Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
Verizon Center, Washington DC
Attendance: 12,500
World Wrestling Entertainment heads to the US capital for their Survivor Series 2009 Pay Per View, with two main event Triple Threat matches, a bunch of traditional elimination matches and the epic grudge match between Batista and Rey Mysterio.
Here’s what went down.
Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team Morrison (Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin and Finlay) vs. Team Miz (United States The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger)
Kicking things off with the least hyped bout on the card, former tag team champions The Miz and John Morrison led their men into battle in this enjoyable inter-brand elimination bout.
Holding their own against the popular Team Morrison, it was The Miz and his allies who were left standing tall at the end of an entertaining, well-paced bout which served well in establishing newcomers Sheamus & Drew McIntyre as credible stars.
Order of elimination:
1. Evan Bourne eliminated Dolph Ziggler
2. Drew McIntyre eliminated Evan Bourne
3. Sheamus eliminated Finlay
4. John Morrison eliminated Jack Swagger
5. The Miz eliminated Shelton Benjamin
6. Drew McIntyre eliminated Matt Hardy
7. Sheamus eliminated John Morrison
Your Winners: The Miz, Drew McIntyre & Sheamus
Backstage, Team Kofi enjoyed a chat, with ECW Champion Christian making light of his status as the only white guy on the team. It was pointless, but still quite funny.
Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
Despite his best efforts, the lightning-quick Rey Mysterio was no match for his much larger adversary, and after a series of 619s and a frog splash failed to put Big Dave away, the former Intercontinental Champion was annihilated by a spear. Batista followed up with three hefty Batista Bombs, prompting the referee to call off the match.
Your Winner via referee stoppage: Batista
Not yet finished with the beat down on his former friend, The Animal hit Rey with a spinebuster onto a steel chair.
Even despite such a heinous attack, Batista was cheered loudly by his hometown crowd, which probably isn’t what the WWE were hoping for. Still, it was a strong angle in which Batista looked better than he has in a long while.
Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team Kofi (Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, MVP, R-Truth and Christian vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal and CM Punk)
After an exciting build up between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston, the latter looked set to take that next step towards Superstardom as his team took on Randy Orton’s in another traditional elimination match.
A series of quick-fire eliminations saw the numbers diminish in fairly short order, leaving room for a good tag bout as Kofi and Christian battled Orton and CM Punk. In the end, it was Kingston who left with his hand raised in victory after overthrowing both opponents.
Order of elimination:
1. Randy Orton eliminated Mark Henry
2. CM Punk eliminated R-Truth
3. Christian eliminated Ted Dibiase
4. MVP eliminated William Regal
5. Cody Rhodes eliminated MVP
6. Christian eliminated Cody Rhodes
7. Randy Orton eliminated Christian
8. Kofi Kingston eliminated CM Punk
9. Kofi Kingston eliminated Randy Orton
Your Winner and Sole Survivor: Kofi Kingston
Moving swiftly on, it was time for Smackdown to take centre stage with the first of tonight’s two Triple Threat matches.
World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat match: The Undertaker defended against Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & The Big Show
Even the remarkably talented Chris Jericho struggled to carry an out-of-shape Big Show and a broken-down Undertaker to anything more than a slow, mediocre bout.
It’s not that nobody tried, but even when they did it still resulted in a rather uninspired affair which reached its inevitable conclusion when the champion locked Big Show in the Hell’s Gate.
Your Winner and still World Heavyweight Champion: The Undertaker
Backstage, Josh Matthews interviewed the surviving members of Team Miz. Sheamus, McIntyre and The Miz himself said nothing of particular note.
Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team Mickie (Mickie James, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Divas Champion Melina, and Gail Kim) vs. Team McCool (WWE Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox)
Providing a natural break between the two main event matches, the WWE Divas took to the stage in a forgettable encounter which served to heighten the rivalry between team captains Mickie James and Michelle McCool.
Beth Phoenix continued to look strong before being taken out by Mickie, which ultimately led to the latter standing tall at the end of the bout along with WWE Divas Champion, Melina.
Order of elimination
1. Kelly Kelly eliminated Layla
2. Michelle McCool eliminated Gail Kim
3. Eve eliminated Jillian
4. Beth Phoenix eliminated Eve
5. Beth Phoenix eliminated Kelly Kelly
6. Mickie James eliminated Beth Phoenix
7. Mickie James eliminated Alicia Fox
8. Melina eliminated Michelle McCool
Your Winners: Mickie James and Melina
Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Batista. The Animal joked about embarrassing Rey Mysterio in their match earlier.
WWE Championship Triple Threat Match: John Cena defended against Shawn Michaels and Triple H
After weeks of worrying as to whether DX would work together to defeat him (which by the way, was about the only build up this match was afforded), John Cena’s concerns were quickly alleviated when Michaels planted his partner with some Sweet Chin Music less than five seconds after the bell.
From then on, Shawn, Hunter and Cena delivered a far, far better main event than the earlier effort from the Smackdown headliners, pacing out their lengthy match with some exciting spots, dramatic action and gripping storytelling.
Surpassing all expectations, especially in spite of the non-existent build-up, Michaels, Hunter and Cena proved to their critics why they deserve to be on top of the Raw brand by delivering a terrific main event in which Cena retained the gold.
Your Winner and still WWE Champion: John Cena
WWE Survivor Series 2009: Final Thoughts
WWE’s Raw brand finds themselves in an odd position not that dissimilar to how TNA were for a long while; producing mind-bogglingly stupid television shows, then cranking up the action and delivering something rather special on pay per view.
Tonight’s main event pitting WWE Champion John Cena against DX stole the show by a long mile, whilst the encounter between Randy Orton and rising star Kofi Kingston was easily the best of the three elimination matches.
That’s not to say the opening Miz/Morrison clash wasn’t entertaining; WWE’s young bloods worked hard to create a good opening bout which served it’s purpose well.
On the other hand, The Undertaker’s title defence against Jerishow was anything but entertaining; slow, meandering and achieving very little, it certainly wasn’t anything this writer would recommend you actively seek out.
A decent show overall with the Raw brand triumphing over Smackdown in terms of in-ring quality. Now there’s something you never thought you’d read six months ago.
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