The 23rd annual WWE Survivor Series came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The WWE & World Heavyweight Titles were defended in Triple Threat Matches, while three Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches took place and Batista went one-on-one with Rey Mysterio.
Quick Match Results
- 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Miz def. Team Morrison with The Miz, Sheamus, & Drew McIntyre being the sole survivors.
Order of Elimination: Evan Bourne elim. Dolph Ziggler by pin following Air Bourne. Drew McIntyre elim. Evan Bourne by pin following the Scot Drop. Sheamus elim. Finlay by pin following the Celtic Wheel. John Morrison elim. Jack Swagger by pin following Starship Pain. The Miz elim. Shelton Benjamin by pin following the Skull Crushing Finale. Drew McIntyre elim. Matt Hardy by pin following the Scot Drop. Sheamus elim. John Morrison by pin following a crucifix powerbomb to win the match for his team.
- Batista def. Rey Mysterio after the referee deemed that Rey Mysterio was unable to continue.
- 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Kingston def. Team Orton with Kofi Kingston being the sole survivor.
Order of Elimination: Randy Orton elim. Mark Henry by pin following the RKO. CM Punk elim. R-Truth by pin following the GTS. Christian elim. Ted DiBiase by sunset flip roll-up. MVP elim. William Regal by pin following the Ballin’ Boot. Cody Rhodes elim. MVP by pin following Cross Rhodes. Christian elim. Cody Rhodes by pin following the Killswitch. Randy Orton elim. Christian by pin following the RKO. Kofi Kingston elim. CM Punk by reversing a roll-up attempt. Kofi Kingston elim. Randy Orton by pin following Trouble In Paradise.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Triple Threat: The Undertaker (c) def. Big Show & Chris Jericho by Big Show submitting to Hell’s Gate; The Undertaker (c) retains.
- Divas 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Mickie def. Team Michelle with Mickie James & Melina being the sole survivors.
Order of Elimination: Kelly Kelly elim. Layla by pin following the K2. Michelle McCool elim. Gail Kim by pin with the Styles Clash. Eve Torres elim. Jillian by sunset flip roll-up. Beth Phoenix elim. Eve Torres by pin with the Glam Slam. Beth Phoenix elim. Kelly Kelly by pin with the Glam Slam. Mickie James elim. Beth Phoenix by roll-up. Mickie James elim. Alicia Fox by pin with the Super Thesz. Melina elim. Michelle McCool by pin with the Last Call.
- WWE Championship: Triple Threat: John Cena (c) def. Triple H & Shawn Michaels by pinning Triple H following the Attitude Adjustment on Shawn Michaels on top of Triple H; John Cena (c) retains.
Match Quality
- WWE Championship
- 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Kingston Vs. Team Orton
- World Heavyweight Championship
- 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Miz Vs. Team Morrison
- Batista Vs. Rey Mysterio
- Divas 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
Detailed Results
The 23rd installment of Survivor Series kicked off with one of the reasons why the Thanksgiving tradition is the second longest running WWE pay-per-view behind WrestleMania; and that is the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Matches! United States Champion The Miz led his ruthless team of Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, & Jack Swagger against his former friend and tag team partner, John Morrison, as the Intercontinental Champion led Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Finlay, & Shelton Benjamin into the battle.
After failing to win the Intercontinental Championship from John Morrison on SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler’s bad run of luck continued as Evan Bourne eliminated the former #1 Contender.
Immediately after Ziggler’s elimination, Drew McIntyre planted Evan Bourne with the Scot Drop, followed by a pin and the subsequent elimination of the high flyer.
With just one well-placed kick to the skull, “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus eliminated fellow Irishman, Finlay! After this fall, the match broke down as the remaining Superstars fought in and around the ring. The brawl even concussed referee Scott Armstrong, who was calling the match!
After a new referee stepped in, the match was back under control, as was Team Morrison as team captain, John Morrison, hit Starship Pain and pinned Jack Swagger to eliminate “The All-American American”.
While John Morrison eliminated a collegiate All-American in Jack Swagger, The Miz responded by eliminating Team Morrison’s own collegiate All-American, Shelton Benjamin!
Scoring his second elimination in the match, Drew McIntyre would deliver the Scot Drop to Matt Hardy to send Hardy packing to the locker room.
