WWE Survivor Series - November 18, 2012
1. Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd & Brodus Clay vs. The Prime Time Players, Epico & Primo & Tensai in a Survivor Series tag team elimination match - I was hoping wed get another Survivor Series tag match on the show. The stars of this particular match were the tag teams rather than Tensai & Clay. The match was much better than I was expecting. Truth be told, I wasnt expecting too much because I figured itd be lucky to go 10 minutes. There was a lot of good action during the match and it went long enough for everyone to get involved and most did a good job. There were a couple of blown spots from Tensai but, all in all, a good match. Tensai eliminates Clay about the 8.5 minute mark. The honeymoon is definitely over for Clay because Gabriel eliminates Tensai about 2 minutes later after kicking out of a big splash, the same move that Tensai eliminated Clay with. Gabriel comes about and eliminates Tensai at the 10.5 minute mark with a crucifix pin. There was a lot of strong back & forth stuff from the cruiserweight wrestlers involved. It comes down to Kidd vs. Titus with Kidd getting the win after Titus crotches the turnbuckle. Some more action followed up with Kidd getting another elimination via the Sharpshooter on Epico at the 15 minute mark. Mysterio gets the pin on Primo after a few minutes of mixing it up. He blocked a backstabber attempt before trapping Primos shoulders on the mat. The end comes for Darren Young, the only heel left, after taking the 619 from Mysterio, followed up by the 450 Splash from Gabriel, followed by the springboard from Kidd and for Rey to Drop the Dime. Young is pinned with Kidd & Gabriel & Mysterio & Sin Cara as the survivors for their team at the 18.5 minute mark. Something of a feel good match to start the ppv off with Kidd & Gabriel both having a strong showing. ***
2. Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn for the WWE Divas Championship - Even though the crowd was dead for this, the women put forth a really good effort. There was some genuine intensity here and some solid storytelling. Eve messed up a bit while climbing the ropes but she also took a lot of hard bumps to help make Kaitlyn look good. Kaitlyn has improved noticeably in the past few months and looked better here than she has for most of that time. The end comes with Kaitlyn being tripped up in the ring apron by Eve. She followed up soon with her neckbreaker finisher for the clean win a bit past the 7 minute mark. A good ppv showing for the Divas in my eyes. Not a classic, but far better than the norm. **
3. Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth for the WWE United States Championship -. The build for the match wasnt very interesting and you had to know how it was going to end. I enjoy Cesaros methodical style. Hes about 65 and 240 pounds and its a style that does seem to fit with his look. All in all, I did enjoy the match because the men put forth a good effort. Cesaro is still in the midst of a slow build and this was another step in the right direction. The action picked up in the second half with Truth getting his wind back and taking it to Cesaro. Cesaro looked strong taking some of Truths finishers, including the Lie Detector and a big heel kick for a very close near fall. Cesaro soon mounts back and delivers that killer uppercut he uses. He then puts Truth in the Neutralizer and hits it for the clean win a little past the 7 minute mark. The ending was predictable but it was a solid match. Some probably hated it, some flat out loved it, Im more in the middle on this due in large part to just not caring about Truth right now. **1/4
AJ Lee Segment - This was a fairly brief segment continuing the angle with AJ & Vickie Guerrero. AJ was getting even, I suppose, by showing how the evidence of her & Cena can be faked by showing photoshopped videos of Vickie eating burritos with Ricardo Rodriguez. AJ made a little tongue in cheek sexual reference when she said something to the effect of Vickie was enjoying Ricardos burrito. She then showed some more photoshopped footage of Vickie eating with Jim Ross, before showing vids of Vickie dancing with Brodus Clay. They got into it verbally for a bit before Tamina comes in and attacked AJ from behind. She pretty much dismantled AJ for a bit before nailing her with the Superfly Splash. Vickie then laughs over a prone AJ Lee. I liked this segment mostly because it moves things forward nicely. I think were done with all the evidence about all this stuff and AJ is moving into a physical aspect of this feud with Tamina acting on Vickies behalf. Vickie & AJ both did well in their roles and it was nice to see the two women being the center of this thing without Cena or Ziggler hovering around. Thumbs Up
4. Big Show vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship - Another strong showing from the two big men as they delivered another intense, physical match. This match probably wont get as much praise as their previous match did because it was just so much better than everyone believed it to be. Now that they know what to expect, Im sure some will complain that it was too similar to their first match or that they just werent into it. I thought the match was every bit as good as their HIAC match, even the ending. The ending is logical as this match is probably a bridge to a third encounter between them at the TLC show, which will probably close out the feud. Sheamus delivered some major power moves on Show in this match, including putting show up in the Electric Chair that just made Sheamus look like a beast. He put Show in White Noise a bit later for a fucking great near fall. Sheamus gets to his feet after a bit and calls for the Brogue Kick. As he goes for it, Big Show pulls Scott Armstrong in the way, allowing him to eat the move. A WWE doc immediately checks him out with two refs coming out as well. Sheamus is looking concerned as Show spins him around to deliver the KO punch. He then covered Sheamus and one of the other refs counted three. It seemed that Show had scored another win but the third ref stepped up and said that he couldnt make that call while the original ref was being attended to, so Big Show was disqualified. Sheamus recovers by this time and goes ape shit on Show with a steel chair, including working over his leg. Great intensity here from Sheamus and, to make the crowd happier, Sheamus ultimately delivers a Brogue Kick. ***1/2
5. Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler in a Survivor Series tag team elimination match - I really liked this match as there were some surprises that I didnt see coming quite frankly. The letdown really was that Sandow & Kane really werent in the match long enough to be a factor one way or the other. Kane eliminated Sandow a little past the 3 minute mark before Ziggler eliminated him maybe 45 seconds later. I also dunno why David Otunga was placed in this match as he just doesnt belong. Shit, might as well have put Ricardo in as Codys replacement. Bryan eliminates Otunga about the 7 minute mark with the No Lock. Some good action sequences followed with Bryan & Del Rio then Kofi & Del Rio. Ziggler was working hard throughout this match, including running interference to break up a near fall on Del Rio. Wade Barrett tags in and quickly drops Kofi with the Winds of Change slam before delivering the Bullhammer elbow to eliminate Kofi at the 10 minute mark. There was some fun action afterwards with Orton & Barrett setting up a stalemate situation before Bryan tags in. Some very good stuff from Bryan & Barrett, including Bryan nailing the missle dropkick on Barrett for a nice near fall. Barrett manages to clothesline him over the top before tagging in Del Rio. Del Rio manages to eventually put Bryan in the Cross Armbreaker and forces him to submit at the 13 minute mark. Now its down to Orton & Miz vs. Ziggler, Del Rio & Barrett. Miz comes in for the first time during this next bit and looks good. He & Barrett have a nice exchange that ultimately ends up with Miz hitting the SCF for the elimination just after the 16 minute mark. Del Rio eliminates Miz about 90 seconds later with the step up enziguiri. Orton holds his own against the two heels for a bit, thanks in part to an accidental dropkick to Del Rio from Ziggler. Orton pops the RKO on Del Rio for the elimination at the 21 minute mark. Some great stuff from Orton & Ziggler, including a great near fall after Ziggler delivers the Zig Zag. After Orton executes the middle rope DDT, he stalks Ziggler for a bit before heading back into the corner to go for the punt. Some in the crowd didnt recognize it as its been a while since Orton used it. Orton measures Ziggler and goes in with Ziggler suddenly popping up and nailing Orton with a super kick. Ziggler makes the cover and, major surprise, scores the clean pin over Orton about the 24 minute mark. Dolph Ziggler wins and is the sole survivor for his team. I didnt expect the ending and I thought it was great. Ziggler looked great in this match and WWE needs to capitalize on this. I also really liked that Ziggler & Miz never had any interaction, it makes me want to see their match this Wednesday all the more. ***1/2
6. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback for the WWE Championship - Excellent main event that was memorable and very newsworthy. Punk, Cena & Ryback put on a great match that saw all three of them looking strong. With Cena in the mix, Ryback still looked strong but he didnt look like the mixture of Superman and the Hulk as weve seen. He seemed more vulnerable and, for me personally, it works. Cena & Punk carried much of the match and made Ryback seem more human, such as when they suplexed him through the announcers table. Cena & Punk both delivered some great near falls in the ring after nailing each other with their finishers. Late in the match, Ryback delivers Shell Shock to Punk for a killer near fall just before Cena made the save. Ryback soon nails Cena with Shell Shock afterward when three guys in black all run out and begin attacking Ryback. These guys are NXT wrestlers, including Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. I didnt see this coming at all and Im sure the internet is already blowing up over this. The NXT guys powerbomb Ryback through the Spanish announce table. Punk has recovered by this time and covers Cena, getting the pinfall at the 18 minute mark. The announcers sold the shock of these events, including mentioning who these three wrestlers that attacked Ryback are several times, with Punk & Heyman celebrating. ***1/2
Final Thoughts - For me, Survivor Series 2012 was a strong show from top to bottom. There were a few matches that would be deemed slow on the card, like the US & Divas Championship matches, but they were still two solid matches with the wrestlers putting forth a good effort. The other four matches on the card were, to me, all three star+ matches. The opening Survivor Series tag match was unexpected and better than I was expecting. Kidd & Gabriel both looked good tonight. Sheamus vs. Big Show delivered again with a strong, physical outing with an ending that makes sense if WWE wants to keep one more ppv outing from these two. Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler was equally good with Ziggler being the star of this match. I was surprised that Ziggler was the only survivor on his team and that he cleanly beat Randy Orton to win the match. I expected the faces to win. The triple threat main event was a strong match from all three involved. WWE protected Ryback by making him look capable of beating Punk & Cena. It was his finisher that took Cena out. They futher protected him by having Rollins, Ambrose & Reigns interfere & deliver a physical beating. It was a debut thats going to generate a lot of buzz that made a memorable impact. I can see if some werent so hot about the other Survivor Series match, though I thought it was well wrestled and started the night off with some good wrestling. But the three top matches of the show delivered.
Grade: A-