WWE Survivor Series 2015

When WWE learned that Seth Rollins was injured and would be out for an estimated 9 months, it would undoubtedly have been a blow to their future plans. Rollins was after all, set to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Title against Roman Reigns at the Survivor Series, and no doubt, having held the belt since Wrestlemania 31, would be a factor in their thinking for one of the top spots at Wrestlemania next year. Given the length of time the injury was going to sideline Rollins for, WWE would have to have him vacate the title, rather than deliver it to his successor. On the flip side, while WWE fans were also disappointed that one of the company’s most consistent performers over the last 2 years would now be out for an extended period, there was hope that it might prompt a creative rethink and force WWE out of its slumber. With Rollins joining Randy Orton on the shelf, John Cena taking a reported 6 week break and Brock Lesnar not expected on television again until December, it appeared as if WWE would have to do something to shake up its roster, give a chance to somebody new and deliver something with a little extra imagination when it came to deciding who would be their new champion.

WWE Survivor Series 1996

Survivor Series 1996 was supposed to be the beginning of a new dawn for the WWE following a year of losses brought on by the defections of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to WCW and the subsequent rise of the NWO. WWE had claimed what has to be considered its first real victory in the war with their competitors since WCW had debuted Monday Nitro in direct competition to Raw, when they managed to secure the re-signing of Bret Hart after months of negotiations. Despite his dissatisfaction with Shawn Michaels’ positioning as the top star in WWE and the money that was on offer to him at WCW, Bret had elected to stay loyal to the company that had made him famous and chose the long term security of a reported $20million dollar, 20 year deal with Vince McMahon, over an eye watering $3million dollar per year, 3 year deal in Atlanta. At the time, Vince McMahon breathed a huge sigh of relief- WCW wouldn’t be getting hold of another one of his biggest stars and he now had a massive extra selling point for the Survivor Series event- the return of ‘The Hitman’. It made Bret Hart the highest paid wrestler in the company, by a long way, and seemed to suggest that things might start going in WWE’s favour for once.

WWE Survivor Series 2004

WWE Survivor Series 2004 took place at a time when the promotion were in the middle of transitioning from the botched push of Randy Orton (which had led to his World Title win in the main event of Summer Slam that year) and the hugely successful push of fellow Evolution member Batista (who would go on to win the World Title from Triple H in the main event of Wrestlemania 21). Going into the show, Randy Orton was positioned as the main babyface in the company, in position as the team captain of the good guys in the main event opposing ‘The Game’ as team captain on the heel side of the aisle. Unfortunately, due to a combination of Orton not really being ready for the babyface top spot- and the manner in which, having won the title (to become the youngest World Champion in WWE history), Orton was unceremoniously defeated by Triple H at Unforgiven just a month later to lose the belt- he didn’t live up to this billing and Survivor Series drew just 325,000 buys on pay-per-view (though a number that would have been considered a success more recently, was at the time the lowest number the show had done in 7 years). The number was put down to Orton and following this show, the spotlight would really begin to shine on WWE’s next project-  Batista.