Survivor Series (2014)

Background

The professional wrestling matches at Survivor Series featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown.

On the October 27 episode of Raw, after John Cena, the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, rejected an offer to join The Authority, Triple H scheduled a traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match, with a team representing The Authority facing a team captained by Cena. Later that night, it was hinted that Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler had joined Team Cena; both Cena and Ziggler saved each other from post-match attacks. The next week on Raw, Vince McMahon announced that if Team Authority loses at Survivor Series, The Authority will be out of power. Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton joined Team Authority with Rollins as captain, while Ziggler joined Team Cena. Later that night, Orton was ejected by The Authority after he attacked members of The Authority, and turned face in the process for the first time since 2013. The next week on Raw, Rusev joined Team Authority after The Authority helped him retain his United States Championship against Sheamus. Sheamus joined Team Cena along with Big Show and Jack Swagger, while Mark Henry and Ryback joined Team Authority. But, by the end of the night, Swagger dropped out of Team Cena after Rollins injured him, while Ryback attacked and left Team Authority after Kane interfered in his main-event match against Cena. Luke Harper applied to join Team Authority by attacking Ziggler. The next week on Raw, Harper was confirmed as the final member of Team Authority. While Cena was scouting Ryback to fill out his team, team Authority attacked the rest of Team Cena, which played a part in Ziggler losing his Intercontinental Championship to Harper, and Sheamus dropping out of Team Cena after Mark Henry injured him. Later that night, Erick Rowan and Ryback joined Team Cena. On the November 21 episode of Smackdown, in response to comments made by Cena stating that he felt responsible for his team, Triple H announced that if Team Cena lost, all of Team Cena, except Cena himself, would be fired. Later that night, with Cena absent, Team Authority and a chair-wielding Triple H attacked the rest of Team Cena.

On the October 31 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Bella won a Battle Royal to face AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship. On November 10, WWE.com announced that AJ Lee would defend the title against Nikki at Survivor Series.

At Hell in a Cell, Bray Wyatt attacked Dean Ambrose during his Hell in a Cell match against Rollins. On the November 10 episode of Raw, it was announced that Ambrose would face Wyatt at Survivor Series.

On November 17, it was announced on WWE.com that WWE Tag Team Champions Gold and Stardust would defend the titles against The Miz and Damien Mizdow, The Usos, and Los Matadores in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match at Survivor Series.

On November 17, it was announced on WWE.com that the Survivor Series kickoff show would feature the return of Bad News Barrett from injury and Fandango, accompanied by Rosa Mendes, against an unknown opponent.

On November 18, it was announced on WWE.com that Alicia Fox, Natalya, Emma and Naomi would face Paige, Cameron, Layla and Summer Rae in a Survivor Series elimination tag team match at Survivor Series.

Pre-show

The analysis team was hosted by Renee Young and consisted of Alex Riley, Booker T, and special guest Paul Heyman.

During the pre-show, Fandango faced Justin Gabriel. Fandango executed a Diving Leg Drop to win the match.

Later, Jack Swagger faced Cesaro. Swagger forced Cesaro to submit to the Patriot Lock to win the match.

Miscellaneous

The English commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield while there also Spanish commentators ringside. Lilian Garcia and Eden Stiles handled ring introductions.

Preliminary matches

The event began with Mr. McMahon calling The Authority and John Cena to the ring. He added the stipulation, that should Team Authority lose, the only person who can bring The Authority back to power would be Cena himself. Cena then responded by saying "there is no chance in hell" he would bring The Authority back to power.

The first match saw Gold and Stardust defend the Tag Team Championship against The Miz and Damien Mizdow, The Usos and Los Matadores. After Goldust was incapacitated by a Samoan Splash from an Uso, Mizdow stole the pin to win the title for his team.

Next, Team Fox (Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi, and Natalya) faced Team Paige (Paige, Cameron, Layla, and Summer Rae) in a traditional 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Cameron was eliminated by Naomi after Naomi pinned her with a bridging rolling reverse cradle pin. Layla was eliminated by Fox after a Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker. Summer Rae was eliminated after Emma forced her to submit to the Emma Lock. Paige was eliminated by Naomi after a Handstand Modified Headscissors Driver.

