World Wrestling Entertainment – Survivor Series 2004 – 14th November 2004
Welcome to Survivor Series, the annual ‘Big 4’ event…which is nowhere near as big as the other three. The WWE was in the midst of a truly awful run of pay-per-view events at this point in time, so arrives at one of their biggest shows of the year without much momentum behind them. In Raw’s main event Randy Orton leads a team into battle against a team of HHH’s choosing in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match, whilst Smackdown’s top billing sees Booker T challenge John Layfield for the WWE Championship. The undercard has some potentially decent stuff (Shelton/Christian, Trish/Lita and a Cruiserweight Title fourway) and some obvious shockers (Undertaker/Heidenreich) so this is definitely one of those shows which could be decent, but could just as easily be a complete car crash. Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole and Tazz call the action for their brands in Cleveland, OH.
Spike Dudley vs Rey Mysterio vs Billy Kidman vs Chavo Guerrero – WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Where the hell is Paul London? I told you he would get in trouble for that springboard moonsault spot at No Mercy. Spike is still ‘The Boss’ and still clinging to the Cruiserweight Title despite a mounting list of challengers who, on paper, have far stronger in-ring credentials. He is now going solo though apparently, with Bubba and D-Von now out injured at the hands of Big Show.
Kidman and Chavo apparently have some beef, meaning they split off and brawl with each other as Mysterio and Spike fight on the other side of the ring. Rey counters the BK Bomb with a facecrusher, allowing the great rivals Mysterio and Guerrero to work each other for the first time. They have plenty of fun reaching into their lucha bag of tricks – which pisses Dudley off immensely. He barges his way in with his far more simplistic brand of offence. Kidman walks across the apron – into a SPRINGBOARD FLYING HEADSCISSORS TO THE FLOOR by Rey! And when he gets up Chavo POWERBOMBS MYSTERIO INTO A SEATED SENTON TO THE FLOOR! Again Spike is hacked off at people stealing his thunder…and promptly gets nothing but a face-full of arena floor as he lines up a pescado. He recovers by trying to MURDER Rey – throwing him under the bottom rope into the base of the entrance ramp. Chavo looks to superplex Dudley, just as Billy comes from behind to electric chair drop him! BK Bomb on Mysterio! Acid Drop COUNTERED TO THE 619! West Coast Pop blocked by Kidman, as inside the ring Guerrero hits the Gory Bomb for 2. As Rey and Billy battle out of the ring Spike snatches a pinfall on Chavo and retains the belt in 09:02
Rating - *** - As usual the Cruiserweights absolutely kill it for the Smackdown brand. Paul London and Billy Kidman were the only redeeming feature of the awful No Mercy pay-per-view, and now this set of Cruiserweights have kicked Survivor Series off in surprisingly spectacular fashion. Rey Mysterio was astoundingly good, but I also really enjoyed Spike’s performance. He doesn’t have the flashy lucha skills of Mysterio or Guerrero, nor does he have the traditional American junior heavyweight abilities of Kidman…and his approach played up to that. He wanted to brawl, scratch and bite his high-flying adversaries, and got extremely jealous whenever their aerial antics eclipsed him. A sensible and believable approach; I was really pleased when his strategic intelligence was rewarded with victory.
The deranged Heidenreich runs into the unhinged Snitsky backstage, and engage in a rather comedic exchange of inter-brand pleasantries.
Shelton Benjamin vs Christian – WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Perhaps the true quality of Raw’s Taboo Tuesday event was the way in which rising stars were elevated. Edge was a focal point of the show, Randy Orton won cleanly in a violent main event, and the show opened with Shelton Benjamin upsetting Chris Jericho to become the new Intercontinental Champion. ‘Mr Benjamin’ has another tough examination of his credentials tonight with Christian (plus Tyson Tomko at ringside) looking to take his belt from him.
