A feud between those who abuse power and those who try to overcome their abuse. It's a classic storytelling trope that has been used time and time again throughout fiction and history. In 2014, that trope was brought back as The Authority looked to cement its power through their "Chosen One" Seth Rollins and his team. Meanwhile, John Cena and other disgruntled WWE employees sought to end the "Reign of Terror" of The Authority once and for all. Putting their jobs on the line, Team Cena hoped to get an opportunity to send Stephanie and Triple H away. However, fans didn't expect a traitor in the midst of Team Cena or the debut of the Franchise of WCW in a WWE ring. This is the latest edition of UnWrest Focus: Survivor Series, and it's going to be a memorable one at that.
Let's do this!
WWE Survivor Series 2014
11/23/14
Survivor Series Match
Team Cena (John Cena, Big Show, Ryback, Erick Rowan, and Dolph Ziggler) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Rusev, Luke Harper, and Mark Henry)
* If Team Cena wins, Stephanie and Triple H must no longer run Raw. Only Cena can bring them back.
* If Team Authority wins, Team Cena will all be fired.
The bell rings. Triple H and Stephanie are still on the apron hyping up their team, especially Mark Henry who elects to start the match. Big Show is in for Team Cena. Henry goes back and gets more hyped by Triple H. He turns around and gets KNOCKED OUT by The Big Show's right hand. 1-2-3.
Mark Henry is eliminated.
Triple H and Stephanie close their eyes and hold their heads in shock, selling the severity of the moment. Triple H and Stephanie are back on the floor now. Rollins jumps Big Show from behind. Show chops Rollins jumping off the corner. Here comes Kane now for Team Authority. But Show gets Kane in Team Cena's corner and tags the captain. Cena dropkicks Kane. Kane gets out and tags in Harper. Rowan tags in as well. Harper gets tagged out by Seth Rollins before any combat takes place. Harper gets an early advantage on Rollins using his size advantage. Tag to Ryback by Rowan. Ryback just pulverizes Rollins using his size to ram him into two of the corners. Harper runs in and gets some. Big Delayed Vertical by Ryback to Harper. Tag to Kane. Kane and Ryback are going at it. Thesz Press and splash by Ryback only gets 2. Kane tags in Rusev. Rusev gets planted by Ryback. Clothesline by Ryback. Kane gets Ryback with a big boot, and now it's a Pier 6 Brawl. Ryback gets Curb Stomped by Rollins. Machka Kick by Rusev. 1-2-3.
Ryback has been eliminated.
Stephanie is doing the Daniel Bryan "YES" chant at ringside. Big Show and Rusev are in the ring now. Rusev runs into the Size 22 foot of Big Show. Rusev gets out and tags in Harper. Harper gets a dropkick on Big Show. Rollins comes in and starts attacking Show. Kane comes in soon off the tag and again continues the assault. Harper wants in now, and he gets tagged in. Frequent tags and offense by Team Authority. Back suplex by Big Show to Harper. Show tags in Ziggler. Ziggler goes nuts with some fast paced offense against Harper. But he gets caught with a big Boss Man Slam. Rollins is tagged in and assaults Ziggler. Rinse and repeat with Rusev. Kane comes in now and continues the pummeling. Clothesline and a Sidewalk Slam gets 2. Big boot now by Kane gets a 2.
Harper tags in and keeps the assault going. Tag to Rusev. Knee to the midsection of Ziggler. Ziggler gets a few punches in, but Rusev just assaults and hits Ziggler with a Fallaway Slam. 2 count. Rollins comes in and continues to beat down on Ziggler. Rollins takes a moment to brag, and Ziggler fires out of the corner with some shots. But Rollins just shuts that down by Flatlining Ziggler's head into the middle turnbuckle. Tag to Rusev. Jawbreaker to Rusev and a Jumping DDT by Ziggler. 2 count pin attempt gets broken up. And now everyone is running in and hitting each other with moves. Dolph gets powerbombed over the top rope onto a pile of bodies from both teams. Rusev goes out and tears apart the announce tables. He puts Ziggler on one of the announce tables. He climbs the other one and misses a running dive to Dolph, sending Rusev through the table! Dolph gets into the ring, and Rusev gets counted out!!!!!
Rusev has been eliminated.
Kane is in with Ziggler now. Chokeslam is pushed away and Ziggler tags in Cena. 5 Moves of Doom time. You Can't See Me! 5 Knuckle Shuffle. AA hits. Curb Stomp by Rollins, who wasn't even legal. Rowan and Harper get tagged in. Rowan tosses Harper into the corner and splashes him. Harper jumps Rowan, but Rowan gets a spin kick in. Rowan powers out of a chokeslam by Kane, but Rollins hits a Drive By attack. Harper takes advantage and pins Rowan.
Erick Rowan has been eliminated.
Big Show comes into the ring. The 3 members of Team Authority are in the ring standing off with Big Show. Show looks over at Cena and KNOCKS HIM OUT!!!!!! Rollins covers for the 3!!!
JOHN CENA HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!
Big Show goes over to the other side and shakes hands with Triple H. He steps over the ropes and gets himself counted out. It's now 3-1
Big Show has been eliminated.
