- The WWE Survivor Series was last night.
- There was a bit of excitement, especially when the company was paying tribute to The Undertaker.
- But aside from giving the retired wrestler a great send-off, the show was more of the WWE’s same-old, same-old.
Another WWE Survivor Series has come and gone.
And the usual suspects showed up and showed out: Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, a Battle Royale, and a guest appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
But aside from a proper send-off for The Undertaker — who retired after an impressive 30 years in the ring — the event wasn’t quite eventful.
The WWE Survivor Series Is Usually A Flagship Event
The first-ever Survivor Series came in 1987, hot on the heels of the now-legendary Wrestlemania III event. It was at that time that the WWE began to realize that their Pay-Per-View events were lucrative ones for the company, and soon, it became a “Thanksgiving tradition” for the company.
But sometime in 2016, the flagship event devolved into a competition between the different brands (Raw, SmackDown, and later NXT) of the WWE. This, ultimately, distilled the potency of the event, simply because it was rare — if ever — that all three brands had the same quality of wrestlers on it at any given time.
Roman Reigns — one of the stars of this year’s Survivor Series — is a perfect example. He seems to be thriving on the SmackDown brand, now, but wasn’t doing as well on the Raw brand. You can see how well he’s doing in the video below, which is from last night’s event.
Is It Time To Retire The Event?
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way most — if not all — of us consumed our live entertainment. Even the WWE realized that they weren’t exempt from the coronavirus, and they had to replace their live audience with fellow wrestlers to fill out the stadium. What’s more, disposable income — the type of income one needs to purchase things like Pay-Per-View events, for example — is nearly non-existent thanks to the pandemic, so it seems a little tone-deaf of the WWE to expect its fans to come out of pocket for an event when that same money could be used to, say, pay their bills.
The highlight of last night’s Survivor Series, then, was the world-class send-off for The Undertaker, who retired after a 30-year career that, incidentally, began at Survivor Series.
Few things are worse than an idea whose time has come and gone. The Survivor Series, whether we like it or not, has more than gone past its expiration date, and it’s time for it to retire.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.