10 Worst Opening Matches In Survivor Series History | partsFUNknown - video Dailymotion

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When everyone is as excited for a show as they are for Survivor Series, its best to cool that anticipation as much as possible. These are the 10 worst opening matches in Survivor Series history.  00:00 - Start 00:43 - 10 01:30 - 9 02:23 - 8 03:15 - 7 04:06 - 6 04:58 - 5 05:49 - 4 06:44 - 3 07:34 - 2 08:23 - 1  SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/ Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/ Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/  Youtube Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

Transcript

00:00 Did you ever go to a party and wonder, 'Would anyone really miss me if I weren't here?'

00:03 That's Survivor Series."

00:04 Nah, look, there's a fair bit of affection for the neglected stepchild of the Big Four.

00:08 That's despite lazy booking that's seen the show's signature match become almost synonymous

00:12 with brand warfare that nobody really cares about.

00:14 But wrestling fans are traditionalists at heart, and a calendar without Survivor Series

00:18 would probably leave us feeling a bit funny.

00:20 Like when you go back to your hometown and your favorite record store is turned into

00:23 a vape emporium.

00:24 So a show like this one needs to kick off with a bang worthy of the lengthy history

00:28 of the name.

00:29 And a good opener sets the tone for the night ahead, so you want to make sure you get it

00:31 right, don't you?

00:32 Well, viewer, they don't always.

00:34 We're recording this before last night's show, so let's just hope that whatever open proceedings

00:38 in Chicago didn't stink the place out, and here are the 10 worst Survivor Series opening

00:41 matches ever.

00:42 Number 10.

00:43 Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown, 2016

00:45 This was still relatively fresh into the return of the brand split that at least gave the

00:48 semblance of change, although knowing how quickly that would go the way of the dodo

00:51 means these nostalgia specs are at least three sizes too small.

00:55 Before the match, Team Captain Nikki Bella is taken out backstage, which leads to a frankly

00:58 heinous platter of acting from Bella, Daniel Bryan and Natalya, not you, medical man.

01:03 You did fine with what you were given.

01:04 And then the match is just uninspired and long, the wrestlers work hard and the crowd

01:08 aren't asleep for it, it just doesn't have any spark to speak of.

01:11 Eliminations feel both obvious and odd, Smackdown's number two heel Carmella is sent packing quickly

01:15 by Alicia Fox of all people, Sasha eats an unnecessary pin, Nia Jax is presented as a

01:20 dominant force only to then tap out, and then the end just happens.

01:23 No ceremony, no massive moment, just two people, finisher, ring the bell.

01:27 Alright then, thank you, I suppose.

01:30 Number 9, Steve Blackman, Crash and Molly Holly vs TNA and Trish, 2000.

01:34 In spite of its presence here on the worst of list, I actually broadly like this match,

01:38 I know, I'm a man of such contradictions, what an enigma.

01:41 No, the real issue I have here is that it's just plotted out quite poorly.

01:44 First of all, it's five minutes long, which for six people doesn't really give it a chance

01:47 to go anywhere.

01:48 And secondly, the focus of the story really is Molly and Trish.

01:51 Molly had just debuted and it would take 84 lists to fit in all the good things I have

01:54 to say about Molly Holly.

01:56 Meanwhile, Trish has only had a handful of minutes in the ring, so she's still as green

01:59 as Henry VIII's sleeves.

02:00 That's a little history joke there, I am the professor after all.

02:03 But because you have a newly debuted star going up against a woman who's still learning

02:06 the ropes, you have to exercise a certain amount of smoke, mirrors and subterfuge.

02:10 These come in the form of the men in this match, who just sort of plonk themselves between

02:13 the women and do a few bits and bobs amongst themselves.

02:15 As a result, while it's a fine bit of entertainment, the match ends up feeling a bit disjointed

02:20 and not as satisfying as it could or should be.

02:22 8.

02:23 Christian vs. Al Snow 2001

02:25 Built around the winner-take-all match, Survivor Series 2001 features the all-time great commentary

02:29 team of JR and Paul Heyman do a great job of selling the idea that this is a make-or-break

02:33 night for the entire wrestling industry.

02:36 Which is why it's just plain odd to me that, on what I'm supposed to believe is the biggest

02:39 night of the company, this is the match they picked to kick things off.

02:42 There's nothing wrong with it, it's absolutely fine, but it's the coach from Tough Enough

02:46 challenging for the tertiary belt held by a guy who had only just joined the Alliance.

02:50 It's hardly the grudge match to kick off this world-altering occasion.

02:53 Knowing the Alliance were going to dominate most of the evening, to my mind, you have

02:55 two better choices for high drama.

