This year’s edition of the Survivor Series perfectly symbolized the current state the World Wrestling Federation finds itself in. No grand surprises or red hot angles to pique people’s interest. There’s nothing there to convince them to devote their time to the product on a regular basis. There’s nothing really, really good going on and nothing really, really bad either. The federation is just sort of floating in limbo and existing since their competition evaporated.
Even though their very presence was supposedly at stake at Survivor Series, everyone knows that the WWF — as a faction — isn’t going anywhere and therefore the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The bolder approach would’ve been to have The Alliance go over and in doing so, drastically alter the landscape of the WWF for a short period of time. That scenario would’ve been far too complicated for the uninspired WWF bookers to tackle so like always, they took the less engaging and easy way out.
The fact that Kurt Angle was revealed as “the mole” in the Alliance was no great shocker either. You could telegraph that predictable twist a mile away. Considering the increased level of patriotism in the United States since the terrorist attacks, it was highly unlikely the WWF would turn the star-spangled Olympic champion heel.
With those two “high-spots” falling flat what we were left with was the unification of several historic WWF and WCW titles, a move that has upset several wrestling traditionalists who understand the significance of those championships. It was of course WCW who lost out. The unification of the tag belts really didn’t matter as there is now just one set of World Tag Team Championship belts instead of two. That’s as it should be in the WWF. That being the case, the only big change is that the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Title was shelved with Edge winning his bout against Test. Edge is your “undisputed unified champion”. Whatever the heck that means.
In spite of the fact that the finale of the match was expected, the WWF (Kane, Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Big Show and The Rock) versus The Alliance (Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon) in a 10-man elimination bout was still thrilling. At almost 45 minutes long, it was the throwback to the original Survivor Series-style match format that kept the interest level quite high throughout.
The sluggish Big Show was the first to get the heave-ho at 12 minutes and 40 seconds when he was brought down by several of the Alliance members finishing moves. Shane McMahon landed a flying elbow smash to finally put Show out of his misery. Once he successfully covered Big Show, it was Shane’s turn to suffer the same fate as each Team WWF member unleashed their finishing moves on him. Jericho’s Lionsault was the pinning maneuver at 14 minutes and 30 seconds into the bout.
In short succession, The Undertaker, Kane and Booker T were booted next. Kane by a flying side kick by Rob Van Dam at 18 minutes and 19 seconds and Undertaker by a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin snuck the move in and then draped Angle (the legal man) over Taker for the pinfall. Approximately two and a half minutes later, The Rock hurled Booker T into the ropes. Booker collided with Angle and Rock rolled Booker up at 22 minutes and 33 seconds.
Shortly after Booker’s demise, Chris Jericho pinned Rob Van Dam following a front face slam at 24 minutes and 50 seconds leaving himself and The Rock to square off against Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. For minutes on end, Jericho was worked on by Austin and Angle as they rapidly tagged in and out. When Jericho got the hot tag, The Rock stepped in and made Angle tap out to the Sharpshooter at 31 minutes and 54 seconds. Bleeding from his mouth, Austin fought off Jericho and eventually pinned him with a roll-up at 34 minutes and 31 seconds. The wasn’t all for Jericho though. He turned his anger on The Rock and front face slammed him before leaving. The Undertaker confronted Jericho on the rampway about his actions but Jericho paid him no mind and brushed him off.
The Rock and Austin battled it out to a couple of near falls with Austin getting Stunned by The Rock and The Rock being Rock Bottomed by Austin. WCW official Nick Patrick interfered just as The Rock was about to pin Austin. Patrick pulled WWF referee Dave Hebner out of the ring and took over the match from him. When The Rock kicked out of an attempted pinfall, Austin clobbered Patrick for not counting quick enough. Austin pulled Hebner back into the ring. Austin tried for Stunner but Rocky pushed him off into Hebner. Austin recovered and Stunned Rocky. With no ref to make the count, Austin once again pulled Hebner back into the fray. Racing out of the locker room, Angle beaned Austin who then was Rock Bottomed. The Rock pinned Austin at 44 minutes and 57 seconds to give the overall victory to the WWF. As The Rock took his bows and Austin laid in disbelief, Vince McMahon closed out the show by celebrating on the rampway.
The next WWF pay-per-view is either WWF Vengeance on December 9th.
WWF Survivor Series 2001 Results
Christian versus Al Snow (WWF European Title Match)
- Christian made everyone in attendance his pals by intentionally referring to North Carolina as South Carolina. At one point, the crowd chanted “We want Edge!” A good opener with plenty of skilled technical wrestling. One still wonders why a wrestler of Al Snow’s caliber is on ‘Tough Enough 2’ duty.
- Winner: …and still WWF European Champion…Christian at 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
- Match Rating: 7 / 10.
- Austin arrives and is greeted by an Alliance contingent lead by Stephanie and Shane McMahon. They are still wondering if Austin is on their side. Austin assures each of them that he is their leader.
- Vince and Linda chat. Vince tells Linda that at times like these she can’t worry about how far the WWF will take things if they are to survive tonight. Michael Cole interviews Vince. Vince yaps about the main event being a “calculated risk” and says … s–t happens! William Regal verbally lock horns with Vince after the interview. Regal says that Austin is as loyal to The Alliance as he is to the Queen. He will take much pleasure in gloating when the WWF falls.
