WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Survivor Series 2012 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Survivor Series 2012. How did the event measure up? Let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Team Mexican Flying Dinosaurs vs Team Puerto Rican Chubby Players; Survivor Series match

We open up the show with a BONUS SS match. Ohhhhh….scary. Before we talk about this match, let's quickly talk about the pre-show. We find out that David Otunga is the replacement for Team Dolph. So, you replace Cody Rhodes with a lawyer? Yeah, this is the best plan ever….sigh. 3MB was victorious over Comedy Clusterf***. It was a pretty uneventful pre-show, but maybe that was the idea. 

Representing the teams were Brodus Clay, Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, and Tyson Kidd, while the second team consisted of Tensai, Primo, Epico, and the Prime Time Players. Sin and Rey were sporting pink ranger outfits tonight. They will forever be known as Team Fabulous.  Brodus ends up screwing up an Exploder Suplex on Tensai. You might want to lift some weights instead of hamburgers. Tensai takes out Brodus with his Back Slam. Tensai is eliminated by Gabriel. Have I mentioned how the WWE has done a wonderful job with the Tensai character? Seriously, MVP of the year, right? After talking out of my ass, Titus O'Neil and Epico are both eliminated by Tyson. Once Mysterio takes out Primo, it's down to a 4-on-1 match. Thanks to the superpower of highflying teamwork, they work together to take out Darren Young. I find it funny that everyone minus Brodus survived this match for the winning team. Did he eat somebody's dog to get embarrassed? Regardless, I thought this was a nice way to open up the action for tonight's show. It wasn't amazing, but it was entertaining enough to start off the show. By the way, did Lawler just say 'Carlio'? Now THAT'S cool. 

Winners: Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, and Tyson Kidd

Match #2: Eve vs Kaitlyn; Divas Championship

Somebody tries to attack Kaitlyn before the match, but Kaitlyn was ready for the attacker. It turns out to be….Catwoman? No, it turns out to be Aksana. I was wishing for Catwoman. It would've been more interesting. Eve immediately runs over to show concern, but Kaitlyn knocks that succubus on her ass. Not sure why Kaitlyn is sporting the Lita/Trish Stratus look. Are the pothead brothers right behind her? Kaitlyn almost wins this match, but Eve is able to outsmart Kaitlyn and wins the match. I personally didn't like this booking. I think it would've made a lot more sense for Eve to cheat defeat this go around. She kinda did, but this can be looked at as a clean victory for her. Something tells me they will do a rematch at the PPV, but the clean victory does lose a bit of interest. At the same time, Kaitlyn is the young talent trying to climb her way towards the title, while Eve is the established veteran… 

I guess this booking can go either way, but I personally thought Eve cheating would've been better. 

Winner via pinfall and still Divas Champ: Eve

Mick Foley: Okay guys. We need to work together and get this victory

Team Foley: Go f*** yourself, Foley!!!

Mick:…..Have a nice day…assholes!!!

Yeah, that was the vibe during the backstage scene. I love how Randy Orton says he hates Foley after the pep talk. He's gonna murder you, but Mick seems to like it. 

Match #3: Antonio Cesaro vs R-Truth; US Championship

This match was just there and nothing more. Antonio wins with the Neutralizer. I talked about this a few months ago, but I have to bring it up again regarding Antonio. Now, I think the guy has a good look and has a ton of potential, but I just find his character really boring and cliche. Nothing stands out from Antonio since this cookie cutter, foreign heel gimmick has been done to death. WWE is hitting all the cliches in that regard, but I think they aren't utilizing any of Antonio's own attributes. When I see Antonio cut a promo, I'm quickly reminded of Alberto Del Rio and that isn't a compliment. In fact, both guys are similar. They both have the look, the skill, and can talk, but they just never have anything interesting to say. I really hope they can do something about this since I think Antonio has tons of potential, but he could quickly become another boring heel amongst the masses. 

