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During the pre-game show, they went right to the expert panel. If you were wondering how long until we'd have a Montreal mention with Bret Hart there, the answer is two minutes into the show.
Bret Hart said he's most looking forward to Big Show vs. Randy Orton. Well, he said it. I don't know if he meant it, but he said it.
They discussed the Miz. Bret Hart and Mick Foley said that he's turned the corner with his new turn.
There was a backstage promo with Rey Mysterio's team showing they are united. Good stuff. I wish they were doing more of an old school Survivor PPV though.
There was a backstage promo with Rey Mysterio's team showing they are united. Good stuff. I wish they were doing more of an old school Survivor PPV.
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk gave a really good, fired up promo. Punk looked like he was ready for war. He has a cool new shirt spotlighting how many days his WWE reign was.
Time for Miz vs. Kofi Kingston. They had some nice near fall sequences early. Kingston didn't seem very angry at a guy that abandoned him on Monday. Kingston hit a dive and they went to commercial, because, the people watching this aren't going to, you know, order the PPV?? When we returned, Miz was working over Kofi and showing some actual aggression. Then they plugged his Christmas movie. So silly. Kingston made a comeback but Miz kicks out of the SOS. They went back and forth until Miz caught him in a rollup for the pin, clean. I expected Miz to win via nefarious means so that was something of a slight surprise. Miz tried to play Code of Honor but Kofi slapped him. They said he did it because Miz abandoned him on Raw. Well, then it made no sense for this guy to then show respect to Kofi, did it?
OK, here we go with the PPV folks!
So, we open with Triple H and Stephanie. So much for my hopes of the Jumping Bomb Angels showing up. They announced that they were guaranteeing there would be no interference in any matches. Hell, I like that if that's true. They said they are starting with a traditional Survivor match. Boston popped huge. That's because the original concept of the Survivor Series WAS awesome and WWE should still be doing it, but that's another column...and a column I wrote a few weeks ago.
They had the usual awesome video. One thing WWE always has in their favor over all else is that their production team truly is the MVP of the company.
The Shield & The Real Americans vs. Rey Mysterio & The Rhodes Boys & The Usos. Zeb was ripping on Twerking. Cody told him no one wanted to see him Twerk and then did it himself. Let's all Twerk in private guys.
Dean Ambrose was eliminated early after getting rolled up while arguing with the referee. The Usos hit a nice pair of dives to the outside. It's nice to see how much they've gotten over in the last few months as they've always been hard workers. The Real Americans didn't last long but Cesaro got to do his spin. So, it's the remnants of the Shield against all five heroes.
The Shield rallied back, controlling Jimmy Uso and finally taking him out with a Roman Reigns spear. Reigns then took out Cody with another, then Jey Uso. Rey got into the ring and looked like he was really hurting. I felt bad for him when he got crotched on the ropes and fell into the tree of woe. The last thing THAT guy needs is anything to do with his knees being twisted. Rey was sent to the outside and barely made it back into the ring, then ducked a Reigns spear. Rollins tagged in but Rey twisted off his shoulders into a sunset flip to eliminate him. Ah, the strategy here is clear - build Reigns, who the company has talked a lot about being their new Batista-like badass down the line. There was some nice work here teasing Mysterio making a hot tag to Godust to build some drama. Goldust finally got the tag and looked awesome in the ring until he too, fell to the spear. Rey then ate the spear. So, Reigns is the sole survivor and eliminated four of the five competitors en route to doing so. Really, really good match!
Backstage, Randy Orton showed up in the McMahons' office wanting to make sure if they were still on board with him being the face of the WWE. Wow, he came off like the most needy WWE champion ever. Not a good sign. He went from kicking Miz's head off to begging for Hunter's approval? Gag.
I do love how much Kane is morphing into Bull from "Night Court" however.
Next up is new Intercontinental champ Big E. Langston against Curtis Axel Axel's music is damn awesome. They wished Dynamite Kid well. We do as well. The match was OK as a showcase for Langston, who won, but nothing really memorable here. Renee Young came out for an interview with the champ. He basically praised Boston to the point Mick Foley was rolling his eyes at the cheap pops.
AJ did a promo telling her team to look to her for inspiration since they are all inferior. Her promo was fine but a lot of the responses from the other women were awful. It really makes no sense that Kaitlyn is anywhere near AJ without ripping her throat out. AJ basically told them that they were rejects Total Divas didn't want, so if they wanted their own show, they needed to win this one. AJ walked off, leaving the others to talk, so I wonder how long before they all abandon her.
Total Divas' cast all came out together like a unit. How about that Jo Jo, who gets to wrestle in her third ever match and it's live on PPV? This is pretty brutal early on, especially when Rose Mendes is in. Of course, Rosa pinned Cameron as I wrote this. Well, she was gone about 30 seconds later after mocking the Bellas. Summer Rae got in the ring and began doing her dance routine. Nikki Bella got served and responded in kind. Summer danced again and ended with a split. Nikki hit the unsuspecting Summer with a dropkick and pinned her. That was pretty funny. Eva tagged in and was eliminated about a minute later. That was probably for the best. Naomi was eliminated by Kaitlyn. Nikki Bella nailed Aksana with Abyss' Shock Treatment. Didn't see that coming. It ended up with Tamina and AJ against Nikki, Natalya and Jo Jo, who so far has reprised her Raw match by standing on the apron. Jo Jo demands to be tagged in against Tamina. This won't end well. Tamina began pretty much beating Jo Jo down, playing veteran vs. rookie. Jo Jo shocked her with a rollup and ate a clothesline for her trouble. Tamina tagged the champ in before finishing the job, allowing AJ to get the pin. This leaves Natalya left...or so they claimed, since Nikki was never eliminated. Tamina was taken out. AJ was left and Bella interfered. What happened to no interference? Natalya was the final survivor. It was, well, what you expected, although Nikki showed a lot more charisma here than she's, well, ever shown in the ring.
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