Survivor Series 2017 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on November 19, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Background[]
Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
At Raw's pay-per-view No Mercy, Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to retain the Universal Championship, while at SmackDown's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Jinder Mahal retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown, after returning from a trip to India, Mahal said that a young boy had questioned what was next for him. Mahal said that he had defeated every worthy opponent on the SmackDown roster and that at Survivor Series, he wanted to face Raw's top champion, Brock Lesnar. Mahal, however, was interrupted by AJ Styles, who took exception to Mahal's claim and challenged Mahal for the WWE Championship. Mahal said that Styles was a joke, and Styles retaliated by attacking Mahal and fighting off The Singh Brothers (Samir and Sunil Singh). Backstage, Mahal confronted SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan about the incident, and said that one of The Singh Brothers should make Styles pay and Bryan agreed; Styles defeated both Sunil and Samir, respectively, on the following two episodes. Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman appeared on the October 23 episode of Raw to address Mahal's challenge where both laughed at it. Heyman stated that Mahal was not Lesnar's counterpart, nor worthy of being WWE Champion, however, they accepted the challenge. The next couple of weeks on SmackDown, Mahal responded to Lesnar, stating that he had overcome much adversity and he would defeat Lesnar at Survivor Series. However, it was then announced that Styles would face Mahal for the WWE Championship on the November 7 episode of SmackDown, where Styles defeated Mahal, making him the WWE Champion facing Lesnar at Survivor Series. Lesnar and Heyman responded, stating that they would be on Raw the following week to address Lesnar's new opponent.
On the October 23 episode of Raw, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle announced the match card for Survivor Series. With the exception of Raw's WWE Cruiserweight Championship (as it does not have a SmackDown counterpart), every champion of the Raw brand was scheduled to face their counterpart of the SmackDown brand in non-title matches: the Universal Champion against the WWE Champion, the Intercontinental Champion against the United States Champion, the Raw Women's Champion against the SmackDown Women's Champion, and the Raw Tag Team Champions against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Angle also announced that there would be two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches, one male match and one female match, pitting five of Raw's male and female wrestlers against five of SmackDown's male and female wrestlers, respectively.
Intercontinental Champion The Miz kept his spot in the Survivor Series match against United States Champion Baron Corbin by retaining his title against Matt Hardy on the October 30 episode of Raw. The Miz's opponent, however, may change as Corbin is scheduled to defend the U.S. title against Sin Cara on the November 14 episode of SmackDown. Also on the October 30 episode of Raw, Alexa Bliss retained the Raw Women's Championship against Mickie James, keeping her in the Survivor Series match-up against SmackDown Women's Champion Natalya, though her opponent may change if Charlotte Flair defeats Natalya for the title on the November 14 episode of SmackDown. While on tour in the United Kingdom on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to become the Raw Tag Team Champions, thus making them the champions for the Survivor Series match against The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso), who retained their SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin on the November 7 episode of SmackDown.
As Raw General Manager Kurt Angle was about to announce the members for Team Raw's men's team on the October 23 episode of Raw, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon with several male and female SmackDown wrestlers came through the crowd. They proceeded to the backstage area and laid out all of the men and women of the Raw locker room. The following night on SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan was surprised that Angle and members of the Raw brand did not invade SmackDown, but warned Shane that they would eventually show up for retribution. That same episode, Team SmackDown's men's team got its first member when Randy Orton qualified by defeating Sami Zayn. The following week, Shane announced himself as the captain of Team SmackDown and explained their invasion of Raw, stating that SmackDown had always been looked at as the inferior brand. He also said that Raw would pay for injuring Bryan, who Kane had attacked with a chokeslam the previous night on Raw. Later that episode of SmackDown, Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura qualified for the team by defeating Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens, respectively. The last spot for Team SmackDown was originally going to be determined the following week in a match between AJ Styles and Rusev, but that match was canceled after Styles was scheduled to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship that episode. Rusev instead faced Orton to qualify, but failed to defeat him. The following day on Twitter, Shane announced free agent John Cena as the final member of Team SmackDown. Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon made her return on the October 30 episode of Raw and confronted Angle; her last appearance as Raw's Commissioner was at WrestleMania 33. She said that SmackDown's invasion was an embarrassment to Angle and the entire Raw locker room. She then gave Angle the opportunity to redeem himself by naming Angle the captain of Team Raw's men's team. However, she said that if Team Raw were to lose at Survivor Series, Angle would be fired as the Raw General Manager. Afterwards on Twitter, Angle named Braun Strowman as his first pick for Team Raw. The following week, after their match ended in a double count-out, Samoa Joe and Finn Bálor were both added to Team Raw by Angle. Bálor then dived off the stage onto Joe. Later that episode, Angle named Jason Jordan as the final member of Team Raw.
