Brands collide as teams of five strive to survive
November 27, 2005
The recent rivalry between
RAW and
SmackDown will come to a bitter head on Thanksgiving weekend, as the 19th annual Survivor Series serves as the stage for one of the biggest battles in sports-entertainment history.
After SmackDown and RAW traded attacks on each other's home turf,
Eric Bischoff challenged
Theodore Long to settle the score in a 5-on-5 Classic Survivor Series Match. Long accepted the challenge and the match was set for Nov. 27.
On the Nov. 7 edition of RAW, Bischoff announced that World Tag Team Champions
Big Show &
Kane and team captain
Shawn Michaels were his first three team members. Later that night,
Carlito defeated
Shelton Benjamin to earn the fourth spot. Later on, WWE.com announced that
Chris Masters was named as the fifth member of the team. That same week on Friday Night SmackDown, Long announced that his quintet would be captained by World
Heavyweight Champion
Batista. It was later announced that joining The Animal would be
Randy Orton,
JBL,
Rey Mysterio and Lashley.
SmackDown carries the momentum into Survivor Series, having gone 2-for-2 in inter-promotional matches at Taboo Tuesday on Nov. 1. Can Theodore Long's brand keep the hot streak going and come away from Survivor Series as victors, or will Eric Bischoff's RAW bounce back from its Taboo Tuesday losses?
The same night that Bischoff made his challenge, Theodore Long made one of his own: a battle between the General Managers. Bischoff accepted, and he and Long will go one on one at Survivor Series on Nov. 27. Which General Manager will prove to be the top dog? <SCRIPT type=text/javascript>DisplayAd("LargeBody");</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=even><TD><SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--var plugin=(navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"])?(navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"].enabledPlugin):(0);if(plugin){plugin=parseInt(plugin.description.substring(plugin.description.index Of(".")-1))>=6;}else if(navigator.userAgent && navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("msie")>=0 && (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 95")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 98")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows NT")>=0)){document.writeln('<SCR'+'IPT LANGUAGE=VBScript\>');document.writeln('on error resume next');document.writeln('plugin=(IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6")))');docume nt.writeln('</SCR'+'IPT\>');}var pr_redir='$CTURL$';var pr_redir_def='~';var pr_bust=Math.random();var pr_pos='';if(typeof(prInst)=='undefined'){var prInst=1}else{prInst++}if(!plugin){pr_pos='&pos=g'}var prs="ads.PointRoll.com/PRServe/?ad=407D952005111902054"+pr_pos+"&pub=wwf&num="+prInst+"&size=300_250&code=no&hide=~&redir="+pr_redi r+"&defredir="+pr_redir_def+"&bu="+pr_bust+"&r="+Math.random();document.write("<scr"+"ipt language='JavaScript' src="http://"+prs+""></scr"+"ipt>");//--></SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The war between
Kurt Angle and
John Cena has escalated in the past couple months. The WWE Champion thought that he finished the Olympic Gold Medalist once and for all at Taboo Tuesday, where he won a Triple Threat Match over Angle and Shawn Michaels. However, on the Nov. 7 edition of RAW, Eric Bischoff announced that they would square off one more time for the
WWE Championship at Survivor Series. Angle holds several victories over Cena in recent weeks, including a RAW tag team match where hand-picked referee
Daivari helped Angle & Chris Masters defeat Cena & HBK by disqualification. On the Nov. 21 edition of RAW, Angle announced that Daivari was now his personal referee, and would be officiating the WWE Championship Match at Survivor Series. Will Cena overcome the odds and his adversary one more time on Nov. 27, or will Angle leave Survivor Series a five-time WWE Champion?
Also,
Triple H and
Ric Flair will go toe to toe in a Last Man Standing Match at Survivor Series. Since Triple H attacked Flair at WWE Homecoming, The Game and the "Nature Boy" have been at each other's throats constantly. At Taboo Tuesday, the fans granted Flair's wish, and he defeated Triple H in a Steel Cage Match to retain the
Intercontinental Championship. Can the "Dirtiest Player in the Game" prevail one more time, or will the Cerebral Assassin find a way to even the score at Survivor Series?
The Women's Championship could be moving to SmackDown after Survivor Series, as
Trish Stratus will face
Melina for the gold on Nov. 27. After eliminating Trish to win an inter-promotional Diva Battle Royal on the Nov. 14 edition of RAW, Melina had MNM abduct Trish the next week. Melina then challenged Trish to a championship match, which Trish accepted. Will Melina further her claim of being the dominant Diva, or will the fans get some Stratusfaction at Survivor Series?
To find out who will come out on top, be sure to tune into Survivor Series on Nov. 27, live on pay-per-view from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Stay tuned to WWE.com as more information and matches are announced for the Thanksgiving weekend spectacular.
