WWE Survivor Series has gone through more identity crises than probably any event in WWE history!
The first Survivor Series pay-per-view was held all the way back in 1987. The show stood out right away thanks to its unique concept, with fans looking forward to seeing which teams of five would strive to survive each and every year. However, as the Golden Era ended and the then-World Wrestling Federation’s roster grew thinner and thinner (both in quantity and in quality), the Stamford-based organization had no choice but to distance itself from the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag bouts.
RELATED: How WWE Survivor Series Went From Big 4 To An Afterthought
By the time the 2000s rolled around, the PPV had morphed into something completely different. Management leaned more into regular matches and high-stakes world title matches, especially after the World Heavyweight Championship was introduced in 2002. Survivor Series gave us many classic championship matches between 2000 and 2009… but it also forced us to sit through Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov!
Without any further ado, here are all the WWE world title bouts at Survivor Series during the 2000s, ranked from worst to best.
13. Triple H Vs. Vladimir Kozlov – WWE Championship (2008)
The red-hot Jeff Hardy was a second away from winning his first WWE Championship at both Unforgiven and No Mercy in 2008. Fans could feel it was just a matter of time until The Charismatic Enigma finally won the big one, and Survivor Series felt like the moment. When the big show (not that one!) finally arrived, the SmackDown commentators announced Jeff Hardy wouldn’t be in action… Instead, Triple H would be defending his WWE Championship in a singles match against Vladimir Kozlov.
Needless to say, no one cared. The Game and Kozlov wrestled at a snail’s pace while the fans patiently waited for anything interesting to happen. Eventually, they would get something (Edge returned to steal the title in the end), but only after 13 minutes of “action” between HHH and Kozlov! Jeff Hardy’s run-in towards the end only made the audience angrier, since it proved he was in the arena after all. If you’ve never seen this match, keep it that way! Everything about it was a mess, and it absolutely deserves last place on this list.
- Match Rating: 1/10
