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SURVIVOR SERIES-2009
SURVIVOR SERIES-2006

EVENT:
WWE'S SURVIVOR SERIES 2009
PPV Predictions/Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Airdate:
Sunday November 22nd, 2009
Location:
Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
"I have seen almost all of the Survivor Series cards and this show in probably in my top five. "
"Remember if you haven't seen this Pay Per View then this review is jam pack full of SPOILERS! I don't want to hear any howling or gnashing of teeth, you have been warned!
 Proceed at your own risk."

This year’s Survivor Series is on 11/22 and there are actually three old fashioned "Traditional Survivor Series" tag team matches on the card. In an old school match each member of a team is eliminated and the last person or persons in the ring win the match for their team. The first SS was on USA way back when WCW was still around and created to steal focus from one of their PPV cards. This will be the second PPV without Jim Ross so I expect that we will get the three person announcing team again and probably until JR returns. The card was actually laid out on Tuesday and is as follows:

EDITOR'S NOTE:
The "Bo's Prediction" part of the review below was posted on Sunday afternoon (112209).

TRADITIONAL SURVIVOR SERIES TAG TEAM ELIMINATION MATCH:

Team Morrison (John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin and Finlay) vs. Team Miz (The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger)
BO'S PREDICTION:
The Morrison/Miz match at Bragging Rights was actually pretty good and this match continues the semi-feud between former tag team partners. We have a good mix here between veterans (Finlay), semi-veterans (Hardy and Benjamin) and new stars. This kind of match lets everyone get their offense in and can if booked correctly start a major push for one person. This match has two people like that and both share a common bond-Sheamus and McIntyre. McIntyre is a favorite of HHH and HBK and Sheamus is an occasional work out partner for HHH so the question becomes which one gets the push? I will go with the pale Irishman over the one with more pigmentation (McIntyre) and predict that Team Miz wins but Sheamus gets the pin.
BO'S REVIEW:

 This was the match to open the show. Bourne and Swagger started out the match. Ziggler was eliminated by Bourne, McIntyre eliminated Bourne, Sheamus eliminated Finlay, (we lost a ref somewhere in all this when he got kneed in the head) Morrison eliminated Swagger, Miz eliminated Benjamin, McIntyre eliminated Hardy and Sheamus eliminated Morrison with a new version of the Razor’s Edge. Team Miz won the match 3-1 and stood together in the ring preening about it. Sheamus really needs a tan. This was a good opener with a lot of action and some cool ass moves. This was followed by a backstage segment with Team Kingston in which they all joked about the fact that Christian was different from the rest of the team.

GRUDGE MATCH:

Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
BO'S PREDICTION:
Since Rey is once again suffering knee problems this match will either be very short or he will gut it out and put on a great performance. The plan to turn Batista heel was planned months ago before he got hurt and this was the right time to do it with the Undertaker back. We will see the same formula here that we saw in the Chavo Guererro/Eddie Guererro/Rey feuds-Rey does cool moves then gets caught and his knee gets destroyed so he has to go out on a stretcher. This is the kind of match where we need JR because he gets over the disappointment of the fans by a heel’s actions better than anyone.
BO'S REVIEW:

Rey did more in this match than I expected and never showed his knee was killing him. There was a cool sequence here that had him give Batista the 619 in the back on one side of the ring, the front at another then a third one from another part of the ring. Once Rey got his offense in then Batista hit him with a spear, a spine buster and then a series of Batista Bombs. The ref ended the match by saying that Rey couldn’t defend himself and then Batista brought in a chair, sat down and stared at Rey then gave Rey another Batista Bomb onto it. Since Batista is from Washington, DC the crowd cheered the punishment instead of booing him. Rey had to be taken out on a stretcher as predicted but Matt Stryker suggested in commentary that something was seriously wrong with Rey because he was being strapped in a certain way.

TRADITIONAL SURVIVOR SERIES TAG TEAM ELIMINATION MATCH:

Team Kofi (Kofi Kingston, MVP, R-Truth, Mark Henry and Christian) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk and William Regal)
BO'S PREDICTION:
The Kingston/Orton program got a major push during this week’s Raw since the place went nuts when Kingston boom dropped onto Orton in the production area. In this match everyone involved is in a program with someone on the other side save for Truth and Punk and they could be hooked up if they aren’t already on house shows. Aside from Henry everyone in this match are pretty good in the ring and so expect him to do a series of power moves but not be involved in the finish. Kingston’s team will go over here and make Orton even more insane to build up a one on one match between the two at the next PPV.
BO'S REVIEW:

Henry was eliminated first by Orton after Legacy double teamed him, Punk eliminated Truth to get the program between them over some more, Christian eliminated DiBiase, MVP eliminated Regal, Rhodes eliminated MVP, Christian eliminated Rhodes, Orton eliminated Christian and then Kingston eliminated Punk (his former tag team partner) and finally Orton within a 6 second period. The finish pushed the Kingston/Orton program into overdrive since it made it look like Kingston outsmarted Orton. Having Henry go out early was a smart move here since it left the match in the hands of the workers.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:

