RELATED<\/strong>: How WWE Survivor Series Went From Big 4 To An Afterthought<\/a><\/p>\n 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!<\/p>\n Without any further ado, here are all the WWE world title bouts at Survivor Series during the 2000s, ranked from worst to best.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0<\/em>(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.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are no more outright disasters to talk about on this list, at least not on the level of the aforementioned bout. Next up is a technically fine WWE Championship match that didn’t really offend anyone watching, but one that few remembered just a few months later. JBL, in the midst of his long reign as WWE Champion, needed a new challenger after multiple battles with both Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker. Booker T was the chosen one, quickly turning face after dropping the United States Championship to John Cena at the previous pay-per-view, No Mercy.<\/p>\n To be fair to JBL and Booker T, the powers that be decided – for whatever reason – that the build-up should revolve around Josh Matthews, of all people. JBL and The Cabinet bullied the SmackDown announcer during many backstage interviews until Booker stepped up to defend him.<\/p>\n Booker even teamed up with the former Tough Enough participant on an episode of SmackDown, scoring a somewhat surprising win over JBL and Orlando Jordan. At Survivor Series, JBL and Booker had a perfectly watchable match that lacked real energy, since everyone knew Matthews and The Cabinet would inevitably get involved. That’s exactly what happened, and Bradshaw retained the belt with outside interference for what felt like the 500th time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s be honest: even though King Booker and Batista wrestled each other at two Big Four pay-per-views in 2006, the only reason people talk about their feud today is because of the real backstage fight the two men had while shooting a commercial for that year’s SummerSlam<\/a>.<\/p>\n Batista, the face of the SmackDown brand at the time, was forced to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury in January 2006. The Animal came back in the summer with one thing in mind: to regain the world title, which was now around the royal waist of King Booker. Unfortunately, their singles matches never really clicked, including an extremely disappointing SummerSlam bout that ended in a flat disqualification.<\/p>\n After coming up short in an underrated Fatal Four-Way Match that also featured Bobby Lashley and Finlay at No Mercy, Batista finally regained the Big Gold Belt in the main event of Survivor Series. While the fans were behind The Animal in Philadelphia, Batista’s second world title felt more like an inevitable outcome than an exciting closure to the main event of one of WWE’s biggest events. Needless to say, their rivalry was more fiery backstage than on television.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before talking about this match, I have a challenge for you. Ask ten wrestling fans what the main event of Survivor Series 2003 was. Unless they watched the show recently, chances are most people will say it was the exciting Team Austin vs Team Bischoff elimination match, and the Buried Alive Match between The Undertaker and Vince McMahon will most likely be the second most popular answer since it was Undertaker’s last appearance at The American Badass.<\/p>\n The actual main event was Goldberg vs Triple H in a cold rematch from Unforgiven for the World Heavyweight Championship. The story was simple, and the match wasn’t bad at all, but it just fell flat after everything that had already happened throughout the night.<\/p>\n To his credit, Triple H was still able to put on a fine bout with Goldberg despite wrestling with an injured groin (he was still wearing his infamous biker shorts at the time). Goldberg retained his championship here, but it was obvious his title reign – and WWE run, for that matter<\/a> – wouldn’t last much longer.<\/p>\n Kurt Angle’s legendary WWF\/E career began at Survivor Series 1999 when The Olympic Hero easily defeated Shawn Stasiak in a quick undercard match. It took Angle less than a year to become the World Wrestling Federation Champion after having one of the most entertaining rookie years in pro wrestling history.<\/p>\n Survivor Series 2000 was an important night for Angle for two reasons: it marked his first anniversary as a WWF star, as well as his first world title defense on pay-per-view. However, it was also a special night for Angle’s challenger, The Undertaker, who was celebrating a decade with the WWF. On paper, it sounded perfect!<\/p>\n In execution, it was alright… But it lacked\u00a0something\u00a0<\/em>extra. The chemistry just wasn’t there yet (watch their No Way Out 2006 classic after this and you’ll see what I mean), and the match ended just as it was starting to switch gears.<\/p>\n The finish itself was strange, as Undertaker thought he’d won the title after delivering the Last Ride, but he was actually pinning Kurt’s look-alike brother, Eric Angle. The champion appeared seconds later and stole the win to escape with the title. In the end, this one’s remembered more for Undertaker’s weird snakeskin pants<\/a> than anything that actually happened inside the ring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kurt Angle was the perfect opponent for a young John Cena in more ways than one. They shared a lot of history – after all, it was Angle who faced Cena in his WWE debut<\/a> – and had already delivered tremendous PPV matches at No Mercy 2003 and No Way Out 2005.