WWE Survivor Series 2016: Most Controversial Moments in PPV's History

WWE Survivor Series 2016 approaches, and, as it does so, it becomes easier to reflect on the history of this Big Four pay-per-view, which has seen its fair share of exciting moments. It has also been witness to some of the most controversial booking decisions in all of WWE.

Rarely does WWE pass up a chance to do something controversial. Getting people talking is often more the intention than making them happy. Whether the controversy comes from a surprise twist or a real situation blending into the stories at play, professional wrestling has never been lacking for controversy.

Survivor Series has particularly taken up the mantle of controversy over the years with many shocking turns, title changes and even power struggles defining the best the show has to offer. Often this is the show among WWE's top PPVs that feels the most open to making shocking moves.

Why does Survivor Series take up this mantle? Perhaps it is because the show is the least defined by expectations. While WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble all are big shows in their own right, Survivor Series is just a night for team warfare. To spice it up, WWE often takes massive leaps in booking that can occasionally cause quite a bit of controversy.

Here are the 10 most controversial moments in the history of Survivor Series based on their impact on WWE as a whole and effect on fans as they occurred.

10. Sting Ends the Authority (Survivor Series 2014)

Credit: WWE.com

The Authority held a firm grip over WWE for over three years before a group finally stepped up and forced them to answer for their injustice. However, at Survivor Series 2014, it wasn't John Cena, Big Show, Ryback, Erick Rowan or even Dolph Ziggler who fully put the nail in the coffin of The Authority. That was Sting.

Ziggler played the largest role when he battled back from a three-on-one deficit to get down to a single showdown against Rollins, but he didn't seem to have a chance against Rollins, especially with Triple H getting physically involved. Things changed, though, when Sting arrived.

The man no one ever expected to step into a WWE ring took out Triple-H and draped Ziggler over Rollins in order to give Team Cena the win and end The Authority for good. Sure, The Authority came back not too long after, which makes the whole situation even more controversial, but it was the moment that left everyone in shock.

The legend of WCW had made his presence felt in WWE, and he had taken out The Game. No one had any idea what to say or where it would all lead. They just knew that history had been made.

9. Mr. Fuji Turns On Demolition for the Powers of Pain (Survivor Series 1988)

Credit: WWE.com

Mr. Fuji has managed many greats in WWE, but it seemed he was truly going to find success when he bought the contracts of Demolition, Ax and Smash, who began a record-setting 478-day reign as World Tag Team Champions under the manager's guidance.

It was shocking when Mr. Fuji turned on them almost out of the blue, costing them an elimination match at Survivor Series 1988 by getting Smash counted out. He then attacked Ax from behind to officially confirm his allegiances had changed. His timely assistance announced his alliance with the match's winners: The Powers of Pain, Warlord and Barbarian.

The move ended up turning The Powers heel and Demolition face who went on to dominate even without Mr. Fuji's help. It was surprising to see such a sudden dramatic shift in the tag team scene that ultimately did not greatly affect Demolition.

Demolition went on to dominate as faces while The Powers somewhat fell into the background, but the moment was a shocking turn in the history of Survivor Series.

8. Ric Flair Helps Crown the Undertaker as WWE Champion (Survivor Series 1991)

Credit: WWE.com

As scary as it is to think about now, there was once a time when The Undertaker was a young upstart who seemed unfit for the main event. We were all young at one point. At Survivor Series 1991, Taker got his first shot at the WWE Championship against the man in WWE: Hulk Hogan.

No one truly expected Taker to pull out the victory. Hogan rarely lost, and Taker was 26 years old, which would make him the youngest to ever hold the title if he won. Still, Ric Flair loomed large over this contest, doing all that he could to screw Hogan, even letting a young upstart steal the title.

Flair succeeded in a shocking turn as he and Paul Bearer distracted the referee and gave Taker a steel chair on which he Tombstoned Hogan and took the WWE Championship. It was a surprising turn of events that no one could believe at the time.

It did not last long as Taker dropped the title back six days later, and he promptly fell back on the card to make even more room for Hogan and Flair. While Taker now stands in the record books with his victory, he was really only used as a tool to put over Flair.

7. The Shield Arrive to Defend CM Punk's Title Reign (Survivor Series 2012)

Credit: WWE.com

No one saw it coming. CM Punk had been WWE Champion for longer than anyone in a decade, but it was starting to look like he wouldn't be holding that title much longer as he continued to allude adversaries in John Cena and Ryback with dirty tactics alone.

At Survivor Series 2012, he was forced to face both men at once, and there seemed no chance Punk could walk out still champ. Luckily for him, a new trio emerged to even the odds in a completely shocking moment.

Three developmental rookies, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, came out through the crowd dressed all in black and powerbombed Ryback through a table, which allowed Punk to steal a win on Cena. No one knew what to say or what these three were doing there, but they managed to save Punk and his title reign one more day.

The Shield's debut was a shocking, controversial moment that will remain in the annals of history thanks to just how much success the group has had since. This was a first act that was a rare time in WWE today where no one knew what to expect or how to react especially when it came to the growing uncertainty about Punk's legitimacy as champion despite how long he had held the gold.

6. Paul Heyman Betrays Brock Lesnar (Survivor Series 2002)

Credit: WWE.com

To this day, there are few manager-client relationships quite as dominant and memorable as Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, but they were not always shoulder to shoulder in WWE. This was particularly true in 2002, when Heyman turned on Lesnar to side with Big Show.

