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Survivor Series has been one of WWE's most important yearly shows since, well... since it debuted. WWE's "Thanksgiving tradition" has been a focal point of the company's PLE calendar since the very first edition in 1987.
Out of the "Big Four" (the other three being, of course, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble), Survivor Series seems to get left on the wayside. After all, WrestleMania is WrestleMania. SummerSlam has almost caught up with The Show of Shows when it comes to spectacle. And the Royal Rumble has the benefit of being both WWE's lead-in to 'Mania as well as its most unique show of the year.
So, despite being the Tito Jackson of WWE PLEs, Survivor Series has actually seen some of the most important moments in the promotion's history. And we're gonna look at five of those moments right now.
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Here are five moments from the history of Survivor Series we'll never forget.
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#5. The Survivor Series debut of The Undertaker
It's become a bit of a cliche by now that the November premium live event is where major stars have made their WWE debuts. Chances are, it's probably a lot like the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak - it wasn't a conscious thing until someone noticed it - and then marketing was all over it.
It's fitting, then, that the very first major Survivor Series debut was that of The Deadman.
For weeks during the tail end of 1990, Ted DiBiase had been teasing his Survivor Series team's "mystery partner." Thankfully, it wasn't what hatched out of the giant egg WWE had been promoting, but The Undertaker.
The first appearance of The Phenom wasn't just the debut of a WWE legend. It also established Survivor Series as the show where major names made their debuts. Kurt Angle, The Rock, Sting, and, most importantly, The Boogeyman are just a handful of names that were first introduced to the WWE Universe during the company's Thanksgiving event.
#4. NXT steps up
Survivor Series has always been an event where WWE could position battles on a much more macro level. Instead of just wrestler vs. wrestler, team vs. team, or even faction vs. faction, Survivor Series allowed WWE to dive into "Brand vs. Brand" battles.
Raw vs. SmackDown had been a thing for years, ever since WWE bought WCW, wrapped up the Invasion angle, and suddenly realized that there were a LOT of wrestlers on the roster.
Meanwhile, the company was also investing in its own future. Not content to just send potential stars to an affiliate wrestling promotion like Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE opened the Performance Center in order to train new talent directly. Part of that initiative was to launch NXT.
We could spend an entire feature talking about NXT's origins and history - but we don't have time. What we will say is that WWE's "Developmental" brand was so good that its quality began to rival that of Raw and SmackDown's.
No more was this apparent than during the 2019 Survivor Series. During all the "brand vs. brand vs. brand" matches, NXT won the majority of the bouts. While they didn't completely dominate the show, the stars of NXT proved that they were ready to take the torch and run with it.
However, it's important to look back at the NXT talent involved in this show and reflect on where they are now. For example... how did Keith Lee not become a megastar following this show? Some mysteries may never be solved.
#3. WWE finally holds WarGames (on the main roster, anyway)
The brainchild of "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (and one of the few match types to share a name with a Matthew Broderick movie), WarGames was (and still is) a beast of a match. Well before Hell in a Cell, WCW was surrounding two rings with a cage and having two teams of four or five beat the absolute bejesus out of each other.
When WWE bought up WCW and all the IP that came with it, it felt like it was only a matter of time until the company decided to use it themselves. It just, you know, only took them 15 years or so to do it.
In 2017, the Triple H-led NXT decided to bring the match concept back - and to great success. So much so that it was brought back seven more times, including women's matches.
Still, not a trace of it existed on the main roster. That is, until 2022.
That was the year that, following a scandal that saw Vince McMahon retire (albeit temporarily), Triple H took over WWE's creative. One of the first major things he did was bring WarGames to the main roster - and, appropriately, to Survivor Series.
While the women's WarGames bout was outstanding, the men's match had a little something extra: long-term storytelling.
That match saw The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens take on The Bloodline. At the time, the Roman Reigns-led faction had been questioning Sami Zayn's loyalty, and this match was his opportunity to prove it. Which he did by nailing his once-and-future best friend Owens with a Helluva Kick to help his team pick up the win.
It was not only an iconic moment in Survivor Series history, but it was a bold statement from the new WWE regime. This was their show now.
#2. The Rock wins the Deadly Game
One year following an event that, well, we'll get to it... Survivor Series 1998 helped make major stars out of not one but two Attitude Era legends.
Leading up to the '98 Survivor Series, WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin was neck deep in his feud with Vince McMahon. By the time that year's Survivor Series came around, "The Boss" had managed to get his promotion's world championship off of The Rattlesnake. Which, we're not gonna lie, wasn't easy.
In order to crown a new champ, Mr. McMahon arranged a one-night tournament. Shenanigans ensued, as they are wont to do, until we were left with two finalists: The Rock and Mankind. The Hardcore Legend had gone into the tournament seemingly as McMahon's choice to win; the then-owner of WWE had, instead, been in cahoots with The Rock.
The Great One had only recently turned babyface at this point, so his sudden morality shift was startling. So was the reference to the events a year prior – which, again, we're getting to that.
It was a shocking moment, for sure. But it's downright tame compared to this last one.
#1. The Montreal Screwjob
For better or for worse, like it or not, the events that concluded the 1997 Survivor Series will probably always be the most talked about in pro wrestling history.
It's been covered probably a million times, so it seems kind of pointless to recap what happened. But we'll try to do it quickly.
Bret Hart was the WWE Champion at the time. He had a title match against Shawn Michaels - someone he had real-life major personal issues with - on the main event of the show. The Hitman was absolutely adamant - he would not lose a match to Michaels. Especially not in his home country of Canada.
Bret was also leaving the company for WCW because of money stuff, and WWE needed to get the belt off of him, lest something like this happened.
So, instead, this happened:
Books have been written. Documentaries have been produced. It's probably the most discussed topic regarding the pro wrestling business, outside of someone dying.
When you think "Survivor Series," it's hard not to then think "Montreal Screwjob." And that's probably not going to change anytime soon.
What are your favorite Survivor Series moments? Share them down below.
