WWE Survivor Series 2004 11/14/2004

November 14, 2004
Gund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 7,500
Buy Rate: .59
Announcers: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole and Tazz

Sunday Night Heat

La Resistance defeats Hurricane (Gregory Helms) & Rosey (Matt Anoa’i) to retain World Tag Team Titles

Pay Per View

1) Spike Dudley (Matt Hyson) defeats Billy Kidman (Peter Gruner), Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) to retain WWE Cruiserweight Championship when he pins Guerrero after a Kidman springboard leg drop at 9:03

Fun Fact: On 10/21, Chavo Guerrero made his return to TV. He confronted Billy Kidman, and gave him a quick beatdown in attempt to get some revenge. On 11/4, Teddy Long announced that Spike Dudley would be defending his Cruiserweight belt against Kidman, Guerrero and Rey Mysterio at the PPV. The next week, Rey and Chavo defeated Kidman and Spike when Rey pinned Spike.

Fun Fact II: This marks the final PPV appearance for Billy Kidman. He floated around in the cruiserweight division for the rest of the year before suffering a broken orbital bone in January. He would return in March and feuded with Paul London over the Cruiserweight title before being released in June as a victim of a mass exodus of releases. Rumors swirled over the reason for his release, but Kidman later claimed he got into a fight with management over their policy change regarding first class flights. He would bounce around the Indy circuit after his release, eventually returning to WWE in 2009 as a trainer in their developmental territory. His final record is 3-8, going 0-1 at Wrestlemania, 0-1 at Summerslam, 1-2 at the Survivor Series, and 2-4 at other events.

Scott: I think this was a good choice to open the show as we have the smaller, faster guys on Smackdown to go after The Boss’s title. I liked this run that Spike has had, with the evil goatee ala Stone Cold in 2001. Kidman’s match with Paul London was one of the few bright spots at No Mercy and wants his shot, as does the guy who Kidman took out two months earlier with his Shooting Star Press, Chavo Guerrero. Rey is Rey, and always brings that extra something. I like the special feel of having Survivor Series in Ohio, where it was born. There was a nice spot where Rey dropped Kidman from the apron to the floor with a Hurricanrana. One thing I don’t understand is that Kidman is being accused of “intentionally using” the Shooting Star Press to take Chavo out. Well, isn’t that why you use finishers? To incapacitate opponents and win matches? I don’t think you use a finisher by accident. Another sweet spot was a super-duper suplex involving Kidman, Chavo and Spike. It was a pretty well paced match with a lot of stiff shots between them, and it looked like Rey was about to win the title when he hit the 619 but Kidman dragged him to the floor. Then Chavo hits the Gory-Bomb but Kidman’s leg drop stopped that. Rey dumped Kidman, which gave Spike a chance to pin the prone Guerrero and retain his title. It was a quick match but a very entertaining one. Grade: 3

Justin: Our final co-branded PPV of the year kicks off with a hot Cruiserweight battle courtesy of Smackdown. The commentary really harped on Chavo’s mindset and focus for the match, and Chavo did a nice job of conveying that as well. Kidman continued to impress here, killing Spike with a sick dropkick. The match got off to a fast start and it continued rolling with a good Rey/Chavo segment as the two brought out their chemistry that we have seen multiple times this year. I know I have said it in the past, but Spike really was great in this role. His actions and facial expressions were tremendous and he had a nice heel swagger about him. The same goes for Kidman, who just looked like a dick in there. All four men busted out some nice aerial offense and they worked in some good multi-man spots as well. Chavo would bust out a nice old school Gory Bomb but Spike would end up stealing the win and continuing his magical title run. This was a fun non-stop opener that got the crowd going. Spike is still the champ and we are left to wonder if anyone can defeat him. Grade: 3

*** Backstage, Heidenreich and Snitsky meet up and have a bizarre confrontation. Snitsky complimented Heidenreich’s poetry and Heidenreich would compliment the way Snitsky assaults babies. ***

2) Shelton Benjamin defeated Christian (Jay Reso) to retain WWE Intercontinental Championship with a T-Bone Suplex at 13:23

