When it comes to pay-per-views, WWE's Survivor Series is second only to Wrestlemania in longevity. And while Wrestlemania is now entering its 23 year, 2006 marked Survivor Series' 20th anniversary. If you thought Vince would pull out all the stops to celebrate this particular milestone, well, you'd be wrong.

The 20th edition of Survivor Series took place at the Wachovia Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Sunday, Novemner 26th, 2006. Here's the card:

• Traditional Survivor Series Match [Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons & Sgt. Slaughter vs. Kenny, Johnny, Nicky & Mikey] - This match is very indicative of the current state of the WWE. As if it wasn't enough that they had their asses handed to them during the last PPV (which also resulted in them losing the tag team straps), here we have a bunch of legends (and Ron Simmons) squashing them even futher. I suppose the Spirit Squad was thought of as nothing but a joke to begin with, but where will the WWE be in 5-10 years if/when wrestlers like HBK, 'Taker and/or Ric Flair retire? Well, I think Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump won't be busy. Anyways, the old fogeys send the cheerleaders packing and Kenny on his way to a solo career. What a great way to begin this PPV.
  
  
• United States Championship Match [Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero] - I miss Chris Benoit. Since I don't watch SmackDown!, I don't see him as much as I used to. Apparently, they're still using Eddie's name in vain with this current storyline that started between Rey and Chavo. Since Rey needed to have knee surgery, it's fallen on Benoit to defend Eddie's honor. Storyline aside, Benoit and Chavo put on a good match and Guerrero's wrestling has improved since I last saw him.
  
  
• Todd Grisham interviews Lita & Edge
  
  
• Women's Championship Match [Lita vs. Mickie James] - This match provides a great study in contrasts. It was only two short months ago when Trish Stratus won the Women's Championship and then promptly retired. In her hometown no less! These things are almost unheard of in the WWE. In fact, i'm sure wrestling fans are familiar with the "Montreal Screwjob" which was a similar circumstance (except that Bret Hart was already champ). Yet, Vince made sure that Hart didn't leave the WWF with the Championship Belt for fear of it showing up on WCW. However, since Vince ran the WCW out of business, perhaps that fear was no longer there - explaining why he allowed Stratus to win her last match for the WWE. Or maybe she has compromising photos of him? Regardless, Trish is gone and a short time after, Lita announced her intention to retire too. After regaining the vacant title during the last Raw PPV, will Lita go out on top like Trish?
  
  
• Michael Cole interviews Batista - Actually, an interview usually requires some sort of banter between the interviewer and the interviewee. So let's call this more of a monologue.
  
  
• Traditional Survivor Series match [D-Generation X, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy & CM Punk vs. Randy Orton, Edge, Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms & Mike Knox] - This is another match that subtlety demonstrates where Vince's head is as far as ECW is concerned. Not five seconds after Knox hits the ring, Michaels superkicks him and gets the pin. That's right. FIVE seconds. If this doesn't demonstrate what Vince thinks of ECW, then I don't know what does. It's not like Knox was an original ECW wrestler, but he still gets squashed here during his first PPV appearance. In addition, he continues to ignore the pop the CM Punk gets every single time he enters the ring. It seems no matter how often HHH refers to him as "the future of wrestling", he'll never get an adequate push and eventually ECW will go the way of WCW - once again making the WWE the only game in town. That said, this wasn't a bad match. Heck, any time the Hardys are together, i'm happy. And I have to say, even though I haven't seen him since he abandoned his "Hurricane" persona, I thought Helms did a pretty good job.
  
  
• Kristal interviews Mr. Kennedy
  
  
• First Blood Match [Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy] - As I mentioned before, i'm thinking Kennedy has pissed someone in head office off. He continues to take some sick bumps in almost every match he's in. This was a pretty good match, however the chair shot at the end had me cringing and Kennedy did a great job of selling it.
  
  
• Queen Sharmell and King Booker in the locker room
  
  
• Traditional Survivor Series Match [John Cena, Kane, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Big Show, Umaga, Finlay, MVP & Test - Sometimes, these matches make me scratch my head. I mean, I do like seeing different wrestlers teaming up and facing different opponents, but there are some combinations that are truly mind-boggling. Sure, all the fellas on the "heel" side of things make sense, but Kane wrestling here as a "face"? Boggles the mind. And out of everyone here, only RVD, Sabu, Finlay and MVP impressed me. The rest of the performers are way to big to do anything other than clotheslines and slamming.
  
  
• World Heavyweight Championship Match [King Booker vs. Batista] - To be honest, buy the time we I got to this match, I was just ready for the damn thing to end.

The following extras are included:

• Todd Grisham interviews Lita after her match - How did that old song go? "Na-na-na-na na-na-na-na hey, hey, hey goodbye."
  
  
• Mr. McMahon's Kiss My Ass Cartoon - The less said about this, the better. However, if you've ever wanted to see McMahon's ass lifting weights and playing the drums...well, this is the extra for you! Oh, and you should seek therapy.
  
  
• Main Event of Survivor Series '87 [Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Paul Orndorff, Ken Patera & Don Muraco vs. Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, One Man Gang, Butch Reed & King Kong Bundy] - It was great seeing a classic match like this. Particularly in light of the recent passing of Bam Bam. However, I could've done without hearing JBL and Michael Cole calling it.

Video: I'm not sure exactly why it is, but the picture quality for the PPVs have been steadily decreasing. The picture quality for both this disc and Cyber Sunday was terribly lacking and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's not as if there is more content on the disc, both PPVs average 2-2 1/2 hours with very few bonuses. Anyways, it's presented in the usual full frame 1.33:1 ratio.

Audio: As with the picture quality, the audio seems to be on a downward spiral too. Usually, the sound is wide and envelopes the room. However, this release sounds very flat and it seems as if only the center channel is getting a workout. Still, it's listed as a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and is available in Spanish tambien.

Conclusion: It's a shame that it seems that there's no acknowledgement that this is the 20th anniversary of Survivor Series. As a matter of fact, it seems as if it's merely business as usual. If it wasn't for the teaming of wrestlers from three different brands for two matches, this PPV has stuff that is seen weekly on USA, CW or Sci-Fi (shudder). Which is a shame really. I wouldn't expect them to pull the big guns or put on a big show for the 16th edition of Survivor Series, but this is the 20th, dammit. That said, I enjoyed seeing Benoit again and some of DX's match, but not much else. This event deserved better. Rent It.