Ring Crew Reviews: WWE Survivor Series 2007

• DVD Packaging: In a stroke of marketing genius, Edge was all over the advertisements for this pay per view in the lead up despite recovering from injury. If nothing else, it telegraphed his participation. DVD cover has Edge holding a huge chainsaw and cutting the ring down the middle. Mine came with a metal tin that has the exact same art.

• DVD Presentation: Menu has the same image as the case. To the left, there is a small square with a video package for Batista-UT, HBK-Orton, and the basic HIAC montage. The menu music “Tick, Tick, Boom” by The Hives.

• Relevant Storylines: CM Punk is straight edge but has no society. Cade and Murdoch do what Hardcore Holly never did: pin Cody Rhodes. Finlay is a face and a heel. Shaq has no beef with The Great Khali. Shawn Michaels can’t use the Sweet Chin Music. Batista and Undertaker wrestle again. And Edge is still injured, we promise.

• Scheduled Card:
1. Triple Threat for the ECW Championship: The Miz vs. John Morrison vs. CM Punk (c).
2. Beth Phoenix, Layla, Jillian Hall, Victoria, and Melina vs. Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Maria, and Mickie James.
3. World Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch (c).
4. Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Kennedy, Finlay, Big Daddy V, and Umaga vs. Kane, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and Triple H.
5. Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali.
6. WWE Championship: Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton (c).
7. Hell in a Cell for the World Heavyweight Championship: Undertaker vs. Batista (c).

• The beginning of the package isn’t that different from the one from 2004: it focuses on the history of the event. Then it segues into a section on Orton-HBK where Orton was calling himself a one man dynasty. Then we get the conclusion with UT-Batista and HIAC. Nothing special here but good stuff.

• Triple Threat for the ECW Championship: The Miz vs. John Morrison vs. CM Punk (c). Punk still a face here. Miz and Morrison are WWE tag champs. MNM jump to start. Punk gives Miz a high kick. Morrison sends Punk across but Punk comes out with the up and over Jack Briscoe roll up that gets 1. Morrison catapults Punk into the turnbuckle but Punk lands on the second. He comes off with a cross body but Morrison ducks and he this Miz. Punk with a leg lariat for Morrison and he dumps Miz to the floor and then dumps Morrison. Punk follows with a suicide dive. Back in, Punk tries to a slingshot but Miz grabs him and pulls him back down to the apron. Double vertical suplex from MNM. More double teaming as Miz and Morrison each take turns hitting Punk. Morrison turns his back for a springboard off the ropes but Miz dumps him. Backdrop suplex on Punk gets 1 and Miz goes to the Camel Clutch. Morrison tries to get back in but Miz cuts him off then Punk hits him with a Shining Apprentice from behind. Morrison then levels Miz with a slingshot dropkick that sends him to the floor. Morrison hits the STO to backbreaker to neckbreaker combination on Punk for 2. Morrison goes to the Japanese sleeper but Punk powers to his feet and then tries to kick his way out but Morrison goes to the eye. He dumps Punk. Punk tries skinning the cat but Miz is on the floor to grab his legs and sends him hard to the floor. Back in, Morrison knees Miz and suplexes back in for 2. Miz kicks out and hits the Stroke on Morrison for 2. Miz hits a clothesline in the corner for 2. Miz tries again but Morrison gets up the boot then goes up top for the Starship Pain. Punk breaks up the pin at 2. He sends Morrison into the corner and perches him up top. He chops him then hits a top rope Frankensteiner. On the way down, Miz catches Morrison and powerbombs him. Nicely choreographed. Punk breaks up the pin again. Miz and Punk slug it out. Punk goes to the kicks and takes him down with a leg lariat. More clotheslines on Miz. High knee for Miz in the corner and a bulldog coming out gets 2. Butterfly backbreaker on Miz gets 2. Morrison recovers and school boys Punk for 2. Punk with more kicks and he sets up the G2S on Morrison but he grabs the top rope. Punk throws him to the apron and ducks as Miz comes flying in and takes out Morrison by accident. Meanwhile, Punk hits the G2S on Miz and that’s enough for the 3 to retain at 7:58. Solid work that conveyed the story and had no noticeable hiccups. ***

• We get footage of MVP turning on Matt Hardy and taking out his knee. JBL gives his astute analysis: “Tiger Woods’s caddy never turned on Tiger Woods. Matt Hardy should have never turned on the captain, MVP.”