Fun Fact: On 10/25, Shelton Benjamin defeated Chris Jericho in a Taboo Tuesday rematch. After the bout, Christian jumped Shelton and knocked him out with an Unprettier. Christian grabbed the IC belt and held it high in celebration. The next week, Eric Bischoff announced that Christian would challenge Shelton at the PPV. Later that night, Shelton confronted Christian, but Christian dodged fighting him. Shelton said that he knew Tomko was out with an injury. Christian then said he had a new bodyguard for the night: Viscera. Christian and Vis would jump Shelton and leave him laid out once again. Finally, a week later Shelton got some momentum by fighting off Christian en route to defeating Tomko in a singles match.

Scott: Raw’s first match pits the young, hungry Intercontinental Champion against the smarmy head of the Peeps. Christian was on a good roll in 2004, being a top heel in Raw’s mid-card and after feuding with Chris Jericho, now he’s facing Raw’s electric Intercontinental Champion. The crowd was pretty good since the start, and they also helped this match along. As a whole it was a competitive match but nothing of real consequence. Christian had some near falls but otherwise the action was fairly pedestrian. Some chicanery almost led to Christian stealing the title, but alas Shelton hits the old T-Bone and retains his title. A good match, but it seems like it should have been better. Grade: 2.5

Justin: It was good to see a well fleshed out IC title feud play out on Raw heading into this show. Christian had gotten the best of Shelton on a pair of occasions and looked to be the favorite here. He also comes to the ring to his new theme music by Waterproof Blonde. Shelton would utilize his unique athleticism early and JR was sure to put him and his skills over big as well. Shelton actually looked really strong throughout and was gaining a lot of momentum. Tomko would help swing momentum and it turned into a basic match from there as Christian began to wear Shelton down. The structure may have been basic but it was put together well and really picked up with a pair of near falls off a Shelton top rope clothesline and some Tomko interference. The finish was hot as Shelton fought off both men and polished off Christian with his Exploder suplex. I like that he got another clean win with that move, as it was really becoming an established finisher. This was a good bout and Shelton continues to impress as he grows in this role. Grade: 2.5

*** Backstage, Kurt Angle and Edge have a brief confrontation in which Angle makes an off the cuff comment that he could make Shawn Michaels tap out. ***

3) Eddie Guerrero, Big Show (Paul Wight), Rob Van Dam (Rob Szatkowski) & John Cena defeat Kurt Angle, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns (Matt Wiese) & Carlito (Carly Colon) in a Traditional Survivor Series match

Survivors:
Eddie Guerrero, Big Show and John Cena

Eliminations:
Carlito was counted out after being chased away by Cena before the match began
Kurt Angle pins Rob Van Dam with a roll-up using the ropes at 8:45
Eddie Guerrero pins Mark Jindrak with a roll-up at 9:10
Big Show pins Luther Reigns with a chokeslam at 10:20
Big Show pins Kurt Angle after a Cena FU and a Guerrero frog splash at 12:26

Fun Fact: Carlito Caribbean Cool is the son of legendary Puerto Rican superstar Carlos Colon. Carlito began his career for the Puerto Rican WWC in 1999. In 2003, he signed a developmental deal with WWE, which caused some controversy in his homeland, where many fans believed he sold out. Carlito shrugged off the barbs and realized his dream by debuting on the 10/7 Smackdown after a series of vignettes hyping his debut.

Fun Fact II: The 10/7 Smackdown opened with John Cena coming down to address the fans. During his promo, Carlito Caribbean Cool made his official debut, interrupting the US Champion. After an entertaining back and forth, Cena challenged Carlito to a match and the rookie accepted. After Cena refused to shake his hand, Carlito kicked him and dropped him with a DDT before spitting his trademark apple on him. Later in the night, Carlito shocked WWE by clocking Cena with his very own chain and winning the US title in his debut match. The next week, Teddy Long appeared and announced that John Cena had been involved in a bar fight and suffered a punctured kidney after being stabbed. In reality, Cena would be off TV for a bit as he was filming The Marine, a WWE movie production. The next week, Teddy confronted Carlito about rumors that Carlito was in the club with Cena the night he got stabbed. Carlito denied it and said he wanted to speak with his lawyer before saying anything else. On 10/28, Carlito finally admitted that he was in the club with Cena, but that he left when Cena arrived. Carlito also introduced us to his new bodyguard, Jesus. On 11/11, Teddy let everyone know that Jesus was a prime suspect in Cena’s stabbing. We will pick up this story next month.

