WWE Survivor Series 2017.

*A brief note.*

 

I really enjoyed NXT TakeOver: WarGames, with special praise to Black/Dream and Almas/McIntyre for the unexpected title change. WarGames was an entertaining brawl, once all three teams had entered the match.

 

*

 

After such a good show, I didn’t have high hopes for Survivor Series. The champion vs. champion matches seemed redundant because they were all non-title. With the exception of pride (and Kurt Angle’s general manager job), nothing was at stake. There were no draft picks, favourable Royal Rumble numbers or title shots for the survivors.

 

Despite these criticisms, Survivor Series exceeded expectations and felt like a ‘Big Four’ pay-per-view. Six out of seven matches lasted for 15 minutes or longer; the wrestlers had ample time to tell their in-ring stories.

 

The Shield vs. The New Day was a great opening contest, one that really got the fans involved. They even cheered for Roman Reigns, which shows the type of reaction he can receive when booked to his strengths. The Shield won with a triple powerbomb from the second rope. Overkill, but a lovely finish.

 

The women’s Survivor Series match focused on one dominant arse-kicker. Sole survivor Asuka. She eliminated three of her SmackDown opponents and looks unstoppable.

 

Baron Corbin beat The Miz in the shortest bout of the night. Miz targeted the knee, but Corbin overcame the odds and hit End of Days. Fair effort, but nothing memorable.

 

The Usos vs. Sheamus and Cesaro was good, better than expected. The final few minutes – including The Usos flying tag/dive – were particularly dynamic. They are Tag Team Champions for a reason and both teams looked stronger after the final bell.

 

Charlotte and Alexa Bliss went back and forth in a good, tough battle with convincing near falls. The winning submission looked extra painful. Even in defeat, this was arguably Bliss’ best match.

 

In the biggest surprise of the show, Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles wrestled for 15 minutes (Lesnar’s longest singles match since Hell in a Cell 2015) and broke the ‘Suplex City’ formula. ‘The Beast’ seemed motivated and sold Styles’ impressive offence. The stupid RAW (2) vs. SmackDown (3) graphic foreshadowed the result. Sure enough, Lesnar won with one F-5, the most protected move in WWE. A rematch would be tasty because as Styles said on SmackDown: “In Rocky II, Rocky wins!”

 

The men’s Survivor Series main event. Hmm. Braun Strowman got the greatest push with three eliminations. No complaints. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn interfered to spite Shane McMahon. Logical story progression. Three of the last four survivors (HHH, Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon) were playable characters on WWF No Mercy, a wrestling game released 17 YEARS AGO!

 

The ending was one hell of an anti-climax. Yes, the betrayal set up HHH/Angle, but why didn’t it take place at the start of the match? Nakamura, Roode and other fresh talent were eliminated early at the expense of storyline development. Braun Strowman beat up HHH post-match, but this merely papered over the egotistical cracks.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Philip.