Survivor Series 2011

Survivor Series 2011 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE that took place on November 20, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. It was the 25th annual Survivor Series event and the first one to take place in Madison Square Garden since the 2002 event.
Seven matches took place at the event, six of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In the main event from the Raw brand, The Rock, in his first match since WrestleMania XX, teamed with John Cena and defeated The Miz and R-Truth. The main event from the SmackDown brand saw Big Show defeat World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry by disqualification. In another predominant match on the card, CM Punk was victorious over Alberto Del Rio by submission to win the WWE Championship. According to early estimates, the buyrate for the event was between 300,000 and 310,000, up from last year's event which received 244,000 buys.
==Background==
Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that develop on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main event involves WrestleMania XXVIII opponents John Cena and The Rock teaming up against The Miz and R-Truth, otherwise known as the Awesome Truth. After losing to Alberto Del Rio last month at Vengeance due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth, Cena decided to face the both of them head on with Zack Ryder. However, before the match Ryder was ambushed by the two and Cena was beaten down by them in the middle of the match. Interim General Manager John Laurinaitis booked Cena with a match against Miz and Truth at Survivor Series with a partner of his choosing deciding to choose his Wrestlemania XXVIII opponent The Rock as his partner. Billed as the most charismatic team in the world, The Rock accepted his offer the following week.
Another main event from Raw involves WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio against CM Punk for the WWE Championship. Three months ago at Summerslam, Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank against CM Punk to become WWE Champion. While he did get his rematch at Hell in a Cell, Cena was the champion going into Hell in a Cell and it was a Triple Threat match, thus he expressed his desire to have his official one-on-one rematch for the Championship, which Del Rio firmly objected to. After locking him into an Anaconda Vise after a match, Del Rio agreed to give CM Punk his title shot at Survivor Series.
The main event from SmackDown involves the World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry against The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. Last month at Vengeance, Henry attempted to do a suplex to The Big Show from the second turnbuckle, only for the ring to collapse and both men unable to continue. Continuing their feud, another match was booked involving both men at Survivor Series with a reinforced ring so that it would not buckle and collapse.
As a tradition to the Survivor Series pay-per-view, there is a 10-man tag-team elimination match, this year involving Team Orton, consisting of Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Mason Ryan, and Kofi Kingston, against Team Barrett, consisting of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Hunico. Originally, Christian was a member of Team Barrett, but an injury precluded him from participating in the event.
==Event==
Dolph Ziggler defeated John Morrison in the opening match after a Zig Zag. After the match Zack Ryder attacked Ziggler and hit him with his finishing move, the Rough Ryder.
Beth Phoenix defeated Eve Torres in a Lumberjill match for the Divas championship after a Glam Slam from the top rope.
Team Wade Barrett consisting of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Hunico, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler (who appeared in his second match on the card), defeated Team Randy Orton, consisting of Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan and Sin Cara. The match started of with Kingston and Ziggler facing off. Ziggler was the first man eliminated after a RKO. Sin Cara was eliminated after sustaining a legitimate injury. Mason Ryan was then eliminated after Cross Rhodes by Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston was eliminated by Wasteland by Wade Barrett. Sheamus was disqualifed after not breaking the referees 5 count near the ropes. In frustration, Sheamus Brogue Kicked Jack Swagger who was then pinned by Randy Orton. Hunico was next eliminated after Randy Orton hit a RKO in mid-air to him. Following a distraction by Rhodes, Randy Orton was pinned by Wade Barrett, giving Team Barrett the win and leaving Rhodes and Barrett the sole survivors.
The Big Show defeated Mark Henry, but as it was by disqualification, the title stayed with Henry. During the match, Henry tackled Big Show through the barricade, but Big Show got into the ring before the 10-count. Big Show then performed a diving elbow drop to Henry. Big Show then went for his finisher, the WMD (a knockout punch) but Henry performed a low blow to Big Show causing the disqualification. After the match Big Show placed a steel chair over the leg of Henry and gave him a leg drop onto the leg.
CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio to become the new WWE Champion. Former WWE ring announcer, Howard Finkel was CM Punk's guest ring announcer for this match to match Alberto Del Rio's Ricardo Rodiguez. During the match, there were many reversals and counters to the two men's various finishers and submission holds. The match results into CM Punk winning via submission with Alberto Del Rio tapping out to the Anaconda Vise. Punk celebrated with the crowd after the match.
The main event was a tag team match consisting of John Cena and the Rock defeating The Miz and R-Truth. Throughout the match, Cena was targeted and was almost pinned many times. After R-Truth and John Cena took each other out of the match, the Rock performed a spinebuster followed by the Peoples Elbow to pin the Miz. After the match the Rock performed the Rock Bottom on Cena.
==Results==
;
;
*Dark Match: Santino Marella defeated Jinder Mahal (5:35)
*Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated John Morrison to retain the WWE United States Championship (10:42)
*Beth Phoenix (c) defeated Eve in a Lumberjill match to retain the WWE Divas Championship (4:33)
*Team Barrett (Jack Swagger, Hunico, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes) defeated Team Orton (Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston, Sin Cara, Sheamus & Randy Orton) (22:10)
*Big Show defeated Mark Henry (c) by DQ. Henry retains the World Heavyweight Championship (13:00)
*CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio (c) to win the WWE Championship (17:14)
*John Cena & The Rock defeated Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) (21:36)
==Survivor Series elimination matches==
*Team Barrett vs. Team Orton
:
Elimination # 	Wrestler 	Team 	Eliminated by 	Elimination move 	Time
1 	Dolph Ziggler 	Team Barrett 	Randy Orton 	RKO 	1:32
2 	Sin Cara 	Team Orton 	Unable to continue 	Had to forfeit due to injury 	3:41
3 	Mason Ryan 	Team Orton 	Cody Rhodes 	Cross Rhodes 	8:50
4 	Kofi Kingston 	Team Orton 	Wade Barrett 	Wasteland 	14:04
5 	Sheamus 	Team Orton 	Disqualified 	Disqualified for exceeding 5 count 	18:30
6 	Jack Swagger 	Team Barrett 	Randy Orton 	Brogue Kick 	19:33
7 	Hunico 	Team Barrett 	Randy Orton 	RKO 	21:38
8 	Randy Orton 	Team Orton 	Wade Barrett 	Wasteland 	22:10
Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)	Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)	Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)	Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)	Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)	Survivors: Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (Team Barrett)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jerry Lawler
*Michael Cole
*Booker T
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts
*Tony Chimel
*Howard Finkel (CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio)	
;Referees
*Charles Robinson
*John Cone
*Chad Patton
*Mike Chioda
*Scott Armstrong
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Survivor Series
*Event gallery
==DVD release==
* Survivor Series 2011 on DVD
==External links==
* Survivor Series 2011 official website
* Survivor Series 2011 at CAGEMATCH.net
* Survivor Series 2011 at Online World of Wrestling
* Survivor Series 2011 on WWE Network
Category:Survivor Series
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2011 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Lumberjack matches