411’s Instant Access 11.24.08: WWE Survivor Series 2008

Posted by Scott Slimmer on 11.24.2008

Edge became the new WWE Champion and John Cena became the new World Heavyweight Champion, but the biggest surprise of the day is still the fact that Axl Rose finally delivered Chinese Democracy.

Hey kids, I'm Scott, and this is 411's Instant Access: WWE Survivor Series 2008. Instant Access is a new experiment here at 411 Wrestling that will feature immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus here is going to be on first thoughts and snap judgments instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one TWO writers' thoughts on the show. That's right, Instant Access will now feature multiple analysts for all WWE pay-per-views. Here's the team for Survivor Series:

• Scott Slimmer, author of Don't Think Twice.
• Chris Lansdell, author of the all-new Lansdell's Sunday Brunch News Report.

Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let's get to the wrestling.

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team HBK vs. Team JBL
Match Result: Shawn Michaels defeats John Morrison with Sweet Chin Music. (Survivors: Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, and The Great Khali)
Match Length: 18:04
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: I never thought I'd be glad to see Shawn Michaels curtain jerkin', but this was a great way to open the show. The crowd was on fire… how on fire were they? They were so on fire that they popped for a face-off between The Great Khali and Kane. I missed their entire match at WrestleMania 23 while taking a leak, and yet the crowd in Boston was dying to see them go at it again. And if they were that hot for Khali and Kane, I can only image what's going to happen when Cena shows his face later in the evening. But as for this match, it was exactly what you want out of a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match. Each of the wrestlers had the chance to showcase his offense, and I have to give special recognition to Rey Mysterio for looking amazing. He may be at the point in his career where the quality of his one-on-one matches is declining a bit, but in short bursts he is still flat out incredible. John Morrison and The Miz got a significant amount of time in the ring, and I was glad to see these two young ECW stars get a chance to shine. JBL took a page out of Chris Jericho's book and went right after HBK's eye, but in the end HBK got the win. And all was right with the universe.
Lansdell: Team Ethnic vs Team Freaky Sexy Money – This just felt disjointed to me. Normally it's hard to put together a smooth Survivor Series tag, but this one was worse than normal. Nothing special, nothing stood out, and while some of it was interesting (MVP getting a pin, Khali getting a huge pop) there was nothing that made me care. I'd MUCH rather see HBK-Morrison than HBK-JBL, and Miz-Rey would be pretty good too. Maybe we can get Khali-JBL so everyone has a reason to take a piss break? Anyway, Cryme Tyme got jobbed out, Kane got jobbed out, and nobody really came out of this any better off.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***½
Lansdell: **¼
Average Match Rating: ***

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team Raw Divas vs. Team Smackdown Divas
Match Result: Beth Phoenix defeats Maryse with the Glam Slam, i.e., the Implant Buster. (Sole Survivor: Beth Phoenix)
Match Length: 9:40
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: It wasn't always pretty, but there certainly were sporadic highlights. Mickie James and Michelle McCool looked like they had great chemistry with each other in the ring, and I'd love to see them wrestle each other for either the Women's Championship or the Divas Championship at some point. I've been a big Candice Michelle fan for quite some time, and I was once again impressed by her efforts in this match. Natalya caught her in the Sharpshooter, and Candice had the presence of mind to sell the injury after the hold was released, but what was really impressive was that she continued to sell the injury later in the match even after having been tagged out of the match. That's the kind of consistent psychology that it's great to see from one of the Divas. And I'd be remiss not to mention how much I enjoyed Jillian "Smackdown vs. Raw" psychology. She hit Maria with a modified Samoan Drop, but instead of immediately going for a cover, she first knocked Maryse off the ring apron so that Maryse couldn't break up the pin. That's exactly what you need to do in most of the recent Smackdown vs. Raw games (although your partner automatically does the deed for you in this year's edition), and it was nice to see Jillian add in just a bit more psychology to the match.
Lansdell: Raw Slores vs Smackdown Tramps – I thought we might actually have one team acting coherently, and to start with it seemed like it would be Team SD. Then Michelle got pissed at everyone and shit got bad. The raw girls held it together for the most part, though I do worry about Candace's leg injury. It would not surprise me if she was meant to be the sole survivor. The ladies all worked hard and nothing was horrible. I had an outside hope that Melina might return here but alas no. Poor Victoria got jobbed out again which makes me a sad panda, and a lot of the eliminations seemed a touch off. Still, considering what I expected from the match, it certainly was better than I thought.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: **
Lansdell: **
Average Match Rating: **