Tajiri versus William Regal
- Regal bleeds the hard way again when Tajiri boots him in the chops. Regal wins the match and power bombs Tajiri for good measure. Torrie runs out to comfort Tajiri. Regal returns and power bombs her too.
- Winner: William Regal at 2 minutes and 56 seconds.
- Match Rating: 5 / 10.
- Pulling a page out of “The Narcissist” Lex Luger’s handbook, Test stands in front of a mirror as a wardrobe person rubs oil onto his body. He complains that she has missed some spots. Stacey drops by and Test makes a play for her. Stacey caresses his butt before she exits. Edge cuts a promo on Test saying that every “chick” on the planet has dumped him.
Test (WWF Intercontinental Champion) versus Edge (WCW United States Heavyweight Champion) (Title Unification Match)
- Can you believe it? Edge actually pulled a half decent match out of “Kevin Nash Jr.”! Who would’ve known that Test could sell some intricate maneuvers. Test goes for a power bomb and Edge smartly roll up for the effective three count.
- Winners: …and new “Undisputed Unified Champion”…Edge at 11 minutes and 17 seconds.
- Match Rating: 7 / 10.
- Stephanie does some of her usual annoying whining to Kurt Angle in the locker room. She is terrified that if she loses, she will have to cook her own meals, wash her own clothes and clean her own bathroom. Angle assures her that everything will be okay. Outside the Team WWF locker room, Lita and Jeff chat about how “strange” Matt has been acting. Matt steps out of the locker room and tries to allay any fears. He doesn’t want The Alliance to take away his dream. As The Hardy Boys split, Trish comes out of the locker room and wishes Lita good luck in the WWF Women’s World Title match. Though it isn’t said, Lita is wondering what Matt and Trish were doing in there alone.
The Hardy Boys (WWF World Tag Team Champions) versus The Dudley Boys (WCW Tag Team Champions) (Title Unification Match)
- Not as good as it looked on paper. It takes six minutes for anyone to start using the cage as a weapon, nobody bleeds and The Hardys do few high-risk moves. Stacey shows a bit of butt to get the key to the cage from Nick Patrick. Why she would have to do anything to convince a WCW official to “bend the rules” is not explained. Stacey opens the door and slides a table in for the Dudleys. The Hardys take down The Dudleys before they have a chance to use the table. Matt is able to escape the cage but since both members of the team must exit, he has left Jeff alone with both Dudley Boys. For some bizarre reason, D’Von gets off the mat and lays on the table as Jeff begins to climb out. When Jeff sees D’Von laying there he doesn’t climb out. Instead, he does a Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage. D’Von moves and Jeff goes crashing through the table. The Dudleys pin Jeff who is taken out on a stretcher. The announcers sell it as Jeff being the one at fault for not being able to resist the “high spot”.
- Winners: …and new “Undisputed Unified Tag Team Champions”…The Dudley Boys at 15 minutes and 29 seconds.
- Match Rating: 6 / 10.
- In a stunner, Mick Foley is interviewed from WWF New York. He doesn’t look at all like he wants to chat or be there. He says that he couldn’t be in town for the pay-per-view and that the WWF Commissioner post is a “joke”. He tells us he will show up bright and early in the morning for Raw meaning that the WWF probably doesn’t trust him to cut a live promo after the shoot one he did criticizing the company last Monday and most likely will be taping his final appearance in the WWF tomorrow. This could be so the WWF can edit his comments before airing them. Test attacks Scotty Too Hotty in the back taking him out of the battle royal.
Over The Top Rope Battle Royal (Winner can’t be fired from the WWF for a year).
- Tazz is distracted by Paul Heyman and is pitched out. Bradshaw, Billy Gunn, Test and Lance Storm are the last four. Test shoves out both Bradshaw and Storm then dumps out Billy Gunn.
- Winner: Test at 14 minutes and 3 seconds.
- Match Rating: 5 / 10.
- In an odd way to kill satellite time, the WWF promos Creed’s latest single by playing a music video featuring footage from the WWF set to the song. Since when did we pay good money to watch music videos and not matches?
Trish Stratus, Jackie, Lita versus Ivory, Jazz and Molly (WWF Women’s World Heavyweight Title Match).
- Barring a few flubbed moves, this is a decent women’s bout mostly because the people involved can actually wrestle. It is a shame that the person with the least experience ended up with the belt. Former ECW wrestler-valet Jazz is introduced as the mystery woman. The crowd doesn’t pop for her at all. Trish is picked up by Ivory, pushes both her feet off the top rope and bulldogs her for the win.
- Winner: …and new WWF Women’s World Heavyweight Champion…Trish Stratus at 4 minutes and 21 seconds.
- Match Rating: 5 / 10.
Team WWF (Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, The Rock, The Big Show) versus Team Alliance (Rob Van Dam, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon, Booker T.)
- Winner(s): Team WWF (The Rock) at 44 minutes and 57 seconds.
- Match Rating: 8 / 10.
- Total Event Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Overall Event Rating: 7 / 10.