Brock Lesnar Vs Goldberg & 9 Underwhelming Survivor Series Main Events
James Austin Over the years, WWE has put the wrong main event to close out an event. Fans will boo if they don't like the match which WWE has put out there. Survivor Series has generally gotten it right on the match to close out the show but sometimes they fail to live up to the expectations.
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The likes of Triple H, The Undertaker, and Randy Orton are prolific performers at the event. However, that has not excused them from participating in some dreadful main events. These headlining bouts all ended up missing the mark compared to what fans wanted.
10 King Booker Vs Batista (Survivor Series 2006)
In January 2006, Batista relinquished the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury. The Animal was motivated to regain his title once he returned to Smackdown. Standing in Batista's way was King Booker. In fairness, Booker and Batista's feud was actually entertaining and it was good to see Booker booked strongly.
Furthermore, Batista and Booker had a disagreement which led to a real-life fight. Nevertheless, The Animal and Booker clashed in a lackluster main event at Survivor Series 2006. The two lacked chemistry and finally, Batista put an end to their feud by regaining the World Heavyweight Championship.
9 Triple H Vs The Rock Vs Big Show (Survivor Series 1999)
WWE knew that Stone Cold Steve Austin was never going to compete at the 1999 Survivor Series. Nonetheless, he was still advertised in the upcoming WWF Championship bout with Triple H and The Rock. Unfortunately, Austin's neck issues resurfaced, which ruled him out of action for almost a year.
Big Show was Austin's surprise replacement which was a bad move. Triple H and The Rock was a strong enough marquee match and it did not need to include Show. Nonetheless, Big Show seized the opportunity and he won his first WWF Championship in a poorly executed triple threat match.
8 Team Cena Vs Team Authority (Survivor Series 2014)
The outcome of the 2014 Survivor Series main event was pretty obvious with the stipulations in place. The Authority had run its course and it was time for a change. Team Authority fielded Seth Rollins, Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, and Rusev. They took on John Cena's team spearheaded by Cena with Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, Big Show, and Ryback.
Had Cena's team lost they would have been fired except for Cena. Team Authority would lose their power if they ended up on the losing side. The match went on for longer than it needed to. Ziggler was heroic as he outlasted Rollins to put The Authority out of business. This match is also notable for Sting making his WWE debut, which was the best moment of the show.
7 Randy Orton Vs Big Show (Survivor Series 2013)
Randy Orton's first WWE Championship title defense at the 2013 Survivor Series was against Big Show. Both men are considered as Survivor Series specialists in a way with their huge amount of success at the event. Unfortunately, this match failed to catch fire and it was atrocious from start to finish.
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Originally, Daniel Bryan was due to continue his rivalry with Orton at the show but The World's Largest Athlete replaced Bryan. There was no doubt that The Viper's WWE Championship reign would carry on, which it certainly did.
6 Team Raw Vs Team Smackdown (Survivor Series 2017)
The 2017 Survivor Series five-on-five traditional elimination match between Raw and Smackdown should have been great. The main stipulation in this match was Kurt Angle's position as Raw General Manager. The red brand featured Angle, Triple H, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe. They took on Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, John Cena, Robert Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura who represented Smackdown.
This match was not lacking star power at all but the closing stages raised eyebrows. McMahon was the final representative for Smackdown with nostalgia once again taking over. The Game turned on Angle but he hit his brother-in-law with a Pedigree to pick up the win for Team Raw which allowed Angle to remain in his role as Raw GM.
5 Goldberg Vs Triple H (Survivor Series 2003)
Goldberg finally jumped ship to the WWE in 2003 and had posted big wins over The Rock at Backlash and Chris Jericho at Bad Blood. However, Goldberg had championship aspirations. He was close to achieving his goal at SummerSlam in the second-ever Elimination Chamber match. Despite coming up short, Goldberg ended Triple H's nine-month reign as World Heavyweight Champion at Unforgiven.
In the main event of the 2003 Survivor Series, they locked horns once more with Goldberg defending the title. It was a shocking match from both men, who clearly did not have chemistry together. Evolution interfered but Goldberg easily thwarted their attempts on getting involved. Goldberg put The Game away and walked out still World Heavyweight Champion.
4 Roman Reigns Vs Sheamus (Survivor Series 2015)
The true main event of Survivor Series 2015 saw Roman Reigns face-off with his former Shield teammate Dean Ambrose. The two clashed for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the tournament final. It was finally Reigns' coronation as he defeated the Lunatic Fringe to win his first World Championship in the WWE.
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Unfortunately, life comes at you fast if you are Roman Reigns. The Celtic Warrior cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Sheamus nailed Reigns with a couple of Brogue Kicks to win the WWE World Heavyweight title. It was unexpected but would have been nice for Reigns to close out the show in style.
3 All-Americans Vs Foreign Fanatics (Survivor Series 1993)
Lex Luger and Yokozuna's feud in 1993 spilled over to the Survivor Series. Luger's All-Americans team comprised of himself, The Steiner Brothers, and The Undertaker. They squared off with The Foreign Fanatics led by WWF Champion Yokozuna, Crush, Ludvig Borga, and Quebecer Jacques.
The only positive from this dismal main event was Yokozuna and The Undertaker setting up their feud over the WWF Championship into the start of 1994. Both men got counted out in this encounter which saw Luger and Borga as the final two. Their showdown was nothing special but fans went home happy with Luger picking up the win and celebrating with Santa Claus.
2 Brock Lesnar Vs Goldberg (Survivor Series 2016)
Survivor Series in 2016 was billed up towards the highly anticipated in-ring return of Goldberg. Goldberg had not had a match inside a WWE ring since WrestleMania XX in 2004. His return match was against Brock Lesnar, the man he beat in his final WWE appearance. However, the Beast Incarnate was hellbent on flipping the script and putting things right from 12 years ago.
Fans went home disappointed and rightfully so. Goldberg dominated this entire encounter and he nailed Lesnar with a couple of spears. He finished off the match with a Jackhammer. The match did not even last a couple of minutes, which was a terrible decision. It was a woeful main event, which should have gone on longer.
1 Undertaker Vs Yokozuna (Survivor Series 1994)
For the second time in 1994, The Undertaker and Yokozuna clashed in a Casket match. Yokozuna defeated The Deadman in their first Casket match at the 1994 Royal Rumble to retain the WWF Championship. This time, Yokozuna was no longer the WWF Champion but Undertaker had some unfinished business to attend to.
Chuck Norris was assigned as the special enforcer to ensure outside interference would not happen again. However, interference did occur with King Kong Bundy and Bam Bigelow distracting Norris. Irwin R. Schyster attacked The Undertaker by entering the ring from the other side. Undertaker recovered and he did the best he could with Yokozuna who was immobile. He gained his revenge by putting Yokozuna in the casket to bring an end to their on-and-off year-long feud.
NEXT: Undertaker's 10 Best Matches From The Attitude Era, Ranked