WWE Survivor Series 2018
Los Angeles, California - November 2018
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the Universal Champion is Brock Lesnar, the WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan, the United States Champion is Nakamura, and the Intercontinental Champion is Seth Rollins. The RAW Women's Champion is Ronda Rousey and the SmackDown Women's Champion is Becky Lynch (though, she was pulled from the card due to injury and replaced by former arch-nemesis Becky Lynch). Finally, the RAW Tag Team Champions are The Authors of Pain and the SmackDown Tag Team Champions are Sheamus and Cesaro.
Another interbrand match-up was next - SmackDown's United States Champion Nakamura taking on Seth Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion on RAW. I wasn't sure what this match going to be or which Rollins and Nakamura were going to show up, but in this rare instance, I was pleased to see them both just to do them. As a heel, I always disliked how Rollins' moveset demanded fan applause and, as a babyface, I've been critical of his tendency to oversell/no-sell at jarring times. Like Triple H, he doesn't work for me as an underdog, a believable asskicker, or as a resilient technician. I just don't get him. Nakamura, on the other hand, is to me a guy that has suffered from a mix of poor booking and, based on what I've seen, a lack of attention from the brightest mind in the business - namely Vincent K. McMahon. Nakamura is an all-star player that needed the best coach in the industry to help him navigate into the megastar he should've been. Here, we once again saw shades of that megastar as the audience was fully engaged in antics and he still has an unmistakable aura. Rollins didn't tone down his moveset in the slightest but against a huge personality like Nakamura, I thought the styles complimented each other nicely. The crowd was into the match, the action was hard-hitting, and while there were a plethora of false finishes (bordering on too many), I found the final fall to be credible without making it seem like Nakamura couldn't win a rematch. If they ever can heat up Nakamura again at the level he was at in NXT or figure out a way to make me care about Seth Rollins winning or losing a mattch, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing these two have an extended series. For what this was, a showcase of two guys with fan-appealing offense, but not necessarily the start or end of a real feud, this was a good exhibition. (3/5)
SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The Bar, with Big Show in their corner, took on RAW Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain (with their new manager, Drake Maverick) in the next contest. Many of people were expecting this to be a quiet Match of the Night contender, but I didn't find it to be quite at that level. Sheamus and Cesaro are top tier workers, but The Authors of Pain are relative newcomers on the main roster and, to much of the audience, they're practically strangers. What got the Authors over big in NXT was the brutality they showcased when taking out smaller opponents like #DIY and The Revival, not necessarily matches where they went toe-to-toe with other heavyweights. The same can be said, to a lesser extent, for The Bar, whose super-serious powerhouse act felt like a 21st Century version of The Road Warriors - if the Road Warriors could also fly around the ring with surprising agility and knew submissions. This match was plenty physical, but it was also, sadly, too reliant on signature offense from The Bar that I'm not sure The AOP should've been eating yet (Cesaro's airplane spin, for example, made the monstrous Akem [or Razor?] look less monstrous and Sheamus' 10-forearms-on-the-ropes thing should've been shrugged off outright if not reversed). The less said about the corny Drake Maverick pants-wetting moment the better. I did like the finish, though, as it was a bit of an upset and had me wondering when or if SmackDown would score any victories on this show at all. Not a bad match, but not the show-stealer some thought it would be. (2/5)
In the first non-interbrand match of the night, Mustafa Ali challenged Buddy Murphy for the 205 Live Cruiserweight Championship. I don't follow 205 Live at all but I had heard great things about Buddy Murphy, with his biggest supporters even arguing that he's a Top 5 worker in the company. This did not convince me. If anything it was Ali who stole the match with some absolutely death-defying bumps, including one that saw him launched backfirst into the barricade from the top rope. Murphy did hit an incredible cannonball splash, but I just didn't see the swagger or charisma that made him stand out as anything more than just a really good worker, unlike, say, Neville, whose heel work in 2016 was much more attention-grabbing. As I mentioned, there were a handful of really crazy spots - a Spanish Fly off an announce table, Buddy Murphy hitting Mustafa Ali with a superkick right to the jaw as his head hung down from the top rope - but also a bunch of stuff that we'd already seen on this very show or the Takeover show the night before (Gargano did a reverse hurricanrana on Saturday and we'd seen all sorts of superkicks in the Nak/Rollins match). I know the 205 Live homers will call this a classic, but I'm not going to rate it as high despite the tremendous effort and very solid finish. This was the match of the night so far, but not one I'd consider a Must See bout that will convince you to tune into 205 Live from now on. (3/5)