I’m almost certain that reeling off Shelton’s accomplishments in collegiate sport gives Jim Ross an erection. The reigning champion demonstrates his amateur wrestling skills by effortlessly outwrestling Christian on the mat. He can fly as well, diving into a SPRINGBOARD BLOCKBUSTER for 2! Shelton is too athletic for everything Christian tries, and he has seen enough. He leaves the ring and hides behind Tomko, and the Problem Solver distracts him for just long enough. Christian hits a tackle off the apron to propel Benjamin torso-first into the crash barrier. The champ’s neck becomes a target for the challenger, and Tomko at ringside makes it even worse by crushing his spine against the ring apron. That neck gets snapped again as Christian lands a tornado inverted DDT for 2. But suddenly Captain Charisma loses his ability to keep his explosive opponent on the mat. He becomes more concerned with verbally berating him than physically doing so…and finally sees another inverted DDT countered to an INVERTED SLINGSHOT SUPLEX. But Benjamin misses the Stinger Splash and eats an IMPLANT DDT! Christian is handed the title belt by Tyson, but doesn’t get to use it as Benjamin mows him down with the springboard lariat! DRAGON WHIP on Tomko! Unprettier is leapfrogged into the T-Bone Slam – and Benjamin retains at 13:23
Rating - *** - This was a really fun match too! I could have done with Shelton making any kind of effort to sell the neck (not adding finer details like that to his game are why his career wound up being something of a waste of potential) but it was still enjoyable to watch his raw athleticism clash with Christian’s combination of veteran tactics and outright cheating. Christian is such a solid performer at this level, and should be congratulated for giving something of a masterclass in how to put a guy over with his showing in this one. I’ve seen very few Shelton Benjamin singles matches where he looked quite as good as this.
Kurt Angle runs into Edge at the refreshment table, and isn’t happy at some of the remarks made about him in Edge’s recent book. Kurt’s response is to make fun of Edge for never being World Champion (and at the same time starts sewing some WrestleMania seeds by making some pointed remarks at Shawn Michaels’ expense).
Kurt Angle/Luther Reigns/Mark Jindrak/Carlito Cool vs John Cena/Eddie Guerrero/Rob Van Dam/Big Show
This is our first elimination tag match of the evening, and there is plenty of tension between the competing parties. Big Show comes in having had his ankle seriously injured by Angle, Jindrak and Reigns – and given that they are also the guys responsible for shaving him bald we know there will be one giant with vengeance on his mind. Carlito makes his ppv debut as United States Champion having shocked Cena to take the belt from him. Cena and Carlito (and Carlito’s henchmen Aaron ‘Jesus’ Aguilera) are now engaged in something of a fierce rivalry – which included a ‘nightclub stabbing’ and are perhaps the most combustible element of what could become an extremely bad-tempered match.
Cena makes a beeline for Carlito and Jesus, and all three of them brawl straight to the locker room before the bell has even rung – with the latter two actually hopping into a car and fleeing the arena. Show and Jindrak are the first legal men as Cena returns to the ring, meaning the babyfaces have a 4-3 advantage from the start. Slingshot hilo/Rolling Thunder combo by Eddie and RVD! Angle has to seize control for his inexperienced team-mates, and captains them to the successful isolation of Latino Heat. Luther spends far less time in the match than either of his partners which is absolutely for the best. Van Dam gets a hot tag, and things get incredibly messy. He aims a Five Star Frog Splash at Angle, but splats down on Jindrak’s neck and head as Mark looked to pull his mentor out of the way. Kurt then uses the ropes for leverage and eliminates RVD at 08:46 – although Rob’s shoulders weren’t down and the ref’s hand didn’t seem to make contact with the mat for the three-count either! Eddie gets some payback seconds later by using the ropes to pin Jindrak. Reigns follows him to the locker room at 10:29 following a Chokeslam by Big Show. Now at a 1-on-3 disadvantage Angle tries to flee, but finds Van Dam hanging out in the aisle to stop him leaving. F-U by Cena! Frog Splash by Eddie! Show then pins Angle to complete a comprehensive victory at 12:26
Rating - * - What a strange match and a waste of talent this was. The Cena/Carlito angle at the start confused and killed the crowd before we’d even started. The ugly RVD elimination sequence looked terrible. Reigns and Jindrak contributed almost nothing with their ultra-wooden performances, whilst the most over guy in the line-up (John Cena) wasn’t tagged in legally once. Such an overwhelming babyface win doesn’t damage Kurt Angle’s credibility too much – but for limited up and comers like Reigns, Carlito and Jindrak this was massively damaging.
