WWE‘s annual Survivor Series pay-per-view has been one of the biggest events on the professional wrestling calendar ever since its inception in 1987, and 2014 was no exception. The Authority had been ruling with an iron fist over the land of World Wrestling Entertainment, and their leadership was put on the line in a massive 5 on 5 elimination tag team match in the main event. We also got to see the Tag Team Championships and Diva’s Championship on the line, as well as a match between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose, who had been at each others necks since Bray Wyatt returned at Hell in a Cell. On top of that…well, if the DVD cover doesn’t ruin it for you, you might be in for a bit of a shock! So let’s get started!

The main show is kicked off with WWE’s owner, Vince McMahon coming out to the cheers and jeers of the crowd. Vince, fantastic as always, welcomes everyone to the show and calls out Triple H and  Stephanie McMahon, and after they come out (and Stephanie tries to start a cringe-worthy chant), we get the captain of the opposite team, John Cena. Cena is informed by Vince that Cena is the only man that will have the power to bring back the Authority if Team Cena wins tonight. That isn’t foreshadowing at all, by the way. Part of me feels like this is a segment that was meant to be tacked onto RAW or a plot point that was added at the last moment, but either way, we get to see Vince and it builds hype for the main event.

Time for the regular opener – The Usos, Miz and Mizdow, Los Matadores and Gold and Stardust all compete in a Tag Team Turmoil match with the Dusts defending their tag team championships. Tag team turmoil matches are always a little confusing, but this one is one of the best in years, with all four teams playing to each others strengths, especially with the chemistry between Miz and Mizdow, who rightfully walk out with the championships. One of the few cases recently where WWE played it by ear and put the championships on who was hot at the time. Great match.

We cut to a backstage segment with Adam Rose and his, er, Bunny. They’re playing with action figures and get interrupted by Titus O’Neil and Heath Slater. Pretty funny segment, and WWE got to plug its toys, too. Shame this is a RAW tier match being added to a PPV, but ah well.

Diva’s match time now, and this one unfortunately dragged on for a bit. Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi and Natalya defeat Paige, Cameron, Summer Rae and Layla in traditional Survivor Series match in a clean sweep. This started off quite well, with Natalya and Paige facing off, as well as the fantastic and charismatic Emma getting to show off her skills, but it tapered off with the lacklustre in-ring ability of Summer Rae and Cameron. Watchable, but not exactly a candidate for the #GiveDivasAChance movement. Recap time now, as we go back to Hell in a Cell and we see the return of Bray Wyatt, and the ongoing feud with Dean Ambrose.

Dean and Bray are up next, and this is probably the match of the night that isn’t the main event. Fantastic and brutal match, Wyatt and Ambrose’s styles really mesh perfectly, and as King says on commentary, the two just try and out-crazy each other, which makes for a very entertaining viewing experience. A hell of a lot of story is told between the two here, but ultimately it is all build to, which is announced later in the night, the Tables Ladders and Chairs match at, well, TLC. Ambrose is DQ’d after being baited by Bray into hitting the Eater of Worlds with a chair and goes nuts, literally burying Bray under a mountain of metal and wood. Backstage, Triple H hypes up team Authority. Highlight of the segment? Rusev is wearing flip-flops. Other than that, very tense and greatly put pressure on team Haitch to win.

Adam Rose and his Bunny take on Slater Gator. Few funny spots, but not much to report on. Filler match. Bunny takes Adam’s spot and celebrates with the rosebuds. We never find out who the bunny was, but he was pretty good in the ring. Next up, Roman Reigns appears on the titantron via what looks like the Shadow Realm and cuts his usual super-cocky Cena style promo. Not fantastic, but hearing him say he’d “make it rain (Reign, dohoho) up in that bitch” was amusing, if not a little embarrassing. We go now to team Cena’s locker room, where he hypes up his team, too.

