WWE Survivor Series 2016 Review

Here are my thoughts on the thirtieth annual Survivor Series:

1. Team Raw Women defeated Team Smackdown Women at 17:30: This was the least smooth of the three elimination matches and by far the least memorable. Nikki Bella didn't come out to her music, where the cameras backstage showed her on the ground injured. Natalya, Daniel Bryan, and the doctors were surrounding her and she was deemed not medically clear. Natalya insisted that she replace Nikki in the match and Bryan approved. So, this probably means Nattie was the attacker, but Nikki, who was conscious throughout, was unable to identify her. The first elimination in the match came at about the six minute mark, when Carmella was pinned by Alicia Fox after a botched Scissors Kick. Good idea to get the worst wrestler out first. Alicia Fox was eliminated next by Alexa Bliss after a Twisted Bliss. Naomi was eliminated next via countout after Nia Jax hit some weak offense outside the ring. In a surprise, Sasha Banks was eliminated by Natalya after a roll-up, which would indicate that Sasha's push is being halted. Nattie was eliminated next with a vicious boot by Charlotte. Becky Lynch eliminated Nia Jax with a Disarmer, which was very questionable booking for the supposed monster of the division. Down to four, Alexa Bliss got eliminated by Charlotte's boot. Finally, Bayley was tagged in the match where her and Becky Lynch would go at it. After the two mega-babyfaces exchanged offense, Bayley got the win for the Raw team with the Bayley to Belly. Afterwards, Charlotte viciously attacked Bayley, further setting up a feud between the two. Overall, this was unmemorable and not particularly well booked. (**)

2. The Miz defeated Sami Zayn to retain the Intercontinental Championship at 14:05: Out of the three singles matches on the show, this was the best in terms of actual match quality. Zayn's knee was targeted throughout, with Miz mocking Daniel Bryan by doing his moves. Late in the match, Miz got Sami Zayn in a Figure Four, but Zayn rolled it over to reverse the pressure. Miz reached the ropes. Zayn sold his knee awfully well. Miz did some Daniel Bryan kicks but was caught in a Figure Four by Sami Zayn. Since this show was in Canada, the bell started ringing before Miz tapped. But as the camera panned, it showed Maryse ringing the bell. The match continued, where Miz rolled Zayn up to retain the title. I didn't mind the finish because it wasn't as cringeworthy as the Charlotte-Nattie screwjob they did at Payback, and it actually made sense with Miz's gimmick that Maryse keeps winning his matches. (***)

3. Team Raw Tag Teams defeated Team Smackdown Tag Teams at 18:55: Thanks to the work of The Usos, Sheamus, and Cesaro especially, this was an awesome match. Every year WWE feels the need to have a few surprise eliminations, so of course Fandango and Tyler Breeze were ousted by New Day within a minute into the match. Moments later, New Day was eliminated when Kofi was caught with a Superkick by The Usos. As for why they didn't give American Alpha the rub here, I have no idea. Gallows & Anderson hit the Magic Killer to eliminate The Hype Bros at about five minutes in. They got rid of the last jobber tag team at about eight minutes, when The Shining Stars were eliminated by American Alpha. In the most boneheaded move of the match, American Alpha was eliminated with The Magic Killer, effectively burying their chances of being perceived as a main event team. Heath Slater showed off his surprisingly great offense before Rhyno eliminated Gallows & Anderson with a Gore. In another incredibly stupid move, Rhyno, who had been portrayed as a monster holding his team together, was pinned for the first time since his return by Enzo Amore, of all people. Enzo and Cass were eliminated by The Usos thirty seconds later at the 13:30 mark. It was down to The Usos and Cesaro & Sheamus. I'm really confused as to why the heel Usos were chosen as finalists over the up-and-coming American Alpha. Anyway, after some really great back and forth moments which put this match over-the-top, Cesaro had one of the Usos in a Sharpshooter. As he was about to submit, the other Uso ran in but was Brogue Kicked by Sheamus. The Uso in the ring then tapped out, giving Team Raw another victory. Very good match. (***1/2)

