Recap and Review of WWE Survivor Series 2020

Tonight, was the annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, which originally started in 1987 as the Thanksgiving Tradition. Over the years there have been some special moments at Survivor Series. There have been memorable debuts, unique matchups, the end of the Invasion angle and the fight for brand supremacy. This year was the first time in the event’s history that I was not excited for the show. They did not include NXT which made the event last year so much better. I also felt the booking and buildup was very lazy. I had low expectations going in, so sit back and find out if my attitude changed throughout the show. Before I begin, here are the results of Survivor Series

-Kickoff Show: The Miz wins the dual branded Battle Royal
-Raw defeated Smackdown in the Men’s 5 on 5 Traditional Survivor Series Match(All of Raw survived)
-Street Profits defeated The New Day
-Bobby Lashley defeated Sami Zayn
-Sasha Banks defeated Asuka
-Raw defeated Smackdown in the Women’s 5 on 5 Traditional Survivor Series Match(Lana is the sole survivor)
-Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre

I generally don’t discuss the matches on the Kickoff Show, but there way way too much talent that deserved something then a Battle Royal. You had The Miz, Morrison, Jeff Hardy, Angel Garza and Ricochet from Raw. On Smackdown you had Rey Mysterio, Murphy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Apollo Crews and Chad Gable from Smackdown That could have been a 5 on 5 elimination match in itself. Notably absent from the match was RETRIBUTION, Lars Sullivan, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan and Big E. The Battle Royal had some action to it and at the end of the match The Miz stood tall. I am still disappointed that so much talent was wasted on a Battle Royal but is what it is.

The opening match of the evening was the Men’s 5 on 5 Traditional Elimination Tag Team Match. There were some interesting stories in this match. Seth Rollin sacrificed himself and was the first person eliminated, which tells me his off television for a while due to upcoming birth of his child. I really loved the interaction between Keith Lee and Otis. I would love to see these two in a match or two. I kept asking myself how Raw was going to lose and I never came up with a good answer. Team Raw looked way too good on paper and it’s fitting that they got the clean sweep. I will be very curious to see what’s in store for the members of team Raw going into the rest of the year.

The one match I was most interested in is the Street Profits and The New Day. Going into tonight, they have never faced each other in a match so it was very much a dream match. I liked how during the match that New Day started working heel a little bit. There was a lot of innovation in this match and it showed that WWE could have a great tag team division if they tried a little harder. That is one of the major knocks on WWE is that there tag team division and how they use it is very lackluster. This match gave me a lot of hope that this could change the way WWE looks at their tag team division.

I have to say that Sami Zayn might be the best talker and best heel in WWE right now. He helped build this match by all of his trash talking. It made have a little investment in it because I wanted to know what Sami was going to do. I loved the psychology of the match because Zayn is always about everyone being against him. In this match, all of The Hurt Business was at ringside, but didn’t touch him until the very end of the match when the referee wasn’t looking. I personally can’t wait to hear what Zayn has to say about this latest travesty.

In terms of matches, I was not excited about is Sasha Banks and Asuka. Their feud ran through most of the summer and I thought they could have gone a different direction. On Smackdown, all the focus has been on Sasha Banks and Bayley. On Raw, the focus has been Asuka, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. No one else being pushed into the spotlight or given opportunities. These two had another stellar match. They are always so intense, physical, and extremely competitive. All year long Asuka had Sasha’s number, but tonight Banks came out on top. Even though I am frustrated that more women haven’t been in the spotlight lately, I can’t take away from how great this match was. It was great to see a match between these two without any shenanigans.

One of things that bothers about WWE is how petty they can be about things. Ever since Miro(Rusev) showed up in AEW, they have done nothing but embarrass and humiliate Lana. Even throughout this match they used humiliation tactics. While I get that it may be part of the story, I think it’s pathetic and lazy storytelling on WWE’s part. Nia and Shayna dominated most of the match as I expect they would. At the end of the match, Lana was the sole survivor of the match and she literally did very little in the whole match. I am not sure what they are doing with Lana, but I hope they start treating her better and giving her more opportunities to prove herself.

The last match of night was between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre. Both of them have had incredible years this year and this has a much different than when they faced each other at Wrestlemania last year. Both men have championships, have different attitudes and different heritages they are trying to honor. I thought this match was way better than their matches in 2019. They brought a different intensity that wasn’t there before, and I absolutely enjoyed it. Both men took a lot of punishment in this match and I was not surprised that there were shenanigans There was no way either man was going to lose clean to one another. I was disappointed that they didn’t pull the trigger on The Miz cashing in. They had the perfect opportunity, and they blew it big time It was actually ten years ago today that The Miz cashed in the Money in the Bank to win his first WWE Championship. That’s the only disappointing part of the match.

In the main event, The Undertaker bid his final farewell to the WWE Universe. There were so many legends that came to pay tribute to person and performer that you could not help but get choked up thinking about all the memories and moments. I am glad we got the full version of The Undertaker and he cut a promo in Undertaker style. The Undertaker’s WWE career has come full circle. He started on November 22nd, 1990 and he bid his farewell on November 22nd, 2020. His accomplishments and his legacy will never be forgotten.

Survivor Series was a solid show, I still had a hard time being invested. There were a few small stories, but nothing that was I jumping off my couch for. Survivor Series gets a 6.5 out of 10 for me. I feel they missed the opportunities to make both show “Must See” television from the aftermath. Hopefully, they can get back on track for WWE TLC, which is the final big show of the year.