• Anastasia (who?) interviews MVP. He says Matt’s crutch fits his career because he’s had one his entire career whether it was Jeff or MVP.

• Beth Phoenix, Layla, Jillian Hall, Victoria, and Melina vs. Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Maria, and Mickie James. Victoria and McCool start. McCool gets a Northern Lights for nothing and a shoulderblock for nothing. Victoria gives her a shitty kick. McCool kicks her back. Torrie in and eats a TKO side slam for 2. Layla in and kicks Torrie. Torrie with a suplex for 2. Jillian and Kelly in. Jillian forcibly makes Kelly motorboat her. Um, yeah. She tries a handspring elbow but Kelly drop kicks her and rolls her up for 2. Maria in with some knees and elbows. Phoenix in and gets a Meltdown. Melina in with choking and an eye rake. Maria ducks and Melina eats rope. Mickie James in with clothesline and a Thesz press. More shots and she wipes out all the heels with the help of her corner. She kisses Melina and then hits her with a roundhouse for the 3 at 4:40. It was short and to the point. *

• Orton cuts a promo and says everyone will be disappointed because the one man dynasty will carry on. And he only repeats himself about 3 times.

• HBK and his cowboy hat are up next. He says Orton has made his life a living hell over the past few months and he’s taking the strap.

• World Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch (c). This was set up by Rhodes and Holly defeating the Rascals and the Highlanders in a number 1 contender match. Jerry gets a nice line as he wonders if Murdoch has a hook in his shower to hang his hat on. Cade and Rhodes start. Cade gets a side headlock and after a criss cross, he gets a hip toss. After some heel taunting, Rhodes gets the Bluechipper dropkick and goes for a hammerlock with some elbows. Rhodes gets a sunset flip but Cade immediately kicks out. Rhodes back to a side headlock and a takedown and they work the count. Cade sends him off and Rhodes ducks a clothesline but jumps into a rib breaker from Cade. Murdoch in and he smacks Rhodes around and goes for a back suplex but Rhodes flips out. Rhodes smacks Murdoch and goes to the headlock. He gets pushed into his own corner and Hardcore is in. Holly gets a back elbow and some chops in the corner. Murdoch cuts him off and throws him into the turnbuckle. Cade in. More forearms. He sends Holly across but runs into a boot. Holly props him on the ropes, low blows him, then dumps him. Murdoch in but Rhodes dumps him. Holly taunts. Back in, Holly smacks around Cade. Cade counters and whips him across and tries to follow him in but Holly avoids and gets a school boy for 2. Cade gets a blind tag and hits the inverted atomic drop and Murdoch in with the Batista kick. That gets 2. Murdoch slams Holly down and tags in Cade and they do the atomic drop/leg drop combo for 2. Another quick tag and Murdoch goes to the neck wrench. Holly counters with a vertical suplex but Murdoch is close enough to get the tag. Cade whiffs on an elbow but gets a clothesline to come back. Cade in. They try to atomic leg drop combo again but Holly rolls out of the way. Tag to Rhodes and he’s in with punches and clothesline for all. Back body drop and Rhodes has a decent pop going for him. He gets a bulldog and goes up top. Missile dropkick on Murdoch but Cade breaks up the pin. Holly dumps Cade with a Cactus clothesline. Cody goes for something but Murdoch counters to the Code Red for the 3 at 7:18 to continue the West Texas Redneck’s second coming. Inoffensive if predictable. **1/4 Post-match, Holly looks to give Rhodes shit but decides to chalk it up to rookie inexperience.

• Interview with Team Triple H consisting of the man himself, Jeff Hardy, Kane, and Mysterio. Jeff says MVP has put a bullseye on himself by taking out Matt. Mysterio says he’s been an underdog his whole life. Kane says he’s never been an underdog and wonders why the hell he’s on Triple H’s team because of the Katie Vick business. Hardy wonders as well because Trips has put him in the hospital. Triple H then apologizes to both and says the beauty of Survivor Series is that a bunch of guys who have done terrible things to each other can come together and do terrible things to others. Funny stuff.

• Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Kennedy, Finlay, Big Daddy V, and Umaga vs. Kane, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and Triple H. Just in case we didn’t have enough going on, they decided to run all three commentary teams during this match. Kennedy and Rey start off. They chain wrestle for a bit until Mysterio tries flipping out of an arm wringer and Kennedy clubs him down. Off a whip, Kennedy gets a shoulderblock. Kennedy sends him across but runs into a boot and a flying headscissors. Off another whip, Mysterio baseball slides under Kennedy and shits on Murdoch’s gimmick by hitting a Code Red for 2. Hardy in and hits the Air Hardy off Mysterio’s back. He punches Kennedy for a while and tries a Twist of Fate but Kennedy reverses and lays him out with a clothesline. MVP in and gets a sizeable reaction. He kicks Hardy some and tags in V. He headbutts and forearms Hardy down. He does the Andre stepover. Off a whip, Hardy scrambles to tag in Kane. Kane comes in with some shots but runs into a belly to belly suplex that gets 2. Kane comes back with boots and a Ho Train in the corner. MVP tries jumping him from behind but Kane uses his Zombie superpowers to detect it. Side slam for MVP and Kane goes up top and hits the flying clothesline on V. He preps the choke slam but Finlay runs in and eats it instead. V gets the Samoan drop and the an elbow drop and Kane is gone at 5:28.

• That’s right; Kane jobbed to an elbow drop. It’s in a SS match so that eliminates some of the sting since inevitably someone will fall to a powerslam. Triple H in and pounds on V and hits the jawbreaker but runs into a clothesline. He tries a splash and whiffs. Taz: “Even though he missed, notice the quickness of Big Daddy V.” Thanks for that. Umaga in and they slug it out. Umaga tries to run in the corner off a whip reversal but eats boot. Trips comes out right into a belly to belly for 2. At least, let the heels do something other than punches, kicks, clotheslines and belly to belly suplexes. Having them all do the same moves as cut offs really exposes the lack of moveset. Umaga hits a headbutt and another. Umaga goes for the diving headbutt off the top but eats canvass. Mysterio in with some shots and baseball slides again and just lays there while Umaga kicks him. Umaga tries a butt drop but Mysterio avoids and comes back with a sitout dropkick for 2. Mysterio goes for the seated senton but Umaga catches him. Rey punches back and hits the Frankensteiner and Umaga falls into the second rope and a 619. Rey hits the seated senton (called a West Coast Pop 2 by Cole) but that only gets 2. Mysterio goes for something but Umaga catches him and hits the release Bossman Slam. A Samoan Spike later and Mysterio is gone at 9:19.

• Face are now down 5-2. Finlay kicks Mysterio to the floor much to Cole’s disgust. JBL: “Taking out the trash.” They all face off in the ring and the fans chant for Triple H. Surprising. Hardy decides he’s not going to give the fans what they want and instead he wants in. Kennedy and Hardy go round and round. Kennedy gets some shots on Hardy and sets him across but Hardy with the up and over and gets on the offense with some punches. He hits a dropkick and then tries the springboard sitout dropkick in the corner but MVP pulls Kennedy out of the way and Jeff eats it. Nice. Another cheap shot according to Herr Cole and his goatee. MVP in now and pounds away on Hardy. MVP goes to the mounted sleeper. Somehow, Jeff manages to get up and do some elbows. They trade shots. MVP gets him in a fireman’s carry and just pancakes him down. MVP goes for the Batista Kick but whiffs and eats a Twist of Fate and he’s gone at 12:41.

• Kennedy already in and pounding on Hardy. The crowd boos the hell out of MVP as he leaves up the entrance. Wow, that’s some heat. Jeff hits an enziguri and tags in Trips. More shots. A jawbreaker and a clothesline get 2. Triple H tries a whip but eats boot. Kennedy gets a head of steam but eats a spinebuster. He tries the cover but V is in and dropping an elbow but Trips move and Kennedy takes the elbow. V gives chase but H lowers the bridge and dumps V. And Kennedy is also gone to the dreaded elbow drop at 14:23.

