Five Good Things: WWE Survivor Series 2011

November 22nd, 2011 ~ Permalink ~ 7 notes

• Five Good Things
• PPV
• WWE

1. He’s Not Perfect, But He’s Damn Close — Dolph Ziggler is quickly becoming one of WWE’s top performers in terms of in-ring skill, and that has been proven in back-to-back pay-per-views now. Last month, Ziggler did double-duty by wrestling two matches at Vengeance, and at Survivor Series, he repeated the feat by retaining the United States Championship in a stellar match with John Morrison and competing in the event’s only Traditional Survivor Series Match (where he was, sadly, the first elimination). The match with Morrison, which served as the show’s opening match, was a stellar effort from both men; even if the crowd wanted to see Zack Ryder more than Morrison or Ziggler, their match got the crowd super-hot, and that intense crowd reaction was one of the best parts of Survivor Series. Ziggler would follow this up with an amazing match with CM Punk the next night on Raw, which may have been one of the best free-TV matches of the year. Dolph has a lot of upside to him: he has youth, good looks, and a natural charisma on his side, and he can take a bump like a champion (some have likened his selling of moves to Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig, and I believe that’s a valid comparison.) As long as injuries or backstage politics don’t tank him, Ziggler has a hell of a career waiting ahead of him.
2. One Move, One Saving Grace — Look, I’m not going to lie: the Divas Championship match was awful. The only saving grace of the match was Beth Phoenix’s Super Glam Slam on Eve, which led to her retaining the Divas Championship. That move was one of the memorable moments of the show, even if what led up to it was forgettable in every way. Kudos to Beth and Eve for pulling that off and making it look good.
3. The Future Is Here — While the Traditional Survivor Series Match was not without its problems—like Sin Cara blowing out his knee before a dive to the outside and proving that his “Mistico Cara” outfit is a cursed costume—it was, in the end, a showcase of several stars who will be the future of WWE. Cody Rhodes (who received a loud ovation from the Madison Square Garden crowd), Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, and Wade Barrett (whose team won the match thanks to his Wasteland on Randy Orton) all had strong showings; Barrett’s pinfall victory over Orton—who is arguably the “Savage” to Cena’s “Hogan” status—is just the latest in a series of momentum-building moves to give the former Nexus mastermind a direction to go in after the failure of The Corre. The MSG crowd’s response to Cody Rhodes will hopefully serve as a signal to WWE that he, like the other five men I mentioned, has a great career ahead of him. This is the future of WWE, wrestlefans—and I, for one, couldn’t be happier to see it in the hands of six men who posess their level of in-ring talent. If WWE decides to give any of those six a long run at the top, I believe they’ll be ready for it.
4. Best In The World, Once Again — CM Punk is back on top of the world as the WWE Champion. His quest to make the WWE Championship—and, by extension, WWE—interesting again ran right through Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series, as Punk made Del Rio tap to the Anaconda Vise to pick up the win. A clean, decisive finish to a WWE Championship match makes me a happy wrestling fan, and it makes me even happier when the match that precedes that finish is great. Del Rio has gotten a lot of hate from the “Ten Percenters” and other critics for his lackluster runs as the WWE Champion—though I would attribute the “lackluster” qualifier on WWE’s bad writing—and a character that seems to have reached a point of stagnation, but his in-ring skills are still impressive, and having Punk as his opponent helped bring out the best in his abilities. I’ve long believed that the right “dance partner” can bring out the best in performers; Christian got Randy Orton to step his game up and deliver some of the best matches of his career earlier this year, and Punk helped bring out the best in Del Rio. When these two tangle again in their rematch, it should be another great match. With that out of the way, I have one more thing to say: the WWE Championship belt needs a redesign and it needs one now, because the “Bling Belt” looks ridiculous when guys like Punk and Del Rio are holding it.
5. Boots to Asses — It was the match everyone bought a ticket to see: The Rock, 15 years after his debut at the same event (and in the same building)—and more than seven years after his last WWE match (also in the same building)—returned to a WWE ring to show everyone that he could still deliver a smackdown. The MSG crowd was firmly behind Rock, and they proved it by booing Cena at every turn—they even chanted “Don’t tag Cena!” to The Rock at one point—while cheering Rock for everything he did. The match, which saw Awesome Truth lose to the Cena/Rock tag team by way of a People’s Elbow to The Miz, was no barnburner in terms of in-ring performances; rather, it was a chance for WWE to showcase The Rock in a match before WrestleMania 28 and give fans who’d never seen him wrestle before a chance to see what they’d missed. To his credit, The Rock was in great shape, and he looked to have little ring rust as he tore into Miz and R-Truth. (Some might argue that Rock’s Leg Whip/Sharpshooter transition was bad, but he’s never been good with that transition, so it was like old times to see him mess that up.) I have no idea what the on-screen dynamic between Cena and Rock will be like going into WrestleMania, but after his performance at Survivor Series there is no question that The Rock will be ready to bring it come next April.

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