Survivor Series (2005) (2025)

Survivor Series
Promotions	World Wrestling Entertainment
Date	November 27, 2005
Venue	Joe Louis Arena
City	Detroit, Michigan
Sponsor(s)	NovaLogic's Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Pay-per-view event chronology
Previous	Taboo Tuesday
Next	Armageddon
Survivor Series chronology
Previous	2004
Next	2006

Survivor Serieswas aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view(PPV)eventproduced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment(WWE). It took place on November 27, 2005, at theJoe Louis ArenainDetroit, Michiganand consisted of sixprofessional wrestling matchesinvolvingwrestlersfrom theRawandSmackDownbrand divisions. It was nineteenth annual Survivor Series event chronology.

In the first of twomain eventmatches,WWE ChampionJohn CenadefeatedKurt Angleto retain his title. The second main event was an inter-promotional5-on-5 Survivor Series match, in which Team SmackDown (Batista,Rey Mysterio,John "Bradshaw" Layfield(JBL),Bobby Lashley, andRandy Orton) defeated Team Raw (Shawn Michaels,Kane,The Big Show,Carlito, andChris Masters) after Orton last eliminated Michaels. In another match,Triple HdefeatedRic Flairin aLast Man Standing match.

Production[]

Background[]

Survivor Seriesis an annualgimmickpay-per-view, produced every November byWorld Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) since 1987. The second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE'sWrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania,Royal Rumble, andSummerSlam, dubbed the "Big Four".The event is traditionally characterized by havingSurvivor Series matches, which aretag team elimination matchesthat typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 2005 event was the nineteenth event in the Survivor Series chronology and featured wrestlers from theRawandSmackDown!brands. It was the first Survivor Series in which the titular match had the brands going against each other, which was the only Survivor Series match on the card and was 5-on-5.

Storylines[]

The event'scardconsisted of sixprofessional wrestlinginvolving wrestlers from either Raw or SmackDown, WWE's twobrand divisions.

The main leadingrivalryleading into the event was between theRawandSmackDownbrands as a whole, rather than individual wrestlers. The rivalry began on "WWE Homecoming, a special episode ofRawon October 3 when Raw'sgeneral managerEric Bischoffstopped a match involving SmackDown wrestlers by turning the lights off. In return, Bischoff's SmackDown counterpart,Theodore Long, interrupted a Raw match. As a result, wrestlers from the two brands started a brawland interfered in the other's show before facing each other in atag teammatch atTaboo Tuesday; SmackDown'sRey Mysterio, Jr.andMatt Hardydefeated Raw'sChris MastersandGene Snitsky.After Taboo Tuesday, Bischoff and Long agreed that teams from each brand would face each other in a5-on-5 Survivor Series match, while the two managers would wrestle in a singles match at Survivor Series.The teams feuded on both shows, andBatista, the captain of the SmackDown team, suffered an injury after being attacked several times.Qualifying matches for Team SmackDown were held on the November 11 episode ofSmackDown, with Rey Mysterio defeatingRandy Orton,Bobby Lashley defeatingOrlando Jordan,Eddie GuerrerodefeatingMr. KennedyandJohn "Bradshaw" LayfielddefeatingChris Benoit.Guerrero was replaced byRandy Ortondue to his sudden death on November 13.

Another rivalry heading into the event was betweenJohn CenaandKurt Angle, over theWWE Championship. Their feud began in August, when Bischoff chose Angle as the number one contender to the WWE Championship after Cena defeatedChris Jerichoin a You're Fired match to retain the WWE Championship, in which Bischoff was forced to fire Jericho, his #1 wrestler.Angle failed to win the title atUnforgiven, due to Cena beingdisqualified.The two squared off against each other again at Taboo Tuesday in aTriple Threat matchthat also included Shawn Michaels, and again Cena retained the title.On the November 7 edition ofRaw, Angle refused to compete in a tag team match pitting him and Chris Masters against Cena and Michaels due to the "you suck" chants from the audience.Angle finally agreed to compete if Bischoff silenced the crowd and let him have aspecial guest referee. Angle choseDaivari, who favored Angle and Masters throughout the match and ultimately disqualified Cena and Michaels for using a chair, which he had ignored earlier when it had been used by Masters.

The rivalry betweenTriple HandRic Flairbegan atWWE Homecoming, when Triple H returned to WWE television after an absence of three months.The two had been aligned since 2002, as members ofEvolution, and were partners in a tag team match on the show. After they won the match, Triple H attacked Flair with asledgehammer.The week after, Triple H explained his actions, saying that he realized Flair was no longer the legend he was, and he needed to stop Flair.Flair and Triple H met in asteel cage matchat Taboo Tuesday, which Flair won.ALast Man Standing matchwas made between the two for Survivor Series.

Aftermath[]

The five-on-five Survivor Series match ended the rivalry between the brands. Eric Bischoff was fired as general manager ofRawbyVince McMahon,who took control of theRaw brand as temporary general manager of Raw.McMahon soon started to feud withShawn Michaels, whom he lauded for his part in theMontreal Screwjob, when Michaels told McMahon to move on.

After Survivor Series, John Cena and Kurt Angle continued their feud. Before being fired, Bischoff had proposed that Cena should defend his WWE championship in anElimination Chambermatch atNew Year's Revolution.On the December 12 episode ofRaw, Kurt Angle,Carlito, Shawn Michaels,Chris Masters, andKanewon matches qualifying them for the Elimination Chamber match.After the qualifying matches, Cena faced Angle'sassociate, Daivari in a "You Can't See Me" match, as it would see Cena blindfolded during the match. Cena won as he made Daivari submit to theSTFU.AtNew Year's Revolution, Cena also won the Elimination Chamber match, last eliminating Carlito, but immediately afterward, dropped the title to Edge, who cashed in hisMoney in the Bankcontract following the match.

Randy Orton and The Undertaker fought each other atArmageddonin aHell in a Cellmatch,which the Undertaker won, ending their feud.Triple H moved on to feud with The Big Show,and Ric Flair feuded with Edge over theWWE Intercontinental Championship.Chris Benoit continued to feud with Booker T throughout the rest of the year and into 2006; their "Best of Seven series" concluded in January. Randy Orton, who was Booker's replacement due to akayfabeinjury, defeated Benoit in the seventh and final match, giving Booker the WWE United States Championship. However, Booker would lose the title to Benoit the following month atNo Way Out.

Results[]

Other on-screen personnel[]

See also[]

• Survivor Series
• List of WWE pay-per-view events