1990
1995
- Diesel throwing Bret Hart from the ring apron to the Spanish Announcers' Table, completely destroying it. While it's an all too common spot these days, this was probably the first example of it on a WWE broadcast, and it looked absolutely brutal.
1997
- Real Life example, the Montreal Screwjob. No, not the act itself, what happened after. Mark Calaway has to have his real name credited for this, seven years after his debut as The Undertaker at the event he portrayed a slightly different side of his character and real personality, that of the Papa Wolf. He was legitimately angry at Vince McMahon and threatened physical violence if he would not discuss what happened, before saying he would lose not just his services but that of most everyone under contract unless amends were made. Vince listened, and Taker kept his top spot with no move made against him for, essentially, threatening the possible end of the company.
- Often overlooked, the match itself is pretty brutal and intense, the culmination of one of the most memorable and nasty feuds in the history of wrestling (both in front and behind the camera). The promo played before it is one of the best as well. It is genuinely hard to tell if the punches and hits are so convincing because these are two of the best wrestlers in the business of if it's because they are actually beating on each other at times- maybe both.
2002
- The entire show was widely praised and is considered by many today to be the best Survivor Series event.
2004
- During her on-screen relationship with Kane, Lita became pregnant and was endlessly mocked for her weight by Trish Stratus. The loss of Lita's baby after a Kane-related accident prompted even more ridicule from Trish. So in the Women's Title match here, Lita finally retaliated against Trish by beating the everloving crap out of her, whacking her with a steel chair and breaking her nose by pushing her head-first into the steel steps. Ouch.
2005
2010
- Natalya managed to finally take the Divas Championship off of LayCool in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. The real period of the moment came the next night on Raw when LayCool (who were signed to SmackDown, but were able to appear on Raw while holding the championship) were denied access into the building. And There Was Much Rejoicing doesn't even begin to describe it.
2011
- Great event overall, but 3 moments were the crowners.
- During the World Heavyweight Championship match between Mark Henry and Big Show, Henry gives Show a low blow, getting himself disqualified so he retains the title because he knew he couldn't beat Show. Henry then tries to break Show's ankle with a chair like he did in July at Money in the Bank, but Show sees it coming and moves out of the way. After giving Henry a WMD, Show proceeds to wrap the chair around Henry's ankle, and breaks his ankle. Any other time, this would be extremely harsh (and when Henry did it to multiple others, it was), but Henry was oh so dearly asking for it.
- Big Show doing an elbow drop from the top rope. While this maneuver is no big deal for cruiserweights, with Big Show at 500 pounds, a million things could have gone wrong. That was clearly on the minds of Show and everyone watching as he gingerly climbed up the ropes and took as much time balancing on the top. The fact that Big Show pulled this maneuver off successfully without hurting himself (ala Sid Vicious) is truly remarkable.
- The WWE Championship match between Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk. Both men give it their all, but Punk ultimately locks in the Anaconda Vise on Del Rio, forcing him to tap, and winning Punk the championship. The entire arena exploded, because now with Punk champion, WWE will most certainly be moving forward towards its edgier approach as of late.
- CM Punk being announced as the NEW!!!! WWE champion by the legendary Howard Finkel was the cookie on the ice cream bar.
- For context, Punk had The Fink be his personal ring announcer for the match, counteracting Del Rio's own ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez. And it was gloriously awesome.
- The main event, a tag team match, John Cena and The Rock versus The Miz and R-Truth. Cena took a hell of a lot of blows, but never gave up, and Rocky layed the smackdown to R-Truth with a Rock Bottom, and gave the People's Elbow to Miz for the win. Afterwards, Rock gave a People's Elbow to Cena, a little preview of their match at WrestleMania 28.
