Ring Crew Reviews: WWE Survivor Series 2010

• Video package is the usual until it shifts into talking about Cena and whether or not he’ll do Barrett’s bidding in the title match with Orton. It has two halves with Cena in one saying that he’ll go along with Barrett and do what he wants and then switches over to saying he won’t do it and includes Piper’s famous, “Don’t spit in my face, John Cena!” It’s confessional from both sides before it even takes place. Really good video.

• WWE United States Championship: Ted Dibiase vs. Bryan Danielson (c). Dibiase got this shot by after dad lit a fire under his ass as guest GM of RAW so Dibiase jumped Danielson after a match and here we are. Dibiase has Maryse with him and of course she’s exquisite.

• Dibiase works the arm to start and Danielson goes through his routine and dropkicks his way free and the in-house lights go dim for some reason and they continue in the dark for about 5 seconds. We come back to Danielson booting Dibiase low to avoid a leap frog. Dibiase tries a suplex from the apron and actually DOES IT! Danielson eats it to the floor. Cole throws out a Creedence Clearwater Revival corner that market as Dibiase hits an elbow off the second rope on Danielson. Back in, cover gets 2. Danielson comes back with Euro uppercuts but Dibiase trips him and hits a few right hands which is apparently indicative of a mean streak to Herr Cole. Dibiase goes to the chinlock. Danielson forearms his way free only to eat a neckbreaker and a dropkick for 2. BACKTOTHECHINLOCK! Crowd chants for Danielson. He slides out of a suplex and hits a dropkick in the corner. Dnaielson chops down Dibiase with some kicks. He flips up and over off the top turnbuckle and blows through Dibiase with a clothesline and then shitcans him. Danielson follows out with the suicide dive and sells his shoulder on impact. Back in, Danielson hits a double foot stomp missile dropkick off the top for 2. Danielson hits a half dozen DR FG kicks and then small packages Dibiase for 2. Dibiase follows behind him to avoid a charge and takes him down with a clothesline for 2. Dibiase spazzes out and goes for Dream Street so Danielson counters to the Bret Hart/Piper roll up for 2. Dibiase with a Low Down for 2. Dibiase puts him up top but Danielson slides under and crotches him. He hits a super back suplex off the top and SELLS THE SHOULDER! Delayed cover gets 2. He immediately transitions into the Labell Lock but Dibiase stacks him up and catapults Danielson into the turnbuckle. Dibiase with a school boy for 2 and Danielson kicks out and hooks in the Labell Lock. Dibiase taps out at 10:02. Nice match held together with duct tape and Danielson’s air tight psychology. ***

• Post-match, Danielson celebrates only to get coldcocked by Miz from behind with the MITB briefcase. The lights go dim AGAIN. Cole: “YOU CAN’T TURN THE LIGHTS OFF ON THE MIZ! HE NEEDS A SPOTLIGHT!” Miz compares Nexus to the Miami Heat for cheap heat. Miz brings up the infamous Nike commercial where Lebron essentially asks America what he can do to get their approval. Miz says he should go back to Cleveland and apologize. Miz says he’s tired of carrying around the briefcase and will soon cash in. Because he’s the MIZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…[lights go out]….[lights come back on]…. and he’s AWESOME!

