Wachovia Centre, Philadelphia, PA
With the Philly crowd loud and raring to go, World Wrestling Entertainment served up another offering of its traditional Thanksgiving event, Survivor Series. Featuring a mix of classic Survivor Series elimination bouts, plus standards singles, this was an altogether mixed card.
Here's what went down:
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
You could almost hear the sigh of despair resonate throughout the arena as a pay-per-view in the year 2006 kicked off with aging greats Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter and friends wheeling their aching frames to the ring.
Yet with five young, hungry superstars (albeit ones with a terrible gimmick) in the opposing corner, surely this one would go the right way.
Things started with Ron Simmons taking it to the spirit squad, beating on his foe before a skirmish took the fight to the outside and, in an underwhelming early turn of events, managed to get himself counted out.
He wasn't the only person to be sent packing and as the Philly crowd displayed their displeasure with a loud chant of 'Bullshit! Bullshit!' , the referee also gave ringside charges Arn Anderson and Mitch their marching orders.
It was Spirit Squad member Nicky who lit up the ring next, taking a pasting from each of the remaining legends in turn before drifting off in the grips of Slaughter's cobra clutch. Distracting the referee, Nicky's teammates came to the rescue and, despite being practically comatose, Nicky picked up the three count over the former WWF Champion.
The young guns continued their dominance over the past-their-prime heroes, Kenny getting the better of an exchange with Dusty Rhodes to lay the playing field at 3-2 to the Spirit Squad before Flair scored an upset over Mikey and Kenny in quick succession to leave Flair and Johnny battling it out as the sole survivors for their team.
A quick figure four later, and Flair was victorious, rounding off a boring opening contest that achieved very little for either team.
Your Winners: WWE Legends (Sole Survivor: Ric Flair)
Afterward, the Spirit Squad did a number on Flair and finally this most pointless of bouts was over.
WWE United States Championship Match:
Far from the technical wrestling classic we might have expected from these two, this was instead a solid, impassioned, personal war between two men fuelled by the ongoing saga of WWE's need to exploit the death of Eddie Guerrero.
Chavo dominated the bulk of this solid, though hardly breathtaking encounter before Benoit turned the tables to retain his title thanks to the Cripper Crossface.
Your winner and still United States Champion: Chris Benoit
Following a brief interview with Todd Grisham in which WWE Woman's Champion Lita vowed to retire after her upcoming defense against Mickie James, Cryme Tyme were shown sneaking in to, and then out of, her dressing room. The duo had stolen a box full of the Women's champ's possessions in the process.
WWE Women's Championship Match:
The outgoing champion gave a fine performance in her farewell match, playing up her role as a despised heel with a certain amount of excellence as she traded the offense back and forth with James in an exciting, above-average contest.
Eventually, James scored the pinfall to deal Lita her final loss and capture the women's gold.
Your winner and new Women's Champion: Mickie James
Following her final promo, in which she blasted the Philly crowd for their lack of respect, Cryme Tyme returned to the scene and began selling away her most private possessions including panties, vagina-infection cream, and, yes, a vibrator, to the eager, if somewhat depraved crowd.
Though there was some humor to be found here ("It's big, it's wide, you can put your head in it, it's Lita's box!")Â it did seem rather pointless.
Michael Cole interviews Batista
As a seething Batista remained stoic and silent, Michael Cole did his best to annoy Big Dave by reminding him of all the times he'd failed to capture the World Heavyweight Title, how his match tonight against King Booker would be his last opportunity to do so, and how Booker beat him up with a scepter at the last TV show.
Finally breaking his silence, a stern-looking Animal vowed to leave the Wachovia Centre with the title in tow.
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
After killing what seemed like an eternity with pre-match crowd hype (which resulted in the largest chants being for then ECW upstart CM Punk), Team DX stood aside to allow their opponents the chance to make it to the ring, only to completely destroy them when they got there.
Kelly Kelly, then in her ECW stripper mode did her best to distract the DX boys, though Michaels quickly took out Mike Knox with Sweet Chin Music and gained the first fall of the match in a matter of seconds, burying his foe further by pretending not to know who Knox was, or that he was even part of the match.
Things got off to a better start as Michaels, and then the Hardy Boys, took the action to a bleached-blond Johnny Nitro before the heels gained control by cutting Matt Hardy off from his corner and doing a number on him.
Busted open, Hardy eventually made the hot tag to Punk, who struck Nitro with some hard-hitting offense before eliminating him from the competition with an Anaconda Vice.
It wasn't long before Punk fell victim to Rated R.K.Os offense, but a hot tag to Triple H saw The Game regain control for his side, allowing The Hardy's to take out Gregory Helms thanks to a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo.
