In the words of the great Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Roland and Destiny’s Child’s very
own the other one, Michelle, I’m a survivor, I’m not gon’ give up, I’m not gon’
stop, I’m gon’ work harder.
Those words must be running through the heads of many WWE superstars as we head into Survivor
Series season and the locker rooms of Raw and Smackdown gear up to face off against
each other in no holds barred competition.
And as one of their big four events it’s not like WWE don’t go all out on the show,
putting on some actual best of both worlds matches and loads of crazy moments to boot
- not as many as Crown Jewel, but that was like someone had been huffing oil fumes when
they booked that catastrophe.
So anyway, I’m El Fakidor Laurie Blake and here are 10 Shocking Survivor Series moments…
lovely sibilance there me.
10.
Triple H Turns On Everyone
The year is 2017, WWE is full of incredible new talent, and the survivor series teams
are absolutely chock full of it.
On Raw's team: Triple H, Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor.
While SmackDown Live opts for Shane McMahon, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura
and Bobby Roode.
So it makes perfect sense that three of the last four men in the match would be Triple
H, Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon - because you gotta put over that new talent, it’s
what I’ve always said, you’ve got to nurture it and watch it grow and one day they’ll
be the faces of the company.
They did what?!
So it was three on one with Shane as the last man for team Smackdown, but he is the best
in the world though so he’d be fine.
Well, not exactly, because sure Trips did pedigree Kurt Angle for no particular reason
allowing Shane to pin him.
Thanks bro said Shane, in his head.
But then he pedigrees Shane to win the whole match for Team Raw basically single handedly.
Naturally the crowd were confused, Triple H was confused, Shane was confused, Braun
Strowman confused was, I am confused just reading it.
Wrestling...
9.
Austin Is Hit By A Car At the height of the Attitude Era in 1999
the super popular Steve Austin was essentially carrying WWE on his back, unfortunately he
hadn’t lifted with his legs and thrown his neck out in the process.
With a lingering neck injury that had been irking him since 1997, Austin would have to
take almost a year out to recover properly.
WWE knew Austin was not going to be wrestling at Survivor Series in a triple threat match
against The Rock and Triple H long before the event but that did not stop them advertising
him anyway.
Bums on seats people, bums on seats.
So during the pay-per-view Austin was walking through the parking lot when he was smashed
into by a car, leaving him incapacitated and unable to defend the title.
The Big Show - who had already defeated Big Bossman, Viscera, Albert and Mideon in an
elimination match earlier in the night, took Austin's place in the main event and won his
first WWE Title for two whole months.
Upon Austin’s return Rikishi claimed to have been the driver, until WWE decided that
was not over enough and had Triple H swoop in to take the credit - just add it to his
list of crimes: attempted murder, diddling a cadaver, spitting everywhere.
8.
Michaels Strikes Gold Shawn Michaels made his much-anticipated return
from a long layoff at SummerSlam in 2002 taking on Triple H in a classic match.
Even after having four years out, he hadn’t missed a step, not like 2018, where he missed
every step, fell down and could not get back up…
Despite the quality of his performance in 2002 it was supposed to be a one and done.
However Shawn was talked into making a permanent return which kicked off in grand style with
him entering the first ever Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002.
It was yet again another stellar performance from HBK and as the match wore on and he stayed
in, it seemed more and more likely that he was on course to do the unthinkable - win
his first world title in over four years.
He managed just that, giving the old Sweet Chin Music to Triple H and snagging himself
the gold in an emotional and memorable Madison Square Garden moment.
And it was a far cry from the hazing he’d endured six years earlier in the same building.
7.
Sid beats Shawn
Because yes, Shawn was at Madison Square Garden six years earlier for Survivor Series where
he was already champion and set to defend against monster heel Sid.
This match could almost be seen to herald the beginning of a switch of sorts for the
family friendly company as fans in New York despised pretty boy babyface Michaels - probably
guessed what he’d look like bald.
And were very into Sid, letting both competitors and Vince McMahon know it throughout the match.
Turns out that fans hating on Vince’s chosen champ is not a new thing.
Considering that this was old school WWE in which the baby faces always triumphed, Sid
was the one who walked out the show with the belt after attacking Michaels with a television
camera.
That was the night that Michael’s boyhood dream died.
Fortunately, as a boy, he also always used he wanted to compete in Saudi Arabia.
So he’s lived that dream instead now.
6.
Undertaker Returns
How many times can one man rise from the dead?
More than is probably best for him.
At this stage the only holes the Undertaker should be digging are in an allotment.
The Deadman has returned in spectacular fashion many times over the years, but few were as
memorable or well-executed as his return at Survivor Series in 2005.
After losing to Randy Orton and Bob Orton in a casket match at No Mercy it had been
almost two months since the last Taker sighting, and he didn’t have Instagram then so it
was tough to keep on top of what he was up to.
The casket had also been set alight at the end of the match seemingly burning Undertaker
alive, which was more of a Kane thing, kind of tacky.
