WWE Survivor Series 2011 Results: Match-by-Match Thoughts and Grades

Survivor Series 2011 came from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hit up Chris "Don't Call Me Kris" Humphrey's blog for the rundown. 

One of the most hyped of the WWE's pay-per-views, the build was centered around the tag team of The Rock and John Cena vs. Awesome Truth. As a result of The Rock's return to the ring after an eight year hiatus, the event old out in less than 90 minutes.

In addition, heated title feuds between Punk and Del Rio from Raw and Big Show and Henry from SmackDown also played heavily into the sell of the event. All things considered, the pay-per-view had a lot expected of it as the WWE sought to renew the importance of the "Thanksgiving Tradition."

Four title matches were on the card and six matches total. The card featured a lot of matches that, on paper, were strong. Before the pay-per-view, the final card was:

John Cena and The Rock vs. Awesome Truth

CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio (c) - WWE Championship match

Big Show vs. Mark Henry (c) - World Heavyweight Championship match

"Team Orton" (Orton, Kingston, Sin Cara, Sheamus and Ryan) vs. "Team Barrett" (Barrett, Hunico, Ziggler, Rhodes and Swagger) - Traditional Survivor Series match (5 on 5 Elimination Tag Team match)

John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler (c) - United States Championship match

Eve vs. Beth Phoenix (c) - Divas Championship Lumberjill match

Yeah, it looked good. Let's get to it.

United States Championship: Dolph Zigger (c) vs. John Morrison

Backstory

Following Dolph's successful title defense against Zack Ryder at Vengeance, the United States Champion has been all over the board. After defeating Ryan and losing to Ryder and Morrison, it was announced last week that Dolph would be pulling double duty at Survivor Series as part of "Team Barrett" (replacing the injured Christian) and defending his United States Championship.

Ryder began an online petition for interim Raw GM John Laurinaitis. The petition was unsuccessful and Morrison, by virtue of his roll-up pin over Ziggler, was given the title opportunity.

Match

 The crowd opened the match lovely with the "We Want Ryder!" chants.  Ziggler looked good in the opening part of the match including a great swinging neckbreaker when Morrison was getting back into the ring. There was some good psychology in the match which let the crowd get into it during some of the rest holds and some nice near falls.

Good storytelling in some spots with Vicki getting the ejection and going from the roll ups and reversals. Ziggler's post-match promo was solid enough. Ryder's run in after the fact was nicely placed.

Grade

B.

Good opening match, though a few botches. Nice storytelling in the match that kept the crowd interested.

Consequences

 Say goodbye to Morrison. In any case, the Ryder/Ziggler feud should be good due to the angle possibilities and their willingness to go into cyberspace to do it. As such, it will have more depth than a typical mid-card feud.

Divas Championship (Lumberjill Match): Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve

Backstory

At Vengeance, Beth successfully defended her Divas title against Eve in a fair match. It was announced a few weeks later that Beth would defend it again against Eve at Survivor Series. The Lumberjill stipulation was added a week later. The announcers speculated this would put Beth at a disadvantage due to her and Natalya isolating themselves from the other Divas due to their "Pin Up Strong" movement.

Match

 So-so opening segment to the outside, though the action wasn't as hot as it could have been. Eve had a nice triangle choke in the middle. There was a little bit of storytelling involving the Lumberjills, though they weren't used as much as they could have. The top-rope Glam Slam looked sick and got a nice pop.

Grade

 C+.

This was a good match for the Divas, though the pacing felt a bit off and the whole thing came off as filler. That said, there were some nice spots during the match that helped.

Consequences

 Eve and Beth is in blowoff mode. I think the WWE will switch to Natalya and Beth relatively soon as the start of a long term feud. Eve and Beth had its moments, but it's time to move on.

"Team Orton" vs. "Team Barrett": Survivor Series Elmination Match

Backstory

 A couple of weeks on SmackDown, the announcement came across that Randy Orton and Wade Barrett would lead five man teams in the usual Survivor Series match.

Orton put his team together to include powerhouses Sheamus and Mason Ryan and high-flyers Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara. Barrett initially put his team together to include current Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, powerhouse Jack Swagger, the high-flyer Hunico and the versatile Christian.

