The 2021 Survivor Series was the 35th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view and the WWE Network and took place on November 21, 2021, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The card was highlighted by two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches: Raw's men's and women's teams were victorious over SmackDown's. In the main event match, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Big E. Also on the card, Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch defeated SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, and Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) defeated SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). Raw won brand supremacy by winning five of the seven matches.
Production[]
Background[]
Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view, produced every November by WWE since 1987. The second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, dubbed the "Big Four". The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically features teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. Since WWE reintroduced the brand split in 2016, Survivor Series has centered around competition between Raw and SmackDown for brand supremacy. The 2019 event had also featured WWE's former developmental territory NXT involved in the brand competition; however, NXT was not involved in the 2020 event. As a result, the 2020 event had traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series matches for the men and women between Raw and SmackDown. The 2021 event will be the 35th event under the Survivor Series chronology.
Since WWE reintroduced the brand split in 2016, Survivor Series has centered around competition between wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown for brand supremacy. The 2019 event had also featured WWE's former developmental territory NXT—which had become WWE's third main brand that year—involved in the brand competition; however, NXT was removed from the competition with the 2020 event due to COVID-19-related issues. In September 2021, NXT was rebranded as "NXT 2.0", reverting, in part, to being WWE's developmental brand.
Since the 2017 event, the champions of Raw have faced their SmackDown counterparts in non-title matches, with NXT's champions also involved in these matches in 2019. The 2021 Survivor Series will feature Raw's WWE Champion against SmackDown's Universal Champion, the Raw Women's Champion against the SmackDown Women's Champion, Raw's United States Champion against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, and the Raw Tag Team Champions against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
Storylines[]
The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
On November 6, WWE revealed both Raw and SmackDown's team members for the men's Survivor Series match. Team Raw's members were announced to be Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, and Dominik Mysterio, while Team SmackDown would consist of Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Sami Zayn, and Happy Corbin. On the November 8 episode of Raw, WWE official Adam Pearce noted that every member of Team Raw was a former world champion, except Dominik. In turn, Pearce scheduled Dominik to face Bobby Lashley where the winner would be on Team Raw; Lashley defeated Dominik.
Also on November 6, WWE revealed both Raw and SmackDown's team members for the women's Survivor Series match. It was announced that Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Queen Zelina, and one-half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Rhea Ripley, would represent Team Raw. Team SmackDown's members were revealed to be Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya, and Aliyah. On the November 12 episode of SmackDown, however, WWE official Sonya Deville removed Aliyah from the match seemingly due to her relationship with Naomi, who had been at odds with Deville. On November 18 via WWE's social media, Deville revealed that Toni Storm would fill Team SmackDown's vacant spot.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Rock's WWE debut at the 1996 Survivor Series, a 25-man dual-branded battle royal was scheduled to take place at the 2021 event.
