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

Photo Source: WWE.com

Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match

Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, & Triple H) vs. Team SmackDown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, & John Cena)

Result: Team Raw defeated Team SmackDown; Triple H and Braun Strowman were survivors

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I think Angle and McMahon actually competing in this match is a bad idea, and they should have been “coaches” instead of captains to give an opportunity to other superstars. But man, Angle looks so much better in his classic gear than dressed up in Shield attire. This is Kurt Angle.

(Quick side note: Why wouldn’t Finn Balor get painted up for this one? He’s established as basically unstoppable as The Demon – wouldn’t brand supremacy be enough to get him to bring out the alter ego?)

Just look at all the different matchups from this match early on. Strowman tossing Shane. Joe and Orton going back and forth. Balor and Nakamura putting on a clinic. Nakamura and Triple H in a strange – but somehow great – throwdown. Triple H and Roode trading spinebusters. Roode and Angle throwing back to TNA. It’s like the weirdest WWE 2K simulation ever, but in real life.

Knowing full well someone had to be eliminated first, I’m still upset it was Nakamura. At least he got to show a bit more than Becky Lynch did earlier in the show. And it looked like Braun Strowman was poised to run roughshod over the entire SmackDown squad when he eliminated Roode mere moments after Nakamura left the ring.

But then what we all expected reared its ugly head – the dissension on Team Raw. The only thing was it wasn’t between Balor and Joe, like was teased. Rather, Triple H and Angle seemed to have the most issue, with Joe and Strowman having lesser problems. That opened the door for SmackDown to try and claw back to even the odds.

It took the entire SmackDown team – including the already-eliminated Nakamura and Roode – to suplex Braun through the announce table, neutralizing him for a bit. Joe took down Shane, but couldn’t put him away, and we ended up with a great exchange between Joe and Cena before more dissension led to Joe’s elimination.

The Angle/Cena tussle was appropriate, with things coming full circle after 15 years. It may not have had as much “ruthless aggression” as back then, but it was definitely a great callback. Angle also got to show he still has something in the tank after all this time, eliminating Cena (with a little assist from Balor) to put Raw up 4-2.

Orton avoided a Coup de Grace, countering with an RKO to eliminate Balor and bring SmackDown a bit closer to even. Good thing, too, because it looked like Orton couldn’t physically keep up with Balor. Not a knock, just that Orton’s style doesn’t mesh well with Balor’s quickness, and it looked like if things went much longer Orton would go bonkers.

Orton and Triple H went head to head, recalling days of Evolution, but Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens appeared to take out Shane McMahon. As Shane and Orton fought KO and Sami back, Strowman recovered and tagged himself in, hitting Orton with a running powerslam and leaving Shane as the last man standing for Team Blue.

And that’s when an already pretty lackluster match went to hell. Angle caught Shane in the Ankle Lock, and had it locked in for a long time. Inexplicably, Triple H broke the hold, Pedigreed Angle, and put Shane on him for a pinfall elimination. Then while Strowman looked on in shock, Triple H Pedigreed Shane and eliminated him himself. Then just for fun, I guess, Strowman threatened Triple H before powerslamming him twice.

It’s classic WWE – have what could be a fantastic match, and overbook the crap out of it. There was so much potential in this – let the recent NXT callups shine a bit more, do more with Cena and some of the guys he’s never really worked with, have Strowman really go crazy. But no, we get the same old same old – an entire main event is centered on (surprise surprise) the McMahon family, rather than all the regular full-time talent.

Next: Angle vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 34?

Hopefully, something worthwhile comes out of this when Raw and SmackDown air this week. Will Angle still be GM since Team Raw won? Or is he out because he was eliminated? Will Strowman face repercussions for assaulting Triple H? Will we see Triple H again any time soon? But in general, this match was a big disappointment.