels. D-Young ate a ton of finishers and Rey's team (sans Brodus) survives.
Someone tries to attack Kaitlyn again. Oh, it's Aksana again in a blonde wig and hoodie. Kaitlyn fights Aksana off. Eve just so happens to be nearby. Kaitlyn, not too happy, pushes Eve down.
Divas title match next. Neither diva gets much of a response. Kaitlyn has cargo pants and boots, similar to an army woman (no camouflage). quickly beating Eve down early. Very physical. JBL said besmirched! Impressive roll-through into a headscissors for Eve. Kaitlyn comes back and Eve does a great job of the vintage heel "I'm sorry , have mercy on me" act. Gutbuster from Kaitlyn(?!) gets two. Eve suckers Kaitlyn to the outside, then hits that snap neckbreaker for three. Better than most divas matches you'll see in WWE. The back story buildup also helped the rating here. As crappy as the divas division is right now (read: on life support), Eve and Kaitlyn did their job.
Cody Rhodes has been scratched from the PPV after getting injured against Kane during WWE Main Event. Otunga is his replacement. During the pre-show segment, you actually get to see how small Ziggler is compared to his teammates. Even Del Rio is much larger.
U.S.Title match first. Cesaro heel promo on obesity. Pretty basic match against Truth. Truth got a couple near falls, but Euro uppercut and Neutralizer get three.
AJ Scandal graces Survivor Series! AJ said she will share evidence of Vickie getting caught red-handed on something. And it's next. AJ calls Vickie a witch. Vickie comes out to nice heel heat. AJ has a picture to show. YES! RICARDO AND VICKIE! Is that a large burrito or what? YES! JIM ROSS AND VICKIE WITH BBQ SAUCE! OH GOD NO! BRODUS AND VICKIE! Dammit, don't blind me. Now both AJ and Vickie have no-contact clauses.
Blindside attack on AJ. Wow, that's Tamina?! Love the new look. Blazin' red ring gear and straightened hair. Superfly splash to AJ. Tamina returns as a heel, but the divas roster is still thin. Can't they bring Paige up from NXT if Sara Del Rey won't be an active wrestler?
World Title match next. Main event intros from Justin Roberts. Basically a brawl from the start. Show caught int the ropes and Sheamus pummels away. No Brogue Kick. Sheamus to the top, but Show nukes Sheamus with a spear. Ow. Show then with the methodical beatdown. Sheamus with the electric chair to Show for two! Crowd really perked up there. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick, but counters Show's chokeslam into White Noise for another two-count. Wow. Sheamus tees up a Brogue Kick -- and nukes the ref. Oops. Refs and a trainer come out to help. Sheamus concerned with the ref. Bell never rang to end the match. Show KOs Sheamus and one of the other refs counts three. Then the announcement that Show got DQ'd for pulling the ref in front. Thus, Sheamus wins, but doesn't get the title. Show argues with the official and Sheamus clocks Show with repeated chair shots. Sheamus goes after Show's legs. Brogue Kick finishes Show. I smell rubber match at the next PPV. Chairs match!
Next is Team Foley and Team Ziggler. Ha, wonder if Kane shoulda just let Sandow abandon his team, but chokeslam eliminates Sandow anyway. Impressed that Otunga wasn't the first eliminated. Kane argues with DB, and Zigzag out of nowhere eliminates Kane. Wow. DB eliminates Otunga with the NO lock. Cole says Barrett's finisher is now the Bullhammer. Wade uses it on Kofi to get three. Back to 3-on-3. Note that Miz hasn't been in the match yet. Del Rio gets in and eliminates DB with the cross armbreaker. Miz now comes in. He and Orton remain, and they play off how they don't like each other. Orton beaten down for a bit, but Miz gets the hot tag. Miz counters Barrett's pumphandle slam and hits SCF to eliminate Barrett. ADR with the running enzuigiri to Miz in the corner for three. Only Orton left for Team Foley to fend off ADR and Ziggler. Ricardo distracts Orton on the comeback. ADR gets the same kick on Orton, but only two. Foley takes out Ricardo. Orton counters ADR into an RKO for three. Orton and Ziggler left. Ziggler counters the RKO, Zigzag hits! TWO! Outstanding match here. Crowd is going nuts. Orton's lip is bloody. Hangman's DDT to Ziggler. Orton lines up for his punt kick. Superkick from Ziggler gets THREE! Love the end. Channeling HBK! Ziggler the sole survivor. Well deserved.
WWE Title match ends the show. Cena has "new ring gear," which is basically khaki-colored shorts and a black shirt. JBL notes Cena is 7-0 at Survivor Series coming into this PPV.
Punk trying what he can to get the upper hand, but Ryback and Cena get rid of him. Ryback and Cena staredown. Split chants for Cena again. Ryback no-sells just about everything. Cena having to use restholds to wear Ryback down. Cena with his slam to set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Ryback even no-sells that. Cena's face is priceless. Ryback hits Punk with the meathook clothesline. Ryback going for Shellshocked, but Cena takes Ryback down and locks in the STF. Punk with the Savage elbow to Cena -- and I guess he was confident that Ryback wouldn't tap. Punk and Cena trade shots, then Ryback comes in and clotheslines both of them. Ryback chucks both guys to the outside?! Double Shellshocked? Punk and Cena counter out and beat Ryback down. Strange bedfellows moment. Double suplex and Ryback through the announce table! Cena's moves of doom to Punk. AA countered. Punk hits the GTS, but only two! Punk stunned. AA out of nowhere, and that only gets two. Punk kick ducked, STF countered, high knee from Punk in the corner. Bulldog countered, STF from Cena! Ryback pulls Cena out, meathook clothesline. Punk crawls to the opposite corner. Ryback with meathook clothesline. Shellshocked! Cena breaks it up at the last second. Ryback with Shellshocked to Cena.
Three guys in black storm the ring?! It's Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose! NXT representing! They take out Ryback and send him through the Spanish table. Cena's still out in the ring. Punk crawls to pin Cena and gets three. Punk has survived one year as champ.
That was one bizarre way to end this match, but we finally see the TV debut of Dean Ambrose. He's been hyped for a long time, so it's good to see WWE pull the trigger. The three guys will reportedly be on RAW, possibly to explain why they did what they did.
I thought it was a solid PPV. I had Punk retaining, although I doubt anyone could have called the NXT guys attacking. Ryback may get a side feud with these "men in black," and since Punk pinned Cena again, the champ will make it clear he's done with John as well. With the TLC PPV next month, Punk probably has one more big match to clear before facing Rock at Royal Rumble. It'll probably be a TLC match, but will they really thrust Cena into the picture AGAIN? Guess we'll all know more as the weeks progress. ***1/4
No comments:
Post a Comment