With Matt Hardy’s elimination, John Morrison was left all alone to fend off The Miz, Sheamus, & Drew McIntyre. This was a feat that the Intercontinental Champion was unable to pull off as Sheamus delivered a devastating powerbomb to “The Friday Night Delight” to put an end to score the win for his team with himself, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz as the sole survivors!
The battle of friends turned bitter rivals was next up as Rey Mysterio squared off with “The Animal” Batista. Unfortunately, for Mysterio, Batista delivered on his promise to show “no remorse” to his former friend as Batista annihilated Rey with three Batista Bombs, even though the referee called an end to the match after the second Batista Bomb. After the match, medics tend to Mysterio, but they scrambled once Batista re-entered the ring with a steel chair in hand. “The Altered Animal” then placed the steel chair in the middle of the ring and delivered a thunderous spinebuster to Rey onto the steel chair! As the cold-hearted Batista made his exit, medics returned to the side of Mysterio, who would ultimately be wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher. What is the condition of Rey Mysterio? When will we see Mysterio again?
Up next was the second of three Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match as team captain, Randy Orton, enlisted the help of his protégés, Legacy, “The Straightedge Superstar” CM Punk, and the 2008 King of the Ring, William Regal, to battle the man who has gotten under the skin of “The Viper” as of late, Kofi Kingston and his team consisting of The World’s Strongest Tag Team, R-Truth, & ECW Champion Christian.
With the help of Legacy, Randy Orton took the biggest factor out of the match early on as he delivered the RKO to and pinned Mark Henry to take “The World’s Strongest Man” out of the match!
The apparent plan of the diabolical Team Orton continued to equal success for the recently unsuccessful group of Superstars as a distraction by Legacy member Cody Rhodes led to CM Punk catching rival R-Truth with the GTS, followed by the pin that would eliminated the exciting SmackDown Superstar.
However, things started to fall apart for Team Orton as the veteran ECW Champion Christian was able to outmaneuver Legacy’s Ted DiBiase to eliminate the third-generation star from the match!
MVP followed that up by eliminating the resident veteran of Team Orton, William Regal.
Randy Orton, CM Punk, & Cody Rhodes got back on track as a distraction by Randy Orton led to Cody Rhodes catching MVP with Cross Rhodes to eliminate “The Franchise Player”.
Christian regained the advantage for the remaining members of Team Kingston by eliminating Cody Rhodes from the match.
With himself and Kofi Kingston left to face Randy Orton & CM Punk, Christian looked to have Orton right where he wanted him until Punk provided a timely distraction for his team captain; a distraction that allowed Orton to hit the RKO on the ECW Champion and gain the 2-1 advantage over the lone Kofi Kingston.
After an incredible battle with his former tag team partner, Kofi was able to surprise Punk with a roll-up to eliminate “The Straightedge Superstar”.
With it down to Orton Vs. Kingston, Orton entered the ring to face Kingston, but as soon as he did so, Kofi caught Orton with Trouble In Paradise to defeat Orton and become the sole survivor for his team!
Then it was time for the first of two Triple Threat Matches of the evening, as The Undertaker would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against the WWE Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show. Despite their differences as of late over the title, Jeri-Show double-teamed The Undertaker early on in the match, but “The Phenom” was able to divide and conquer to temporarily take Big Show out of the match by sending “The World’s Largest Athlete” into the steel ring post!
A little later on in the contest, Chris Jericho would get the better of “The Deadman” and would lock in the Walls of Jericho on the champion. However, Big Show would prevent any potential submission by The Undertaker by chokeslamming Jericho!
With Chris Jericho temporarily out of commission, it was the two big men, Big Show & The Undertaker, who battled it out over the World Heavyweight Title. The two giants would arrive at a stalemate with both men having their opponent by the throat for a potential chokeslam! Meanwhile, Jericho grabbed the World Heavyweight Title belt, came back into the ring, and blasted his tag team partner, Big Show, with it!
The Undertaker then hoists Chris Jericho up for the Last Ride, but the opportunistic Jericho blasts Undertaker with the title belt as well! Jericho tries to pin both men to no avail.
