WWE Survivor Series 2014 Results: Biggest Highlights and Low Points

Now that the results of the 2014 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view are in the bag, it's time for us to review what transpired.

WWE naturally promised that this would be an amazing event the likes of which we've never seen before, but the card leading up to it seemed to lack a bit of a punch. 

What used to be one of the four biggest events of the year had more of a struggle building its fight lineup than normal this year. An ever-thinning roster and the lack of a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match forced this to become a two-match card, so to speak.

If the Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Team Authority vs. Team Cena matches did not deliver, this entire event would likely be a waste of three hours—four if you count the pre-show, which had not advertised a match.

Were these two matches good enough to justify watching the show?

How did the extraneous filler matches impact the show overall?

Did WWE cop out and put less effort into the show just because it was free?

Let's give credit to some highlights and break down the low points of the night in order of appearance to show what little details made the big picture what it was.

Highlight: The Pre-Show Delivers

Credit: WWE.com

More often than not, the pre-show is a waste of time.

As if there aren't enough recaps and promos throughout the month leading up to the pay-per-views, the pre-shows tend to be roughly 45 minutes worth of old footage and a quick, pointless match. Sometimes, WWE has even gotten into the habit of not including a match at all.

However, this edition gave us two matches and a fun promo.

Fandango made his return to the ring with a revitalized look and a new valet in Rosa Mendes. Bad News Barrett came back and picked up right where he left off. It was a breath of fresh air to hear another funny segment with some bad news in it.

To cap it off, WWE made sure to not forget about Cesaro or Jack Swagger by putting them in a match that not only gave them something to do but also helped build up the main event for later on.

This is what the kickoff hour should be. WWE had more than enough time to promote everything it needed to and still provide extra entertainment for fans.

Highlight: WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Match

Credit: WWE.com

This was an amazing match to start the event off.

There was a mix of different personalities to the point where everyone had someone to cheer, even if the majority of the crowd was firmly behind Damien Mizdow.

That point wasn't ignored, as it was Mizdow who got the pinfall victory to win the belts for himself and The Miz.

That came about after teasing the audience multiple times as they begged for Mizdow to be tagged into the match.

There were lots of good spots featuring Stardust, Goldust and Los Matadores, including a double suplex from the turnbuckle that was also combined with a powerbomb.

After having a promo as the first segment after the pre-show, WWE was wise to go straight to a match with such a fast pace. Now there are new tag team champions who are definitely over with the crowd after a fun, entertaining fight.

Highlight: Divas Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match

Credit: WWE.com

Divas matches are typically some of the weaker segments on the shows.

Whether this is as a result of bad talent or bad booking is up for debate, but most fans seem to agree that the Divas are normally not on the highlights spectrum.

All things considered, though, this match was very entertaining from start to finish.

Rather than doing the usual rushed setup where most of the women only step into the match to perform a dropkick or their finisher one after another, everyone had some time to actually wrestle.

Having a clean sweep was a bit surprising, considering how the gimmick is built around eliminations.

For the most part, nobody looked like a joke even when they lost, with possibly the only exception being Summer Rae, who took a bit of a back seat to others on her team.

The Divas division is by no means the gold standard in WWE at the moment, but when comparing this Survivor Series match to many of the others from the past few years, this was a step up from expectations.

Low Point: Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

Credit: WWE.com

Considering how hot the Dean Ambrose brand is at the moment, this match should have been better. Perhaps their timing was off or their styles don't mesh well together, but something wasn't fully clicking.

That isn't to say that it was a bad match, but it certainly wasn't one of the top segments of the night.

There were times where it felt as if Bray Wyatt wasn't able to keep up the pace and could have used a breather, which might have been a big hurdle to get over and caused the match to suffer a bit.

If this feud is to continue, it would benefit from a stipulation where these men could have more freedom, as indicated by how often they worked outside of the ring and used the steps.

In fact, the match ended as a result of a disqualification when Wyatt introduced a chair and Ambrose used it on him.

Ambrose wrestles a hardcore style in a lot of ways, and Wyatt has a mean streak in him as well, so opening them up to a no-holds-barred environment would be a step up. That element was missing here, and the segment fell a little flat in comparison to its potential.

Having some weapons thrown into the mix after the match had ended just felt like this whole segment was a setup for their gimmick rematch at TLC.

That match will likely be a lot of fun, but this one was merely a commercial for it and not much else.

Low Point: Adam Rose and The Bunny

Credit: WWE.com

It's tough to really dig into something that was clearly nothing more than filler and not meant to be a huge highlight, but this could be considered a low point nonetheless.

Adam Rose continues to be a lemon instead of a Rosebud, and this is definitely heading to a feud between him and The Bunny.

The unfortunate part was that this match didn't see any real progression toward that feud.

It could have been a decent opportunity for Rose to officially kick The Bunny out of the Exotic Express. Instead, it was a step backward. Rose has attacked The Bunny in the past but didn't even lay a hand on him tonight.

For anyone who is eagerly awaiting the split, you'll just have to wait a little longer—but it will come soon enough.

Low Point: Divas Championship, AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella

Credit: WWE.com

While some watching this event were no doubt pleased to have seen AJ Lee and Brie Bella lock lips, anyone who wanted to see an actual match will have been disappointed.

There is no match to talk about, as it lasted only a few seconds and consisted of Nikki hitting her finisher and pinning AJ.

As with the Ambrose and Wyatt match, it seemed as though this was booked to promote a future rematch between the two more than actually being entertaining in its own right. If that does not happen and someone else faces Nikki for the title, then this definitely would have been a low point of this event.

The Divas do deserve a lot of criticism when they perform poorly—just the same as the men do—but they aren't to blame for this.

This low point is entirely on WWE's creative team, and while it won't result in tons of people asking for refunds, it's hard to imagine the majority of fans were pleased with this booking.

Highlight: Elimination Tag Team Match, Team Cena vs. Team Authority

Credit: WWE.com

This match was a great way to circumnavigate the expectations of the fans.

Everyone and their mother could have easily seen this booked the way things usually are, with John Cena having to fight back against the odds.

Some things seemed like givens, such as Rusev and Ryback cleaning house and Ziggler being jobbed out.

However, WWE went against expectations.

Almost immediately, Mark Henry was knocked out by Big Show, who would then turn on Team Cena. Ryback was eliminated earlier than it seemed like he would.

When Cena himself was eliminated, that was a huge shock.

Ziggler became the man of the night, and there were multiple times where the match felt like it was going to end. Then, when all hope was lost, Sting of all people made his first appearance in WWE.

This could have been Randy Orton's chance to interfere on behalf of Team Cena, Sting's debut felt all the more special.

What do you think were the best and worst parts of the night?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.