WWE Survivor Series Review - November 24, 2013

John Cena and Randy Orton come face-to-face.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Miz def. Kofi Kingston (Kickoff Match)

Miz didn't act heelish at all from what I saw, so I like the slow-burning heel turn they are doing with him. I still think there was a lot left in the tank for him as a babyface, but the fact of the matter is that he was so badly damaged in that role that he had to be turned. His match with Kingston was well wrestled, which shouldn't be any surprise given how many matches they have had against each other over the years. It was certainly one of the more intriguing pre-show matches in quite some time and Miz going over clean was a nice touch. Kingston refusing to shake his hand afterward was a good way of keeping the feud alive and leaving me anxious to find out what comes next.


The Shield and The Real Americans def. Rey Mysterio, WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust, and The Usos in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match

In what was undoubtedly the match of the night, everyone in this match managed to shine one way or another. I was disappointed to see the only five on five tag team match kick off the show, but it surely made for a hot opener. Dean Ambrose should have lasted a little longer, but it was a nice swerve to have him eliminated early on. I didn't at all expect the heels battle back and score the victory, nor did I expect Mysterio to be beaten in his first match back (excluding SmackDown). Obviously, Roman Reigns was the breakout star of this match, coming off like an absolute beast with his scintillating spears on four of the five faces on the opposing team. My only question is why they just didn't have him eliminate all five men by himself. Regardless, the finish was fantastic and all signs point to Reigns branching off on his own sooner rather than later.

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Daniel Bryan and CM Punk hit the Hart Attack.

Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston def. Curtis Axel

As good as their match was on Raw Country, Langston and Axel couldn't capture lighting in a bottle twice with their match on this show. Perhaps it was the fact that it followed a hot opener, but I think a majority of the fans just don't care. It is hard to blame the live crowd for being so dead for this bout, as the finish was never in doubt. I, personally, didn't mind Langston's post-match promo, but I can see why some people found it to be a bit cheesy. Langston has a bright future as a fan favorite, so here's hoping WWE stay the course with him going forward.


Team Total Divas def. Team True Divas in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match

This match was one massive train wreck, but did anyone expect anything else going in? The eliminations were rapid fire and none were given enough time to settle in, but it was probably for the better considering most of the Divas in the match aren't very good workers. Of course, it came down to Natalya and AJ as expected, allowing Natalya to get her revenge over AJ without having to take her title. I wouldn't mind this leading to a title match at TLC next month, but I didn't expect the heel team to win here anyway considering it wasn't anything more than a shameless plug for Total Divas.


Mark Henry def. Ryback

Henry making his return was a pleasant surprise, and the live crowd reacted accordingly to him coming back. He appears to still be a babyface, which is fine by mine considering WWE is lacking in strong babyfaces right now. I thought this bout was better than their WrestleMania match, which isn't saying much since the latter was a huge disappointment in my mind. Even still, it was a successful return for Henry, while Ryback is still win-less on pay-per-view. Wasn't he in the main event of last year's event?


World Heavyweight Champion John Cena def. Alberto Del Rio

Despite being in his "hometown" of Boston (he's actually from West Newbury), Cena still evoked a chorus of boos during his entrance. This has been the norm for years now, so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it is worth noting is that was the only interaction the crowd had with this match. Cena and Del Rio have good chemistry together and have always had entertaining matches, but everyone and their mother knew Cena was retaining here. Thus, it was hard to buy into Del Rio's a potential threat to Cena's title. Sure, it was a good match, but the predictability of it is what hindered it more than anything else. Where Del Rio goes from here is beyond me.


CM Punk and Daniel Bryan def. Luke Harper and Erik Rowan

Similar to Del Rio, it was hard into the possibility of The Wyatt Family defeating Punk and Bryan considering they are still relatively new to the roster. Sure, a victory over two former world champions would have boosted their credibility big time, but losing here didn't do much to hurt their momentum. It was a solid match with a handful of fun spots, but the overall outing won't be remembered next week. I fully expect The Wyatt Family to get their heat back with an attack on Punk or Bryan (or both) on Raw.


WWE Champion Randy Orton def. Big Show

This had to be one of the worst main event matches of pay-per-view I have seen in a long, long time. First off, Orton and Show have zero chemistry with each other, especially with Orton as the heel and Show as the face. We were promised "no interference" last week, which all but guaranteed there were going to be shenanigans of some sort. Thus, The Authority distracting Show to allow Orton to pick up the victory wasn't surprising at all. I didn't expect this match to be a five star classic by any means, but I came into the event thinking the main event match would at least go longer than 12 minutes. If nothing else, Orton utilizing the punt kick was a nice  touch and I hope it becomes a regular move in his repertoire as a heel. I am interested as to what they will do John Cena and Orton coming off of this show, but that doesn't mean I am looking forward to a potential champion vs. champion match between them.


Overall Show

With the build for this show being downright atrocious, you had to know that the event wasn't going to much more than mediocre. I had a shred of hope that it would be better than I initially anticipated, but it simply met my low expectations. There were several solid matches, but the it all went downhill after the opener. There was hardly anything noteworthy about this pay-per-view and it continued the sad streak of underwhelming events. Survivor Series is supposed to be one of WWE's "big four" pay-per-views, so it is incredibly disappointing to think they treated this like any other event without making it feel special. One can only that the product will start to improve when the Road to WrestleMania kicks in.

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