411’s WWE Survivor Series Report 11.22.15

The Ascension, Bo Dallas, The Miz and Stardust vs. Goldust, The Dudley Boyz, Neville and Titus O’Neil

The returning Goldust and Stardust go at it until Stardust runs out. Viktor comes in and gets eliminated within 29 seconds after a powerslam. Konnor and Titus O’Neil come in. The crowd barks. Titus lights Konnor up with chops in the corner. He leaps over him and slams him down. Titus hits a leg drop and tags D-Von. He quickly tags Bubba so they can do the WAZZUP headbutt. D-VON! GET THE TABLES! Miz and Stardust run in but get clotheslined out. Bo charges and Neville flips him over. Neville charges and hits a corkscrew dive out onto everyone. They go to break. Returning, Konnor back drops Bubba and hits an elbow for two. Bubba gets rid of him right after though, at 5:34. Unfortunately, I missed the actual move that sent him out and for that I apologize. Stardust lays into D-Von, who gets stuck in the corner with the heels. Miz gets tagged and kicks him in the mouth for two. Stardust comes in and gets hit in the gut, flipping over. D-Von tags Neville, who comes in hot, lighting Stardust up with a series of kicks. Neville hits a German but Bo blind tagged in. He hits the Bodog and Miz tags during it. He hits the Skull Crushing Finale to eliminate Neville at 8:50. Goldust sneaks in to roll up Miz and send him packing at 9:06. Miz complains to officials and Stardust attacks his brother before another commercial. Some of the upcoming WWE Network shows look really fun. Returning, Bo Dallas is beating up Goldust outside. Inside, Bo nails a dropkick for two. Stardust asks the crowd if they want tables and then declines to get one. He stomps on Goldust. Stardust nearly gets eliminated on a school boy, but kicks out. Stardust tags Bo and they cut the ring in half. Goldust finally finds an opening and tags Titus, while Bo gets tagged. Titus runs Bo over and splashes Stardust in the corner. He bit boots Bo and catches a flying Stardust into two backbreakers. Bubba and Goldust do a dueling series of punches that take down both opponents. CLash of the Titus hits to eliminate Bo at 17:13. Stardust is left all alone. Stardust goes to leave but the faces corner him and he runs into the 3D to end it.

Winners: Goldust, the Dudley Boyz and Titus O’Neil in 18:01

This wasn’t awful from an action standpoint. However, the booking was strange. The Ascension get eliminated by non-finishers? If the match was going to go the way it did, why even get rid of Neville? Why not do a clean sweep? Just strangely booked. Combine that with decent at best action and you don’t get a high score. **

WWE Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Alberto Del Rio w/ Zeb Colter vs. Roman Reigns

The crowd seems to be behind Alberto Del Rio more than Roman Reigns, at least during the intros. They lock up and Reigns applies a headlock. Del Rio sends him off the ropes but is taken down with a shoulder tackle. Del Rio backs him in the corner and hits some kicks and punches but Reigns carries him out and back drops him hard. Del Rio pulls him, sending him outside. Reigns pulls him out and connects on a big right hand. Del Rio whips him into the guardrail. Inside, Del Rio gets sent into the corner. We get dueling “Let’s go Roman” “Roman sucks” chants. He catches Del Rio and just slams him down for two. It’s like he wanted to do a tilt-a-whirl slam but gave up midway Del Rio snaps Reigns’ head down on the top rope and hits an enziguri that sends him outside. Triple H is shown watching backstage. Del Rio wears him down with a chinlock. Reigns fights out but misses a move in the corner and rams his shoulder into the ring post. Del Rio fires away with kicks now. Del Rio goes to attack but misses and flies through the second rope straight to the floor. Reigns follows out with the Drive By dropkick. Reigns smashes Del Rio’s head into the announce table. Inside, Reigns hits a big leaping clothesline. He follows with more clotheslines in the corner. Reigns calls for the Superman Punch as the crowd mostly boos. He misses and Del Rio nails the backstabber for a near fall. Del Rio gets another near fall and argues with the official. He signals for the superkick as the fans chant “Si”. Reigns ducks and hits a Samoan drop for two. He sets Del Rio up top but gets heabutted until he lands in the tree of woe. Del Rio looks for the double stomp but misses. Reigns hits the Superman punch. He goes for the Spear but runs into the superkick for two. Cross Armbreaker attempt is countered and Reigns hits a sitout powerbomb for two. Both men are down. Del Rio locks in the Cross Armbreaker from the ground. Reigns turns over and carries him to the top and puts him outside. Del Rio still holds on though, but breaks before five. Del Rio jumps off the top but misses and runs into a Spear.

