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Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Survivor Series 2015 Review with Match Ratings and Show Grade
By Mr. Tito
Nov 22, 2015 - 10:46:06 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Welcome back to the EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING here by yours truly, Mr. Tito, that is exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. And for my WWE Survivor Series 2015 column, it was posted INSTANTLY after the show ended. Thus, I'm writing and editing the show review on the fly but the column is posted instantly for you, the readers, to enjoy immediately after the show. That's dedication.

Heading into this show, my expectations were LOW. WWE lost Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, and Rusev to injury, John Cena to scheduled time, and they ran out of 2015 scheduled dates for Brock Lesnar (or refused to pay him extra). Seth Rollins was the WWE Champion at the time of his injury and thus complicated things heading into this Pay Per View. In some ways, I feel for the WWE because of these extreme circumstances... But at the same time, I don't. They should have created strong Intercontinental/United States midcard title divisions that prepped midcard to upper-midcarders to immediately step in as needed. Instead, you get what we've seen from the WWE Title tournament: LACK of top drawing talent.

Enjoy the column...

MR. TITO'S PHAT WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2015 REVIEW

The pre-game show featured the Survivor Series 5 on 5 match-up between Miz/Ascension/Bo Dallas/Stardust vs. Goldust/Dudleys/Neville/Titus O'Neil. Babyfaces completely dominated here with only Neville being eliminated. Could have been a RAW match, [ ** ]. Only positive here is that Titus looked good and had some good cheers for his offense. WWE might have something there but the ship is sailing fast.

Lilian Garcia starts off the offical show with the singing of the National Anthem, which is uncommon for the televised portion of Pay Per Views. My guess is that we're honoring recent events or to rub it into the recent threats made upon the arena of Survivor Series. In your face! By the way, everytime I see Garcia, I can't help but laugh at what Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid, Syxx, X-Pac) said about her on YouShoot.

Opening match is Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns. I wonder if Del Rio wonders why he bothered to get into the shape of his life if the WWE was going to tarnish his image by placing him with a old guy on the scooter. Oh, no worries on that, Alberto Del Rio is too busy cashing in those fat paychecks that the WWE is paying him to not work for Lucha Underground. My bad. Mixed reaction for Roman Reigns to start the match and Del Rio isn't exactly loved. We'll see if, over the course of the night, Roman can win the fans over with an inspirational performance. Pair of odd looking slams by Reigns where Del Rio landed weird, almost adjusting mid-air to account for the sloppy throws by Reigns. Already seems like for the second straight week, Reigns is gassed by wrestling 2 very fast and aggressive performers in Cesaro and now Del Rio. Vince is smoking CRACK if he sees dollar signs in Reigns, at least for 2015-2016. Getting more comical as Reigns proves to be reliant on about 5 signature moves while he has zero idea how to (a) build up to those moves and (b) perform any transitional moves with PSYCHOLOGY to get to those moves. Roman missed the Superman punch, Alberto Del Rio then gets in some offense with Reigns poorly selling, and then Superman punch is hit. Roman tries for the spear but takes a Superkick to the head instead. Roman muscled a Powerbomb on Del Rio from a hold... Sure, he struggled, but deadlifting someone into a Powerbomb is no easy feat and WWE fans in attendance recognize that with a "THIS IS AWESOME" chant. Reigns muscled Del Rio out of another hold, Del Rio gets tossed from the outside, Del Rio misses a move off the top rope, and Reigns then hits the spear for 1, 2, 3. Awful match and goes to show you what a big mistake it would be to make Reigns become WWE Champion. [ *1/2 ]

I would be willing to play that TLC video game they used to hype the event. WWE puts that as an app, it's easy money. Looked like a fun 2D platformer...

Backstage, Roman Reigns is being interviewed and then Dean Ambrose walks by for some hype of "2 best buddies fighting it out". But Kevin Owens arrives later and has a problem with that notion.