However, Christian was injured in a match with Sheamus on the WWE's European tour and was replaced by United States Champion Dolph Ziggler. It should be noted that Ziggler defended his title against John Morrison.

Match

 Kofi and Ziggler opened the match nicely, though Ziggy got eliminated (RKO by Orton) quicker than I would have liked. The regroup session by Team Barrett was a nicely done bit of storytelling. It's tough to tell if Cara's injury was legitimate or simply an excuse to write him off TV. Either way, it hurt the flow of the match but it's possible it couldn't be helped. 

Rhodes being sneaky with the Beautiful Disaster kick and then the Cross Rhodes on Ryan was a nicely done spot. Barrett looked strong in the middle part of the match. Rhodes looked strong against Orton as well. Is Sheamus teasing a heel turn again? Barrett getting the pinfall on Orton was appropriate as was Rhodes' survival.

Grade

  B. 

Good match for the pay-per-view with some nice teases and storytelling. The heels dominating the match through teamwork and intelligence was appropriate.

Consequences

 A Rhodes/Sheamus feud is a possibility, but Orton and Barrett is in the cards. Honestly, I am curious to see how they handle the feud.

World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry (c) vs. Big Show

Backstory

 At Vengeance, Mark Henry and Big Show literally tore the ring apart in their match. As a result of the ring collapse due to a Superplex, the match was declared a "No Contest."  Big Show vowed to knock Henry out for every week he was made to wait for a rematch. After knocking out the World's Strongest Man in a match again Daniel Bryan, SmackDown GM Teddy Long granted Big Show's rematch request.

This didn't sit well with Henry who took his frustrations out on Daniel Bryan. As a result of a beatdown to Mr. Money In The Bank, Big Show vowed to end Henry's reign of terror as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Match

 Not sure how much I like the idea of Big Show out-powering Henry in the beginning of the match, but it served its purpose.  The match had a fair amount of storytelling with Henry working over Big Show's leg. The audience couldn't have been more indifferent to the match. 

Solid effort by both men, but their frames hurt the pacing of the match. The barricade spot was nice and the audience response was good. The Superplex tease was a bit funnier than it should have been. Props to Big Show for going to the top rope for the elbow drop. The DQ ending was appropriate, but it felt cheap.

I do applaud the WWE also for resisting the temptation of having Bryan cash in after the match after Big Show "destroyed" Henry's leg.

Grade

C+.

As I said, this was a good effort by both men with some nice spots. The ending was needed to continue the feud to Tables, Ladders and Chairs. That said, the ending hurt the overall grade of the match.

Consequences

 The feud will continue through TLC. Bryan's involvement is going to be needed to gain more meaningful mileage from the feud. How much this one has left remains to be seen.

WWE Championship: Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk

Backstory

 At Vengeance, Alberto Del Rio defeated John Cena in a Last Man Standing match (with a little help from Awesome Truth). After the feud with Cena blew off, Punk interrupted a promo by Del Rio and demanded a title match, noting that he never received his "one on one rematch" clause as a result of Del Rio's cashing in of the Raw "Money In The Bank" contract on Punk at SummerSlam.

Laurinaitis was inclined to grant his match request provided Punk say that he respected "The Funkman."  Punk, being Punk, denigrated everything about Laurinaitis that he could. The next week, Laurinaitis gave Punk a match with Henry, saying he could have his WWE Title opportunity if he defeated the big man. Del Rio came out and caused Punk to lose by disqualification.

The Raw GM said Punk could have his shot if Del Rio agreed to it. Punk, again being Punk, tortured Del Rio with the Anaconda Vice until Del Rio agreed to the match. Del Rio, of course didn't like this, and the two traded "beatdown" segments the next week.

Match

 The pre-match segments were nice and The Fink coming out for Punk was a nice touch. Del Rio and Punk took it slow at the beginning, but had a few nice reversals. There were a couple of nice spots with Punk's suicide dive and Del Rio hitting the dropkick on Punk as the latter was chasing Ricardo.

Punk and Del Rio put on a clinic of holds in the first half, then picked up pace as needed. Del Rio had a wicked-looking botch/landing on the outside. There were shades of the Money In The Bank main event with the pacing of the match. Though not as great, it was good. Del Rio looked strong in the second half of the match.