Winner via pinfall and still US Champ: Antonio Cesaro

AJ comes out and thinks Vickie Guerrero is a word that rhymes with witch? Umm….ditch? Yeah, she sure is a ditch…I guess. We then get a series of photos that feature the WWE's photoshop team at work. Still, I'll admit these pictures were pretty hilarious. The photo with Ricardo Rodriguez was funny. I don't know why, but it looks like Ricardo is about to 'go deep' with that burrito….if you know what I'm talking about. Once Vickie gets a taste of her own medicine, we find out that Vickie will get fired if she touches AJ. Just out of nowhere, Tamina comes out to take out AJ. Tamina? Well, that's kinda strange. She has been a ghost since the beginning of the year and now becomes Vickie's bodyguard? Sure, why not? I'll take it. It's a little early to think of that scenario, but it's a possibility. Just more padding into the AJ/Vickie rivalry. I've already explained that I'm not very big on this storyline. I just find it ridiculous and boring. At least it was amusing tonight, so that's a plus in my book……Ohhhh, AJ was referring to bi----

Match #4: Big Show vs Sheamus; WHC

I thought this match really picked up towards the end. It was very similar to their match at Hell in a Cell. I loved the spot where Sheamus hit Show with the electric chair. The finish comes when Sheamus accidentally hits the referee with the Brogue Kick. Apparently, the ruling is that Show put the ref in front of Show on purpose. After a couple of backup officials check up on the dead referee, Show hits the KO punch on Sheamus. One of the backup refs make the three count, so it seems Show has won the match…BUT WAIT!!! The officials have a quick meeting and agree that Show used the ref as a shield on purpose, so they issue Show a DQ. Sheamus ends up winning via DQ. Are you satisfied, Sheamus….

Yeah, I didn't think so. In fact, Sheamus vents out rage by taking out Show with a chair. Yeah, the ending sequence was a bit weird, but it does its job. It milks another match between Sheamus and Show at the next PPV. With the Sheamus attack after the match, WWE could've had Dolph Ziggler cash in the MITB. In fact, I talked about how crowning him at the PPV would've been a great idea, but it appears the 80s guy will have to wait a while longer to get his world title. I'm fine with Dolph not cashing in tonight, but I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity to make this evening stand out. 

Winner via DQ: Sheamus (Big Show is still WHC)

Match #5: Team Dolph vs Team Foley; Survivor Series match

Better than tacos? Every once in a while, Lawler has his moments. I approve of this message. In fact, I also like JBL's line when he called Daniel Bryan the flying goat. I'm really enjoying the commentary tonight. It wasn't what I would call five-star analysis, but this is some funny stuff. Then again, who listens to pro wrestling commentary for analysis? Oh, that would be the smarks. This match was awesome. It was done very well and I felt it told a pretty good story. It's funny how a match with mediocre build up turns out this well. That's a testament to the people involved with this match. They really did a nice job with this one. Once Bryan got eliminated, this match really took off. I was pretty shocked that Dolph got the clean victory over Randy to end this match. Remember when I mentioned how WWE could've made this a big night if Dolph cashed in the MITB? Well, this easily could've been Dolph's night by getting these two victories. If they had done that, I think this would've been a PPV we could've been talking about for years. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards tonight. Randy should've won this match, but his own cockiness screwed him over when he went for the punt and ended up walking into a super kick. I can see this miscue by Orton change his character. And when I mean change, I can actually see him turning heel within the next month. It's possible that won't happen, but don't be surprised if this happens. I personally thought this was the match of the night.  

