This Sunday, the WWE hosts its 27th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view live from the TD Garden in Boston. The Survivor Series, formerly one of the WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views, is the second-longest running annual event in the company's history aside from WrestleMania, and while not all memories have been great, Survivor Series has given fans some of the best and unforgettable moments in WWE history throughout its tenure.
Below is a Top-10 list of the best all-time all around Survivor Series events. While the "Montreal Screwjob" from 1997 is arguably one of the most unforgettable moments in history, the show itself wasn't that great and fails to make the list. Arguments and agreements with the list are welcome in the comments.
First a runner-up and unsung hero and underated show:
Runner-Up: 1995-The Spanish Announce Table Breaks For The First Time:
While 1995 was a dark year for the WWE, the Survivor Series pay-per-view was a surprisingly good event. With an unexpectedly solid opening match featuring midcard teams dubbed as "The Underdogs" (Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Bary Horowitz and Bob Holly) taking on the BodyDonnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard and the 1-2-3 Kid) opening the show, the Survivor Series was off to a good start. Add to that a memorable "Wild-Card Match" that pitted feuding foes and faces and heels together on the same team and a great WWE Championship match that saw Bret Hart defeat Diesel for the title and break through the Spanish announce table for the first time, this was a memorable and underrated event. Duds like Goldust vs. Bam Bam Bigelow and the Undertaker single-handedly defeating four members of a Survivor Series team keep this from making the official list.
Onto the top 10:
10) Survivor Series 2007-Edge's Surprise Return, Team Triple H defeats Team Umaga:
The 2007 Survivor Series ended in a shocker while Batista and The Undertaker went head-to-head in a Hell in a Cell match. With Taker having the match well in hand, Edge made a shocking return dressed up as a camera man and took apart the Deadman, helping Batista retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Elsewhere on the card, Team Triple H (Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio and Kane) defeated Team Umaga (Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, MVP, Finlay and Big Daddy V) in a traditional match while Randy Orton defeated Shawn Michaels to retain the WWE Championship.
9) Survivor Series 1992-Shawn and Bret In The Main Event, Big Tag Team Match:
While Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart would go on to clash in one of the most infamous main events in wrestling history five years later, their paths first crossed in a Champion vs. Champion match at the Survivor Series in 1992. The two put on an excellent match that was highly entertaining and showcased two of the WWE's rising stars. Elsewhere, Mr. Perfect and "Macho Man" Randy Savage made for an unlikely duo and took on Razor Ramon and Ric Flair in a highly touted tag team match to make this event memorable.
8) Survivor Series 2008: John Cena Returns, Edge Shocks The World, Team Orton And Team Batista Clash:
This Survivor Series featured three traditional matches that included Team HBK vs. Team JBL, Team RAW Divas vs. Team SmackDown Divas and a highly built up match pitting Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal and Mark Henry) against Team Batista (Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy and R-Truth) which saw Orton and Rhodes survive by last elminiating Batista. Edge surprisingly took Jeff Hardy's place and walked out with the WWE Championship after surviving a match with Triple H and the Vladimir Kozlov while John Cena returned in his home state and won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Jericho to close a fantastic event.
7) 2003-Austin Loses His Job, Cena Impresses, Undertaker is Buried Alive, Goldberg Retains Against Triple H:
Survivor Series 2003 is most memorable for a fantastic five-on-five elimination match between Team Austin (Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and The Dudley Boys) and Team Bischoff (Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry and Scott Steiner) with the reigns to RAW on the line. With Austin's job hanging in the balance and Shawn Michaels as the only wrestler left for his side facing a 3-on-1 defecit, HBK battled back by eliminating Christian and then Jericho but fell to Orton due to outside interference in one of the best elimination matches of all-time. Elsewhere, John Cena hit an impressive F-U on Big Show to give Team Angle the win over Team Lesnar while Goldberg defeated Triple H to retain the World Title and the Undertaker was buried alive after Kane helped Vince McMahon win his match.
