Chairshot Classics: Survivor Series 2001 – Winner Take All

Survivor Series 2001 comes to us from Greensboro, North Carolina. Not only is this the birthplace of Vince McMahon, but it was one of the top towns for Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW back in the day, making it the perfect stage for the last gasp of the Invasion angle and the Monday Night Wars.

The Invasion storyline had started out hot, but had gotten bogged down past Unforgiven, Survivor Series was going to be the blow off show and the stakes were high: Whichever company lost the final match, they’d be out of business.

So, will the WWF put the final nail in WCW/ECW’s coffin or will WCW and ECW, not to mention the McMahon kids, get the last laugh on Vince McMahon? Let’s find out!

We start with a promo about the history of the WWF and WrestleMania and how WCW and ECW were huge threats to the future of the company, but not that WWF was a threat to the future of the Alliance, which I find odd.

The crowd is hot. Since we’re in North Carolina, there are some Ric Flair signs in the crowd, which is funny since Flair wasn’t a part of this storyline.

JR says that this PPV is the most important in the history of the business. He also says that this is the last time he and Paul Heyman will call a PPV together.

(thank god, because Heyman’s voice gets on my nerves)

Heyman looks very confident in the Alliance’s chances and predicts total victory for the Alliance.

WWE European Championship Match: Christian (Alliance) vs Al Snow (WWF)

Christian comes out to a surprisingly mixed reaction, considering that he’d turned on Edge. Christian seems a little perplexed by the reaction he’s getting and starts cutting a promo and starts by getting the state wrong. Any goodwill he had from the crowd just went out the window, the crowd is chanting ‘You suck’.

Al Snow is out next and doesn’t get a loud reaction, probably because he doesn’t have Head with him.

Surprisingly, given Snow’s crazy reputation, this match starts with some solid wrestling moves on Snow’s end, which is probably WWE’s way of justifying Snow being the head trainer for Tough Enough 2.

This is a really great match. Snow reminds us that he’s more than just a crazy guy who talks to a mannequin head, he’s a legit great wrestler. As I recall, being European champion was Christian’s first singles title run and he showed that he could hang as a singles competitor after spending most of his career as a tag team wrestler.

We get a false finish where it looked like Snow had won but Christian had gotten his foot on the ropes. After Snow left the ring to chase Christian, Christian got back in the ring and hit Snow with what looked like a low blow to me, but Long didn’t seem to agree.

Results: Christian by pinfall after an Unprettier.

Comments: That was a really great match to start with.

Backstage, Austin and Debra (who is carrying the title) head for their dressing room and go inside, where we find the rest of Team Alliance and Stephanie discussing strategy. The high-pressure situation seems to have made everyone paranoid and suspicious of each other. Well, except for Van Dam, maybe. Shane tries to quell the in-fighting, but again, everyone knows what’s at stake here and the pressure is on.

In another part of the arena, Vince and Linda are talking. Vince seems oddly confident, compared to his kids and tells Linda that she can’t have it both ways. She can’t support him and still be worried about injuries.

Linda, who has all the acting ability of a B-movie extra, says that there’s so much risk of injury and such high stakes, that she is worried.

Vince tells her to think of it this way: Shit happens and that she needs to be prepared for what happens and to look at things from perspective of business and not sensitivity. This…charming talk is interrupted by Michael Cole, who is wearing a t-shirt in November for some reason and wants to ask them some questions.

Vince reminds Cole to address him as Mr. McMahon. Cole wants their thoughts on the possibility that this is the end of World Wrestling Federation.

Vince teases Cole for being worried but assures him that WWF will win because he (Vince) is a good business man and built an empire by taking risks and reveals that he has a mole in the Alliance’s team, which guarantees that the WWF will win.

Vince and Linda turn to go and are confronted by Regal, who isn’t buying Vince’s talk and says that Austin is as loyal to the Alliance as Regal himself is to the Queen. Regal also says that he’ll take great pleasure in watching Vince and Linda lose everything they’ve worked for over the years.

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