<\/p>\n When Cena finally won the WWE Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 21, no one expected that the former Doctor of Thuganomics would start getting booed just a few months later. But that’s exactly what happened, and when it did, Kurt Angle was trusted to be the veteran who could bring out the best in Cena and help him win back the fans.<\/p>\n While management had every reason to be worried about Cena’s negative crowd reactions, overbooking a story that wrote itself wasn’t the answer. After beating Cena by DQ at Unforgiven, Angle introduced Daivari, Muhammad Hassan’s former manager, as his new personal referee.<\/p>\n The reason? Well, people used to hate Hassan & Daivari, so randomly adding him to the story would\u00a0surely<\/em> get the fans on Cena’s side! Cena and Angle obviously had the chemistry to steal the show on any given night, and the crowd was really loud at WWE Survivor Series 2005. Cena and Angle did the best they could, even with the constant ref bumps and interruptions, and still had a solid match, but it ultimately stands as their weakest PPV encounter due to the overbooking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n John Cena dominated the WWE Title picture for over two years, but his major push slowed down a bit in 2008 due to some serious injuries. During Cena’s hiatus, a spectacular personal feud between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels carried Monday Night Raw. Chris Jericho was having arguably the greatest year of his career, and he walked out of that story as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.<\/p>\n After a brief rivalry with Batista that for some reason saw the two men trade the title back and forth, it was announced that John Cena would be granted a title shot against Jericho in the main event of WWE Survivor Series 2008, which took place in Cena’s hometown of Boston that year.<\/p>\n Jericho smartly targeted Cena’s surgically repaired neck throughout the match. Cena eventually made the comeback and won his first World Heavyweight Championship with the FU (shortly before it became known as the Attitude Adjustment). While not an all-time classic by any means, this was a nice feel-good win for John Cena in his return from injury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2009, Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) was one of the best tag teams in WWE. Together, the duo held the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship for half a year, only dropping the straps to D-Generation X at TLC. One month earlier, at Survivor Series, both Jericho and Big Show found themselves challenging The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship in a star-studded Triple Threat Match.<\/p>\n Jeri-Show were more than willing to betray each other to walk out of Washington with the prestigious Big Gold Belt, and the three legends put on a really strong match. Jericho did most of the bumping while Undertaker and Big Show showed off their power. While Jeri-Show double-teamed The Deadman several times, their alliance didn\u2019t last long, and Show knocked out his partner with a KO Punch. Undertaker capitalized, forcing Big Show to tap out to Hell\u2019s Gate moments after blocking the giant\u2019s Chokeslam attempt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is by far the hardest match to rate on the list. If we’re talking about technical ability alone, the WWE Championship clash between Brock Lesnar and The Big Show would be nowhere near the top five. However, the strong angle heading into (and coming out of) this championship match completely elevated it. Since I’m not just taking in-ring ability into consideration, Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show finds its way into the top five.<\/p>\n The undefeated WWE Champion Brock Lesnar – already with huge wins over Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and The Undertaker under his belt – shockingly suffered his first loss after Paul Heyman turned on him. The Next Big Thing got a massive reaction from the fans inside Madison Square Garden and instantly became WWE’s top babyface following this incredibly effective angle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t the only world title contested under Triple Threat rules at WWE Survivor Series 2009<\/a>. Jeri-Show weren’t the only tag team chasing a world title that night, either, as John Cena defended his WWE Championship against D-Generation X members, Triple H & Shawn Michaels, in the main event. The highlight of this match came seconds into the action, with The Heartbreak Kid superkicking his DX partner as soon as the bell rang.<\/p>\n That shocking opener caught everyone watching by surprise. Friendship be damned, Shawn Michaels was clearly there to become WWE Champion again. Triple H came close to winning when he nearly hit the Pedigree on Cena near the end, only to eat yet another Sweet Chin Music from Michaels. HBK couldn’t capitalize, though, since Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on him onto<\/em> Triple H. Cena then covered The Game to retain the WWE Championship after an exciting three-way battle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Survivor Series 2007 was an underrated event with two incredible world title matches. The WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels was a masterclass in storytelling and in-ring psychology. Orton would lose the championship if he got himself disqualified – a tactic The Legend Killer had used to retain the gold at Cyber Sunday. On the other hand, HBK would be disqualified if he hit Sweet Chin Music.