Stakes were high. Jobs and careers on the line. The tension and excitement for the main event of Survivor Series 2014 was the most I've ever seen for a match since John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money In The Bank 2011. Everyone in the crowd, the fans watching at home, the locker room in the back, to the competitors in the ring knew what was at stake. A chance to take out the Authority, or lose their job trying. The result and the end of the match turned out to be one of the most historic moments in WWE's history.
Dolph Ziggler, in the year 2014, was being strong in matches, but weakly booked, just terrible choices for a guy who has a lot of fans behind him, who was in big matches, but couldn't seem to pull them out in the W column. But all of that started to change in the middle of 2014. Fans were supporting him more than ever, and he was having great times as the Intercontinental Champion, defeating the likes of The Miz and Cesaro. Near the end of October, John Cena started recruiting for his Survivor Series team, against Team Authority. Ziggler joined the team, and he was set for a history making result.
As the time towards the match progressed, stakes and stipulations were on the line. Said by Vince McMahon, if Team Cena defeated Team Authority, The Authority would be out of power. However, if Team Cena was defeated by Team Authority, everyone on Team Cena (not including Cena himself for some reason) would be fired from the WWE. This made scouting for Team Cena almost impossible for the man, as many people didn't want to risk their jobs. However, after attacks and lots of scouting, Team Cena was filled. Led by Cena himself, Team Cena was also made by Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Erick Rowan. They would go into war against Team Authority, with Team Captain Seth Rollins, Rusev, Mark Henry, Luke Harper and Kane.
A week before Survivor Series however, Ziggler's momentum was halted. Ziggler was forced to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Luke Harper, which was fair enough, but what was not fair, unfortunately for Ziggler, was that he was blindsided Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury (J & J Security), and Mr. Money In The Bank, Seth Rollins, who attacked Ziggler with his briefcase. This weakened Ziggler before his match, giving him little to no time to recover from the assault. Even with the brutal attack showing effects on Ziggler, he went on and created a classic with Harper, which resulted in Harper winning the title, and the attack was too much on Ziggler. So, 6 days before the event, Ziggler couldn't arrive to the arena with his title. A momentum killer? That's for sure.
Survivor Series comes, and on a night of Nikki Bella becoming Divas Champion, the main event of Survivor Series had come. It was time for some of the most nail biting moments in Survivor Series history. The match started off with a bang, as Big Show hit Mark Henry with a KO Punch, eliminating him. Big momentum for Team Cena, and the match goes along with big spots, and eliminations. Ryback is eliminated after a Curb Stomp and a running Superkick. Rusev is looking to pretty much punish Ziggler, as he puts him on the announce table, and looking to splash him through the table. Luckily, Ziggler moves out of the way, and gets back into the ring at the count of 9, and Rusev cannot, resulting in his elimination, so technically, Ziggler eliminated Rusev. Erick Rowan has a good showing, until he gets hit by Rollins, and a clothesline by Luke Harper, eliminating Rowan, cutting the match down to 3-3.
However, as Big Show enters the ring, he turns on Team Cena, a huge pivotal moment in the match, giving Cena a knockout punch, eliminating him. Big Show then shakes his hand with Triple H, signaling his heel turn, and voluntarily counts himself out, leaving Dolph Ziggler as the only remaining member of Team Cena, against 3 of Team Authority, Rollins, Harper and Kane. However, Ziggler fights back with passion and soul, not willing to give up. While many, including myself guessed that Ziggler was done for, Ziggler continued to prove us wrong. He pinned Kane with a Superkick and a Zig Zag, making it 2-1. In comes Luke Harper, and in sweet fashion, Ziggler eliminates him with a roll-up, after a couple of close calls, that could've resulted in the match ending. But now it was the closest it could ever get. It was 1 vs, 1.
By this time, many of the doubters that didn't think Ziggler would get this far were on the edge of the seat. Could the hero somehow find a way to pull out the victory, or would his neck get stomped into the ground, ending his chances? Close fall after close fall, Rollins and Ziggler put on a tremendous clinic. No one knew who was going to win. Just as it seemed Ziggler had the win in his grasp, with a Zig-Zag, Triple H was too nervous to see what would happen, and pulled the referee out of the ring, and knocked him out. This caused a second referee to enter the matchup, and Ziggler hits another Zig-Zag on Rollins. The ref counts, but is also pulled out of the ring by Triple H, who is now beating down Ziggler in the ring. He hits a Pedigree, and brings out another referee. What referee? Scott Armstrong, who he fired for not doing the job right. Triple H puts Rollins on top of Ziggler, and Armstrong counts. 1,2, lights go out.
The sound of a crow is heard throughout the arena. Black and white. And on the titantron, is the face that was biggest man ever in WCW, The Icon, Sting! He made his way out to the ring, to the huge cheers of the crowd, and stared down Triple H in the ring. Triple H swung at Sting, but Sting hit HHH with a gut kick, and then the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting then put Ziggler on top of Rollins, and the referee came back into the match. 1,2,3. Team Cena wins the match, to the loud cheers of the crowd, in just an epic match and huge moment that is hard to forget. Ziggler single-handedly, except for the help of Sting, took out Team Authority, in what has no debate to be considered the greatest performance in the history of Survivor Series. Ziggler's resilience to not lose, his selling ability and making it look like the match was going to end so many times are abilities not many people could have. The match made Ziggler in huge way, and is still defining his career to this day. The man saved Team Cena, his job, and his career to create such a one of a kind performance, one that can never be replicated.
After Survivor Series, Ziggler went on to reclaim his Intercontinental Championship from Luke Harper at TLC, in a hellish but great ladder match. However, SS 2014 was the obvious match of his career up to that point. His heart and soul, as well as work ethic created a performance pretty much impossible to forget. Without a doubt in my mind, Ziggler put on the best performance Survivor Series has ever had, and that's a fact.
Don't agree with me? Let me know who you think had the best performance at Survivor Series.
If you would like to watch the entire match, click here.
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