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As one of the four essential pay-per-views in sports entertainment’s top company, WWE Survivor Series has given fans countless memorable moments that have helped shape not only the event, but the company as a whole over the years.
The 31st WWE Survivor Series is upon us and the WWE universe can only hope it creates moments as memorable as what the event has produced since 1987. Infamy, debuts, firsts, and shocking moments are what Survivor Series has thrived on over the years.
But what are the most memorable moments from this long-running pay-per-view? There are many to choose from, but let’s take a look at the top 10 moments in WWE Survivor Series history.
10. Goldberg’s Shocking Dominance Against Brock Lesnar: November 20, 2016
The first of 10 moments on this list comes from the most recent Survivor Series pitting the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar against a returning monster who was looking for one final swan song. Goldberg’s last match in the WWE came at WrestleMania 20 against Lesnar, and how fitting that his first match back would be against Lesnar again?
Goldberg and Lesnar came about in large part due to Goldberg’s interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter the few weeks prior. He was asked if he would ever get back in the ring again and he said if he would get back in the ring again, he’d want it to be against Lesnar. The writing was on the wall that we’d see Goldberg battle Lesnar and it was made official for Survivor Series.
It was a match 12 years in the making, but would Goldberg’s big return to a WWE ring meet its match with the most unstoppable force in the WWE? Not quite. Goldberg vs. Lesnar was shockingly one-sided in favor of the former undefeated WCW Champion and after two spears and a jackhammer, Goldberg pinned Lesnar in less than two minutes.
To call it a shocking result would be an understatement. Not only did Goldberg beat Lesnar who was seemingly unbeatable, he crushed him. It all led to Lesnar’s eventual revenge by defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 for the Universal Championship, but this was one of the most shocking moments in Survivor Series history.
Goldberg came back to the ring to give his young son and wife an indicator of what he used to be, and he was quite successful in doing so in the 10th biggest moment in Survivor Series history.
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9. The Shield Debuts: November 18, 2012
Survivor Series has seen the debuts of several of WWE’s biggest stars over the years, and Survivor Series 2012 gave the WWE universe a debut of a trio that would change the company forever. In the main event, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship against John Cena and Ryback in a Triple Threat Match.
Punk’s WWE Championship reign began at Survivor Series in 2011 and he needed a wail of help to retain his championship in this battle. When it looked like Ryback had control of the match, a trio of NXT competitors rushed into the ring and laid out Ryback via slamming him through an announce table.
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns were the culprits and after laying out Ryback, the trio left through the crowd and Punk went on to retain his championship once again. That night saw the main roster berth of what would become known as The Shield, arguably the top stable in the modern era of the WWE. The Shield left a huge impact on the WWE and each of the three individual members have gone on to tremendous success as singles competitors.
The Shield was originally intended to be lackeys for Punk, but the trio ended up making a much bigger mark than that. The trio changed the game in the WWE during its initial run together and each individual has found the highest level of success in this business.
Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns are three of the biggest superstars in the WWE and their main roster debut came at Survivor Series 2012.
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8. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Debuts: November 17, 1996
Survivor Series 1996 saw the debut of an individual that would go on to be one of the greatest superstars in WWE history. Rocky Maivia was a highly-touted third-generation superstar that the WWE had been hyping up for weeks, and his debut came at Survivor Series in the world’s most famous arena.
Maivia joined Jake Roberts, Marc Mero, and The Stalker to battle Crush, Goldust, Jerry Lawler, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match. And in no real surprise, Maivia was the sole survivor of his team and got his team the victory in the match after pinning Goldust. His debut was a success, but it would take a lot more developing for Maivia to appease the WWE universe.
The fans hated Maivia’s squeaky clean, good guy persona and it took a while for him to find his footing in the WWE. But soon enough, The Rock was born and the rest, as they say, was history. The Rock not only grew into the biggest superstar in the WWE, but arguably the biggest star in sports entertainment history.
Whether it was his time in the Nation of Domination, his time as the corporate champion, or his time as the people’s champion, The Rock excelled in every aspect in the WWE and has left an indelible mark on sports entertainment history. Since his WWE career, The Rock has found tremendous success in Hollywood as a world-renowned actor.
The Rock helped define an era of sports entertainment and it all began at Survivor Series in 1996 as the son of Rocky Johnson and the grandson of Peter Maivia.
