Survivor Series 2009

Survivor Series 2009 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on November 22, 2009 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. It was the 23rd Survivor Series event and featured talent from the Raw, Smackdown and ECW brands. There were six matches on the card of the event.
There were two matches that were deemed the main events of the program. The first was the triple threat match featuring The Undertaker defending the World Heavyweight Championship successfully against both halves of the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show. This was also followed by the other main event match: another triple threat with John Cena defending the WWE Championship against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Four matches comprised the undercard of the event with three being elimination tag team matches, often thought of as a Survivor Series "tradition". The first was the team of WWE United States Champion The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, and Dolph Ziggler defeating WWE Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay, and Evan Bourne. This was later followed by Kofi Kingston leading the team of Christian, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), Mark Henry, and R-Truth with a win over Randy Orton, CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase. The third of these matches held was composed of Mickie James, WWE Divas Champion Melina, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, and Eve Torres getting a win over that of WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, Alicia Fox, and Layla. Also featured was a singles match that saw Batista defeat Rey Mysterio.
The event received 235,000 pay-per-view buys, down from the previous year's event of 319,000 buys.
==Background==
Survivor Series featured numerous professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw, SmackDown, ECW and WWE Superstars—World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that build tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers on the televised broadcast were from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.
The Raw brand's main event was announced on the October 26 episode of Raw by the show's guest hosts and storyline matchmakers, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. John Cena would defend the WWE Championship against both members of D-Generation X, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, in a Triple Threat match.
At Bragging Rights, a 7-on-7 tag team match pitting contingencies of Raw wrestlers against SmackDown wrestlers was held, with the winning team declared the dominant brand. Near the end of the match, Raw wrestler, and one-half of the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, The Big Show, turned on his team, allowing the other half, Chris Jericho, to score the victory for SmackDown. The following night on Raw, Big Show revealed that he turned on Team Raw as a favor from SmackDown general manager, Theodore Long, who in return would grant him a World Heavyweight Championship shot at Survivor Series against The Undertaker. On the October 30 edition of SmackDown, both Jericho and Kane expressed a desire to face The Undertaker at Survivor Series instead of The Big Show. Long decided to change the World Heavyweight Championship match into a Triple Threat match, with the third person being the winner of a match between Jericho and Kane. Jericho won the match to earn his spot at Survivor Series.
Following the fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bragging Rights, two of the match's participants, Rey Mysterio and Batista, had a confrontation rooted in Batista's perception of Mysterio holding him back from winning the championship, promptly having the latter turn on his ally, and assault him. After failing to reason with him, it was announced on the November 6 edition of SmackDown that the two would face each other at Survivor Series.
A tradition of Survivor Series are a variety of tag team matches with elimination rules in effect. This year, it was announced that three of these matches would take place. The first announced would have former partners WWE Intercontinental Champion John Morrison and WWE United States Champion The Miz, who ended their partnership following a subsequent betrayal from The Miz, leading to verbal jabs over the following months via their former Internet show, The Dirt Sheet, as well as a match a month prior at Bragging Rights seeing the latter take the victory. It was announced on the company's website that Morrison would captain the team comprising: Shelton Benjamin, Evan Bourne, Finlay, and Matt Hardy while The Miz would enlist Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, and Dolph Ziggler. It was also announced that Randy Orton would be have a team versus one of Kofi Kingston's, rooted in their involvement in each other's matches over the previous weeks and Kingston defacing of Orton's car. Orton will be enlisting the help of protégés Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes (collectively known as The Legacy), as well as CM Punk and William Regal. Kingston's team is composed of ECW Champion Christian, Mark Henry, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), and R-Truth. 
Along with the previous two, there was also another Survivor Series match announced consisting of the women of the company. WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool will be teaming with Alicia Fox, Jillian Hall, Layla, and Beth Phoenix; the opposing team will be captained by Mickie James with Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, WWE Divas Champion Melina, and Eve Torres.
==Event==
===Pre-show===
Prior to Survivor Series airing live on pay-per-view, the fans in attendance were presented with an untelevised match pitting Santino Marella against Chavo Guerrero, which saw Marella get the pinfall victory.
===Preliminary matches===
The show commenced on pay per view with the first of its three elimination tag team matches: the team of The Miz versus that of John Morrison. The match started with Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger, which saw Bourne dodge Swagger's attacks until Dolph Ziggler made his way in, leading to Miz's team trying to neutralize Bourne. As Bourne managed to break free, he ascended the top turnbuckle, and dove off with his signature shooting star press on Ziggler, leading to a pin predicament, thus eliminating Ziggler from the match. The next man from the Team Miz in was Drew McIntyre, who quickly eliminated Bourne by giving him a DDT. Finlay then entered the match as McIntyre tagged in Sheamus, leading to the latter kicking Finlay in the face before pinning him. As Morrison entered the match for the first time, he eliminated Swagger by connecting with his own version of a spinning split legged moonsault he calls Starship Pain. The Miz entered the match following, and beat down on Morrison, before Shelton Benjamin made his way into the match, which saw him connect with a diving forearm attack and a pair of suplexes. The Miz regained his advantage by using the Skull-Crushing Finale on Benjamin leading to a pin. Matt Hardy made his way in as McIntyre did himself with Hardy dominating McIntyre before Hardy was cut off by his opponent, and dropped with McIntyre's signature double underhook DDT and eliminated. With Morrison being the only one remaining on his team, he was beaten down by his three opponents, leading to Sheamus powerbombing Morrison and then pinning him, scoring the victory for Miz's team.
