12 Best WWE Pay-Per-Views That Didn't Have A World Title Match

4. Survivor Series 2016

kane undertaker
WWE.com

The first Survivor Series after the 2016 Brand Extension pitted the entire rosters of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live! against one another in tag team, women's and main event matches.

All three were choice encounters despite confusing builds that forced characters to neglect heel/face divides in the nondescript fight for brand supremacy. Furthermore, the contests all actually managed to progress feuds, particularly amongst eventual winners Cesaro and Sheamus, Bayley and Charlotte and Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton respectively.

Victory for the Orton/Wyatt unit concluded an outstanding 52 minute contest in which the biggest names from both shows let it all hang out in a chaotic encounter.

With well paced eliminations, a series of intriguing twists and some jaw-dropping high spots, the match was one of the best of the year, and gave SmackDown Live! rare bragging rights over the flagship broadcast following the dramatic victory.

It marked quite a rebirth for the elimination format that had risked permanent axe alongside the Survivor Series name as a victim of Vince McMahon's whims during downward trending buyrates for the show in the mid-2000s.

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