WWE Survivor Series Review: November 24, 2019

WWE Survivor Series Review: November 24, 2019

Tag Team cross-branded Battle Royal

This Battle Royal took place in the kick-off show and wasn’t really interesting except that it would count for the score. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode were the two men who were able to win this match to give SmackDown the first point of this night.

Opinion: Not much to say about it. The winners don’t earn anything and just a match to fill up the kick-off show.

Rating: C+

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 1:0:0

Lio Rush vs. Kalisto (SmackDown) vs. Akira Tozawa (RAW) for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship

Surprisingly, they added this match to the card of the pre-show, and it was quite entertaining. In the end, Kalisto hit Trozawa with the Salida Del Sol and then Rush performed the Final Hour to pin Kalisto.

Opinion: A good match, but we already have seen several better Cruiserweight Championship matches. However, they just had eight minutes time and maybe it would have been better if they had more time. Anyways, it was logical that Rush would defend the title.

Rating: B

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 1:1:0

RAW Tag Team Champions “The Viking Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions “The New Day” Kofi Kingston and Big E vs. NXT Tag Team Champions “The Undisputed Era” Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly

This was the last match of the kick-off show and happily, they received enough time to work a great match. In the end, the Viking Raiders took out Big E while the UE took care of Kingston. Due to that, the New Day members were eliminated and Erik and Ivar performed the Viking Experience on O’Reilly and slammed him on Fish to then cover O’Reilly for the three count.

Opinion: A great match and besides they also gave the win to the team which need it the most. So, we go with a draw into the main show.

Rating: B+

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 1:1:1

Women’s Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Carmella, Dana Brooke & Nikki Cross) vs. Team RAW (Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane & Sarah Logan) vs. Team NXT (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai & Toni Storm)

The opening match of the main show was the women’s Survivor Series match. After some time, Shirai and LeRae had to be brought to the backstage area of officials since they seemed to be injured. That made sense since they were part of the WarGames match the night before Survivor Series.

Then, we saw several eliminations (for example, Asuka hit Charlotte with the Green Mist even though they were on the same team which gave Evans the chance to eliminate Flair). In the end, we just had Banks, Natalya and Ripley in the ring. Before that, Banks and Natalya worked together to eliminate Belair. The Boss and Natalya posed as they would work together as Ripley entered the ring, but suddenly, Banks turned on Natalya (as she did when she returned a few months ago) to eliminate her.

So, we had Banks and Ripley as the two last women. It seemed as Banks could win the match with the Bank Statement, but then Shirai and LeRae came out to help Ripley and since these two women were never eliminated, this was fine. Ripley hit Banks with the Riptide for the win.

Opinion: Ripley won two enormous important matches in two nights. WWE really wants us to believe that she is the next big thing of the women’s division. It was an interesting way to give the win to NXT, but I have two problems with the ending. Firstly, they let Banks look like the face in the end and the other three acted as heels (in fact, only Shirai is a heel) and secondly, Ripley, LeRae and Shirai celebrated their win together even though they have had one of the most brutal women’s matches in WWE history against each other just the night before. But, the match itself was really entertaining with good situations like the turn of Asuka against Flair.

Rating: B-

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 1:2:1

United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong

In these 16 minutes, we saw the pure class of all these three men. We witnessed several great moves, combinations, counter-attacks and variations of the pace of the match. We also had several near falls which were broken up by the third man just when it seemed as it would be over. However, in the end, Styles hit Nakamura with the Phenomenal Forearm, but then Strong sent Styles to the ringside and pinned Nakamura for the win.

Opinion: This was one of the matches to which I have looked forward the most and they proved why. All three men were great and I’m just glad that Strong picked up the win. He’s underrated and deserves a bigger spotlight which he gets with this win.

Rating: A+

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 1:3:1

Adam Cole (C.) vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship

Next, we had the first of the three matches for the respective Championship of each show. Cole sold his fall through the two tables the night before by having his rips wrapped while Dunne had his knee wrapped. They worked with both injuries throughout the whole match. We had several near falls and, in the end, it seemed as Dunne could perform his finisher, but Cole countered in the Panama Sunrise followed by the Last Shot for the victory.

Opinion: Incredibly good match with a story throughout the match. Dunne looked strong even though he lost the match, but it was clear that Cole would defend the title. However, they really need to look after Cole. It’s unhuman how many (hard) matches he had within the last few weeks.

Rating: A+

“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (C.) vs. Daniel Bryan for the Universal Championship

In a backstage segment during this PPV, we saw the Miz approaching Bryan in the backstage area who then told him that he would need to stop the Fiend. Bryan just told him to get out of his face.

We had once more the usual red lightning during the match. Wyatt didn’t finish off Bryan after a few seconds, but Bryan worked well against his opponent. Wyatt didn’t no-sell Bryan’s moves as he did against Rollins, but still logically looked extremely strong. For example, he once caught Bryan in mid-air as he performed a Suicide Dive to the ringside and wanted to perform the Sister Abigail. Even though Bryan was able to escape, this was an outstanding scene.

Just a few moments later, Bryan performed his typical Yes-Kicks while Wyatt was on his knees. After the last kick to the head, the Fiend went down, but just seconds later he got back up and begged for more kicks. This was also a great scene. Later, Bryan started the “Yes”-chants and the crowd went with him. He hit Wyatt with a Running Knee Strike for a two count (so, the Ye-Movement is back?). Bryan also was able to avoid the Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw, but after 10 minutes match time the Fiend applied successfully the Mandible Claw for the win.

