WWE announced that the PPV did 13,487 fans and $723,455 at the gate last night.
There were no serious injuries at the show last night. I heard that Vince needed stitches on his head (which if you saw it you had to expect) and that Undertaker dinged his arm, but that was it.
OFF AIR NOTES FROM THE SURVIVOR SERIES AND OTHER NOTES
Steve Grimmett sent this report.
Just a few notes from last nights show.
The arena was packed, it was really close to a sellout. The only thing tarped off was the stage area of course, and the top most section on the hard camera side. This is a small area though, only accounting for maybe a thousand seats. Everything else, even the suites, was packed.
Jamie Noble got a real nice pop, but that’s likely because he was the first superstar out.
The Team Angle vs. Team Lesnar match was ok but seemed like a real cluster. The crowd gave Bob Holly almost no reaction…and no one in my section (which was opposite side of the ring from where Holly was eliminated) knew how Holly was defeated. I had to read Buck’s report last night to find that out. John Cena was extremely over. The crowd lost it when he gave the FU to Big Show. I have to admit, I marked out big time for it.
The Women’s match was really a crowd killer. The audience was real hot and lively all night but you could hear crickets chirping during this one. Molly was at least able to carry Lita to a respectable match.
The Kane – Shane match was nice and short, but entertaining nonetheless. There were a lot of boos when they took the fight backstage. Even more boos when the camera feed went out. I will say this, Shane is nuts. Surprising thing is Kane got a lot of pops every time he came back from near defeat.
The tag title match was pretty good, though the Basham need to learn how to take bumps a little better. They were a bit sloppy. Eddie and Chavo were obviously having a ‘discussion’ after the match, but no signs of a Chavo turn were shown.
I really liked how both Team Austin and Team Bischoff came out as a team. This was probably for time purposes but it really added a sense of importance to the match. Like both groups were there for a joint purpose, not individual accolades (which is how the Angle-Lesnar match seemed). This match was booked really, really well. HBK really put in an amazing performance. This was my first chance to actually see him live and he totally blew me away. He got a nice ovation after Stone Cold helped his to his feet. Stone Cold’s speech was great, the beer bash was great….it was just a great way to end Austin’s career (for now at least).
The Vince-Undertaker match was ok. Taker got a huge pop. Vince was juicing uncontrollably. No one could tell if it was a blade job or if taker just caught him with a real stiff fist. The shot with the shovel to Vince’s forehead was brutal. Everyone was expecting Steph to make the save…I got laughed at for saying it would be Kane. I love getting the last laugh. Kane caught a lot more heat for screwing the Undertaker than for defeating the young millionaire.
Triple H was way over. Goldberg was way over. It was a fun main event. The crowd was really into it, and the way they booked the ending was great. Buck stated in his recap that Earl just rolled back over after counting to two when Trips used the brass knuckles, but he actually was laid out again by HHH with a falling elbow.
After taping ended, Evolution laid around in the ring selling the beat down. Flair stood outside the ring looking like the most dejected man in the world. They all got to their feet and began taunting the audience, with Triple H yelling at us to all get out of there. He was still selling the beating…struggling to stand. He then gave his pose (got a nice pop), they played his song, and the four walked to the stage, stopping to raise their hands and pose before leaving.
It was a great show with a lively and pumped up crowd. I hope this all came across well on the TV. The Mark Cuban bit was great, he sold the RKO really well. The Brock-Goldberg meeting was great, the crowd loved it. This was definitely one of the better PPV’s I’ve seen in the last year or so.
Biggest Pops (no order, expt for SCSA)
Austin Austin Austin
Kurt Angle
Goldberg
Shane-O
John Cena
Most Heat (again no order)
Vince
Kane (after screwing Taker)
Team Bischoff
Tajiri
Randy Orton after destroying Mark Cuban
I left Triple HHH off both lists because he received an enormous amount of both cheers and jeers