Down to just five versus two, Edge and Orton made the wise move of grabbing their tag team title belts and making for the back, only for the Hardys to drag the cowardly heels back ringside, where the faces each took a turn to deliver their finishers to Edge.
Orton again attempted an escape but was forced back to the ring, where a swift Pedigree sealed the deal for Team DX.
Your Winners: Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk
A fun, entertaining bout then which didn't bury the heels as much as you might expect, giving each man the chance to gain some offense before being taken down.
Backstage, Mr. Kennedy was confronted by M.V.P, who offered his support to Kennedy in his upcoming match against The Undertaker.Â
First blood match:
The Undertaker has competed in many wild, chaotic and bloody brawls throughout the course of his lengthy career.
Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them.
Mostly devoid of action or drama, the only real surprise came when Kennedy scored the win thanks to a misplaced chair shot from M.V.P, following which a bloody Undertaker finally gained revenge by beating his victor to a pulp.
Your winner: Mr. Kennedy
Backstage with Sharmell by his side, World Heavyweight Champion King Booker promised a 'bitter, bitter end' for his opponent, Batista.
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
Arguably the most enjoyable of all the traditional elimination matches on offer tonight, the action kicked off hard and fast as Cena and Umaga traded blows around the ring. The Samoan Bulldozer then got his hands on a ringside monitor, earning himself an instant disqualification by battering RVD, Sabu and Cena with the illegal object.
Back in the ring, the heels cut RVD off from his corner, dominating the action with a heavy beat-down before Kane stepped in to assist his teammate, allowing Van Dam to eliminate MVP.
Eliminations came thick and fast then, as Test took out RVD, Sabu pinned Test and Big Show got rid of Big Show. A distraction from Little Bastard (or Hornswoggle, as we now know him), was all it took for Big Show to eliminate Kane, leaving Cena and Lashley to square off against Big Show and Finlay.
All four men traded the advantage, and in the resulting mele, it was possible to miss Lashley eliminating Finlay, though not to witness the epic double suplex to Big Show which finally led to the ECW Champion's demise at the hands of Cena to end an entertaining, hard-hitting contest.
Your Winners: Team Cena (survivors: John Cena and Bobby Lashley)
Finally, it all came down to this, a one-on-one encounter for the World Heavyweight Title between champion King Booker and the challenger Batista. With all the emphasis on this match being Batista's last shot at Booker's gold, the outcome was something of a foregone conclusion.
Prior to the bout, Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long headed to ringside to announce that, should King Booker lose via countout or submission, he would lose the title.
World Heavyweight Championship Match:
What started off as a run-of-the-mill WWE-style main event quickly turned into an above-average encounter between two bonafide main eventers with near-falls, dramatic twists, and enough action to keep this writer's interest.
True, the outcome of this bout was never in question, and when Batista finally did turn the tables on Booker and his wife, nailing the champ with his own title to score the win, the crowd could hardly have been less enthused.
Still, a perfectly acceptable end to a perfectly acceptable pay-per-view.
Your winner and new World Heavyweight Champion: Batista
In conclusion, then, this was hardly the greatest pay-per-view of all time, but then few ever really are. The action ranged from nondescript to quite entertaining, yet failed to deliver any of the real stand-out moments that a marque event such as Survivor Series should be known for.
Indeed, writing this review some years after the event, it's hard to see Survivor Series 2006 as little more than a forgettable, middle-of-the-road pay-per-view, albeit one with some level of entertainment.
With the Philly crowd loud and raring to go, World Wrestling Entertainment served up another offering of its traditional Thanksgiving event, Survivor Series. Featuring a mix of classic Survivor Series elimination bouts, plus standards singles, this was an altogether mixed card.
Here's what went down:
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
WWE Legends (Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons & Sgt. Slaughter, accompanied by Arn Anderson) vs. The Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Nicky & Mickey, accompanied by Mitch)
You could almost hear the sigh of despair resonate throughout the arena as a pay-per-view in the year 2006 kicked off with aging greats Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter and friends wheeling their aching frames to the ring.Yet with five young, hungry superstars (albeit ones with a terrible gimmick) in the opposing corner, surely this one would go the right way.
Things started with Ron Simmons taking it to the spirit squad, beating on his foe before a skirmish took the fight to the outside and, in an underwhelming early turn of events, managed to get himself counted out.
He wasn't the only person to be sent packing and as the Philly crowd displayed their displeasure with a loud chant of 'Bullshit! Bullshit!' , the referee also gave ringside charges Arn Anderson and Mitch their marching orders.
