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Survivor
Series is a joint production between the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
In other words, it's an excuse for Vince to showcase wrestlers from both shows
in the hopes of persuading fans, who might not watch one of the shows, to say
"Gee, that Heidenreich is a great wrestler! Guess i'll be watching
SmackDown! from now on!". It's also a chance to see the wrestlers from each
brand interact with one another [though there's usually only one or two skits]. Chances
are, if you're reading this review, you're already a fan of the WWE. I wouldn't
say that I was a "fan" of Vince and his writers since, in my opinion,
they're very repetitive and it's too obvious which superstars get pushed [or in
the case of Triple H, JAMMED down our throats]. However, there are some
wrestlers who possess charisma [Chris Jericho, Randy Orton], some who possess
tremendous athletic ability [Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle] and those
that are just plain HOT [Trish Stratus]. And while I realize that wrestling is
"fake/scripted", I can appreciate the athleticism that's on display.
This year's Survivor Series took place on November 14 in Cleveland, Ohio. The
disc runs 2 hours and 37 minutes which, considering the potential of the material that's
here, is pretty short.
-
Fatal Four Way Match for the Cruiserweight Championship
[Spike Dudley vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Billy Kidman] -
Though I do like Rey, I didn't care much for this match. Billy Kidman bores
me to tears.
-
Backstage: Heidenreich & Gene Snitsky
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WWE Intercontinental Championship Match [Shelton Benjamin
vs. Christian] - Shelton used to be part of "Team Angle" and,
in my opinion, he improved tremendously once he hit Raw. This match wasn't
as good as the one on "Taboo Tuesday" where he fought Christian's
main adversary, Chris Jericho.
-
Backstage: Kurt Angle, Edge & Eugene
-
WrestleMania Recall
-
SmackDown! Classic Survivor Series Match [Eddie Guerrero,
Big Show, Rob Van Dam & John Cena vs. Kurt Angle, Carlito Caribbean
Cool, Mark Jindrak & Luther Reigns] - This was a one-sided match
from the get-go. Carlito was previously injured, so they took care of him
right at the start. I don't care much for Mark or Luther, so that left poor
Kurt to face Eddie, Show, Rob & John. I'm wondering if Kurt was
injured after Eddie's frog splash.
-
Maven Interview
-
Undertaker vs. Heidenreich - Watching these two
wrestle is like watching a leaky faucet drip. Except you know that a faucet
might "job" once in a while and lose a match.
-
Eric Bischoff Interview
-
WWE Women's Championship Match - Trish Stratus vs. Lita -
Trish is one of the reasons I started watching Raw again. Yet, every time
she gets in the ring with Lita, I fear for her life. Since Lita's returned,
she's missed a ton of spots and has nearly reinjured herself on more
than one occasion.
-
John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero & Big Show in
their Locker Room
-
WWE Championship Match [JBL vs. Booker T.] - This
wasn't that great of a match. Which is a shame 'cuz Booker was a favorite of
mine on Raw.
-
WWE's Holiday Tribute to the Troops
-
Triple H, Batista & Ric Flair in their Locker Room
-
RAW's Classic Survivor Series Elimination Match [Randy
Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Maven vs. Triple H, Edge, Batista &
Gene Snitsky] - Besides the Trish/Lita match [which I only wanted to see
for Trish], this was the only other match I was looking forward to. I don't
really think Maven belonged on the "face" team, and I don't think
"Snitsky" belongs in the ring. Period. However, this match was
pretty entertaining.
They've also included three 30 second promos that were previously seen on the weekly
broadcasts to hype this event:
- Undertaker vs. Heidenreich
- RAW
Classic Survivor Series Elimination Match
- Top 5 Matches
Listed as "DVD Exclusives" are:
- Triple H walks in on JBL in Trainer's Room [1m 6s]
- "Ugly" by The Exies
Music Video [3m 28s] - The Nu-Metal song of the week that we're bombarded with
incessantly during this disc.
- SmackDown! 11.18.04 United States Championship Match Carlito
Caribbean Cool vs. John Cena [20m].
Video:
For the amount of content on the disc, this was an attractive transfer. It's
presented in the full frame 1.33:1 ratio and the picture is pretty sharp. Colors
are bright and there were only slight instances of compression artifacts.
Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound was crystal clear and enveloped my
living room while I was watching it.
Conclusion: Overall, i'd have to say I enjoyed this disc. While there
were only two matches I really didn't care about, the rest were entertaining
enough. That, along with the great presentation by WWE make this a Recommended
disc for wrestling fans.
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