10 Worst WWE Survivor Series EVER - According To Dave Meltzer

2. Survivor Series 1999 (1.61)

the rock mankind survivor series 1998
WWE.com

Steve Austin wasn't half p*ssed off when he returned to television nearly a year after Rikishi mowed him down in the car park of Detroit's Joe Louis Arena before he could main event Survivor Series 1999. If he'd seen the rest of the broadcast instead of being carted off in an ambulance, he'd probably have bought the dancing Samoan an appreciative pint.

Aside from the bait and switch main event (that itself was an absolute stinker), the rest of the card doesn't remotely try and galvanise support from a crowd ordinarily head over heels with the company's output.

White hot on television, WWE was tacitly trapped between creative regimes following the recent exit of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara and it tended to show itself on pay-per-view around the time. Unforgiven, No Mercy, Survivor Series and Armageddon were all risible before the company sprang back to life and hit home-runs nearly every month in 2000.

The undercard may be one of the most haphazard talent arrangements in company history. Only Kurt Angle's debut victory over Shawn Stasiak warrants rewatch to revel in the birthing of one of Vince McMahon's finest creations, but the elimination matches on the show are uniformly dreadful. Even Chris Jericho, desperate for acceptance in his new surroundings, couldn't get much from Intercontinental Champion Chyna.

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