10 Wrestling Moments You Didn’t Know Were Totally Ripped Off
1. Survivor Series
For once, Vince McMahon wasn't sh*tting you when he referred to Survivor Series as "antiquated" upon threatening to abandon it in 2010.
The event felt as big as its multiplied galaxy of stars in its 1980s heyday; meetings between two name stars were rarified in the pre-episodic TV era, much less teams of five striving to survive. Armies of stars waging war in a unique match with a formula that guaranteed constant movement, drama, and twists, what worked then does not work now - and if the month-long Superstar Shake-Up extends even further, the brand warfare marketing will mean even less. Andrade won't have a clue which brand he suddenly has to pretend he cares about.
McMahon has found a modern method of promoting a show that is always far better than the contrived TV indicates, but the show isn't an original McMahon concept - which might be why he fell out of love with it.
The "Survival Series" is a puroresu concept that predates its western near-namesake; in the 1980s, New Japan Pro Wrestling ran team-based matches with rules different to those Vince promoted, in that an order of entrants was predetermined ahead of a bout with relay rules.
Resuscitated and repurposed by the emerging Quintet MMA promotion of Japan founded by Kazushi Sakuraba, the Survival Series is another example of MMA using pro wrestling to sell itself.