The 7 Biggest Winners From The Survivor Series

Survivor Series might be over, but that doesn’t mean that the party has to stop. Despite the mounds and mounds of confetti, Roman Reigns and his supporters are probably in the need of some silver lining. Insert this article.

Hi, I’m Mitch. I’m going to do my best to be optimistic and honor the best of the best from WWE’s second oldest Pay-Per-View. These are the biggest winners and there were several of them. Really, there were some big victories as well as a few good performances from this show.

Keep in mind that while most of the literal winners from each of the matches are featured in this article, not all are. On the flip side, a few non-winners still found ways to win me over and land a spot in this article. Let’s start it off with a wrestler from the pre-show…

Goldust

Goldust defeated Stardust at the beginning of the year at WWE Fast Lane. Stardust succumbed to a rollup then and lost to his older brother. Later on in that show, the elder Dust told his late father that the rivalry was not over. I believed him. It felt not over. The very underwhelming match that was seen on that night would’ve been more forgivable if it was all a set up to a brother versus brother about at WrestleMania 31. It was not.

The follow-up to that fast lane encounter did not come, but on the pre-show to Survivor Series 2015 it looked like WWE might be willing to pick this story back up once again. One positive for Goldust is that he scored an elimination when he pinned The Miz. His babyface team won after The Dudleys took out the leader of the Cosmic Wasteland last.

Will this lead to a proper blowoff with him and Stardust? It sure feels like it.

New Day

Like usual, New Day have proven themselves to be the show stealers of anything they are involved in. Before their unannounced Survivor Series elimination match, they brought the funny like they always do. From that glorious work of art atop Xavier Woods head to the very awkward attempt at fitting in by Sheamus, these guys were gold like they always are.

Big E did get eliminated but the other two did not. Their compassion for their hurt brother is commendable but wasn’t completely explained. Were they counted out? I’m interested in finding out, so the fact that they are entertaining and still keep me wanting more earns them a spot on this winners list.

Charlotte

WWE tried to infuse some personal animosity last Monday when they brought up Charlotte’s dead brother, which mostly backfired on them. This was supposed to be a very personal fight and they tried their best to bring aggression. Personally, I feel like they succeeded in the ring.

I wouldn’t say that the crowd agreed with my sentiment. I mostly heard indifference and sparse “We Want Sasha” chants, but that didn’t hurt my enjoyment. There were tons of brutal stretching and rolling on the outside as well.

Charlotte vs. Paige wasn’t a four-star match but it did feel a lot more deserving of a #DivasRevolution nod that most of the main roster bouts since that movement began.

Tyler Breeze

Tyler Breeze got his first Pay-Per-View win at Survivor Series against last year’s non-Sting darling of the show, Dolph Ziggler. It was admittedly a match that wasn’t anything special but a first win on a stage like this is still a big deal.

Tyler’s pairing with Summer Rae has also proven to be a winning formula. Evidence of this can be found in an interview that the two did with Tom Phillips on the pre-show in which they were answering Twitter questions. The funniest part was when Breeze told Phillips to use the Internet to “Googs,” which he explained was an “Abrevs.” Summer played off of him as well with a chemistry the far exceeded what she had with both Ziggler and Rusev.

The Brothers Of Destruction

I know that there are plenty of people that love The Undertaker and that this 25th Anniversary was supposed to be a big night for him, but I’m just not that into it. Even so, I can appreciate his win and performance. The double choke slam of Braun Strowman through the Spanish announce table was a cool spot. The audience even busted out a Daniel Bryan “Yes” chant to show their appreciation.

I knew going into this that it was naïve to think that the Wyatts were going to walk out looking like anything other than a bunch of pansies against these two aged competitors, but I held out hope.

Oh well, I will stop my complaining because this is supposed to be more of a positive article celebrating the big winners. The Undertaker and Kane both one in one of the most hyped matched of the card, so kudos to them.

Roman Reigns

When Roman Reigns fought against Brock at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins cashed in his briefcase mid-match to spoil what could’ve been a WWE World Heavyweight Championship victory. When he almost won the briefcase himself at Money In The Bank, Bray Wyatt interfered to stop him from nabbing it. That briefcase must have Reigns curse on it, but we’ll get back to that in a minute.

Reigns battled and defeated Alberto Del Rio in the opening contest and one of the best matches of the night. He faced the man who defeated Kevin Owens in another great match, Dean Ambrose. The speculation before this night was that either Roman or Dean would not only win, but there would also be a heel turn from one of them. It made sense because WWE would need a heel in title picture.

Roman defeated his former Shield brother in the finals of the tournament to snag his first ever WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It was predictable, but it worked. Surprisingly, Ambrose exited the ring after congratulating his friend and would not be seen again.

Sheamus

WWE needed a top heel in the title picture and apparently they still consider Sheamus a top heel. After Roman refused a handshake from COO Triple H after his big win, he speared him. During this commotion, the Celtic Warrior entered the ring and cashed in his MITB briefcase. There was a brief back and forth, but Sheamus emerged as the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Personally, I like Sheamus. He’s not bad in the ring and he’s willing to embrace the jeers of the crowd. The biggest gripe is that he’s been booked as mostly a loser for the past few months but that seems typical of how WWE books MITB winners.

Like it or not, Sheamus is the newest WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He left the show with the biggest prize in all of wrestling so for that he’s the biggest winner from Survivor Series 2015.

Final Thoughts

This was a so-so night of wrestling that didn’t offer too many above average matches. The semi-final matches were the highlight of the show for me. Story-wise, there was plenty to talk about. It’ll be interesting to see where WWE goes with Sheamus from here on out. I don’t mind the guy so I’m willing to see this through.

Roman Reigns won me over slightly more as a character (or more appropriately, as a person) at the end of the show. When he looked back up the entrance ramp in disbelief of what Sheamus just did to him, he had a quiver in his lower jaw. I want to believe that that was legitimate. I want to believe that what I saw was a guy who soaked in the brief minutes that he had at the pinnacle of this business and watched helplessly as that moment exited. I want to believe that it broke his heart.

Don’t get me wrong, “I want to believe that it broke his heart” sounds callous, but if that’s what was going on with him emotionally in that moment, then he won a lot of ground with me. That’s a connection that I can understand and can get behind.

Thanks for reading. Find me on Twitter @MitchNickelson
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