Opening up the show we get CM Punk defending his ECW Championship against The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat match. Miz and Morrison were the WWE Tag Team Champions, but were not yet totally best friends and doing their Dirt Sheet segments. In my review of the pay-per-view before this, Cyber Sunday, I noted that CM Punk and The Miz had better-than-decent chemistry despite their supposed legit friction with each other (which Miz has since claimed he had no idea existed). This match adds John Morrison, who was wrestling with notably more aplomb than maybe at any other point in his career. While the Morrison of Impact and Lucha Underground and AEW today is the more complete in-ring worker, this Morrison is trying to steal the show and working like doing so might actually get him to the main event (it didn't, which makes him the only guy in the match who never reached that status). This one isn't an all-timer, but it is fun and action-packed from beginning to end and there are a handful of well-timed, well-executed spots that kept this one hot from bell to bell. The Miz is the least polished of the three, but he's better here than many fans likely remember him being in 2007-2008. CM Punk is over with the crowd, though he'd obviously become a much bigger star a few years later. A very good opener to the show. (3.5/5)
A 10-woman tag match follows (though its not fought under Survivors rules), the teams being split based on heel/face dynamics and not brand. For the heels, we have Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Victoria, Layla, and Melina, while on the face side there is Mickie James, Maria, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, and Torrie Wilson (who would wrestle her last singles match later that month). They get less than 5 minutes of ring time, which tells you just about all you need to know about how much thought and story was put into this match. There are talented women in this match - Victoria would go on to have a great run in TNA not long after this, Mickie James was the division's ace, Phoenix and Melina were dependable - but they're not given the opportunity to really show what they can do in a match like this. The finish was the most notable part of the match as Mickie James "stunned" Melina by planting a kiss on her before hitting her finishing move. (1.5/5)
Next up - Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly challenging Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The first match went under 10 minutes, the second match under 5, and this one goes just 7-8 minutes too. Unlike the previous two matches, though, this one does not seem to do much for the crowd. Re-watching shows from this span of years, I can now officially say that Murdoch and Cade were as "meh" of a tag team as I remember, rarely great, sometimes good, mostly just there. Holly does most of the work in the match which keeps this from being a particularly interesting match to watch even if you're curious about Cody's first major matches in the WWE (for "young Cody" matches, it'd likely be best to start with his work as part of Legacy). After a really good opening match to the show, things have really dipped considerably...(1.5/5)
The night's only true Survivors match followed - Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Kane, and Rey Mysterio battling Big Daddy V, Kennedy, Finlay, Umaga, and MVP. There were a bunch of storylines built into this match and lots of history, plus with Triple H, Mysterio, Umaga, and Finlay involved, you had four very dependably good-to-great wrestlers (along with MVP and Jeff Hardy, who were going through two of the better runs of both of their careers). Even Big Daddy V was actually being treated somewhat credibly at the time! Matt Hardy was originally supposed to be on the babyface team too but was taken out by MVP (though I'm not sure about it, I'm thinking maybe this was done because the babyface team had so much more star power and credibility?). On paper, the idea of Triple H and Jeff Hardy eventually winning the match after being down 5-on-2 sounds completely implausible, but this match actually has a bunch of really good moments and enough smart booking mini-decisions to make it work for me. Big Daddy V eliminating Kane early adds heat to their feud and gives some needed cred to Big Daddy V, who also plays a role in Kennedy's elimination later. Plus, V's eventual elimination happens after a double-team move rather than just one guy pinning him. While it was predictable that Rey would take a fall (as the smallest guy in the match), I like that he doesn't go first and that his elimination comes at the hands of Umaga, who is built up as the biggest threat of the match. MVP is eliminated by Jeff Hardy in the match's needed "feel good" moment before it essentially becomes a Finlay and Umaga vs. Hardy and Triple H match, something that absolutely works. Does the match make total logical sense? No. Does it overtly push Triple H and Jeff Hardy as the top guys to the detriment of guys like Kennedy, Umaga, and MVP? Sure. But the action is good from beginning to end and it wrapped up a number of storylines that needed to be put to bed before the Rumble in January. Not an all-time great Survivors match, but not bad at all. (3/5)
Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali is next. This was more "angle" than match. Before the match, Vince McMahon gives his "son" Hornswoggle a pep talk about how they are McMahons and that McMahons always defy the odds and beat the monsters that come after them (like the federal government). Its classic Vince stuff, which doesn't go down so smooth now that its been basically confirmed that Vince is not only an asshole, but a sexual predator. Anyway...Shane McMahon makes a surprise appearance, which I completely forgot about. Did he appear on TV over the next few months? I'm not going to look into it. Shaq was shown at ringside before the match so when Khali and Hornswoggle actually square off, the crowd erupts into a "We Want Shaq" chant. There's not that much "action" as Swoggle attempts to escape Khali for a couple minutes, spits green mist in Khali's manager's face, and then basically gets bitch-slapped by Khali in the center of the ring (which does draw huge heat). This leads to Finlay running down the aisle and saving his buddy (if I'm not mistaken, it might've later come out that Finlay was actually his father all along?). This was kept short enough to serve its purpose. Its hard to rate things like this, but for being what it was, I'm fine saying it was your average angle, hurt most by Khali not being able to express any emotion or even sell damage when Finlay strikes him with the Shillelagh...(1.5/5)
In a rematch from the previous pay-per-view (Cyber Sunday), Shawn Michaels once again challenges Randy Orton for his WWE Championship...only this time, the Sweet Chin Music is outlawed. At the same time, Orton will lose the title on a DQ. Considering that I don't think Shawn Michaels won a single match without the move in the prior decade, this was supposed to be a big deal but I've always hated gimmicks like this. That being said, Michaels works this match quite differently than his usual, applying a vice-like headlock early and continuously coming back to a submission-based strategy. While he was never known for his technical wrestling, Michaels works every hold pretty well (save for maybe a sloppy Sharpshooter). Orton tries to bait Michaels into using a Sweet Chin Music but can never get him to bite. There's a cool moment when Michaels, after hitting a bunch of his signature offense, teases the superkick but ends up using his stomp routine as a trick to lure Orton into a small package for a nearfall. The actual finish is well-executed as Michaels attempts a variety of submissions only for Orton to send him into the corner. On instinct, Michaels preps for an "out of nowhere" Sweet Chin Music but stops himself before he pulls the move off, leaving him vulnerable for Orton's RKO. Like the Cyber Sunday match, this one suffers most from there being no real possibility of Orton dropping the title. Michaels - and, soon after this, Chris Jericho - were positioned as challengers for Orton to defeat en route to what was already being rumored as a showdown with Triple H at WrestleMania. But, again, like the Cyber Sunday match, the fun in this match is seeing the chemistry between Michaels and Orton and the way they could weave the stipulation into the psychology of the match. Those two elements are what makes it work and kept me engaged from bell-to-bell despite my initial apprehension. I've seen some reviewers go "high" on this match, rating it as a near-masterpeice but I wouldn't go that far. Very good, but not a "must watch" to me. (3.5/5)
Main event time - Batista vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. This was the "rubber" match after almost a full year feud between Batista and Taker. Their Cyber Sunday match was very good so I had high hopes for this one too. I don't think I've seen every Hell in a Cell match, but the good ones stick in your memory and I'd call this one a good one save for the screwy finish (which sees Edge return to screw over the Deadman). Batista gets to show off his power, Undertaker gets to work as an almost-heel and deliver some nasty, violent offense that one usually doesn't see from a babyface, and the crowd is fully into it. Plus, unlike the previous bout, there was a real sense that this match could go either way. I've seen some reviews that critique Undertaker's "dominance," but this is his signature match (one of several) and I didn't find it nearly as "one-sided" as some paint it. Does Batista look outmatched at times? Sure...but part of this entire feud was that Batista was forced to fight an Undertaker who had become increasingly angry and driven to put The Animal down and that Batista, to his credit, refused to back down to the aura and mythology of the Phenom, somehow not just surviving The Undertaker's ever-more-personal wrath, but finding ways to beat him like he had at Cyber Sunday. (4/5)
With a respectable Kwang Score of 2.64-out-of-5, the 2007 edition of the Survivor Series isn't an all-time great show, but it does feature at least two very good-to-great matches in Orton/Michaels and the main event. The opener isn't great enough to be considered a "hidden gem," but its close and is a particularly interesting match to watch in hindsight considering the career paths of all three men. The Survivors match isn't an all-time great one, but its better than average too.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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