10 Survivor Series matches to be thankful for

It’s a week after Survivor Series and the WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition has come and gone, as have our own Thanksgiving traditions of gorging ourselves and shopping absurd amounts. Now, with all the Thanksgiving traditions past, let’s look at the Top 10 Survivor Series matches ever.

10. Ric Flair vs. Triple H in a Last Man Standing – Survivor Series 2005

Ric Flair was, at this time, the mentor of Triple H, the man in his corner who was to a previous generation what Flair was to his. Flair wasn’t thought to deserve this shot, but he got it anyway as Triple H did everything in his power to make Flair into a huge underdog babyface that the crowd was dying to win. This is one of the last great Flair matches and a worthy #10.

9. Team WWF vs. Team Alliance – Survivor Series 2001

When WCW and ECW formed an Alliance to defeat WWE, the feud wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The Alliance jobbed… a lot… and lacked star power, so Steve Austin was moved over to their team. In a big, winner takes the company match, it was Austin’s side vs. The Rock’s team to see who would reign supreme. Weak set up aside, this is one of the best survivor style matches the WWE ever put on.

8. Los Guerreros vs. Rey Mysterio and Edge vs. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit – Survivor Series 2002

When Paul Heyman took over Smackdown in 2002, he put all the best wrestlers (and Chavo) into a big tag feud. The results were spectacular, some of the best televised wrestling ever, and here, they took their feud to Pay Per View. Technical mastery.

7. The Powers of Pain, Rockers, Young Stallions, British Bulldogs and Hart Foundation vs. Demolition, The Brain Busters, the Bolsheviks, The Conquistadors, and the Rougeau Brothers – Survivor Series 88

An earlier survivor style match, this one ranks as the best ever. That’s quite unsurprising since everyone here was at least decent, the Rougeaus, Stallions, Bolsheviks were great, and Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Demolition are all, all-time greats.

6. Sid vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 96

Sid was, at first, Michaels’ replacement bodyguard for Diesel. After awhile, like Diesel, he got to go solo and then ended up beating HBK for the WWF Title. The match is great, easily the best of Sid’s career, as Shawn bumped all over the place for him. As great as this match was, and it was fantastic, it could have been so much more if, as promised the match and title run went to Vader instead.

5. Elimination Chamber: Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Triple H vs. Booker T vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane – Survivor Series 2002

When WWE invented this new gimmick, they weren’t shy about making sure it succeeded. They put four great workers, one good one, and one carryable monster in the match to make sure it was effective. Well, it worked, as Shawn got to celebrate coming back to wrestling with the WWE title.

4. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena – Survivor Series 2009

One of the five best matches this year, might rate even better with some historical perspective.

3. Bret Hart vs. Diesel – Survivor Series 95

Diesel had a long title reign during which he failed to draw peanuts and had only two great matches, one with Bret Hart and one with Shawn Michaels. Bret eventually got the call for a rematch and with no disqualifications put on one of the quintessential big man vs. little man matches, dragging Diesel to his third and final great match of his career.

2. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 92

In the first Survivor Series after the Hogan era, the two athletes who would lead the next generation got the call. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels began to create their legacies here, as each man (friends at this time) tore the house down in their best ever match against one another.

1. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – Survivor Series 96

Just like last match, this one is overshadowed by a more famous, but not quite as good match. Bret and Shawn had their later Iron Man at Wrestlemania, while Hart and Austin had their I Quit at Wrestlemania. Much like then, however, the smaller stage is where the feud arrived, with a heel Austin and a face Hart putting it all together for a masterpiece, one of the finest matches ever.