The 2001 Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 15th annual Survivor Series and took place on November 18, 2001, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event centered on the Survivor Series match, a tag team elimination match that pits teams of multiple wrestlers against each other.
Eight matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show) defeated The Alliance ("Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a Winners Take All Survivor Series match where whichever team won gained full control over the WWF. In other prominent matches, WCW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (D-Von Dudley and Bubba Ray Dudley) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) in a Steel Cage championship unification match, WCW United States Champion Edge defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Test in a championship unification match, and in the opening bout, Christian defeated Al Snow to retain the WWF European Championship.
The event marked the end of The Invasion angle, which had dominated WWF storylines since March when Vince McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was the last Survivor Series held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002 and the last Survivor Series to be produced under the WWF name, as the company was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002.
Production Background
Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987, generally held around Thanksgiving in the United States. In what has become the second longest-running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, referred to as the "Big Four",Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 15th Survivor Series was scheduled to be held on November 18, 2001, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.
WWF Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Vince McMahon was originally supposed to be part of the main event, but was replaced by Big Show due to injury. In addition, a title unification match between WCW Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion X-Pac was canceled because X-Pac was injured and unable to compete. To resolve this, the WWF retired the Light Heavyweight Championship shortly after Survivor Series in favor of the Cruiserweight Championship lineage, which was rebranded as a WWF title. The WWF European Championship match between Christian and Al Snow was neither announced nor built ahead of time, but was set up during a segment on the Sunday Night Heat program that aired before Survivor Series.
Storylines The event featured eight professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during, and after the event. Storylines played out on the WWF's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown!.
The largest storyline that had pervaded the WWF in the preceding months was The Invasion, which came about due to the actual purchase of rival company World Championship Wrestling (WCW) by the WWF just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven. The storyline eventually grew into a WWF vs. WCW faction battle, and eventually Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) became a part of the battle by joining forces with WCW to create The Alliance.
On the October 22 episode of Raw, Vince and Linda McMahon challenged Shane and Stephanie McMahon to a "Winner Take All" match to determine the fate of both companies, with the winning side continuing to stay in business while the losing side would be absorbed into the winner's company. However, Vince McMahon had to deal with multiple defections to the Alliance side, including Kurt Angle, as well as an increasingly heated feud between two of the WWF's biggest stars, The Rock and Chris Jericho, over the WCW Championship. Vince began spreading rumors to The Alliance that there was a mole within their faction. Upon hearing this rumor, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin came to the ring and asked Vince who it was. When Vince claimed it was Austin, Austin replied with a Stone Cold Stunner on Vince, and Vince continued to smile as he lay in the ring. Vince's spreading of rumors of a mole threatened to splinter the Alliance team while Shane rallied the team together by saying there was no mole, and Vince was trying to split the Alliance team apart. Meanwhile, The Rock continued to be suspicious of Jericho, wondering if he was possibly going to betray Team WWF, given Jericho's history with both WCW and ECW, while Jericho continued to deny it. On an episode of SmackDown! before the Survivor Series, Austin was the last man standing after both factions attacked each other in the ring. After that, Vince appeared on the entrance ramp and shared a smile with Austin, teasing that Austin would be the mole.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim RossPaul HeymanSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichBackstage interviewersMichael ColeJonathan CoachmanRing announcersHoward FinkelRefereesMike ChiodaCharles RobinsonNick PatrickJim KorderasEarl HebnerTim WhiteJack DoanMike Sparks
Before the event began, a dark match took place on Heat in which Lance Storm, Justin Credible, and Raven defeated Albert, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Spike Dudley.
Preliminary matches The event opened with Christian defending the WWF European Championship against Al Snow, Snow performed the Snow-Plow on Christian for a near-fall. After Snow chased Christian, Christian kicked the middle rope into Snow. Christian performed the Unprettier on Snow to retain the title.
Next, William Regal faced Tajiri. Regal performed a Regal Bomb on Tajiri to win the match.
After that, WCW United States Champion Edge faced WWF Intercontinental Champion Test in a title unification match. Test performed a Pumphandle Slam on Edge for a near-fall. Edge performed a Spear on Test for a near-fall. Test attempted a Full Nelson Slam on Edge but Edge countered the move into a Roll Up to win the match.
