Top 5 Underrated Moments in Survivor Series History

Written By Token

Survivor Series is approaching Sunday so I figured why not do an interesting list for you guys? Over the past 32 years, this PPV delivered some memorable moments that has fans still talking about them til this day. Moments including the debut of The Undertaker in 1990, The Icon Sting's debut in 2014, the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, etc. There's also been some underrated moments in the history of the event that doesn't get talked about as much, so we're going to look at the Top 5 Most Underrated Moments in Survivor Series History

5) Scott Steiner’s Re-debut in 2002

The year's 2002 and WWE was on a whole new different path of wrestling as we experienced the end of the Attitude Era and the rise of the Ruthless Aggression Era. Scott Steiner was part of the WWE, then WWF, roster in the early 90s along with his brother Rick Steiner as they dominated the Tag Team Division. Both Steiner Brothers would leave the WWF in 1995 and have been part of WCW until its demise in 2001. Fast forward to the 2002 Survivor Series and we've been surprised with the re-debut of Big Poppa Pump! Steiner emerged in front of a big crowd in Madison Square Garden as he decimates Matt Hardy V1 and Chris Nowinski with multiple Suplexes, then dumps Matt onto Nowinski at ringside with a big Military Press Slam! Fans went nuts during the whole ordeal and this had a big promise on Steiner's comeback run, but the rest was just.....history.

4) John Cena’s Return in 2004

2004 was an interesting year for John Cena's career. It was really the rise of his top star status as the following year he would become WWE Champion and so on. In the summer of that year, he started feuding with the new up and coming superstar Carlito Caribbean Cool! Cena was the United States Champion at the time and Carlito wasted no time by challenging for his championship, then shockingly would defeat Cena for the title later that night! Carlito would then align himself with a bodyguard named Jesús and Jesús would go on to take Cena out of action for a while. Survivor Series approaches and we had a 5 on 5 Elimination Match between Team Kurt Angle and Team Eddie Guerrero. Eddie for weeks was looking for a 5th man for his team and when he found out that Carlito had joined Angle's team, he knew EXACTLY who to pick for his team. John Cena made his in ring return at Survivor Series and fans went crazy as they were extremely happy to see the man back! Cena went straight after Carlito and Jesús as he beats and chases them out of the building, looking like a madman! This return definitely showed that Cena was becoming a big star on Smackdown and he would go on to do just that.

3) The Big Champion

The main event of the 1999 Survivor Series was scheduled to be Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock vs HHH for the WWF Championship. Can y'all believe we were THAT close to seeing a Triple Threat Match of THAT caliber?? Unfortunately, Stone Cold was run down by Rikishi in the parking lot earlier in the night. He did it for The Rock of course. As for the match, Big Show turned out to be Austin's replacement and he wasn't gonna stop at nothing to win his first world title in the WWF. Big Show would defeat HHH by Chokeslamming him for the pinfall victory and indeed captured the WWF Championship for the first time! Big Show was brought to tears, like always, and had the opportunity to show people what he could do as the top giant in the company.

2) Lesnar & Goldberg Face Off

Brock Lesnar was dominating Smackdown as the WWE Champion while Goldberg dominated RAW as the World Heavyweight Champion. Around this time period, fans were actually hoping to one day see the two of them in the ring as they both match super human strengths and were dominant superstars. Their first encounter would happen at the 2003 Survivor Series during a backstage interview as then announcer Josh Matthews was interviewing Brock. Brock's Survivor Series Team had lost their match earlier in the night against Kurt Angle's Team yet Brock was in denial about it. Brock gloats about being champion when he's suddenly interrupted by the World Heavyweight Champion, Goldberg! Goldberg shook Brock's hand then suggested Brock should wish him luck in his title defense against HHH in the main event, before staring him down then walked off. This was a big deal at the time and had fans more amped about seeing these two in the ring and we actually got just that at Wrestlemania XX! Unfortunately, the match didn't live up to the hype, at all, but this segment right here planted the seed.

1) The Undertaker defeats Yokozuna in 1994

1994 was the year of The Mighty, Yokozuna! Yokozuna was the WWF Champion for half of the year, competing against the likes of The Undertaker, Bret "Hitman" Hart, Lex Luger, etc. Speaking of The Undertaker, the year began with Yokozuna defending his WWF Championship against The Dead Man at the Royal Rumble in a Casket Match. With the help of half the heel roster, Yokozuna managed to defeat Taker and that was Taker's last appearance until that year's Summerslam. These two would link up again ironically in a Casket Match at Survivor Series and with Chuck Norris added as the special enforcer, this match was one of the most anticipated matches in 1994. It was a big battle and even though it wasn't easy, Taker defeated Yokozuna to successfully avenge his Royal Rumble loss and put the Japanese Big Man down. The close up shot of Undertaker rolling his eyes while the thunder and lightning in the background goes off will remain one of the best endings to a WWE PPV ever.