After that, Dean Ambrose faced Bray Wyatt. Ambrose was disqualified after he hit Wyatt with a chair. After the match, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Wyatt on the chair, diving elbow dropped Wyatt through a table and Wyatt underneath a table and chairs and climbed a ladder.

In the fourth match, Adam Rose and The Bunny faced Slator Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil). The Bunny executed a missile dropkick on Slater to win the match.

Next, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield interviewed Roman Reigns via satellite, who announced he would return in late December.

In the fifth match, AJ Lee defended the Divas Championship against Nikki Bella. After Brie Bella kissed AJ, Nikki executed the Rack Attack on AJ to win the title.

Main event

In the main event, Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan, and Ryback), faced Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, United States Champion Rusev, and Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper) (with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury, and Lana) in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Henry was eliminated by Big Show after a KO Punch. Ryback was eliminated by Rusev after a Curb Stomp from Rollins and a Jumping Sidekick. Rusev tried to put Ziggler through a broadcast table with a splash but missed, fell through the table and was counted out. Rowan was eliminated by Harper after a Discus Clothesline. Cena was eliminated by Rollins after a KO Punch from Big Show, who betrayed Cena. Big Show shook Triple H's hand and eliminated himself, turning heel. Ziggler eliminated Kane with a Zig Zag and Harper with a rollup. Ziggler executed a Zig Zag on Rollins but Triple H pulled the referee out of the ring. The Authority attacked Ziggler, but he fought them off and executed a second Zig Zag on Rollins as another referee came out to the ring. Triple H attacked the other referee and attacked Ziggler, executing a Pedigree on him. He called out Scott Armstrong to count the pin, but WCW wrestler Sting appeared, making his WWE debut. Sting knocked out Armstrong and had a staredown with Triple H. Sting then executed a Scorpion Death Drop on Triple H and pulled Ziggler onto Rollins for the pin.

Reception

Survivor Series received generally positive reviews, with particular praise going toward the main event. Speaking of the Ambrose-Wyatt match, Larry Csonka of 411mania said "The match was good, and they set up next month so I really don’t have a lot of complaints with this." He gave the match ***3/4 (out of *****). He gave the main event ****, calling it "a very good main event presentation." He gave the entire event a score of 7 out of 10.

Aftermath

On the November 24 episode of Raw, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon bid farewell to the WWE Universe, but were interrupted by Daniel Bryan, who returned and served as the general manager for both Raw and SmackDown that week, putting members of Team Authority in unfavorable situations. Mark Henry was put in a match against Ryback, which he lost quickly. Luke Harper defended his Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose, which ended in a disqualification due to interference from Bray Wyatt. Kane was put into concessions for the night as Concessions Kane. Rusev and Lana were forced to speak out the Pledge of Allegiance or defend the United States Championship in a Battle Royal, which Rusev did successfully on SmackDown. Seth Rollins lost a 3-on-2 handicap match against John Cena and Dolph Ziggler, with Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury chosen as his partners by fans poll. At the end of the show, it was announced that the Anonymous Raw General Manager would be returning the following week.

On the December 29 episode of Raw, after threatening to Curb Stomp guest host Edge (who had to retire due to multiple neck injuries that could leave him paralyzed), Rollins coaxed Cena into bringing back The Authority after just over a month of exile. The following week on Raw, The Authority rewarded Rollins by placing him in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the Royal Rumble also involving Cena and defending champion Brock Lesnar. In the same show, the Authority had also gave out the pre-match stipulated consequences to Team Cena, firing Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback. Later on January 19, 2015 on Raw, John Cena defeated Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane in a 3-on-1 handicap match with the help of Sting, and thus Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback managed to get their jobs back. On January 22, 2015 on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan welcomed Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback to celebrate their return to the WWE. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback would continue to team as a faction well into 2015.

Survivor Series elimination matches

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