10 Best Survivor Series Elimination Matches EVER - According To Dave Meltzer
5. Team Austin Vs Team Bischoff (2003, ****1/4)
Hot take alert: Shawn Michaels is the single greatest performer in the history of professional wrestling.
The 2003 Survivor Series is an event littered with harebrained McMahon stupidity in high profile battles for the Father and Son against both 'Brothers Of Destruction' at very different times of thier career. Fresh from having his b*lls electrocuted on Raw, Shane McMahon goes shot-for-shot with Kane in a p*ss weak Ambulance Match that would have been made better by the inclusion of literally any other actual wrestler taking on the 'Big Red Machine'. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon bleeds for his art in a sickening Buried Alive match with The Undertaker that sees the 'American Bad Ass' undone by his rampant younger brother to foreshadow a return to his 'Deadman' persona.
Thank f*ck for Shawn then, who bleeds with similar vigour but in a fashion that actually contributes to the glorious art of his performance in a breathless defence of Stone Cold Steve Austin's Raw co-GM job against Eric Bischoff's eager quintet.
Michaels' effort in the closing ten minutes of a near half hour brawl are mesmerising. Beaten, bludgeoned and bedraggled, 'HBK' wonderfully portrays a man fighting not only for his own life but that of Austin's in a evocative payoff to their pre-match tension as former rivals. Surviving three-on-one odds until a devastating run-in from Batista leaves him prone for a Randy Orton pinfall victory, 'The Heartbreak Kid' yet again elevated the status of the match, the pay-per-view and the company at large.