Casket Match
The Undertaker vs. The Big Show
Match Result: The Undertaker defeats the Big Show.
Match Length: 12:48
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: The Undertaker and the Big Show have shown that they can work incredibly well together, but there was no sign of that potential in this match. Yes, they started the match well, and it made sense to go right for the big spots in a match where there are no pinfalls, submissions, disqualifications, or count-outs. But things really started to drag after the table spot, and then they got just plain bizarre after the Big Show dismantled the first coffin. Wall of fire? Okay, maybe. Druids with a back-up coffin? Really? And after the referees made such a big deal out of the fact that the winner must close the lid of the coffin on his opponent, why the hell did we get a finish in which the Undertaker didn't, you know, actually close the lid of the coffin on his opponent? The bottom line here is that the match was poorly booked, and that meant that Taker and Show were fighting an uphill battle the whole way.
Lansdell: Casket Match – Wow, this was so slow that I could recap it without needing to pause. For me that's an achievement. Like every other match these two have had it wasn't bad, and they had a couple of different spots (leg drop through the table and the finish especially). It does Taker good to win some of these "specialty matches" from time to time, although I do wonder where he goes next. If the rumored feud with Umaga is to happen I would have expected to see him tonight. Show is limited in who he can feud with, I pray it's not Khali but outside of HHH and Kozlov there isn't a lot on the horizon. The curse of the giant. I'm glad this feud was over, despite it having some enjoyable and hard-hitting matches it just felt stale.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: **
Lansdell: **½
Average Match Rating: **¼

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
Team Batista vs. Team Orton
Match Result: Randy Orton defeats Batista with the RKO. (Survivors: Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes)
Match Length: 16:13
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: This match certainly had a sense of gravitas that was lacking in the first two Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches, and that definitely added to the drama of the match. Unfortunately, this match didn't have any stand-out performances such as those we saw from Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Mickie James, and Michelle McCool earlier in the evening. Sure, Kofi Kingston looked good, but I'm not sure he really made enough of an impact to actually be memorable. In fact, the entire match was designed specifically to make Randy Orton look like a cold, calculating monster, but he saw barely any ring time. It's clear that the feud between Batista and Randy Orton must continue, and it appears as though Cody Rhodes may play a large role in that feud as well. It would be all too easy for WWE to fall into a cliché, have Rhodes eventually earn Orton's respect, and then let Rhodes serve as Orton's lackey against Batista, but I'm hoping that WWE chooses the path road less traveled and lets Orton feud with both Batista and Rhodes simultaneously. The dynamic of that three-way feud would be both fresh and entertaining, and a few big victories by Rhodes over Orton and / or Batista could catapult him to stardom.
Lansdell: Team Orton vs Team Batista - This match gets an extra half star just for Matt Striker being awesome. I thought this match worked a lot better than the last 2 elimination tags, there was more flow and it felt crisper. I think Orton and Rhodes both surviving through intelligence was the right move, and the fact that we didn't see Orton and Batista face off for any length of time will make the eventual encounter feel that much more special. Punk getting beaten by a DDT annoyed me, but it was offset by him owning Regal and by Layla throwing a shoe (followed by Striker quoting Austin Powers. Seriously, the man is GOLD). Everything else here worked in the context of the match and the positions on the card, and the existing feuds were all set up nicely. No complaints, but nothing to make it extra special either.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***
Lansdell: ***
Average Match Rating: ***

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
Triple H (Champion) vs. Jeff Hardy Edge vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Match Result: Edge defeats Triple H after a chair shot from Jeff Hardy
Match Length: 14:20
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: So wait, Jeff Hardy got attacked prior to the championship match only to be replaced by Edge, who then went on to win the title? Um, didn't we see damn near that exact same story two months ago at Unforgiven with CM Punk and Chris Jericho? Yes, Punk was the reigning champion and Hardy wasn't, and Punk was attacked by a different man than the man that won the championship while it looks like Edge is going to be revealed as Hardy's attacker, but those two minor differences pale in comparison to the similarities between the two situations. But that being said, there's yet another question that needs to be answered. If Edge was sent to Hell by the Undertaker, then why did he just ignore the Undertaker when he finally returned? Yes, I understand that Edge is ultimately motivated by his pursuit of the championship, but if I was coming back from a sabbatical in Hell, then I might want to have a few words with the guy that sent me there. But hey, that's just me. As for the one-on-one match between Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov, I know the crowd was shitting all over it, but I actually really enjoyed it. There was a great old-school, valiant-face-vs.-evil-foreign-monster vibe to the match, and it was a great throwback to some of the classic matches from the seventies and eighties. Say what you will about Kozlov, but he's a far more capable monster than many that we've seen in the past. I always look forward to seeing him in the ring, and I can only hope that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle now that Edge, Triple H, and Jeff Hardy have all become entangled in the WWE Championship scene.
Lansdell: Right up until Kozlov spent a good 5 minutes hugging HHH, I was enjoying this match. It wasn't breakneck pace but it was very technical and I like that from time to time. Hardy not being in the match made the crowd defecate all over it from the start, something which will reflect badly on Kozlov as it will be spun to look like the crowd didn't buy him in the main event. Of course it can't be HHH's fault. Edge's appearance wasn't exactly a surprise, even if his apparent reunion with Vickie was. Did she forget what he did to her? I guess having Taker send him to Hell made them even? Logic fart aside, I think the pin of HHH and the fact that Hardy killed the other two with a chair will present an interesting situation on Friday and we may see a fatal four-way at Armageddon. This is a hard match to rate with the change to it and the run-in, it almost felt like 2 matches. The first half was painful in parts, but once Edge appeared it changed gears.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***
Lansdell: **¾
Average Match Rating: ***