The Men's Survivors Match was next: Team RAW's Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley, and Finn Balor taking on Team SD's The Miz, Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, and Samoa Joe. The WWE has gotten really, really good at these sort of multi-man matches and this was no exception. The match began rather controversially with McIntyre taking out Samoa Joe in the opening minute with a Claymore Kick. The crowd let Creative know exactly how they felt about it, but it was clearly designed to make McIntyre look like a big deal (and it was undeniably effective). Even before that, though, the RAW side demonstrated considerable tension as McIntyre refused to let Braun Strowman dominate. I like this through-line as it helped make the RAW team a bit vulnerable as the match wore on, something they needed to do as, in terms of sheer size, they all looked massive against the comparably diminutive SmackDown stars. Strowman was taken out by a classic Shane elbow drop from the table and, again, it was the little things that made Shane's involvement work for me throughout the contest as he was essentially gaslighted into increasingly risky actions by The Miz. Its a cool concept that I hope they continue on SmackDown with The Miz manipulating Shane into being "Super Shane," lauding him with praise as The Best in the World but fully knowing that all of his greatest achievements came with very steep prices. Finn Balor was practically the sole babyface for his team and his sequences with Rey Mysterio showed why that remains a bit of a Dream Match (if they can properly elevate and promote it as such). This sort of match isn't everyone's cup of tea, but there were some big spots, storylines and feuds felt like progressed or that possible new ones came to light, and the pace was whiplash-inducing. This was as fun a match as we've seen in the WWE in 2018 - or basically since the last time we saw a massive multi-man match featuring The Miz, Braun, Shane, and the like maximizing their minutes. The best match of the night up to this point. (4/5)
Charlotte took on RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey in the next contest. I think I wrote it in my review of Evolution, but Rousey brings a "big fight feel" to her matches that no woman has ever brought before - hell, most men can't deliver that kind of atmospheric change. The fact that her matches then go on to rule hard is why that "feel" still happens over 6 months after her debut. Like the best matches from the previous night's Takeover special, this one started out hot with Charlotte taking the fight right to Rousey and showing that she has no fear off the former UFC Champ. The physicality early led to Rousey getting a busted mouth and the blood that spewed forth only added to the intensity. This was a fight and looked about as legit as anything we've ever seen in the women's division, Charlotte absolutely owning the ring but Rousey showing so much toughness and resilience that it was hard to root against her. The live crowd was firmly behind Charlotte by the end - but I wouldn't be so fast to assume that the whole audience has turned on Rousey or anything. She's still a true bad ass, an athlete capable of incredible feats in the ring (as we saw with some of her outrageous arm bars) that will get plenty of cheers when she "Rondas Up" on some poor heel opponent. Like the Reigns/Lesnar match from WrestleMania 31, I think many fans came into this hoping to dislike the action (there were loud "Becky" chants at the bell), maybe thinking that Charlotte and Rousey would work a relatively clean match with lots of telegraphing and choreography - which would've been completely reasonable considering the match was booked less than a week earlier. However, by the midway point, the audience was enraptured with the match and popping huge for every big spot and counter. Unfortunately, the finish was a disappointment...though, definitely the right booking decision considering the heat. Charlotte destroying Ronda with all sorts of weapons, including a "Pillmanizing" on her neck, received a "Thank You Charlotte" chant and its hard not to figure that some in the company knew that this would happen - that the "part-timer" (whose not a part-timer), that hasn't "paid her dues" (what would you call her UFC run?), that isn't "really part of pro-wrestling" (despite being a super fan since childhood) would eventually get booed. It happened and whether it makes her a heel now or a face now or what it does for Charlotte moving forward or how Becky Lynch factors into things, the point is, the WWE Women's Division is the most interesting aspect of the WWE Universe and this angle, by raising more questions than it answered, is why. If you're a fan of clean finishes, you'll be disappointed by this - but unlike most matches that end in a deflating schmozz, I'd actually cue this one up again and give it a rewatch tomorrow. It was that good in totality. (4/5)
