WWE Survivor Series Review - November 22, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: The Miz Won the Dual-Branded Battle Royal

As far as Battle Royals go, this was decent. It wasn't anything overly special, but it was better than some WWE tends to do from time to time. I was pleasantly surprised it featured more notable names than I was expecting such as Miz, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio and others, Superstars that typically wouldn't be caught dead on WWE's Kickoff shows. It was cool seeing Chad Gable and Dominik Mysterio go at it at the end, even though they were both SmackDown stars. You had to know Miz would resurface after not getting eliminated and throw out whoever, so that was a pretty predictable finish. That said, it was a nice win for Miz, who hasn't had a lot of luck lately and has largely been booked like a loser since dropping the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in April.

Team Raw (AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, Sheamus, Keith Lee and Riddle) def. Team SmackDown (Jey Uso, Otis, King Corbin, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match

It was a total clean sweep for Team Raw here. When was the last time that happened? Honestly, I didn't hate it because at least Team Raw has attempted to coexist in recent weeks, whereas Team SmackDown barely interacted in the weeks leading up to the event. Rollins sacrificing himself was odd, but I assume that was because he's distraught coming off his losses to Rey Mysterio and Murphy. Uso lasting as long as he did was the right call and him losing played into what we saw with him and Roman Reigns later on. The layout was decent and everyone getting an elimination of their own was cool, but my favorite part was Lee finally getting new entrance music with lyrics. About time!

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits def. Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Non-Title)

It bothered me when all of New Day came out together a month removed from their emotional "farewell" on SmackDown. If that's what WWE thinks farewells are, then I guess we can expect The Undertaker to be back next month. In all seriousness, this was a fresh match that lived up to the hype. Profits are on the rise and they had way more to gain here than the established New Day, so I was happy with the result. The action was entertaining and I'm excited for their future encounters down the road. It's just a shame the tag team division on both brands is in shambles at the moment.

United States Champion Bobby Lashley def. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn (Non-Title)

I like both guys, but this wasn't a match that interested me at all on paper because of the heel vs. heel dynamic. The Hurt Business surrounded ringside and prevented Zayn from cheating to win as he's known to do, so the Lashley victory was virtually guaranteed. The matchup was perfectly fine and well-wrestled but won't be remembered a week from now. Now let's get back to trying to making these belts mean something.

SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks def. Raw Women's Champion Asuka (Non-Title)

As many matches as these two have had these two, they never disappoint and this was another quality contest from them. The effort was once again there and they worked a great pace. Although Carmella has attacked Banks at every turn on SmackDown recently, I'm glad she stayed out of this because there was no need for her to show up here. Banks has never beaten Asuka decisively before and thus it had to happen here, which it did. Banks has plenty of opponents to face on Friday nights, whereas WWE needs to do a better job of making Asuka an important part of Raw again going forward.

Team Raw (Lana, WWE Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce) def. Team SmackDown (Bianca Belair, The Riott Squad, Natalya and Bayley) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match

Given the story that WWE told with Lana throughout the buildup to Survivor Series, you had to know she was going to be the sole survivor here. I didn't want to believe it as I had high hopes for Belair being the sole survivor for SmackDown, but no such luck. The actual match was fine and I appreciated Belair lasting until the very end, but as I've said several times before, why are we supposed to give a crap about Lana? The Chronicle WWE did on her on WWE Network over the weekend was excellent, but that sort of stuff should be airing on TV. Lana literally stood there the entire time and won because Belair and Jax got themselves counted out. Thankfully, Belair wasn't pinned by Lana, but that finish was both funny and sad. I can only imagine what the reaction would've been if fans were in attendance. I just don't think it accomplished anything because Lana as a babyface isn't working as well as the company probably thinks it is.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre (Non-Title)

For a match that came together at the last minute, this was a tremendous piece of business. Both Reigns and McIntyre have been killing it in their respective roles this year, so I figured it would be something special and it most certainly was. It started off slow, but once they picked up the pace and worked with more intensity in the second half, it felt WrestleMania worthy. In fact, it was a vast improvement over their WrestleMania 35 match because the dynamic was so much stronger. I normally hate ref bumps, but it was acceptable here because that inference from Jey (and subsequent low blow from Reigns) was what led to Reigns scoring the victory, thus protecting McIntyre in defeat. Needless to say, a rematch is inevitable and could go down as soon as WrestleMania 37. This is one of those matches I wish there was a crowd in attendance because they could have eaten every second of this up, especially down the stretch.

The Undertaker Said His Final Farewell to the WWE Universe

I sincerely hope this was it for Undertaker, because aside from his exit from WrestleMania 33, this was a fitting way for him to close his career. I mean, 30 years to the day he debuted at the exact same pay-per-view? You couldn't write a better sendoff than that if you tried. The quick cameos from the legends such as Mick Foley, Kane, The Godfather, Kevin Nash and several others were a nice touch, even though they disappeared once Undertaker made his entrance. Speaking of which, his walkout was epic, though the promo he cut was pretty paint-by-numbers. I was hoping we'd here from Mark Calaway and not just 'Taker, but I assume they're saving that for his eventual WWE Hall of Fame speech. I'm especially glad that WWE didn't have anyone interrupt him like RETRIBUTION or Zayn or someone like that. Yes, we could have seen one more chokeslam or Tombstone, but it wasn't necessary and the route they took instead was much better. The whole presentation of this was phenomenal and the Paul Bearer hologram was just the cherry on top. What a way for Undertaker to end an iconic career.

Overall Show

Let's just address the obvious straight from the get-go: The brand supremacy stuff means absolutely nothing and I can't imagine many fans care about it at this point. I was pulling for SmackDown to beat Raw for the first time, and although that didn't happen, that wasn't the focus of the show, which is why WWE didn't count the victories for each brand this year. Rather, this event was all about Undertaker's "final farewell," or at least that's what they were promoting it as and that's what it felt like. That's what I was looking forward to most coming into this pay-per-view and it delivered in my opinion. That combined with some strong wrestling made this a thumbs-up show. It wasn't one of the greatest installments in Survivor Series history, mind you, and I really wish they'd move away from the Raw vs. SmackDown narrative or at least add some stakes, but I was entertained on the whole. Then again, without the appearance from 'Taker and Reigns vs. McIntyre, my thoughts on this event likely would have been a lot different.