3. Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, Carlito & Chris Masters) vs. Smackdown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, JBL, Bobby Lashley & Randy Orton) - Survivor Series 2005
Survivor Series was once an event that you had to plan to watch. After a brief lull during the Attitude Era, no would have dared miss the Fall Classic from 2001-2005. WWE did a marvelous job of bringing back the traditional elimination match or, in the Elimination Chambers case, a really awesome variation of it as the focal point of the show. Both critically and financially, it made Survivor Series a yearly candidate for the calendars best PPV. Major happenings always took place in November. Today, as we sit back and prepare for the 2014 Survivor Series, the realization sets in that 2005 was the last event that truly fit the theme, spirit, and history of the WWEs second-ever annual PPV. Raw vs. Smackdown! was a big deal. When the WWE split the roster into two brands, it created for a dream scenario down the line for when the two entities would finally come to blows in a battle for supremacy. Unlike the WWE vs. WCW feud, the sides were decidedly even for at least for the first few years. The budding rivalry only got bigger and better when the WWE chose to give each brand their own set of specific PPVs. It was bold. The brands started to be more storyline-vocal about their dislike for one another on TV in the late summer of 2005. Fascinating, it was, to see the red and blue teams butting heads and putting themselves on a collision course for Survivor Series. What better a traditional Elimination match concept than Raw vs. Smackdown? The match was executed quite similarly to 2003s Austin vs. Bischoff Elimination match, with HBK trying to make an unfathomable comeback. Nevertheless, it was a big success.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
