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Pro Wrestling

Was Survivor Series A Success or A Disappointment?

By @nickmarsico

WWE Universe Facebook

WWE Universe Facebook

WWE Survivor Series 2014 is officially in the books, and it was definitely a show that lived up to the hype that there would be some surprises and that the outcome would change the course of history. As a wrestling pay-per-view event, it was a decent show with two home runs in the Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose match and the excellent main event between Team Cena and Team Authority. My column from Saturday speculated that an appearance from Sting would not be the groundbreaking, earth-shattering moment that would catapult WWE to another level with WrestleMania season creeping up and almost right around the corner. I firmly believe that is still the case, but for the time being, Sting appearing in a WWE ring was more of a magical moment than I expected it could be.

Just before the PPV went on the air, I opined that in order to make this show a success for both the WWE Network as well as the immediate and long-term future of the company, an impact would have to be made by a younger star. My chips were down on seeing Roman Reigns make an early career-defining move by ignoring the adulation of the fans and siding with the evil corporate entity like his cousin The Rock. But that was not to be (and that’s probably a good thing, truthfully).

Instead we saw a pair of big moments. The obvious one was the WWE debut of Sting, probably the final big time star left who had not been a member of Vince McMahon’s roster at any point in time. The other, and more important event, was the massively magnificent performance by Dolph Ziggler, putting on a show with all of the odds against him, showing off his talent in a manner very similar to what Shawn Michaels did in the spectacular main event of Survivor Series 2003. On this occasion, though, it was Ziggler who ended up pulling out the victory after surviving every possible obstacle that Triple H and The Authority were able to throw in front of him, coming back from a 3-on-1 deficit and eventually scoring the deciding pinfall to give Triple H and Stephanie McMahon the boot.

Did WWE’s free presentation of Survivor Series pay off? We will have to wait and see to get the answer to that one. I can say that the show itself did end up exceeding expectations; mine personally were fairly low, with only five matches announced and the focus placed almost solely on the main event, but I was happily surprised. The Fatal four-way match for the Tag Titles was not surprisingly a very good match with what was more than likely the best outcome, as The Miz and Damien Mizdow walked away with the belts. The 4-on-4 Divas Elimination match was sloppy at times, but for the lengthy amount of time the ladies were given, they kept it together quite well and it was far better than expected. You can thank Nattie Neidhart, Paige and Emma for that. As I mentioned above, Wyatt vs. Ambrose was a very solid match. Even though they had to shoehorn in the telegraphing of next month’s already announced TLC match between the two men, the post-match destruction of Bray Wyatt was certainly satisfying and a very good way to cap off a very, very good match.

To answer my original question, I believe that Survivor Series, as an entertaining show, was a success. The wrestling was all good-to-great. The main event was a spectacular nail-biter that featured a huge debut and a star-making performance. WWE sold this show on the promise that it would change the course of the promotion forever. The word forever is never an appropriate word to use in the world of pro wrestling, but there will be a drastic change in the immediate future. There is going to be some excitement in the air on Monday Night RAW, and things may be looking up for WWE and its fans as we head toward the final month of the year.

Nicholas A. Marsico is a pro wrestling writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook!

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