6) 1988-The Mega Powers Prevail, Double Switch Between Demolition And The Powers Of Pain:
The 1988 Survivor Series kept the WWE's Thanksgiving tradition going by taking place on Thanksgiving nght and saw many feuds continue in elimination tag matches, highlighted by the Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) captaining a team consisting of Hercules, Koko B. Ware and Hillbilly Jim to take on The Twin Towers (Big Bossman and Akeem), captaining a team of Ted Dibiase, Haku and the Red Rooster while the event also saw the infamous double switch during a tremendous 10-team elimination tag match that saw Demolition enter as bad guys and leave as good guys and the Powers of Pain join forces with the sinister Mr. Fuji by turning from babyface to heels.
5) Survivor Series 1998-The Deadly Game Ends With A Rock Heel Turn And A Corporate Champion:
The WWE ditched the elimination tag format in 1998 to settle the dispute over the vacant WWE Championship in a 14-man tournament. Vince McMahon was determined to make sure that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin didn't walk out as champion, and after he accomplished that it seemed as though he was going to aid Mankind--desparate for McMahon's corporate approval--to the championship, but a surprising swerve saw The Rock turn heel and become the Corporate Champion after a heel turn and beat down on Mankind. It was a shocking twist that made the 1998 Survivor Series a memorable event.
4) Survivor Series 1990-Feuds Continue, Hogan And Warrior Stand Tall In The Grand Finale Match Of Survival:
The 1990 edition of the WWE's November Classic on Thanksgiving saw feuding enemies captain their own teams as The Ultimate Warrior captained a team against Mr. Perfect, Ted Dibiase captained a team against Dusty Rhodes, Rick Martel led a team against Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Nikolai Volkoff and Sgt. Slaughter led teams against each other and Hulk Hogan captained a team against Earthquake. The most memorable part of the event was The Grand Finale Match of Survival that saw all of the survivors from each match square off in one last elimination match pitting the faces against the heels, which was survived by WrestleMania VI opponents Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.
3) 2001-The Invasion Angle Ends, Titles Are Unified And The WWE Stands Tall:
While the Invasion angle is looked upon with a bit of frustration from wrestling fans, the last event to settle it all had some great matches. The main event put together two of the best Survivor Series tandems ever in a classic elmination winner-take-all match that saw Team WWE (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show) pitted against The Alliance ("Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon) with the winning company surviving. The match, perhaps predictably, came down to Austin and The Rock and saw The Rock come out triumphant for the WWE after Kurt Angle turned on his team. Elsewhere on the card, the Dudley Boys topped The Hardy Boys in a match unifying the WCW and WWE Tag Team Championships and Edge and Test had a solid match to unify the WCW United States and WWE Intercontinental Championships.
2) Survivor Series 2011-CM Punk Wins The Gold, The Rock Returns And Wade Barrett Bests Randy Orton:
The 2011 edition of the Survivor Series was memorable for many reasons, including CM Punk winning the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio and launching his historic 434 reign as the WWE Champion. Elsewhere, The Rock returned for his first match since WrestleMania XX as he teamed up with WrestleMania XXVIII opponent John Cena to defeat The Miz and R-Truth. Wade Barrett led a team of Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico and Dolph Ziggler, and defeated a team captained by Randy Orton and consisting of Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara. Barrett and Cody Rhodes last eliminated Randy Orton, who had survived many Survivor Series matches leading into the clash.
1) Survivor Series 2002-The Elimination Chamber Debuts, Shawn Michaels Wins The Gold, A Memorable Undercard Shines:
Survivor Series 2002 wins the #1 spot for many reasons despite not having any traditional elimination tag matches. The Elimination Chamber made it's debut and Shawn Michaels capped off an unexpected comeback by winning Championship gold after last eliminating Triple H in the chamber match that also included Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Kane at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show also featured a great undercard that consisted of a six-man table match pairng Jeff Hardy with Buh-buh Ray Dudley and Spike Dudley to take on 3 Minute Warning and saw D-Von Dudley reunite with Buh-Buh to re-form the Dudley Boys. Elsewhere, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and Edge and Rey Mysterio squared off in a great three-way tag team match for the WWE Tag Championships and Paul Heyman turned on Brock Lesnar helping The Big Show to the WWE Championship. Billy Kidman and Jamie Noble had a solid bout for the Cruiserweight Title while Victoria won the Women's Championship from Trish Stratus in a memorable hardcore match to roundout the card.
WWE Survivor Series airs this Sunday, Nov. 24 live from the TD Garden in Boston, and it will be interesting to see if this year's event will crack the Top-10 in the future.
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