The Survivor Series PPV stood out for many reasons, but the one common reason would be simply the element of shocks, twists, and surprises. While both WWE television shows and PPVs have been repetitive in recent months, the WWE turned that off immediately with the Survivor Series event. With the PPV being the first one offered for free to new subscribers of the WWE Network as a part of the Network’s month long free trial period, it seems to be that the company wanted to make sure that this PPV was as amazing as possible. While I watch the Network on my Roku device on my television, there was not one single glitch—the first time that has happened for me.

There were returns, like the bearer of bad news with Bad News Barrett and Fandango with a new dancing gimmick. With the massive success of his last gimmick, he hasn’t been the same since his dancing partner, Summer Rae, and him parted ways. Hopefully him and Rosa Mendes will have a new type of chemistry that will push him back towards the top.

While The Miz and Damien Mizdow have gained popularity, I was not expecting them to win the tag team titles so soon. While it is unclear what the outcome was supposed to be, Miz’s stunned reaction, his eyes wide with shock and then excitement at the realization of his team’s victory, added more to the PPV’s element of surprise. The Divas put on an impressive Traditional Survivor Series elimination match. Lasting nearly 15 minutes, the days of the 2 minute squash matches from not to long ago seem like a distant past. It’s so refreshing to see the Divas shine as they use a wide array of their talents. On the other hand, the Divas Championship match with AJ Lee and Nikki Bella lasted only 35 seconds. However, it added to its storyline with Brie Bella giving AJ Lee the “kiss of death”, causing her to get pinned by Nikki almost immediately after similar to how AJ gave Daniel Bryan a kiss of death only to lead Bryan to get defeated by Sheamus in 18 seconds at WrestleMania 28 in 2012.

Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose put on an exciting match and there was that humorous element with Adam Rose and the Bunny defeating Slater Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil). Finally, the biggest surprise of the night was easily the debut of Sting in a WWE ring. From the sounds of the audience, no one saw it coming and those type of surprises help to make WWE so exciting, encouraging old viewers to come back for more while inviting new ones to join along for the ride.

-Celine

With the future of TNA being in limbo recently, until finding a new home on Destination America, many people are wondering and thinking about its future. While the WWE is the “granddaddy” of them all, it’s always nice to have another option to look at. From independent organizations to smaller companies like Ring of Honor and the new up and coming Lucha Underground, what would the wrestling world be like without a TNA? The WWE is easily the most popular professional wrestling company, but would that mean the quality of its product will go down with no fear of “major” competition, or will it remain the same, being aware of any new promotions on the block. Even so, WWE is, as of now, miles ahead of the competition. However, who’s to say that there won’t be another WCW springing up in the coming years with that amount of steam and praise? It’s good to have multiple options to choose from if the main one offered (this case the WWE), is doing something that you don’t necessarily like or find entertaining. Here’s to hoping the best for TNA and much success to the future of other professional wrestling promotions.

-Celine