Review of WWE: Survivor Series 2005

Introduction

Hands up: who prefers the "good old days"? You know, when Maggie was the "Iron Lady", when Snickers were Marathon, and when every Survivor Series match was an elimination tag team match.

Actually, is it just me or does "The Iron Lady" does sound like a 1980s wrestling gimmick?

Anyway, those days are long gone and, whilst we were treated to only one elimination tag team match at the 2005 Survivor Series, there were other interesting bouts on the card, such as Booker T``s match with Chris Benoit, and Ric Flair`s Last Man Standing contest with Triple-H.

Held on 27th November 2005 from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, this was - remarkably! - the 19th annual Survivor Series, marked by the Team RAW vs Team Smackdown! showdown in the main event.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL. I don`t know if it because the WWE are including less extras on their discs - 2005`s Great American Bash disc even had a classic Ric Flair vs Sting bout included in its extras package - but the video here is excellent, and is of even better quality than the original digital broadcast.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is also very good. It is taken from the television master but the quality of the source material means that this is not an issue. Everything is clear, from the in-ring bumps to the commentary of Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown! matches) and Jerry Lawler, The Coach, and Joey Styles (RAW matches). That said, in the Smackdown! vs RAW main event, all five commentators duke it out to be heard, which made me want to switch to a foreign language track. Luckily, I had that chance, as there are German, Italian, French and Spanish tracks available.

Features

I`m not going to complain about the amount of extras here, since I am so pleased with the video quality, and because frankly, at 2hrs 42mins and 43 secs, the main feature is enough.

In any case, we have a segments with Vince McMahon (after which we are treated to some not-so-classic Survivor Series moments from the past), Shane McMahon and The Boogeyman ("…and I`m coming, to getcha!"), and Kurt Angle with manager Daivari.

Unless you can`t get enough of The Boogeyman, there is nothing here that is worth watching twice.

Conclusion

2005`s Survivor Series began with the first in a best-of-seven series between Booker T and Chris Benoit. This is a concept blatantly stolen from the feud between the two in WCW. Still, if the WWE matches can mirror the quality of those, you`ll have no argument from me. This was not the best start to the affair though, as the participants engaged in a rather slow match which needed more of an ending to be considered in that league.

In the second bout, WWE Women`s champion Trish Stratus defended the title against the manager of MNM, Melina. I was fully expecting this to be tragic, however both produced an excellent effort which was far beyond my expectations. I hope Ashley Massaro was taking notes.

The next contest was a rematch from Taboo Tuesday, as Intercontinental champion Ric Flair took on former best friend Triple-H in a Last Man Standing contest. If you want to continue the "old days" analogy, this would have been known as a type of Texas Death Match, but I guess Last Man Standing tells you what it is without having to think. The concept is that pinfalls and submissions do not count, but that you must incapacitate your opponent to the point where he can`t meet a count of ten - a little bit like boxing, especially since boxing often seems just as pre-determined.

Although not quite as good as their excellent steel cage offering from earlier in the month, this was still a good match, with Flair once again wearing wrestling`s proverbial "crimson mask" of blood. At one point, not for the squeamish, Triple-H attempts to deepen Flair`s laceration with a screwdriver!

In a match for the WWE championship, title holder John Cena faced Olympic Gold medallist Kurt Angle, in a match refereed by Angle`s manager Daivari. The WWE currently have real problems with John Cena, since he is supposed to be the lead good-guy in the organisation, yet he is unmercifully booed by the male majority. Thus, for most of this match, Angle was cheered as the fan favourite and Cena was castigated like he was Gary Neville in Anfield`s Kop end. Still, this was a relatively exciting match, despite their being way too many refereeing shenanigans.

Why on earth Teddy Long and Eric Bischoff (Smackdown! and RAW General Managers respectively) were allotted a semi-main event match on a pay-per-view, I`ll never know. But if God didn`t want us to skip bad matches, he would never have invented the fast forward button. Take my advice and make use of it.

The main event of the evening was billed as an inter-promotional Smackdown! vs RAW match, even though I think everyone realises that it is all under the WWE auspices. Team Smackdown consisted of World heavyweight champion Batista, Rey Mysterio, JBL, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton, paired against RAW`s Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters. As noted, this was an elimination match, meaning that the only way to win was for one team to eliminate all the members of the opposition via the regular pinfall, submission etc. means. The crowd was very into the match, kept on the edge of their seat in the knowledge that there were at least six wrestlers from the ten who were capable of winning.

Overall, the Survivor Series was a relatively exciting event which was made to feel better by the unpredictable nature of the main event. Particular praise must be awarded to Triple-H and Ric Flair for their Last Man Standing match, and I especially tip my hat to Flair, who has now been involved in two November matches with Triple-H which are better than anything he has done since 1993.

Yes it`s true, at 56 years young, Flair is back "stylin` and profilin`" - Wooooooooooooooo!