UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 The 2002 Survivor Series, a decent show, actually was a turning point in the way of new top faces, new top heels, ending great feuds, and having a neat feel to it by taking place at MSG. This show had a lot of impact at once on the WWE, moreso then any PPV I can remember. 1. Tables Match - Spike, Bubba and Jeff Hardy defeated Rico and 3-Minute Warning. Underrated match! Not so much for the average ringwork, but the bumps were pretty brutal. Impact: Cements 3-Minute Warning as jobbers after months of destroying old ladies, legends, and The Dudleys. Impact: Brings back D-Von to a MONSTER pop, return of the Dudleyz. Saliva performs "Always". This sucks. 2. WWE Cruiserweight Title Match - Kidman defeats Jamie Noble for the title. SOLID bout. Crowd gives Kidman and Noble heat, whooo! Impact: A cruiserweight title change at MSG on PPV. Should have sent Kidman onto a nice reign. Injuries and poor booking destroyed that, though. 3. Hardcore Match: WWE Women's Title. Victoria defeats Trish Stratus. Horrible overrated match. Little wrestling flow and some "trash can" shots. Awful, blown, rescripted finish. Impact: New top women's heel cemented in Victoria. OVW stars continue to win titles, new face. -Big Show/Bischoff promo. While not important, it did stress the differences in brands...i.e. Show a jobber on RAW, World Title contender on Smackdown. 4. Brock Lesnar Vs. The Big Show for the WWE Title, Show takes it. This match is historically huge. 1)The Internet creas for Lesnar and his F-5, and likes his face turn. 2)The live crowd goes apeshit for face Brock, leading his character to a WrestleMania main event. 3)Big Show is made into a top Smackdown heel (still is today). It also begins Brock's WM chase. 5. Guerreros Vs. Edge/Rey Vs. Angle/Benoit. This match is extremely shitty for most parts, but has some REALLY GOOD Angle/Benoit parts. Not a great bout, but does do the following: 1)Ends the "Smackdown Six" battles. 2)Establishes Los Guerreros as Smackdown's top team (still are today). 3)Rekindles Benoit Vs. Angle Scott Steiner debut. Kinda important, I suppose. Matt's "Version 1" character debuts on PPV finally. "RNN Breaking News"...kept Orton enjoyable in a small vignette...Orton's very first PPV appearence? Elimination Chamber. The better of the two. First time. Kane/HBK's first meeting. Booker T/RVD in a PPV main event. Had a lot of intrigue for being a new gimmick match. Michaels puts in a good effort, as does HHH. RVD works his ass off. EC wasn't as "dynamic" as Hell in a Cell was after its debut, but it was something different. This PPV: Establishes VICTORIA, LOS GUERREROS, BIG SHOW, MICHAELS, KIDMAN, ORTON, etc. in one night. Say what you want about how each was booked afterwards, but this show did its best to make the look great. It also created the #1 face in WWE, Brock Lesnar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 I was there- the crowd couldn't give a shit about Kidman v. Noble. 3MW were cemented as jobbers when they lost to Big Show in a 3-1 match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 I think they cared. They popped for the high-flying stuff, the near falls, false-finishes and finish. They cared more than Regal/Storm Vs. Hurricane/Goldust. j/k Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Not really. The crowd was dead (the people next to me were chanting boring) until Noble killed him with the DDT. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Olympic Slam Report post Posted December 6, 2003 You can make the case that EVERY PPV has furthered careers/the fed/characters ect. Survivor Series 02' was just another show in a string of depressing 2002 PPV's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Bob, maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part then for Noble/Kidman to have some heat. On a second look, the later parts had some noise, the last 2 minutes were really hot, and the rest was not well-responded too. And they took Kidman's wifebeater and jean shorts away. He's useless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 I really don't see how this PPV had a significant impact on anything. The only thing that it really did was that the main event cemented where the WWE's priorities were and who they were with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Olympic Slam, I don't think you can make that case. The only recent "major happenings" at PPVs for WWE stars are like: -Goldberg wins World Title at Unforgiven -La