Rey Mysterio versus Batista followed. The match started with Mysterio trying to hit quick attacks before Batista took Mysterio outside of the ring to the floor of the arena, which saw him throw his opponent into one of the posts of the ring. As the action returned to the ring, Batista went to execute his finishing move, the Batista Bomb, only to be stopped as his opponent escape and threw him to the outside. With Batista outside again, Mysterio ran across the ring apron, and dove out at Batista with a seated senton. As the two once again made their way into the ring, Mysterio dropped Batista into the ropes as he executed the 619. As Mysterio went to pin his opponent, Batista evaded the attempt, leading to Mysterio ascending the top turnbuckle and attempted a frog splash; Batista blocked the attack, and performed the Batista Bomb onto his opponent three times, causing the referee to stop the match. Batista then placed a chair in the ring, leading to him spinebuster Rey onto the chair before the medical staff took him out on a stretcher.
The third match was five-on-five Elimination Tag Team match between Team Kingston vs. Team Orton. The match started with Randy Orton getting a quick pin against the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, with an RKO, due to the rest of Legacy interfering. MVP came but the rest of Orton team planned it out and beat him near the corner all taking turns, finally ending with CM Punk. Punk tried to make MVP tap but to no use and MVP tagged in R- Truth. R- Truth got the upper hand with his speed and nearly took Punk out but, again due to interference by the rest of Orton's team Truth got a Go to Sleep and was out making it a 3-on-5. Christian got in and pummeled Punk but couldn't get a pin, with Punk tagging in Ted Dibiase. Dibiase managed to pummel Christian, but Captain Charisma turned things around by surprisingly taking him out with a Sunset Flip. But William Regal came on the attack, with Christian tagging in Kofi. Regal took quite a beating from Kingston but tagged in Cody Rhodes who took Kofi on and then tagged in Regal again. Regal did not know that MVP was tagged in again and was quickly taken out by Porter with The Franchise. Rhodes then took on MVP and avoided two near falls, with Porter tagging in Christian. Christian was later bodyslammed by Rhodes who tagged in his team's leader, Randy Orton. He tagged in Rhodes again who failed to take out Christian and found himself with Porter. Rhodes is later a punching bag and nearly got a Play of the Day, but manages to take The Franchise Playa out with the Cross Rhodes. Kingston took Rhodes by surprise, nearly getting a pin. Rhodes found himself getting pummeled by both Christian and Kofi by them making quick tags. Rhodes managed to throw Christian in a turnbuckle but got eliminated when he got a Killswitch. Orton came back in and ended Captain Charisma's time in the match by throwing him in a turnbuckle, then hitting the RKO. Then it was just a 1-on-2 match where Kingston was the last man for his team with Randy in with Punk. The Former Tag Team Champions were briefly dazed due to them working together before but fought it out. They matched each other blow from blow until Punk nearly eliminated Kofi with a Roll-up pin, but instead it was reversed to elimante him instead. Orton came in but in 6 seconds was quickly taken out with a Trouble in Paradise with Kofi winning the match.
====Main Event Matches====
The fourth match was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker and the Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and Big Show.
The fifth match was a five-on-five elimination match involving WWE Divas Champion Melina, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, and Eve Torres taking on the team of WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool, Layla, Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, and Jillian Hall.
The final match was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between WWE Champion John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H.
==Aftermath==
After John Cena retained the WWE Championship, a 'Breakthrough battle royale' was announced by Raw guest host Jesse Ventura to determine the next number one contender. The concept being that every participant was to be a superstar who had not previously won a world championship. Eventually Sheamus won the match and the contender-ship, later on he attacked Cena and slammed through a table, Ventura who had instigated the attack announced that Cena would defend the championship in a Tables match.
Batista's actions sidelined Rey Mysterio for the next few weeks, Batista would later on become the number one contender for The Undertaker's World Heavyweight Championship. After a few weeks of repeatedly attacking the champion, it was announced that Undertaker would defend the Championship in a Chairs match.
