WWE Survivor Series 2014: 10 Most Memorable Moments in Event's History

WrestleMania aside, none of WWE's annual pay-per-view extravaganzas have been responsible for as many memorable and iconic moments as Survivor Series.

Created as an answer to Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA's Starrcade event in 1987, the show has brought fans the debut of legendary stars such as The Rock and Undertaker, controversial occurrences such as The Montreal Screwjob and the Deadly Game tournament, and the emergence of bright young stars like CM Punk and The Shield.

On November 23, the company will produce the 28th edition of the fall classic. With the possibility that The Authority will be banished from WWE forever, the potential exists for another historic moment.

In honor of the event's sparkling legacy and in preparation for some more jaw-dropping moments, here is a look back at the instances in which WWE and the Survivor Series pay-per-view left an indelible mark on both fans and the pro wrestling industry as a whole.

10. A Clean Sweep (2006)

Credit: WWE.com

The 2006 Survivor Series pay-per-view may be seen in retrospect as one of the worst in company history thanks to a lackluster card and even worse in-ring results. Still, it did feature one of the greatest teams in its history systematically picking apart the opposition en route to a clean sweep and a truly dominant victory.

D-Generation X's Shawn Michaels and Triple H co-captained a team consisting of the reunited Matt and Jeff Hardy and breakout ECW star CM Punk to take on Edge and Randy Orton, Gregory Helms, Johnny Nitro and Mike Knox. On paper, it looked like a match with the potential to be superb.

In reality, though, it was a showcase for the young Punk, who was greeted with a pop rivaling DX's, and his teammates.

"Who was that guy?" Michaels asked his teammates in the moments following his elimination of Knox. From there on, the babyfaces picked off the heels before notching a victory and celebrating in front of the diehard Philadelphia fans, who were all too ready to greet them with adulation and applause.

While the match never lived up to lofty expectations, it did stay true to the legacy of Survivor Series as an event where fans can see their favorite Superstars come together in some of the best and unique teams of four and five ever seen.

9. Finally...The Rock Has Come Back to NYC! (2011)

In February 2011, The Rock returned to WWE after years of building a successful Hollywood career for himself and immediately targeted John Cena, the man who carried the torch for the sports-entertainment empire in The Great One's absence.

The two began trading insults, which escalated to physicality before a match was made for WrestleMania 28. It was incredibly rare for WWE to book a match that far in advance, to give themselves nearly 365 days to build a main event, so fans knew that the matchup would be truly iconic when it finally arrived.

With so many months in between the challenge and the match, though, the company scrambled to find ways to continue to hype it without boring fans or turning them off by the heavy promotion.

They got their answer in the form of a gigantic tag team main event at the Survivor Series in November.

For the first time ever, The Rock and Cena would team up to battle The Miz and R-Truth. With dissension between the babyfaces both in front of the camera as well as behind it, fans had a reason to purchase the show.

They tuned in that night to see Rock and Cena vanquish their loudmouth opponents before wrestling's most electrifying star planted Cena with a Rock Bottom in the center of the ring. The fans inside historic Madison Square Garden came unglued and applauded Rock to close out the show.

It was a successful return to the company and a building block for bigger and better things to come for both he and his WrestleMania opponent.

8. Bret Hart, Table Crasher (1995)

The 1995 Survivor Series was a great show produced by a company enduring its worst year on record. Attendance was down, buyrates were nearly nonexistent and star power was at a minimum.

Still, those booked on the show delivered strong performances, leading to a largely enjoyable show headlined by Bret Hart vs. Diesel for the WWE Championship in a No Disqualification match.

Hart and Diesel had wrestled two outstanding matches against each other at the 1994 King of the Ring and 1995 Royal Rumble, so expectations were fairly high for their third pay-per-view bout. To their credit, they more than lived up to the hype, delivering a match that exceeded the quality of their previous two and served as the perfect cap to the night's event.

During the bout, Hart endured tremendous punishment, as one would assume he would given the size and physicality of his opponent, but one spot in particular not only made the match that much more memorable but also made WWE history.

Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling had been making waves as a hardcore promotion that regularly featured violence and depravity. One star, Sabu, made a name for himself by using tables as a weapon. He would put his opponents through tables, oftentimes sending himself crashing through them as well.

It was something that helped ECW gain notoriety and popularity, but the sport's two biggest companies were not willing to incorporate it into their product.

Until Survivor Series, when Bret Hart was sent sailing off the ring apron and through the announce table.

It was a jaw-dropping spot that not only enhanced the match but announced to the world that Vince McMahon could feel the momentum building for WCW and was willing to try something new to get back in the fight.