02:58 You either kick things off with Edge retaining the Intercontinental belt, start the night

03:01 off on a high for WWF that seems to slip away bit by bit before the main event, or you do

03:06 a showstopper of a cage match between the Hardys and the Dudleys, which ends with Jeff

03:09 going for glory instead of taking the win to really light up the crowd.

03:13 This was just a curious choice.

03:15 7.

03:16 Headtrinkers vs. High Energy 1992

03:17 High Energy by name, High Energy by nature.

03:20 The entrance of Coco Beware and Owen Hart as a team is delightfully camp, with a demonstration

03:24 of their energy coming in the form of a cartwheel from Coco while Owen jumps in the air like

03:28 he's celebrating his A-level results.

03:30 And then there's the Headtrinkers, snarling away in the corner with Aphra on the outside

03:33 eating a chicken wing, which, I'm not gonna lie, is giving dated mid-naughties sketch

03:37 comedy.

03:38 This is an extended squash match, basically, designed to continue the momentum of the Headtrinkers

03:42 while giving Coco and Owen something to do, and they get off to a good start with some

03:45 very high energy indeed.

03:46 Owen Hart was quite a good wrestler, don't you know?

03:49 But it all gets derailed with a cheap shot from Aphra on the outside, which then puts

03:52 the control firmly in the camp of the bad guys, who just sort of do a bit of pounding,

03:57 stalking and camera mugging.

03:59 Owen gets a nice hot tag in, but it doesn't last very long.

04:01 If you've got your mates coming round and you're pouring drinks and having a natter,

04:04 you'd be forgiven for missing this match entirely.

04:06 6.

04:07 The Dream Team vs. The Enforcers 1989

04:09 Let's play a fun round of "Is it boring, or is it just the 80s?"

04:12 I'm being flippant, put your pitchforks down.

04:14 But in all honesty, the increased pace and athleticism of modern wrestling does make

04:18 some of the classic stuff feel a bit stilted, and that's not exclusive to wrestling.

04:21 Go back and watch some 80s football where people lose their minds over someone veering

04:25 slightly to the left.

04:26 There is some good stuff here, namely Rick Martell and Tito Santana.

04:29 I found myself leaning forward a bit every time they got involved, not least because

04:32 Rick Martell's gimmick of "the model" means he spends most of the match smiling while

04:36 locking moves in, and that is just fabulous.

04:38 But unfortunately, Santana gets eliminated far too early, and the rest of the match features

04:42 a lot of plotting and rest-holding.

04:44 22 minutes is far too long for rest-holds, even if some of them are Rick Martell flexing

04:48 while he's doing it.

04:49 The match also loses points because at one point Bad News Brown straight up just leaves,

04:52 which is one of my least best tropes in the Survivor Series matches.

04:55 It's also available in...

04:57 #5.

04:58 The Godfather, D'Lo Brown, and The Headbangers vs. The Acolytes and The Dudleys 1999

05:02 Hey, the crowd are enjoying themselves, I say to myself as I watch this match, but of

05:05 course they are.

05:06 This was 1999, the economy was pretty good, and all we needed to keep ourselves entertained

05:10 was the mere presence of boobs.

05:12 And because The Godfather reliably presents us with said boobs, he is over.

05:16 It's the 90s.

05:17 It's fun that D'Lo and The Headbangers get in on the Godfather act, but that's kind of

05:20 where the fun starts and finishes.

05:22 It's like they went, "Do the entrance, make the crowd happy, and since you're out there,

05:25 you might as well do a couple of moves as well."

05:27 And that they do.

05:28 Rather than get yourself excited for the night ahead, this is more like something to entertain

05:31 the ones who are already here while the rest take their seats.

05:34 Even at 9 minutes, this match takes ages over nothing, and then Bradshaw takes out his own

05:38 partner, which encourages Farouk to have a fight with D'Von over who gets to do the pin,

05:42 which is a bit dim because of the whole legal man thing, and then they brawl off into the

05:45 back, leaving Bubba on his own, and that's why they lose, and that's f***ing stupid.

05:49 Number 4.

05:50 Mankind vs. Dwayne Gill, 1998

05:52 The '98 edition of the show is a bit Marmite.

05:54 Some people hate it because the wrestling on the wrestling show is bobbins.

05:57 Others love it because it's a show-long narrative that twists and turns like a twisty-turny

06:01 thing.

06:02 Personally, I'm on the love it side of things, not least because the theme song absolutely

06:05 slaps.

06:06 But here's one for the bobbins camp.

06:07 The first match of the night is a 30-second bit of bollocks.

06:09 Vince comes out and hypes up Mankind's first opponent of the evening with prepared remarks

06:13 that put him over as a natural athlete and someone with an unprecedented win-loss record,

06:17 and it turns out to be Dwayne Gill.

06:19 And alright, in fairness, it's a bit funny when he gets scared by his own pyro.