Winner: Roman Reigns in 14:04

I rather enjoyed that. Roman Reigns has still not had a bad PPV match outside of the Royal Rumble. They tried to get people to buy into other possible finishes though we all knew how it would end. They worked well together. Good but predictable. ***1/4

Jojo interviews Roman Reigns backstage. Dean Ambrose shows up and congratulates him on the win. Reigns wants it to be the friends in the finals. Ambrose leaves and Kevin Owens shows up. Owens says that Roman has been close before but hasn’t gotten it done. He says that he will be in the finals. He leaves and Roman says that Ambrose is gonna whip his ass. Believe that.

WWE Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

 This starts like the last match, with Dean Ambrose applying a headlock. Kevin Owens fights out with right hands and puts on his own. Owens tackles Ambrose down but runs into some arm drags. Ambrose school boys Owens for one. Owens does it back to him for one. Owens fires up with some corner chops. Dean leaps over Owens and forearms him down. Ambrose knocks him outside and follows with a double axe handle. Inside, he hits a bulldog for one. Dean goes up top and gets crotched. Owens gets him down in the corner and cannonballs in for another one count. Owens chooses to wear Dean down with a chinlock. Owens changes up to a TKO variation for the first actual two count. Owens shouts “COME ON COLE”. Senton from Owens scores two again. He taunts the crowd in between offense. Split chants from teh crowd. Owens just knocks Dean down for two again. Back to the chinlock for Owens, who shouts “CHINLOCK CITY”. HHH is watching again, standing in front of the TV like everyone does when they watch TV. Ambrose avoids a second senton and they go old school with the double clothesline spot. They get up and trade forearms. Ambrose wins and goes into chops and jabs, but is hot shot onto the top rope. Owens hits a gutbuster and goes to the top. He misses a moonsault. Dean climbs and hits the elbow he’s become known for. That only gets two. Dean starts to fire up, sitting Owens on the top. He goes up, but Owens blocks and knocks Ambrose off. Ambrose gets back up but it’s again blocked and Owens hits his second rope swinging fisherman suplex for two. Owens shouts for Dean to stay down and wants Michael Cole to tell him the same. They trade slaps and Owens sends him in for the popup powerbomb. Dean instead does the rebound lariat. Owens rolls outside to avoid getting pinned so Dean suicide dives out onto him. Owens goes to the other side and Dean tries another dive but is caught. Owens just slams him onto the announce table and rolls him in. He goes for the popup powerbomb again but Dean leaps over. Superkick from Owens. Dean rebounds off but right into another superkick. Popup powerbomb attempt is countered into a hurricanrana. Dean then hits Dirty Deeds to advance.

Winner: Dean Ambrose in 11:18

I wish that this got the time the opener did. Still, it was pretty great. Even teh slower rest spots were entertaining because of Kevin Owens being a dick. The finishing sequence was great, capping a really strong match. ***3/4

We are shown an Undertaker video package where various legends talk about his legacy.