Jonathan Coachman questions whether Maven Huffman has the credentials to be in a pay-per-view main event. Maven is annoyed by the question, but gets attacked by Snitsky before he can respond. He gets left in a pool of his own blood, with Fit Finlay for company trying to revive him…
Heidenreich vs Undertaker
Do you know what my issue with Heidenreich is? It is that some of what they did with his character I really liked. I loved making him an unpredictable maniac, and a lot of the stunts they did around that were very effective. I thought Paul Heyman did a hell of a job as his manager and in verbalising his motivations (no matter how ridiculous the situation). I like that they ripped off Sabu coming out chained to a stretcher in ECW by having him in a straightjacket half of the time. But as fun as his character was, as great as Paul E. was, and as intimidating as he looked – he was such an awful worker it just tanked. At this point a lot of his heat had already gone, and he is now basically presented as an X-Files ‘monster of the week’ for Undertaker to vanquish and/or kill some time before WrestleMania season when he gets something serious to do. He was the latest man to ‘murder’ Undertaker, when he blew up a hearse containing the Phenom back at No Mercy. That lasted even less time than Undertaker’s usual deaths, and he is now back on Smackdown looking to unleash hell on the psychotic Heidenreich for his actions.
The two opponents could not look more different – with Heidenreich clenching his fists and pacing in a manic state whilst Taker stands stoic, steadfast and completely focused. Perhaps that rigid focus is the reason for his strong start. Heyman has to get involved to stop his charge from getting his shoulder picked apart in the opening minutes. Despite Paul E.’s interventions the Phenom continues to dominate – first succeeding with the Old School ropewalk then cradling the arm for a modified flatliner to target the shoulder again. Heidenreich stays in the fight; throwing endless punches back at Undertaker whenever he gets half a chance to do so. In fact, as the match wears on it starts to get more and more impressive how resilient Heidenreich is, and how able he is to continually take the fight back to the respected veteran. He hits the Disasterpiece for a close nearfall…but then starts to lose control and focus. Undertaker capitalises in a flash, with the Last Ride for 2. Michael Cole is in disbelief that Heidenreich survives that! Chokeslam/Tombstone combo finishes it at 15:52
Rating - ** - I was expecting this to be awful. In fact, if you’d told anyone that you were going to watch Undertaker and Heidenreich work a straightforward wrestling match with no gimmicks, smoke or mirrors to protect them they’d almost certainly tell you how awful that sounds. So, actually the fact that this was somewhat decent is a major success. Naturally, Undertaker didn’t do a great deal to sell Heidenreich’s offence, and of course Heidenreich himself didn’t contribute much to the match in terms of innovation, personality or making you believe he could win. But the basic concept – Undertaker wanting to methodically and sadistically pick apart his inexperienced opponent, only for Heidenreich to show immense toughness by fighting back at every turn – was a solid one. They executed it well, didn’t lose the crowd and actually produced a ‘slobberknocker’ that wasn’t a total disaster to sit through. Almost every Undertaker/Kane match is far worse than this.
Maria Kanellis!! She interviews Eric Bischoff, who declares that Maven is unlikely to compete in the main event tonight. He isn’t allowing any replacements to be named either…
Trish Stratus vs Lita – WWE Women’s Title Match
It has been a rough few months for Lita. Her boyfriend Matt Hardy has been put on the shelf, she was a slave bride to Kane (and presumably forcibly impregnated by him too), she lost her baby thanks to Snitsky…and at every turn she found herself mocked and belittled by Trish. The tipping point came when Trish made fun of her pregnancy weight-gain after losing her fake baby…and she now wants to take out all of her frustration on her great rival.
Lita marches to the ring and socks Trish in the mouth, such is the ferocity of her hatred towards the reigning champion. Stratus leaves the ring…so Lita gives chase and drop toeholds her into a steel chair! She then starts battering Trish with another chair – forcing her to be disqualified at 01:22
Rating - N/A - Much like every angle Lita was involved with in 2004, the set-up for this was extremely tasteless. However, there are plenty of examples of these two women working matches against each other. I enjoyed getting to watch two female competitors get an opportunity with the sort of angle traditionally reserved for the males – i.e. a grudge so fierce rules can’t contain them, leading to weaponry, bloodshed and violence.
Trish has a bloody nose, but Lita doesn’t stop the assault. First she chokes Trish out then absolutely DESTROYS her against the steps.