4. Cruiserweight Brian Kendrick vs. Kalisto ended in a No Contest at 12:25: This was the worst match of the night, thanks to the finish. The wrestling wasn't bad, but the fans wanted it over with because they don't care about the Cruiserweights. Plus, once the Intercontinental Championship was going to stay on Smackdown, the outcome was not really in question. As Kalisto was closing in on the victory, Baron Corbin came out and beat up both men. In typical WWE fashion, the man who wasn't able to compete in the main Raw vs. Smackdown match due to injury, came out and beat people up with no visible injury. He could have at least limped a little bit. This match was OK until the end. (**)

 5. Team SmackDown Men defeated Team Raw Men at 52:54: This match was really damn good for fifty three minutes, however I don't think it reached the highest level. They did a good job establishing all of the men as great competitors by not doing any early eliminations. Shane tagged in at about the seven minute mark against Chris Jericho. His first string of offense looked really good, but his flaws as a non-wrestler showed up a lot following. At about sixteen minutes in, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose brawled as Shane attempted to break them up. Styles got in a cheap shot, allowing for Strowman to hit an Oklahoma slam onto Ambrose for the first elimination. Later on, Strowman and Styles fought in the ring, where Strowman recklessly threw Styles out of the ring to the point where I was scared. Orton caught Strowman with an RKO onto the announce table, followed by Shane hitting an elbow off the top rope onto Strowman through the announce table. Strowman still managed to get up in time to try and break the countout, but Ellsworth grabbed his legs from under the ring so he wasn't able to break the count. Strowman, now eliminated via countout, chased Ellsworth down and threw him over the ramp onto a table. 

Back in the ring, Jericho hit a Codebreaker onto Shane, but in true Super-Shane fashion, he kicked out. Kevin Owens was eliminated next, as he hit AJ Styles with The List of Jericho and was disqualified. Jericho, shocked that his list was destroyed, was pinned after an RKO at the 30 minute mark. Ten minutes later, Shane went up to hit Coast to Coast on Roman Reigns, but as he was in the air, Reigns caught him with a mid-air Spear. This was really awesome. The ref called off the pinfall because Shane's shoulder was technically off the ground (this was a shoot), but Shane was eliminated anyway due to what appeared to be a legitimate injury. Immediately after, Dean Ambrose returned to the ring to get revenge on AJ Styles but he was stopped by security. Reigns and Rollins, who had been working together, helped Ambrose out by taking out security. All three of them reunited and hit the Shield Powerbomb onto Styles through another announce table. Back in the ring, Styles was pinned and eliminated. The final four were Rollins and Reigns for Raw, and Orton and Wyatt for Smackdown. Wyatt pinned Rollins after an RKO by Orton. After Reigns fought by himself for about five minutes, he gained offense over Bray Wyatt.  As he was going for a spear to Wyatt, Orton sacrificed himself and took the spear instead. Wyatt immediately capitalized with the Sister Abigail to win the match for his team. This was a really good match, but due to some really slow spots and very bad offense from Shane, it failed to reach the next level. (***3/4)

6. Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar at 1:24: Brock made his entrance first followed by the whole security guard routine with Goldberg. They received formal introductions by JoJo. As the bell rang, Lesnar speared Goldberg into the turnbuckles, but Goldberg was unphased. Lesnar, surprised, was shoved to the ground by Goldberg. A shocked Lesnar began to smile, thinking that he simply got caught. Immediately as he got up, he was given two wicked spears by Goldberg, followed by a Jackhammer. Goldberg pinned Lesnar in convincing fashion to slay the beast. When the shocked fans realized what had just happened, they went crazy. Goldberg celebrated with his shirtless son in the ring to close the show. As for my thoughts, I understand the criticism that they wasted Lesnar's prestigious winning streak on a 49 year old part-timer, but with that said, I thought the story they told was excellent. This 1.5 minute match was more memorable than any 20 minute match WWE has had in the past two years, and it ends the perception that every main event has to be a back-and-forth long battle. This proves that anything can happen at any given time, and I thought this match was revolutionary. It also sets up an obvious rematch between the two at WrestleMania, which will surely be a bigger match now that Goldberg has been established as more than legitimate.

Overall, this was a very good show which was made tremendous by an only one-and-a-half minute main event. (9/10)