In dire need of a classic pay-per-view to binge on? A reminder of happier times? An excuse to feel some youthful nostalgia pumping through your smarky veins? Welcome to Throwback Tuesday… because Thursdays are too meta. Each week I’ll take you back a year or ten and reminisce about a pay-per-view not haunted by Roman Reigns hate or CM Punk chants, introducing some of you to times where wrestling was just right for us fans.
For our first throwback, Survivor Series 2002: historically known as the night of the Elimination Chamber’s debut.
Madison Square Garden is a special place which I long to visit, a venue which holds so many incredible moments and rich history for the wrestling fandom, an arena which can’t help but make any wrestling show feel like a big deal. Even though the set designers have drifted away from the original build of the claustrophobic ramp with minimalist stage and titantron, Madison Square Garden still has that ability to make any crowd raucous and any night feel special. Survivor Series 2002 stands out as one of my favourite pay-per-views to take place in the Garden, which says a lot considering the wealth of Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble events which was also hosted in New York. 2002 was the peak of what has become known as the Ruthless Aggression era, with upcoming stars such as Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Randy Orton finding their feet, whilst other remnants of the Attitude Era were still living their prime.
This edition of the Survivor Series seemed to have it all, without even touching upon the traditional 5 on 5 elimination match. The innovation came with the introduction of the Elimination Chamber as well as two smaller tag-team elimination matches. There was bloody violence, phenomenal wrestling and shocking twists.
The show opens with a 3 on 3 elimination tables match – back when tables matches actually felt like a worthy stipulation. Bringing together two iconic ‘TLC’ stars in Jeff Hardy and The Dudleys (Bubba and Spike) to face 3 Minute Warning (Rosey, Jamal and Rico). The match featured all kinds of crazy spots that set the night off to a cracking start, with Jeff hitting one of his classic tron swantons through a table. The match concluded with the return to form of D-Von Dudley, who had spent the best part of 2002 attempting to find success as a singles competitor and a Reverend. The New York crowd ate this up and as you can expect, tables were broken.
Back when the Cruiserweight division felt like a unique aspect of the Smackdown roster, the championship was involved in a feud between Billy Kidman and Jamie Noble. Noble worked well as a chicken-shit heel champion, with most of his victories due to his valet-girlfriend Nidia, so having Billy Kidman (a popular rising star) set to dethrone him made for an interesting match. Even though this match wasn’t really the most flashy of Cruiserweight bouts, it was a nice change of pace and the two actually had some pretty good chemistry. Kidman’s reign didn’t really last very long, as it was purely a transition between one heel (Noble) to another (Matt Hardy). But still, it made for a great babyface victory celebration amongst a crazy NY crowd.
Before they were full-fledged Divas, there was still some hope left with the likes of Trish Stratus and Victoria. The two were set to fight for the Women’s Championship in a Hardcore Match, a stipulation rarely given to the female roster even to this day. This was Victoria’s first test as a top heel in the division, which the hardcore element seemed to help out with a lot. Not really the typical violent match that fans were used to, with slightly less barbaric weapons being to hand – broomsticks, ironing boards and kendo sticks being what was left under the ring for them. Either way, they made the most of their chance and managed to get Victoria over as the new heel champion. It was a surprisingly fun match for the time which began to champion pillow fights and lingerie matches – something I’m very glad has been left behind.
The second half of the show was kicked off with the Smackdown main event for the evening, a WWE Championship match between Brock Lesnar and The Big Show. Show had only recently returned as a top heel on Smackdown, destroying most of the roster on his way to challenging the man running for mayorship of Suplex City. A relatively short match considering the hype surrounding the two big men finally duking it out, but definitely a match many should remember to this day as the start of a gargantuan feud that’s occasionally lost in amongst this era. Just as the injured champion was about to claim victory, Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman pulled the referee out of the ring and laid him out. This allowed Big Show to get the upper hand with a steel chair and defeat Brock to win the title. The fans were in shock, seeing Heyman turn on the client he had brought into the WWE as the next big thing, aligning himself with the world’s largest athlete. The two escaped Madison Square Garden promptly after the three count to a chorus of boos and anti-Heyman sentiments amongst the usually supportive New York crowds. It was a great way to start Brock’s rise as a babyface and an excellent career revival for The Big Show. The two would go on to feud for the next six months, concluding with a stretcher match at Judgement Day and they still have an excellent chemistry to this day.
The second elimination match of the night came from Smackdown’s tag team division, pitting some of the best wrestlers in the company against one another for the Tag Titles. Edge and Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and Los Guerreros put on an instant classic, which isn’t exactly difficult considering the talent in the ring. A solid 20 minute mat-fest which wrestling purists will certainly enjoy. The tension between Angle and Benoit made for an interesting plot-point throughout the match, of course leading to their WWE title feud at the start of 2003. There’s not much else I can really say to justify this match, go watch it.
Just for funsies, a cool down segment was thrown in prior to the Elimination Chamber match. Fans had been awaiting the debut of former WCW champion Scott Steiner for quite some time, but nobody was aware of which brand he’d end up on. Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski found themselves sharing a ring, two next-to-nothing heels that were able to garner minimal heat from the Garden despite throwing out some genius insults like ‘Lupid’ (Stupid losers… get it?). All seemed like an interpromotional friendship was blossoming in front of our eyes, then the sirens happened. Scott Steiner received a massive pop from the Garden crowd, what followed, however, became notorious. You probably all remember this scene – GIMME A FUCKING MIC! Famous first words from Steiner. In amongst the usual Scott drivel was him confirming that he was to be part of the Raw roster. The world rejoiced.
But anyway, onto more historic and exciting things. Eric Bischoff introduced the crowd to his ‘creation’ – the Elimination Chamber, something so unbelievably brutal in his eyes that not one person was going to be able to survive. Granted, this match was pretty brutal. Putting six of Raw’s biggest stars against one another for the World Heavyweight Championship made this a spectacular match, giving all of the competitors a chance to shine and look like a threat to Triple H’s reign of terror. The biggest story heading into this match was the second encounter between H and Shawn Michaels, HBK promising that this comeback was going to lead to a championship run. Added into the mix were Chris Jericho, Booker T, Kane and Rob Van Dam, perennial mid-carders but four solid athletes who could make the Chamber look like a million bucks. Van Dam was there for the flashy Spider-Man spots, Kane was lobbing dudes through the glass pods and Jericho sold everything like a torture victim. Booker T was just sort of there whilst all this happened.
The storytelling in this match was on point, with the final two being HBK and Triple H. Of course the fans were going nuts for this, with both men exhausted after seemingly leaving pints of blood all over the canvas. Michaels managed to nail the Sweet Chin Music to finish H off, giving him his last world championship run in WWE. Confetti rained from the heavens to close the fantastic show.
So, WWE Network users, get on this. It’s a brilliant pay-per-view which captures the unique atmosphere and story-telling of the Ruthless Aggression era, it keeps it fresh with a variety of different wrestling styles, an easy 3 hour watch for any fan.
Come back next week for some TNA – bring your best LOLTNA memes.
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