Second match of the night, to get the Semi-Finals of the WWE Tournament out of the way, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens. I do like that the WWE has Intercontinental Champion, Kevin Owens, coming out second. Respect yo, even if Owens isn't defending the title. I can imagine that backstage, both Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn are just rolling their eyes at this match. Does nothing for them... There are good reasons why both guys have endured losses and demotions to the midcard, yet because the WWE Main Event roster is thin, they're in the semi-finals of a WWE Title tournament. Both guys are hitting moves with efficiency here but there's no psychology between the two. That's what happens when you screw with both wrestlers creatively... Match received some pops from a few big top rop spots (damn fine inverted suplex by Owens) and that clothesline by Rollins. After some brawling on the outside, Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds for the 1,2, 3. Good match but they would be better served by an actual feud instead of just a random feud. Match needed psychology badly as you didn't feel any emotional chemistry between the two. [ *** ]

Well, there goes my 2015 Survivor Series Predictions down the toilet. I didn't think that WWE would consider pushing Roman Reigns to the WWE Title until Wrestlemania 32. Plus, Alberto Del Rio is reportedly wrestling John Cena to start 2016. Ooops...

I was hoping that the Pre-Game Survivor Series match wasn't the only real Survivor Series matches on the show. New Day/King Barrett/Sheamus took on Ryback/Usos/Lucha Dragons. The freakin' New Day did more in 1 promo to make King Barrett and Sheamus feel important than years of WWE Creative. The "KANG of the RANG", classic stuff. Wade Barrett and Sheamus are loving it! The hair on Xavier Woods tonight, good lord! Kudos to the babyfaces for matching tights tonight. Lots of fun action throughout with many capable high flying wrestlers and overall good workers. Cool spot when Usos and Dragons all went over the top rope and then Ryback joined them. Nice Swanton by Sin Cara and then the Lucha Dragons hit a nice double team move (can't name it or explain it) from the corner that I've never seen before. Nice spear through the ropes by Big E but afterward, Sheamus tags his way into the match. This upsets the unholy alliance and while Big E was arguing with Sheamus, he was distracted enough to take a series of offensive moves to get pinned. In a CLASSIC heel move, though, Xavier Woods and Kofi had to help Big E to the backstage area for medical attention to leave Sheamus all by himself. Dominated the remaining Lucha Dragon, but not Ryback. Excellent teamwork between Kalisto and Jay Uso to feed Sheamus into Ryback's Shellshock finisher for 1, 2, 3... I really enjoyed this match. Sold the psychology of the New Day as heels and gave Sheamus a nice fight at the end that he shouldn't overcome. [ *** 1/2 ]

Paige vs. Charlotte is up next... Good, Charlotte is coming out second. WWE must be reading my criticisms on forgetting simple traditions like "champion always comes out second for a match". Charlotte has "DO IT" across her chest. What on earth does that mean? Both of these ladies better BRING IT tonight or else we'll get more helpings of Total Divas era women's wrestling. By the way, I was watching the 2nd episode of Breaking Ground on the WWE Network. Did you guys see that one girl getting kicked out of the Performance Center because her past Scoliosis correction which involved a steel rod being inserted into her back? That's a good sign that if Paige EVER has corrective surgery for her curved spine, she'll have to retire... The match, well... Just lacked emotion. Both ladies hit some nice spots here and there but I didn't see any true anger from Charlotte over their feud while I didn't see much in the way of heel antics from Paige. Granted, both of have been undercut by the poor booking of the Divas Revolution, but at some point you need to make Lemonade out of Lemons. Lackluster matches will keep opening up the door for the Eva Maries of the world to keep getting opportunities despite having zero in-ring talent. Charlotte eventually wins it with the Figure 8. [ ** ]. And Renee Young afterward said that the "divas tore down the house". Uh huh.

Backstage, Dean Ambrose hyped up his match against his brother, Roman Reigns. Ambrose reminds us of their debut 3 years ago to this day. Wow, time flies when you're having fun.

Next match is Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler. I'm the old man who keeps warning out too many WWE reality shows "expose the business" and then I see Tyler Breeze explaining his character on Breaking Bad while speaking like a normal person. Come on, WWE... Ziggler must be going for the Motley Crue look these days, even has "DZ Crew" on his tights. Change... Now it's time for change. Nothing seems the same... Match was decent, as Dolph Ziggler was full of energy and bumped like a machine for Tyler Breeze. However, it almost seemed like Breeze was hesitating and Ziggler almost made him look bad by overselling everything. And who does the job in this match? Of course, Ziggler. Breeze wins and this feud is already over. Ziggler just needs to leave the WWE already and be a big fish in a small pond to prove the WWE wrong about his talent. [ ** ]

