Survivor Series (2007)

Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1987. In what has become the second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, referred to as the "Big Four".[2] The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 2007 event was the 21st event in the Survivor Series chronology and featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The event was scheduled to be held on November 18, 2007, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.[3][4]

Survivor Series was the culmination of various scripted plots and storylines. For three months before the event, several professional wrestling matches and scripted plots were played out on WWE's programming—Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW—to create feuds between various wrestlers, casting them as heroes and villains.[5][6]

The main narrative for Survivor Series from the SmackDown! brand continued the events that unfolded at WrestleMania 23 in which The Undertaker defeated Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship.[7] Over the course of several months, the two wrestlers fought in various matches over the title, which eventually involved Edge. Undertaker was injured in one of these matches on the May 11 episode of SmackDown!, in which Edge had won the title after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Undertaker.[8] During Undertaker's absence, Edge was legitimately injured and vacated the championship, and The Great Khali won the vacant championship in a Battle Royal.[9] At Unforgiven, Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship from Khali, and Undertaker returned from his injury.[10] Afterwards, the original feud between the two wrestlers was restarted and culminated into a singles match for the title at Cyber Sunday; Batista won this match and retained his title.[11] On the November 2 episode of SmackDown!, a rematch was booked in a Hell in a Cell match at Survivor Series.[12]

The prime rivalry from the Raw brand continued a storyline that extended from Cyber Sunday, between WWE Champion Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels over Orton's title. At Cyber Sunday, Michaels was chosen by the WWE fans, via online voting, to face Orton for the title, though, Orton retained his title via disqualification.[13] A rematch was promoted for Survivor Series on the October 29 edition of Raw, in which Michaels would face Orton for his title.[14] Afterwards, Michaels and Orton fought in different match types over the weeks leading to Survivor Series.[15] On the episode of Raw before Survivor Series, Michaels and Orton met "Face to Face", in which Orton attacked Michaels.[16]

The prime storyline on the ECW brand featured ECW Champion CM Punk, John Morrison, and The Miz. Morrison and Punk's rivalry revolved over the outcome of their match at Vengeance: Night of Champions, in which Morrison (then known as Johnny Nitro) defeated Punk to win the vacant title.[17] Punk sought revenge, but Morrison defeated Punk in two championship matches at The Great American Bash and SummerSlam;[18][19] however, Punk won the title from Morrison on the September 4 episode of ECW.[20] At Cyber Sunday, Miz was voted online by fans to challenge Punk for the ECW Championship, though, Punk defeated Miz to retain his title.[21] A Triple Threat match was announced for Survivor Series on the November 13 episode of ECW, in which Punk would defend his title against Morrison and Miz, and the first wrestler to gain a pinfall or submission would win the match and the title.[22]

In a narrative extending to the September 10 episode of Raw, in which Hornswoggle, a dwarf, was announced as Vince McMahon's illegitimate son.[23] In this storyline, McMahon did not like the fact that Hornswoggle was his son, and as a result, he promoted matches in which Hornswoggle faced much larger opponents. As part of this storyline, McMahon announced that The Great Khali would face Hornswoggle at Survivor Series. In a promotional in-ring segment on the episode of SmackDown! before the pay-per-view event, Khali and Hornswoggle weighed in for their match, in which Khali weighed double the weight of Hornswoggle; this was a segment created by McMahon to humiliate his son.[24] The event included an inter-brand 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag team match.[25] Announced via WWE.com, WWE's official website, Team Triple H (Triple H, The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy), Rey Mysterio, and Kane) would face Team Umaga (Umaga, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), Finlay, Big Daddy V, and Mr. Kennedy).[26][25]

The pay-per-view began with the ECW Championship Triple Threat match, in which CM Punk defended the title against John Morrison and The Miz. Throughout the match, The Miz and Morrison double-teamed Punk, however, Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him. After Miz threw Morrison out of the ring, Punk performed a Go To Sleep on Miz to retain the ECW Championship.[4][28]

The next scheduled match was an inter-brand 10-Diva tag team match, in which the team of Kelly Kelly, Torrie Wilson, Mickie James, Maria, and Michelle McCool faced Victoria, Beth Phoenix, Melina, Layla, and Jillian Hall. Phoenix's team had the advantage over James' team, until James was tagged into the match. She delivered a Clothesline and a Long Kiss Goodnight to Melina to earn the victory for her team.[29][30]

Next was a tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship, in which the champions, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defended against Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes.[31] At one point, Holly performed a Clothesline on Cade, and sent Cade and himself onto ringside. In the ring, Murdoch performed the "Ace of Spades" on Rhodes to retain the World Tag Team Championship for his team.[4][29]

The fourth match was the five-on-four Survivor Series Elimination Tag team match between Team Triple H (Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, and Kane) and Team Umaga (Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, Montel Vontavious Porter, Finlay, and Big Daddy V). Before the event, it was announced that Matt Hardy would be unable to compete in the match due to a scripted injury. Kane was the first wrestler eliminated after an elbow drop by Big Daddy V. Umaga then eliminated Mysterio after the "Samoan Spike. MVP was eliminated by Hardy after a Twist of Fate. Kennedy was eliminated by Triple H after Big Daddy V accidentally performed an elbow drop on Kennedy. Big Daddy V was eliminated after Hardy and Triple H performed a Double DDT. Finlay and Umaga were then eliminated after a "Pedigree" to Finlay, and a "Swanton" to Umaga. As a result, Team Triple H won.[26][32]

The Great Khali faced Hornswoggle in the next scheduled match. At one point, Hornswoggle tried to hit Khali with a shillelagh, but Khali slapped Hornswoggle down to the mat. The match ended via disqualification, after Finlay, Hornswoggle's original caretaker, entered the ring and hit Khali in the head with his own shillelagh and Finlay turned face.[33]

The sixth match was Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels. In the match, Michaels was banned from using "Sweet Chin Music", while Orton was unable to get disqualified, and if either man broke those stipulations they would have lost the match.[34] Michaels attempted various submission moves, such as the Sharpshooter, Crossface, and ankle lock. Eventually, Michaels attempted to perform Sweet Chin Music but to prevent himself from losing the match, he stopped, which then allowed Orton to perform an RKO to retain the WWE Championship.[4][34]

The main event was Batista defending the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. At one point, Batista performed a Batista Bomb through a table on Undertaker for a near-fall. The Undertaker then performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Batista for a near-fall. The Undertaker then performed another Tombstone Piledriver on top of the steel steps and pinned Batista, but as the referee counted the pin, Edge, dressed as a cameraman, pulled the referee out of the ring, and hit The Undertaker with the camera he was holding and then positioned Undertaker's head on top of the steel steps. Edge then slammed a folding chair onto The Undertaker's head. While the referee re-entered the ring, Edge dragged Batista onto The Undertaker, and as a result, Batista pinned The Undertaker to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Edge came back into the ring and hit The Undertaker with a chair as he was sitting up.[35][29]