This weekend's WWE Survivor Series marked the 35th annual edition of the Thanksgiving-time PPV, and the sixth consecutive edition to be anchored around brand warfare with Raw competing against SmackDown. Going into this year’s event, there was the added intrigue of how real life drama around Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair might play out on screen, not to mention how arguably the biggest match of Big E’s career—a world champion vs. world champion main event--would play out. The show included its share of interesting statistical notes, pieces of trivia, and hidden highlights.
Universal Champions Remains Undefeated Against WWE Champions At Survivor Series
Roman Reigns and Big E put on an excellent match at Survivor Series, in a rare instance over the last year-plus when there was genuine doubt about whether Reigns would pull off a victory. The Head of the Table did pick up the pin in the end, but WWE Champion Big E more than put up a fight.
An interesting sub-plot is that it remained the case that Universal Champions have gone undefated in one-on-one competition with WWE Champions at Survivor Series. That includes a history of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defeating WWE Champions AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan before, and Reigns as Universal Champion himself defeating Drew McIntyre last year.
Becky Lynch And Charlotte Flair Borrow From Bayley And Sasha Banks
When it comes to great rivalries between women in modern WWE, fans tend to look to The Four Horsewomen, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. The foursome have had great matches with each other in different permutations, but the two most notable pairings would have to be Banks vs. Bayely and Flair vs. Lynch.
Lynch and Flair added a chapter to their rivalry at Survivor Series, with a suitably intense war that went back and forth with a variety of impressive spots. One of the more interesting moments, however, saw Lynch trap Flair in a modified Rings of Saturn-style hold, before kicking Flair repeatedly in the back of the head. The hold was quickly broken, but it was a distinctive enough spot that it felt as though it had to have been an homage to Bayley and Banks. Those two blew off their NXT rivalry with an Iron Man Match, which finished with Bayley applying essentially the same hold and series of kicks to The Boss, only she didn’t let go until Banks surrendered.
Shinsuke Nakamura’s Third Time Representing The Intercontinental Championship At Survivor Series
Even though Shinsuke Nakamura hasn't defended his Intercontintal Championship much this reign, he has held the title since August. If Nakamura entering Survivor Series 2021 as Intercontinental Champion against another brand’s United States Champion (in this case, Damian Priest) felt familiar, that’s with good reason. This was the third time he found himself in such a position.
In 2018, Nakamura was the Intercontinental Champion against facing US Champion Seth Rollins. In 2019, Nakamura came in as Intercontinental Champion against US Champion AJ Styles, and NXT’s North American Champion, the victor Roderick Strong. It turned out the third time was the charm when Nakamura managed to defeat Priest, albeit via disqualitification.
Back To Back Hardy Boyz References For Sheamus And Jeff Hardy
Sheamus and Jeff Hardy made unlikely partners in the men’s Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Match. As the final two representatives of SmackDown, it only made sense for them to work together and it was interesting to see just how they chose to do so. In addition to dueling Ten Beats of the Bohdran, there was also an homage to The Hardy Boyz.
After the SmackDown stars momentarily took out Seth Rollins, the announce team credited them with “almost deleting Rollins.” The delete reference felt like a direct tribute to the Broken Universe Jeff took part in with his brother Matt. Moments later, the duo made a more overt homage to many versions of the all-time great team. The Celtic Warrior bent down to facilitate a modified version of Poetry in Montion, a Hardy brother staple, on Rollins and Austin Theory in the corner.
Another Battle Royal 20 Years After The Most Famous One At Survivor Series
Despite multiple waves of mass releases this year, WWE still had enough talent on the main roster to add a twenty-five-man battle royal in addition to all of the Interbrand competition that had already been booked for this year’s Survivor Series.
It’s interesting to note that this battle royal came twenty years after the most famous Survivor Series battle royal. In 2001, the stakes were a bit better defined as a collection of talent from WWE and The Alliance squared off for “immunity.” While the team to win the main event elimination tag team match would take control and put their opposition out of business, the winner of the battle royal garnered job security to, in kayfabe, be protected from firing for the next year. Test emerged victorious, though WWE didn’t ultimately do much with the storyline, beyond the big man hanging around as a heel presence, despite his Alliance allies losing to team WWE.
The First World Champion Vs. World Champion Match At Survivor Series Not To Have A Last Minute Change
In WWE Champion Big E squaring off against Universal Champion Roman Reigns, WWE revisited a common theme from the past six years of the top star from two main roster brands squaring off. However, in years past this featured match has been the subject of turmoil.
For Survivor Series 2017, Jinder Mahal was set to face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, until AJ Styles unseated Mahal two weeks before Survivor Series to take both his WWE Championship and his spot in the match. In 2018, Daniel Bryan took the title off Styles just two days ahead of Survivor Series, to wind up taking his main event spot opposite Lesnar. Finally, in 2020, Drew McIntyre reclaimed his WWE Championship from Randy Orton five days before the PPV, and positioned himself to wrestle Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
The 2016 and 2019 Survivor Series PPVs did not feature world champion vs. world champion matches (though, in 2016, the respective brands’ champions did compete on opposing five-man teams). So, 2021 marked the first time ever that a match pitting two world champions against each other at Survivor Series didn’t change within two weeks of the PPV happening.