It was Spirit Squad member Nicky who lit up the ring next, taking a pasting from each of the remaining legends in turn before drifting off in the grips of Slaughter's cobra clutch. Distracting the referee, Nicky's teammates came to the rescue and, despite being practically comatose, Nicky picked up the three count over the former WWF Champion.
The young guns continued their dominance over the past-their-prime heroes, Kenny getting the better of an exchange with Dusty Rhodes to lay the playing field at 3-2 to the Spirit Squad before Flair scored an upset over Mikey and Kenny in quick succession to leave Flair and Johnny battling it out as the sole survivors for their team.
A quick figure four later, and Flair was victorious, rounding off a boring opening contest that achieved very little for either team.
Your Winners: WWE Legends (Sole Survivor: Ric Flair)
Afterward, the Spirit Squad did a number on Flair and finally this most pointless of bouts was over.
WWE United States Championship Match:
WWE United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. against Chavo Guerrero
Far from the technical wrestling classic we might have expected from these two, this was instead a solid, impassioned, personal war between two men fuelled by the ongoing saga of WWE's need to exploit the death of Eddie Guerrero.Chavo dominated the bulk of this solid, though hardly breathtaking encounter before Benoit turned the tables to retain his title thanks to the Cripper Crossface.
Your winner and still United States Champion: Chris Benoit
Following a brief interview with Todd Grisham in which WWE Woman's Champion Lita vowed to retire after her upcoming defense against Mickie James, Cryme Tyme were shown sneaking in to, and then out of, her dressing room. The duo had stolen a box full of the Women's champ's possessions in the process.
WWE Women's Championship Match:
Lita (c) vs. Mickie James
The outgoing champion gave a fine performance in her farewell match, playing up her role as a despised heel with a certain amount of excellence as she traded the offense back and forth with James in an exciting, above-average contest.
Eventually, James scored the pinfall to deal Lita her final loss and capture the women's gold.
Your winner and new Women's Champion: Mickie James
Following her final promo, in which she blasted the Philly crowd for their lack of respect, Cryme Tyme returned to the scene and began selling away her most private possessions including panties, vagina-infection cream, and, yes, a vibrator, to the eager, if somewhat depraved crowd.
Though there was some humor to be found here ("It's big, it's wide, you can put your head in it, it's Lita's box!")Â it did seem rather pointless.
Michael Cole interviews Batista
As a seething Batista remained stoic and silent, Michael Cole did his best to annoy Big Dave by reminding him of all the times he'd failed to capture the World Heavyweight Title, how his match tonight against King Booker would be his last opportunity to do so, and how Booker beat him up with a scepter at the last TV show.
Finally breaking his silence, a stern-looking Animal vowed to leave the Wachovia Centre with the title in tow.
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
Team DX (Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy & CM Punk) vs. Team Rated R.K.O (Randy Orton, Edge, Â Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms, Mike Knox)
After killing what seemed like an eternity with pre-match crowd hype (which resulted in the largest chants being for then ECW upstart CM Punk), Team DX stood aside to allow their opponents the chance to make it to the ring, only to completely destroy them when they got there.Kelly Kelly, then in her ECW stripper mode did her best to distract the DX boys, though Michaels quickly took out Mike Knox with Sweet Chin Music and gained the first fall of the match in a matter of seconds, burying his foe further by pretending not to know who Knox was, or that he was even part of the match.
Things got off to a better start as Michaels, and then the Hardy Boys, took the action to a bleached-blond Johnny Nitro before the heels gained control by cutting Matt Hardy off from his corner and doing a number on him.
It wasn't long before Punk fell victim to Rated R.K.Os offense, but a hot tag to Triple H saw The Game regain control for his side, allowing The Hardy's to take out Gregory Helms thanks to a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo.
Down to just five versus two, Edge and Orton made the wise move of grabbing their tag team title belts and making for the back, only for the Hardys to drag the cowardly heels back ringside, where the faces each took a turn to deliver their finishers to Edge.
Orton again attempted an escape but was forced back to the ring, where a swift Pedigree sealed the deal for Team DX.
Your Winners: Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk
A fun, entertaining bout then which didn't bury the heels as much as you might expect, giving each man the chance to gain some offense before being taken down.
Backstage, Mr. Kennedy was confronted by M.V.P, who offered his support to Kennedy in his upcoming match against The Undertaker.Â
First blood match:
Mr. Kennedy vs. The Undertaker
The Undertaker has competed in many wild, chaotic and bloody brawls throughout the course of his lengthy career.
Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them.