Opinion: The combination of Wyatt and Bryan seems to be miles better than Rollins and Wyatt. Also, good job to not completely no-sell Bryan’s moves as they did with the Curb Stomp. A great match and also the logical step to let the Fiend win.  

Rating: A

Men’s Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team SmackDown (King Corbin, Roman Reigns, ​​​​​​ Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G) vs. Team RAW (Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Ricochet & Drew McIntyre) vs. Team NXT (Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, Walter & Damian Priest)

Just after about three minutes, Walter was eliminated by McIntyre after the Claymore Kick and the fans booed. Throughout the match, they also focused on the feud between Reigns and Corbin who were on the same team.

A great situation was also as Orton hit Ciampa and Priest with an RKO after one and another and pinned Priest. Then, Riddle rolled up Orton to eliminate him. Orton was upset and gave the Original Bro an RKO before leaving and so Corbin had the chance to pin Riddle.

After some time, for SmackDown Reigns and Corbin were left, for NXT Lee and Ciampa and for RAW just Rollins. The Big Dog and Corbin once more had problems with one and another and because of that, Reigns hit him with a Superman Punch followed by a Spear. This gave Ciampa the chance to pin Corbin and due to that Reigns was the only one left for SmackDown. Just a few moments later, Rollins and Reigns set up Ciampa to send him through the commentary desk with the Shield Bomb (without Ambrose/Moxley). However, Lee appeared and avoided that. Just shortly later Ciampa set Reign up for his finisher, the Big Dog countered to hit him with a Superman Punch followed by a Curb Stomp by Rollins and they eliminated Ciampa.

So, Lee, Rollins and Reigns were the three men left. Rollins set up for another Curb Stomp and the audience booed. Lee caught him running towards him to perform a Jackhammer for the pin. Reigns came back into the ring for the staredown between the two men and he then hit Lee with several Superman Punches for a near fall. The WWE Universe cheered. The Big Dog set up for a Spear, but Lee caught him to powerbomb him for another incredible near fall. Lee was fired up and so was the crowd. He went to the middle rope to perform a Moonsault, but Reigns went out of the way to then deliver the Spear for the win.

Opinion: The match was great except for one little detail and I’m not 100% happy with the finish. At first, I have no understanding of eliminating Walter after not even three minutes. That made absolutely no sense since he’s the NXT UK Champion. Besides, the ending was well-planed and both superstars worked incredibly, but the WWE Universe would have loved to see Lee picking up the win. However, firstly, NXT was at this point already 3:1:1 ahead and additionally have to admit it once more: it’s just Reigns. I would love to have a win-loss rate in WWE as they use it in AEW since then we would see in numbers how often Reigns picks up wins. Anyways, I also have to mention how incredible Ciampa is. He worked an outstanding match the night before and in this fight, he was surely among the man who showed and also sold the most moves of all men. Also, I’m happy to see Lee in the big spotlight and let’s see what will be next for him on NXT.

Rating: A

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 2:3:1

Brock Lesnar (C.) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Rey Mysterio for the WWE Championship in a No Holds Barred Match

Just after a few moments, Lesnar started to dominate and destroy Mysterio and sent him to Suplex City. Rey’s son Dominick came out with a white towel and begged the beast to stop it. However, Lesnar just laughed and threw the towel away, but suddenly Rey gave him a low blow and Dominick also hit Lesnar with one. Rey hit Lesnar with his pipe and Dominick hit the Beast with a steel chair followed by a double 619 by father and son. They both followed with splashes and pinned together Lesnar. But the Beast kicked out. Rey and Dominick went to the top rope, but Lesnar got back up, grabbed Dominick and performed a German Suplex. Then Rey jumped from the top rope, but Lesnar caught him in mid-air for the F5 and then pinned him for the successful title defence.

Opinion: This match just really didn’t live up to that what I have expected. Besides, I really hoped that Rey would pick up the win and I expected Cain Velasquez get involved. However, I guess Lesnar is now a regular part of RAW. The best thing about this match was that Lesnar once more drew incredibly much hate.

Rating: C

RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler

This match took about 18 minutes and in the final phase, Baszler sent Lynch on and over an announce table. Baszler and Bayley fought against one and another in the ring until Bayley went to the top rope for the Elbow Drop. Baszler caught her with the Kirifuda Clutch for the submission win. After the match, Baszler went onto the commentary table to pose, Lynch attacked her and then sent her through a broadcast table with a Leg Drop from the barricade. Cory Graves noted that Baszler wouldn’t have bet Lynch. Then the show closed while Lynch was posing with her title.

Opinion: There is not that much to say about this show as the crowd was never really over and I also wasn’t. During the build-up and also in this match Bayley always seemed to be the third wheel. I don’t know why they selected this match for the final one of this PPV. There were several better matches on this night, but to close this show with that match let the whole PPV look worse than it was. You have to give credit to the three women for their performance, but this match just never entertained me.

Rating: D+

Score (SmackDown : NXT : RAW): 2:4:1

Summary

Except for the kick-off show matches and the last match, this was a great PPV. I was a bit surprised that NXT would pick up so many wins and that their superstars looked so dangerous, but as a fan of NXT, I love that. However, I’m also happy that Survivor Series is finally behind us since we can now focus on the storylines of the respective brands. All in all, an almost perfect PPV with a lot of great matches and we saw that the addition of NXT really made sense.

Rating: B