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Match #6: CM Punk vs Ryback vs John Cena; WWE Championship

Cena is sporting some new merchandise. Its like Cena getting a new cape for his Superman attire. Oh yeah, BUY BUY BUY!!! Does anyone else envision Vince McMahon as Pac-Man while eating the pellets? The pellets in this case would be money, while the power orbs would be Cena. Waka waka waka waka!!! One thing I haven't mentioned is tonight's audience. Not an amazing audience, but a very vocal crowd. I thought it adds something to the show. I liked this match. It wasn't perfect, but it was very engaging. Punk and Cena take out Ryback by sending him through the….American announce table? Um….huh? Not the spanish table? HOORAY!!! The ending was insane. Ryback is about to end this match, but three NXT rookies run out there to take out Ryback. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose are the attackers. They send Ryback through the spanish announce table. They just took out TWO announce tables. The WWE is really living on the edge now. Here's what the IWC would say after tonight. DEAD AMBROSE!!! After the IWC created a 'sticky situation', Punk is able to pick the bones of Cena and retains the WWE Championship. The show ends with Punk celebrating a year of being WWE Champion. Huh, I guess Ryback's weakness is fighting three guys at once? This would explain why he only had to fight TWO guys at once and not THREE. Oh, the internet is gonna be blowing up after tonight. Just as it seemed like Ryback was gonna win the championship, Reverse Aces and Eights takes him out. Now, I gotta admit something. I like this ending. You get a couple of your developmental guys some earlier exposure and you manage to show off Punk's cunning, Cena's team spirit, and Ryback's status of being a musclebound freak. In other words, WWE covered all the bases tonight. I also like this ending is because it sets up Raw tomorrow night. Why in the world did a bunch of developmental guys take out Ryback? Are they working with Punk or did Paul Heyman hire them? Are we seeing the growth of more Paul Heyman guys? The point I'm trying to make here is it ask a lot of questions. One of my biggest issues with WWE lately is the ability to keep the audience engaged with the progression of storylines. To be fair, they can't please everyone, but I really felt they haven't done the greatest job in that sense. Just about everything in WWE had been running on auto pilot and it was boring to a lot of people. After tonight, WWE said the hell with auto pilot and decided to steer into a thunderstorm. That's what we need to see more of.

Winner via pinfall and still WWE Champion: CM Punk

Overall Impression:

The first half of this PPV was very basic. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that engaging. Up until the final two matches, I would say this was nothing more than glorified free television. I felt the traditional SS match and the plot twist to have Ryback taken out made this PPV worthwhile. After seeing what the WWE's done after Night of Champions, there really wasn't that much in terms of surprises. It was about time we had an evening where we are talking about tomorrow's show with very high anticipation. I would say a lot of the matches tonight were fair to watch, but I wouldn't call this an amazing PPV. At the same time, I wouldn't call this a bad PPV. This PPV had some good moments and a great ending to keep people invested for tomorrow's Raw, but I can't help and look at this PPV and thinking that it underachieved. I don't know about you, but I personally wanted to see more out of SS tonight. If they had Dolph cash in the MITB tonight, I would be very satisfied with this PPV. This PPV does a couple of things for me moving forward, but I know they could've done more. I'm also worried about what could end up happening to the NXT guys. I can easily see the WWE feed them to Ryback one by one and that's the end of it. At the same time, I don't think the WWE would make them look completely bad since it appears WWE has high hopes for these guys. Still, I can't sit here and wonder what COULD happen and have to focus on what DID happen. There will be plenty of time to talk about what could happen, but I just want to focus on what happened tonight. If I have to give this PPV a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average, I would give WWE Survivor Series 2012 a 7 out of 10. This PPV was right between a 6 and a 7 and I was debating back and forth on this one a lot. Since I don't like decimal points, I gave it a 7 because of the intrigue I have for tomorrow's show. Seriously, I'm really looking forward to Raw, and I would imagine that a good percentage of you are invested as well. The PPV is at least worth a watch, but it did have some low points. This PPV is not perfect and has several flaws. Oh, does it ever, but there's enough entertainment and intrigue to make this watchable. Congratulations on a whole year as WWE Champion, CM Punk. You really earned it. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. If you enjoyed any of this nonsense, check out some of my other articles. Those links will take you on an adventure. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. See you next time. 

WrestlingNerd's Official Score of WWE Survivor Series 2012: 7 out of 10