Team Raw's women's team began to take shape also on the October 23 episode of Raw. A triple threat match between Alicia Fox, Bayley, and Sasha Banks was scheduled to determine the captain for Team Raw, which was won by Fox. The following week, Fox was originally scheduled to face Bayley, but as Team Raw's captain, she instead had Nia Jax face Bayley, which Jax won. After the match, Fox chose Jax as her first pick for Team Raw. Fox then added Asuka to the team after the latter defeated Stacy Coates. Later, she added Banks to the team after Banks and Bayley defeated Fox and Jax in a tag team match. The final member of Team Raw will be determined in a triple threat match between Bayley, Dana Brooke, and Mickie James on the November 13 episode of Raw. On the October 24 episode of SmackDown, Becky Lynch, Ms. Money in the Bank Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, and Tamina were announced as the five members of Team SmackDown's women's team; Lynch was named captain by defeating the other four in a fatal five-way match. The following week, Lynch said that Team SmackDown needed to be ready if Raw were to invade them. SmackDown Women's Champion Natalya interrupted and said it was unfortunate that she was not the captain, but would defeat Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. She also said that Lynch needed to find who the weak link was on their team.
At Raw's pay-per-view TLC:Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2017|TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Enzo Amore defeated Kalisto to recapture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Kalisto invoked his championship rematch on the following episode of 205 Live, but Amore retained after he was disqualified for attacking the referee. Kalisto then attacked Amore out of anger. The following week on Raw, Kalisto defeated Drew Gulak, who had Amore in his corner. After the match, Amore attacked Kalisto with the JawdonZo. Another rematch between the two for the Cruiserweight Championship was scheduled for Survivor Series.
Match Preview[]
| A.J. Styles vs. Brock Lesnar | Preview |
| Men's Survivor Series Match | Preview |
| Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The Usos | Preview |
| The Shield vs. The New Day | Preview |
| Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte | Preview |
| Women's Survivor Series Match | Preview |
| The Miz vs. Baron Corbin | Preview |
| Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto | Preview |
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Pre-show: Elias defeated Matt Hardy (9:15)
- Pre-show: Enzo Amore (c) defeated Kalisto to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (8:45)
- Pre-show: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) (7:45)
- The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (21:20)
- Team Raw: (Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks & Bayley) defeated Team SmackDown: (Becky Lynch, Natalya, Carmella, Naomi & Tamina) (w/ Lana) in a Women's traditional interbrand 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match (18:35)
- United States Champion Baron Corbin defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz (w/ Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) in a Non-title Champion vs. Champion interbrand singles match (9:35)
- SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey & Jimmy Uso) defeated Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus in a Non-title Champions vs. Champions interbrand tag team match (15:55)
- SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss by submission in a Non-title Champion vs. Champion interbrand match (15:00)
- Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles in a Non-title Champion vs. Champion interbrand singles match (15:25)
- Team Raw: (Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe & Triple H) defeated Team SmackDown: (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura & John Cena) in a Men's traditional interbrand 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match (33:20)
Survivor Series elimination matches[]
5-on-5 Survivor Series Women's Elimination Match[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becky Lynch | SmackDown | Bayley | Roll-up | 2:05 |
| 2 | Bayley | Raw | Tamina | Superfly Splash | 5:30 |
| 3 | Nia Jax | Raw | N/A | Countout | 9:05 |
| 4 | Alicia Fox | Raw | Naomi | Roll-up | 11:00 |
| 5 | Naomi | SmackDown | Sasha Banks | Bank Statement | |
| 6 | Carmella | SmackDown | Asuka | Spin kick | 13:00 |
| 7 | Sasha Banks | Raw | Natalya | Sharpshooter | 15:30 |
| 8 | Tamina | SmackDown | Asuka | Flying cross armbar | 17:35 |
| 9 | Natalya | SmackDown | Asuka | Asuka Lock | 18:35 |
| Survivor(s): | Asuka (Team Raw) | ||||
5-on-5 Survivor Series Men's Elimination Match[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shinsuke Nakamura | SmackDown | Braun Strowman | Running Powerslam | 11:40 |
| 2 | Bobby Roode | SmackDown | Braun Strowman | Running Powerslam | 13:00 |
| 3 | Samoa Joe | Raw | John Cena | Attitude Adjustment | 18:10 |
| 4 | John Cena | SmackDown | Kurt Angle | Angle Slam | 21:55 |
| 5 | Finn Bálor | Raw | Randy Orton | RKO | 24:00 |
| 6 | Randy Orton | SmackDown | Braun Strowman | Running Powerslam | 26:40 |
| 7 | Kurt Angle | Raw | Shane McMahon | Pedigree by Triple H | 32:05 |
| 8 | Shane McMahon | SmackDown | Triple H | Pedigree | 33:20 |
| Survivor(s): | Braun Strowman and Triple H (Team Raw) | ||||
Other on-screen talent[]
|
|
See also[]
DVD release[]
External links[]
Survivor Series 2017 Official Website
Survivor Series 2017 Kickoff at CAGEMATCH.net
Survivor Series 2017 at CAGEMATCH.net
 |
|---|
| 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 |
| 2017 World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-views |
|---|
|
NXT TakeOver: San Antonio • Royal Rumble • Elimination Chamber • Fastlane • NXT TakeOver: Orlando • WrestleMania • Payback • NXT TakeOver: Chicago • Backlash • Extreme Rules • Money in the Bank • Great Balls of Fire • Battleground • NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III • SummerSlam • No Mercy • Hell in a Cell • TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs • NXT TakeOver: WarGames • Survivor Series • Clash of Champions |