The build is here.
Survivor Series 2007 – Miami
(Dark: Noble d. Regal
Kendrick d. Sydal)
Still rocking the multiple announce teams for our Thanksgiving eve tradition. Joey and Taz do the WWF Title, the ECW Title, the tag title and the Juggernaut matches. JR and Bradshaw do the opening tag, the IC, and the main event.
The first thing we see, and it’s present the entire show, is that countdown clock, now set to hit 7 somewhere around the 5th match tonight.
Show opens with Leviathan coming to the ring for a promo.
He says he’s supposed to unveil his mystery tag team partner for the opening match.
He doesn’t have one. He’s gonna have one. But not tonight.
He’s not gonna have one tonight for 2 reasons.
One, Because he’s been half of the tag team champs before – with Ric Flair. And when Ric Flair has been your tag partner, you can’t just pick up any ham and egger to replace him.
Two, Because he watches Monday Night Raw sometimes. And he knows that coming up this guy, this streetfighter…the Juggernaut….is gonna fight two guys. I couldn’t care less about some tatted up Samoan from the WWF – but if he can beat up two guys in one night – I can beat up two guys at the same time.
1. Leviathan d. Holly/Miz
-Batista squashes the oil and water tag. Any Real World kid they’ve been able to get, any C level reality star who has been added to the Miz menagerie over this stretch can come out here and bump for Leviathan. He buries everyone and gets the Bomb on Holly for the fall. Announce puts over the renewed fire in the eyes of the freaky monster Leviathan and speculates on when he’ll decide on a tag partner and how that will impact the tag team division.
Spoiler alert = before the Rumble, Leviathan will get not just a tag partner, but a manager as well.
2. Juggernaut d. Mabel
-Juggernaut’s music (featuring his catchphrase – I’M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!) hits early, before Leviathan’s off the ramp. The two monsters have a staredown – all 4 announcers talking over each other – Taz and Bradshaw amping up the NWA v. WWF element of the confrontation.
The first of two mystery opponents provided to fight Umaga is Mabel. He’s got the pajamas, he’s rapping, he’s on a mission to beat Eddie Little. People are raising the roof. It’s a whole pajama jammy jam.
Little squashes him. Beats him like he’s Randy Couture.
(editor’s note – Brock~!)
3. Juggernaut d. Kane
-It’s Kane’s return, gone for a year, maybe more – he’s the second mystery opponent – Eddie Little just beats the crap out of him – owns him – rips him apart – unmasks Kane postmatch – Kane covers up his face so he isn’t seen. The Juggernaut taunts the camera with Kane’s ripped and bloody mask…”Hey, Steamboat….Hey, Dead Man…Hey Midget Champion….Is That All You Got???/…..I’m the Juggernaut…..Bitch!!!!”
4. IC/TV Titles: MVP d. Randy Orton
-The NWA announce puts Little over as they take over again, then throw it to a pretape of Steamboat sitting with Dusty earlier in the evening – they’re noting with bemusement and irritation that the IC and tag matches have been flipped on the rundown sheet, and that it’s due to Hunter and Shawn pulling a power play. It’s a quiet, light moment with the two guys, Steamboat says he’d move the Clique to the NWA for cheap and throw the Juggernaut in too – they laugh at their mutual headaches.
Not laughing is Orton, he is clearly pissed as he enters at having the tag and IC matches flipped on the card, something that maybe has occurred one other time in WWF PPV history. It’s not noted by the announce, but an eagle eyed fan might see that Orton only enters with the IC and TV belts, not the US strap.
Bradshaw does a racially tinged announce, hitting the common sports stereotypes – he talks about MVPs natural athletic ability being contrasted with Orton’s heart, desire and smarts. JR tries to pivot the other way, Porter outsmarted Booker clearly, swerving his mentor and sending him out of the WWF – and Orton has shown tremendous natural ability in going over high flyers like Jeff, Helms, and Kendrick.
Bradshaw can’t be moved from the talking points. Orton’s gutty. MVP has lots of fast twitch muscles.
MVP goes over, winning the strap – Taz, not on the announce for this match, openly cheers the result – Bradshaw tells him to “pipe down, fat boy” – both color men stand and shout at each other before calmed down by the leads.
It’s only after the match, when MVP holds only 2 of the 3 belts and Orton has left – that everyone recognizes that somehow that match was not for the US Title.
5.Unified Tags: HBK/HHH-M d. Cade/Murdoch
-Big night.
Michaels wins his 4th tag strap, his second with HHH. The Clique treats S&S like geeks, big timing them at every turn – treating them as clearly beneath them in the pecking order. They toy with them a little bit – then bury them good and hard, superkick/pedigree – and the fall.
Then comes the promised spot – where they bring out young Natty Neidhart.
Recall, they’ve punked out the remaining Harts – Teddy, Wilson, Harry, all beaten up and forced to make the Clique sign – and they said after they won the straps at Survivor Series, they’d bring out the Anvil’s girl.
They call her out now – we see her in the back – scared – but Hunter says he’s got the stroke – she’s got a performers contract – either she comes out to the ring or she’s fired.
Shaking, Natty comes down to the ring.
