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Survivor Series has been always been outed as the odd one out from the big four pay-per-views. It is, perhaps, because of the lack of prestige to it as compared to the likes of WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. The concept is similar to the Rumble, with the show revolving around elimination matches. However, they are not nearly as exciting and staples in the way the Royal Rumble match is every year. In terms of the big four, Survivor Series is at the bottom of the pile.
Despite being the second longest running WWE pay-per-view, Survivor Series does not possess the epic and grand feel of its other long-standing counterparts on the WWE calendar. It still has played host to some excellent traditional elimination matches over the course of it's over 30-year long history. The concept of these matches are pretty simple and not as action-packed as the Rumble, but it still holds up as a valuable part of the year, especially with the ongoing feud between Raw and Smackdown.
Traditional Survivor Series elimination matches over the years have given us a whole bunch of classic moments thanks to high stakes, high spots or unlikely alliances. They have been a beacon of storytelling for a long while now, with a few of them standing out. Five-on-five matches can be tricky to book, but we have seen WWE strike gold with it on many occassions. Here are the five greatest traditional Survivor Series elimination matches of all time but first, some honourable mentions.
- Team Hogan vs Team Andre (1987)
- Team Triple H vs Team Orton (2004)
- Team Shield vs Team Mysterio (2013)
#5 Team Smackdown vs Team Raw (2005)
Before brand warfare became cool, Raw and Smackdown went head-to-head with Survivor Series elimination rules for the first time ever in 2005. After an interesting build which featured Kane and The Big Show absolutely destroying Batista, we got this hell of a match.
Raw's team consisted of the two giants, up-and-comers Carlito and Chris Masters, with Shawn Michaels rounding off the team. Smackdown had a pretty great team, one of the strongest in Survivor Series history. Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, JBL and the World Heavyweight Champion Batista made the Blue team.
The match would pan out in a similar way to another one on this list, with Shawn Michaels playing the babyface in peril. He was left in a three-on-one situation against Smackdown's JBL, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. The Heart Break Kid would eliminate Mysterio following a tremendous mid-air Sweet Chin Music, before immediately getting rid of the former Acolyte.
However, it would be Randy Orton who sneaked away with the victory, with a lightning quick RKO, like the slippery snake he is. This was one of many great victories the Viper has earned at Survivor Series.
#4 Team WWF vs Team Alliance (2001)
This match the blowoff to the heavily-botched Invasion angle, a storyline that saw so much potential but was wasted by the WWE just like that. It was a real missed opportunity for the company, who had put a compromised version of what fans were hoping for.
Despite all the problems with the angle, this 5-on-5 match between Team WWF and Team Alliance was filled with ridiculous star power, as evidenced by the above picture. Along with the likes of Austin, Rock, Undertaker and Jericho among the others, there were two representatives of outside promotions in Booker T and Rob Van Dam.
This match, while slightly over-booked, was electric for its entire epic length as WWE attempted to construct the best possible ending to a terrible story. The crowd was so into this match and rightly so, with huge moments throughout the bout. Shane McMahon was a presence throughout as he eliminated The Big Show, before constant interference in the match.
Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle switched sides after their eliminations from the match, as The Rock picked up the win for Team WWF by finally pinning his longtime rival, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This was probably the most epic-feeling Survivor Series match of all time, but not the best.
#3 Team Cena vs Team Authority (2014)
After 2005, Survivor Series as a concept felt dead. There was no edge to it at all and it felt like just another random pay-per-view. There were hardly any stakes to the elimination matches, until 2014. The Authority had been running roughshod over the WWE for more than a year and while they were pegged back by the likes of Daniel Bryan and The Shield, they always stood strong.
The stipulation in play was that if Team Authority lost to Team Cena, the villainous corporate stable would disband. This was an incredibly unpredictable match, filled with possible narrative turns that could be taken.
John Cena led his team consisting of himself, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback against Triple H's handpicked side of Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper. This match got a whole lot of time to develop and took a huge turn when The Big Show turned heel for the 478th time and betrayed his teammates, leaving Dolph Ziggler against Kane, Harper and Rollins.
After a gutsy performance, Ziggler would win the match for his team thanks to a debuting Sting. This moment was extremely surreal, even if the aftermath was a disappointment. The Authority would return by the end of the year and Sting's WWE career did not go that well, but we will always have Team Cena vs Team Authority from Survivor Series 2014.
#2 Team Austin vs Team Bischoff (2003)
This was possibly the most emotionally-driven Survivor Series elimination match ever, with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's position as co-GM of Raw being on the line, in Texas of all places.
Fellow Texan Shawn Michaels led the way for the Rattlesnake's team which also included The Dudley Boyz, Booker T and Rob Van Dam. Eric Bischoff put together a formidable team of super heels including the likes of Chris Jericho, Christian and Randy Orton. The crowd was fully behind the babyfaces in a bout that had every tool in the box to become a classic, one that will remain in the minds of fans when they think of Survivor Series.
The match was filled with action throughout it's near-half an hour length, with genuine emotion and investment in what was happening. Like two years later, Shawn Michaels was in a three-on-one scenario, this time against Christian, Jericho and Orton.
He bled like a stuck pig and got rid of Christian and Jericho before interference from Batista would cost him huge. And just like two years later, Randy Orton would defeat Shawn Michaels to become the sole survivor. It was WWE storytelling and drama at it's absolute finest.
Michaels looked genuinely flustered after putting on a characteristic fight till the very end, but his defeat meant that Steve Austin was no longer the general manager of Raw. What a gut-wrenching way for it to happen.
#1 Team Smackdown vs Team Raw (2016)
The story beforehand may not have been the greatest, as is the case with most Smackdown vs Raw matches, but this match had the perfect mix of star power, full-time talent and great booking. Clocking in at 52 minutes, this was the longest elimination match in Survivor Series history. It was filled with multiple storytelling layers that would get us through the match. Both teams were well-rounded.
We had Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman on Team Raw, the perfect mix of experience and new blood. Smackdown's team had AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and commissioner Shane McMahon. There was a whole bunch of memorable moments in this match.
Pretty much every elimination was either satisfying, memorable or furthered storytelling. James Ellsworth contributed in the countout elimination of his old nemesis Braun Strowman and paid for it. Kevin Owens got DQ'ed for hitting AJ Styles with the List Of Jericho. Styles himself got eliminated after a Shield Triple Powerbomb, despite Ambrose representing Team Blue.
However, it was the night of the Wyatts, as Bray Wyatt and then-member Randy Orton overcame former Shield buddies Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to win this epic contest for Smackdown. The manner in which they won was emphatic as well, Rollins was eliminated following an RKO from a Frog Splash and Wyatt won the match by pinning Reigns after Orton sacrificed himself for his new leader.
If this year's elimination match comes even a little close to this one, we are in for a treat!