• V pulls Trips to the outside and throws him into the apron. Hardy tries a splash but V catches him and throws him into the ring post. Triple H eats stairs and V puts both back in the ring. V whips both then tries a shoulderblock on both but they move. They hit the double DDT and V is gone at 15:27.

• Finlay in with some shots, a Ho Train, and a butt bomb for 2. European uppercut and some boots later also get 2. Short arm clothesline, knee to the back, and an elbow drop. Finlay drags H to the corner and jumps off for nothing but eats a conveniently placed boot. Hardy in. More clothesline and this time hits the springboard sitout dropkick on Finlay. Hardy mounts in the corner and tries some shots but Finlay dumps him. After a whip, Hardy comes in with a head of steam but Finlay tosses him to the apron and Jeff eats a big foot from Umaga. Back in, Finlay works over Hardy with some elbows and headbutts. He sends Hardy across but Jeff runs up the turnbuckle and hits the Whisper in the Wind. Umaga in. Hardy gets a mule kick and Finlay tags back in but Triple H also gets the tag. Trips gets the advantage with right hands and he sends Finlay off and takes him down with a high knee. Finlay comes back but eats a spinebuster. We’ve seen like all of these spots already in this very match. Triple H taunts and the crowd likes it. He tries the Pedigree but Umaga hits him with the big foot too. Finlay knocks Jeff off the apron but turns around into a Pedigree and he’s gone at 21:17.

• Umaga in and pounds down Triple H. He goes for the Runaway Samoan Semi but Triple H moves out of the way and tags in Hardy. He hits the Pedigree anyway and Jeff hits the swanton and Umaga is gone at 22:08. Liked the story of the underdog faces that continually had the odds stacked against them until overcoming due to superior firepower late. The mid-match posedown was a nice touch, though I thought the offense was too repetitive. ***3/4

• We get an advertisement for SVR 2008.

• Shaq is in attendance.

• Regal and Coach are in the back with Hornswoggle. Vince comes in and wants a minute alone with Hornswoggle. Vince says he made the match because a McMahon always comes through. Then, we get a tale of the tape for the match.

• Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali. Vince and Shane get their own entrances and Shane does the introductions. JBL says this match will be “biblical.” Khali does the Snitsky taunt in his entrance. Vince and Shane take a seat at ringside. This is some major league stalling. The fans start a populist write-in campaign for Shaq to get in the ring that was decidedly not part of the show. Vince gets on the stick and tells them he doesn’t give a damn what they want. Hornswoggle dropkicks Ranjin down. He tries to kick Khali but Khali gives him the troll yell to scare him away. Hornswoggle gives Ranjin the green mist and crawls under the ring. Hornswoggle comes back with a shillelagh. He takes a swing but Khali catches it and throws it away. Khali smacks Hornswoggle and hits the Snitsky taunt again (don’t they have another generic taunt to give him?). Finlay in with another shillelagh and Charles Robinson calls for the bell before he even hits him. The bell never rang to start it but we’ll call it Khali by DQ at 2:00. I want to go negative because this is a waste of time but the fans chanting for Shaq is a nice non-scripted, real reaction from them. DUD

• WWE Championship: Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton (c). The build up to this feud was pretty damn good despite being one sided. At Judgment Day 2007, Orton attacked Michaels before a match and then again attacked him after the “match.” HBK sold a concussion until making a surprise return on RAW in mid October that got a major pop. At Cyber Sunday, Orton low blowed Michaels while trying to give Sweet Chin Music. In the weeks leading up to this rematch, Michaels hit Orton with 5 different SCMs with Orton getting little retaliation.

