30 Greatest EVER WWE Survivor Series Moments
Debuts, Dudleyz & Deadly Games...
WWE have bastardised the Survivor Series in recent years with underwhelming builds centred around a brand rivalry only WWE superstars themselves would be demonstrably thick enough to actually care about. It's perhaps been a long game played by Vince McMahon to convince the rest of his organisation that the show needs binning off - he's been trying to get shot of it for years.
Throughout the mid-2000s, he constantly teased replacing it with one of his contemporary gimmick ideas - all of which weren't as successful as one he devised to crush NWA's StarrCade in 1987. Back then, the elimination format was an inch-perfect excuse to get the raft of "superstars" he'd assembled on to the card to blow the opposition out of the water. Since then, it's been presented far too much as an inconvenience.
The format thus gets mixed reviews from fans, but has opened Survivor Series up to some singles clashes as good as those from WrestleManias and SummerSlams past. The "Thanksgiving Tradition" might have an ever-changing face, but the fact the show itself has survived over 30 years speaks to some of the moments that have pulled McMahon back from the brink so often...
30. The Dudley Boyz Reunite (2002)
An acceptance of a split gone wrong in the the April 2002 Brand Extension, the reunification of The Dudley Boys the following November was a atypically straightforward binning of D-Von's passable "Reverend" gimmick on SmackDown.
That it took place at Madison Square Garden only the heightened the heat - the New York-born pair were always hugely popular in their home state. D-Von's run-in ensured the makeshift trio of Bubba Ray, Spike Dudley and Jeff Hardy were successful against Rico and Three Minute Warning in - of all things - a tables match.