Event Date: November 18, 2012
Michael Cole, Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, and JBL were on commentary.
~ Match Results and Star Ratings (Running time 2:43:52)~
- Rey Mysterio, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Sin Cara & Brodus Clay (w/ Naomi & Cameron) defeated Tensai, The Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young), Primo & Epico (w/ Rosa Mendes) in a Survivor Series Match at 18:27. ***
- WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres defeated Kaitlyn at 7:02 to retain the title. *½
- WWE United States Champion Antonio Cesaro defeated R-Truth at 6:58 to retain the title. **
- World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defeated Big Show by disqualification at 14:44 to retain the title. **½
- Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow, David Otunga & Alberto Del Rio) (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Team Foley (Randy Orton, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston & The Miz (w/ Mick Foley) at 23:41 in a Survivor Series Match. ***¼
- WWE Heavyweight Champion CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated John Cena and Ryback in a Triple Threat match at 17:57 to retain the title. ***
~JZ Says~
Kicking off the Survivor Series with a Survivor Series match is a good way is always a welcome idea in my house. Foor a guy who botched a lot, Sin Cara was ON this night. The eight tag team wrestlers fought to the floor early on, leaving Brodus and Tensai in there alone. Brodus almost dropped Tensai right on his head, but Tensai came back with a senton splash to score the first elimination. Moments later, Tensai tried the senton splash on Gabriel, but Gabriel avoided it and trapped Tensai in a crucifix to get the pin. Kidd followed his partner by eliminating Titus O’Neil with a cradle. He then eliminated Epico with the Sharpshooter. Primo tried to hit the Backstabber on Mysterio, but it was blocked. Mysterio then cradled Primo too eliminate him. Darren Young was all alone at this point, and he took a finisher parade, culminating in a Mysterio splash from the top rope to get the win. Fun, energetic opener, but it didn’t have much of a story to tell.
Before the Divas Title match, Kaitlyn was sort of attacked backstage by Aksana, but Kaitlyn got the upper hand. Eve controlled a majority of the match over her less experienced opponent. Kaitlyn made a brief comeback, but Eve cut her off and hit a Twisting Neckbreaker to get the pin. Watching these matches back now, I wonder who in this division would be good today, with all the training and attention they get now. I think Eve would do well. This match though, not great.
I loved seeing Cesaro with the United States Championship, but this feud with R-Truth didn’t do much for Cesaro or the Title. This was such a TV match that really had no business on PPV, but WWE was a weird place in 2012. Cesaro got the pin after hitting the Gotch-style Neutralizer.
Sheamus and Big Show made surprisingly good opponents in the fall of 2012. I say surprisingly because it was rare that Show had good matches with anyone. They had a pretty solid brawl, with a couple of big moves thrown in, and the crowd was mostly into it. When Sheamus came at Show with the Brogue Kick, Show pulled referee Scott Armstrong in front of it, and he gets knocked out. Whie a gaggle of referees checked on Armstrong, Sheamus got distracted and Show hit him with the WMD. One of the referees made the three-count. Solid brawl here, but I hated that finish. Moments later, a referee tells ring announcer Justin Roberts to state that Show was disqualified. Ugh, even lamer. Sheamus attacked Show with a chair to set up the next month’s match at TLC.
In the big Team Foley v Team Ziggler match, Kane struck first by eliminating Sandow with a Chokeslam. Kane then got into an argument with his Tag Team Championship partner Daniel Bryan, and Ziggler capitalized by hitting the Zig Zag and eliminating the Big Red Machine. Bryan got the next elimination, forcing Otunga to tap out to the No Lock. Barrett evened the score with a Bull Hammer on Kingston. Moments later, Del Rio made Bryan tap out to the Cross Armbreaker. Miz scored next, hitting Barrett with the Skull Crushing Finale for a pin. Del Rio eliminated Miz after an enziguiri, which is super weak. That left Orton alone with Ziggler and Del Rio. An RKO was enough to take care of Del Rio, which left just two men in the match. When Orton set up for an RKO, Ziggler caught up with a Superkick to score the upset. I love Survivor Series matches, and this was a reasonably fun one, but also nothing consequential.
Not even the presence of Ryback can stop Punk and Cena from having good matches together. The long-time rivals joined forces during the bout, suplexing Ryback through one of the ringside announce tables. That left Cena and Punk alone to fight each other, which the crowd always loves. Ryback fought his way back to the match but was ultimately thwarted by the debut of three then-unknowns from NXT: Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns! They targeted Ryback and brought him to the floor for the now-famous Triple Powerbomb through the other announce table. By that point, I’m not sure what knocked Cena out in the ring, but it was enough for Punk to crawl over and pin him. The match was had plenty of action but nothing crazy, and it’s overshadowed by the Shield debut anyway.
Survivor Series 2012 is a pretty middling show, with a few fun matches but nothing worth going out of your way to see. The debut of the Shield would have long-term effects on the company that still reverberate today, but you can just watch that clip and get everything this show has to truly offer.
~Blu-ray Exclusive Matches (Running time 1:21:59)~
- WWE Monday Night RAW, 11/12/2012: Ryback defeated Brad Maddox at 5:32. *
- WWE Monday Night RAW, 11/12/2012: Kane & The Miz (w/ Daniel Bryan) defeated Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) at 5:39. **
- WWE Monday Night RAW, 11/12/2012: John Cena defeated WWE Heavyweight Champion CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman) in a non-title match at 13:20. Mick Foley was the Special Enforcer. ***
- WWE Friday Night SmackDown, 11/16/2012: Randy Orton & The Miz defeated Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio at 7:45. **¾
Hey, remember Brad Maddox? Remember Ryback?? One time on RAW they wrestled each other, and it’s on this Blu-ray for all eternity. The match ran over five minutes, but it was all Ryback, as he crushed Maddox with the Meat Hook lariat and the Shell Shocked for the win.
I barely recall the weird babyface turn for The Miz, or why he was on their Survivor Series team, but Miz and Kane faced Team Rhodes Scholars in a warm-up for their elimination match coming up at the pay-per-view. After a standard tv-style tag match, Kane hit Cody with a Chokeslam to get the pin. Miz as a babyface just doesn’t work at all.
CM Punk and John Cena had wrestled many times at this point, and the match here was to preview the triple threat with Ryback coming up at the PPV. It’s Punk v Cena, of course it’s good, as I think it would be scientifically impossible for them to have a bad match against each other. Punk tried to bail, but Ryback herded him back to the ring, where Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment for the pin.
On SmackDown two nights before the big show, Miz got to participate in another wacky partner tag match, as he joined Randy Orton to face Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio. After a solid tag team match, Orton looked primed to hit the RKO on Del Rio, but Miz made a blind tag. Miz then hit the Skull Crushing Finale to steal the pin.
This is a solid collection of extras, all stuff building towards the Survivor Series.