World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker vs. Big Show vs. Chris Jericho
BO'S PREDICTION:
It will be interesting to see when this match happens. Cena and Orton finished the last show so by using logic we can assume that Taker defends his title at the end of this show but since HHH likes doing long matches and this isn’t likely to be one this match could be the set up to the main event. Taker looked pretty good Monday so he seems to be moving better. Show isn’t going to carry a match and so the bulk of this action will be carried by the best performer on the WWE roster, Jericho. He does it in the ring, on the mike and wears a suit in a way not seen since Ric Flair. He is also a great actor who sells every bit he is in with just facial expressions. That would suggest that he could walk out of the arena with the belt but that’s not going to happen because it is way too early to break up him and Show. So with that after teasing fighting each other somehow Taker is going to retain the belt by pinning Jericho. Why do I say Jericho? Because the rumor is that he and Taker are going to hook up at WrestleMania if Edge isn’t back by then.
BO'S REVIEW:

We learned here that the rules for both Triple Threat matches would not allow count outs or disqualifications as finishes. The match started with Show and Jericho teaming up against Taker and getting him out into the timekeeper’s area. Both Show and Jericho were thrown into the ring posts and Taker even took a superplex from Jericho. The team idea between Jericho and Show went out the window when Show gave Jericho a choke slam. Show later pushed Jericho out of the ring so that he and Taker could have a punch fest. Jericho ended up clocking Show with the title by accident (we think) and then Taker kicked Show out of the ring. Jericho then clocked Taker with the belt and when Show came back into the ring kicked him in the head. After blocking a Jericho code breaker Show got trapped in Hell’s Gate and tapped out. Taker kept his title and slowly wandered around the ring. He is looking older by the minute. The fans cheered the hell out of him but we may have seen the last SS match for the dead man. This was followed by Josh Matthews interviewing the winners of Team Miz and Miz claiming that he, McIntyre and Sheamus were the future of the WWE.

TRADITIONAL SURVIVOR SERIES TAG TEAM ELIMINATION MATCH:

Team Mickie (Mickie James, Eve, Kelly Kelly, Melina and Gail Kim) vs. Team Michelle (Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox)
BO'S PREDICTION:
I am not going to say this is a time killer but the match has that feel to it. We aren’t going to get a number one contender for the Diva belts out of this, the Divas are toned down and so we aren’t getting much skin and the King doesn’t yell for puppies anymore. We could see the winners in a new program but only if they are on the same roster. In using that logic then since they are supposedly high on Jillian then she wins the match and begins a program with Melina or Fox wins and stares down Melina to keep their program going. There is a wild card here since Maryse is ready to return so she could come out and involve herself or attack one of the Divas and get placed in the match.
BO'S REVIEW:

 This match actually wasn’t much of a time killer after all. Kelly and Layla started the match. Layla was eliminated by Kelly, Kim was eliminated by McCool, Eve eliminated Jillian, Phoenix eliminated Kelly then Eve with the implant buster, Mickie eliminated Beth who attacked Mickie before leaving the ring, James eliminated Fox and Melina pinned McCool. Melina didn’t use her version of the Canadian Destroyer but the finish she did use worked well. There were no sloppy moves in the match and it worked for what it was. This was followed by a Batista interview with Matthews that had him ask Matthews if Rey was embarrassed by what happened to him.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:

WWE Champion John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
BO'S PREDICTION:
This match and the Taker match have the same set up-one champion defending against two tag team partners who will work together but eventually have to wrestle each other. Nine times out of ten that means that the team is going to break up but that isn’t going to happen here or in the other match for the same reasons. In this case the DX book and merchandise are selling well and they don’t want to screw that up. Besides we have seen HHH vs. HBK ad infinitum and should be spared of that. So when it is all said and done we will get a 30 minute match that has Cena pin one or the other or have someone come out and interfere with the match.
BO'S REVIEW:

Cena came out in new shirt that said ‘Never Give Up’, the slogan used in the move Galaxy Quest. This match got interesting in a hurry when HBK superkicked HHH out of the ring right at the start. Cena looked shocked and that got the bit over since no one expected that move right out of the gate. Cena and HBK went at it as HHH was resting and when HBK pulled the announce table apart HHH got involved and gave HBK a spine buster thru the table. That set up a HBK rest break but then as Cena got his rest DX went at each other. Cena put HHH in the STF but HBK put Cena in the crossface. HBK superkicked HHH again and then Cena but Cena kicked out. HHH took a third superkick but Cena then gave HBK the attitude adjustment onto HHH and pinned HHH to keep his title. Cena went out to the barricades and signed one of his new shirts for a soldier before going to the top of the entrance and holding his belt up high. This was on hell of a match with a great deal of action and for once the bookers came up with something different. Cole got over in commentary that the HBK we were seeing was the one of old who wanted the belt and would take on anyone to get it.

This was a solid show. It put over new talent and kept going what could be the hottest feud of the year and beyond with Orton/Kingston. There were no dead spots here and the comedy was kept to a minimum. I have seen almost all of the Survivor Series cards and this show in probably in my top five.

Photo © 2009 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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