WWE Survivor Series 2011 Results

It's time for the WWE's annual Thanksgiving tradition and one of their Big Four PPVs, the Survivor Series. Coming off a bland string of closely scheduled PPVs, will The Rock's return to battle in the squared circle be enough to make this a worthwhile event? Will Zack Ryder somehow figure into the U.S. Title match between Dolph Ziggler and John Morrison? Will the WWE put their top title back on CM Punk? Live from Madison Square Garden in NYC, let's get to the action...



Opening: GM John  Laurnaitis steps out to the top of the stage ramp, welcomes everyone to the event and talks about how he has been with the company for 10 years. ZZZZZZ.

 

U.S. Title Match

John Morrison

vs.

Dolph Ziggler, champion

Pre-Match Notes: Not sure how the angle went from Zack Ryder as the babyface-chasing challenger to Ryan chasing the title, then back to Ryder, then finally back to Morrison - who apparently is in the WWE doghouse. The fans "Want Ryder", so I am not sure if somehow this is going to become a three-way dance or if the Zack Attack will be involved in some fashion. Also, this match might tell us a lot about the fate of Morrison in WWE, since his contract is rumoring to expire soon.

Result: Ziggler retains by pinfall with the Zig-Zag! Solid and entertaining contest. ***Deafening "We Want Ryder" chants howled from the NY crowd the entire time. Post match, Zack Ryder made a run-in and nailed Dolph with the Ruff Ryder.

WWE Divas Championship, Lumberjill Match

Eva Torres 

vs.

 Beth Phoenix, champion

Pre-Match Notes: This is another in a long line of filler matches until Kharma returns, which can't happen soon enough. The gimmick here is that other Divas are outside the ring, so they can kick the crap out of each of the participants if they get thrown outside. Then, they toss you back in. It's a lumberjack match but with Divas, hence "Lumberjill". Get it? Yeah...

Result: Phoenix retains with a top-rope Glam Slam.



Backstage segment: David Otungtells CM Punk that he has a message from Laurnaitis, stating he wants Punk to apologize to Michael Cole for attacking him on last week's Raw. Punk said he will...after we wins the belt from Del Rio tonight.



Backstage segment: The Rock appears on the Titantron and goes on a 6-8 minute rant about his first match in MSG, his wrestling bloodline, how he is going to put "Boots to Asses" for both Miz and R-Truth, and then insulted John Cena and his "ovulating lady parts".

Survivor Series Match 

Team Orton 

(Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Mason Ryan, and  Kofi Kingston)

vs.

Team Barrett  

(Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Hunico, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger)

Pre-Match Notes: A traditional Survivor Series gimmick match, that once used to be the entire concept of the PPV back in the day, has been thankfully (yes pun intended) to the card. Is there a harder working wrestler on the roster right now than Ziggler? He is pulling double duty for the second straight PPV, replacing the legit inured Christian. Rhodes and Hunico, AKA former Dark Sin Cara, have new looks and Ryan fills in for the legit suspended Evan Bourne.

Elimination One: Orton eliminated Ziggler with the RKO.

Elimination Two: Sin Cara injured his knee diving to the outside. Eliminated.

Elimination Three: Rhodes eliminated Ryan with Cross Rhodes.

Elimination Four: Barrett eliminated Kingston with Wasteland.

Elimination Five: Sheamus DQ'ed for ignoring ref's count

Elimination Six: Orton eliminated Swagger with interference from Sheamus

Elimination Seven: Orton eliminated Hunico with the RKO.

Elimination Eight: Barrett eliminated Orton with Wasteland.

Result: Barrett and Orton are the sole survivors.



Backstage Segment: While Del Rio brags to the Bella Twins, Laurnaitis reminds him to stay focused for Punk. Del Rio is cocky and laughs that he injured Punk on Raw and he will beat him tonight.

 

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Big Show

vs.

Mark Henry, champion

Pre-Match Notes: Henry has been convincingly built as an unstoppable monster heel and has surprisingly been one of the better heel turns the 'E has done in 2011. This is a rematch from last month's Vengeance PPV, when these two giants "broke" the ring and it ended in a no-contest.

Result: Show wins by DQ after Henry delivered a desperate kick below the belt. Hnery retains title. ***After the match, Show used a chair to injure Henry's leg like Henry did to him over the summer.



Backstage segment: Awesome Truth interrupts an interview with Wade Barrett to talk about how awesome they are. R-Truth cut a hilarious promo about pigeons and crap.

WWE Championship

CM Punk

vs.

Alberto Del Rio, champion

Pre-Match Notes: Punk will have a chance to end his streak of PPV losses, since he lost the title back at SummerSlam due to ADR's cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and lost to him again at Hell in a Cell. Punk has been getting the short end of the stick the last few weeks on Raw at the hands of Alberto, so all signs point to Punk walking away as champion...or will interim GM John Laurnaitis pull another infamous Survivor Series screwjob?

Result:  Punk wins the title by making Del Rio submit with the Anaconda Vise...then did two crowd dives to celebrate with the fans. ***Prior to the match, WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel was introduced as Punk's personal ring announcer to a huge pop.

Special Attraction Main Event

Awesome Truth 

(The Miz and R-Truth)

vs.

John Cena and The Rock

Pre-Match Notes: The Rock returns to in-ring action for the first time in several years and looked in fantastic shape at last week's Raw. Cena and Rock's union is billed as "Never Before. Never Again" as the countdown to their battle at Wrestlemania this April is on! The booking for this contest has been terrible as the Awesome Truth have looked weak against Cena and Rock over the past few weeks. Let's hope the WWE has a good plan to continue the Cena-Rock feud while making The Miz and Truth, who have been amazing heels, look strong again.  

Result: The Rock pinned The Miz after the People's Elbow. ***Post mathc, Rock invited Cena into the ring to celebrate for a "cheer off" in which Rock was cheered and Cena was booed. Then he Rock Bottomed Cena once John started mouthing off to him. The show went off the air with Cena stumbling to the back and Rock on the turnbuckle, taking in his fans' praise.

Final Verdict: The opening match, Survivor tag match, the Punk title win, and the Rock's in-ring action were definitely the highlights while the overall PPV was leaps and bounds better than Vengeance. The Henry-Show and Phoenix-Torres matches were nice for bathroom breaks, but luckily the constant high energy from the MSG crowd made Survivor Series worth watching and made for a good lead into tomorrow night's Raw.