Resistance wins Tag Titles at Badd Blood -Team Angle cemented as top team at WM 19 -Tajiri pushed over Rey at top cruiser -Orton made major player in wins over HBK/Team Austin Stuff like that. SSeries 02 made Big Show a major player, made Kidman the top cruiser, made Los Guerreros the top team, threw HBK to the top, turned Brock face, established Victoria as a new champ, put Orton on PPV, debuted Steiner, etc. all at ONCE...I found it pretty neat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Olympic Slam, I don't think you can make that case. The only recent "major happenings" at PPVs for WWE stars are like: -Goldberg wins World Title at Unforgiven -La Resistance wins Tag Titles at Badd Blood -Team Angle cemented as top team at WM 19 -Tajiri pushed over Rey at top cruiser -Orton made major player in wins over HBK/Team Austin Stuff like that. SSeries 02 made Big Show a major player, made Kidman the top cruiser, made Los Guerreros the top team, threw HBK to the top, turned Brock face, established Victoria as a new champ, put Orton on PPV, debuted Steiner, etc. all at ONCE...I found it pretty neat. But you said it was a turning point. How so? Nothing has improved since then. As a matter of fact.....things are worse! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 It's a turning point because it represents a changing of stories. That has nothing to do with how the stories are "good" or "bad". By the way, uh, I'll take December 2003 WWE over December 2002 WWE. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deancoles 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Kidman has never been pushed as top cruiser,Rey Mysterio has.Poor booking didn't ruin the CW run of kidman,the crowds just don't care about Kidman. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LivingLegendGaryColeman 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Kidman has never been pushed as top cruiser,Rey Mysterio has.Poor booking didn't ruin the CW run of kidman,the crowds just don't care about Kidman. The sad thing was, Kidman was very over in WCW. He was pretty over during the Invasion also. The WWE fans loved RVD and to a lesser extent Kidman. However, he was paired against X-Pac at the time, but even after X-Pac, he was still over until he got injured. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 If we're talking about INVASION Kidman, the crowds couldn't give a SHIT about him. They only popped for his (few) highspots, and when he beat X-Pac. They tried pushing him as an "alliance guy that gets cheered" for about a week, including a match against Alliance-ally Tazz on RAW. The crowd chanted "boring" during these attempts, and he was quickly thrust into jobber status (read: Survivor Series 01 Battle Royal). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Olympic Slam Report post Posted December 6, 2003 By the way, uh, I'll take December 2003 WWE over December 2002 WWE. I'll agree with you on that, but barely. 2002 was a fun half-year for wrestling from January 02 to May 02 when the stories were so bad they were good and there was just enough talent for a really good match to show up every night. Things kind of died when Austin left Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 Olympic Slam, I don't think you can make that case. The only recent "major happenings" at PPVs for WWE stars are like: -Goldberg wins World Title at Unforgiven -La Resistance wins Tag Titles at Badd Blood -Team Angle cemented as top team at WM 19 -Tajiri pushed over Rey at top cruiser -Orton made major player in wins over HBK/Team Austin Stuff like that. SSeries 02 made Big Show a major player, made Kidman the top cruiser, made Los Guerreros the top team, threw HBK to the top, turned Brock face, established Victoria as a new champ, put Orton on PPV, debuted Steiner, etc. all at ONCE...I found it pretty neat. You trying to justify La Reisistance winning the tag titles as something major is hilarious. Really, keep going. I'm lovin' this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted December 6, 2003 By the way, uh, I'll take December 2003 WWE over December 2002 WWE. I'll agree with you on that, but barely. 2002 was a fun half-year for wrestling from January 02 to May 02 when the stories were so bad they were good and there was just enough talent for a really good match to show up every night. Things kind of died when Austin left There was a ton of really good matches from May to December from the Smackdown Six. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