The Lucha Dragons, Ryback and the Usos vs. King Barrett, New Day and Sheamus

The heels all come out to New Day’s theme. New Day run down Atlanta. Sheamus dances to New Day’s theme and he says they’re gonna get jiggy. New Day is confused by this and give him awkward silence. Xavier Woods has a James Brown like hairdo and wants to make sure Jimmy Uso doesn’t touch it. Xavier yells at him and Jimmy knocks him down before pulling the hair. Tag to Jey and they try a double team, but Xavier escapes and tags Kofi. Kofi gets taken down and Sin Cara comes in to splash him for two. Sin Cara gets two on a suplex but Kofi kicks him and tags Sheamus. Sheamus pounds on him but then is sent outside. Sin Cara dropkicks Barrett off the apron. Tag to Jey as Xavier and KOfi run in to get sent out too. WE GOT US SOME FLYING USOS, while the Lucha Dragons dive out with them. Ryback and Big E are left in the ring. Ryback climbs to the top and does his splash out onto everyone. Inside, Barrett crotches Jey on the top and Sheamus covers for two. Tag to Barrett who stomps on him. Barrett hits a big knee and tags Sheamus. The heels do quick tags and take turns stomping on Jey relentlessly. Woods gets on the trombone while Big E, Kofi and Barrett dance. Woods comes in as Jimmy gets tagged and eats a sloppy Samoan drop. Jimmygets distracted by Barrett allowing Woods to dropkick him. Tag to Barrett, who fires away. Jimmy superkicks him and tags Sin Cara, who he assists in standing on the top rope and swanton bombing in. He eliminates Barrett at 7:47. The Lucha Dragons work a double team on Kofi where Sin Cara monkey flips Kalisto into a 450 for two. Jimmy comes in and hits a splash for two. Woods hits a double stomp from teh top after a Kofi backbreaker and Jimmy is sent packing at 9:22. Cara nearly eliminates Xavier with a rollup. He hits a springboard attack and then a spingboard moonsault for near falls. Woods kicks Sin Cara and tags Big E, who spears Sin Cara off the apron. Sheamus tags himself in and calls for the Brogue Kick. Big E doesn’t seem pleased. Brogue Kick eliminated Sin Cara at 10:42. Big E argues with Sheamus, who tags him back in. Ryback comes in and clotheslines Sheamus outside. Big E knocks him down and looks for his splash but Ryback clotheslines him. Tag to Kalisto who hits his spike rana. Tag to Jey to hits a top rope splash that sends Big E home at 11:30. Xavier argues that Big E isn’t eliminated. Kofi and Xavier then say that Big E needs help and they walk him to the back, leaving Sheamus all alone. Sheamus realizes that and goes at it with Kalisto, suplexing him for two. He talks trash as he beats up Kalisto. Kalisto hits a handspring kick and goes for the hot tag to Jey. Jey comes off the top with a cross boy for two. Jey gets Sheamus in the corner and hits a forearm. He connects on the Umaga ass attack for another near fall. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse backbreaker for a near fall. Tag to Ryback who hammers on Sheamus. The crowd doesn’t seem into him. He hits a big clothesline in the corner and follows with another. Sheamus gets his foot up on a third but eats a spinebuster. Ryback looks for the Meat Hook but Sheamus avoids it and rolls him up for two. He hits a tilt-a-whirl slam for another two. Sheamus calls for the Brogue Kick but Ryback catches him for a powerbomb. Sheamus fights out but Kalisto is tagged. He goes for a rana but Sheamus holds on. Jey comes in with a superkick. Tag to Ryback who hits the Shell Shock and they win.

Winners: Kalisto, Jey Uso and Ryback in 17:33

This was a blast until the New Day walked out. Once that happened, the match quality dipped. They kept hyping Sheamus possibly rallying but he didn’t. You had a chance to give Mr. Money in the Bank a legit shining moment and instead, just had the faces go over in dull fashion. **1/2

