10 Best WWE Survivor Series’ EVER - According To Dave Meltzer

2. Survivor Series 2016 (3.67)

Bill Goldberg
WWE.com

The excitement around the 2017 Survivor Series is well-earned by WWE and not just because of the seat-of-the-pants booking that has crafted such a chaotic card.

Last year's Raw Vs SmackDown Live! supercard was a frenetic four hour masterclass of suspense and shock. The narrative around warring brands may only exist as a credible reason to fight in Vince McMahon's head, but there's never been such a high level of talent to pull the concept off.

The blue vs red battle helped completely reinvent the possibilities of a five-on-five elimination clash overspilling with main event stars. Eliminations themselves were believable and often relatively clean, with a selection of high spots littered throughout that keep the action exciting. It's set an incredibly high standard for future iterations of the contest.

Shorter but almost as enjoyable, the ten team tag encounter between the brands did much the same, whilst Goldberg and Brock Lesnar proved that run-time doesn't necessarily guarantee greatness. Big Bill battered 'The Beast' in blistering fashion to the shock and awe of live and television crowds alike. Instantly exorcising ghosts of WrestleMania 20, it was an unvarnished squash and went well enough to convince Goldberg to stick around all the way to WrestleMania. There, they'd assemble an even better effort.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett