curtain call for undertaker

It’s WWE’s annual Thanksgiving-ish tradition, which means it’s Survivor Series in a Nutshell. This year, the theme is simple: curtain call for The Undertaker.

WWE is maximizing the nostalgia factor-and I don’t blame them. This year’s event marks the 30th anniversary of The Phenom’s WWE debut.

And, with things so aligned, WWE is sending him off in a big way. Part of me suspects that this pomp and circumstance has a bigger purpose…but we shall see.

If it is just a grand farewell, it will be a deserved honor for a highly decorated and supremely beloved Superstar.

Of course, the night isn’t only the farewell, however that turns out. Will it even really be a curtain call for the Undertaker?

The bulk of Survivor Series is all about brand versus brand, and we’ve still got a couple traditional elimination tag team matches to boot. We may be bummed that there isn’t NXT involved, but considering how they showed up everyone last year…

So, it’s time for a curtain call for The Undertaker!

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and see how it unfolds!

Best Match of the night:

A few to call out here.

I was high on the women’s Survivor Series match. It proved that it deserved to go off toward the main event side of the card.

Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns earned a (piped in) “This is awesome” chant. The match was very good, so I can’t complain there.

And finally, and with good reason, the main event segment-The Undertaker’s Final Farewell. Was it a good curtain call?

Maybe. Maybe not.

I liked seeing his entrance in ThunderDome…but…

I feel like it was a farewell that could have (should have?) happened when he left his hat and jacket in the ring following his loss to Reigns.

Like, he had a match or two after that, that went nicely. But his departure from that ‘Mania was a great curtain call for the Undertaker as it was.

Worst match of the night:

Maybe I am being overly harsh…but the men’s Survivor Series match kind of sucked.

I mean…Seth Rollins laying down and jobbing out? And an overall clean sweep?

Maybe (hopefully?) this all leads to bigger things. It has to, right?

For the short-sighted me, in the here and now, I don’t see how it makes sense just yet.

I suppose, however, that on the flip side, at least they didn’t have Jey Uso run the table and take out all five RAW Superstars by himself.

Part of me does wonder if this was booked in this way, so that Vince could remind FOX of which show is supposed to be his top show.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

Shane-o-Mac

This is awesome.

Undertaker

Sure, maybe they were heavily piped in, but it worked for me tonight.

Star of the Night

Not going to go with a Superstar, though if I had to, I’d probably give a nod to Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.

No, for this one, it was The Undertaker’s night, and as such, he gets this honor on the strength of 30 amazing years.

Spot of the Night:

The women’s Survivor Series match gave us a few. I liked the suplex by Peyton Royce off the top rope onto basically every participant (except Lana).

But then…there’s this…

Jobber of the Night:

Seth Rollins has to get this, right? I mean, he basically laid down for Sheamus.

Upset of the Night:

I don’t know that I would or could call it an upset…but Lana was upset that she was put in a corner for the entire match.

And then she became the sole survivor.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

For all the hype, I expected Vince to turn the farewell into some angle. As old school as Undertaker is, I expected him to want to put someone over on the way out.

Instead…it was just as advertised…a farewell.

A farewell 30 years in the making, and it happened in front of…not a single fan live in person.

Botch of the night:

Not going to single out a particular one, but there were some sloppy tags in the Survivor Series elimination bouts-especially in the men’s edition.

Kevin Owens slipped during the men’s bout too.

The most notable was probably Natalya going for  what I believe would have been a surfboard, but the legs slipped out and she had to improvise. She did, but it clearly was not as planned.

Commentary of the night:

Cole called Keith Lee and Otis the new Natural Disasters.

LOL Moment of the night:

Folks, we had an appearance by The Gobbledygooker…also his 30th anniversary.

And he WON the 24/7 Championship. Sure, he also lost it…but how’s that for comedy.

Noteworthy Moment:

Tons of Legends and Hall of Famers in the ring (and not socially distant or wearing a mask) for The Undertaker’s Final Farewell.

Overall lowlights:

I await the explanation, whether it comes on RAW or SmackDown or at some point down the road…why was the men’s match so lopsided and just oddly booked.

The card had some good spots, don’t get me wrong…but it just felt lacking in many ways. I miss more elimination matches.

I missed what we got last year, brand versus brand versus brand with scores kept (and NXT making things really interesting).

This may be my opinion, but it was a point mentioned by the announcers a time or two as well: this brand versus brand dynamic comes up very shortly after the Superstar Draft.

Many on the red or blue teams? Haven’t been on their brands more than a month or so.

So yes, while this is all going by a script and all…maybe this kind of event, with brand versus brand dynamics, should happen BEFORE the draft?

Overall highlights:

Dug the RAW versus SmackDown tag team match between the Profits and New Day.

Love the show of respect, and while it wasn’t a passing of the torch, I do feel it was a way for New Day to acknowledge that the Street Profits are truly that good.

The women’s Survivor Series match impressed me, though I honestly figured the Lana tables payoff would have come about by having her cost her team the match.

Well done tribute package for The Undertaker.

Considering they had all the Legends and Hall of Famers in the ring, it could have been nice if they were there when ‘Taker came out, but at the same time, The Phenom shares the ring with no man on his farewell.

After the final bell:

Well, it was an odd show, that’s probably the best way to put it?

We got some good matches, some not so good ones too.

All of that was overshadowed by the breaking of kayfabe and the legit, no angles, farewell to The Undertaker.

I would have loved to see a surprise appearance, or message at least, from someone like Brock Lesnar (whom has been said to have a lot of respect for ‘Taker).

I get why he didn’t appear though. If/when he returns to WWE, can’t have him looking soft and WWE won’t waste an appearance for a farewell.

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