Later, WCW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) faced WWF Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) in a Steel Cage match to unify the titles. Stacy Keibler stole the cage door key off a referee and passed Bubba and D-Von a table. Matt prevented a 3D and escaped the cage. Jeff attempted a Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage through the table on D-Von but D-Von avoided the move, causing Jeff to fall through the table. Bubba pinned Jeff to win the match.
Next was an Immunity Battle Royal featuring members of both factions. The winner of the match would be protected from being fired for one year regardless of whether the WWF or Alliance won in the main event. Shawn Stasiak was eliminated by The APA before the bell rang. Tazz, Hugh Morrus and Chavo Guerrero entered the match at various points of the match. Test won the match by last eliminating Billy Gunn.
After that, Trish Stratus, Lita, Jacqueline, Mighty Molly, Jazz and Ivory wrestled in a 6-Pack Challenge for the vacant WWF Women's Championship. Trish performed the Stratusfaction on Ivory to win the title.
Main event In the main event, Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show) faced The Alliance ("Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a winner take all 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match. Big Show was eliminated by McMahon after a Leap of Faith. McMahon was eliminated by Jericho after a Lionsault. Kane was eliminated by Van Dam after a Diving Thrust Kick. The Undertaker was eliminated by Angle after Austin performed a Stone Cold Stunner on The Undertaker and placed Angle on top of him. Booker T was eliminated by The Rock with a Roll Up. Van Dam was eliminated by Jericho after a Breakdown. Angle was eliminated after The Rock forced Angle to submit to the Sharpshooter. Jericho was eliminated by Austin with a Roll Up. Jericho attacked The Rock with a Breakdown and Austin pinned The Rock for a near-fall. Austin applied the Sharpshooter on The Rock but The Rock touched the ring ropes, forcing Austin to break the hold. The Rock applied the Sharpshooter on Austin but Austin touched the ring ropes, forcing The Rock to break the hold. The Rock performed a Stone Cold Stunner on Austin but Nick Patrick pulled Earl Hebner out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Austin performed a Rock Bottom on The Rock for a near-fall. Austin attacked Patrick and checked on Hebner but The Rock pushed Austin into Hebner after an attempted Stunner from Austin. The Rock attempted a Rock Bottom on Austin but Austin reversed it and performed a Stone Cold Stunner on The Rock, but no referee was there to make the count when Austin covered him. While Austin tried to revive Hebner, Angle returned and hit Austin with the WWF Championship belt. The Rock performed a Rock Bottom on Austin to win the match, putting the Alliance out of business. After the match, Vince McMahon appeared on the entrance ramp and celebrated with The Rock.
Reception In 2008, J.D. Dunn of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 7.5 [Good], writing, "The actual survival match at the end is pretty good, but it's just more Rock/Austin, something that would have happened had the WCW buyout never occurred. Everything else was somewhere in the middle. The Hardyz and Dudleyz was played out, but at least it was a catalyst for the teased breakup of the Hardyz a few weeks later. With everyone else, it became a game of "how do we put this person over without actually putting them over anyone else?" That's why most of the midcard wound up treading water until the brand extension. I'll call this a recommended show for the main event and for historical reasons -- just not the ones the WWF was hoping for".
Aftermath The next night on Raw, Vince McMahon announced that the WCW Championship held by The Rock had become unbranded due to the dissolution of the Alliance and would be referred to simply as the World Championship. Several Alliance members were allowed to keep their jobs. Christian, The Dudley Boyz, and Rob Van Dam were all holding championships following the Alliance's loss (Christian was the WWF European Champion, the Dudley Boyz were the undisputed WWF Tag Team Champions, and Van Dam was the WWF Hardcore Champion). In addition, Stacy Keibler was able to stay employed due to her status as the valet for the Dudley Boyz and Test was able to after winning the Immunity Battle Royal. McMahon also debuted the infamous "Kiss My Ass Club" that night, where he said that an Alliance member—in this case, Alliance Commissioner William Regal—would have to literally kiss his ass to keep his job.