Triple H, Braun Strowman Prevail as Team RAW Wins at Survivor Series

The main event of Survivor Series, pitting Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown, was a surprising match for many reasons.

The purpose seemed to be setting up a match between Triple H and Kurt Angle, while also setting up an immediate feud between Triple H and Braun Strowman.

Regardless, we saw what seemed to be some non-sensical eliminations early in the match. A match which could have served the purpose of elevating some of the young talent involved instead forced the youngsters to take a backseat to the old guard. When we got to the final four, we were left with Braun Strowman, Triple H (age 48), Kurt Angle (age 48), and Shane McMahon (age 47).

To make things even more shocking, Shinsuke Nakamura was the first person eliminated, and Randy Orton was the last elimination before we got to the final four. The fact that Orton outlasted both Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, not to mention Shinsuke Nakamura, was certainly a little surprising.

While Strowman pinning both Balor and Roode, back to back, served the purpose of making Braun look like a monster, there was certainly some older talent he could have pinned while letting the younger stars shine. I’m looking at John Cena and Randy Orton.

Below are some highlights from the match, as well as all of the eliminations as they happened.

Shane McMahon tried to start off the match, but he quickly tagged out (and look horrified) when he saw he’d be fighting Braun. After Randy and Braun went at it briefly, we got Finn Balor in the ring. The fans and Shinsuke begged that he’d be tagged in, and Orton tagged in Nakamura to a massive pop from the crowd. There were brief “NXT” and “New Japan” chants.

After Nakamura and Balor went at it pretty briefly, Triple H held out his hand for a tag and we got Triple H vs. Nakamura, which in of itself would be a dream match. This lead into Roode vs. Triple H, another dream match (damn you, brand split).

Triple H tagged out and we got Kurt Angle vs. Roode, with Angle hitting some rolling German Suplexes. Roode tagged Nakamura back in, and Shinsuke worked over Angle with some kicks.

First Elimination: Strowman pinned Nakamura after a powerslam. That was surprising. RAW with the 5-4 advantage.

Second Elimination: Roode tried to fight back, but he ate a powerslam from Strowman also and was pinned. RAW with the 5-3 advantage.

Joe then wanted to enter the match, leading to a shoving match between him and Braun. Angle and Triple H handled it, settling the heat for a moment until Triple H and Angle then started shoving each other. Orton came in and took out both men. Cena and Orton tried to take out Strowman. Both went for their finishers and failed, but eventually they shoved Strowman out of the ring (with Braun taking an awkward fall in the process).

On the outside, all of Team SmackDown (including the eliminated Nakamura and Roode) helped to give Strowman a suplex through the announce table. Shane then went to the top rope, but Joe ran up behind him and gave him a slam off the top rope to the ring canvas below. Cena tagged in, setting up a Joe vs. Cena face-off.

Joe got the better of the exchange, which lead to Balor tagging in blind. Joe and Balor then argued, with Balor Joe tagging himself back in. Followed up by Cena coming over and hitting AAs on both.

Third Elimination: John Cena eliminated Samoa Joe with the AA via pinfall. RAW with the 4-3 advantage.

Cena and Angle then faced off, with the announcers recalling their SmackDown match in 2002 when Cena debuted with the company. They also mentioned Cena being a part of Team Angle at the 2003 Survivor Series. Highlights were some flying shoulder tackles by Cena and Angle hitting the Angle Slam. After Balor hit the Coup De Grace on Cena, Angle hit him with another Angle Slam for the pinfall.

Fourth Elimination: Kurt Angle pinned John Cena following the Angle Slam. RAW with the 3-2 advantage.

Balor took out Shane on the outside with a running dropkick, leading to some exchanged in the ring with Orton. Balor went for the Coup De Grace, but Orton moved and hit the RKO.

Fifth Elimination: Randy Orton eliminated Finn Balor following an RKO. Teams are tied with two competitors left.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn came out and attacked Shane on the outside. Owens ended up eating an RKO in the ring before McMahon chased off Zayn.

Sixth Elimination: Braun Strowman pinned Randy Orton following a powerslam. RAW with a 3-1 advantage.

So we were left with McMahon on his own to take on the three remaining RAW competitors. Braun was about to go after Shane, but Triple H made the blind tag to lead to a brother in law face-off. The announcers sold that this was for Stephanie. They were about to go after each other until Angle blind-tagged himself in.

McMahon got way more offense in than was realistic until Angle hit the Angle Slam and locked in the ankle lock. McMahon also stayed in this hold way longer than was even remotely realistic. Eventually, Triple H came in, turned on his Team RAW member, and gave Angle a Pedigree. This allowed Shane to pin Angle.

Seventh Elimination: Shane McMahon pinned Kurt Angle following a Pedigree from Triple H. RAW with the 2-1 advantage.

Triple H and Braun Strowman then stared each other down, while the crowd was basically dead. Triple H lifted Shane to his feet and gave him the Pedigree.

Eighth Elimination: Triple H pinned Shane McMahon following a Pedigree. Triple H and Braun Strowman were the sole survivors.

Strowman stared down Triple H, looking confused, following the ring bell. After Triple H celebrated, Braun grabbed him by the throat and screamed at Hunter to never cross him or play this game again. After Braun turned around, Hunter attacked him and tried to give him the Pedigree but ended up eating two powerslams from Strowman to end the show.

After all of this, Triple H had a rough walk up the ramp to the back.