Survivor Series (2011)

Survivor Series (2011)

Promotional poster featuring The Rock and John Cena
Tagline(s) Never Before. Never Again.
Theme
song(s)		 "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida
Information
Promotion WWE
Sponsor(s) WWE '12
Date November 20, 2011
Attendance 16,749[1]
Venue Madison Square Garden
City New York City
Pay-per-view chronology

Vengeance (2011) Survivor Series (2011) TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs (2011)
Survivor Series chronology

Survivor Series (2010) Survivor Series (2011) Survivor Series (2012)

Survivor Series (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on November 20, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the 25th annual Survivor Series event and the first one to take place in Madison Square Garden since the 2002 event.[2] It sold out in only 90 minutes.[3]

Seven matches took place at the event, six of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. The Main events from this installment of Survivor Series would have a lasting effect on the next year in the WWE. In the main event from the Raw brand, The Rock, in his first match since WrestleMania XX in 2004, teamed with John Cena and defeated The Miz and R-Truth. The main event from the SmackDown brand saw Big Show defeat World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry by disqualification. In another predominant match on the card, CM Punk was victorious over Alberto Del Rio by submission to win the WWE Championship, a reign that would continue until January 27, 2013 and become the sixth longest in the company's history.[4] The event garnered 312,000 pay-per-view buys, up from 244,000 buys the previous year's event.[5]

Production

The 2011 Survivor Series was hyped in New York by a huge fan interaction event outside of Madison Square Garden two days before the event, which included the first look at the new WWE '12 video game, a signing with CM Punk, and a performance from the band Oleander.[6][7] The event was attended by over 16,000 WWE fans, including one who received two tickets to the sold out event by The Rock.[6][7] Also in attendance were Zack Ryder and Jimmy Hart, who gave a bus tour of New York to 150 fans who won tickets via WWE.com in the weeks leading to the event.[6][7]

Background

Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that developed on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[8]

The main event involved WrestleMania XXVIII opponents John Cena and The Rock teaming against The Miz and R-Truth, otherwise known as the Awesome Truth. After losing to Alberto Del Rio the previous month at Vengeance due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth,[9] Cena decided to face both of them with Zack Ryder. However, before the match, Ryder was ambushed by the two and Cena was beaten down by them in the middle of the match.[10] Former Interim General Manager John Laurinaitis booked Cena with a match against Miz and Truth at Survivor Series with a partner of his choosing, with Cena deciding to choose his WrestleMania XXVIII opponent, The Rock, as his partner.[10] Billed as the most charismatic team of all time, The Rock accepted his offer the following week.[11]

Another main event from Raw involved WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio against CM Punk for the WWE Championship. Three months prior at SummerSlam, Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against CM Punk to become WWE Champion.[12] While Punk did get his rematch at Hell in a Cell, John Cena was the champion going into the match and it was a Triple Threat match, thus he expressed his desire to have his official one-on-one rematch for the championship, which Del Rio firmly objected to.[10] After locking him into an Anaconda Vise after a match, Del Rio agreed to give CM Punk his title shot at Survivor Series.[11]

The main event from SmackDown involved the World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry against Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. The previous month at Vengeance, Henry attempted to suplex Big Show from the second turnbuckle, only for the ring to collapse, leaving both men unable to continue.[13] Continuing their feud, another match was booked involving both men at Survivor Series[14] with a reinforced ring so that it would not buckle and collapse.

As a tradition to the Survivor Series pay-per-view, there was a 10-man tag-team elimination match, this year involving Team Orton, consisting of Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Mason Ryan, and Kofi Kingston, against Team Barrett, consisting of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Hunico.

Event

The commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T. Dolph Ziggler defeated John Morrison in the opening match after a Zig Zag. After the match Zack Ryder attacked Ziggler and hit him with his finishing move, the Rough Ryder.

Beth Phoenix defeated Eve Torres in a Lumberjill match for the Divas championship after a Glam Slam from the top rope.

Team Wade Barrett consisting of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Hunico, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler (who appeared in his second match on the card), defeated Team Randy Orton, consisting of Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan and Sin Cara. The match started off with Kingston and Ziggler facing off. Ziggler was the first man eliminated after a RKO. Sin Cara was eliminated after sustaining a legitimate injury. Mason Ryan was then eliminated after Cross Rhodes by Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston was eliminated by Wasteland by Wade Barrett. Sheamus was disqualified after not breaking the referees 5 count near the ropes. In frustration, Sheamus Brogue Kicked Jack Swagger who was then pinned by Randy Orton. Hunico was next eliminated after Randy Orton hit a RKO in mid-air to him. Following a distraction by Rhodes, Randy Orton was pinned by Wade Barrett, giving Team Barrett the win and leaving Rhodes and Barrett the survivors.

The Big Show defeated Mark Henry, but as it was by disqualification, the title stayed with Henry. During the match, Henry tackled Big Show through the barricade, but Big Show got into the ring before the 10-count. Big Show then performed a diving elbow drop to Henry. Big Show then went for his finisher, the WMD (a knock-out punch) but Henry performed a low blow to Big Show causing the disqualification. After the match Big Show placed a steel chair over the leg of Henry and gave him a leg drop onto the leg.

CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio to become the new WWE Champion. Former WWE ring announcer, Howard Finkel was CM Punk's guest ring announcer for this match to match Alberto Del Rio's Ricardo Rodriguez. During the match, there were many reversals and counters to the two men's various finishers and submission holds. The match resulted in CM Punk winning via submission with Alberto Del Rio tapping out to the Anaconda Vice. Punk celebrated with the crowd after the match. This reign of Punk would last through put 2012 and ended at Royal Rumble 2013 at the hands of The Rock. This reign continued for 434 days.

The main event was a tag team match consisting of John Cena and The Rock defeating The Miz and R-Truth. Throughout the match, Cena was targeted and was almost pinned many times. After R-Truth and John Cena took each other out of the match, the Rock performed a spinebuster followed by the Peoples Elbow to pin the Miz. After the match the Rock performed the Rock Bottom on Cena.

Reception

The Sun rated the event an 8 out of 10, their highest WWE Pay Per View rating of 2011.[15] Dave Meltzer would go on to write that main event had "The biggest big match feel in WWE since the John Cena vs CM Punk encounter from Money in the Bank earlier that year."[16] The event was released December 20, 2011, on DVD by WWE Home Video, and went on to be the highest selling pay-per-view on DVD that year behind Wrestlemania.[17]

Results

No. Results[18] Stipulations Times
1D Santino Marella defeated Jinder Mahal[19] Singles match 05:35
2 Dolph Ziggler (c) (with Vickie Guerrero) defeated John Morrison[20] Singles match for the WWE United States Championship 10:42
3 Beth Phoenix (c) defeated Eve Torres[21] Lumberjill match for the WWE Divas Championship 09:33
4 Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Hunico) defeated Team Orton (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara)[22] Five-on-five Survivor Series elimination tag team match 22:10
5 Big Show defeated Mark Henry (c) by disqualification[23] Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 13:04
6 CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio (c) (with Ricardo Rodriguez) by submission[24] Singles match for the WWE Championship 17:16
7 John Cena and The Rock defeated Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) Tag team match 21:33
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • D – indicates the match was a dark match

Survivor Series elimination tag team match

Elimination Wrestler Team Eliminated by Elimination move Time[18]
1 Dolph Ziggler Team Barrett Randy Orton Pinned after an RKO 01:32
2 Sin Cara Team Orton N/A Unable to continue after a knee injury 03:44
3 Mason Ryan Team Orton Cody Rhodes Pinned after a Cross Rhodes 08:52
4 Kofi Kingston Team Orton Wade Barrett Pinned after a Wasteland 14:06
5 Sheamus Team Orton N/A Disqualified for exceeding the referee's five count 18:30
6 Jack Swagger Team Barrett Randy Orton Pinned after a Brogue Kick from Sheamus 19:33
7 Hunico Team Barrett Randy Orton Pinned after an RKO in mid-air 21:38
8 Randy Orton Team Orton Wade Barrett Pinned after a Wasteland 22:10
Survivor(s): Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)

References

  1. ↑ "Survivor Series 2011". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ "WWE Presents Survivor Series". WWE. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Survivor Series is SOLD OUT". WWE. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/videos/playlists/wwe-champion-cm-punk-one-year-anniversary-playlist
  5. ↑ "WWE Reports 2011 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results" (PDF) (Press release). WWE. February 23, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "WWE fans celebrate at MSG" (Press release). WWE. March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "WWE 12 takes Manhattan" (Press release). WWE. March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". WWE. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
  9. ↑ Murphy, Ryan (October 24, 2011). "WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio def. John Cena (Last Man Standing Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 Murphy, Ryan (October 24, 2011). "WWE Raw SuperShow results: Kevin Nash brings the hammer down". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  11. 1 2 Murphy, Ryan (October 31, 2011). "WWE Raw SuperShow results: It's time to meet The Muppets!". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  12. ↑ Wortman, James (August 14, 2011). "CM Punk def. John Cena; Alberto Del Rio cashed in Raw Money in the Bank briefcase (New Undisputed WWE Champion)". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  13. ↑ Burdick, Michael (October 10, 2011). "World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs. Big Show ended in a No contest". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  14. ↑ Passero, Mitch (November 4, 2011). "SmackDown results: Big Show gets another chance at Mark Henry". WWE. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Rock lights up Survivor Series". The Sun. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Main Event Changes Landscape". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  17. ↑ "WWE Survivor Series 2011". Amazon.com. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  18. 1 2 Caldwell, James (November 20, 2011). "Caldwell's WWE Survivor Series PPV Results 11/20: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – The Rock returns, Punk vs. Del Rio, Henry vs. Show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Survivor Series dark match result". Pro Wrestling Torch. November 20, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ "United States Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison". WWE. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Divas Champion Beth Phoenix vs. Eve". WWE. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Team Barrett vs. Team Orton". WWE. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  23. ↑ "World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs. Big Show". WWE. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  24. ↑ "WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk". WWE. Retrieved October 31, 2011.

External links

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