Of course, it would take him three more years to truly embrace the attitude of ECW, but on that one night, fans of the goody two-shoes WWE got a glimpse at what lay ahead for them and the company they loved. 

7. The Evolution of a Rattlesnake (1996)

Credit: WWE.com

The 1996 Survivor Series pay-per-view may have been headlined by Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid in a battle for the WWE Championship, but in the eyes of diehard fans, the real main event was the match between industry giant and honorable babyface Bret Hart and young, brash and attitudinal "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Hart was a traditionalist, a respectable star admired by millions across the globe. Austin was a foul-mouthed rebel gaining momentum and becoming a legitimate breakout star for Vince McMahon's company as it took a darker and edgier turn in the fall of '96.

The personalities clashed, and by the time Austin issued the challenge to The Hitman, fans had a rivalry they could invest themselves in.

At the annual November spectacular, the two squared off in an absolutely beautiful wrestling match that not only re-established Hart as the finest technician of his era but cemented Austin's spot as the next big thing in the industry. Not only did he have the personality and charisma and the character and the passion, but he had the ability to walk into the ring and deliver a five-star classic in a high-profile spot.

While the WrestleMania 13 Submission match between the two may be more celebrated for the official coronation of Austin as the company's savior, it was the Survivor Series bout that proved that no spot was too big for the Texas Rattlesnake, not even when he was sharing the ring with one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever lace a pair of boots.

6. Heyman's Betrayal (2002)

In 2002, Brock Lesnar entered New York's Madison Square Garden as the WWE champion and the creator of an undefeated streak that saw him bulldoze The Undertaker, The Rock and Hulk Hogan to climb to the top of the WWE mountain.

His opponent as he stepped through the curtain at the Survivor Series was the massive Big Show, a star who had overcome mediocre booking throughout the year to return to his dominant ways. He had manhandled Lesnar in the weeks leading up to the show and even legitimately injured him during a house show, breaking his ribs.

While no one expected him to win the title from the man dubbed The Next Big Thing, what they couldn't have expected was a shocking betrayal that would halt Lesnar's considerable momentum and split he and manager Paul Heyman up for the next decade.

Lesnar was rolling, well on his way to a successful title defense, when he hoisted Big Show over his head and delivered the F5, broken ribs and all.

As the referee began to count the fall, Heyman pulled him out of the ring and blasted him with a hard right hand. Suddenly, Lesnar understood what had happened and chased his former friend around ringside...running right into the grasp of the Big Show, who delivered a bone-crushing chokeslam onto a chair and scored the win and the title.

It was a moment that officially turned Lesnar babyface and also brought to a premature end the on-screen partnership between the star and his manager.

Heyman was key to the success of Lesnar, the mouthpiece that the former NCAA champion needed to connect with the audience. Without him, Lesnar lost a great deal of his mystique and thus a lot of his invincibility in the eyes of the fans.

5. The Corporate Champion (1998)

From the moment he arrived on the scene at the 1996 Survivor Series, Rocky Maivia was destined for greatness.

If his look and performance in the ring did not indicate that, the constant reminders of his pedigree and his athletic accomplishments by commentators Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly and anyone else behind a mic during that period certainly did.

What McMahon could have never envisioned was the backlash that the young third-generation star would receive from fans tired of the generic babyfaces that had populated WWE during the 1990s. Chants of "Die, Rocky, die" and "Rocky sucks" regularly accompanied the young man to the ring, forcing both he and McMahon to take a step back and figure out exactly what the next step needed to be in the evolution of the character.

When a knee injury sidelined Maivia in the spring of 1997, it gave him an unforeseen second chance to make a first impression. He did just that, turning heel and becoming the breakout star of the Nation of Domination. With several catchphrases at his disposal and a natural charisma that endeared him to the audience, the fans began to embrace The Rock, as he began calling himself.

Entering the 1998 Survivor Series, he was gaining momentum as a babyface and was the favorite to win the Deadly Game tournament for the vacant WWE Championship. To do so, he would have to overcome some of the top stars in the industry, which he did thanks to inadvertent assistance on more than one occasion.

In the finals he squared off with Mankind, but just one year after Vince McMahon conspired to screw Bret Hart out of the WWE Championship, the McMahon again cost one of his Superstars an opportunity to leave with the most coveted prize in the sport. But it wasn't The Rock.

No, in one of the best swerves ever perpetrated in WWE history, Rock revealed himself to be McMahon's hand-picked titleholder, becoming The Corporate Champion and the most hated heel on the roster. 