Diva’s Championship time, and this one ends before it even gets started! We get a rehash of Sheamus/Daniel Bryan from Wrestlemania 28, but this time, Brie Bella grabs AJ Lee and snogs her, (yes, really) allowing Nikki Bella to take advantage and steal the Diva’s Championship away from AJ Lee. Wow, er, don’t know what else to say about this. AJ got lipstick all over her face, so if you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll enjoy this match. Other than that, the storyline between the Bellas was kinda dumb, with Brie being made Nikki’s, er, that thing that Roman Reigns said earlier. And now they’re friends again even after Nikki mistreated her sister? Really doesn’t make sense and it was never explained, but the positive is at least we get to see the Bellas in a team and not wasting time feuding with each other.

And now it’s time for the main event. Team Authority consisting of Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper, take on Team Cena, which is of course, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback. We get an amazing as usual video package and go straight into the entrances. Team Authority enters first, with HHH, Stephanie and J&J Security at ringside, and then Team Cena does the classic stare-down and roll into the ring. We start the match off with Henry and Show, and instantly The World’s Strongest Man is eliminated by one punch. Welp.

Personally, I have to say the KO Punch is a pretty horrible finisher, even for Big Show, since he doesn’t really seem to put his body weight into it anymore, and it’s unfortunate that Henry got eliminated so quickly, but it made for an interesting start to the match. Continuing on, both teams slowly eliminate members from either side, and here a lot of new stars are made, especially Rollins and Ziggler, who are by far the stand-outs. Rusev is eliminated by count-out after missing a dive through a table, and Cena is eliminated after Big Show turns on Team Cena, shaking the hand of HHH. Big Show turned alignment again, breaking news. Nothing new here, but added tension to the match, at least. It’s down to Ziggler VS Rollins, Harper and Kane. Ziggler manages to eliminate Harper and Kane via some means of luck, and the crowd lights up as The Showoff seems to be getting closer and closer to the comeback of the year, and as it looks like Ziggler has the remaining man, Rollins, down for the three, only Triple H pulls the referee out of the ring and rolls in himself. Calling out the Authority’s favourite referee, Scott Armstrong, the Authority looks like it has screwed over Ziggler and Team Cena, when all of a sudden…

Sting.

For the first time ever in WWE, Sting makes his way down to the ring and clears out all of Team Authority, giving Triple H the Scorpion Death Drop, as well as placing Ziggler on top of Rollins, to which the referee counts three. Holy cow. What a match. This really was, in hindsight, an overbooked mess, but when you think about it, it’s professional wrestling, and when you sit back and watch it, it’s very, very enthralling, and it was a real feel good moment to see Ziggler overcome the odds with the help of the Icon, Sting. Ziggler walks up the ramp and celebrates with his team captain, Mr Cena himself, but Triple H and Stephanie McMahon lurk around the ring, looking disappointed to chants of “You are fired!”, which isn’t technically true, and the ever favourite, “Na na na na, hey hey hey, good bye”. Stephanie has a great tantrum, which is bloody hilarious.

Survivor Series 2014 was an all around fantastic pay-per-view event, and the main event really is a must watch, with the WWE debut of Sting, as well as what was probably the biggest moment in the career of Dolph Ziggler. The Blu-Ray is also chock full of some really good special features, mostly matches and segments stemming to and from the big matches on the card, as well as some pre-show and post-show matches and segments. WWE Survivor Series 2014 is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray!

Blu-ray Exclusives:

Monday Night Raw – 3 November 2014

Mr. McMahon Raises the Stakes for Survivor Series

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

SmackDown – 7 November 2014

Christian Welcomes Dean Ambrose to the “Peep Show”

Monday Night Raw – 17 November 2014

Dean Ambrose Has a Surprise for Bray Wyatt

Team Authority vs. Team Cena Contract Signing

SmackDown – 21 November 2014

Dean Ambrose’s Survival Kit

Survivor Series Kickoff Match

Jack Swagger vs. Cesaro

Survivor Series Fallout

The Miz & Damien Mizdow Put Everyone on Notice

DVD Extras:

Survivor Series Kickoff Match

Justin Gabriel vs. Fandango

Survivor Series Kickoff

Bad News Barrett Returns to WWE

Survivor Series Fallout

Dean Ambrose is a Great Dance Partner

Survivor Series Fallout

It’s Time to Celebrate with Nikki Bella

All images (C) WWE and WWE.com