• Sheamus vs. John Morrison. This was set up by Sheamus gunning for Santino Morella and other lower card attractions and Morrison calling him a bully because of it. Sheamus is in the back with Todd Grisham and says this isn’t about being a bully, it’s about jealousy and tonight he’ll break Morrison’s will and body. Sheamus smacks Morrison to start and Morrison takes offense. Sheamus slams him into the turnbuckle. Morrison gets up and over with a headscissors and dropkicks Sheamus to the floor. Morrison follows out with a 360 body press. Sheamus shoves him away and into the barricade and then flips him over with the IRISH HAMMER! Back in, cover gets 2. Sheamus drops some knees. Sheamus with a short arm clothesline for 2 and goes to a chinlock at 2 minutes in. Sheamus sends him off and takes him down with a back elbow to boos. Sheamus with a falling reverse DDT neckbreaker for 2 and goes to an armbar. Morison powers out but runs into a knee. King: “Sometimes, they say size doesn’t matter.” Striker: “To you maybe.” King: “What’s that mean?” Awkward silence is next as Striker laughs under his breath. ANYWAY, Sheamus puts Morrison up top and does the Troll Yell. Morrison fights back and forearms him off the top. Morrison with a crossbody but Sheamus catches him and rolls through into a Bulldog powerslam for 2. Sheamus preps the Pump Kick but Morrison ducks and hits an enzuigiri. Double KO spot. Sheamus gets to his feet first for whatever reason. They slug it out. Morrison clotheslines Sheamus down a couple times and hits a leg lariat for 2. Morrison runs into a half nelson backbreaker for 2. Sheamus calls for the Razor’s Edge but Morrison blocks and catapults him into the ring post. That’s two spots they have stolen/borrowed/coincidentally reused from the first match between Danielson and Dibiase. Cover gets 2. Morrison tries something off the turnbuckle but Sheamus trips him up. Sheamus now pulls him forward and flapjacks him into the mat by the foot. Pretty cool. Sheamus now locks in a half crab. Morrison gets the ropes and sneaks Sheamus with a roll up for 2. Sheamus doesn’t like that and chop blocks him and then smacks around Morrison to be a dick. Morrison boots him away while still selling the leg. He goes for Starship Pain but Sheamus clubs him from behind to counter. Sheamus tries the Razor’s Edge but Morrison slides out. Sheamus THEN tries the Pump Kick and again Morrison avoids. Morrison hits the springboard gamengiri and follows it up with a running knee to the face. Cover puts Sheamus away at 11:11. Just as it was getting past the extended feeling out process into sometime interesting with Sheamus targeting the leg and throwing Morrison around by it, the match comes to a sudden conclusion. Another solid match but I’ll take the opener by just a hair. **3/4

• Meanwhile, Cena is in the back with Truth. Cena tells Truth his problems are none of Truth’s business. Truth says Nexus is banned from ringside but Truth isn’t. Truth alleges that he could come down to ringside and something could “accidentally” happen to Randy Orton. Cena says he can’t do it because he’d be a joke and tonight he’s going to call it down the middle.

• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Kaval vs. Dolph Ziggler (c). This was set up by Kaval getting his FIRST EVER victory in a non title match against Dolph. EXCUSE ME! Vicki introduces Dolph. Lock up goes nowhere. Kaval with a shoulderblock for a quick 1 count. Kaval with some chops as Striker puts over his “unique international offense.” Dolph with a couple elbows and a snapmare. Dolph with a senton neck whip to crickets. Crowd doesn’t care about this as Dolph boots away. They have a clumsy exchange and Dolph with a fireman’s carry takeover for 2. Kaval with up and over and a school boy for 2. Dolph talks some smack and Kaval comes back with a handspring back crossbody for 2. Kaval mounts in the corner for some punches but Dolph drops him on the turnbuckle to come back. Dolph covers for 2 as we get s replay of the Snake Eyes to show how compelling things have been thus far. Dolph goes to the OrtonLock (chinlock with bodyscissors). Dolph with a neckbreaker for 2. Back to the OrtonLock. It’s not a great sign when you’re slowing things down 3 minutes in. Dolph sends him across but runs into a boot. Kaval with a few burritos to mostly crickets as well. Dolph with some kicks and a pump enzuigiri. Kaval with a Stinger Splash in the corner and springboards back in with a moonsault but took his time and Dolph had to wait on him. Cover gets 2. Kaval with a chop. They botch some kinda reversal but Kaval immediately covers with a handspring roundhouse that looked pretty cool. Cover gets 2. Kaval heads up top but Dolph cuts him off. Dolph applies the Sleeper up top but Kaval headbutts him away. Kaval tries the Phoenix Splash but lands on his feet. Kaval with a backslide for 2. Dolph with a quick Rocker Dropper for a close 2. Dolph goes back to the Sleeper. Kaval rolls through. Dolph alley oops him back to the turnbuckle and Kaval springboards back with a gamengiri! Alright, this is picking up pretty nicely. Kaval cradles him for 2. They exchange some shots as the matches oddly screeches to a halt. Kaval tries a school boy but Dolph grabs the ropes to block. Fucking Jack Doane breaks it up and forces the roll up which I HATE especially when Ziggler hasn’t even been breaking the rules. Cover gets 2. Dolph now with a small package for 2. They almost botch ANOTHER whip sequence but finally get it together and Kaval gets the wheelbarrow roll up but Dolph rolls through for the 3 at 9:34. It was good when it was clicking but when it wasn’t it was sketchy as hell. Another decent bout but dragged down by the execution in places. **1/2

• Grisham is in the back with Jack Swagger. He wants to know how Swagger feels to be in Team Del Rio. Swagger is insulted because as the only world champ the team should be named after him. He says Miami is Little Cuba. Cody Rhodes interrupts him and says he knows what Swagger’s problem is. He tried to get into a club with bad shoes. ADR is in next and he’s there to ironically to talk down all the interruptions. ADR says he wants to see the kids in the front row cry tonight because of their heroes on the ground. If he sees it, he’s buying the beers tonight.

• Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team Mysterio (Big Show, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston, MVP and Rey Mysterio) vs. Team Del Rio (Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Tyler Reks, and Albert Del Rio). Crowd chants for MVP because it’s his hometown and seizing the moment Mysterio decides to start anyway. What’s the harm in just letting MVP and Del Rio start instead? Don’t really see the point in that. ADR begs off a couple times and retreats to the heel corner. Instead, Cody is going to step in. Cody takes him down with a shoulderblock. They have some nice counters and reversals until Cody hits a springboard gamengiri for 2. ADR in to beat the little chihuahua while he’s down. ADR puts the boots to him. Mysterio with the up and over headscissors and then a basement dropkick in the corner. MVP in with a Batista kick for 2 to a pop. He boots away in the corner. He ducks an enzuigiri and gives ADR a yakuza kick for 2. Kofi in with a snapmare for 2. King mentions his midget kings team that took out Doink’s squad. Reks tags in and boots Masters down. Drew in and sends him into the turnbuckle. Drew with a couple short arm clotheslines. He tries a splash but Masters gets the boot up as the crowd chants for Big Show now. Instead they get MVP and a series of elbows. They miscommunicate and MVP just tosses him over. MVP with the Ballin’ elbow. Drew rolls to the apron. MVP suplexes him back in but ADR trips him up and MVP eats the pin at 5:31.

• Masters in and goes to work on McIntyre. Crowd now chants for MVP as he leaves. ADR in but Masters hits a Jackhammer on him for 2. Masters preps the MasterLock but ADR counters to the armbreaker and the flying armbar and Masters taps at 6:45.

• Showster now steps in for a pop. ADR begs in and tells Swagger to get ‘im. Swagger with a waistlock and Show easily swats him down. Show with the overhand chops but Swagger clips the knee and tags in ADR. Show no sells a shot and stalks ADR. ADR smacks Drew to tag him in. ADR then talks smack to Show. His facial expressions are so money. Show gives him the KO punch anyway. Show then pulls Drew in. The trainer is in to check on ADR after like 10 seconds. Drew preps the double arm DDT but Show clubs him down and then slams Kofi onto McIntyre. Cover gets 2. Cody in and he goes to work on Kofi as ADR is helped to the back. Kofi smacks Cody and he spazzes out because it might affect his dashing looks. He trashes the announce table and demands Justin Roberts to HOLD HIS JACKET! Cody looks in the mirror to make sure he’s still good to go. That’s some great character stuff. He finally slides back in and Kofi smacks him AGAIN. Show in now and he piefaces Cody. Show teases a smack and Cody covers up like a girl. Show instead smacks him on the back and then gives him the KO shot. Cody’s out at 10:56. Fun elimination.

• Tyler in and takes down Show with a one clothesline. Cover gets 2. Swagger in and he gives Show some CLUBBINGBLOWS! Reks back in for knees. Swagger back in and grapevines the leg. BIG SHOW! BIG SHOW! BIG SHOW! Show kicks his way free and goes for the ChokeSlam. Swagger rolls through and hooks in the Anklelock. Show resists and drags him over to the face corner and tags in Mysterio. He hits a springboard crossbody on Swagger for 2. Mysterio with up and over but Swagger catches him and boots him down for 2. Swagger and Mysterio have some great chemistry together as evidenced by their match at last year’s MITB. Kofi gives Swagger a shot from behind and Mysterio goes for the 619 but Swagger catches him in the Anklelock. Mysterio spins him around and into the ropes. He goes for the 619 again but Reks with the blind tag. Mysterio tags in Kofi. Kofi with the double chops and the Bluechipper dropkick. He heads up top and hits a crossbody for 2. Kofi with another dropkick and tries a Stinger Splash but whiffs. Tyler locks him in the Tree of Woe and boots away. Kofi gets the boot up in the corner and cradles Reks and he’s out at 15:09. Yes, Reks was eliminated by a boot out of a tree of woe.

• Kofi with the Trouble in Paradise on Drew. Swagger tags himself in and cuts off Kofi. Kofi with a roll up for 2. He goes for the Ranhei but Swagger slides out. He tries the Doctor Bomb but Kofi flips over and tries Trouble in Paradise again. Swagger CATCHES THE FOOT! ANKLELOCK! KOFI TAPS AT 15:55 That was niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice stuff by both guys in that sequence.

