For the past 28 years, every November the WWE has presented the Survivor Series and this Sunday, Team Cena and Team Authority will do battle in one of the longest running traditions in company history, the traditional elimination tag team match.
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The WWE has put on countless traditional matches since the Survivor Series first kicked off on Thanksgiving night in 1987, but some have stood out and withstood the test of time more than others.
We here at Sports World News will sift through 27 years of WWE history and count down the five best traditional Survivor Series matches of all time.
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5) Team Orton vs. Team Triple H, Survivor Series 2004: This match, much like the Team Authority vs. Team Cena bout, was interesting because the WWE opted to strap a stipulation onto it where the winning team would gain control of Monday Night RAW for the next month. Team Orton (captain Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Maven) battled Team Triple H (captain Triple H, Batista, Edge and Gene Snitsky) and in the end, Orton was the sole survivor of a highly-entertaining match to close out the night and he gave his team control of RAW for the next four weeks.
4) Wild-Card Traditional Match, Survivor Series 1995: The '95 edition of the November Classic was the first time the event didn't take place on Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Eve as it emanated on a Sunday, breaking the eight-year tradition the event had built up in its early stages. The WWE continued to break from the norm by opting to have a Survivor Series tag match that mixed the heels and babyfaces, forcing "good guys" and "bad guys" to team up against other heels and faces. With the mix up, one team ended up consisting of Shawn Michaels (face), Ahmed Johnson (face), The British Bulldog (heel) and Sid (heel) while the other had Razor Ramon (face) aligned with three heels in Owen Hart, Yokozuna and Dean Douglas. It was an interesting experiment that the WWE should re-visit and made for fresh matchups and a fun dynamic. In the end, Michaels' team dominated, as the "Heartbreak Kid," Johnson and The Bulldog all survived.
3) Team Hogan vs. Team Andre, Survivor Series 1987: The first-ever main event for the Survivor Series embodied everything the event was meant to be with a memorable five-on-five traditional match that intertwined feuds between the two teams and caused random Superstars to bond together with the goal of survival. Taking place on Thanksgiving night, Hulk Hogan led his team of Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow against his WrestleMania III opponent Andre The Giant's team that also consisted of One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude and Butch Reed. The match lasted over 20 minutes and displayed an exciting new concept to wrestling fans. It was also shocking, as Hogan, the reigning WWE Champion, was surprisingly eliminated and Andre the Giant stood tall as the sole survivor, adding an unpredictability factor to the event.
2) Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff, Survivor Series 2003: Much like the Orton vs. Triple H match that also made this list, the WWE opted to put a stipulation on this elimination tag team match. The rules were if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's hand-picked team lost, he would lose his job as co-general manager while if Bischoff's team was defeated, the edict that Austin can't hit anyone unless physically provoked would be lifted. Austin assembled a team of Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and the Dudley Boys to go up against Bischoff's five-some of Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry and Scott Steiner. The match was a classic battle that saw a bloody Michaels left to fend for himself against Christian, Jericho and Orton. Michaels was able to thwart off Christian and "Y2J" with fluke pinfalls and it boiled down to him vs. Orton with Austin's job hanging in the balance. Eventually, after Austin and Bischoff started mixing it up on the outside to provide a distraction, Batista interfered and hit Michaels with a powerbomb, enabling Orton to crawl to the cover and eliminate HBK to win the match. The victory also started a string of three consecutive years where the "Viper" was left standing as the sole survivor.
1) Team WWF vs. Team Alliance, Survivor Series 2001: This one is high up on the list mostly because both teams were stacked, with the now-WWE's side being one of the top teams assembled in Survivor Series history. Like the Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff and Team Orton vs. Team Triple H matches, this bout also had a stipulation attached to it, as whichever promotion won would live on, putting an end to the much maligned Invasion angle. Team WWE consisted of The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show while Team Alliance had "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon on the squad. One knock against this match -- and the Invasion angle as a whole -- is that the only wrestlers that were really "WCW" or "ECW" guys were Booker T (WCW) and Rob Van Dam (ECW), who came to the WWE after both those entities went bankrupt. In the end, Angle defected and aided the WWE to victory, attacking Austin to help The Rock win the match and save Vince McMahon's company. While the bout didn't have many long-term effects since a lot of people ended up returning, it had sufficient drama and a great ending sequence with Austin and The Rock.
The WWE presents the 28th annual Survivor Series live from the Scottrade Center this Sunday night in St. Louis.
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