Building the Ultimate Survivor Series Team

The most prominent staple of Survivor Series is the 5-on-5 traditional elimination match. To win, one Survivor Series team has to completely eliminate (cue the Joey Styles total elimination soundbyte) the other Survivor Series team and the surviving members are proclaimed “sole survivors,” which I guess gives them an extra rub.

These teams come together in a variety of different ways. In the early years, there were some interesting combinations such as Demolition and Mr. Perfect, and a team that originally had Jerry Lawler set to team with his “knights” before being crudely replaced with Shawn Michaels. When general managers became regular on-screen characters, they would simply pick the teams, similar to what we are seeing this year.

But what if I needed my honor defended and needed to form a five-man team to win one match. Losing, of course, is no option. Thus, I would need the five surest things in the WWE, and using a mix of kayfabe and reality, I have concocted a team designed to obliterate the opposition and take my “honor” back.

The Undertaker

The surest of sure things. The Undertaker originally debuted at Survivor Series 1990 and, in some ways, has become as synonymous with the show as he has with WrestleMania. Taker is 12-5 at Survivor Series and has brutally disposed of countless opponents, including Mankind, Big Show and even Mr. McMahon (before Kane buried his big brother alive). His physical presence alone makes him my top pick, but his deeply rooted history at the event cements his status.

Randy Orton

Randy Orton has a knack for doing well in elimination-style matches. In 2004, Orton along with Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Maven won control of Raw for a month while Eric Bischoff went on vacation. In 2005, he led Smackdown in victory over Raw (an omen, perhaps?) He’s not the ultimate opportunist, although we will certainly get to the man who is on this list. Formerly known as the Legend Killer, he became the Viper and has an anger management problem, all things any team can certainly use.

Edge

Not only is Edge the Ultimate Opportunist, he is also Orton’s former partner in the short-lived Rated-RKO team. It was merely a two or three-month alliance, but they became vastly popular and worked well together. Part of the reason was like Orton, Edge always had a screw loose and that level of “crazy” is something my team is going to need to come out on top.

Jeff Hardy

Speaking of crazy, here’s another tag team specialist that has a history with every man on my team sans the final member. Sure, the Undertaker is 6-foot-11, but I felt that going for pure insanity would be a great way to compliment the big man’s size. Mind over matter, as they say. Jeff Hardy has shown time and time again he has no problem sacrificing life and limb to either go over or destroy his opponent in the process. Given the bad blood he has with guys like Taker and Edge, they should have no problem helping him do so. These days, Hardy can still be an asset as a marketable star for WWE, but that’s another article for another time.

The Rock

Last but not least, I just wanted to say that when it comes to making this list, I did it for The Rock. Old bad joke aside, is there anybody more resilient in the world of WWE than The Rock? Like Undertaker, he debuted at Survivor Series and unlike the Deadman, became the sole survivor in his match, though his real shining moment came two years later when he outlasted seven other competitors to win the Deadly Games tournament and the WWE Championship. When one considers all it took to bury him at Wrestlemania XVII, there is absolutely no quit in this guy and I’d be honored to have him as my fifth member and team captain.

Agree? Disagree? Whatever the case, feel free to challenge me on Twitter @jackgoodwillie.