(I love this part of the match. Not only has the match been really solid and good up to this point, but now the formula has been shifted somewhat. Think about it: How many times in Survivor Series matches throughout the years has it come down to the Team Captains in the end? I'd say at least 80% of the time. Cena being eliminated this early was something NO ONE saw coming. While Big Show turns happen about as often as the sun comes out, Cena not finishing a Survivor Series match is very shocking at this point in his career. Now, The Authority has a 3-1 advantage against Dolph Ziggler, and it seems that all hope is lost. That's some original storytelling for once, despite the fact that don't really do much with Dolph after this match. Rant over. Let's continue.)
Stephanie mocks Cena on his way out. Cena sells the severity of the moment as he realizes that he's basically done if Ziggler loses. Kane throws Ziggler into the guard rail and then back into the ring. Tag to Harper as the 3-1 assault continues. Frequent tags by Team Authority while assaulting Ziggler. Kane is legal with Ziggler as he placed on the top of the corner. He fights off Kane and crossbodies him off the top rope. ZIG ZAG! 1-2-3!
Kane is eliminated.
It's now 2-1 as Harper just destroys Ziggler with a big boot as he gets back to his feet. Harper hits Ziggler with a running dive through the ropes to the floor. Back in the ring, Harper superkicks Ziggler. 1-2-Kickout. Sit-Down Powerbomb to Ziggler. Ziggler again kicks out at the last possible second. Rollup by Ziggler! 1-2-3!
Luke Harper has been eliminated.
It's now down to Ziggler and Rollins for each team. Rollins jumps Ziggler and starts stomping. Ziggler gets thrown to the floor and into the barricade. Another toss into the barricade. They're back in the ring now. Rollup by Ziggler ALMOST gets Rollins. DDT by Ziggler. 1-2-KICKOUT barely! Stephanie and Triple H are going nuts at ringside in panic mode. Rollins hits the Buckle Bomb. 1-2-Kickout by Ziggler. Rollins climbs the top rope. Ziggler jumps up to the top, but Rollins knocks him off. Famouser!!! 1-2-KICKOUT BY ROLLINS! Triple H is pacing as Stephanie grabbed her heart. ZIG ZAG!!!! 1-2-Triple H pulls out the referee and punches him. Mercury and Noble are beating down on Ziggler now in the ring. He fights them off. Stephanie gets knocked off the apron by accident into Triple H. Buckle Bomb by Rollins. Curb Stomp misses. ZIG ZAG!!!!! Rollins is down and unconscious! Another ref comes in! 1-2...
Triple H drops the elbow on the referee and starts going nuts on Ziggler, punching him in the face. Rollins is rolling over out of the way as Triple H just clotheslines Ziggler to hell. Pedigree to Ziggler. He puts Rollins on top of Ziggler. And here comes Scott Armstrong. 1-2-
Music plays with a bird caw. It's STIIIING!!!!! Sting makes his WWE debut here, and the crowd goes nuts!!!! Sting knocks out the referee and enters the ring. Triple H and Sting stare off to "Holy (bleep" chants. Triple H just circles Sting, never losing contact with Sting's eyes. "This is Awesome!" chants from the live crowd. Triple H finally asks what the hell he's doing there with a bewildered look. He goes to attack Sting, and Sting hits Triple H with a kick to the midsection. SCORPION DEATH DROP! Now, Sting reverses the pin and puts Ziggler on top of Rollins. Sting gets out of the ring and walks off. The original referee is back in. 1-2-3!!!!
Seth Rollins has been eliminated. Dolph Ziggler is the Sole Survivor. Team Cena wins.
Dolph Ziggler gets his hand raised as Michael Cole calls it the most incredible moment in Survivor Series history. Cena comes out when Dolph gets to the entrance area and hugs him. They walk off to the back as Stephanie and Triple H come to to realize it's all over. The fans are going nuts and yelling "YES!" Now, it's the "Na Na Na Na" song. Stephanie throws a classic temper tantrum as Triple H continues to sell shock over what just happened.
Winner: Team Cena (The Authority is gone!)
Match Grade: A-. I absolutely love this match for a lot of reasons. First, Dolph Ziggler gets a career highlight moment by being the sole survivor in such a big match. And he definitely gave a good performance in the match. Secondly, they broke the formula for this match by having one of the Team Captains eliminated (as I wrote before). Third, Freaking Sting shows up for the first time ever in WWE and has one of the biggest impacts you can ask for.
It's not a perfect match though as I can't logically explain how Seth Rollins can roll out of the way of Triple H beating up Dolph Ziggler but succumb to Dolph Ziggler being placed on him 5 minutes later without any other physicality taking place. Granted, we're all supposed to be so enthralled by Sting's debut that we ignore it, but it's a botch in storytelling I just can't ignore. But the overall match itself is truly great and a fun way to debut Sting. One of the best Survivor Series matches ever.
_ _ _ _
Next time on the Survivor Series edition of UnWrest Focus, we are going to jump ahead 2 years to the Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown match at Survivor Series 2016. It's the one Survivor Series match to my memory that rivals this one as one of my favorites ever. Does it surpass it? Join me as I look to answer that question next time.
Until then, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness!
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