They taunt her a little bit. Hunter makes some level of sexual innuendo. Talks about a Clique double team. Hunter and Shawn close in. Natty cries as they make her give the Clique handsign. Hunter then kicks her in the stomach and readies her for a Pedigree….as the Clock…..Strikes…..Seven…….Seven….Seven….
The Break the Walls Down music hits….
There’s the explosion, and we see the Jericho pose – turned around, facing the curtain, with arms extended – wearing the #7 Pink and Black Hart Foundation hockey jersey – the long blond hair - big pop as he turns around and runs to the ring – making his return to the WWF…
Is Edge.
Edge, gone since the post Cell beatdown by GDI, sprints to the ring and cleans house.
Edge knocks Hunter and Shawn from the ring – saves the stunned Neidhart – Edge has surprised everyone – Edge has returned to the WWF!
(Spoiler alert: Jericho’s comin’ back the next night)
6. WWF Championship: Rey d. Undertaker
-The announce remains in shock through this match – Edge, not Jericho, was the subject of the countdown clock – Edge is back for the first time since WM XXIII, what is going on here…that type of thing.
Undertaker is the underdog here, he’s who fights from underneath – I know that’s odd, but in this world, Rey is a legend, a true legend, the last Triple Crown winner and while Undertaker is a multi-time Legends Champion (you’re welcome, Russo) he’s essentially an organizational soldier, a stable good guy veteran, a dependable hand, but he’s not Rey Mysterio.
Undertaker gives it all he has – he’s never been a singles champ, this might be his last chance, he recognizes that and gives it all he has – but he loses clean to the champ.
Handshake postmatch. Respect for the Dead Man.
Undertaker goes up the ramp, does that “look back to the crowd and to the ring” like he does – raises one fist at the top the way that he does – and is then grabbed in a choke from an emerging Juggernaut. Little grabs him in a choke and yanks him through the curtain to the back. Mysterio tears off from the ring to the back – the cameras now move backstage – the Juggernaut stomping the Dead Man out – the Juggernaut hurling Mysterio into a soda machine – a series of random workers appearing in various stages of dress to pull Little off of the Undertaker – the Juggernaut is out of control!!!
7.ECW Title: Punk (w/Maria, mmmm) draw Jeff (time limit)
-It takes some erasing of what you know, but Jeff now enters the ring in his Blood Dragon gear – he is officially, going forward Blood Dragon Jeff Hardy.
He doesn’t wrestle with the mask (sometimes, maybe, I could see a scenario where he’d do that, but not here) he takes the mask off in the ring.
Jeff Hardy = Blood Dragon. Wrap your head around it.
This goes whatever the time limit is – it seems like we have short matches tonight with the squashes, I’m thinking we can get 30 out of this.
Jeff has numerous nearfalls – but can’t put Punk away – it’s one of those scenarios where the time limit saves Punk’s strap – Maria pulls Punk away postmatch – Jeff begs for 5 more minutes – but they aren’t forthcoming. It’s a timelimit draw.
8.NWA Title: Nitro (w/Melina) d. Fit (w/Dean)
-And the big night for the heels ends with the switch.
Fit has dominated the new NWA, he and Dean are the hard hitting faces of the NWA, but they lose the strap here.
Fit inadvertently knocks Dean out during the match, there’s a highspot, Nitro moves and Fit splashes into Dean on the outside. He’s gone for the rest of the match – and that allows Nitro to use Melina for leverage on the pinfall.
Nitro is bloody, as was he after quitting on the title match at Summer Slam – but he is redeemed – he has won the NWA title at the main event at Survivor Series – Nitro and Melina hug – Nitro holding the NWA belt aloft –
Recall, Summer Slam ended with the 3 way staredown, all 3 champs in the ring jawing at each other – and it appears we’re headed that way again – Nitro stands in the ring with Melina and his title belt – Punk, limping a little, being aided by Maria – comes to the ring – Punk, the ECW Champ makes his way slowly to the ring – and as Punk and Nitro stand with their belts in the air – Rey, limping very badly, moving very gingerly – Rey makes his way to the ring – all four announcers are on now – Joey and Taz putting over Mysterio, JR and Bradshaw putting over Nitro – all 3 champs in the ring –
Then the Juggernaut starts coming down the ramp – the Juggernaut makes the sign for the belt – Eddie Little making the sign for the belt and he’s coming to the ring –
--He’s stopped on the ramp by the Undertaker – the Dead Man and the Juggernaut throwing hands on the ramp – Mysterio leaves the ring to join them… While the attentions of the men in the ring are on the ramp – Dean Malenko hops in the ring and begins to beat Johnny Nitro down! Malenko suckerpunches Nitro, Malenko on top of Nitro – Fit gets in the ring and pulls Malenko off – Fit pulling Malenko off, the three men rolling to the outside… and Jeff Hardy sprints to the ring – Jeff Hardy sprints to the ring and he and Punk start throwing shots – the Juggernaut and the Undertaker and Mysterio on the ramp…Malenko, Fit, and Nitro on the floor – Jeff and Punk fighting in the ring – all four announcers yelling – we’ll see you soon – see you soon on the Road to Royal Rumble 2008!!!!!