In the Smackdown locker room Eddie Guerrero pokes fun at the ridiculous John Cena stabbing angle by pointing out he doesn’t even have a scar. Teddy Long pops in to tell Cena he will get Carlito in a US Title Match the following week on Smackdown.
John Bradshaw Layfield vs Booker T – WWE Title Match
It was a surprise when JBL took the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero, and an even bigger shock when he somehow survived two clashes with the Undertaker with his title reign intact. He may have benefited from more than his fair share of fortuitous circumstance and controversy but he remains the top dog on Smackdown. And in doing so his confidence has grown to such an extent that he has felt able to belittle and demean Booker. Despite Booker being a multi-time former World Champion himself, Layfield has dismissed his credentials to challenge for the WWE Title – and is so confident of a win tonight he has promised to leave Smackdown if he loses.
Booker’s start is so impressive he sends Bradshaw retreating to the floor for a rethink with ‘Chief Of Staff’ Orlando Jordan. It is a sensible move, as when Booker gives chase JBL is presented with the opportunity to blindside him. He flings the challenger into the announce table with such force that Michael Cole and Tazz are both briefly taken off air. And when Book crawls out of the wreckage there he gets rammed back to the ground by Jordan! Layfield’s focus is on making it hard for Booker to breathe. He crushes the ribcage repeatedly, and breaks that up with multiple variants of chinlocks and sleeper holds to suck the wind from his body. Again Orlando tries to get involved, but this time the tables turn and JBL walks into a BOOK END ON THE FLOOR! Jordan then gets taken out with the Axe Kick as well. Heat Seeker missile dropkick gets 2 – but perhaps Book was just a half-step slow to cover due to the punishment he has sustained. Houston Hangover MISSES…and for the hundredth time in the match OJ involves himself to distract the challenger. Referee Nick Patrick gets bumped next…so now all discretion is ditched and Orlando can invade the ring without consequence. That is until Josh Matthews runs in and takes him out. CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL ON JOSH! Booker counters the same move with the Houston Sidekick then drops Layfield with the Axe Kick for 2…only for Jordan to drag the ref out! Book End on Orlando! Bradshaw then waffles Booker with the title belt and steals yet another cheap win at 14:43
Rating - ** - I don’t think either man has the skills to credibly main event a WWE pay-per-view without a superior worker to help them. In the ring together they made the best of their limited skillset, but this got rather boring rather quickly…and the endless Orlando Jordan interference spots really started pissing me off. It wasn’t all horrible (and if you dislike his TNA commentary you’ll love the Josh Matthews Clothesline From Hell spot) but this always felt like a match between two average workers trying hard but ultimately lacking any real quality.
Evolution ponder whether they can trust Snitsky and Edge as their partners in the main event, knowing that both want World Title shots if they win.
Randy Orton/Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho/Maven vs Triple H/Batista/Edge/Gene Snitsky
Eric Bischoff is going on vacation. After being embarrassed at Taboo Tuesday he allowed the Raw superstars to take control of the show with chaotic results, but now he has formally taken a month off and arranged a suitable cover plan. Each member of the winning team will get to run Raw for a week, which could have disastrous consequences for Triple H. The babyface team will each want title shots if they win (except Orton who was barred from getting more title shots at that point)…and unfortunately for him the same motivation will be fuelling his own partners. Edge and Snitsky have openly stated that they’ll want World Title shots when they run Raw, and unbeknownst to Hunter, even Batista is lusting after his ‘Big Gold Belt’. Orton, Benoit and Jericho start at a 3-on-4 disadvantage as Maven hasn’t recovered from Snitsky’s attack backstage and doesn’t come to ringside.
