Matt Roberts
Over the last few weeks we here at TWM have been compiling a list to celebrate everything great about WWE’s annual November pay per view extravaganza Survivor Series. We’ve given you our take on dream teams, top moments and shows and now here we have our top 3 favourite matches from each event. We hope you’ve enjoyed the countdown to Survivor Series and the work we have put into it each week so here goes my take on the top 3 Survivor Series bouts:
Elimination Chamber match 2002
It’s almost impossible to talk about the long and storied history of Survivor Series without mentioning the first ever Elimination Chamber match. Without question one of the greatest moments in the ppv’s history it also ranks as one of the greatest matches. The story to this bout was phenomenal – Triple H during his first initial “reign of terror” as World Heavyweight Champion back in 2002 had turned back challenges from RVD and Kane amongst others on Raw to remain World Champion.
However he had tangled with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam prior to becoming World Champion and now HBK was returning to exact revenge on The Game and claim the World title in his first title opportunity since returning from back surgery in one of WWE’s most prolific cities – New York at Madison Square Garden. There was no doubt that the match would’ve had a big time feel even if you removed the chamber and simply made it Triple H defending in a 6 pack challenge against Chris Jericho, Kane, RVD, Booker T and Shawn Michaels.
The debut of WWE’s newest gimmick made the match even more memorable. The match itself featured big moves and dives from the top of the chamber pods as well as wrestlers going through the glass surrounding each pod. Poignantly the final two came down to Triple H and HBK and the closing moments of the match were breath taking. It was Triple H missing a pedigree and HBK hitting the Sweet Chin Music for the pinfall that blew the roof off of Madison Square Garden to one of the most deafening ovations I have ever heard. Truly a great match in WWE history not just Survivor Series.
The Rock vs Mankind for the WWE Championship 1998
I’ll admit right from the get go that this match was not the best match that these two would have together. They went on to have many more incredibly compelling and hard-hitting bouts for the remainder of 1998 and into the early months of 1999 as well. However this bout is memorable for the storyline events that led to a Rock heel turn and simultaneous babyface turn for Mankind. Adding to the match that The Rock won the WWE title for the very first time made it even more of a memorable moment for me personally. It was certainly a good match I absolutely can state that but the overall story and the impact the rivalry between these two as a whole it what made the impact on me as a fan and why I would highly recommend watching this as this is where one of WWE’s greatest ever rivalry’s started.
Team WWE (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show) vs Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shane Mcmahon, Booker T, RVD and Kurt Angle) in a winner takes all bout at Survivor Series 2001
Similarly to my last entry on Survivor Series 2001 I already can hear the collective groans of many fans at the mere mention of this match being on a “best ever” list however the impact that this match had on me personally was hugely profound. As I’ve explained in my previous lists 2001 was the year I became a WWE fan for the very first time and at the time this match seemed like a huge deal. Only being 12 years old at the time I believed everything WWE told me and they had me legitimately believing that WWE would cease to exist with a loss to the dreaded Alliance team.
Given that the stakes were so high I had a huge invested interest in this and so badly wanted to see The Rock come out on top as the victor and exact vengeance against Stone Cold Steve Austin for the beating and taking of the WWE title back at Wrestlemania. Given the scale of talent involved it was a pretty darn good match and the final two did come down to Steve Austin and The Rock although it was with a Kurt Angle assist that The Rock was able to hit the match winning Rock Bottom and defeat Steve to take the win for team WWE.