Fun Fact III: On 10/7, Big Show defeated Mark Jindrak after he got an assist from Eddie Guerrero, who ran off an interfering Kurt Angle. The next week, Eddie picked up a win over Luther Reigns, but Luther and Jindrak beat him down after the bell. Angle came out, looking to cut Eddie’s hair, but Show made the save. The war continued a week later and this time Team Angle was victorious as Angle helped Jindrak cheat to defeat Guerrero. On 10/28, Teddy Long announced that Eddie and Kurt would captain Survivor Series teams for an elimination match. He would go on to say that Eddie’s team would be comprised of Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and a fourth member of Eddie’s choosing. Kurt’s team would consist of Jindrak, Reigns and a fourth member to be named later. Later that night, Big Show confronted Eddie and demanded to be added to his team and Eddie obliged. The next week, Kurt offered his fourth spot to Carlito and he accepted the offer. Later that night, Teddy announced that he was putting Rey in the Cruiserweight match at the PPV and he told Eddie that he had a week to find a fourth partner. On 11/11, Eddie and RVD teamed up to defeat Jindrak and Reigns. After the bout, Eddie announced that John Cena would be their fourth team member, as he would return from his stabbing incident at Survivor Series. In the main event that night, Big Show battled Kurt Angle. During the match, Carlito knocked out Eddie and RVD with Cena’s chain, allowing Team Angle to triple team Show. As Jindrak and Reigns held him down, Angle hooked on the Anklelock and wrenched it in to end the program.

Scott: The start of the match made it for me, and cinched the popularity of John Cena. His chasing of Carlito Caribbean Cool out of the arena while pummeling Jesus out to the parking lot was pretty cool and really cemented Cena, as if he wasn’t already, as a big time player in the future landscape. This team Angle put together is reminiscent of Team Lesnar’s group from the year before: A group of young, inexperienced guys. The match honestly isn’t much, as Eddie’s team effectively squashes Kurt’s team and ends it. RVD gets screw jobbed on his pin but otherwise there’s really no suspense. Cena, Eddie, and Big Show stand tall. Grade: 1.5

Justin: This is an interesting classic Survivor style match as there are many interwoven storylines within it. Big Show’s battle with Team Angle continues here as he and Eddie Guerrero had still been warring with them each week on Smackdown. After Angle wore his ankle out on Smackdown, Show emerges with a slight limp and a ton of tape around his boot. Despite their recent mid-card travails, Eddie and RVD are still very over with the fans, which is a testament to their charisma and popularity. Generous pops for Eddie and RVD aside, the biggest pop was reserved for John Cena, who makes his first appearance since being stabbed at a club in October. Cena would charge to the ring and attack Jesus, who was backing up Carlito. The three men would battle backstage where Carlito scampered around as Cena and Jesus brawled. Jesus would break away from Cena long enough to jump into a car with Carlito and speed off into the night. Cena would return to the ring to another big pop and it was now realized that Team Angle would start the match at a disadvantage. The faces would show good energy but things slowed down a bit with a lengthy heat segment on Eddie. Despite the slowdown, the crowd stayed hot and tried to rally Eddie back into the match. Angle would get involved and cheat to eliminate RVD, hooking the ropes on a roll up. Despite being over, RVD’s night ends with disappointment once again. Big Show looked good here as he fought through the ankle pain and dropped Luther with a nice chokeslam. Show has been impressive since his return and I liked him in this role. Kurt would grab his ankle again and hook the Anklelock, but Show fought off and flung Kurt to the floor. Kurt would try to run away, but RVD came back out and forced him into the ring with an assist from Show. Despite some sluggish and choppy action in the middle, the match had a hot finish as Cena dropped Angle with an FU and Eddie crushed him with a frog splash to allow Show to get the win. The match was solid all around and the crowd was hot for it. I liked the finish too as the faces got their revenge after weeks of battling Team Angle on Smackdown. Grade: 2.5

