9 WWE Survivor Series 2020 Impulse Reactions
Shocking title changes, WWE says farewell to The Undertaker, and Raw & SmackDown can't be separated.
WWE's 'Big Four' shows rarely serve to share the true story of the year in which they take place. Either by accident, design, or a hybrid of the two, the company has always tried to exist in an alternate reality they call their own.
Literally, for the last decade or so. When 'WWE Universe' was coined, it were as if Vince McMahon wanted you to be on a different planet the second you entered a building or watched the show. His planet, where invisible cameras capture the clandestine, eyes are extracted without legal recourse and nobody knows the plot to David & Goliath.
Not so in 2020. Trying and failing to mask the Whys with the Hows, the company's biggest pay-per-views have all been timestamps of when they took place - snapshots of the state of this wretched year in all its forms. Euphoria at the Royal Rumble, confusion and dejection across two nights of WrestleMania with a certain level of acceptance by SummerSlam.
What did Survivor Series come to reflect? The 'Thanksgiving Classic' had to give viewers the joy 2020's locked down feasts couldn't provide. It had to provide hope that Planet WWE is closer to the end of this global health crisis than the beginning.
It couldn't live up to those (or lower, more reasonable) expectations...
9. Inter-Brand Battle Royal
Atypical for WWE battle royals (not least ones that take place on pre-shows for absolutely no reason whatsoever), there was actually something to like about this one. Even if we had to sit through an awful lot of nothing to get to see it.
A closing exchange between Chad Gable and Dominik Mysterio was quietly excellent. Mysterio continues to show quite remarkable progression, while Chad Gable was given the most shine he's had in about a year and the first in-ring display of his new (old) life post-Shorty G.
The gimmick that could have been a career-killer for the former NXT Tag Team Champion, but he stuck through the worst of the Space Jam gear and creative indifference to try again in something that appears to be an amalgamation of things he's done before. For Jason Jordan, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Roode, Gable was the difference-maker. He's going to try and do the same for Otis, and looked ready to set a perfect example with an electrifying burst of his hybrid style before the second generation newcomer hauled him over and out.
The Miz stole the win just seconds later, but the result meant less than sh*t anyway - Gable and Mysterio brought the value, if not a victory.