10 best Traditional Survivor Series matches

#3 Survivor Series 2005 — Team RAW vs. Team Smackdown

Battle of the Brands.

With the creation of the Bragging Rights PPV a few years later, and with Survivor Series now being a battleground for the two sides of the WWE to square off each year, we are used to seeing teams from both RAW and Smackdown compete head to head. In 2005, however, the traditional Survivor Series match was a bit of an anomaly.

Team RAW took on Team Smackdown, pitting the likes of Shawn Michaels and Kane against Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and JBL, amongst others. What was novel about this bout was that, very much like today, teams were made up of both heels and faces, giving the match numerous layers of intrigue.

For better or worse, the WWE had a plan around this time to recreate their main event scene, and they were determined to make sure Randy Orton was a part of it. After yet another sensational performance by Shawn Michaels, it would be the Viper coming out as the sole survivor, cementing his place as one of the top stars for the company overall.

The match also ended with dramatic and memorable scenes. While Orton was celebrating with the rest of the Smackdown roster, out came the flaming casket that he and his dad had used to bury the Undertaker with a few months prior. As Orton began screaming for his peers to put him down, out came the Deadman, marching to the ring and taking on an army of Smackdown superstars in his attempt to get to Randy.

This was a thoroughly entertaining bout that led to the epic showdown between Viper and Phenom at the next year's Wrestlemania. It would also start a trend that we have grown much more familiar with today.