*** Backstage, Snitsky assaults Maven, leaving him a bloodied mess. ***

4) Undertaker (Mark Callaway) defeats Heidenreich with a Tombstone at 15:58

Fun Fact: On 10/7, Paul Heyman led Heidenreich to the ring to read some poetry. As the crowd refused to let him read, Heidenreich jumped to the floor and beat down a planted fan. The next week, Long told Heyman that the fans were suing and that Teddy’s job was on the line and if he got canned, he was taking Heyman down with him. Later in the show, Heidenreich apologized to the fans but refused to apologize to Undertaker. The next week, Heyman told Heidenreich that he would be forced to wear a straight jacket to and from the ring. Heidenreich continued to challenge Undertaker at every chance he had, but Taker still did not show up to answer. Later that night, Teddy promised Heyman that Heidenreich could get his PPV match with Taker if Heyman could get the Deadman to sign the contract by the next week. A week later, we saw Heyman negotiating with Undertaker in an undisclosed location. After some back and forth, Taker signed the deal and told Heyman he would execute Heidenreich.

Scott: This match looked like a train wreck from the get-go. Frankly, I was right. Since Taker’s return in March, he has been in matches with slow plodding strikers. Well except for Booker T. Booker’s a qualified reputable wrestler. However the Dudleys, JBL and now Heidenreich will never be compared to Ricky Steamboat. One thing I did like was that Cole & Tazz continued to harp on the fact that Heidenreich was just crazy enough to go at the Undertaker without any issues of reputation. The match itself was…well pretty average. Taker did his usual spots, and Heidenreich spent the middle of the match bludgeoning with strikes and a wear-down headlock. Eventually Taker hits the Tombstone and gets the win. Frankly I think Heidenreich should have won this match and kept this feud going. They really haven’t done anything like that since probably Kane in 1998 where Taker had a legit multi-month feud, and really not since Mankind in 1996 that Taker actually lost multiple PPV matches in a feud. Heyman was outside the ring, so maybe some chicanery should have led to a Heidenreich win and a continuation of the feud. Oh well, another Taker win in another ho-hum match. Grade: 2

Justin: After assaulting a fan a few weeks back, Heidenreich was forced to enter and exit the ring in straightjacket. He played the crazed lunatic character well and the maniacal Heyman was really the perfect manager for him. Taker was focused as he entered and after some early back and forth, Heyman helped his man take control. Heidenreich had the look, but really didn’t have much else besides basic strikes. Taker worked his usual spots in, as this match was fairly standard and simple. I thought Heidenreich showed good energy in this match, as he was constantly moving around and yelling at everyone. His selling was good enough, as well and I liked the story as he absorbed a ton of punishment but kept coming. The finish was good as Taker dropped him with an impressive Last Ride. Both men worked hard and the match was better than I expected it to be heading in. It was a choppy slugfest but the action didn’t stop. It was basic and well booked. Taker gets the win, but this feud is yet to be over. Grade: 2

*** Backstage, Eric Bischoff justifies his much needed vacation that was starting after this show. Because of that, he confirmed that the main event was still on regardless of Maven’s condition. He also stated that there would no replacement allowed for Maven. ***

5) Trish Stratus (Patricia Stratigias) defeats Lita (Amy Dumas) to retain WWE Women’s Championship by disqualification at 1:24

Fun Fact: On 10/25, Trish confronted Lita backstage and made fun of the careers she has killed and called her chubby. Lita snapped and a catfight ensued. The next week, Eric Bischoff announced this match. Trish continued her verbal assault on 11/1, calling Lita a loser and a “Kiss of Death”. She played a video of all the careers she killed, including Essa Rios, the Hardy Boys, the show Dark Angel that she guest starred on, Matt Hardy’s singles career, Kane and her baby. Lita came out to attack, but Gail Kim also came down and helped Trish beat Lita down. On 11/8, the two ladies appeared on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel and got into another verbal sparring match. Lita vowed to take her aggressions out on Trish at the PPV. Snitsky then came down with a baby doll. He mocked Lita and punted the doll into the crowd to add further insult to injury.