06:22 But the match is a 30-second squash, and it's the very first thing on the show.

06:26 This entry on my list is longer than the match, I think.

06:29 This is a tournament to crown a new WWF champion, and I know we're selling a story of McMahon

06:34 trying to engineer his handpicked winner here, but does it have to be what we start the show

06:38 with?

06:39 If you're a player spanking career, you know this is one of my pet peeves.

06:41 This could have just been an angle on TV.

06:43 3.

06:44 Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown 2018 Last week I went on a bit about pacing,

06:47 and I'm going to do the same here, because by their very nature, these multi-person elimination

06:51 matches take bloody ages.

06:53 Opening the card, at the very least your audience aren't tuckered out, so you've got a nice

06:56 bit of legroom for your goodwill.

06:57 But that doesn't give you carte blanche to dick about, which is what they do here.

07:01 We get a few quickfire eliminations, which included team captain Naomi, feel that glow,

07:05 and then everything else has big skip energy.

07:07 There's no heat or rhythm to the eliminations, there's no flow to the match, but there is

07:11 a dance break.

07:12 There's also a double count out, and honestly, down with this sort of thing.

07:16 It's probably one of the reasons the Survivor Series matches inspire apathy at best these

07:19 days.

07:20 That kind of elimination just makes you wonder why they're even here.

07:23 Just do four on four.

07:24 And in the end, Nia wins in spite of screwing her own teammate over, but also she hasn't

07:27 done anything in the match, so it all just feels really hollow.

07:30 Oh, and it gets a brand supremacy ding too.

07:33 Jesus wept.

07:34 2.

07:35 Team Flair vs. The Spirit Squad, 2006 I did some quick maths, and Team Flair, comprised

07:39 here of Dusty Rhodes, Sergeant Slaughter, Ron Simmons, Arne Anderson, and the titular

07:43 Flair, has a combined age of 272.

07:46 Obviously this exists purely as a nostalgia pop, but again, it comes down to bad plotting.

07:50 Ron Simmons gets eliminated first, which removes roughly 85% of the knee mobility from Team

07:54 Flair, and as he goes, he drags a Spirit Squad member back with him like a haggard boyfriend

07:58 being hauled around Bicester Shopping Village.

08:00 Shout out to the three of you who can relate.

08:02 The Spirit Squad are supposed to be young athletes in their prime, so when they have

08:05 a 3-1 advantage over Flair, who is now all on his own, it's absolutely ridiculous for

08:09 him to overcome that.

08:10 And I know he's still an active competitor and he's Ric Flair, but even so, it stretches

08:14 suspension of disbelief quite far.

08:16 And then that's compounded even more when Flair does get the win, only to be left laying

08:19 by a beatdown from the squad anyway.

08:21 Who does this help?

08:22 1.

08:23 The Godwins, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg vs. The Headbangers and the New Blackjacks, 1997

08:28 The '97 Survivor Series is a really quiet show where very little happens, and that's

08:31 why nobody talks about it basically ever.

08:34 Good heavens above, this is dull, but it deserves at least some credit for doing something kind

08:37 of miraculous, and that is sending a Montreal pay-per-view crowd straight to sleep.

08:41 On commentary, Lawler is putting over that he likes these guys because they just hit

08:44 you.

08:45 And I definitely agree, there can be something impressive if you go the no flips just fist

08:48 route, but this is hardly the poster child for it.

08:50 I'm honestly struggling to stay awake just writing this.

08:53 They hit a few clotheslines, there's some stuff in the corner, I think the most athletic

08:56 thing they have going for them is a bulldog?

08:58 At the very least, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were settling into their Outlaws characters

09:01 nicely, and they started to get some rumblings of heat with the crowd, so giving them the

09:04 win was the right call.

09:06 But that is damning with the faintest of praise, this is just brutal.

09:09 Fortunately, the rest of the show passed without incident, and everything was fine.

09:13 And that's our list.

09:14 Did we miss any?

09:15 Was I overly harsh?

09:16 Be sure to tell me about it in the comments so I can read them and give more credence

09:18 to my chronic imposter syndrome.

09:20 But before you do, please make sure to like and subscribe for more of our silly little

09:23 wrestling content, and then check out another list like this one here.

09:27 He won't even let me write a shopping list without his prior approval.

09:30 Keeping the audience's energy up for a show that's devolved somewhat into lazy brand warfare

09:34 booking is a bit of a challenge, so it requires a solid opener to warm up the crowd and get

09:38 the adrenaline pumping for the night ahead.

09:40 And in its… would we say storied history?

09:42 There have been more than a few curtain-jerkers that did just that.

09:45 I'm Dan Hailing from PartsFunknown, and here are the 10 things you need to know about

10 Worst Opening Matches In Survivor Series History | partsFUNknown

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