The WWE presents the 28th annual Survivor Series event live from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Nov. 23 and it will feature a battle between two captains as John Cena will lead Team Cena against the Seth Rollins-led Team Authority.
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There have been plenty of men and women to captain teams at the WWE's November Classic over the years, but some have fared better than others.
Sports World News will take a look at the 10 best Survivor Series captains -- based on performance, records and leadership -- in the history of the WWE's second-longest running pay-per-view event.
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10) Randy Orton: Orton is known for his prowess of being a sole survivor during plenty of elimination tag team matches throughout his career, but his record as a captain is just 2-3. Team Orton defeated Team Triple H in Orton's first run as captain in 2004, but he fell as co-captain of Team Rated RKO against Team DX in 2006. Orton then led his squad over Team Batista in 2008 before falling to Kofi Kingston's five-man team the following year. Orton's team then fell to Team Barrett at the 2011 edition of the event to close out his run as a captain. While Orton boasts a 7-4 record overall at Survivor Series, he's been booked inconsistently as a team captain.
9) Bret Hart: The "Hitman" captained just one team in his illustrious career, but his effort was almost a clean-sweep. Hart led his team of brothers Bruce Hart, Keith Hart and Owen Hart over Shawn Michaels and his three knights at Survivor Series 1993. Every member of the Hart Family managed to survive the match, except for Owen Hart -- which sparked a memorable feud between the siblings that dominated 1994. Hart was in plenty of other survival matches early on in his career and would go on to fight in several title bouts at Survivor Series, but he was successful in his one and only time as team captain. Hart is 5-6 all time at the Survivor Series.
8) John Cena: Oddly enough, when Cena captains his team against The Authority, it will only be the second time in his career that he is the team leader on a traditional Survivor Series squad. Cena has mostly been involved in main event title matches at Survivor Series during the latter portion of his career, but after serving as a member of Team Angle and Team Guerrero early on in his career, he captained his own team in 2006. Cena led a team of Kane, Bobby Lashley, Sabu and Rob Van Dam over Big Show's team of Test, MVP, Finlay and Umaga in his only time serving as team captain in the history of the event. Cena and Lashley were the sole survivors. Overall, Cena is an impressive 8-1 at the event.
7) The Rock: "The most electrifying man in sports entertainment" made his debut at Survivor Series 1996, but he wasn't a team captain until the following year when he led the Nation of Domination in a losing effort to the Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock and Ahmed Johnson. Four years later, The Rock captained Team WWE in its win over The Alliance at the 2001 edition of the event, lasting as the sole survivor to "save" the WWE from extinction. Overall, The Rock is 1-1 as a captain and a solid 8-2 at the event.
6) Shawn Michaels: Michaels has put on some great performances at the Survivor Series, but much like "Mr. WrestleMania's" record at the Show of Shows, his mark as a team captain leaves much to be desired at 3-3. Michaels and his knights lost to The Hart Family in 1993 and he then fell as co-captain of the Teamsters the following year. Michaels turned his record around in 1995, by captaining his Wild-Card team to victory. A decade later, Michaels captained Team RAW in a losing effort to Team SmackDown in 2005. Michaels and Triple H then co-captained Team DX (Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and CM Punk) to a clean sweep of Team Rated-RKO the following year. In his final Survivor Series as a team captain, Michaels led Team HBK over Team JBL to get his record back to .500. Overall, HBK is 7-10 at the Survivor Series.
5) Ted Dibiase: "The Million Dollar Man" is 2-1 as the captain of a Survivor Series team, which is an impressive feat considering the type of talent he's gone up against. Dibiase fell in his first chance to captain a team in 1989 as his Million Dollar Team (Dibiase, The Powers of Pain and Zeus) fell to The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Demolition and Jake Roberts). Dibiase bounced back the following year, as he was the captain and sole survivor when the Million Dollar Team (Dibiase, The Undertaker and Rhythm and Blues) topped The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware and The Hart Foundation). Dibiase also won as a captain and manager of the Million Dollar Team in 1995. All-in-all, Dibiase is 2-4 at the Survivor Series.
4) Hulk Hogan: "The Hulkster" is 3-1 at the Survivor Series as a team captain. Hogan bounced back from a loss to Andre the Giant's team at the 1987 edition of the Thanksgiving event by leading three straight teams to victory the following three years. Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage were the sole survivors in a match against a team led by the Big Boss Man and Akeem in 1988. Hogan was then the sole survivor against The Million Dollar team in 1989 and The Natural Disasters in 1990. Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior survived the Grand Finale Match of Survival at the 1990 event. Overall, the WWE Hall of Famer is 4-2 at the November Classic.
3) Andre the Giant: The late, great Andre the Giant was only the captain of a Survivor Series team twice in his career, and he won both times. Andre shocked the world by leading his team of One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed and "Ravishing" Rick Rude over the squad of Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow at the inaugural event in 1987. Andre was the sole survivor of the 1987 bout. Andre then led a team of Rude, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect and Harley Race over a squad featuring "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Scott Casey, Patera and Tito Santana the following year, though Andre was ultimately eliminated during the match. Andre went on to compile a 2-1 overall Survivor Series record.
2) "Macho Man" Randy Savage: The late Macho Man was 5-0 overall at the Survivor Series and 3-0 as a team captain at the November Classic -- surviving each time. Savage led his team over the Honky Tonk Man's squad in 1987 at the first ever Survivor Series. Savage then survived alongside Hulk Hogan in their 1988 victory over a team led by the Twin Towers and he led his Kings Court team over the 4x4s the following year as a heel.
1) The Ultimate Warrior: The late WWE Hall of Famer has a rare perfect record in matches where he managed to be a team captain and he was also the sole survivor in each one. The Warrior was the only survivor in his team's win over the Honky Tonk Man's team in 1988 and then captained his team over The Heenan Family in 1989 in which he was once again the last man standing. The Warrior was also the sole survivor in 1990 when his squad topped a team led by Mr. Perfect. The Warrior also went on to win the Grand Finale match of Survival alongside Hulk Hogan at the 1990 event. The Warrior was 4-0 during his career at the Survivor Series.
There have been plenty of great captains in the Survivor Series over the last 28 years, and it remains to be seen which captain will step up at this year's event on Nov. 23 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
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