I really can't believe that Survivor Series is getting eliminated here. It just doesn't feel right. The other PPV numbers were daunting, totally beating out SS, but I expected Survivor Series to rally up next year, come back, and take out those gimmick events one by one to be the sole survivor! Isn't that how it usually goes?!
In all seriousness, this blows. Survivor Series has always been one of my favourites events, and to see it get replaced will feel pretty stupid to me.
The worst part is that it seems like Vince McMahon is blaming it's failure on not being a gimmick PPV, and being outdated:
"We think that Survivor Series is obsolete, as far as that title is concerned. It was something that worked many, many years ago, in terms of a creative standpoint, various teams competing. That really is not advantageous as the consumer now looks as what actually they are buying. And it's such a broad ... Survivor Series yes, many years ago, was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it's outlasted its usage and it is one of the things in terms of re-branding, this year and going forward, that will be re-branded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series."
HUH.
Yep. When no one bought Survivor Series a few months ago, it's because people were like "Man Survivor Series is SOOOOOO 1980whatever!" That's it.
Not because the card was a pile of crap. Or because the build to the show itself was completely lame.
So now we get a new gimmick PPV. This is going to get old fast. Every feud is going to take the same path from here on out. Any feud that can last more than three months, that is.
Every year: "Remember that great wrestler A/wrestler B feud? First they had their submission match, then they had their Hell In A Cell match, then they had their TLC Match, and now they're having their BLHAGVBDU match!"
No feud has ever taken that insane route, and now THREE A YEAR WILL?!
It's just so weird. Instead of having these feuds that end up being defined by their big blowoff match (Shawn/Jericho ladder, Shawn/Razor ladder, Taker/Mankind HIAC, Edge/Anybody TLC), you have EVERYONE just running the same gauntlet of gimmick matches.
Would the Taker/Shawn HIAC been as special as it was had Shamrock and Rock, and the Headbangers and the Godwinns also had Cell matches that night? And there were three more the year before and the year after? ALL of which had NOTHING to do with the feud? I don't think so.
But what I think really doesn't matter. WWE drew bigger numbers on their new themed-PPVs this past year than they did on their "normal" counterparts the year before.
So I guess it's full steam ahead! Bring on the Triple Cage PPV! The War Games! The Team-Warfare-Elimination-Style-Match PPV! Oh wait! THAT'S SURVIVOR SERIES
Bring it all on. I'll still watch, which is the sad part. But the truth is, it won't last forever. Kinda like when comics have to reboot when things get a little too crazy and confusing in their universe, so will the WWE.
They already did it with their wrestling-style. We went from the Attitude-Era and the post-Attitude-Era (Ruthless Agression Era?) with hard hitting, more athletic (Angle, Eddie, Benoit, Lesnar) matches, to the now PG-in-HD Era that has slowed things down a ton, and is more about the jiggly-camera shots and the matches that are more movie scenes where the actors/superstars have to hit their mark.
I anticipate the same thing will happen with PPVs somewhere down the line. Eventually shit will get so bananas that they'll have to come back down to earth and make gimmick matches mean something again.
Or Vince McMahon will go completely senile and we'll see some truly fucked up shit.
If that's the case, count me in. Just me though. Not my money.
I'll always remember these specific Survivor Series moments:
1. (duh) The Montreal Screwjob. I remember not really fully understanding it when I heard about it happening at 11 years old. I knew it was something that hadn't really happened before. I knew that I loved Bret Hart and I hated stupid Shawn Michaels, and now I hated Vince McMahon.
2. The beginning of the Corporate Champion, The Rock, Survivor Series 1998. Now 12 years old, I loved The Rock - and I even grew to love him with the Corporation.
3. Trying to watch Survivor Series 1997 on scramble at my Grandma's house. When the warning of rebroadcasting/duplicating the event came up, I got scared that I was going to get in trouble. It soon scrambled after that and I settled down. What a baby. I think I even asked my mom if I would get arrested for watching it, even with the feed scrambled.
4. The Winner Take All Match when Vince threw his coat down in triumph. I knew it was all fake, but being such a WWE mark I was still in awe that the wars were officially over.
5. Chris Jericho vs. John Cena for the World Title. I was so invested in this match because I wanted Jericho to win so badly. It ended up being a pretty great match, even though he lost.
RIP
SURVIVOR SERIES
