The Beard and The Best formed a pretty useful tag team...
Thursday 20 November 2014 14:19, UK
Survivor Series 2014 promises to be pulsating – but last year’s event wasn’t too shabby!
The crunch clash this Sunday sees Team Cena face Team Authority, with the Cenation Leader’s gang knowing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will be out of power if they win.
In 2013, though, the drama was created by a juggernaut from The Shield, a fit and firing World’s Strongest Man, and a staredown between the two premier performers of their generation…
A star was born in Boston as Roman Reigns produced one of the most dominant performances in living memory. True, Reigns and his then-Shield comrades, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, had desecrated opponents as a group since bursting onto the scene at Survivor Series 2012 but the former gridiron-playing powerhouse provided an individual massacre inside TD Garden, ejecting FOUR wrestlers during the bout match of the evening, a traditional tag-team elimination match in which he united with Ambrose, Rollins, Jack Swagger and Cesaro to tackle Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Usos. The heavyweight wasted Jimmy Uso and Rhodes with spears early in the contest but came into his own when his cohorts – lastly Rollins, who was rolled up by Mysterio – were sent packing. Reigns was left alone to combat ring veterans Goldust and Mysterio and the fan favourites’ years of experience could not help them douse the Floridian’s charge. Reigns swiftly removed Goldust with a spear and then, following a gripping one-on-one dustup with Mysterio, emerged victorious after evading The 619 and executing yet another spear. The ex-WWE Tag Team Champion’s four eliminations matched the tally set by Aja Kong in 1995 but he went on to make history at the 2014 Royal Rumble, hurling 12 of his peers over the top rope to overhaul Kane’s record number of victims (11) in a single Rumble.
John Cena’s career was at a low ebb circa SummerSlam 2013. The Cenation Leader lost the WWE Championship to an inspired Daniel Bryan at the August extravaganza before announcing the next night that he would be out of commission for a substantial period as he recuperated from triceps surgery. There was heavy conjecture over how long the multiple-time world champion would need to heal but, in true Cena fashion, his sabbatical lasted just three months. With Bryan and Randy Orton battling it out for possession of the WWE Championship, the West Newbury native’s attentions were diverted to the World Heavyweight Title, then carried by Alberto Del Rio. Cena bested Mexico’s Greatest Export at Hell in a Cell to claim the garland but repeating the feat at Survivor Series was extra sweet, what with the event being staged in his home state of Massachusetts. The Chain Gang Soldier – who had to foil Damien Sandow’s Money in the Bank cash-in attempt between his dustups with Del Rio – had his surgically-repaired body battered and bruised by The Essence of Excellence but eventually wriggled from his rival’s Cross Armbreaker and put the match to bed with an Attitude Adjustment. The victory took Cena’s Survivor Series index to 8-1 – CM Punk is the only man to conquer him at WWE’s autumn classic – and if he makes that 9-1 on Sunday, The Authority will be forced to sling their hook.
As his T-shirt stipulates, Mark Henry is ‘bent on destruction’ and that was certainly the case 12 months ago. The World’s Strongest Man took a short breather in mid-to-late 2013 to rest a niggling hamstring injury but returned with a vengeance – and newly bald-headed – at Survivor Series to answer Ryback’s open challenge. Henry had conquered The Big Guy at WrestleMania 29 in April and overcame him again in Boston, polishing off his opponent with the World’s Strongest Slam after the two had whacked each other with myriad hard-hitting manoeuvres. The defeat capped a frustrating few months for Ryback, who had been continually thwarted in his attempts to secure the WWE Championship and been dispatched by CM Punk after teaming up with legendary and oft-controversial manager Paul Heyman. Post-bout, though, the Sin City grappler licked his wounds and formed a tag team with Curtis Axel, while Henry ran into the formidable Brock Lesnar, even having his arm ailed by the Beast Incarnate’s Kimura Lock. Heading into Survivor Series 2014, however, both Ryback and Henry are back to their brutal and belligerent best, albeit on opposite sides of the track. The Big Guy will try to play a key role in The Authority’s demise on Sunday as part of Team Cena, whereas Henry will be one of five men, alongside Kane, Rollins, Rusev and Luke Harper, charged with keeping Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at the top of the WWE totem pole.
Bray Wyatt and his trusty accomplices, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, had blazed a path of destruction since debuting in WWE in July 2013, taking out the likes of Kane and everybody’s favourite cross-platform multimedia personality The Miz. However, the forest dwellers met their match and then some in the form of darlings of the WWE Universe, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Punk and Bryan were battered by the backwoods brawlers for a number of weeks, so opted to join forces and take on two of them, Harper and Rowan, in Boston. Wyatt’s monstrous minions seemed to take confidence from their patriarch, who gazed on eerily from his rocking chair at ringside, as they clubbed, overpowered and, on a few occasions, even outwrestled ‘The Best and The Beard’ in the early stages of the bout. But as the former world champions got into their stride – and the vociferous crowd bellowed out chants of “Yes!” and “This is awesome” – the tide began to turn. At just over the 15-minute mark, Bryan clocked Rowan with a running knee, allowing Punk to floor Harper with the Go To Sleep and collect the pinfall. Bryan and Punk were cock-a-hoop in 2013, then, but neither will appear at Survivor Series this term. The Second City Saint departed WWE after the 2014 Royal Rumble and will soon pen a tale about a young Thor for Marvel Comics, while submission specialist Bryan is currently sidelined after undergoing neck surgery.
When Randy Orton left an event with the WWE Championship last year The Authority invariably played a key role. but in Boston The Viper won all by himself – sort of. Triple H had stated that his mob would not become physically involved in any of the evening’s matches and even though that technically turned out to be true, their very presence meant the Big Show – freshly rehired after dropping his potentially-damaging lawsuit against The Authority for breach of contract and slander – was unable to rid Orton of his belt. The giant – looking to mirror Survivor Series 1999 when he poached the WWE Championship from, intriguingly, Triple H – dominated The Viper from the off and although Orton managed to kick out of a Choke Slam, that proved to be only a momentary respite. When The World’s Largest Athlete knocked out his slippery foe, the title was within touching distance for a man who had been stony broke and forced to knock out WWE Hall of Famer, Dusty Rhodes, in order to keep his job. However, with the official taking a tumble, no-one was there to make the count – and that’s when Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Kane appeared, striding onto the entrance ramp and distracting Show long enough for Orton to RKO, punt and pin him. The Apex Predator did not have much time to celebrate, though, with John Cena emerging from the locker room to stare him down and set the wheels in motion for their unification bout at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view in December.
WWE Survivor Series will be shown at 1am on Sunday, November 23 (Monday morning) on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 743) and Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 752).
WWE Survivor Series will be repeated on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 743) BUT NOT Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 752) until 9pm on Saturday, November 29.
Repeat showings will last three hours, with the final showing BEGINNING at 9pm on Saturday, November 29. The event is priced at £14.95 for UK customers, €21.95 for viewers in the Republic of Ireland.
Viewers can call 08442 410 888 to book WWE Survivor Series. (There may be an additional charge for telephone bookings).
You will also be able book WWE Survivor Series by visiting this link: https://my.sky.com/orderboxoffice/
You will also be able order WWE Survivor Series at a later date by pressing the Box Office button on your remote. Select 'sports & events' and follow the on-screen instructions.
Cable customers should contact their local cable operator.
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