Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Matches: What Happened?

With this years Survivor Series coming up in less than a week, and not one, not two, but THREE Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag matches on the card, one cant help but wonder about the WWE's habits of trying to overdo things lately.

They hosted to two Elimination Chamber matches earlier in the year, and not only did they just have two, they had both on the same night, which in many ways ruined the significance of the specialty match.  This year with Survivor Series they're going too far.

I cant help but comment that it seems like this is the WWE's chance to fix the fact that there are ALOT of superstars left without feuds night in and night out.  And most of the feuds raw runs lately, with the exception of the HBK-Jericho feud, are lackluster and boring. 

So what do you do right after a bunch of WWE releases, when you want to remind fans that certain stars are still on the WWE roster?  Throw them in a Survivor Series Match.  Not one, but two for main superstars, and even one for Divas.  Cmon, divas?

The match with Team Batista and Team Orton should be the only match on the card of its type.  Its the only one with superstars involved that should be in there: champions. Now Im not saying that only champions should be involved in the match, after all, most of the major champions on any given pay per view should be defending their titles, but this is the WWE were talking about. The Land of Lost Midcarders.

On Team Batista, you have Kofi and Punk (World Tag Champs), Matt Hardy(ECW Champion), R-Truth (feuding with Shelton over United States Championship), and Batista.  Against him, is Orton, Rhodes, Shelton Benjamin (United States Champion), Regal (Intercontinental Champion), and Mark Henry.

While fairly improvisational, this is the only Survivor Series Match worth watching.  You have many feuds actually working at once, mostly involving Orton.  There's Orton-Batista, Orton-Punk (and partially Kofi), Rhodes-Punk (again, partially Kofi), Shelton-R-Truth, Hardy-Henry, Hardy-Regal (recently worked on.)  

While the Hardy-Regal bout might be recently added, the match actually has purpose, and multiple feuds to embrace the team unity for the matches. Not the Team HBK and Team JBL embarrassments that were originally being pushed as the ONLY Survivor Series Elimination Tag Match.  Cmon, thats the best WWE could do? 

OK, so there's a recent feud with HBK and JBL.  And partially HBK-Miz & Morrison for the whole short program against DX.  Khali-MVP isnt even a feud, and Cryme Tyme- Miz & Morrisonis a waste anymore since Cryme Tyme never won the matches anyways. Lastly is Kane-Rey Rey, which feels like nothing more than something to include both on the card for Survivor Series. I mean come on, how many times can you do no DQ matches before you end a feud?

Then there's a Divas Elimination tag match, which makes me cringe every time i think about it.  The WWE knows that there are very few divas that are actually entertaining to watch in a match.  A VERY SELECT few.  So whats the solution to this?  Lets throw in one diva who, by the way, is a little too much like Chyna for my liking, in Beth Phoenix(who is currently feuding with noone might I add, which is sad for a Women's Champion).

Mickie James, who might be the only real entertaining Raw diva anymore next to Melina, who wont be back in time for the match.  Candice, who seems to be the female Brock Lesnarin the ring as far as botching moves goes.  Kelly Kelly ( YES! YES!), who ok, is improving, but nowhere near Mickie's status even. But JILLIAN?!?! Come on man, throw in Big Dick Johnson and I might actually watch the match. 

Smackdown is worse.  I'm sorry, I like McCool, but the Divas Championship title is a purple disgrace (fit perhaps, as Rock would say, for the Hamburgular?).  Maria, Victoria, Maryseand Natalya fill out Smackdown's roster. 

Does Maria even have a finisher that isnt a roll-up?  Smackdown does have twice as many half-decent divas on their roster, in Victoria (who gets little to no airtime anymore) and Natalya.  But this match couldve been easily utilized on the Smackdown before Survivor Series and still been effective. Not waste time on the card, thus most likely making the main Survivor Series match shorter in the process.

What happened to Carlito and Primo?  Couldn't include them in a match on the card?  How bout a change of pace and actually making them defend the titles on Survivor Series for a change? I know its an extreme long shot, but with rumors already that Edge is returning at Survivor Series, and so much speculation about Christian and rumors of his return with Edge, what about an Edge and Christian return for the WWE Tag Team Titles?  Would give them both some instant hype, and bring some prestige back to the belts for a change.

The WWE, yet again, dropped the ball on what could've been, if planned right, at least TWO good Survivor Series matches.  The World Heavyweight and WWE championship matches look good, and should both be entertaining.  The Casket Match, will be interesting to say the least. 

If this is the WWE's way to use Survivor Series as a "pick-me-up" just to add wrestlers to the ppv that normally wouldn't make it, its a bad way to do it.