Brock Lesnar actually interested in a match! Triple H turns on everyone! And who needs
new talent? I’m Oli Davis, and this is the one night a year when Raw and Smackdown compete
in head-to-head competition, Survivor Series 2017...in about 4 minutes.
Elias beat Matt Hardy The one night a year when Raw and Smackdown
compete in head-to-head competition began with Raw wrestler Elias beating Raw wrestler
Matt Hardy. Enzo Amore beat Kalisto
Then Raw Cruiserweight Enzo Amore beat Raw Cruiserweight Kalisto.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn beat Breezeango And Smackdown team Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
beat Smackdown team Breezeango. All three matches were either unimportant or below average.
Shield beat New Day The New Day and The Shield opened the proper
Survivor Series show, which isn’t only the one night a year when Raw and Smackdown compete
in head-to-h-yeah, I get the point. It’s also a night where all five WWE announcers
do commentary at the same time. It’s a testament to how good the Shield
vs New Day match was that they were able to overcome the ear cacophony on commentary.
While the match was very good, the teams’ respective Usos and Bar encounters from the
last few months were much better. Women’s Elimination Match
Stephanie McMahon addressed the Raw women’s team like they were a school sports team before
their match because, just in case you forgot, WWE is about the McMahons, not the actual
wrestlers. The match was a mixed bag, beginning with
frustratingly early eliminations for Becky Lynch and Bayley, and Alicia Fox botching
her fourth finish to a WWE match this year. It’s almost like her new gimmick - the unpinnable
Alicia Fox, but only because she keeps forgetting how matches are supposed to end.
But the Nia Jax & Tamina confrontation was well executed, as was Asuka getting three
eliminations and standing tall at the end Baron Corbin beat The Miz
Baron Corbin and the Miz actually had a pretty decent match, but that might only be because
expectations were so low. Corbin overcame the Miztourage to win, hitting an End of Days...from
outta gimmick infringement. The Usos beat The Bar
The Usos and The Bar had the night’s second best match - with great near falls and an
insane flying tag dive combo to the outside. If this had an actual feud heading into it,
giving both teams more story elements to work with, this would’ve been incredible.
Charlotte beat Alexa Bliss While I’m all for giving matches a lot of
time, with the average main card duration being 18 minutes long - Charlotte vs Alexa
Bliss could’ve been cut down by a third. Bliss tapped to Charlotte’s Figure 8.
Brock Lesnar beat AJ Styles Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles, however, was exactly
right. The first third was AJ having an in-depth
tour of Suplex City, with Brock picking him apart - like all the Lesnar’s other recent
matches. But here, there was a difference. Brock actually cared, giving AJ a terrific
comeback. Phenomenal Forearm to the outside, 450 Splash, and - in the spot of the night
- Lesnar screaming in AJ’s Calf Crusher, and then smashing Styles’ head on the mat
like an angry gorilla. But after multiple finisher attempts from
AJ, it only took one F5 for Brock to win - making it all the more impressive when Roman Reigns
eventually kicks out of it at WrestleMania. Lesnar brilliantly continued to sell his leg
after the match, a bit of doubt in his eye that maybe, on another day, AJ could’ve
beaten him. This was a sublime encounter, and - just like the Balor bout at TLC - I
want to see a rematch. Which makes it neck and neck going into the
main event, both Raw and Smackdown having three wins apiece.
Men’s Elimination Match The men’s 5-on-5 elimination was a match
of two halves, and then an extra bit at the end.
The first half was dream match tease after dream match tease. Finn Balor vs Shinsuke
Nakamura, with a Too Sweet headpoke. Kurt Angle vs Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle vs Nakamura.
Triple H vs Nakamura. Triple H vs Triple H. I mean Bobby Roode. Triple H vs Kurt Angle...wait
a second. Triple H vs Shane McMahon… no, stop it. Triple H vs Braun Strowman… Triple
H, go home. You’re drunk on power. All the early dream match promise was scrapped
in favour of contrived and possibly damaging booking. Nakamura and Roode - your two newest
call-ups, were the first to be eliminated. Samoa Joe and Finn Balor followed in the next
five minutes. And John Cena was taken out by Angle after a cool bit of nostalgia, but,
ultimately, a complete waste of a Cena appearance. Thanks for stopping by, John. We’ll see
you at WrestleMania season. With Strowman put through a table, this made
the last third of the match all about Triple H, Randy Orton, Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon
- hardly exciting up-and-comers. There was a brief moment of hope when KO and Sami tried
to take McMahon out, but 47 year old untrained wrestler Shane fought them off with a chair
- making Smackdown’s most intriguing heel faction look completely worthless.
Once Braun eliminated Randy, the average age of the match became 44¼ years old, with the
least qualified person in the ring being Team Smackdown’s sole survivor, and somehow not
tapping to a prolonged Ankle Lock. Then Triple H turned on everyone!
First he turned on Kurt, breaking up the Ankle lock and giving Shane the pin. And then he
turned on McMahon, Pedigreeing Shane to win the match. Meaning neither Raw or Smackdown
won Survivor Series - Triple H did. It was overdone, narcissistic booking that
took the crowd out of the action, but there is one positive: Triple H then putting over
Braun Strowman very strongly. After awesomely screaming “YOU WILL NEVER PLAY THIS GAME
AGAIN”, Babyface Braun hit Triple H with two running powerslams to close the show.
So that was Survivor Series 2017 in about four minutes. Here’s Raw’s ratings recap,
from top to bottom - In Awe, Cor, AVRAWGE, Poor and Bore.
I’ll reveal my rating very shortly, but first, vote in the poll above my head to give
yours. I’ll announce the results in tomorrow’s WrestleTalk News.
The show was way too long to be enjoyable all the way through - watch NXT the previous
night for how a wrestling show should feel - the commentary became an unintelligible
din and the main event showcased some of the worst elements of WWE booking. But… this
was a very fun show. AJ vs Brock was fantastic. The majority of matches delivered. And Braun
was left standing at the end Survivor Series 2017 is Cor.
Have WWE failed to create new stars? And what’s the real reason Hulk Hogan sued WCW over a
storyline? Click the videos to the left to find out, press subscribe and support WrestleTalk
- order issue 1 of the WrestleTalk Magazine. I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.