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Chris Jericho (Champion) vs. John Cena
Match Result: John Cena defeats Chris Jericho with the FU.
Match Length: 21:20
Match Analysis:
Slimmer: Cena came. Cena saw. Cena conquered. But what he didn't do was get the Cena pop. Don't get me wrong; the fans in Boston cheered for Cena. They popped for Cena. But they didn't give him the Cena pop, the ear-shattering phenomenon when half of the audience cheers wildly, half of the audience boos ferociously, and both sides ramp up the volume exponentially in a desperate attempt to drown out the other. Tonight Cena just got a standard issue face pop, and somehow it made him seem less magical than usual. In fact, he seemed less like John Cena and more like a guy trying to play the role of John Cena. A major part of the problem is that one of Cena's biggest strengths is his ability to hype a match, to use the microphone to make a match into a battle, to talk the fans into their seats. But in this case, Cena has been silent throughout the entire build to the match. We've heard from his family, his friends, his fellow wrestlers, and even his opponent, but we never heard from the man himself. And that lack of the Cena build made this seem less like a proper Cena match. The match itself was actually quite good, so I don't want to give the impression that I'm taking anything away from the effort put forth by either John Cena or Chris Jericho. They did their job as well as they could. The real problem here is that this felt like the triumphant return of just another face, not like the triumphant return of John Cena.
Lansdell: I loved this match. Jericho has been a master of psychology recently and this was another example of how you can tell an amazing story without having to rely on sick bumps and crazy spots, or on sports entertainment. Jericho worked over the head and neck all match, Cena sold it all perfectly and showed reluctance do try certain moves, but stayed resilient and eventually found the courage to go up top and hit the big move. The finish has been done before but it came at the end of a couple of very near finishes and that made it all the better. I marked out hard for Old School Walls, and better yet it worked in the context of the story being told. My problem with this match is that it did seem to plod a bit, but Jericho is playing the methodical card right now so it made sense. Cena now has Orton in his sights, while I'd like to see Jericho go for Kofi to show the young man how to calm down a touch.
Match Rating:
Slimmer: ***½
Lansdell: ***½
Average Match Rating: ***½

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night:
Slimmer: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena (***½)
I certainly had my problems with this match, but that's not to say that it wasn't a good match. Chris Jericho and John Cena actually put forth a hell of an effort tonight, and they've always had great chemistry together in the ring. This was a good match, but it's just unfortunate that the circumstances surrounding the match prevented it from being a great match.
Lansdell: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena (***½)
Not even close. Not the 40 minute classic I was hoping for, but a solid match on a pay per view that needed one.


Trash of the Night:
Slimmer: The Undertaker vs. The Big Show (**)
I gave ** to both this match and the Divas match, but I'm giving the dubious distinction of Trash of the Night to Show and Taker due to the fact that we all know they're capable of so much better. The ladies did their best and put forth the best match that they could, but I can't say the same for the two big men.
Lansdell: Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy Edge vs. Vladimir Kozlov (**¾)
Because of the bait and switch with Hardy, and because of the dead patch in the middle. It wasn't the lowest-rated match, but to me it was the most disappointing.

Final Analysis:
Slimmer: This may be the most forgettable pay-per-view to ever to ever see both major championships change hands. The three Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches were all fun, but they were ultimately also fluffy filler. The Casket Match was a disaster, the WWE Championship Match was a rehash of the World Heavyweight Championship Match from Unforgiven, and the World Heavyweight Championship Match was strangely underwhelming. I may be able to remember some of the results from this match, but I'll be surprised if I remember much more than that.
Lansdell: A very mediocre outing for what is supposed to be one of wrestling's "majors". Aside from Jericho-Cena nothing was even good let alone great, and the normally fun elimination matches all felt flat. The casket match just didn't fit and really dragged the PPV down in my mind, being right in the middle of the card as it was. Nothing outstanding in the undercard isn't going to help even if your main event is stellar.

Verdict:
Slimmer: **¼
Lansdell: **¼
Average Verdict: **¼