Wyatts vs. Undertaker/Kane are up next. I do like the WWE production truck's incorporation of the lantern and how it spells out "The Wyatt Family" with the little lights as graphics. Nice touch. Wyatts have a great entrance but their in-ring record on bigger feuds has been disappointing. Not to be outdone, Kane's name comes up with fire during his entrance... Undertaker's bell rings and then Kane raises his arms to ignite 2 Undertaker symbols. Badass... Undertaker's entrance remains the best of all time. Old pictures of the Undertaker are shown with tonight's entrance to emphasize 25 years. Everything looks great from the production truck... Can they have a good match? My preference, heading into this match, would have been to book a 4 on 4 match between Wyatts and Undertaker/Kane +2, but hey, that's just logical. Erick Rowan was sent in first but he was quickly disposed of via double chokeslam. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper climb on the apron to be the 2 guys wrestling tonight. Atlanta fans are LOUD with their "Undertaker" chants, probably knowing that this is their last chance to see him live... Michael Cole and JBL refused to call HULK HOGAN by name when referring to Undertaker's WWE Title win at Survivor Series 1991. Come on! Nice legdrop on the apron by the Undertaker. He still has it... Did some Old School earlier as well... Kane/Undertaker seemed to have things under control until Braun Strowman tossed Kane over the announcer's table. Kane gets the hot tag and whoops on Harper. However, Strowman on the outside gets Undertaker's attention and he gets clotheslined over the rope. But, like a cat, Undertaker lands on his feet and goes for Strowman's throat. Kane joins him and Strowman takes a Chokeslam through the table! Back in, though, Undertaker as ambushed and almost lost to the Sister Abagail finisher (Kane with the save!). Wyatts got cocky (Bray did his backwards crawling) and Undertaker/Kane sat up. Chokeslams and then Luke Harper takes the Tombstone by the Undertaker to win the match. Not much of a real technical match, as Kane/Undertaker are definitely showing their age. However, this was a present to the Undertaker for 25 years of service and I guess I'm OK with that. At least Bray Wyatt didn't eat the pin and had the Undertaker pinned with his finisher had Kane not broken up the pin. [ ** ]

WWE Title Finals match between Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns was the MAIN EVENT and kudos to the WWE for putting this match on. I didn't expect it out of fears by WWE officials that Dean Ambrose might receive an exceeding amount of cheers compared to Reigns. Liked the start of the match with both guys being aggressive towards each other despite their friendship. I would worry about those "Let's Go Roman / Roman Sucks" chants because it would remind Vince McMahon too much of the chants John Cena receives. After all, they want Roman to become the next Cena. I would give props to both wrestlers for selling fatigue, but I think only Ambrose is selling while the other guy struggles to wrestle against faster and well conditioned wrestlers. I do like the brawling, notably the trading of fists, between the two. Whoa... Dean Ambrose at 10:37pm walks into a Spear after running towards an opposite turnbuckle. Roman Reigns becomes WWE Champion and I'm distracted by the WWE Title moment when I see a fan holding a sign that says "Diet Owens Diet". For that match, I'll go [ **1/2 ]. Too short, not enough "sense of urgency" pushed between 2 brothers as hyped.

After the big confetti celebration, Triple H appears to join in on the celebration. Triple H wants to shake his hand but instead of foolishly shaking it, SPEAR ON HHH! Now that was a cool moment. However, Sheamus appears out of no where and hits the kick on Reigns. CASHES THE BRIEFCASE IN! Reigns kicks out... After missing 1 kick, Sheamus hits the second to become the NEW WWE Champion. Uh oh... And he then shakes Triple H's hand and hugs HHH afterward. GOOD... WWE should embrace the internet hype of HHH and Sheamus being real life buddies or former workout pals. Embrace it hard. Good ending to an otherwise BAD show.

LAST WORD: Worst WWE Pay Per View of the year. Now, I say that during a year when 2015 presented us with many good to great WWE Pay Per Views. As lame as Seth Rollins may have been as a character and as tired as John Cena might have been as a superhuman babyface, their absences were felt in terms of missing workrate on this show. WWE was in a bad spot due to those absences and others, but they still should have the bench strength to put on a great show no matter what. The ending actually saved the show slightly for me. While I'm not excited for a Sheamus reign, it's better than giving the WWE Title too early to Roman Reigns who needs better in-ring conditioning and experience as a wrestling character. C- for the grade of WWE Survivor Series 2015. Yuck!

SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE!

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