• The stips for the match that Michaels can’t use the SCM, and if Orton gets disqualified, Michaels wins the title. Orton still using his old music here but doesn’t have Christian’s pyro. Michaels gets a side headlock and some chain wrestle early. He works a neck vice. HBK chant already. HBK rolls it forward into a bridge but Orton powers up. Michaels snapmares Orton over and keeps the hold on for another bridge that gets 2 and stays on the submission. Orton rolls through but Michaels holds on. Orton tries to pull hair, then punch his way out. He gets a bodyslam but Michaels holds on and rolls through. Badass. Orton powers into the corner and gets a break. But it’s not clean; Orton goes to the punches. He smacks HBK around demands that he kick him. Michaels shoves him back and looks to oblige but instead goes to chops. Story, I like it. HBK with a double leg and mounts with some punches. HBK back to the side headlock. Orton sends him off and Michaels gets the shoulder block. Orton tries to trip him up on the next one but Michaels is a step ahead and goes to a rear mount chinlock. Michaels floats over and goes to the guillotine and knees Orton. This is good shit. Orton tries to throw him off but Michaels holds on. Orton tries to throw him off again but Michaels hangs on and goes back to the knees. Orton slides back and gets the ropes and takes a breather. Michaels gets a suicide dropkick while hanging onto the ropes. Then he goes to the apron and gets a lionsault out to the floor. Orton sure had to stand there just waiting for him to hit the move. Back in, Michaels goes up top for a crossbody but Orton rolls through and gets 2. Orton takes HBK down with a European uppercut and now he’s on the advantage. Orton gets another. Orton sends HBK off and tries a kick but Michaels catches the boot, inside trips Orton, and gets the sharpshooter to a big pop. Orton struggles for a while but finally gets the ropes. He goes to the apron. Michaels gets up but Orton gives him a thumb to the eye and a hangman across the top rope. Orton back in and stomps some and drops a knee. Michaels tries to escape but Orton catches him and DDTs him back into the ring off the ropes for 2. Orton goes to the body vice, reverse chin lock and the crowd gets behind Michaels. Michaels rolls around and gets to his feet and elbows out. They slug it out, Michaels with chops and Orton with right hands. Orton sends Michaels off and he gets the flying burrito coming back. HBK kips up and hits an inverted atomic drop and hits some right hands. He tries another inverted atomic drop but Orton fights off and hits the Bluechipper dropkick to cut him off. That gets 2. Orton tries another drop kick but Michaels hangs on to the ropes. Orton eats canvass and Michaels rolls him up for 2. We’re back to the 5 moves of doom: HBK version as he hits the bodyslam and goes up top. He hits the elbow drop and looks a bit flustered without a plan. He wants the SCM and tunes up the band. The ref warns him. He goes for it and Orton cowers. Michaels puts him foot back down and gets an inside package for 2. Orton sends Michaels off and Michaels goes for a crucifix but can’t get around so he switches to a regular sunset flip but Orton sits down on him for a 2 count. Orton goes for a clothesline but Michaels gets the armbar TD and goes to the Crippler Crossface to a huge pop. Orton close to tapping and the crowd feels it. Orton dragging himself with HBK on his back toward the ropes and he finally gets his leg on the ropes. Crowd boos. Michaels tries again but Orton gets the SWAT team roll and clotheslines HBK down. That gets 2. HBK swings and whiffs and Orton hits the neck/backbreaker. Orton getting ready for the RKO. But instead preps the punt. Michaels catches the foot and swings Orton around into an ankle lock. Orton struggles for the ropes but Michaels pulls him back to the middle and grapevines the leg much to the crowd’s delight. Orton close to tapping but he rolls and kicks HBK off. Niiiiice. Michaels gets an inside trip and goes for a figure four but Orton kicks him off and into the top turnbuckle. Orton preps the RKO but HBK pushes him off. He sends Orton off the ropes. Orton floats over and HBK goes for SCM but decides against it and Orton catches him with the RKO to retain and deflate the crowd at 17:50. Orton was a largely a bystander in the Shawn Michael’s one man band show. But did Michaels ever bring the goods. I can’t remember (although I’m sure it’s happened) another wrestler working completely against character, gimmick, and style to sell the story of a match and the stipulations to this degree like HBK. What other wrestler could perform a match without his signature move and it is a great one? My only regret is that HBK never got another real run with the belt other than the ceremonial reign back in 2002 that lasted barely a month. ****1/2

• We get a tease for Jericho’s return the next night on RAW.

• Hell in a Cell for the World Heavyweight Championship: Undertaker vs. Batista (c). This was set up by Batista pinning UT clean the previous month and Taker wanted a rematch. This is the Super Cell that was created from the leftover ooze used on Toka and Razor. Champ out first. That makes no sense whatsoever seeing as he’s a face and he won last month and it’s a gimmick match to blow off the feud but whatever. Undertaker’s gimmick almost always wins out.

