Survivor Series 2013: Roman Reigns Breaks Out as the Main Event Falls Flat

The opening traditional Survivor Series match gives the show its strongest sustained wrestling and the night's clearest breakout performance. Dean Ambrose falls first, while Cody Rhodes and Goldust help remove Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro before Roman Reigns begins taking over. Reigns eliminates Jimmy Uso and Rhodes with Spears, then later removes Goldust and Rey Mysterio after Seth Rollins has been eliminated. The structure gradually isolates Reigns without making the earlier teamwork feel meaningless. His final Spear on Mysterio leaves him as the sole survivor with four eliminations. The match uses the elimination format well, builds momentum naturally and makes Reigns look like a future singles star without needing to split The Shield.

Big E Langston enters Survivor Series only six days into his Intercontinental Championship reign, so the match with Curtis Axel is designed mainly to confirm the title change rather than reinvent their rivalry. Axel attacks with urgency and tries to make the rematch feel less routine, but Big E's power repeatedly resets the pace whenever the challenger begins building control. The six-minute runtime keeps the match compact and prevents a deeper finishing stretch. Axel creates one late opening, but Big E survives and lands the Big Ending. The champion scores the clean pin and retains. The result is exactly what the new reign needs, though the match feels more like a continuation of weekly television than a major Survivor Series attraction.

The seven-on-seven Divas elimination match is overloaded with bodies and moves quickly through eliminations, which gives the division exposure but little room for any pairing to develop. Naomi, Nikki Bella, Kaitlyn and Aksana all receive brief stretches of momentum, while the format becomes increasingly difficult to follow as eliminations arrive in rapid succession. The final portion narrows the focus to Natalya, Tamina Snuka and AJ Lee. Natalya submits Tamina with the Sharpshooter and then forces AJ to submit as well. Nikki is also officially listed among the survivors despite commentary briefly creating confusion about her status. The match advances the Total Divas rivalry and gives Natalya a championship-related victory, but the crowded format and uneven execution limit its value.

Mark Henry answers Ryback's open challenge in his first match back after several months away, making the surprise return more important than the four-minute bout itself. The two heavyweights trade straightforward power offense, and the crowd reacts strongly to Henry's return before the match settles into a conventional rhythm. Ryback tries to establish control through repeated strikes and size, but Henry absorbs enough punishment to create a clean closing sequence. He catches Ryback and lands the World's Strongest Slam for the pin. The result restores Henry immediately and gives the audience a clear return moment. As a pay-per-view match, though, the limited runtime and basic structure leave very little competitive depth beyond the novelty of seeing Henry back in action.

John Cena and Alberto Del Rio produce one of the night's stronger conventional matches in their rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio repeatedly targets Cena's recently repaired arm and builds toward the Cross Armbreaker, giving the match a clear strategic thread rather than relying only on signature-move exchanges. Cena survives a Bridging German Suplex and several submission attempts, while Del Rio keeps countering the Attitude Adjustment. The strongest late sequence comes when Del Rio secures the Cross Armbreaker and appears close to forcing a submission. Cena escapes, regains control and lands the Attitude Adjustment for the clean pin. The result firmly establishes Cena's new title reign and sets up the visual confrontation with Randy Orton that follows the main event.

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan gives the card another strong wrestling match while keeping Bray Wyatt's larger story alive at ringside. Harper and Rowan use size and isolation to keep Punk and Bryan from sustaining momentum, while the babyfaces rely on quick tags, kicks and counters to break the control segments. The match accelerates once Bryan begins landing Running Knees and Punk creates openings for the elbow drop. Rowan nearly wins with a Running Splash, but Punk and Bryan survive the finishing stretch. Bryan lands the Running Knee on Rowan, and Punk follows with the Go to Sleep on Harper for the pin. The clean victory is satisfying, though the rivalry clearly remains unfinished heading toward TLC.

Randy Orton and Big Show close Survivor Series with a WWE Championship match burdened by a weak buildup and an audience more interested in what comes next. Big Show uses his size to control much of the action and eventually lands the KO Punch after the referee is knocked down. The Authority then appears on the stage, creating the distraction Orton needs even though Triple H and Stephanie had promised no interference. Orton recovers, lands the RKO and then hits the Punt Kick for the pin. The champion retains, but the match lacks urgency and the finish reinforces the Authority story more than Big Show's challenge. Cena's post-match arrival with the World Heavyweight Championship immediately makes the coming title-unification program feel more important than the main event itself.