WWE Divas Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Paige

For a match that’s supposed to be personal, Charlotte is smiling and they don’t go after each other. Charlotte slams her down and keeps her down on the mat. They fight to the apron with things getting a little more hard hitting thanks to some forearms. Paige sends her into the ring post and she falls to the mat. Paige shouts “MY HOUSE” and goes outside, slamming Charlotte’s face into the announce table. Inside. Charlotte tries to take her down but Paige blocks and puts her on the mat. Paige applies an abdominal stretch and ends up on Charlotte’s back. Charlotte fights out with a backpack stunner. Charlotte hits some chops but Paige kicks her in the gut. Charlotte bounces off the ropes with a big boot. She looks for the figure eight but Paige pulls her into a small package for two. A superkick also gets her two. Charlotte ends up locking in the figure four but commentary puts off that it isn’t the figure eight. Because you know, the figure four by itself is such a shit move. They turn it over a few times and Charlotte holds on as she falls outside. It was the Bret Hart figure four post spot but on the apron. Charlotte did it on NXT a few months ago. She drops Paige on her face on the apron. Charlotte mocks the “MY HOUSE” stuff and sends Paige inside. Charlotte drops some knees and does the Alex Shelley skullfuck. She starts to swing Paige over using her leg strength. She drives her shoulder into Paige’s ribs in the corner a few times but misses the last one and runs into the post. The fight goes outside where Paige beats on her and sends her back in. Paige wrenches Charlotte on the ropes. Paige takes Charlottes leg and puts it near her head while applying a chinlock. Charlotte manages to fight out but Paige catches her with a knee in the corner. Charlotte drops her on fer face on the turnbuckle. They trade shots in the middle of the ring before Paige awkwardly throws Charlotte into the ropes, only so she can bounce off and hit a Spear. Natural Selection hits but Paige rolls outside. Paige throws Charlotte into the barricade a few times. Paige gets on the guardrail and poses for the fans. Charlotte joins her and tries a spear from the top but it comes off looking so bad. Charlotte doesn’t want the countout win and sends Paige back in. She puts on the figure four, slapping Paige in the process. She turns it into the figure eight and Paige taps.

Winner and Still WWE Divas Champion: Charlotte in 14:14

The match was solid but it made no sense. They hyped it (and continued to do so during the match) as a bitter, personal feud but they mostly had a normal match. Only a few times did I feel there was animosity. It’s like they would randomly forget it was supposed to be more than a normal match. The two spear spots came off looking bad as well, not helping things. **3/4

We see an interview from earlier today where Jojo spoke to Dean Ambrose. He admits to being Roman’s friend but tonight is for the belt and he’s going to fight. Reigns comes up and says the same thing and they do the fist bump.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze w/ Summer Rae

 Tyler Breeze takes down Dolph Ziggler and poses on the top. They go through an exchange where Dolph arm drags him and then poses to mock Breeze. Tyler runs away and ends up pulling the apron up before sending Dolph hard into the ropes. Breeze starts to beat on Dolph on the ropes. He locks in a half crab but Dolph reaches the ropes. Tyler leaps right into a dropkick from Ziggler. Dolph gets hot and hits a corner splash and neckbreaker. He yells randomly for no real reason. An elbow gets him two. He looks for the Fameasser but Breeze avoids it for a rollup for two. Breeze ties another with the ropes for two and Dolph gets his own for a near fall. Dolph uses a sunset flip for two, and they counter each other about five times for more near falls. Dolph hits a flapjack of sorts. He looks for the superkick but Breeze catches it. They do a backslide for two and Breeze runs away from a superkick. Tyler is on the apron and kicks Dolph in the knee. Unprettier hits to end it.

Winner: Tyler Breeze in 6:39

I think their styles work pretty well together, but this didn’t really seem to get going. They kind of just went back and forth with nothing of real not happening. It was also too short for anything to get going. **1/4

Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper w/ Erick Rowan and Braun Stroman vs. Kane and the Undertaker