2012
2014
- Sting making his WWE debut. Team Authority, with the help of Big Show turning heel midway through the match, manages to eliminate John Cena, leaving them at a 3-1 advantage (Kane, Luke Harper and Seth Rollins) against Dolph Ziggler, who is barely able to stand up after taking a beating by Rusev earlier in the match. Ziggler however manages to fight back and eliminate both Kane and Harper, leaving him one-on-one against Rollins. After some back-and-forth, Ziggler hits the Famouser on Rollins and goes for the pin, only for Triple H to interfere and knock out the ref before sending Joey Mercury and Jaime Noble to beat on Ziggler. Dolph manages to fend them off and dodges a Curbstomp by Rollins before hitting the Zigzag as a second referee comes in for the pinfall. However, Hunter again knocks out the ref and plants Ziggler with the Pedigree before calling crooked referee Scott Armstrong for the three count. Just when all seems lost for Team Cena, the lights go out and the sound of a crow's call echoes in the arena, as Sting walks down the ramp while the crowd erupts in a massive pop. Sting goes to the ring where he and Hunter stare off for a few minutes before going at it, with Sting hitting the Scorpion Deathdrop on Triple H. He then puts Ziggler over Rollins as the second referee comes to his senses and hits the three count for Ziggler to win the match for Team Cena. The show ends as Stephanie undergoes the mother of all Villainous Breakdowns whilst Ziggler is being congratulated by Cena, having finally brought an end to the Authority. Too bad all of this was undone five shows later…
2016
- The tag teams' elimination match ended in amazing fashion. The only remaining tag team on Raw's side was the team of Cesaro and Sheamus, who were in the middle of a Teeth-Clenched Teamwork phase (before the match, they were expected to be a liability for team Raw), up against The Usos, and yet the odd couple managed to come out on top. Cesaro had one of the brothers locked into the Sharpshooter, when the other brother ran into the ring to try to break the hold. Cue Sheamus intercepting him with a Brogue Kick, forcing a submission elimination and victory for Team Raw. Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley were so impressed, they gave the two men a tag team title shot the following night!
- The 5-on-5 men's elimination match had several awesome moments:
- Shane McMahon leaping from the top turnbuckle on to Braun Strowman lying on the announce table. That was the only time Strowman had been down for a prolonged period of time.
- Speaking of Braun, SmackDown's "mascot" James Ellsworth, of all people, managed to eliminate the brute. How? By grabbing his feet from under the ring and distracting him long enough for the ref to count him out. Ellsworth suffered a chokeslam through a table for his troubles but, due to his Iron Butt-Monkey status, came out the following Tuesday with only a (kayfabe) neck brace as a battle scar.
- Roman Reigns' mid-air spear to Shane McMahon after the latter attempted a Coast to Coast dropkick on him. For the record, the Coast to Coast is a dropkick from the top rope.
- Dean Ambrose, having been eliminated earlier, came back to beat down on AJ Styles who had been antagonizing him earlier. Security had been trying to hold him back until Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins got rid of them, deciding Ambrose could help them eliminate Styles. The three of them then proceeded to plant Styles through another announce table using the Triple Powerbomb they were famous for using back in their Shield days.
- The end of the match: Reigns has Bray Wyatt set up for the Spear when Randy Orton pushes Wyatt out of the way and takes the spear himself, allowing Wyatt to pin Reigns with Sister Abigail and win the match for Team Smackdown.
- Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg for one reason and one reason only—Goldberg squashed Brock, shoving him to the ground and then proceeding to brutalize him in 84 seconds with two Spears and a vicious Jackhammer. For those who had come to see Brock as a grating Invincible Villain, seeing him made vulnerable and being demolished so utterly was intensely gratifying.
2017
- The Shield vs. The New Day was pretty much a guaranteed great match, but the highlight was the New Day's triple splash to Dean Ambrose. Xavier Woods has Langston up on his shoulders, Kofi springboard-splashes off the top rope, leapfrogging over Big E's head. Langston then hits Ambrose with a slam, followed by Woods with a third splash. To say nothing of the finish, where the Shield do their signature triple power bomb onto poor Kofi Kingston...from the top rope.
- Towards the end of the match, both teams were so exhausted from their escalating war that they ended up back in their corners and were literally using their respective teammates to stand up. After a brief stare-off, they immediately charge at one another and brawling all over the ring, as if the match had just ended and restarted again.
- Team Smackdown in the Men's 5-on-5 match suplexes Braun Strowman into the Spanish Announcers' Table. It took all five men (Shane McMahon, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bobby Roode) to do it, but it was a hellacious spot.