Scott: This could easily be voted as feud of the year. Trish has been an awesome heel who pre-judges Lita at every turn as a trashy slut who’s made one bad decision after another. Of course this match isn’t much as Lita snaps and beats Trish down with a steel chair to get disqualified. I think it was a good move, including Trish getting busted open with a broken nose. This feud continues, but obviously this match isn’t much. Grade: 0

Justin: This was a really good feud that felt quite real. Shoddy storyline aside, Lita had been through hell the last few months and she was looking to unload that aggression here against her archrival. As soon as the bell sounded, the two ladies spilled outside and began brawling. Lita would snap and grab a chair and bashed Trish with it to draw a quick DQ. Lita seemingly didn’t care as she wanted blood. And blood she would get as Trish’s nose ended up broken and blood spewed from it. Trish sold the injury like a champ probably because her nose was really busted. It was a really good visual and if there was ever a Diva match that needed some color, this was probably it. I am not usually crazy about these types of finishes on PPV bug I am fine with it here. This was a great feud and this wild brawl just extends it a bit further. The brawl was fun and Lita finally gets some revenge, as she leaves Trish a bloody mess on the floor. Grade: .5

6) John Bradshaw Layfield defeats Booker T (Booker Huffman) to retain WWE Championship with a belt shot at 14:43

Fun Fact: On 10/21, Booker teamed with RVD and Rey Mysterio to take on JBL, Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree in a champions showcase tag match. Booker would get the win for his team by pinning JBL. The next week, JBL talked about his loss as it was the first time he had been pinned since before Wrestlemania. Booker came in and busted on the champ and Orlando Jordan, who Booker said was JBL’s houseboy. Teddy then came in and said that Booker would take on OJ that night and if Booker won he would face JBL at the PPV. Booker would win the match and earn his title shot. A week later, Josh Matthews was interviewing OJ and JBL and got a bit snarky about OJ’s match leading to JBL smacking Matthews in the face. Josh lost his cool, ripped into OJ and stormed off. Later, Booker and OJ squared off again but this time JBL interfered and they left Booker laid out. After that beatdown, Booker wanted a match with JBL and OJ, but Teddy said he needed a partner. Enter the angered Josh Matthews who was tired of JBL’s abuse and agreed to be Booker’s partner. Booker and Josh would win the match when Booker pinned OJ. The next week, Matthews got more revenge by defeating OJ in a singles match after an assist from Booker. JBL then announced that if he lost to Booker, he would leave Smackdown forever.

Scott: Unfortunately for me the hand was already tipped before this show even started. JBL was not going to leave Smackdown forever, so clearly either he was winning the match clean, or Booker would win by disqualification. As with almost every other match on this show, the action is average. It appears that almost all the heels on this show are slow clubbing strikers. Being a heel means controlling the pace so it seems like every match tonight, except Christian’s, seems to have a slow, plodding pace. The crowd was hot early, but they’ve leveled out by this point. I didn’t realize how blasé this show actually is. The matches are either quick predictable squashes, or really boring snorefests. A boatload of interference and an almost pin did pick up the pace at the end as the crowd started to feel it, until a JBL belt shot finishes it. The last two minutes saved this match from an epically bad grade. Otherwise, when push came to shove, this was another boring match. Grade: 2

Justin: Fresh off of a good face turn, Booker gets a decent reaction from the fans as he was set to challenge the hated JBL. Booker still had a bit of that heel edge to him, which is maybe why the fans still didn’t fully get into him. The build here was well done and until the JBL leaves Smackdown stip was added; many pundits thought Booker might take the title. The early slugfest was pretty good and Booker looked sharp until OJ swung the momentum. Both men really unloaded with some stiff offense including a nasty Book End onto JBL on the floor. Booker looked strong and motivated in fighting off both guys with great energy. Things slowed down a bit with a few JBL restholds but the fans stayed into at as OJ drew heat on the floor by constantly interfering. Seeing things slipping away from Booker, his buddy Josh Matthews came charging out to help but JBL quickly crushed him with a Clothesline from Hell. Despite the odds, Booker looked poised to win but the referee was out. Charles Robinson then came out but OJ interrupted Booker’s pin, again screwing him out of the belt. JBL would survive, pin Booker and retain his belt. I actually liked this match quite a bit as it well done and fit right into the JBL formula. The JBL formula fit him perfectly as it limited his offense and led to a good back and forth flow with a lot of brawling mixed in. The heat on OJ here was really good and it was fun to have a cocky chickenshit heel champion with a crazed second in his corner saving him left and right. It brought back some Horsemen memories and it was adding a lot of heat to JBL’s reign. Booked had a good showing but comes up just a bit short. Grade: 3

7) Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) and Maven (Maven Huffman) defeat Triple H (Paul Levesque), Batista (Dave Bautista), Snitsky and Edge (Adam Copeland) in a Traditional Survivor Series match

Survivor:
Randy Orton

Eliminations:
Triple H pins Chris Benoit with a Pedigree at 7:24
Chris Jericho pins Batista with a running Enziguri at 10:39
Gene Snitsky was disqualified at 16:05
Triple H pins Maven with a Pedigree at 16:50
Edge pins Chris Jericho with a spear at 19:04
Randy Orton pins Edge with an RKO at 22:59
Randy Orton pins Triple H with an RKO at 24:31

Fun Fact: After Taboo Tuesday, Eric Bischoff said he was tired of being abused and quickly left the arena, leaving the wrestlers to run the show. The faces began teaming up to battle Evolution as they had enough of their bullying of Raw and Evolution had claimed they would run the show with Eric gone. On 10/25, Maven stepped up and defeated Batista clean. Before Evolution could beat him down, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho came out to get his back. Later that night, Ric Flair defeated Randy Orton with help from Triple H. Before they could leave the arena, the faces surrounded them from all exit points, trapping them in the ring. To end the show, Orton and his crew quickly wiped out Evolution. The next week, Eric announced that he would be taking a month of from Raw following the PPV and that Jericho, Orton, Benoit and Maven would battle Triple H, Batista, Edge and Snitsky to determine who would run Raw in his absence. Later in the show, La Resistance defeated Chris Benoit and Edge to retain their tag titles after Edge basically threw the match by distracting the ref and allowing La Res double teams. Edge then beat Benoit with the belt and left him bloodied. Heading into the PPV, Orton got on a roll, pinning Batista twice in consecutive weeks, once in a six-man match and once in a singles match. On 11/8, Triple H brought Snitsky to the ring to welcome him to the team. Snitsky told Triple H that he wasn’t a team player and that he was coming for Hunter’s title after they take control of Raw. Edge would later tell Hunter the same thing, leading to some serious dissension in their team heading into the PPV. Everything would come to a head at the end of the show when all eight men got involved in a Benoit/Edge match.

Scott: I did like how for once, Triple H came out with his partner Batista to Evolution’s music rather than coming out to their separate themes. Edge debuted his Metallingus theme at this show and that suddenly made him feel like more than just a mid-card guy. The first thing I noticed here that really upset me was the rapid decline of Chris Benoit. Way back in March at Wrestlemania he was on top of the world. Now he’s almost the forgotten man on this team and ends up getting eliminated first. Heck even Maven got more face time on this show than Benoit did. Very sad and disappointing that after Benoit’s title reign ended he was put back exactly where he was before. Snitsky’s eye getting busted open was a cool visual as well, and you know Maven got a pretty good pop when his bloody ass came out late after the beatdown Snitsky gave him earlier in the show. Once it became two-on-one, the match really slowed down and the crowd kind of lost their energy. The match overall wasn’t anything earth-shattering to begin with, but even the end after Orton RKO’d Edge out of the match the crowd was still fairly flat. JR and King actually were on a roll here, with Lawler on Evolution’s side and JR fully on Orton’s side. Unfortunately the show needed a real show-stealer to get it out of the middling grade, but it just didn’t do that. The crowd popped big when Orton pinned The Game, but then it just flattened out again. I thought this match could have saved it, but it didn’t. Grade: 2