<\/p>\n What followed was a chess game between arguably the two best storytellers in WWE at the time. The in-ring action was superb, but it was the dramatic story that made it stand out. Shawn Michaels had to dig down deep into his arsenal, pulling out several submission holds such as an ankle lock and a crossface. In the end, Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music out of instinct. HBK stopped just in time to avoid disqualification, but that split second of hesitation opened the door for Orton to strike with a quick RKO to retain the title.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s hard to choose between the Batista vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell Match and the aforementioned Orton vs Michaels WWE Title bout. The matches are entirely different, yet equally great. The strong year-long SmackDown rivalry between The Animal and The Deadman gives it the edge, though. While not as technically strong as Raw’s WWE Title match, the violence and intensity made it entertaining.<\/p>\n Both men had scored clean wins over one another (Undertaker at WrestleMania 23, Batista at Cyber Sunday), and they also had two draws (at Backlash and in a Steel Cage Match on SmackDown). Simply put, this was a feud that had<\/em> to be settled inside Hell in a Cell.<\/p>\n They hit each other with all of their signature moves, but it felt like nothing could keep either man down. The difference maker ended up being the returning Edge. Brilliantly disguised as a cameraman, The Rated-R Superstar knocked out Undertaker with a vicious camera shot to the skull, allowing Batista to score the win in the last Hell in a Cell Match of the Ruthless Aggression Era<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the very first Elimination Chamber was introduced at Survivor Series 2002, nobody truly knew what to expect. The concept was new, the structure looked brutal, and six of Raw\u2019s biggest names were thrown inside to make history. Honestly, it was all about two men – Triple H and Shawn Michaels – whose bitter rivalry defined WWE that year. Just three months earlier, Michaels had returned from a four-year absence to defeat his former best friend at SummerSlam, only to be attacked immediately afterward.<\/p>\n Survivor Series was his shot at redemption. While the story was all about Triple H and Shawn Michaels, the other four athletes (Kane, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, and Booker T) did a fantastic job as well. The match delivered in every way: hard-hitting, chaotic, and perfectly paced, with Chris Jericho doing much of the heavy lifting throughout – especially after The Game suffered an injury halfway through the bout. The MSG crowd exploded as a bloodied HBK hit Sweet Chin Music and pinned Triple H to capture the World Heavyweight Championship – Michaels’ last singles title win in his legendary career.<\/p>\n Do you agree with the list? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013<\/span><\/em>\u00a0Stay tuned to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on WWE Survivor Series and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out WWE programming on Netflix<\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0The CW<\/a>\u00a0(NXT), and\u00a0Peacock<\/a>\u00a0(archives and premium live event streaming). You can follow WWE on social media and relive top moments on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5694,"featured_media":145962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7205,4,3],"tags":[8701],"class_list":["post-145645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-wwe-survivor-series"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5694"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145645"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145965,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145645\/revisions\/145965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}13. Triple H Vs. Vladimir Kozlov – WWE Championship (2008)<\/h2>\n
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12. JBL Vs. Booker T – WWE Championship (2004)<\/h2>\n
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11. King Booker Vs. Batista – World Heavyweight Championship (2006)<\/h2>\n
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10. Goldberg Vs. Triple H – World Heavyweight Championship (2003)<\/h2>\n
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9. Kurt Angle Vs. The Undertaker – WWF Championship (2000)<\/h2>\n
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8. John Cena Vs. Kurt Angle – WWE Championship (2005)<\/h2>\n
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7. Chris Jericho Vs. John Cena – World Heavyweight Championship (2008)<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/11-24-1024x576.jpg\")
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6. The Undertaker Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. Big Show – World Heavyweight Championship (2009)<\/h2>\n
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5. Brock Lesnar Vs. Big Show – WWE Championship (2002)<\/h2>\n
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4. John Cena Vs. Triple H Vs Shawn Michaels – WWE Championship (2009)<\/h2>\n
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3. Randy Orton Vs. Shawn Michaels – WWE Championship (2007)<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/11-1.png\")
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2. Batista Vs. The Undertaker – World Heavyweight Championship (2007)<\/h2>\n
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1. Elimination Chamber Match – World Heavyweight Championship (2002)<\/h2>\n
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