WWE Survivor Series 2017 Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

Champion vs. Champion Match #4

Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. WWE Champion AJ Styles

Result: Brock Lesnar defeated AJ Styles via pinfall

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Part of me figured the men’s Survivor Series match would close the show. But almost all of the promotional material for the show since Styles regained the WWE Championship has been centered around this match. That led me to think this was the “main event,” but it does make more sense for it to go on next to last.

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When the match got started, they were really trying to hammer home that “underdog” aspect of AJ Styles, weren’t they? It was 110% Lesnar, with Styles taking a beating the likes of which he hasn’t seen in a long time.

Suplex after suplex, punch after punch, strike after strike. And the distance on the suplexes after the release was ridiculous.

If you watched the Lesnar/John Cena match from SummerSlam 2014, you saw the early stages of this one. You know the one – 16 German suplexes by Lesnar, and a grand total of like four moves of offense from Cena the whole match. Tonight, that was pretty clearly meant to lay the groundwork for a huge, Rocky-like comeback for The Phenomenal One.

Styles did mount a bit of a comeback, connecting with the springboard 450 at one point. His attempt at the Styles Clash was reversed into an F5 attempt, but that was reversed into a Calf Crusher. It was a great sequence, capped off by Lesnar just beating Styles down to escape.

Styles took Lesnar down with a Phenomenal Forearm, but Brock kicked out. That move had basically been bulletproof as a finisher, so for Lesnar to kick out is huge. A second attempt was countered via F5, and that was all she wrote for Styles as Brock walked away the winner.

If you don’t think Styles looks like a superman even in defeat, you’re crazy. Lesnar is booked as more than human – he’s supposed to be near impossible to defeat. How many have done it since he returned to WWE? Two, three? Don’t forget, the only reason he’s not still WWE Champion for going on 3+ years is triple threat rules. This was fantastic all around, and I can’t wait to see where both guys go from here.