• Batista gets the side headlock to start. Taker sends him off but gets taken down with a shoulderblock. Again and Taker tries a hiptoss but Batista takes him down with a clothesline to counter. Taker up first with boots and fists. He sends Batista off and he ducks another clothesline and comes back at UT with some shots and is already getting subtly booed. Now he sends Taker off and Taker ducks the clothesline and grabs a throat. Batista elbows out and runs off the ropes into, you guessed it, a clothesline. That gets 2. Taker drops an elbow and works over Batista in the corner with punches and headbutts. He hits Snake Eyes and a big boot already for 2. Taker gets under the ring and gets a chair. Taker gets back in the ring and turns into a spear and now he’s got the chair. He tries to run it into UT but Taker gets up the boot and Batista eats the chair. Taker takes him down with a clothesline for 2. Taker goes for The Gasser but Batista sees it coming and escapes. To the floor, we go. Taker hits him and around and throws him into the stairs. More punches and kicks. He rakes Batista across the cage and hits the apron leg drop. Taker gets the chair and wedges it between Batista’s neck and the stairs and then rams the whole thing into the stairs. Nice. Taker starts choking him and then rams the chair across Batista’s throat. Back in, that gets 2. Taker goes to the short arm shoulder surges. He goes for Old School but Batista catches him with the spinebuster. Nice counter. JBL also covers on commentary the implied psychology: “That’s something God just gives ya. You can’t teach power. That’s something Batista did on instinct.” That gets 2 for Batista but even as he covers he struggles and sells the throat. They are slugging it out already. Batista sends him off and another fucking clothesline gets 2. In the corner, Batista hits some shoulder tackles and then hits another goddamn clothesline. A Bulldog powerslam gets 2. Batista sends Taker to the floor. He sends Taker into the stairs. He whips him into the cell and on to rebound hits another clothesline in case we forgot about it. He tries another whip but UT is tired of his repetitive offense and cuts him off and sends him into the stairs. UT gets him on his shoulders and sends Batista face first into the cage. Batista then eats a chairshot and blades. Back in, that gets 2. Taker tries Old School again but Batista cuts him off again and hits a superplex. He tries to cover but Taker grabs the arm and goes for Hell’s Gate. He rolls over and Batista gets the ropes. Batista takes a breather but Taker follows with a very tentative suicide dive. Dave’s got a crimson mask now. Taker gets the stairs but Batista kicks them away and sends UT into the ring post. Dave gets the stairs and Taker eats them four fucking times. Alright, now we’re talking. Taker blades. Back in, Batista mounts in the corner with right hands and bites Taker. UT counters to a Last Ride coming out. Delayed cover gets 2. Taker hits a choke slam and that gets 2. Taker calls for the Tombstone but Batista slides out and hits another spinebuster for 2. Batista heads to the floor and gets a table. He sets it up in the ring. He powerbombs Taker through the table but that only gets 2. Batista now goes to the floor for the stairs because he remembers using them to beat Triple H five years ago and JBL later that year at Summerslam. He sets up the Demon bomb but UT backdrops him onto the stairs. That gets 2 as Batista grabs the ropes. Taker hits the tombstone but that gets 2. UT then tombstones him on the stairs. That gets nothing as Edge pulls the ref out and then waffles Taker with a video camera a la Fully Loaded 99. Edge than puts Taker on the stairs and hits the one man conchairto. He drapes Batista over UT and that gets the 3 to retain at 21:25. Outside of a few nifty counters, this was a fairly average match for these guys. It’s not bad; it’s just not great either. I wanted more of Batista’s bloodlust with the stairs but the whole match seemed to lack fire and intensity. Edge brought more in those terms in the last minute than the entire match before that. ***1/4

• DVD Extras:: We get Jericho’s full re-debut on 11/19/2007 interrupting Orton.

The 411: Easy thumbs up. Micheals-Orton is a classic, the elimination match is good, and the HIAC is a solid match if you don't go in expecting an epic blow off.
Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]