4. SIERRA, HOTEL, INDIA, ECHO, LIMA, DELTA...SHIELD (2012)

Credit: WWE.com

The 2012 Survivor Series saw CM Punk faced with the unenviable task of defending his WWE Championship and year-long title reign against franchise star John Cena and breakout star Ryback.

Nowhere near the physical specimens his opponents were, he would have to rely on his cerebral nature to overcome his challengers.

A business relationship with three young stars hungry to make an impact in WWE didn't hurt.

With Ryback rolling, tearing through both Punk and Cena en route to what looked like a sure Heavyweight Championship win, there was no more perfect time for Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to hit the ring, pull the big guy to the arena floor and triple-powerbomb him through an announce table.

Not only did it end Ryback's golden opportunity on that November evening, but it introduced the WWE Universe to three Superstars who would ascend the ladder to the top of the company in the two years that followed, becoming three faces of WWE's bright future.

Want proof?

On November 23, "Mr. Money in the Bank" Rollins will compete in the main event of the 2014 show as the leader of Team Authority, while Ambrose will square off with Bray Wyatt in a match that should be every bit as wild and chaotic as The Lunatic Fringe character. 

3. Witness the Elimination Chamber (2002)

In 2002, World Wrestling Entertainment debuted a match type that would become integral to the product over the next decade. Dubbed The Elimination Chamber, the match pitted six men against one another for the opportunity to either be a champion or earn a future title opportunity.

The World Heavyweight Championship was at stake in the inaugural bout as Triple H defended against five men whose lives he had made a living hell for the better part of a year. With Rob Van Dam, Kane, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho all gunning for him, not to mention the top prize in the industry, The Game would have to deliver one of the most grueling performances of his career to retain the title.

He did turn in such a performance, withstanding a crushed trachea suffered early in the 45-plus-minute match to make it to the final two.

It was Michaels, however, who would leave historic Madison Square Garden with the title in his grasp, capping off a monumental comeback and providing fans with one of Survivor Series' most memorable moments.

The unforgiving steel, the punishing chain and the bulletproof glass meant pain and suffering for the Superstars unlucky enough to step through the Chamber door. So popular was the match, however, that it returned in the years that followed and eventually earned its own annual pay-per-view extravaganza.

2. The Deadman Cometh (1990)

Credit: WWE.com

The weeks leading into the 1990 Survivor Series were interesting for WWE. Not only did the company promise the hatching of a giant egg but also a mystery partner for Ted DiBiase in his traditional Elimination tag bout against The Dream Team, captained by Dusty Rhodes.

The Gobbledy Gooker exploded from inside the egg and incited groans from fans worldwide, his debut one of the biggest disappointments and blunders in company history. But it would be the man who joined The Million Dollar Team who would change WWE history and be most talked about in the days, weeks and years after the event, becoming its greatest phenom and one of the most respected stars in industry history.

The Undertaker stalked toward the squared circle, led by Brother Love, and immediately captured the imagination of every fan watching that November evening. He was unlike anything they had seen before. He was enormous in size but had athleticism and a presence that many of the other gimmicky stars of that period simply did not.

Most importantly, he embraced the character, giving it the little movements and expressions that helped it succeed from its very first night in the company.

That he tore through The Dream Team did not hurt, either.

So successful was the character that after just one year in Vince McMahon's company, he would headline Survivor Series 1991, challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship.

It was there that The Phenom, as labeled by Gorilla Monsoon, would bury Hulkamania and help bring a darker tone to WWE programming until the cartoonish explosion of 1993.

1. Montreal (1997)

Credit: WWE.com

What can possibly be said about The Montreal Screwjob that has not already been said?

In the most controversial moment in the history of professional wrestling, Vince McMahon, his top aids and performers Shawn Michaels and Triple H conspired to screw legendary star Bret "Hitman" Hart out of the WWE Championship before he had the opportunity to leave the company with it in his possession.

It was a moment that was born of backstage politicking, a year-long professional and personal rivalry between Hart and Michaels and a failure by McMahon to lead his company and play parent to his petulant children.

More importantly, it was a moment that indirectly led to McMahon's rise as the "evil owner" character that would be key to WWE's resurrection and bring about a bitterness between Hart and McMahon that would last until the Hitman made his long-awaited return to WWE in January 2010.

Still, for any fan who remembers witnessing the event live or any of the fallout that occurred from it, there is no denying that The Montreal Screwjob is not only the moment most closely associated with the Survivor Series but also one of the most vivid and memorable occurrences to ever unfold inside the squared circle.