Main event time - Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar in a Champion vs. Champion Match. Daniel Bryan got good heel heat early, dodging Lesnar in a way not dissimilar to how Kevin Owens avoided Bill Goldberg during their brief feud a couple years back. When Lesnar did finally catch him, though, it was Suplex City time and Bryan got leveled with some nasty German Suplexes (the first one looking like it was enough in it of itself to end the match). As the beatdown continued, the commentators basically begged Lesnar to end the match, with even Paul Heyman looking a little concerned about the SmackDown star. The crowd eventually chanted "Same Old Shit" and it was at this point that I had the suspicion that something was going to happen to change this match around. After Bryan was able to escape an F-5, the referee was inadvertently struck and Bryan hit Lesnar with a low blow to buy himself some time. We've seen so many "nuts shots" in the WWE recently that its bothersome (wasn't the Nakamura/AJ Styles feud built around the same thing?) and tired, but its Daniel Bryan's thing now too so its not like it's coming out of nowhere. Bryan then attacked Lesnar's legs and even locked him up for a minute before stomping the hell out of him (enough that he left a shoe imprint on Lesnar's face). Daniel Bryan's offense looked so good and he hit so many of his own deadly signature moves that it legitimately felt like, at times, Bryan might actually win this match - which is saying something considering the start of the match and Lesnar's invincibility. Maybe there's something in Lesnar's contract that while he has to wrestle 5-6 times a year, he only needs to sell and make his opponent look good in 1? By the end, the crowd desperately wanted to see Bryan somehow beat the Beast, but it was not in the cards and Lesnar finally put him away with an F-5 (after failing to do so earlier in the match due to Bryan's attack on his legs). This wasn't the most original match - in fact, it was very similiar to the AJ/Lesnar match from last year - but it was thrilling and strong enough to make me much more optimistic about Brock Lesnar's resumed role as the WWE's top star. If the WWE opts to have Lesnar wrestle competitive matches against smaller, agile workers (like a Finn Balor or to go another round with AJ), rather than making him just bury monsters like Braun Strowman, I'm on board 100%. In this sort of pairing, Lesnar looked fantastic and Bryan came out of it even more over and credible than he did going in. A great match that, if I used quarter stars, probably would've rated that much higher - but was maybe a bit too repetitive of previous matches to hit the 4-mark. (3.5/5)
While its runtime was probably close to twice as long as the previous night's NXT: Takeover show, Survivor Series 2018 very nearly kept up the same level of wrestling, in fact, I'd argue it was a better overall show thanks to its closing string of matches. While the finishes of Takeover were all relatively clean, none left me particularly interested in seeing the next chapter of the story. This show, on the other hand, cleverly mixed fantastic wrestling with intriguing plot development. Rousey/Flair was a fantastic match - until it turned into a unexpected beatdown angle and both parts worked. The Men's Survivors Match was a multi-man car crash, but also felt like a turning point for Drew McIntyre and brewing Miz/Shane rivalry. The main event was decisive and didn't allude to any future rematches, but it did reignite interest in Lesnar as a performer and help cement Daniel Bryan as the legit top guy on the Blue Brand. Though detractors will no doubt continue to complain about the Universal Championship being held hostage and the WWE Championship looking like the lesser title, I found this match to do as good a job as possible in 2018 in making both guys feel like top tier stars (and, in turn, making the title scenes of each respective show feel important). With a respectable Kwang Rating of 3.14-out-of-5, Survivor Series 2018 was one of the better shows the WWE has produced this year.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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