- A battle of taunts between Triple H and Bobby Roode, as Bobby Roode attempts to start his "Glorious" chant, only to get knocked down by Triple H, who proceeds to copy Roode's taunt, only to finish it off with "Suck It"
- Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles. While starting off like the usual match with Brock Leasner, it begins to delve into awesomeness as AJ Styles works Brock's legs, giving the Universal Champion one of his biggest challenges yet
- Brock's selling of AJ's Calf Crusher, and the sheer brutality he displayed in breaking free of it, grabbing AJ by the face and slamming him into the ring repeatedly until AJ let go.
- Baron Corbin's match with The Miz, partially for being an effective heel v. heel matchup and partially for Corbin holding his own and even winning despite a three-to-one numbers advantage in Miz's favour and being hobbled for the second half of the match.
2018
- The WWE universe finally gets a match it may well have gotten several years ago before injuries got in the way, with the new WWE Champion Daniel Bryan facing off against Universal Champ Brock Lesnar. This match was a master class in storytelling and using a disparity in styles and persona to one's advantage and served in a lot of ways as the Establishing Character Moment for the 'new' Daniel Bryan. In one corner, you have the Beast Incarnate, built like a tank, moves like a freight train, a walking case of Testosterone Poisoning that eats other walking freight trains for breakfast. In the other corner is a skinny guy a head shorter than Lesnar, who just came out of retirement after a series of injuries that could have crippled him. Most opponents that try to face Brock Lesnar make the mistake of trying to out-tough him, which immediately puts them behind the 8-ball that is Lesnar. Bryan spends the first several moments chipping away at Lesnar's patience, staying just out of the Beast's reach. Of course, eventually, Lesnar gets his hands on him, with predictable results. (Read: SUPLEX CITY.) WWE took full advantage of the narrative tension of showing a guy who had just come back from a two-year forced retirement due to concussion issues, now getting suplexed onto the back of his head repeatedly by the most violent suplexer in WWE. But not only did Bryan show an ability to withstand this damage (both in and out of kayfabe context), he basically tanked until Lesnar made a mistake - at which point he counterattacked. It was a heelish way of operating and yet in this context the fans almost forgot that he had essentially stolen AJ Styles' WWE title by way of Groin Attack not a week prior. There were parts of Bryan's psychology that recalled the last crafty technician that used wits and guile to bring down a rampaging Brock Lesnar more than a decade prior. And then there came the moment when Bryan got Lesnar into the Yes! Lock. Lesnar didn't tap, but there was a lingering frontal shot of him caught in the hold with his eyes wide with panic. And for just a few moments, you could be forgiven for believing that he might. Maybe a handful of other times in his wrestling career has Brock Lesnar ever had that look on his face in a wrestling ring. Lesnar eventually won the match, but Bryan made his point. Anyone who questioned whether the American Dragon was truly back no longer did after this match. In fact, this version of Daniel Bryan might well be more dangerous than the last.
- The setup for the Yes! Lock is genius unto itself, after Bryan attacks Lesnar's legs and goes on his trademark balls-to-the-wall assault, Brock catches Bryan in midair, ready for an F-5... and then collapses because his injured knees gave out, and this sets Bryan to apply the Yes! Lock! This has shades of DDP's iconic clash with Goldberg, and the everyone goes ballistic at the prospect that someone, especially Daniel freakin' Bryan, might just be able to defeat Brock Lesnar!
2019
This event marked the first time NXT would be taking part in a Main Roster PPV and given that many fans saw NXT as the best thing about WWE at the time many fans were expecting good things from them. For extra context, most of the NXT people taking part had been in action the previous night in the same arena for their own
War Games event, so were probably worn out and carrying knocks from another well received NXT Takeover event. In terms of bragging rights, NXT won with 4 wins to Smackdown's 2 and Raw's 1. As such the entire show was full of awesome moments. They include:
- The NXT Title match between Pete Dunne and Adam Cole (BAY BAY!) was the best match of the night in the eyes of many. Lots of counters and reversals and ended in Cole winning clean, retaining the title to choruses of "This Is Awesome" later in the match. (This was the broadcast version, which given it's WWE is open to editorial manipulation, so YMMV. Given what happened it was probably genuine). Making Cole's performance even more memorable, it was an injured Cole facing a fresh Dunne, as Cole had ended up crashing through three tables, all of which he introduced into the match himself, during the previous night's WarGames match between his Undisputed Era faction and four opponents, of which only three were known at the start.