Edge had just debuted ‘Metalingus’ as his entrance theme, which means we get to hear the actual crowd reaction to his entrance rather than piped in ‘You Think You Know Me’ over Rob Zombie. Edge and Benoit start aggressively following on from their exchanges at Taboo Tuesday. Batista acts as a blocker to prevent Orton from sharing a ring with HHH, then spearheads an attempt to isolate the Legend Killer from his partners. Benoit leads the rescue with countless suplexes, then hits a DOUBLE FLYING WOLVERINE to rattle the skulls of both Edge and HHH. Snitsky has to whack Benoit between the eyes to save Helmsley from tapping out to the Sharpshooter…so Benoit simply puts Edge in the Crossface instead! HHH recovers to hit the Pedigree on Benoit, and he is the first man eliminated leaving Jericho and Orton fighting 4-on-2 odds. Ric Flair chips in to make it even worse by tripping Y2J during a Lionsault attempt, and Batista quickly capitalises with a spinebuster. Randy evens the odds by belting Batista with the World Title belt, and Jericho pins him to complete the elimination soon after! On the outside Edge and Helmsley team up to destroy Orton, as inside the ring Snitsky bullies Jericho. When all hope seems lost a patched up Maven Huffman limps down the aisle to finally take his place! He gets some payback on Snitsky by splitting his eyebrow WIDE open. As in, there’s a gaping hole where his eyebrow should be! The deranged big man doesn’t take that well and starts beating on both Maven and Jericho with a steel chair – meaning he gets sent packing via DQ. All of a sudden the babyfaces have a 3-on-2 advantage! Maven is complete out cold though, and Triple H pins him swiftly to bring it back to an even keel. Pedigree blocked by Jericho…SPEAR INSTEAD! Edge eliminates Jericho! It leaves Orton staring across the ring from HHH and Edge, both of whom are sadistically smiling in his direction. The two heels spend minutes wearing him down, until their seemingly serene march towards victory is broken by Edge accidentally taking out HHH with a Spear. RKO! Edge is eliminated! The Game needs a low blow to stop Orton giving him an RKO too. Pedigree COUNTERED TO THE RKO! Orton wins! In 24:31 he pulls out the win and takes control of Raw!
Rating - *** - This was a perfectly functional main event, which moved at a brisk pace and accomplished most of what it set out to achieve. But it wasn’t a whole of fun to sit through, nor was it overly exciting. Benoit and Jericho, the best workers, were almost an irrelevance to the match. Orton and HHH were obviously the focal points for their respective teams, but none of their clashes had any gravitas whatsoever (even the closing moments). I thought Edge’s contributions were the highlight, which should be of no surprise as he had been on fire since returning from injury bitter, twisted and hellbent on getting a World Championship run. And, to be totally truthful, Maven and Snitsky’s input was well managed too. Neither is great in the ring, but Snitsky got to hit a few power moves and Maven got to come in halfway through, get a crowd pop, spill some blood then leave quickly before his inexperience got in the way. This main event wasn’t short of action, but it fundamentally lacked drama. It felt cold, and was indicative of just how little audiences were really connecting with Randy Orton as a babyface. Contrast this to Shawn Michaels in Raw’s Survivor Series tag from last year and the differences could not be more stark…
Tape Rating - ** - I feel like I keep having to preface every 2004 pay-per-view review by stating how awful a year this was for the WWE. Anything good they did generally involved Guerrero or Benoit, which obviously evokes strong emotions for varying reasons, and the quality of these ppv events took an absolute nosedive. In the context of 2004, this actually wasn’t a bad show. Nothing is overtly bad, and plenty of up and coming talents were given genuine chances to shine. Rey Mysterio was superb in the opening match, Shelton Benjamin had one of the best matches of his young career, Randy Orton won in the main event, John Cena was the focal point of the Smackdown Survivor Series Match, and even Jon Heidenreich wasn’t awful. But when a solid undercard IC Title Match which reached nothing more than middling 3* level is the match of the night on a ‘Big Four’ ppv there are obvious problems. Despite a half-decent performance, Heidenreich’s credibility was completely shattered against Undertaker. The weird booking of the Smackdown 8-man ruined it. JBL and Booker T were both so painfully average that their title match was instantly forgettable. And despite some solid wrestling overall Raw’s main event fell completely flat. In context of some of the woeful 2004 shows I’ve sat through this was actually a more consistently decent viewing experience…but as a WWE Network view there is nothing really that jumps out and offers significant ‘re-watch’ value (whereas even No Mercy had Billy Kidman and Paul London tearing it up). I think a 2* rating is justified…
Top 3 Matches
3) Randy Orton/Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho/Maven vs Triple H/Batista/Edge/Gene Snitsky (***)
2) Spike Dudley vs Billy Kidman vs Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero (***)
1) Shelton Benjamin vs Christian (***)