Lesnar was fighting Show for the WWE Championship despite having injured ribs, and it seemed as though Lesnar had no chance against his larger adversary. Lesnar, though, showed his resilience only to have his own manager turn on him and help Show claim the WWE Championship.

It was a shocking way to end Lesnar's championship run and give him his first-ever pinfall loss. The show seemed to be all-in on Lesnar, so it was surprising to see the champion fall to the aging Show and lose Heyman at the same time. Luckily, it also ended up turning Lesnar face, who quickly regained his spot atop the roster.

While the two have since made up, it still hard to watch Heyman turn his back on Lesnar, and it still remains a controversial and surprising moment in WWE history.

5. Kurt Angle Costs the Alliance Everything (Survivor Series 2001)

Credit: WWE.com

When World Championship Wrestling was officially bought out by Vince McMahon, it ended the last great war for supremacy in professional wrestling, but WWE didn't let the war end quickly, telling its own story as WWE went to war with The Alliance of WCW and ECW.

Survivor Series 2001 was the final chapter in this war for power as the two sides fielded teams of five to battle for ultimate control. Even with legends including Steve Austin and The Rock, it was Kurt Angle who made the decisive impact.

Alliance member Angle proved himself a loyal member of WWE as he gave up quickly during the match then later returned to attack Austin and help The Rock emerge victorious. For Angle to emerge a mole and ruin the final battle between The Rock and Austin caused quite a stir.

This moment would ultimately define Angle's career as he soon became a true main event mainstay alongside Austin and The Rock, while WWE officially buried WCW for good.

4. The Rock Goes Corporate in the Deadly Games Tournament (Survivor Series 1998)

Survivor Series 1998 was a show about survival in a different fashion to other years as it focused primarily on the Deadly Game tournament. The WWE Championship was held vacant as the best on the roster competed to become the new leader of WWE.

The controversy of this show centered on Vince McMahon and his confusing booking of the show as it became harder and harder to tell what was going on. Eventually, McMahon's aims were made clear when The Rock defeated Mankind in the final, crowning The Rock the new champion and leader of The Corporation.

This victory was marred in confused circumstances as The Rock won in an eerily similar situation to the Montreal Screwjob, taking the victory by Sharpshooter without Mankind tapping. This also led to The Rock turning heel and Mankind turning face, which was a dramatic shift.

This was one of the defining moment of the Attitude Era, beginning the feud between The Rock and Mankind as well as the most successful run of The Rock's career. It was just hard to see it at the time through all the controversial booking.

3. The Harts Throw in the Towel (Survivor Series 1994)

Bret Hart is no stranger to odd finishes in his matches, but few compare to the ending of Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund for the WWE Championship. Backlund's second run in WWE was never as successful as his first, but it did bring some interesting moments with Backlund showing off his wilder side.

His battles with Bret are the most memorable of Backlund's late run even if that is not entirely for the right reasons. At Survivor Series 1994, Backlund battled in a 35-minute technical struggle against Bret where the only way either man could win was if their relative in the corner threw in the towel for the match.

Despite obviously having heinous motives, Owen Hart managed to convince his parents to throw in the towel on Bret's behalf late in the match, giving Backlund the win. Bret lost the championship purely because his brother gave up the match on his behalf.

It was quite the odd situation that caused much grumbling over whether having the WWE Championship switching hands like this hurt the title's legacy. Ultimately, Backlund did not last long as champion, but the odd title change still hurt the company and its championship for a long time to come.

2. Hit and Run on Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1999)

It is not often that WWE will go beyond the boundaries of simulated violence and show simulated attempted murder, so it was quite a shock at Survivor Series 1999 when Steve Austin was the victim of attempted vehicular manslaughter.

In order to write Austin out of the main event due to a neck injury, a mysterious driver ran down Austin with his car and drove off. Austin was hospitalized for his injuries and did not return to WWE for five months.

The showcase of vehicular homicide was enough of a shock, but fans also had to deal with the promised main event between Austin, Triple H, and The Rock being changed as Big Show took Austin's place and won the WWE Championship.

WWE left fans in shock and with heavy disappointment without decent communication on what was happening. It was a bold move by WWE, who was willing to go far to tell a good story even though it fumbled on the follow-through down the line.

1. The Montreal Screwjob (Survivor Series 1997)

Has there ever been a more controversial moment than The Montreal Screwjob in 1997? Bret Hart walked into Survivor Series that year as WWE Champion, but his contract was just about to expire with the company. The problem was that Hart did not want to drop the championship to his opponent that night, Shawn Michaels, in Montreal.

Vince McMahon decided that he would not take any chances and pulled off the ultimate work: screwing Bret out of the title by calling for the bell when Michaels had the Sharpshooter on Bret without the Hit Man tapping. When Bret finally realized what had happened, he spit on McMahon and left for WCW, not returning to WWE programming until 2010.

The moment caused such a stir that it changed the face of wrestling. In fact, it was the moment that led to the birth of the Attitude Era. McMahon could no longer stay in the shadows and became an on-air villain who was unafraid to utilize his authority to shape WWE.

Since that time, there have been many Montreal Screwjobs, repeats sometimes including Hart, but they all have never had the impact of the first time when the real politics involved backstage were genuinely controversial.