==Reception==
Survivor Series received generally mixed reviews from critics, with many noting the predictable card and lackluster showcasing of talent for a "Big Four" pay-per-view. The Sun gave the event a 7.5 out of 10 score, praising Kofi Kingston's push, but criticizing the predictability of the matches, particularly the two world title matches. The Sun commented on the WWE Championship match stating that the first five seconds gave a bigger shock than the rest of the event combined as it features Shawn Michaels immediate Superkick to Triple H to begin the bout.
==Results==
;
;
* Dark Match: Santino Marella defeated Chavo Guerrero
* Team Miz (The Miz, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Jack Swagger) defeated Team Morrison (John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay and Evan Bourne) (20:54)
* Batista defeated Rey Mysterio by knockout (6:50)
* Team Kingston (Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, Christian and R-Truth) defeated Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Jr., CM Punk and William Regal) (20:40)
* The Undertaker (c) defeated Big Show and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (13:38)
* Team Mickie (Mickie James, Melina, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Eve Torres) defeated Team Michelle (Michelle McCool, Alicia Fox, Layla, Jillian and Beth Phoenix) (10:38)
* John Cena (c) defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE Championship (21:13)
==Survivor Series elimination matches==
*Team Miz vs. Team Morrison
:
Elimination # 	Wrestler 	Team 	Eliminated by 	Elimination move 	Time
1 	Dolph Ziggler 	Team Miz 	Evan Bourne 	Pinfall after Air Bourne 	4:00
2 	Evan Bourne 	Team Morrison 	Drew McIntyre 	Pinfall after Double Underhook DDT 	4:15
3 	Finlay 	Team Morrison 	Sheamus 	Pinfall after Boot to the Face 	5:15
4 	Jack Swagger 	Team Miz 	John Morrison 	Pinfall after Starship Pain 	13:10
5 	Shelton Benjamin 	Team Morrison 	The Miz 	Pinfall after Skull Crushing Finale 	15:00
6 	Matt Hardy 	Team Morrison 	Drew McIntyre 	Pinfall after Double Underhook DDT 	17:00
7 	John Morrison 	Team Morrison 	Sheamus 	Pinfall after Powerbomb 	20:55
Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)	Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)	Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)	Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)	Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)	Survivors: The Miz, and Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus (Team Miz)
*Team Orton vs. Team Kingston
:
Elimination # 	Wrestler 	Team 	Eliminated by 	Elimination move 	Time
1 	Mark Henry 	Team Kingston 	Randy Orton 	RKO 	0:55
2 	R-Truth 	Team Kingston 	CM Punk 	Go To Sleep (GTS) 	3:15
3 	Ted DiBiase 	Team Orton 	Christian 	Springboard Sunset Flip Bomb 	5:10
4 	William Regal 	Team Orton 	MVP 	Player's Boot 	7:00
5 	MVP 	Team Kingston 	Cody Rhodes 	Dream Street 	10:30
6 	Cody Rhodes 	Team Orton 	Christian 	Killswitch 	11:40
7 	Christian 	Team Kingston 	Randy Orton 	RKO 	13:40
8 	CM Punk 	Team Orton 	Kofi Kingston 	Roll-up 	20:35
9 	Randy Orton 	Team Orton 	Kofi Kingston 	Trouble In Paradise 	20:50
Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)	Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)	Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)	Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)	Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)	Survivor: Kofi Kingston (Team Kingston)
*Team Mickie vs. Team Michelle
:
Elimination # 	Wrestler 	Team 	Eliminated by 	Elimination move 	Time
1 	Layla El 	Team Michelle 	Kelly Kelly 	K2 	1:15
2 	Gail Kim 	Team Mickie 	Michelle McCool 	Faith Breaker 	2:05
3 	Jillian Hall 	Team Michelle 	Eve Torres 	TBA 	3:35
4 	Eve Torres 	Team Mickie 	Beth Phoenix 	Glam Slam 	3:50
5 	Kelly Kelly 	Team Mickie 	Beth Phoenix 	Glam Slam 	4:05
6 	Beth Phoenix 	Team Michelle 	Mickie James 	Pinfall 	5:00
7 	Alicia Fox 	Team Michelle 	Mickie James 	TBA 	6:30
8 	Michelle McCool 	Team Michelle 	Melina 	Last Call 	10:40
Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)	Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)	Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)	Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)	Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)	Survivor: Mickie James and Melina (Team Mickie)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jerry Lawler
*Michael Cole
*Matt Striker
*Carlos Cabrera (Spanish)
*Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
;Interviewers
*Josh Mathews
*Todd Grisham	
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts (Raw)
*Tony Chimel (Smackdown)
;Referees
*John Cone
*Jack Doan
*Mike Chioda
*Charles Robinson
*Scott Armstrong
*Jim Korderas
*Justin King
*Aaron Mahoney
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Survivor Series
==DVD Release==
* DVD on Amazon.com
==External links==
* Survivor Series 2009 website at WWE.Com
* Survivor Series 2009 at CAGEMATCH.COM
* on WWE Network
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Survivor Series
Category:2009 pay-per-view events