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7. Big Show Wins His First WWE Championship in Shocking Fashion: November 14, 1999
The Big Show’s WWE debut came at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1999 as he interfered in the main event steel cage match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon. And who would have thought just nine months later, Show would be at the pinnacle of the WWE?
Survivor Series 1999 saw the shocking turn of storyline events that featured Steve Austin getting ran down by a car prior to his Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship alongside Triple H and The Rock. Many just assumed the match would be changed to a one-on-one encounter with The Game defending his championship against The Rock, but not quite.
The Big Show, who had mowed through his competition earlier in the night, was inserted into the Triple Threat Match and was the newest challenger for the richest prize in the game. He was probably the least likely individual to walk away with the WWE Championship in that scenario, but the company had other ideas.
As Mr. McMahon interfered in the match following his return from the hospital with Austin, Triple H had the help of DX. But Mr. McMahon shut that down quickly and nailed The Game with the WWE Championship belt, right into a championship-winning chokeslam by The Big Show and Show got the pinfall victory with Mr. McMahon counting one, two, three.
An emotional Big Show celebrated as he won his first WWE Championship just days after his father passed away and this is one of the most shocking, yet underrated moments in Survivor Series history.
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6. The Undertaker Upsets Hulk Hogan to Win First WWE Championship: November 27, 1991
The Undertaker’s debut at Survivor Series 1990 changed the WWE forever and just one year later, another game-changing moment occurred at Survivor Series via the Deadman. WWE Champion Hulk Hogan had revolutionized sports entertainment, but he was encountering an individual never seen before.
Hogan defended his championship against The Undertaker at Survivor Series 1991 and it saw the shocking upset of Taker defeating Hogan for the WWE Championship. Ric Flair’s involvement aided Taker’s win and seeing Hogan lose at that time was rare enough by itself, let alone to a newcomer like The Undertaker.
But Flair’s involvement would hurt Taker in the long run and an immediate rematch for the title was set for the “This Tuesday in Texas” pay-per-view event on December 3, 1991. After even more involvement this time around, Hogan won back the WWE Championship before having the title vacated by Jack Tunney because of two back-to-back controversial endings.
Despite Taker not reaping the benefits of the championship win right off the bat, him defeating Hogan for the title was a shocking moment not many saw coming. And seeing the faces of the Hulkamaniacs after the match told the whole story of just how shocking this win was.
The Undertaker went on to have an unbelievable WWE career with endless legendary moments and championship reigns, but his first taste of major success came at Survivor Series 1991.
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5. The Rock Joins The McMahon’s and Wins First WWE Championship: November 15, 1998
The year of 1998 saw The Rock soar to huge heights after struggling through his first year plus in the WWE. After a successful Intercontinental Championship reign as the leader of the Nation of Domination in the summer of 1998, The Rock began his ascent as a top babyface in the WWE.
The Mr. McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin feud dominated the WWE following WrestleMania 14 and McMahon became obsessed with trying to get the WWE Championship off the Rattlesnake. This led to a 14-man tournament to determine the WWE Champion at Survivor Series 1998.
The Rock got wins over the Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, and The Undertaker to advance to the final round to battle Mankind after The Corporation screwed Austin in the semifinal round. The new WWE Champion would be either The Rock or Mankind and the ending was arguably one of the most surprising twists in WWE history.
The Montreal Screwjob was reenacted a year later as Mr. McMahon, this time solely storyline based, screwed Mankind out of the WWE Championship after The Rock had Mankind in the sharpshooter, just as Shawn Michaels did to Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1997. As everyone was shocked, The Rock then hugged Shane and Vince McMahon at the conclusion of the match, signaling his joining of The Corporation.
The Rock’s first WWE Championship win and heel turn was a shocking turn of events in 1998 and it lives on in the annals of not only Survivor Series history, but WWE history as well.
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4. The Undertaker’s Debut: November 22, 1990
Survivor Series has had a habit of seeing many superstars debut at its event, but arguably none were as impactful as the debut of The Undertaker. Taker was introduced by the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase as an unexpected member of his Survivor Series team and the rest is history.
The Undertaker joined the rest of The Million Dollar Team consisting of DiBiase, The Honky Tonk Man, and Greg Valentine to battle The Dream Team of Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, and Jim Neidhart. Despite Taker not being the sole survivor, his team picked up the win and he was very impressive in the process.
The WWE had never seen a character like The Undertaker before and to see the faces of the little kids in the crowd as he made his first entrance on WWE TV was a sight to behold. Taker was an impressive force, but probably nobody imagined the heights he would go on to reach in the WWE. Simply put, The Undertaker is arguably the greatest WWE superstar of all-time.