• Show in and takes down Swagger with clotheslines. Show with a runaway Samoan Semi on Swagger and then preps Rey for the Snuka/Andre spot. Drew in and clips the knee and Rey eats it to the mat. Rey sells the leg on impact. Swagger with a VaderBomb for 2 on Rey. Swagger puts him up top but Rey headbutts him off and comes back with a flying rana into the ropes. 619 and the splash off Show and Swagger’s out at 17:34.

• Drew lays Rey out but let’s be honest. Drew has no chance against these two by himself which means PROBABLY we’re going to have an ADR “heroic” return. Drew goes for the DDT but Rey sends him into the ropes. 619 and a Show Clothesline and Drew’s out at 18:14. No sign of ADR so that’s it. Let’s see, good booking, good, crisp wrestling, GREAT character work. This is just an excellent match that is only slightly hurt by the foregone conclusion ending. ***3/4

• Orton is in the back looking rather dejected in his locker. Josh Matthews wants to ask him about John Cena. Orton says he’s SICK AND TIRED of talking about John Cena. Orton says he’s not thinking about Cena; he’s thinking about Wade Barrett and how he’s going to defeat him tonight. Orton says he doesn’t care about any of them and he’s walking out tonight as WWE Champion. Ya know, that’s a pretty strong promo by Orton and completely accurate. In this feud with Barrett, Orton was the champ and they completely dropped the ball on him. Orton has plenty of faults and has screwed up his own situations plenty but his run in 2010 with the belt was subpar because of the WWE ignoring him for the endless and yet ineffective Cena-Nexus feud.

• 2-on-1 match for the WWE Diva’s Championship: Natayla vs. LayCool (c). McCool with a takedown and mounted shots to start. Natayla trips her up but McCool with a hammerlock and covers for 1. Layla in for a burrito for 2. Layla’s compensation for grazing shots with loud grunts is pretty funny although she’s hardly the only one to do it. NAAAAAAAH OOOOOOHHHHHH! NAAAAAHH OOHHHHH! Layla with some rights and McCool pulls Natayla to the floor behind the ref’s back. The heels prep a double suplex but Natayla counters to her own. Natayla rolls to the floor and McCool no sells and throws her into the barricade. She goes for a yakuza kick and Natayla avoids and shitcans her into the crowd. Here comes Layla and there goes Layla as she gets shitcanned over the top too. McCool recovers and sents Natayla into the barricade. Natayla pulls her into a nogginknocker with Layla and then goes for the Sharpshooter. McCool taps and we have a new champ at 3:38. That was, well yeah, that was something. 1/2*

• Post-match, LayCool tries the beatdown but Beth Phoenix returns to make the safe.

• World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Kane (c). OK, so Bearer turns on UT and joins Kane and then that whole feud. Enter Edge with nothing much going on. He was face then heel then back to face at this point after deciding to go after the RAW Mystery GM for a couple weeks. Edge kidnapped Paul Bearer and harassed him for a couple hours and kidnapped him in one of the least enjoyable storylines in recent memory. So Kane wants to get back Paul and Edge brings out an empty wheelchair to taunt.

