6 Observations From Attending WWE Survivor Series Live
An unexpectedly satisfying experience.
Canadians love their wrestling. Survivor Series weekend marked the first major WWE show in Canada since Unforgiven 2006, more than a decade ago. Wrestling has a long, storied history in the Great White North dating back to the territory days when Toronto was booked by Tunney family (yes, the same Tunney family that included former WWE President Jack Tunney). Over the years some momentous events have taken place in Canada. Hogan passing the torch to the Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart's first WWE title win over Ric Flair, the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob', Hogan-Rock and Randy Orton's first World Title all took place on Canadian soil.
While millions of potential viewers watched on the WWE network at home, I was lucky enough to be in attendance for the event. One would think that spending 5 hours would be a tall order for live fans especially when considering NXT was the night before and RAW was the night after but the event was met with much fanfare.
Toronto is often known for having a fan base that cheers for wrestlers they respect and does not necessarily acknowledge traditional heel - face booking. Would this event be any different?
This list will focus on some interesting observations that were evident for those in attendance but maybe not as much for fans viewing at home. Reactions, storytelling, atmosphere and match quality all delivered in different ways and made for a pretty memorable in person experience.
6. The Main Event Build Worked
As a long time wrestling fan who grew up in Toronto I was very intrigued with how the crowd would react to Goldberg and Brock Lesnar during the main event. Goldberg, a star from wrestling's hottest era, does not have much of a history in Toronto or Canada as WCW did not venture north of the US border very often and Canada on the whole has always been a WWE stronghold. Goldberg's history in Canada consists of the awesome moment in WCW where he speared a hugely popular, body armour clad Bret Hart and a match against Ric Flair in Vancouver during his last WWE run where he was booed out of the building despite being a face.
Brock Lesnar on the other hand is a legitimate, modern day warrior (editors note: not an intentional Kerry Von Erich reference). WWE's beast incarnate, whom in addition to being a popular special attraction happens to live in Canada, and when fighting in the UFC refers to Saskatchewan as his hometown.
The Rocky Balboa build to this match (seriously, check out the similarities between this 2k17 build and the Rocky vs Mason 'the Line' Dixon build in Rocky Balboa) was set up to have the past his prime, returning conquering hero vs the unbeatable, legitimate prizefighter. With Goldberg's failed face history in Canada, Brock Lesnar's hometown hero status combined with a Toronto crowd that has a long standing history of doing what they wish, all bets were off on the main event's face-heel divide. These worries were only compounded during a recent RAW in Minnesota where Brock Lesnar was cheered and Goldberg chants were non existent.
As the match entrances and promo packages got underway 'Goooooldberg' chants echoed throughout building and everyone was standing on their feet awaiting the return of the star. The WWE's bold Face-Heel gambit had paid off and fans were firmly behind the WCW Icon.