Match Preview[]
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Pre-Show: Shinsuke Nakamura (Intercontinental Champion) (w/ Rick Boogs) defeated Damian Priest (United States Champion) in a Champion vs. Champion Match by Disqualification (9:24)
- Becky Lynch (Raw Women's Champion) defeated Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women's Champion) in a Champion vs. Champion Match (18:13)
- Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley) defeated Team SmackDown (Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin and Sheamus) (w/ Madcap Moss) in a 5-on-5 men's Survivor Series elimination match (29:56)
- Omos defeated Ricochet, T-BAR, Mansoor, Cesaro, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Erik, Ivar, R-Truth, Drew Gulak, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Humberto, Angel, Apollo Crews, Commander Azeez, Otis, Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Jinder Mahal and Shanky in a 25-Man Battle Royal (10:45)
- RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) (Raw Tag Team Champions) defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (SmackDown Tag Team Champions) in a Champions vs. Champions Match (14:50)
- Team Raw (Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, and Queen Zelina) defeated Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya and Toni Storm) in a 5-on-5 women's Survivor Series elimination match (23:45)
- Roman Reigns (Universal Champion) (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Big E (WWE Champion) in a Champion vs. Champion Match (21:55)
Battle Royal Eliminations[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Gulak | Omos | |
| 2 | Shelton Benjamin | Omos | |
| 3 | Humberto | Omos | |
| 4 | R-Truth | Otis | |
| 5 | Otis | Omos | |
| 6 | Chad Gable | Cesaro | |
| 7 | T-BAR | Ricochet | |
| 8 | Cedric Alexander | Mansoor | |
| 9 | Angel | Angelo Dawkins | |
| 10 | Jinder Mahal | ||
| 11 | Erik | ||
| 12 | Ivar | Shanky | |
| 13 | Shanky | Omos | |
| 14 | Mansoor | Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode | |
| 15 | Robert Roode | Omos | |
| 16 | Dolph Ziggler | AJ Styles | |
| 17 | Sami Zayn | Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford | |
| 18 | Commander Azeez | Omos | |
| 19 | AJ Styles | Commander Azeez | |
| 20 | Apollo Crews | Omos | |
| 21 | Cesaro | Omos | |
| 22 | Angelo Dawkins | Omos | |
| 23 | Montez Ford | Omos | |
| 24 | Ricochet | Omos | |
| 25 | Omos | Winner | 10:45 |
Survivor Series elimination matches[]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Elimination method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Owens | N/A | Countout | 0:55 |
| 2 | Happy Corbin | Finn Bálor | Pinfall | 7:50 |
| 3 | King Woods | Bobby Lashley | Technical submission | 13:25 |
| 4 | Bobby Lashley | N/A | Countout | 16:35 |
| 5 | Drew McIntyre | N/A | Countout | 16:35 |
| 6 | Finn Bálor | Sheamus | Pinfall | 19:30 |
| 7 | Sheamus | Austin Theory | Pinfall | 24:35 |
| 8 | Austin Theory | Jeff Hardy | Pinfall | 27:00 |
| 9 | Jeff Hardy | Seth Rollins | Pinfall | 30:00 |
| Survivor(s):
|
Seth Rollins (Team Raw) | |||
| Elimination | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Elimination method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmella | Toni Storm | Pinfall | 1:00 |
| 2 | Queen Zelina | Toni Storm | Pinfall | 13:55 |
| 3 | Toni Storm | Liv Morgan | Pinfall | 15:00 |
| 4 | Liv Morgan | Sasha Banks | Pinfall | 16:10 |
| 5 | Rhea Ripley | Shayna Baszler | Pinfall | 17:40 |
| 6 | Sasha Banks | N/A | Countout | 20:05 |
| 7 | Natalya | Bianca Belair | Pinfall | 21:15 |
| 8 | Shayna Baszler | Bianca Belair | Pinfall | 21:45 |
| 9 | Shotzi | Bianca Belair | Pinfall | 23:45 |
| Survivor(s):
|
Bianca Belair (Team Raw) | |||
Other on-screen talent[]
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See also[]
DVD release[]
External links[]
Survivor Series 2021 Official Website
Survivor Series 2021 Kickoff on WWE Network
Survivor Series 2021 on WWE Network- Survivor Series 2021 Kickoff at CAGEMATCH.net
- Survivor Series 2021 at CAGEMATCH.net
| Survivor Series 2021 previews |
|---|
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Men's Elimination Match • Women's Elimination Match • Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair • Big E v Roman Reigns • RK-Bro v The Usos • Damian Priest v Shinsuke Nakamura • 25-Man Battle Royal |
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| 2021 World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-views |
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Royal Rumble • TakeOver: Vengeance Day • Elimination Chamber • Fastlane • TakeOver: Stand & Deliver • WrestleMania 37 • WrestleMania Backlash • NXT: In Your House • Hell in a Cell • Money in the Bank • SummerSlam • TakeOver 36 • Extreme Rules • Crown Jewel • Survivor Series • WarGames |