WWE Survivor Series 2009 Review

Two triple threat matches decide who will walk out with the richest championships in the business. The Undertaker defends his World Heavyweight Championship against both Chris Jericho and The Big Show while John Cena has his hands full as his WWE Championship is on the line against Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Match 1: Traditional Survivor Series Elimination - Team Miz (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre & Sheamus) vs. Team Morrison (John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Finlay, Matt Hardy & Shelton Benjamin)
Best way to start off a Survivor Series is with a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination match! This match was seven years ago and really showed off the newer stars that would soon become main eventers like Sheamus and The Miz. Nice opening match here that shifted the focus to those newer guys as guys like Finlay or Matt Hardy had very minuscule parts to the match. Really told us where WWE's agenda was. It came down to The Miz having himself along with Drew McIntyre & Sheamus against the lone John Morrison. Morrison put up a fight until Sheamus hit him with running crucifix powerbomb to score the win for his team. Good match and a nice way to open the show while displaying the younger talent. Damn, that feels so weird saying that in 2018.
Winners: Team Miz
Sole Survivors: The Miz, Drew McIntyre & Sheamus
Rating: ***

Match 2: Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
Batista had one of my favorite heel turns of all time at Bragging Rights 2009 and a feud with Rey Mysterio just made all the right reasons. Unfortunately, they never really got a proper ending and this would go on to be their only match on PPV. Disappointing considering how long these two have been friends for and how much more they could have stretched this out for. Regardless, they really made the most of what they were given and the feud was red hot from the start. As for the match, it was exactly what it needed to be. Mysterio was able to get in a little bit of offense but Batista was way too much and delivered three nasty Batista Bombs before the referee finally called for the bell as the Washington D.C. crowd was cheering on their hometown hero. Afterwards, Batista hits a spinebuster to Mysterio onto a steel chair as Mysterio was screaming. Really wish the feud went on for longer after this because this was so brilliant. Batista is incredible as a heel and no pun intended, is an absolute animal in his role. Mysterio was the perfect opponent for him here as I felt so compassionate as his former best friend was beating the living daylights out of him with no remorse.
Winner: Batista
Rating: *3/4

Match 3: Traditional Survivor Series Elimination - Team Orton (Randy Orton, CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) vs. Team Kingston (Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Christian & R-Truth)
For those who forgot, Kofi Kingston wrapped up his Jamaican gimmick around this time and was propelled to the main event of Monday Night Raw with a big time feud against Randy Orton, the top heel of the show. Loved the structure of the match as the animosity between Team Orton was looking like it had been brushed aside in the beginning until Team Kingston would make the comeback. The quick eliminations of both Mark Henry and R-Truth put Team Kingston in the hole and worked since it forced them to make the babyface comeback. Eventually, it would go down to Kingston facing off against Orton and CM Punk as Kingston would eliminate Punk before immediately hitting a Trouble in Paradise on Orton to secure the win for his squad and be the sole survivor. Good match here that was just as good, if not a little bit better than the first match of the night. Shame that the push for Kofi went nowhere after this because this dude was hot.
Winners: Team Kingston
Sole Survivor: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - The Undertaker (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show
Interesting build to this match with Chris Jericho and The Big Show being tag partners and having to fend for themselves in a triple threat match including The Undertaker. Loved the drama that led up to this one with Jericho hitting a Codebreaker on Big Show to close out the final minutes of SmackDown before the PPV. Solid match here with Jericho and Show working cohesively in the beginning to take out The Undertaker before the wheels of the wagon just came off. Eventually, the match became a true triple threat with The Undertaker taking the most of the offense from the two. With Big Show knocking out Jericho, he set his eyes on The Undertaker. As Show reached in for a Chokeslam, Undertaker was able to reverse it into a Hell's Gate submission to seal the win. A bit of an underwhelming match here as I was expecting a little more from three legends. Regardless, I enjoyed the match and the right person won here.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: Traditional Survivor Series Elimination - Team Michelle (Michelle McCool, Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall & Layla) vs. Team Mickie (Mickie James, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly & Melina)
The final Traditional Survivor Series Elimination match of the night has the Divas going at it against each other as the personal feud between Michelle McCool and Mickie James comes to a head. As expected, the eliminations came rather fast with the one Diva being the standout was Beth Phoenix who was quick to make an impact as soon as she entered the fray. However, she was eliminated by James soon after. With James still in the equation, Melina is able to pin McCool to pick up the win for her and her team. Solid match for what it was and a nice bridge between the two title matches.
Winners: Team Mickie
Sole Survivor: Melina
Rating: **1/2

Match 6: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Much like the World Heavyweight Championship match, the WWE Championship will also be defended in a triple threat match with John Cena having to go against the team of D-Generation X. Absolutely loved how they began the match with Shawn Michaels landing a Sweet Chin Music on Triple H out of nowhere. The crowd was shaking, the announcers were screaming as John Cena looked at a stoic Michaels in disbelief. Awesome. But just look very closely at it and you'll notice that Michaels didn't even touch Triple H, pretty great selling on Triple H's part here. This allowed Cena to battle Michaels who would eventually get his turn delivered to him via a spinebuster from Triple H through the announcers table. Another awesome spot. Cena was able to fight off both men and escape with the WWE Championship in hand after delivering an Attiutude Adjustment to Michaels ontop of a prone Triple H who just ate his third Sweet Chin Music of the match. As much as I would have loved to see Michaels get one more go with the belt before his retirement, it just wasn't in the cards. However, I think there still were some missed opportunities after this match to create some friction and drama between D-Generation X as Michaels started to become more and more obsessed with his rematch with The Undertaker. Anyway, I just loved how they constructed the match with Michaels telling us that there will be no cohesion whatsoever from the start before having to face Triple H in the middle of the match. It amazes me how forgotten this match has become and how great it would have been to see this at a WrestleMania a year or two earlier to this. Easily one of my favorite Survivor Series matches.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****1/2

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Despite the show getting some back feedback from most critics, I enjoyed the show for the most part. None of the matches were hard to watch and I loved the Rey Mysterio vs. Batista match along with the main event. If there was any reason to go back and watch this show, it would definitely to see how far the younger stars of this show have come along with an incredibly underrated main event.
Rating: 7.25/10