PPV Review: Survivor Series 2005

CJ August 09, 2012

November 27, 2005,

Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan

This Survivor Series 2005 review is an older piece I wrote probably ten or more years ago.

I'm including it here now even though I'll likely go back and review it again down the line in a year or so.

Until then, enjoy one of the first pro wrestling reviews I ever wrote.

As you'll see, it's a little different from my current style, but hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?

Best of Seven Series Match 1:
Booker T (w/ Sharmell) vs. Chris Benoit

Following the controversial finish to their recent bout over the United States Championship, Booker T and Chris Benoit saw the title vacated and were forced to try and replicate the thrilling Best of Seven Series they'd had back in the glory days of World Championship Wrestling.

Kicking off said series on tonight's show, both men put on a decent opening contest, working a steady pace and entertaining the enlivened crowd as they built towards a finale which saw Booker T steal the win thanks a ropes (and Sharmell) assisted pin.
Your Winner: Booker T

A whole bunch of craziness went down backstage, starting with Eric Bischoff, in training for his upcoming match against Teddy Long

Interrupted by Vince McMahon himself, Bischoff promised The Boss that he would screw John Cena out of his WWE Championship. Cue the Doctor of Thuganomics himself then, who saw off the Raw G.M before and traded some street talk with Vinnie Mac, causing McMahon to strut off having just called Cena The N Word.

Returning from his victory, Booker T had been around just long enough to hear McMahon's burst of casual racism. 'Tell me...He did not just say that!?!' yelled the former five time WCW Champion.

WWE Women's Championship Match:
Trish Stratus (C) vs. Melina
With Mickie James in the champ's corner and MNM in that of the challenger, this 'inter-promotional' (read: Raw vs. Smackdown) battle for the women's title was always going to see some shenanigans.

And that they did, from Trish's plancha over the ropes onto Melina, Nitro and Mecury, to the WWE Tag Team Champions attempting an attack on Stratus mid-ring, there was plenty going on, though not too much that it detracted from the action in the ring.

Indeed, when both girls were left to simply wrestle, this turned into a decent, enjoyable contest which saw Trish triumph to retain the gold.
Your Winner and Still WWE Women's Champion: Trish Stratus

Turning up the intensity on tonight's proceedings, Triple H was shown in the locker room, his face ablaze with focus and determination as he prepared for his upcoming Last Man Standing Match against the Nature Boy.

Last Man Standing Match:
Triple H vs. Ric Flair

Hunter completely dominated the early portion of this brutal, bloody contest, slowing the pace right down and pummelling Flair around the ring before knocking him to the outside and stabbing at his opponent's weathered face with a screwdriver.

With both men soaked in Flair's blood, the battle became a war, the fight continuing in and outside the ring, always with The Game on top until The Dirtiest Player reversed a Pedigree event and sent HHH crashing through a table.

The action continued, each combatant taking turns to beat the other to a pulp. Yet the longer the match continued, the more it began to drag. Going at least a good five minutes longer than it needed to, and suffering greatly as a result, the bout finally saw Triple H put Flair, and everybody watching, out of our misery with a sledgehammer shot. Flair failed to answer the count of ten, and this one was finally over.
Your Winner: Triple H

Seemingly intent on keeping air of racism lingering backstage, Team Smackdown were caught in their locker room discussing their upcoming elimination match against their Raw counterparts. Whilst this was mostly fine, a few off-the-cuff comments from JBL made this writer (and clearly Bobby Lashley too) somewhat uncomfortable.

Heading to ringside, Money in the Bank winner Edge took to the microphone to announce the impending arrival of his new talk show, The Talk Show, to Raw. With Lita by his side, the Rated R Superstar then employed that most basic of heat-seeking tactics; insulting the local sports teams. A pointless interaction with one of the local baseball players followed, before finally it was back to the action.

WWE Championship Match (w/ special guest referee, Davari):
John Cena (C) vs. Kurt Angle

With the odds stacked firmly against the WWE Champion thanks to biased-referee Davari, challenger Angle took it to the Cena in what was a good main event match.

The crowd, split fifty/fifty were on the edge of their seats, swept along by a dramatic, dynamic contest which saw three referees (including Davari) take a tumble before Charles Robinson finally made the three count for Cena as he picked up the win thanks to an F.U, setting the theme for most of his feuds to come with triumph in the face of adversity.

A solid, entertaining contest that further cemented Cena's status as the guy in the WWE.
Your Winner and Still WWE Champion: John Cena

And so, what better way to top such a thrilling match than with the absolute abomination that was the battle of the GMs?

Battle of the General Managers:
Eric Bischoff vs. Teddy Long

Here's what happened in this match:

Nothing.

Or, to be more precise, nothing happened for a while, the crowds roared their disapproval, Bischoff choked Long for a while, the crowd booed some more, a frail-looking Long hit Bischoff with his shoe, then The Boogey Man debuted.

Boogey Man beat up Bischoff, Long scored the win in a terrible, terrible segment where the only interested moment was the arrival of The Boogeyman.
Your Winner: Teddy Long

The Raw vs. Smackdown feud was set to continue next, though thankfully with a much better ensemble as the 2005 Survivor Series reached its grand finale.

Traditional Survivor Series Match:
Team Smackdown (Batista, JBL, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton) vs. Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters, Big Show and Kane)

If the previous encounter was a complete flop, then tonight's main event more than made up for it with a fantastic main event. The action was non-stop from start to finish, building through twists, turns, falls and near falls to a gripping crescendo which saw Randy Orton triumph as the sole survivor for Team Smackdown.

The match was a joy to watch, and by far one of the most enjoyable traditional elimation matches your blogger has seen for a long time.
Your Winners: Team Smackdown (sole survivor: Randy Orton)

With celebration in the air, sole survivor Orton rode high on the shoulders of his Smackdown cohorts, basking in the glow of a hard fought victory and revelling in the adulation of his peers. Yet any jubiliation was quickly quashed by the return of The Undertaker, who appeared in a burning casket before heading ringwards to confront The Legend Killer, The Phenom seeking retribution on the man who put him out of action many months earlier.

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