• Kane loses control early and Edge uses his sloppiness to trip him up and hang him over the top rope. Edge tries something off the top rope but jumps into a goozle. Edge escapes and hits a dropkick for 1. Kane comes back with a shot and sends Edge off. He takes a breather and taunts Kane with the wheelchair while the crowd mildly chants for Undertaker to return. Kane again recklessly runs around and Edge boots him and sends him into the guardrail. Back in, Edge ducks a boot and clips the knee to crickets. Edge pulls him over to the ringpost but loses his grip and fortunately Kane just lays there waiting for him to continue. Edge wraps the leg around the ringpost. Oddly enough, Cole is trying to portray Kane as the FACE because Paul has been kidnapped. Keep in mind this is like a month or so after it’d been revealed that Kane had put UT in a vegetative coma and then heelishly cashed in MITB on Rey. Kane boots his way free from a hold and hangs Edge out to dry to counter an Edge-o-cutioner attempt. Kane then boots him to the floor. Kane with some right hands as Striker talks strategy. Striker: “If Kane incapacitates Edge, then how will he find out where Bearer is? That’s the quandary that’s Kane in.” It’s downright Machiavellian. Kane sends him into the turnbuckle and then hilariously shouts WHERE IS MY FATHER?! HUH?! Not getting an answer Kane goes back to the devastating advanced interrogation techniques of Irish whips. Kane boots him down and then goes for a cover but Edge is too close to the ropes and Kane just looks at him like Edge botched a fucking lateral press. This is ass. Kane goes to the neck wrench. Crowd with a tepid Edge chant but Kane is determined for this to suck as he kills that rally with a basement dropkick. MOARNECKWRENCH! Edge lands on the apron and sends Kane into the turnbuckle. He hits a crossbody off the top for 2. Kane comes back with a Ho Train and the top rope clothesline but Edge counters to the dropkick. Edge with a clothesline but Kane no sells. Edge tosses him into the ropes and gets a hybrid Bossman attack and a roll up for 2. Kane tries something off the 2nd rope but jumps into a throat thrust for 2. Edge with the Edge-o-matic for 2. Kane comes back with a side slam for 2. Kane heads up again but Edge cuts him off. Kane crotches him and then hits the Nigel Lariat for 2. Edge comes back with the Edge-o-cutioner. Double KO spot. Edge preps the Spear but Kane boots him down. At least the crowd is waking up. Kane with the ChokeSlam. Edge kicks out at 2. Kane loses it and flips out. Crowd starts booing as Kane calls for the Tombstone. Edge slides out and hits the Spear instead. Edge “covers” (more like both lay next to each other with arms on the other for the dubious DOUBLE PIN) and the ref counts 3 at 12:50. Just what this match needed a Dusty finish. This match was good for MAYBE 30 seconds with Edge showing some speed and using Kane’s aggressiveness against him and then it just died. *

• Post-match, the angle takes over with these two brawling and then Edge using the wheelchair to run Kane through a gimmicked part of the barricade.

• Meanwhile, Cena’s in the back and Barrett pulls up a chair. He brings up recent history in this building where Nexus left Cena lying for the first time. Barrett says things are coming full circle tonight and will go as planned if Cena just does his job. Is he making himself clear? If the segment would have ended right THERE, it’s an A+. Let someone other than Cena get in the last word, allow the superhero to confront some vulnerability and just sit there forced to take in the reality that he might not be the king anymore without even getting in a comeback. Instead, Cena gets in the last word and tries to one-up Barrett. On a semi-related note, Barrett is also a walking, talking future goldmine for the WWE. He was able to effortlessly walk into the main event and not miss a beat despite being opposite the biggest starts in the business. He has a kind of rugged, cockney charisma like B-movie star Vinnie Jones. It’s a shame they haven’t fully committed to him.

• For a while there in the early 00s, you could honestly blame the WWE for a lack of talent in certain spots and picking the wrong guys. The Nathan Jones, Mordecai, Snitsky experiments didn’t pan out and with reason. But the WWE is full of “next generation” guys that are ready willing and able to be stars like Punk, Dolph, Barrett, Sheffield, Del Rio, Miz, etc. etc.

• WWE Tag Team Championship: Santino Morella & Kozlov vs. Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater (c). Santino swings and misses for Heath. Heath talks smack so Santino armdrags him over. Justin tags in and Santino takes him down with a headlock. Kozlov in and throws Gabriel around. Gabriel slides out of a powerslam and clips the knee. Kozlov comes back with a Pounce. Gabriel hangs him out to dry on the ropes and hits a neckbreaker. Slater in with a knee drop and boots Kozlov. Gabriel back in and they do some quick tags for heel stuff. Gabriel with a cravat and some knees and a Batista kick for 2. Crowd chants for Santino because they want the hot tag. Slater attacks him on the apron to prevent. Slater in but Kozlov blows through him with a clothesline. Santino in with a flurry and a hiptoss. Santino raises the roof and drops an elbow for 2. Slater breaks it up but Kozlov takes him out. Santino with the COBRACOBRACOBRA but McGillicutty distracts from the apron. Slater shits on Dolph’s gimmick by hitting the Zig Zag from behind and the champs retain at 5:03. Decent enough but too short obviously. *3/4

• Post-match, the mystery GM chimes in to reinforce Nexus’s ban from ringside in the main event.

• Free or Fired: WWE Championship: Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton (c) w/ Special Guest Referee John Cena. The fact that the match stips and name all revolve around Cena’s role as ref tell you all you need to about fan interest in the Barrett-Orton stuff. The video package here is of course top notch. They give the idea that Cena will be saying goodbye to everything if he does not do Wade’s bidding the hard sell. Most of this is set to the in house song “Which Road?” which fits it well. Pinfall or submission only for the match.