WWE Survivor Series Review: WWE Debut of Sting
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Team Cena vs. Team Authority – If the Authority loses, they are out of power. If Team Cena loses, everyone on the team but John Cena is fired.
Result – Team Cena wins via pinfall. The Authority no longer has power.
Rating – 5 out of 5 stars
Rob’s Take
This entire main event was absolutely incredible.
The match started with Big Show immediately knocking out Mark Henry and pinning him. Later though, Show turned on John Cena and eliminated him. His status as a heel will be very interesting from this point forward.
We saw Luke Harper and Erick Rowan battle it out a few times. It wasn’t anything thrilling, but it was cool to see since they used to be allies.
Seth Rollins had a huge role throughout the match, coming into the match illegally and taking out members of Team Cena so they could get the upper-hand. This worked against Ryback and Erick Rowan.
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Eventually, it was down to Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper, Seth Rollins, and Kane. Ziggler ended up taking out both Harper and Kane to end up one-on-one with Rollins. The fun was nowhere close to being over.
Ziggler and Rollins had a long, entertaining battle with each other. Then, when Triple H and the security saw that Rollins was in trouble, they started taking out the referees so Dolph couldn’t secure the pinfall. The Game even hit the Pedigree on Ziggler.
As things seemed to be swaying back the Authority’s way…
It was absolutely surreal seeing Sting on a WWE show. I couldn’t believe what I was watching! Fans who have been waiting for over thirteen years to see this happen finally got their wish; it was quite frankly, awesome!
Sting took out HHH, helped Dolph pin Rollins, and took away the Authority’s power.
I will gladly watch Sting vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 31!
Mike’s Take
Wow, this match was absolutely perfect.
The early KO finish on Henry was brilliant, immediately putting The Authority in trouble, and putting them in a tough position.
I didn’t like seeing Ryback eliminated next. Though it was by cheating, so were all of the losses that killed his momentum in late 2012. Coincidentally, Seth Rollins is no stranger to being involved in those finishes.
The elimination of Rusev was great, and they did a great job of protecting him in this one.
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Erick Rowan got cheered like a babyface and looked resilient before they were finally able to keep him down.
The turn of Big Show and elimination of John Cena was truly masterful booking. Though it is nothing new to see Show turn, the elimination of Cena was shocking. Even if he did get eliminated, I didn’t expect to see it until the closing moments. Plus, with Show walking off, leaving Dolph Ziggler in a 3-on-1, it actually made me think that Team Cena would lose, which I never seriously considered before.
Nobody can pull off an exciting comeback like Ziggler though.
The elimination of Kane was not too shocking, as Kane didn’t need to be protected, but that left Rollins and Luke Harper, who I expected to be protected, against the oft-mistreated Ziggler.
Ziggler’s elimination of Harper was another that was treated with great care, and wasn’t taken lightly by those who booked the match.
What followed was an awesome match in itself between Ziggler and Rollins. The back-and-forth they had was awesome, leading up to the final moments.
When Ziggler finally hit Rollins with a Zig Zag, the referee counted to two, but The Authority removed him from the ring, with Triple H providing a decisive beatdown. Another referee came down, but he suffered the same fate.
This time Triple H climbed in the ring and finished Ziggler off himself. He threw Rollins across Ziggler and called for crooked referee Scott Armstrong. Armstrong came running down. “1…2…”
The crowd exploded as Armstrong stopped his count, and all eyes turned to the debut of Sting.
Sting came down and had a long staredown with Triple H, as the crowd chanted “This is awesome.”
Triple H made the first move, but it wasn’t long before he took a Scorpion Death Drop.
Sting threw Ziggler on top of Rollins and walked out, as the original referee counted to three.
Ziggler celebrated and The Authority melted down to end the show.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. In my eyes, the only person who could fairly complain about their booking was Henry, but it was an important part of the match, and somebody was going to lose out. Outside of him, I think everybody looked strong.