WWE Survivor Series provides a belly-busting buffet of sports entertainment action for the 38th year in a row this weekend.
The WWE’s second-longest event, after WWE WrestleMania, has undergone many evolutions. From its early Thanksgiving traditions to shocking car crash storylines and brand warfare, Survivor Series has changed a lot.
Now, it’s almost unrecognisable and practically a WCW event.
Here, we take a look at each era of WWE Survivor Series to see which really is the best of the best … or the sole survivor.
WWE Survivor Series: A Thanksgiving Tradition
When: 1987 to 1996
The best era for: The same match over and over and over again but it’s tradition.
The first eight Survivor Series events aired on Thanksgiving Eve or Thanksgiving evening.
The inaugural Survivor Series provided essentially the same match four times in a row. The succession of tag team elimination bouts was unique in that it was totally the same. Excitement still surrounded seeing who would outlast the rest and become the sole survivor.
The blockbuster main event of Team Andre the Giant vs. Team Hulk Hogan brought enough intrigue to carry the event. It was the first time Hogan and Andre had faced off against each other since their iconic WrestleMania III bout six months earlier.
Rarely was a non-traditional tag team elimination match seen during Survivor Series for the first five years.
In 1990, WWE experimented with a new concept: a final match exactly like all the others before it. This was the one and only “Grand Finale Match of Survival”. The sole survivors of the previous matches all met in an ultimate elimination tag team match. 1990 also saw one of WWE’s worst moments – the debut of The Gobbledy Gooker.
The teams were weighted unfairly as they were split between heels and faces. The good guys team of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana were able to defeat the five heels with Hogan and Warrior as the sole survivors of that bout.
In 1991, a non-traditional Survivor Series match made the card for the first time. Hogan unsuccessfully challenged The Undertaker for the WWE Championship. This match obviously gained positive feedback in WWE’s focus groups, as by 1992, the eight-match card featured just one traditional Survivor Series match.
From 1993 to 1995, WWE returned to a focus on traditional elimination tag team matches at its Survivor Series events. The 1996 Survivor Series was the first to take place on a Sunday. It also saw the debut of The Rock, and a 50/50 split between traditional elimination tag action and singles contests on the match card from Madison Square Garden.
But it was the next two years that would change everything.
Storylines Dominate Survivor Series
When: 1997 to 2003
The best era for: Soap opera drama such as attempted murder, real-life betrayals and family power plays.
WWE continued to provide classic Survivor Series matches, but its November event started a new tradition of shocking storylines in 1997.
The wrestling world changed on November 9, 1997, when it witnessed the infamous Montreal Screwjob. More than 10,000 days later, people are still talking about the events that transpired in the Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart championship match.
Just this week, Hart added more controversy to the script when he claimed Vince McMahon and Michaels were in a homosexual relationship. The real-life betrayal of Hart by McMahon and Michaels, who went against the script to ensure the “Hitman” lost his final match in his hometown, sent shockwaves through the industry.
A year later, Survivor Series featured no traditional tag matches. Instead, a 14-man tournament was held to crown a new champion. The Rock won when McMahon repeated his screw job, but this time at the expense of Mankind.
Survivor Series ’99 saw the attempted murder of Stone Cold Steve Austin. It sparked a 12-month whodunnit. Survivor Series 2000 saw the continuation of this storyline when Austin faced the mastermind behind the hit-and-run. HHH fled the arena during the match. He hopped in his car and hoped to escape Austin. But the “Texas Rattlesnake” picked HHH’s car up in a forklift and crushed him in it.
2001 saw the whole WWF face potential death. The WWF faced off against the ECW and WCW Alliance in a series of matches. A traditional Survivor Series ‘winner takes all’ match between the warring companies topped the card, with the losing company being forced to cease business.
Despite WWE winning in 2001, WCW executive Eric Bischoff was in control of WWE Raw in 2002. Survivor Series 2002 centred around Bischoff’s ‘ingenious creation’, the Elimination Chamber.
Control was still the storyline in 2003, as Steve Austin assembled a team to face Bischoff’s five men with the role of WWE Raw GM at stake.
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw!
When: 2004 to 2021
The best era for: Bragging rights and brand loyalty bouts
WWE pitched its two brands against each other as SmackDown went head-to-head with Raw in 2004. The focus on brand warfare coincided with the start of the SmackDown vs. Raw video game series.
Since then, there has been competition between the brands during Survivor Series annually. Predominantly, this has seen teams or individuals selected to represent their brand. Alternatively, they have presented co-branded shows, booking half the show each.
Power struggles have continued to be a theme. With Nexus looking to take over in 2010 and Team Cena fighting The Authority with jobs on the line in 2014.
2017 to 2021 saw a more dedicated commitment to the SmackDown vs. Raw theme as champions from each brand faced each other during match cards, culminating in traditional Survivor Series elimination matches with teams from each brand.
The 2018 Survivor Series took the heat to a new level when Becky Lynch was injured during an invasion of WWE Raw by SmackDown. Lynch being unable to face Ronda Rousey in the Raw vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion became the hottest storyline and ran all the way to WrestleMania 35.
2019 also saw the inclusion of NXT as a third brand in the warfare.
Survivor Series: WarGames
When: 2022 to present
The best era for: Waaaaaaaaaar Gaaaames!
Dusty Rhodes created the WarGames match in 1987 when in NWA. The match was used at the NWA Great American Bash tour. WCW acquired the match and used it from 1993 to 1998 at Fall Brawl.
WWE experimented with the match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames between 2017 and 2021. The Bloodline storyline provided the perfect occasion for WWE to move WarGames over to its main event Survivor Series 2022 show. 2024 saw the Bloodline civil war take place inside WarGames.
The inclusion of WarGames matches has seen the back of WWE Survivor Series’ traditions. This year, traditional Survivor Series elimination matches will take place on the eve of Survivor Series on WWE SmackDown.
This year’s WWE Survivor Series: WarGames sees Paul Heyman’s latest Vision Alliance look to claim dominance over CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, The Usos, and Roman Reigns. John Cena will make his final WWE Survivor Series appearance as he faces Dominik Mysterio on Saturday November 29, 2025. Check out Cena’s biggest WWE Survivor Series matches here.
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Preview: WWE Raw (12/1/25) War Games Fallout and Full Steam To SNME