- Everyone wanted Team NXT to win the Men's Survivor Series match. In the end, it came down to Keith Lee (one of Cole's WarGames opponents) nearly downing Roman Reigns with a Spirit Bomb (after successfully downing Seth Rollins with The Jackhammer) before Roman Reigned supreme again as he usually does, though Reigns himself gained some pops for deliberately Friendly Firing his teammate Baron Corbin for Tommaso Ciampa (the captain of the team that defeated Cole's, and the one who put Cole through three tables - one outside the structure with a push and the other two with what Mauro Ranallo called "the mother of all Air Raid Crashes" from atop said structure) to pin. He did give Keith a fist bump as a sign of respect post-match.
- The Fiend defeated Daniel Bryan in a Curb-Stomp Battle of easily tanking everything Dan could throw at him until he could land The Mandible Claw, which helped rebuild the Fiend's menacing aura and momentum after his debacle against Seth Rollins.
- Shayna Baszler was victorious, and held her own stylistically, against Bayley and Becky Lynch. She lost her NXT Women's Title to Rhea Ripley not long afterward, heightening speculation that a promotion to the Main Roster was imminent.
- In the Women's Survivor Series Match, exactly like the previous night in the Women's War Games Match, Rhea Ripley led her team to victory despite spending most of the match 2 men down (due to injury rather than a Face–Heel Turn induced blinsiding in this case). Especially when several of their team had been actively battering each other in said match (Ripley and Candice LeRae were on the opposite side to Io Shirai and Bianca Belair) and still managing to form a cohesive unit. Toni Storm was the only one who wasn't involved.
- A brief but great moment was former "frenemies" Shirai and Kari Sane facing off to the delight of the crowd.
- In a David Versus Goliath match in the making, Rey Mysterio ends up going toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar showing that he can still go at it even in his 40s. Not only that, but his son even joins in after Rey decides to go to town with a steel chair after all the abuse Lesnar has given Dominic. To top it off, both father and son hit a 619 on Lesnar and Dominic then gives a Frog Splash just like Eddie Guerrero used to do. Although Rey did lose, no one could disagree that it was an amazing match on Rey's part.
2020
- The Tag Team Match between the Tag Champions met expectations as both The New Day face Street Profits. Both teams showed why they are the top teams of the main roster. Montez Ford taking a lot of punishment and surviving long enough for him and fellow partner Angelo Dawkins to defeat decorated champions Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
- The main event of Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre delivered in spades. Both being the world champion of Smackdown and Raw and both showed how they really are worthy of being the champions. Drew took a beating, being Samoan dropped through the announce table, speared the barricade and another spear for good measure and he still kicked out. It ends with some outside help from Jey Uso, but Roman able to apply the Guillotine choke hold on McIntyre, making the WWE Champion pass out. Another excellent battle between the two world champions of WWE. Drew might have lost, but it took Reigns everything to beat him, and Reigns sure as hell didn't leave unscathed.
2023
- After months of speculation, Survivor Series 2023 closed with the facesnote team captain Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins, "Main Event" Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and a returning Randy Orton successful in the main event, as the camera pulled back... until Cult of Personality hit and out walked CM Punk, making his return to WWE.
- Heck even before Punk's return, the actual WarGames Match itself was incredible, as we got to see Cody pay tribute to his father in the very match he invented, Jey and Sami once again working very well together (this time as faces), and Randy's incredible return where despite it being his first match since his injury the previous year, showed no signs of slowing down as he instantly cleaned house. The big highlight however was near the end, where JD McDonagh was cornered by Sami and Seth on top of the cage, and the two decide to throw him off the top straight into a picture-perfect RKO.