At Survivor Series Orton's super-push continued when he was the sole survivor in an epic Raw
v SmackDown main event.
But after the bout, some druids brought a casket to the ring and a lightning bolt set
it on fire.
Undertaker emerged and demolished Orton's teammates as the terrified Legend Killer fled
the scene.
5.
The Shield Debuts
Few stable debuts have ever made such an impact in WWE as The Shield in 2012, and the fact
that WWE didn't Nexus it all up makes this even more shocking.
The main event of Survivor Series 2012 was a triple-threat between John Cena, CM Punk
and Ryback, which, if you minus Ryback, is like a big deal.
At the time, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were completely unknown in main
roster WWE land, which made this debut all the more impactful.
Because the crowd were essentially seeing three randos beat on Punk, Cena and Ryback,
especially Ryback who got dog bombed through a table.
It was a hot debut and showed why the trio would remain a mega popular act in WWE.
4.
Stings Debuts
Sting was one of WCW and TNA’s biggest ever stars and in 2014, 13 years after he snubbed
WWE to join TNA he finally made his debut at Survivor Series.
The main event of the show was Team Authority vs Team Cena, a match Paul from the back office’s
pencil pushers absolutely dominated.
The finale came down to Dolph Ziggler vs Luke Harper, Kane and Seth Rollins.
Ziggler, in a fit of actually being allowed to be booked well, managed to pin both Harper
and Kane, but the numbers game caught up to him as Triple H interfered seemingly gifting
the win to Rollins.
But, just as the pin was being counted, the lights cut, and Sting saunters on down to
the ring death drops Triple H and gives Ziggler the victory.
This was obviously a top tier shock - but not as shocking as the rest of Sting’s run
in WWE, a travesty.
3.
The Rock Turns Heel
The conclusion of Vince Russo's magnum opus, the 1998 Deadly Game tournament at Survivor
Series, was the sort of swerve the much-panned writer became famous (and infamous) for.
The tournament to determine the new WWE Champion ran through the entire show and featured all
manner of twists and turns.
Like a game of snakes and ladders, and just as naff.
In the storyline it seemed like the entire result had been orchestrated by Mr. McMahon
and his evil corporate allies, with their preferred choice Mankind given an easy ride
to the finals.
Where he was due to face off against newly turned babyface The Rock who was gaining momentum
as one of WWE's most popular acts.
So considering McMahon was on the side of Mankind, it looked like Rock would have to
overcome the odds to win his first WWE title.
Instead, Vince pulled a kayfabe rerun of 1997’s Montreal Screwjob, more on that in a mo, and
gifted Rock the gold turning him heel in the process.
And Rock’s corporate turn became one of the most entertaining runs in a career stacked
with entertaining runs.
2.
Goldberg Destroys Lesnar
12 years after Goldberg’s last match in WWE at WrestleMania 20, which was also against
Lesnar and suuuuuccckkkkeeeddddd.
The two would face off again at Survivor Series 2016 in what turned out to be one of the most
exciting bits of WWE TV that entire year.
The returning Goldberg absolutely mauled Lesnar in just two minutes, mangling him with a weapons
rack of spears and the jackhammer to put him away.
It was a such a shocking result as Lesnar had been unbeatable for years, he had slayed
the Undertaker at WrestleMania, he was protected, invincible, or so we all thought.
Goldberg's win sent shockwaves throughout WWE and set the WCW legend up for a rewarding
- albeit brief - return to the top of the industry.
1.
Montreal Screw Job
You all know how this one goes, sing along if you know the words.
In 1997, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were engaged in a bitter backstage political rivalry,
like peacocks in heat vying for the attentions of WWE chief and pretty pretty bird Vince
McMahon.
Vince eventually sided with the younger and more charismatic Michaels and decided to cast
Hart aside by going back on his new 20 year contract less than one year into it.
Hart was then strong-armed by McMahon into negotiating a deal with WWE's great rivals
WCW, which was due to commence at the beginning of December.
One problem: Bret was still the WWE Champion and he had no intention of giving it up to
Michaels, especially in his native Canada where he was billed as and viewed as a real-life
superhero.
Hart and McMahon went back and forth on the finish of Bret's battle with Michaels at Survivor
Series - his last WWE PPV before the move - with no resolution in sight.
So Vince came up with one on his own.
On the day, McMahon led Bret to believe the match would end in a non-finish.
Instead he ordered referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell while Hart was trapped in his
own Sharpshooter, seemingly giving Shawn the win via submission.
Hart had been screwed.
Jobbed.
The result was years of bad blood between Hart and McMahon over this very real betrayal
and Vince getting knocked silly with an uppercut backstage.
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So those are some super sweet and shocking Survivor Series moments, but if you need more
WWE in your life how about some PG Era Pushes that didn’t go anywhere, click the video
onscreen now to find out more.
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I’ve been El Fakidor and that was lucha.