WWE Survivor Series 2017: 8 Worst Booking Decisions in PPV's History

Survivor Series is one of WWE's most beloved pay-per-views, primarily because it brings together favorite Superstars for monumental multi-person tag team matches and features booking decisions that keep fans guessing.

Unfortunately, some of those decisions are awful and end up overshadowing everything the company attempts to accomplish.

Over the course of three decades, the event has been home to some serious head-scratchers and jaw-droppers.

These eight are the worst of them.

In preparation for the 2017 show on November 19, relive the moments that left fans wondering what the hell the writing team was up to when it thought up these plans.

8. 3-on-3 Survivor Series Elimination Match Headlines the Show (1991)

The depth of the WWE roster was in doubt in 1991, and that year's Survivor Series was indicative of as much.

Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker for the WWE Championship was the real marquee match, but because of the need to announce a rematch between the two for the This Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view, it took place midway through the card.

The main event that night was instead a three-on-three Survivor Series Elimination match. Why? Because there were not enough quality Superstars to fill out the card and make the matches five-on-five, as had been the case in years past.

In that nominal headliner, Big Boss Man teamed with The Legion of Doom to battle Irwin R. Schyster and The Natural Disasters.

You read that correctly.

That match main-evented one of the major WWE pay-per-views in 1991.

With all due respect to the Superstars involved, none of them were worthy main event players at that point in their careers, though the argument could be made Boss Man was hot enough.

Sid Justice and Jake Roberts were supposed to be part of the match, but booking was shuffled, and a legitimate main event was sacrificed to add more heat to This Tuesday in Texas.

The result? A main event that exposed the company's weaknesses and created questions about its ability to carry momentum over from its magical 1980s run.

7. Wade Barrett Fails to Win WWE Championship (2010)

At Survivor Series 2010, Wade Barrett had special referee John Cena in his back pocket. The franchise star had lost to Barrett a month earlier, meaning he had to join Nexus and do whatever he was told. When he was booked as the special referee of the Barrett vs. Randy Orton WWE Championship match at the November spectacular, most expected the Nexus leader would manipulate the situation and emerge with his first WWE Championship.

Cena, ever the hero, shoved Barrett into an RKO and was consequently fired for his insubordination.

It was predictable and stupid. More importantly, it set Barrett up for failure. Rather than having his position as the top heel on Raw solidified, he lost the match, the opportunity to win the WWE Championship and was set up to be beaten by Cena in the main event of the following month's TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event.

No wonder Barrett never met expectations as a main event performer.

6. John Cena Defeats Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship

Chris Jericho was the hottest heel in professional wrestling in 2008, and the idea that his run as world heavyweight champion was somehow a transitional one in order to get the gold on the returning John Cena was miserable.

But that is exactly what it turned out to be.

At November's Survivor Series, Jericho battled Cena in the main event and did the job.

Sadly, the outcome was never in doubt.

Despite all attempts to talk themselves out of it, even the most skeptical fans knew Cena was going to roll over Jericho and win the title, no matter how much it undid all of the hard work and dedication to the heel persona Y2J had done to that point.

Cena's victory brought an end to Jericho's run at the top of the card and returned the self-proclaimed "best in the world at what I do" to the midcard.

5. No Zack Ryder (2011)

Zack Ryder was among the most over Superstars in WWE by the time the 2011 pay-per-view rolled around, and fans inside Madison Square Garden were all too eager to let management know just how much they wanted Long Island Iced Z to be featured on the show.

He was not, and the "we want Ryder" chants permeated the arena.

The Rock returned to the ring to wrestle for the first time in seven years, yet his comeback was overshadowed by the vocal support shown to the perennial jobber.

The stubborn decision not to include Ryder on the card bit management in that the fans' desire to see the lovable loser overshadowed their wishes to see one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business return to the show.

That is what happens when a promotion openly chooses not to listen the audience and pays for it as a result.

4. Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers vs. 4 Doinks (1993)

Credit: WWE.com

The worst match in Survivor Series history is arguably the 1993 bout pitting four Doinks (The Bushwackers and Men on a Mission) against the team of Bam Bam Bigelow, The Headshrinkers and the notorious Bastion Booger.

The match, brimming with horrifically bad slapstick comedy, exposed the business. Worse yet, it turned Bigelow and The Headshrinkers, previously feared heels, into idiotic losers outsmarted by grown men in clown makeup.

Sure, it furthered the real Doink the Clown and Bigelow's rivalry, but it was overly long, entirely stupid and did more harm than good.

Thankfully, it is a match Bigelow somehow managed to bounce back from in order to continue what was a strong career in WWE.

3. Big Show Becomes 1st Superstar to Pin Brock Lesnar (2002)

Brock Lesnar was fresh off defeating The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell when Survivor Series 2002 approached. Most looked at his opponent for that event, Big Show, and recognized him as a placeholder opponent while guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Edge were in the midst of a heated tag team rivalry.

Those fans would be wrong.

On that November night in New York City, Paul Heyman betrayed Lesnar and cost him the WWE Championship.

Worst of all, Lesnar's much-anticipated first loss came at the hands of a guy who, weeks earlier, had been unable to make a pay-per-view card, let alone challenge for the most coveted prize in the industry.

At the time, the booking decision could be attributed to building Big Show's star, providing a major twist and presenting controversy at a show synonymous with it. In hindsight, though, it was an ill-advised choice that diminished Lesnar's aura and predictably did nothing to improve Big Show's position in the company.

2. Bob Backlund Beats Bret Hart for the WWE Championship (1994)

At WrestleMania X, Bret "The Hitman" Hart regained the WWE Championship by defeating Yokozuna. What followed was a monthslong rivalry between Hart and brother Owen that captivated fans and led to some of the best matches in WWE history.

By the time Survivor Series 1994 rolled around, though, the emphasis was taken off Owen and placed on a new No. 1 contender, the unhinged Bob Backlund.

The maniacal old-timer rolled into that year's event for a Submission match against The Hitman for the top prize in the sport, and after some manipulation by Owen, won the title at age 45.

Yes, a man closer to 50 then 40 beat the top babyface in the company for the title—at the expense of Owen, who had spent the year turning in classic after classic.

Owen Hart would never again come close to the title, while Bret's second run with the belt ended in disappointing fashion. That Backlund quickly dropped the title to Diesel, inside the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden and in just eight seconds, only enhances how terrible an idea it was.

1. Big Show vs. Randy Orton Headlines (Survivor Series 2013)

In November 2013, WWE Creative stupidly took the attention off Daniel Bryan's quest for the world title and placed it on Big Show and the moral dilemma he had with helping The Authority. When he betrayed Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, standing opposite their reign of terror, he was booked in a WWE Championship match against Randy Orton.

Bad idea.

Fans turned on the story and the match, openly voicing their support for Bryan to the point it overshadowed anything Orton and Big Show tried to accomplish in their sluggish main event match.

The match sucked, the booking was worse and the desire for Bryan's main event run became louder and less pleasant.

Never before had it been clearer that management was deliberately attempting to derail Bryan's push and, worse, was happy to shove it in the face of its fanbase.