Mostly devoid of action or drama, the only real surprise came when Kennedy scored the win thanks to a misplaced chair shot from M.V.P, following which a bloody Undertaker finally gained revenge by beating his victor to a pulp.
Your winner: Mr. Kennedy
Backstage with Sharmell by his side, World Heavyweight Champion King Booker promised a 'bitter, bitter end' for his opponent, Batista.
Traditional Survivor Series Match:
Team Cena (WWE Champion John Cena, Kane, Bobby Lashley, Sabu and RVD) vs. Team Big Show (ECW Champion Big Show, Test, M.V.P, Finlay and Umaga)
Arguably the most enjoyable of all the traditional elimination matches on offer tonight, the action kicked off hard and fast as Cena and Umaga traded blows around the ring. The Samoan Bulldozer then got his hands on a ringside monitor, earning himself an instant disqualification by battering RVD, Sabu and Cena with the illegal object.Back in the ring, the heels cut RVD off from his corner, dominating the action with a heavy beat-down before Kane stepped in to assist his teammate, allowing Van Dam to eliminate MVP.
Eliminations came thick and fast then, as Test took out RVD, Sabu pinned Test and Big Show got rid of Big Show. A distraction from Little Bastard (or Hornswoggle, as we now know him), was all it took for Big Show to eliminate Kane, leaving Cena and Lashley to square off against Big Show and Finlay.
All four men traded the advantage, and in the resulting mele, it was possible to miss Lashley eliminating Finlay, though not to witness the epic double suplex to Big Show which finally led to the ECW Champion's demise at the hands of Cena to end an entertaining, hard-hitting contest.
Your Winners: Team Cena (survivors: John Cena and Bobby Lashley)
Finally, it all came down to this, a one-on-one encounter for the World Heavyweight Title between champion King Booker and the challenger Batista. With all the emphasis on this match being Batista's last shot at Booker's gold, the outcome was something of a foregone conclusion.
Prior to the bout, Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long headed to ringside to announce that, should King Booker lose via countout or submission, he would lose the title.
World Heavyweight Championship Match:
King Booker (c) vs. Batista
What started off as a run-of-the-mill WWE-style main event quickly turned into an above-average encounter between two bonafide main eventers with near-falls, dramatic twists, and enough action to keep this writer's interest.True, the outcome of this bout was never in question, and when Batista finally did turn the tables on Booker and his wife, nailing the champ with his own title to score the win, the crowd could hardly have been less enthused.
Still, a perfectly acceptable end to a perfectly acceptable pay-per-view.
Your winner and new World Heavyweight Champion: Batista
In conclusion, then, this was hardly the greatest pay-per-view of all time, but then few ever really are. The action ranged from nondescript to quite entertaining, yet failed to deliver any of the real stand-out moments that a marque event such as Survivor Series should be known for.
Indeed, writing this review some years after the event, it's hard to see Survivor Series 2006 as little more than a forgettable, middle-of-the-road pay-per-view, albeit one with some level of entertainment.
Other WWF/WWE Survivor Series reviews:
- WWF Survivor Series 1987
- WWF Survivor Series 1988
- WWF Survivor Series 1989
- WWF Survivor Series 1990
- WWF Survivor Series 1991
- WWF Survivor Series 1992
- WWF Survivor Series 1993
- WWF Survivor Series 1994
- WWF Survivor Series 1995
- WWF Survivor Series 1996
- WWF Survivor Series 1997
- WWF Survivor Series 1998
- WWF Survivor Series 1999
- WWF Survivor Series 2001
- WWE Survivor Series 2002
- WWE Survivor Series 2009
- Top Ten Matches from the First 10 Survivor Series events
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1 Comments
Four things of note:
ReplyDelete1.In the dark match, Carlito defeated Charlie Haas. Seriously, Carlito goes from main-eventing the previous year's Survivor Series to THIS?!
2.For the Spirit Squad vs. WWE Legends match, Simmons was a last-minute replacement for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.
3.Now that I think about her first four-year WWE stint, after her feud with Trish Stratus ended, and aside from her great feud with Beth Phoenix, Mickie James became nothing but a utility girl and was only given token runs with the Women's Title whenever Vince's many attempts at creating the next Trish or Lita (Ashley Massaro, Candice Michelle, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool) don't work.
You see, Mickie was only a prop in the story of the Women's Title match against Lita here, because as soon it's over and she wins back the title, Mickie is quietly told by the referee to get the fuck out of the ring so Cryme Tyme can sell Lita's shit to the fans.
4.At the end of the day, this Survivor Series is still a masterpiece compared to a certain PPV that took place the following week after this. Yeah, you know the one..