5 lesser known Survivor Series facts you need to know

WWE Crown Jewel is done and dusted. Now, the next major stop for WWE is Survivor Series on November 18th. Similar to the 2016 and 2017 versions of the PPV, WWE has decided to follow a RAW vs. Smackdown Live model for the 2018 event.

The card for the event already looks excellent - newly crowned Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will have a rematch with the WWE champion AJ Styles, Smackdown Live women's champion Becky Lynch will take on RAW women's champion Ronda Rousey and the United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will battle the Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins for the first time in the WWE.

WWE has also already announced there will be two traditional five on five Survivor Series elimination tag team matches at the event, one for men and one for women. Moreover, another champion Vs. champion match between the newly crowned RAW tag team champions, the Authors of Pain, and the smackdown live tag team champions - the Bar is also on the cards. Less than two weeks after their last PPV, WWE will be hoping to make this year's Survivor Series a memorable one.

We all know that Randy Orton holds the record for most Survivor Series eliminations, with an outstanding record of 15 eliminations in total. You may also know that Roman Reigns has the most eliminations in a single Survivor Series match, eliminating 4 of his opponents in 2013. But did you know that Reigns was not the first wrestler to eliminate four wrestlers from the opposition team in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match? There are many lesser-known facts about Survivor Series that fans are probably unaware of.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a few lesser-known Survivor Series facts you need to know before the event.

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#5. Most eliminations in a single Survivor Series tag team elimination match

Reigns ran through his opposition at Survivor Series 2013

At Survivor Series 2013, Roman Reigns joined forces with Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, and Jack Swagger to take on a team put together by Cody Rhodes.

As we mentioned earlier, Reigns ran riot during the match, eliminating his "cousin" Jimmy Uso, Cody Rhodes, Goldust, and Rey Mysterio to become the sole survivor and hence, secure the win for his team. Reigns and Seth Rollins were down three men within the first ten minutes of the match as Dean Ambrose, Cesaro and Jack Swagger were eliminated. Reigns and Rollins faced a five-on-two situation and emerged against the odds to win the match.

However, Reigns is not the first superstar to eliminate four opponents in a single Survivor Series match. That feat goes to Aja Kong. Kong was a Japanese wrestler who made her debut for WWE at the 1995 Survivor Series. Kong was pitted against a team put together Women's Champion Alundra Blayze in a four on four survivor series match. Kong ran through the opposition and became the sole survivor.

Which means that Aja Kong and Roman Reigns both hold the record of most eliminations in a single Survivor Series match.

#4. Sole Survivor for the consecutive years

Randy Orton has an excellent track record at Survivor Series

If Wrestlemania is the home of the Undertaker, then Survivor Series is the home of the Viper, Randy Orton. The Apex Predator holds many records at the event. One of them is winning the most traditional Survivor Series tag team matches as the sole survivor.

Randy Orton was the sole survivor in 2003, 2004 and 2005 iterations of the big four event. In 2003, Orton, as a part of team Bischoff, eliminated Shawn Michaels after an interference from Batista to clinch the win for his team. In 2004, Orton was a babyface and overcame his former mentor, Triple H after executing an RKO out of nowhere. In 2006, Orton eliminated Michaels again to become the sole survivor.

However, Orton is not the only superstar to become a sole survivor thrice. The Ultimate Warrior was also the sole survivor in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Both of these superstars also coincidentally achieved this feat in consecutive years (2003-05 for Orton and 1988-90 for Warrior).

#3. The gap between two Survivor Series matches

Legends vs. Spirit Squad at Survivor Series 2006

In 1990 iteration of Survivor Series, Dusty Rhodes laced his boot for "The Dream Team", which was comprised of himself, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Koko Ware to take on the team of the Million dollar man Ted Debiase, The Undertaker, The Honky Tong man, and Greg Valentine. Amazingly, it would take the American Dream sixteen more years to have a match at the Survivor Series.

At the 2006 Survivor Series, old school wrestlers including Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, and Sergeant Slaughter teamed up one last time to take on the young and upcoming spirit squad. Rhodes managed to pin Dolph Ziggler (then known as Nicky) and his team won the match.

Dusty Rhodes holds the record for having the biggest gap between two survivor series appearances with 16 years seperating his matches. Sergeant Slaughter trails the American dream by one year. Coincidentally, Slaughter also made his return at the 2006 edition of Survivor Series.

#2. Most matches at a single Survivor Series event

Roman Reigns had three matches at Survivor Series 2015

Having two matches in the same PPV is not a huge achievement. However, having three matches in the same PPV is a different story. We recently saw this at Crown Jewel, when Dolph Ziggler competed in three matches during the World Cup tournament, ultimately losing to a much less fatigued Shane McMahon.

Similarly, at 2015 Survivor Series, Roman Reigns had three matches on the same night.

Due to Seth Rollins relinquishing his title due to a knee injury, WWE scheduled a tournament with both the semi-finals and final falling on Survivor Series 2015. In the opening match of the night, Reigns defeated Alberto Del Rio to advance to the final whereas Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens.

In the main event, Reigns defeated Ambrose to clinch his first ever World Title reign. However, the money in the bank holder, Sheamus cashed in his contract straight after the match. Meaning that The Big Dog had three matches at Survivor Series 2015, which is a record in the 31-year history of the event.

#1. Only rematch in the history of Survivor Series

The Montreal Screwjob

WWE has been heavily promoting the match between AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar in the upcoming Survivor Series as the rematch from last year's event. In the 31 years history of Survivor Series, there should have been other rematches as well, right? Wrong.

It is amazing to comprehend that there has only ever been one rematch in the rich history of Survivor Series. It was contested between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. Both times, Bret Hart was the WWF Champion, and Michaels was the secondary champion. In 1992, the duo had their first Survivor Series match together for Hart's WWF championship. Hart defeated Michaels via the Sharpshooter.

In 1997, they had their rematch. Hart was the WWF champion whereas Michaels was the European champion. This clash is infamously known as the "Montreal Screwjob". Even though Hart was supposed to win the match, Vince McMahon told the referee to ring the bell while Michaels had Hart under a sharpshooter, thus awarding the win to the Heart Break Kid.