WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2012

The 26th annual Survivor Series, held on November 18 in Indianapolis, Indiana, saw CM Punk successfully defend his WWE title in typically controversial fashion, defeating John Cena and Ryback in a Triple Threat match, following a run-in attack on Ryback by three wrestlers making their debuts on mainstream WWE TV: Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns.

An entertaining main event saw Ryback no-sell a lot of Punk and Cena’s offence, until they latterly combined to suplex him through the Spanish announcers’ table. With Ryback recovering outside the ring, Punk and Cena waged war between the ropes, kicking out of each others’ finishers, the GTS and the AA respectively.

At one point, Cena had Punk in an STF, but Ryback pulled him out of the ring, breaking the hold. The finish of the match saw Ryback give Punk the Shellshock, only for Cena to break up the pin attempt. Ryback then hit the same move on Cena, only for Rollins (once Ring of Honor’s Tyler Black), Ambrose (Dragon Gate USA’s Jon Moxley), and Roman Reigns (Joe Anoa’i - the son of Sika and brother of Rosey), dressed as arena security, to hit the ring. They knocked Cena down, then dragged Ryback to the outside, combining to give him a powerbomb through the U.S announcers’ table. In the ring, a groggy Punk crawled over to pin Cena, thus achieving a full year as WWE champion.

STRANGE PSYCHOLOGY

In the other main championship match on the show, Big Show retained his World heavyweight title, but only after losing via disqualification to Sheamus. A slow-paced bout that built well to the finish saw Sheamus escape from a chokeslam attempt, and give Show the White Noise, only for the champion to kick out. Sheamus then tried to use a Brogue Kick, only to accidentally connect with referee Scott Armstrong, when Show pulled the official in front of him. Medics tended to the fallen Armstrong, but as a concerned Sheamus looked on, Big Show crept up behind him, and levelled him with a knockout punch. An over-eager replacement referee then counted the pinfall win for Show, but fellow official John Cone overruled that decision, and disqualified Show for pushing Armstrong. After the match, Sheamus recovered and unloaded with multiple vicious chairshots to Show in the aisleway, causing the champion to beg for mercy. In terms of babyface and heel psychology, the beating - particularly when Sheamus battered the champion’s knee - was quite perplexing.

In a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag match, the team of Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow and David Otunga defeated Randy Orton, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan and Kane, with Ziggler the sole survivor. An all-action contest came down to Orton versus Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio. Outside the ring, Mick Foley took out the interfering Ricardo Rodriguez with a Socko claw, while Orton disposed of Del Rio with an RKO. Orton kicked out of Ziggler’s pin attempt following a Zig Zag, and after coming back to give Ziggler a DDT off the ropes, Orton appeared to be setting up him for a running punt to the head. Ziggler, however, had other ideas, playing possum to superkick Orton on the charge, thereafter scoring the surprise pinfall. In the five-man elimination tag that opened the show, Brodus Clay, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd defeated The Prime Time Players, Tensai, Primo and Epico in a fun match. Tensai eliminated Brodus early on, but the rest of the babyface team then ran wild, and eliminated all of the heels in a clean sweep.

The remainder of the card was rounded off by Antonio Cesaro retaining his U.S title in an average contest against R-Truth, pinning him after delivering the Karl Gotch Neutraliser. In a Divas championship match, Eve Torres retained her title, overcoming Kaitlyn in a forgettable encounter.

Results Brodus Clay, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd def. The Prime Time Players, Tensai, Primo & Epico (Mysterio, Sin Cara, Gabriel & Kidd survive / 18:27 / Elimination match) • Eve Torres def. Kaitlyn (Pinfall / 7:01 / Divas title) • Antonio Cesaro def. R-Truth (Pinfall / 6:57 / United States title) • Sheamus def. Big Show (Disqualification / 14:44 / World Heavyweight title) • Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow & David Otunga def. Randy Orton, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan & Kane (Ziggler survives / 23:43 / Elimination match) • CM Punk def. John Cena and Ryback (Pinfall / 17:58 / Triple Threat match for WWE title)