Justin: During the pre-match interview, Batista drops a hint that he was interested in Hunter’s belt. He had also done the same thing a week earlier. It was a small tease, but a smart one because it added even more intrigue into the match. The bout had a big match feel thanks to the stipulation. This was a big spot for Maven and Snitsky, both who are making their first foray into the main event scene. With Maven MIA, the heels looked to have the early advantage. The match consisted of some basic tag work early with Benoit looking the strongest after a vicious and stiff assault featuring a barrage of Germans. Despite that strong showing, Benoit would be the first to go as Hunter finally puts his shoulders to the mat for three. As the heels were looking to dominate things, disaster struck in the form of a heated showdown between Snitsky and Batista. That led to some more arguing between Hunter and Snitsky as well. While the whole mess was going on, Ric Flair started getting involved and the ref promptly tossed him out. As things settled down, Orton cracked Batista with the belt, allowing Jericho to eliminate him. The whole match was very choppy and never felt like it clicked and got rolling. It was a chaotic brawl but something was missing. Maven would make his way out, taking out the heels and bloodying Snitsky hardway with an errant shot to his eye. The cut was really nasty as it was a giant gash on Snitsky’s forehead. Maven was looking good until Snitsky arrived with a chair and unleashed a sickening shot on Maven, putting him down for good. Out of everyone, it was clear that the biggest pushes were coming for Orton and Edge. Edge mainly kept to himself until it was time for him to strike and eliminate Jericho. After Jericho was taken out, we were left with Orton battling Edge and Hunter and that is when the match just died. Things got very boring here and the crowd seemed to wane a bit as it dragged on. Orton came out very strong, pinning both men and earning ownership of Raw for his team. The match on a whole was disappointing and boring, despite a few hot spots mixed in. I was hoping for a crazier brawl and a hotter finish, but things just sputtered to an end. Orton’s team wins control of Raw for the next four weeks, so things should be interested heading into the end of the year. Grade: 2

Final Analysis:

Scott: Wow I never realized how boring this show was. All the matches could have been really good as they all had solid builds on both shows. Then we get to the big day, and almost none of them delivered. The two Survivor matches were both flat and somewhat predictable, as we knew Orton would get his win back after losing to Triple H at Unforgiven. The Smackdown tag match was an extended squash, and the other matches, although with good builds, just didn’t have the steak to go with the sizzle. The crowd had its spots but it also couldn’t carry the snorefests. 2004 started off with a real bang, but it seems to be stumbling to the finish line. The guy everyone jumped on for emotion this year, Chris Benoit, is settled back in his usual mid-card role. Quite unfortunate, and with the not quite ready Randy Orton suddenly the top babyface on Raw, there really is an unsettling feeling on Raw. As for Smackdown, with Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle there, it helps JBL keep some credibility with his WWE Title run. Undertaker took out what I thought was a solid character that deserved to have more time to work with the Deadman in a more balanced feud. This show is not anywhere near the best Survivor Series in the canon and it also is an example of the uncertainty that the overall product is showing. Final Grade: C-

Justin: This was an interesting show on a whole. The undercard was solid enough and the Booker/JBL match carried the top of the card. The main event was blasé but the crowd held up their end of the bargain throughout the whole show. 2004 has been an interesting year on many levels and things continue to be murky as our final co-brand show is in the books. I like the Raw control stipulation and with strong pushes for Randy Orton and Edge and the subtle hinting of Batista itching for gold have Raw heading in a fresh direction for the first time in a while. JBL’s reign of dominance continues on Smackdown and the fans are really starting to take him a bit more seriously in his role. His PPV ruin has actually been pretty good and his formula is a unique one that was building heat and interest. Finally, the Trish/Lita feud has some tremendous heat on it and may be the best Diva feud in a long time. I wanted to grade the show a bit higher, but I just can’t do it based on the grades above. It was a slightly below average show that had some entertaining moments mixed in. I honestly don’t have much more to say about this one that I haven’t said above, so I guess we will just wrap things up here. Final Grade: C-

MVP: Randy Orton
Runner Up: Booker T. & JBL
Non MVP: Carlito
Runner Up: Chris Benoit