Who Will Survive?

Good Tuesday Afternoon, Everybody!

Well, I feel a whole lot better today than I did on yesterday—I went to bed around 11pm CST last night, and I slept all the way until 6am CST this morning. I tried to get at least an extra half hour of sleep, but I only got fifteen minutes, so I figured that I would just go ahead and get up anyway.

And now, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of today’s blog post!

As you can see by my visual aid, this blog post is dedicated to a time-honored Thanksgiving tradition for those of us who are wrestling fans—I’m talking about the upcoming Survivor Series! You know, it’s no secret that that everybody in my family (from Gramma Jewel to yours truly) is a huge wrestling fan; I reckon it’s like our birthright or something! We have yet to make a fan out of Becky, but it’s a slow process… hahaha! Oh, well—in due time, I reckon. In any event, I had received my “wrestling fan rite of passage” when I was five years old, and since then, I have been a follower. However, I haven’t followed it as much lately, what with college life and all.

My modus operandi for choosing Survivor Series 2001 is quite simple: To me, it told a compelling story. Now, I was only seven years old at the time, but even though I quickly learned that it was all entertainment, I have to admit that I was instantly pulled into the whole storyline of it all. You see, Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) were threatened by this alliance of what I like to call Extreme World Championship Wrestling; it was a conglomerate of WCW and ECW, led by Paul Heyman, Shane McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Well, it was decided that at the Survivor Series, it was all or nothing, and winner take all. Vince McMahon would put his five WWF best—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, and Kane—against the Alliance’s five best—“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon, and… Kurt Angle?!?!

Yeah, Kurt sided with the Alliance, and Vince was so desperate to win that he assigned himself on Team WWF. He later changed his mind when Big Show volunteered his services.

So, here we are at the Survivor Series—Team WWF vs. Team Alliance! Which entity would survive, and which would permanently be put out of business? Well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Team WWF won, thanks to the assistance of Kurt Angle. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “I thought Kurt Angle defected to the Alliance!” Well, it was all a plot from the beginning; you see, Vince McMahon instructed Mr. Angle to side with the Alliance, totally unbeknownst to Team WWF. Now, whereas Team WWF was somewhat ticked off at Vince and Kurt (and that’s just putting it mildly), they were grateful that their jobs were still intact.

Here it is, twelve years later, and I have heard several reviews (both positive and negative) about this particular storyline. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so having said that, I’ll just say this: From my perspective—again, considering that I was seven years old at the time—I really enjoyed this storyline. Granted, it could’ve been lengthened until perhaps WrestleMania XVIII and maybe even beyond, but for what it was worth, I went home happy. As a matter of fact, I remember going to bed with a big smile on my face, happy and excited that Team WWF survived.

Shoot, I’m so amped up right now just in talking about it—I’m gonna go on YouTube and look up this match again, if for nothing but to hear the fantastic commentary between Jim Ross and Paul Heyman!

Until tomorrow, y’all take care.

Smooches,

Natasha