WWE Survivor Series 2015 Review

Match 1: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal - Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns
Live from Atlanta, GA, it's the November classic in Survivor Series! Roman Reigns pops open the night against Alberto Del Rio in the first semifinal match of the night for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Crowd is sided towards Del Rio and if I haven't already said it, I'll say it again. Del Rio looks to be in fantastic shape and to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing him hold two straps. Good match here that saw Del Rio focus on the shoulder of Reigns which had already been softened up by Cesaro on Monday Night Raw. Reigns definitely deserves more credit than what he gets, he wrestles a smart match and builds the match perfectly around his Spear. Del Rio is able to dodge Roman's first Spear but after missing a dive off the top rope, he turned around right into one as Reigns made the cover to win. Good opening contest as the hate for Reigns continues, people will never be pleased.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: **1/2

Match 2: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal - Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
Winner of this match meets Roman Reigns in the final for the belt. Crowd is pretty split between the two competitors as they gave us a really fun match to follow up the opener. They needed to be able to differentiate themselves from the last match and I feel like they made a nice changeover. Kevin Owens is brilliant when it comes to being a cocky heel. He was literally shouting throughout the entire match at Dean Ambrose, the referee, and even Michael Cole on commentary. Ambrose got in just as much offense in and did his normal routine of moves before hitting his Dirty Deeds DDT after reversing a Pop-Up Powerbomb for the second time to secure the win and a spot in the main event. Good match with a strong finish that protects Owens' finisher. This sets up a big main event between two Shield reverends.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: ***

Match 3: Traditional Survivor Series Elimination - Ryback, The Lucha Dragons & The Usos vs. The New Day, Sheamus & King Barrett
The New Day might just be the greatest thing ever. They come down to the ring with their cool entrance alongside Sheamus & King Barrett where they joke around about the city's teams before Sheamus takes over the microphone and says it's time to get jiggy with these posers. New Day's reaction was priceless. Anyway, it wouldn't be Survivor Series without a Traditional Survivor Series match so here we are. It's also a perfect opportunity to get these guys on the card. I always enjoy these matches and this one was no different. Good action filled with hilarious New Day antics that included Xavier Woods doing his best to not get his hair ruined. However, once Big E got eliminated, his teammates decided to help him to the back and completely forget the match. Sheamus had an amazing reaction when he saw that he had been left alone to fend for himself. Sheamus got in some offense but ultimately fell to Ryback and his team. Good match that blended speed, action, and comedy all in one.
Winners: Ryback, The Lucha Dragons & The Usos
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: Divas Championship - Charlotte (c) vs. Paige
These two headlined the last edition of Monday Night Raw with their controversial contract signing. The commentators did their best to amp up the viewers for this match as the beef between the two has reached new heights. But let's be honest, WWE can't seem to get this Divas division going and therefore, it's hard to take anything seriously. The wrestling itself for this match was fine but nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that made me understand why these two have so much beef with each other. Everything was kind of just there and the crowd was pretty bored with things as they were calling for Sasha Banks. Charlotte is able to hit her Figure Eight to get Paige to tap out. I applaud the WWE for taking steps into making the Divas division more important, but the execution just falls flat on its face.
Winner: Charlotte
Rating: **

Match 5: Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze
Tyler Breeze recently made his debut on the main roster and finds himself on tonight's card against the established Dolph Ziggler. The action was fine as Breeze got in plenty of offense to make himself known on the PPV. Although it seemed like the commentators weren't really that familiar with Breeze, he still looked good here and scored the clean victory over Ziggler. Ziggler managed to also get in a lot of offense and still looked good in his loss. Just odd to see where his career has gone following his big win at last year's Survivor Series. With that being said, it looks like the company really likes what they see in Breeze.
Winner: Tyler Breeze
Rating: **3/4

Match 6: The Brothers of Destruction vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
Numbers can easily define the legend that is The Undertaker. 25 is the flavor of death for tonight. Survivor Series 2015 celebrates 25 years to the day that The Undertaker debuted on the WWE stage. Bray Wyatt gets to choose two members of his family to take on The Brothers of Destruction. He sends in Erick Rowan to the wolves where he receives a Double Chokeslam for his troubles. Wyatt decides to team with Luke Harper and have Braun Strowman stay in his corner. The Brothers are in control of the match until Strowman tosses Kane over the announce table. The tides seem to turn until Undertaker gets his retribution as he leads a Double Chokeslam to Strowman through the table with the help of Kane. Awesome. Back in the ring and once again, Wyatt looks to be in control. However, The Brothers both sit up simultaneously in the faces of Wyatt & Harper before delivering the final nail to the coffin. What a scene. Undertaker plants Harper with a Tombstone for the win. That was more show and more nostalgia than anything. And I loved it. I got chills watching that incredible entrance by The Undertaker and it literally felt like I was stepping back into my childhood watching this match. The Wyatt Family took the loss but let's be honest, facing The Brothers of Destruction on a PPV match is as good as anything.
Winners: The Brothers of Destruction
Rating: ***1/4

Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final - Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns
Fittingly, this is tonight's main event. They debuted at Survivor Series three years ago and have established themselves as the top dogs of the company. I liked the dynamic of this match, two brothers beating the hell out of each other to secure what they want most. They looked bruised and battered from their last bouts and they did a fantastic job of selling the pain. Unfortunately, the Atlanta crowd wasn't all into the action or the two guys in the ring for that matter. Regardless, they still pulled out a fun match here with Roman Reigns finally hitting a sick Spear onto Dean Ambrose to score the win. The match made sense, they were tired from their last matches and thus, the match lasted less than ten minutes. The scene with both guys sitting and trading punches was really cool. Can't wait for The Shield to have that triple threat match. Confetti and fireworks go off as Reigns embraces the moment with Ambrose by his side. And then, out comes Triple H. The Game offers his hand to shake. However...
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: **3/4

Match 8: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sheamus
Roman Reigns delivers a Spear to Triple H right before turning around to a Brogue Kick from Sheamus! Sheamus is cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. Reigns is able to kick out of the first one but a second one does the trick for Sheamus. Your new WWE World Heavyweight Champion is Sheamus! Very similar ending to Summerslam 2013 but it works for the situation and they did need a way for Sheamus to get rid of that briefcase. Would have been kind of cool to see Reigns still beat Sheamus but that really would have benefited nobody in that situation. Also, the audience now can get behind Reigns in a bigger way as he has been screwed out of the championship once again.
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: n/a

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
I liked the presentation of the show, focusing on the tournament and the silver anniversary of The Deadman while maintaining the Survivor Series feel to everything. The match quality definitely disappointed as nothing truly stood out aside from the ending. With Seth Rollins and John Cena both out of action, the landscape feels different. And I like it. However, with WrestleMania looming, so many questions have come about.
Rating: 6.25/10