Eyes On Survivor Series: 5 Underrated Matches

By @TrueGodImmortal

Well, Survivor Series will probably done by the time you read this. Regardless, when you look at the November PPV, we know of many matches that are popular and well known by all. I wanted to take a moment and look back at some matches that are actually slept on and deserves more credit as well. Let's take a look at 5 underrated matches from Survivor Series.

*The Rock vs Mankind
Survivor Series 1998

-A match that would alter the landscape of the WWF needs to get more credit. When we look back at Survivor Series 1998, one match that gets discussed the most is The Rock vs Mankind. However, the match is discussed more for the heel turn of The Rock and the start of the Corporation officially more so than the match itself. The match itself is actually pretty interesting from top to bottom, as both Rock and Mankind take each other to the limit in an attempt to garner a victory and the WWF Title to win the Deadly Game Survivor Series tournament. When all was said and done, The Rock walked out with the title and with Vince and Shane by his side..... for better or worse.

*Randy Orton vs Shawn Michaels
WWE Championship
Survivor Series 2007

-If anything, this match gets big points for trying to be innovative for the most part. There are stipulations placed on the match that make it intriguing and could have worked against it, but it actually made the match flow a little more natural. For Orton, he couldn't get disqualified or else he would lose the title, and for HBK, he couldn't use the Sweet Chin Music or else he would lose the match. The action was exciting watching HBK try to find more offense to put Orton down and at one point, he forgets he can't use the Sweet Chin Music and it ends up costing him the match. That was an amazing thing to witness and Randy took advantage to retain his title.

*CM Punk vs Alberto Del Rio
WWE Championship
Survivor Series 2011

-When we got to Survivor Series in 2011, there was only one man in the company who had the audience truly in the palm of his hand: CM Punk. After the botching of his Summer of Punk storyline, the WWE would see Punk fight his way back to the title scene and he got a chance to make things happen against Del Rio. This match wasn't perfect, but it had some fun action and the crowd was ready for Punk to win. After 17 minutes  of action, Punk pulls out the victory by submission, and begins his historic title reign that broke records. I think this match gets overshadowed by the return of The Rock, but it was the best match on the entire card and has gone underappreciated.

*Triple H vs Ric Flair
Last Man Standing Match
Survivor Series 2005

-I almost forgot this match took place until I went back and pulled up this event on the Network. Triple H and Flair had an old school style feud, with a few matches that gained my attention, but the biggest match they had was this nearly 30 minute battle that saw Flair give all he had and Triple H taking him to the limit. Triple H was the Last Man Standing, as he beat Flair bloody and utilized his sledgehammer to secure the win. When I look back at some great Triple H matches, this deserves more credit for sure.

*Shawn Michaels vs Triple H vs John Cena
WWE Championship Match
Survivor Series 2009

-The final run of DX was underway during the time of this match and it made for an intriguing idea of whether or not Triple H and HBK would fight each other and who would end up pinning Cena if it came down to it. That was put to rest when HBK started the match kicking Triple H out of the ring. After that incident, we would see a lot of fun action with all three, but in the end, Cena would retain his title and walk away with the victory of course. This is a fun match overall, and despite Cena winning, I didn't hate the result at all. This is probably the most underrated match at the event overall honestly. It's that good.

-True