Undertaker gets a few extra gongs during his entrance. Kane then does his pyro, setting two Undertaker symbols ablaze by the stage. A giant casket opens above the entrance, showing images of Undertaker throughout the years. Erick Rowan runs in to a double big boot. Then he gets double chokeslammed. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper get on the apron and Bray tells Stroman to stay. Kane lights up Harper and clotheslines him down. He hits a side slam for two. Undertaker gets tagged. He didn’t dye his sideburns and they are very grey. He lays into Harper with right hands. He hits some shoulder blocks and keeps Harper from tagging. OLD SCHOOL! Harper blocks it and tags Bray. Undertaker takes him out with a clothesline for two. Bray tags right back out. OLD SCHOOL works this time. Undertaker sends Harper outside, only to put him on the apron for the guillotine leg drop. Kane gets tagged and Harper finally gets in some real offense. Wait, nevermind. Kane lands on his feet outside and then big boots Stroman. Bray distracts Kane, allowing Stroman to throw him into the announce table. Bray rolls Kane in and starts to work him over. The Wyatt Family use quick tags to keep the pressure on Kane. Bray goes for Sister Abigail and mocks the Undertaker, allowing Kane to slip free and nail a DDT. Both tags come and Undertaker lays into Harper with right hands. Undertaker grabs both men for chokeslams but Braun distracts. They send him out, only for him to choke Stroman outside. Kane goes out to help and they clear off the Spanish announce table. They double chokeslam him through the table. Sister Abigail hits on Undertaker but Kane breaks up the pin. Harper takes out Kane with the discus lariat. Bray and Harper crawl towards the brothers, who sit up at the same time. They chokeslam both Harper and Bray at the same time. Undertaker plants Harper with the Tombstone and that’s all she wrote.

Winners: Kane and the Undertaker in 10:19

All of the special Undertaker stuff was nice but this was incredibly one sided. The Wyatt Family came off looking like total chumps as this was almost never competitive. I might even be generous with this score. **1/4

The Undertaker and Kane do their signature poses on the way out.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Finals: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns

After his shirt got ripped earlier, Dean Ambrose just gave up on wearing one. Crowd is more behind him than Roman Reigns. They go right after each other with right hands until Roman suplexes Dean. Dean charges but runs into a brick wall named Roman Reigns. They fight to the outside where Reigns throws Dean into the barricade. Dean knocks him down with the rebound lariat and hits a suicide dive. Dean gets two inside and does a single arm DDT. He then applies an armbar. Wise since Del Rio worked it earlier. He also says “I’ll break your arm brother”, showing that while they’re friends, the title means more. So good. Reigns knocks Dean down and picks him up for a powerbomb, hitting a sitout one for two. Reigns sets him up top and nails a right hand. He goes up but Dean fights him off and goes for a sunset flip bomb. It comes off awkward and Reigns kind of just falls. Dean goes up and tries the lunatic elbow but Roman meets him in midair with a superman punch for a near fall. He calls for another superman punch but Dean counters for Dirty Deeds. Reigns blocks but Dean hits the rebound lariat. Reigns hits a spear from out of nowhere for two. Roman is up first, looking for another Spear but Dean kicks him to block it. Reigns charges but Dean send shim into the post and rolls him up for two. Dean hits Dirty Deeds for two. Both guys are down and they get to seated positions at the same time. This leads to an exchange of right hands that continues until they stand. Roman hits a headbutt but Dean fires back with shots. Reigns hits the ropes but Dean is there with a kitchen sink. Dean hits forearms in the corner. Roman turns it around with clotheslines. Reigns hits the Spear and wins.

Winner and New WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns in 9:01

Disappointing. They were building towards something really good but just ended things really quickly. That came off as rather cheap. What they did do was really good so I’m not giving it a bad score, but it could have been so much more. ***

Triple H comes out to congratulate Roman Reigns and raises his hand in victory. He offers a handshake but Roman declines. He looks at his belt and spears Hunter. Sheamus shows up with a Brogue Kick. He cashes in.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sheamus

He covers but only gets two. He waits for Roman to get up and sets for another Brogue. Reigns dodges but eats one anyway for the three.

Winner and New WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus in 0:34

Wow.

Sheamus hugs Triple H and they leave together. When Roman Reigns leaves, there are tears in his eyes.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

I assume Reigns wins the Rumble and then finally wins the ultimate prize at Mania. Still, this was odd as the ratings are in the toilet and you put the title on Sheamus of all people. Anyway, the show itself was one of the lesser shows all year. Ambrose/Owens was really good but not great. Everything else was average at best and some of the booking decisions (both Survivor Series matches, the cash in and the Wyatt match) were baffling. Plus the main event was so anti-climactic.