WWE Survivor Series 2013 Review and Comment

Well even though this show was really quite poor for a Survivor Series show, I think the trend has been thus for a few years now. In fact, 2009 was probably the last time the show had a good main event. What once again will look good in later years are the beautiful video packages that they put together. WWE are excellent at this the other 29 days of the month but at ppvs, and particularly at the big four, their production values on their video packages are just a wonder to behold.

5-on-5 Traditional Elimination Tag Team Match:

Cody Rhodes, Goldust, The Usos and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro

When you consider that this show didn’t get better than this, it’s a depressing way to start a review of Survivor Series. This match did everybody a lot of favours. Jey Uso, Rollins, Goldust and most of all Roman Reigns came out of this as real stars. Reigns needs to turn babyface in the New Year now and should be pushed as one of the company’s top men. Yes, he’s still got a lot to learn but he’s got way more potential than Ryback ever had, having shown great improvement in the year that he’s had so far on the main roster. He not only has a great look but he’s the ideal badass, in the role of Diesel, Stone Cold and, more lately, The Rock.

A fantastic finish to a very good ppv match and opener. The Boston crowd loved the heel win here.

WWE Intercontinental Title Match:

Big E. Langston (c) vs. Curtis Axel

Langston retained here but I fear for Axel. They gave him everything and he blew it. He’s just a poor character with zero charisma. He ought to join one of the stables now if they’re even interested in rehabbing him.

Big E is so agile for a big guy and he’ll be pushed now. It’s starting to feel like they have a few ideas about who they want to be their stars going forward but they have no idea who they’ll pair them with. Matches have no build right now.

7-on-7 Traditional Tag Team Elimination Match:

Cameron, Naomi, Natalya, Eva Marie, Jo Jo and The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee, Tamina Snuka, Alicia Fox, Kaitlyn, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes and Aksana

This was horrendous but who really cares? Some of these girls have the potential to be fairly dangerous in the ring so I was glad when they quickly pinned them so that we didn’t see anyone get dropped on their head. AJ v Natalya is about as good as it gets here. Jojo was pretty good considering.

I don’t really see why they’re putting these green girls in there without any real idea of what to do. It’s embarrassing and completely pointless.

Ryback Open Challenge:

Ryback v Mark Henry

Henry is advertised for WrestleMania so it makes sense that he’s back for the next 6 months. He looks great, having lost a lot of weight (and hair). For the New Orleans crowd, it’s important to have a black star and Henry is undoubtedly that.

Ryback has no direction now. He and Curtis Axel have been shuffled to the bottom of the deck. I look forward to writing about them both on Superstars soon!

Henry went for a clothesline and Henry did a sort-of crossbody (that was awful yet awesome), followed by the World's Strongest Slam. A short match, the crowd weren’t much into it at all.

World Heavyweight Championship Match:

John Cena (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio

This ought to be the blow off to this feud but the fact that the chair keeps being used in this feud by Del Rio could suggest that we’ll have to see this match again next month under different stips. The ‘chairs match’ is fairly laughable but does make sense in this context. They, of course, teased Orton and Cena at the end of the show. It’s weird to see Cena not closing out the show anymore with this title. I guess that must be why they’re putting him with Orton next month.

They made the best of this but no-one ever expected Del Rio to win this and so the crowd were fairly disinterested. It was a long match but it didn't have as much heat as most Cena matches. John Cena was kind of sloppy in the match on offense: he sold his arm a great deal but this ended up being really similar to the match they had last month; it was almost the same finish as Del Rio had the armbar on the left arm, but Cena picked him up and power bombed him, then used the Attitude Adjustment for the pin. Not nearly the level of most WWE World title matches but not bad either.

Tag Team Match:

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan

The Wyatts had a late swing in the odds but didn’t go over - I would still have picked them anyway. They need carrying less and less but who better to do that than Punk and Bryan? I assume one of these two is now going to go up against Bray Wyatt at TLC unless they add another and make it a 6-man. Either way, Bryan v Punk at Mania, please.

In fairness they had a good match here. I love Punk’s attention to detail: he was wearing Boston Bruins colours tonight on his trunks. The finish saw Bryan take out Rowan with the Busaiku knee and Punk pin Harper after the GTS. Harper may have hyper-extended his knee as he took a tope from Bryan, causing him to limp badly and be tagged out.  He came back in later but didn't seem to favour the knee that much. Rowan looked better than he ever has here which is probably good for his career - he won’t get many second chances at this kind of level. After the match, they teased that Bray Wyatt would hit the ring but he then backed off.

WWE Championship Match:

Randy Orton (c) vs. Big Show

Given that Orton himself already accepted that he might not be able to beat Big Show on his own, we were to expect Triple H to interfere. I could see it leading to Orton covering Show for the win which would set up Triple H v Big Show at TLC, maybe even at the Rumble. But who wants to see that match now?

This was one of the worst WWE main events in the last few years. They were outside the ring and Show knocked Orton out. Show threw Orton in the ring, but HHH, Stephanie and Kane all came out. Show was distracted, and Orton hit the RKO.  However, Orton was still selling and couldn't get the pin. Orton then went for the punt and actually missed it, but it was sold like he hit it. He then pinned Show. A dull finish to a dull match at a dull ppv.

After the match, Cena came in the ring and it looked like they’re teasing a Cena vs. Orton match for next month. Maybe it was just a Boston thing: Cena showing what a true champ should look like in his home town of world champions. Either way, it meant Cena closed out the ppv – what a dick. I guess more will be made clear tomorrow. Orton and Cena both have no opponent for next month and going against each other means both titles will remain in their hands. Again, no one will pay to see that but then few will have paid to see this tonight, if they had any sense.