Survivor Series has been around since 1987. Critics of the event question its value, particularly for the traditional eight or ten-man elimination tag team matches that are the signature featured element. After all, there are only so many ways these matches can play out, and wedging wrestlers onto teams can cut off a one on one storyline’s momentum. Perhaps most importantly, it’s difficult to assign meaningful stakes to these types of matches unless there just happens to be a major storyline brewing between groups, like Team WWE vs. The Alliance in 2001.

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Nonetheless, one of the fun recurring elements of drama for Survivor Series is the matter of sole survivors. When a team dwindles down to just one participant, it would logically signal that he or she is outnumbered and bound for defeat. And yet, sole survivors persevere, either beating the odds or - mostly as a heel -outlasting the face who could only operate alone for so long. This article takes a look back at the ten best sole survivors in Survivor Series history.

10 10. Lex Luger (1993)

WWE wasn’t exactly white-hot in 1993, as the company struggled to redefine its identity and establish a new top face in the absence of Hulk Hogan. Lex Luger got the nod, but between his less than sterling in-ring performances and the fan reaction cooling after his initial summer push, his future was uncertain going into Survivor Series.

Still, WWE booked a fairly traditional scenario, with Luger captaining a team of patriots against Yokozuna’s Foreign Fanatics. The bout culminated in Luger facing off against the undefeated Ludvig Borga, ultimately putting the heel from Helsinki away. That the American hero would go on to celebrate with Santa Claus was certainly silly, but a fulfilling enough conclusion for its era.

9 Ken Shamrock (1997)

Survivor Series 1997 is best remembered for the Montreal Screwjob, but earlier in the night, Ken Shamrock put on a heck of a performance when he teamed with Ahmed Johnson and the Legion of Doom against a Nation of Domination contingent.

Shamrock would not only be the sole survivor but survive a two on one disadvantage. That the World’s Most Dangerous Man would dispatch D-Lo Brown isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but the fact that he made The Rock tap out to win in the end was much more noteworthy, further establishing Shamrock as a borderline main event guy at the time.

8 8. Ted Dibiase (1990)

The big news coming out of Ted Dibiase’s Survivor Series match in 1990 was the mystery partner who joined his team, a debuting Undertaker. The Dead Man did a lot of the heavy lifting for the heel team, including pinning Koko B. Ware and battling the face team’s captain Dusty Rhodes to a double count-out. It was Dibiase, though, who would ultimately emerge victorious.

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The Million Dollar Man beat Bret Hart, who was on the front end of a new push and dedicated his performance to his late brother. Dibiase winning reinforced the pecking order that he was still an upper card threat, especially after beating The Hitman under these circumstances.

7 Roman Reigns (2013)

By Survivor Series 2013, The Shield had been on the WWE landscape for a full year. Though they’d remain a unit for another half year before their initial split, WWE was planting the seeds for their singles run by this point, particularly with regards to Roman Reigns.

Reigns emerged the sole survivor, in an unusual heel performance, surviving two face opponents in Goldust and Rey Mysterio at the end of the bout. Prior to that point, he was also responsible for eliminating both Jimmy Uso and Cody Rhodes in quick fashion, racking up a total of four pins in a dominant performance.

6 6. Andre The Giant (1987)

The original Survivor Series main event saw Andre the Giant’s heel team beat back the faces, with Andre, King Kong Bundy, and The One Man Gang enjoying a seemingly insurmountable advantage over Bam Bam Bigelow. It wound up being a groundbreaking night for The Beast from the East, as Bigelow managed to eliminate both Bundy and Gang.

In the end, Andre was too much to overcome for a weakened Bigelow. The win cemented Andre’s place as WWE’s top heel, setting him up for one more run on top, during which he’d unseat Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship and pass the torch to Ted Dibiase as the company’s new lead villain.

5 5. Ric Flair (1991, 2006)

Ric Flair isn’t synonymous with great Survivor Series performances, but it’s noteworthy that he is the only wrestler to have ever been the sole survivor in two matches separated by more than a decade.

In 1991, Flair’s performance was largely about establishing him as a player, and he admittedly didn’t inspire awe. He only pinned The British Bulldog, then was the last man standing when the other wrestlers suffered a mass disqualification. His showing in 2006 was more noteworthy, though, in surviving a three-on-one disadvantage to beat back the young heels from The Spirit Squad.

4 4. Kofi Kingston (2009)

In a program that would ultimately lay the groundwork for Randy Orton to chase Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship nearly a decade later, The Viper and Kingston warred in fall 2009, including captaining opposing teams at Survivor Series. WWE demonstrated its faith in Kingston when he won that day, emerging the sole survivor from the match.

Of note, Kingston survived by pulling off back to back eliminations of CM Punk and Orton. While Punk hadn’t yet peaked as a bona fide main event star, he was a former world champion and upper card by this point. Pinning Orton was even more momentous, making Kingston a believable opponent against the Viper for the singles matches to follow.

3 3. The Rock (1996, 2001)

There are few Superstars whose legacies can compare to that of The Rock, and that includes memorable Survivor Series moments like turning heel to win the vacant WWE Championship in 1998 and his comeback match at Madison Square Garden in 2012. The Rock was also the sole survivor twice in his career.

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In 1996, Rocky Maivia was a rookie who survived to emerge victorious in his debut match, ultimately pinning Crush and Goldust at the end of the bout. By 2001, he was the top face in the company, representing WWE against The Alliance. The match was full of dramatic twists and turns, emblematic of the Attitude Era that had arguably come to a close or was on its way out at that stage. Regardless, it was Rock who emerged the last man standing, last pinning Steve Austin, for WWE to beat WCW and ECW once and for all.

2 2. Dolph Ziggler (2012, 2014)

Dolph Ziggler’s endurance made him a natural fit to go the distance at Survivor Series, and he twice got the chance to shine in featured matches as the sole survivor. In 2012, Ziggler was on his way to peaking as a heel. He got the nod to last to the end and ultimately pin Randy Orton, en route to a push that would include beating John Cena in the following month’s TLC main event before successfully cashing in Money in the Bank the night after WrestleMania.

Two years later, Ziggler was more quietly a part of Cena’s face team challenging The Authority. Ziggler was the last face standing against Kane, Luke Harper, and Seth Rollins. After cleanly dispatching Kane and Harper, Ziggler also seemed to have Rollins beat before Triple H interfered. Luckily, Sting wound up making his dramatic debut, giving The Show Off a major assist to pick up a huge victory.

1 1. Randy Orton (2003, 2004, 2005)

Randy Orton stands out in Survivor Series history for becoming the first sole survivor of three matches at the event—not to mention that he did it in three consecutive years, with the latter two matches main eventing the show.

In both 2003 and 2005, Orton played a similar role as a heel, both times eliminating a tired Shawn Michaels who had threatened to overcome the numbers game, only to run into an RKO. 2004 added a different dimension to Orton’s legacy at the event. He was the face who survived a two on one disadvantage, eliminating Edge and then arch-rival Triple H for the victory.

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