Undertaker would recover and set Jericho up for the Tombstone Piledriver, but Big Show would intervene with a vicious Knockout Punch to “The Deadman”! Jericho then tries to repeat his actions from SmackDown as he attempts a Codebreaker on Big Show, but Show throws Jericho off and delivers a knockout blow to his tag partner as well!
With the match seemingly well in hand, Big Show sets The Undertaker up for a chokeslam, but the champion counters into Hell’s Gate; forcing Big Show to tap out and, subsequently, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship! What will be the fallout of the turmoil between the WWE Unified Tag Team Champions?
The Divas took part in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match, as well, as Mickie James, Divas Champion Melina, Gail Kim, Eve Torres, & Kelly Kelly went against Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla, Beth Phoenix, Jillian, & Alicia Fox.
Kelly Kelly was able to score the first elimination by defeating Layla.
Following the elimination of her “partner in crime”, Michelle McCool responded by eliminating Gail Kim from the contest!
Eve Torres was able to defeat Jillian to eliminate “The Sour Songstress” from the match.
However, things changed once Beth Phoenix entered the match as she eliminated both Eve Torres & Kelly Kelly in back-to-back eliminations!
Familiar with Beth Phoenix from past encounters, Mickie James was able to roll-up and eliminate “The Glamazon”! Mickie James would then eliminate Alicia Fox from the contest!
The end of the match came with the Divas Champion pinning the Women’s Champion as Melina defeated Michelle McCool to win the match for Team Mickie with herself and Mickie James as the sole survivors!
Backstage, Todd Grisham asks Batista about his actions earlier in the night to Rey Mysterio. Batista responded by saying that he is “embarrassed for” Rey Mysterio. What does “The Animal” mean? What kind of damage has Batista done to his former friend?
Then it was time for the main event, as John Cena would defend the WWE Championship against D-Generation X, Triple H & Shawn Michaels, in a Triple Threat Match.
The title match kicked off with a shocking turn of events as Shawn Michaels immediately delivered Sweet Chin Music to his unsuspecting friend, Triple H, as soon as the bell rang for the match to begin!
After this shocking betrayal, Triple H was out of it for the time being, which allowed John Cena & Shawn Michaels to wage war over the WWE Title. Later on in the contest, both Cena & Michaels find themselves on the outside of the ring where HBK disassembles the announce table in an apparent effort to try and put Cena through it! However, Cena was able to get a hold of Michaels and set HBK up for an Attitude Adjustment through the table! Surprisingly, Triple H rescued Michaels from the sure devastation of the maneuver that allowed HBK to take Cena out of the match temporarily. However, Michaels turned right into the clutches of Triple H, who delivered a spinebuster through the announce table as payback for the beginning of the match!
With HBK out of the equation for the time being, Cena & Triple H waged war over the WWE Championship. A little later in the bout, Cena was able to hoist Triple H up for the Attitude Adjustment, but Michaels rejoined the fray and prevented the Attitude Adjustment by saving Triple H and sending Cena shoulder-first into the ring post. With Cena temporarily out of it, the two DX members faced each other for the prestigious championship!
John Cena would get back into the match a little bit later, but would be taken right back out of it when Shawn Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to “The Champ”! HBK would then deliver Sweet Chin Music to Triple H as well! After the punishment endured in the match, the two superkicks was all that HBK seemed to have left as he fell out of the ring.
Unfortunately for HBK, his second rendition of Sweet Chin Music on Triple H knocked “The Game” out right on top of Cena; in a pinning predicament. However, Cena would manage to kick out and save his title for the time being! Cena & Triple H then slowly recover from the two superkicks, but as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Cena lifts Triple H and delivers the Attitude Adjustment to “The Game”! While Cena crawls to make a cover on the prone Triple H, Shawn Michaels re-enters the ring and is also crawling towards the cover. Both men make the cover, but Triple H manages to kick out!
After recovering from the Attitude Adjustment, Triple H sets Cena up for the Pedigree, but Shawn Michaels blasts Triple H with another superkick! Cena then delivers the Attitude Adjustment to Shawn Michaels; planting HBK right on top of his DX teammate! Cena then pins Triple H to survive the hellacious Triple Threat Match with the WWE Title intact! After such a shocking and grueling match, what is the status of DX? How will Triple H respond to Shawn Michaels’ turning on him so quickly? Who will be the next challenger for John Cena and the WWE Championship?