Funny they redid the Savage spot. The crowd came alive at the right moment it needed to when Del Rio locked on the Cross Armbreaker. The ending was fantastic and Del Rio crawling at Punk's face was a great sell.

Grade

A-.

Fantastic match. Del Rio and Punk could do this all night. I wish were Del Rio were more over as a heel, but no doubting his effort tonight.  The near falls were perfect in timing as well.

Consequences

 Del Rio is going to have a rematch clause, so the feud will continue to TLC. Ladder match anyone?

John Cena and The Rock vs. Awesome Truth

Backstory

 The Rock hosed Cena at WrestleMania 27 in his title match against The Miz. Fast forward to Hell In A Cell and the duo of Awesome Truth (R-Truth and The Miz) beat down Del Rio, Punk and Cena after the triple threat Hell In A Cell match.

Going to Vengeance, The Miz and Truth cost Cena the match with Del Rio. Getting sick of the duo, John Cena asked The Rock to team with him at Survivor Series, ahead of their expected titanic clash at WrestleMania 28.  The Rock accepted, noting that he wasn't doing so because of John Cena, but because of the millions...and millions of the Rock's fans.

Match

 As with the Punk and Del segments, the various bits were good including The Rock's promo. As Cole remarks, "vintage Rock." The visceral hatred for Cena was tangible in his intro. The Rock's bulked up. The Rock didn't have as much rust as I thought he would. Pretty solid storytelling in the first few minutes.

I like how they played up the tension between Cena and Rock, though it seemed to dominate a bit more than it should have.  The match picked up steam when Miz and Truth took over on action. The crowd chants were simply awesome. Miz and Truth got a little too rest hold heavy in their time on offense.  Otherwise, pretty formulaic. Truth doing his theatrics before the leg drop was interesting.

The ending got interesting with Rock hitting the People's Elbow for the pin. The Rock nailing the Rock Bottom on Cena was needed to send the fans home happy.

Grade  

B+.

Good PPV main event, but the pacing felt a little off due to the reliance on rest holds in the middle when it should have started gaining steam.  That said, solid storytelling in the match with some alright action once it got back into gear.

Consequences

 The Rock and Cena will, of course, continue their banter up to WrestleMania 28. Cena should continue to feud with Awesome Truth as a placeholder until the Royal Rumble.

Minutiae and Overall Grade

Random Thoughts

"Thanks for the Buzzkill."

"We want Ryder!"

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly..."

Beth is a pimp.

The Rock could fart in a kettle and we'd worship him.  Oddly, I think he has a career in Death Metal if he wanted. Good form for him tonight.

Kofi gets the award for outfit of the night.

Did Sin Cara get written off TV again?

"Hunico!...thanks for coming."

Cue Wonder Orton.

NYC earned their smark points tonight with the "Let's Go Henry!" chant.  At least that's what I heard.

"Boring. Boring. Boring."

Finkle! Yeah! I think the kid in me just marked out.

"We want Ice Cream! Colt Cabana!" I love this audience.

Punk/Del Rio wasn't Punk/Cena, but still a great match.

"Boots to Asses!"

New York City, I salute you.

Match of the Night

 Punk vs. Del Rio. You can make an argument for Ziggler/Morrison and The Rock and Cena/Awesome Truth, but neither had the gravity of Punk and Del Rio in my opinion.

Overall Grade

 B+/A-. 

A very good to great pay-per-view that was hampered by a lackluster World Heavyweight Championship match ending. The matches went about how I thought they would. Dolph/MoJo and Team Barrett/Team Orton lived up to expectations, while Punk/Del Rio exceeded them. The main event didn't quite go how I thought it would, but I'm okay with that.

The Rock's return went about as expected with nice action and sticking to his usual move set. Overall, worth the cash if you enjoy good matches. A title change in a strong match helps matters and a hot crowd helped the overall excitement level. It wasn't the best pay-per-view of the year, but it was a great night none the less.

Thanks for reading. What did you think? Was The Rock in good form tonight? How good was Punk/Del Rio? Does Henry's low blow feel like a cop out?  Leave your comments below.