Survivor Series 2021

One of WWE's longest running PPV events, the 2021 edition of the Survivor Series included only a two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches, both won by Team Raw for "brand supremacy." One of the challenges with the concept, is you end up with series of standalone matches that didn't fit into existing storylines on either show for a one-night brand vs. brand event. While the structure of the elimination tag forcing enemies to work together for one night allows for some different stories, if you don't have those kind of matches the night falls mostly flat.

The entire event was overshadowed by a celebration of The Rock, who doesn't even show up despite the glut of video packages and mentions, and a bizarre tie-in to the former Superstar's new movie on Netflix involving the theft of a golden egg backstage. There's also a soul-crushingly long Battle Royale putting over the least athletic Superstar on the roster while honoring The Rock... and was also promoted by Pizza Hut? God help us. 

The best, and really only good, match of the night featured Becky Lynch defeating Charlotte Flair in a battle between the Raw and Smackdown women champions. Less interesting was Roman Reigns defeating Big E in the least surprising result of the night. Randy Orton and Riddle defeated The Usos in a serviceable fight between the two tag team champions. Both the Intercontinental Champion and the United States Champion got relegated to the pre-show which ended in a disqualification match that did neither Shinsuke Nakamura or Damian Priest any favors.

In the only real taste of classic Survivor Series, the team of Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, and Queen Zelina defeated Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya, and Toni Storm with Belair being the sole survivor after the SmackDown team imploded due to sudden shenanigans to eliminate one of their own members (which, while incredibly stupid, actually was one of the only moments on the entire show that actually felt like Survivor Series). And the team of Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, and Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin, and Sheamus with Rollins being the sole survivor which was notable only for Owens being the only one smart enough to leave the match before it got started.