He consistently stayed fresh and changed his character many times, finding success with all of them. Taker has had a lot of success at Survivor Series over the years, but it all began on that fateful night in 1990.
The Undertaker is the single greatest character in WWE history and the seeds were planted for his legendary career at Survivor Series 1990.
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3. Shawn Michaels Wins World Heavyweight Championship Inside First-Ever Elimination Chamber: November 17, 2002
The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels already had a legendary career prior to 2002, but he had something to prove after an injury threatened his career. Throughout the 1990’s, Michaels established himself as a top guy in the WWE.
But in 1998, he was forced into early retirement after what appeared to be a career-ending back injury and he was out of action for four years. However, HBK had a career and life-altering metamorphosis during that four-year hiatus and he returned to in-ring action at SummerSlam in 2002.
Michaels’ return was solidified at Survivor Series 2002 when he competed alongside World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Kane, and Chris Jericho inside the first-ever Elimination Chamber match in WWE history. Fittingly, the match came down to Michaels and Triple H, former friends turned bitter enemies.
HBK looked to be out of it, but he had a comeback and after a Sweet Chin Music to The Game, Michaels pinned Triple H to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Confetti flew at Madison Square Garden and emotions ran high as HBK had reached the pinnacle of the WWE after what appeared to be the end of his career just four years prior.
It was one of the most emotional title wins in WWE history for one of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time, and it all took place at Survivor Series.
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2. Sting’s WWE Debut: November 23, 2014
The franchise of WCW for many years was Sting and no superstar defined WCW better than The Icon did. But when WCW went out of business in 2001, Sting never went to the WWE. He was the last major superstar to hold out from coming to the WWE and many wondered if he would ever make an appearance on WWE TV.
But in 2014, the Stinger finally made his WWE debut and in one of the WWE’s top angles of the year. The main event of Survivor Series 2014 was Team Authority consisting of Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Luke Harper, and Rusev battling Team Cena consisting of John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan, and Ryback in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match.
If Team Authority was to lose, The Authority would no longer be in control and if Team Cena was to lose, each member other than Cena would be fired. The match itself was one of the best matches of 2014 in the WWE and it came down to Ziggler for Team Cena and Rollins for Team Authority.
Triple H got involved and made sure Ziggler was taken out for Rollins to pin, but just as Rollins was pinning Ziggler via the count of The Authority’s crooked referee Scott Armstrong, the lights went out and we heard a crow noise. Sting’s face then appeared on the tron and The Icon made his entrance to the ring amid shock from the WWE universe. Sting took out The Game and helped Ziggler pin Rollins to get Team Cena the win.
This led to a WrestleMania 31 match between Triple H and Sting, but Sting’s debut was one of the most anticipated and legendary moments in not only Survivor Series history, but WWE history.
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1. The Montreal Screwjob: November 9, 1997
No single night in WWE history has as many questions and wide-ranging opinions than Survivor Series 1997’s main event. It will live on in infamy forever and in one way or another, it helped shape the WWE’s future.
The main event of Survivor Series 1997 pitted WWE Champion Bret Hart against Shawn Michaels in a battle between not only on-screen rivals, but real-life rivals as well with many differing opinions. Hart was set to leave for WCW following the event after Vince McMahon realized he couldn’t afford to keep Hart and gave him the push he needed to go to WCW.
But Hart’s personal disdain towards HBK and pride of his home country of Canada put the WWE between a rock and a hard place. Hart refused to drop the title to Michaels at Survivor Series despite the WWE coming up with countless creative directions. This led McMahon and his inner circle to devise a plan to get the belt off of Hart.
The WWE didn’t want to risk Hart leaving the company and bringing the championship belt onto WCW TV, so McMahon had referee Earl Hebner ring the bell when Michaels had Hart in the sharpshooter despite Hart never tapping out. Michaels won the WWE Championship and the faces of every person inside the arena that night told the entire story.
Hart, realizing he was screwed, was incensed after the match. He spat in the face of McMahon and after destroying several monitors around the ringside area, he went backstage where he punched McMahon in the face. Hart went to WCW and didn’t step foot in a WWE arena again until 2010.
Next: WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways From Oct. 31 Show
The Montreal Screwjob is arguably the most infamous moment in sports entertainment history and despite it being a real-life situation that is viewed negatively by most, it is the most memorable moment in Survivor Series history.