Survivor Series 2018 took place last Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. RAW have won the last two Survivor Series, so will this year be any different? Let's take a look.
The match on the Kick Off Show was a Survivor Series Elimination Match with Team RAW (Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, The Revival, The Ascension, The B Team and Lucha House Party) taking on Team Smackdown(The Usos, The New Day, Sanity, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows and The Colons(?)) The Colons are the first team to be eliminated after The Revival hit Epico with the Shatter Machine. Anderson eliminates The B Team with a roll up and Eric Young is eliminated thanks to a combo Roode Awakening/Moonsault by Roode and Gable. The Ascension are eliminated when Big E splashes Konnor and Anderson and Gallows are eliminated after a senton by Gran Metalik on Anderson. The Usos then eliminate Lucha House Party and Gable and Roode get eliminated with a Up Up Down Down by The New Day on Gable. The Revival hit Shatter Machine on Xavier Woods to leave it with just them and The Usos. In the end, Jimmy Uso hits an Uso Splash on Scott Dawson to get Team Smackdown the win. This was a good match with Chad Gable and The Revival being particularly impressive.
Winners; The Usos (1 for 1)
The first match on the show is the Women's Survivor Series Elimination Match with Team RAW (Mickie James, Tamina, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks and Bayley) versus Team Smackdown (Naomi, Carmella, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville and Asuka) Earlier on, Alexa Bliss had replaced Natalya and Ruby Riott with Sasha Banks and Bayley. Naomi is the first one to be eliminated with a superkick by Tamina but she was eliminated immediately by a roll up by Carmella, who celebrated with a dance break. Rose blind tags in as Deville hits a running knee on James and eliminates her to take the credit. Bayley eliminates Carmella with a Belly-to-Bayley and Sasha Banks eliminates Mandy Rose with the Banks Statement. Deville and Bayley both get counted out, leaving Asuka to take on Jax and Banks. Jax decides to be a jerk and push Banks off the turnbuckle, leading her into a Asuka Lock by Asuka. Banks submits and Jax then kills Asuka with multiple legdrops and a Samoan Drop to get the win for Team RAW. This was quite a good match and it ties the event at...wait, it's 1-0 to RAW? So, the one on the Kick Off Show doesn't count? Then, what was the point of the match?
Winner: Nia Jax (2 for 2)
We now get our first Champion vs Champion match as the Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins takes on United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Both guys get a feel for each other before Nakamura kicks Rollins in the face as he goes for a suicide dive. Nakamura focuses on the neck before Rollins slams Nakamura into the turnbuckle. Rollins hits 3 suicide dives in a row before the match goes back and forth. Nakamura hits a Kinshasa to the back of the head but Rollins kicks out. Nakamura goes for another one but misses and Rollins hits the Curb Stomp to get the win. This was an entertaining match and possibly, one of Nakamura's best matches since being called up to the main roster. I was surprised that Dean Ambrose didn't make an appearance. I suppose brand supremacy is more important than his hatred of Rollins.
Winner: Seth Rollins (2 for 3)
Our second Champion vs Champion match as the RAW Tag Team Champions AOP take on Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Bar. Sheamus and Cesaro get the early advantage as they focus on Razr. AOP recover, wearing down Cesaro. Cesaro eventually tags in Sheamus. Drake Maverick starts to interfere, distracting Sheamus then putting Razr's foot on the rope to stop him being pinned. When The Bar and Big Show go after him, he wets himself...? What? Anyway, AOP use this opportunity(?) to hit Sheamus with The Last Chapter and get the win. I wasn't a fan of this match. It felt like it went on for too long and the ending was fucking stupid.
Winners: AOP (2 for 4)
We now get a break from RAW dominating Smackdown as Mustafa Ali challenges Buddy Murphy for the Cruiserweight Championship. Ali uses his quickness against Murphy before being sent flying off the top rope into the crowd barrier. Ali tries to get back into it but Murphy uses his superior strength to shut him down. Ali comes close with a beautiful hanging DDT then hits a Spanish fly from the German announce table. In the end, Ali goes for a crossbody but gets kneed in the head. Murphy then hits Murphy's Law to get the win. This was a really good match and it was great to see the Cruiserweight Championship on an actual Pay-Per-View.
Winner: Buddy Murphy (3 for 5)
Next is our final Survivor Series Elimination Match as Team RAW (Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman) take on Team Smackdown (Hollywood Miz, Best in the World(?) Shane McMahon, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio). Samoa Joe is the first to be eliminated with a Claymore Kick by McIntyre. Shane elbows Strowman through the announce table and Balor gets eliminated by Rey Mysterio after a 619 and a Dropping a Dime. Shane eliminates Ziggler after a Coast to Coast and when he goes for another one, Strowman clotheslines him in mid air. Strowman eliminates Hardy, Mysterio and Miz with powerslams, leaving only Shane left for Smackdown. Strowman then hits him with a brutal powerslam to get the win for RAW. RAW Captain Baron Corbin celebrates by hitting Strowman on the back of the head. Whilst I was pissed off that once again, Shane McMahon was the last member of his team; it was a good match.
Winners: Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman (4 for 6)
The penultimate match was supposed to be RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey taking on Smackdown Women's Champion "The Man" Becky Lynch, which was that a lot of people was looking forward to seeing. However, Nia Jax broke her nose and gave her a concussion, meaning that she couldn't compete. Instead, we got Ronda taking on Charlotte Flair. Charlotte sends Ronda flying into the turnbuckle to get the advantage. Ronda tries multiple times to go for the Armbar but Charlotte stops it each time. Both women come close to winning before Charlotte goes for the Figure 8 but Ronda reverses the pressure and they end up on the floor. In the end, Ronda goes to attack Charlotte on the outside but she gets hit with a kendo stick out of thin air, causing a disqualification. Charlotte proceeds to beat the absolute fuck out of Ronda with kendo sticks and a steel chair. When referees start to stop her, she beats the fuck out of them as well, ending with putting Ronda in a chair vice and stomping on it.
This match was really good and definitely the best one that Ronda has had so far. The ending was surprising, but I was initially ok with it if it led to something. However, Ronda comes out the next night acting as if nothing happened; and, except for a segment on Smackdown, Charlotte is still being a face. So, it felt that it didn't change anything. As for the future, it could lead to some interesting inter-promotional matches between Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey if WWE play it right.
Winner: Ronda Rousey (5 for 7)
The main event was between Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and the new WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. The match starts at a slow pace with Bryan mocking Lesnar. That turns out to be a bad idea as Lesnar proceeds to hit 2 release German suplexes and 3 overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Lesnar continues to brutalise Bryan, hitting a F-5 but choosing not to end the match. Lesnar goes for another F-5 but he throws Bryan into the referee and Bryan hits a low blow and a running knee for 2. Bryan starts his comeback, kicking and stomping on Lesnar. The match goes back and forth and Bryan comes close after hitting another running knee. In the end, Lesnar manages to prevail by getting out of a triangle choke and hitting the F-5.
This match was weird to watch at first. It looked like it was going to be a glorified squash match, which was insane to see considering it had two World Champions involved. However, it developed into and entertaining, back and forth match. An unusual but enjoyable match.
Winner: Brock Lesnar (6 for 8)
Except for a few moments, Survivor Series was pretty good. It was weird that RAW swept the board, except for the Kick Off Show, which doesn't count for some reason. Despite that, there were some good matches. If WWE can just stop doing stupid things when booking some of their matches, then maybe we can get some more good events.
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