10 Most Shocking WWE Survivor Series Moments

Today (November 14) marks 22 years since WWE Survivor Series 1999 took place.

It was certainly a noteworthy show, featuring the debut of Kurt Angle, some attempted vehicular homicide and the crowning of a surprising new WWE Champion.

The biggest thing to happen on the pay-per-view was the angle where Steve Austin was run over by a mystery assailant in the arena's parking lot. That rendered Stone Cold unable to compete as scheduled in the triple threat WWE Title main event with Triple H and The Rock.

His place was taken by Big Show, who improbably won the match and his first WWE Title.

It was all very shocking, but shocking and Survivor Series tend to go hand in hand.

As one of WWE's original 'big four' pay-per-views and having been around since 1990, Survivor Series is usually a show where major things happen.

Whether it's debuts, turns, attempted vehicular homicide or whatever, you can typically count on Survivor Series to generate at least one shocking moment.

Nothing can ever be as important as BRAND SUPREMACY, but the following ten moments really were seismic ones in WWE history.

10. Backlund Beats Bret - 1994

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The resurgence of Bob Backlund during the New Generation Era was a pleasant surprise.

As the seemingly out-of-touch representative of the 'old generation', Mr. Backlund was good value and found himself improbably placed into a programme with WWE Champion Bret Hart.

Their rivalry (initially) culminated in a Submission Match at Survivor Series '94. The Sharpshooter versus the Crossface Chickenwing, it was an intriguing game of chess where the only way to win was for the opponent's second to throw in the towel.

Bret's jealous brother Owen accompanied Backlund, while The British Bulldog was stationed at ringside for The Hitman.

The finish was great, with Davey Boy getting knocked out after messing about with Owen, Bret getting trapped in the Chickenwing and, feigning concern for his older sibling, Owen convincing his parents - sitting in the front row - to throw in the towel for Bret, as he valiantly fought to get out of the hold.

Backlund winning was a shock, since he was a comparatively ancient 45 years-old when he became WWE Champion for the second time, over a decade after he had last held the belt.

Not so shocking was his subsequent three-day reign, which famously ended in eight seconds at the hands of Diesel at a Madison Square Garden house show.

9. The Ultimate Opportunist Strikes Again - 2008

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When the WWE Title match at Survivor Series 2008 was advertised as Triple H defending against Jeff Hardy and Vladimir Kozlov, fans probably expected one of those three men to leave the show holding the gold.

However, Hardy was removed from the bout earlier in the show when he was found 'unconscious at the bottom of a hotel stairwell', giving us Triple H against Kozlov in a singles match instead.

Lucky us, eh?

But then that changed, too, when SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero turned it into a triple-threat match, inserting Edge into the equation.

The Rated-R Superstar's appearance here was a surprise, as he hadn't been seen since being sent to hell at the end of SummerSlam months prior.

And it would be the Ultimate Opportunist who walked out as champ, despite interference from the Charismatic Enigma, when he pinned The Game following a chair shot.

The sneaky manner of the title win fit Edge's character perfectly and set up a three-way with Hardy and Triple H at the next month's Armageddon.

8. Betraying The Next Big Thing - 2002

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When Brock Lesnar was booked to defend the WWE Title against Big Show at Survivor Series, it seemed like an arbitrary defense for the rampant Next Big Thing.

After all, Lesnar was undefeated and had already steamrolled through the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock and The Undertaker in his first six months on the main roster.

Show, meanwhile, had been mired in the midcard, only recently moved to SmackDown and barely built up as a challenger to the Next Big Thing.

Amazingly, WWE booked the World's Largest Athlete to hand Brock his first televised pinfall loss at Survivor Series 2002, though that wasn't the most shocking thing about the match.

It wasn't so much result, as the manner of it, that got people talking.

The two had a short, dynamic bout (necessarily so since Lesnar was working with a painful rib injury) and Brock seemed to have things sewn up.

As the referee was counting what was surely the three, though, Lesnar's agent Paul Heyman pulled the official out of the ring and struck him, turning on his charge and allowing Show to recover and get the job done.

The Madison Square Garden crowd were stunned.

Heyman was now aligned with Big Show - and would soon be paired up with Kurt Angle, too - while Brock was established as the top babyface on the blue brand and had something to chase.

A great bit of business, but one that few likely saw coming.

7. Austin Tries To Kill Triple H - 2000

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After being mowed down at Survivor Series '99, Steve Austin wasn't about to let it lie and, upon his return, immediately set about finding the guilty party and making them pay.

Which he did to Rikishi, after it was revealed that the Samoan superheavyweight was the man behind the wheel, beating him to a pulp at No Mercy.

Then, of course, it actually turned out that Triple H was the mastermind behind it all and had put Rikishi up to it in the first place. Naturally, The Texas Rattlesnake wanted to maim the Cerebral Assassin, too, and the pair were booked in No Disqualification match at Survivor Series.

So, a year after being put out of action, Austin finally got the chance to exact revenge on his aggressor.

The two had a long and, frankly, disjointed brawl, but nobody was really talking about the (lack of) match quality as the show went off the air.

They were all talking about the finish to the pay-per-view, which saw Stone Cold trap The Game in a car, hoist him up thirty feet in the air with a forklift and dropped him, presumably to his death.

An eye for an eye, and all that...

It was a wild stunt and gave the saga some closure.

WWE didn't really do themselves any favours when Triple H returned eight days later sporting nary a scratch on his person but, I mean, what can you do eh?

6. The Corporate Champion - 1998

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The 1998 Survivor Series was built around a tournament to declare a new WWE Champion after the title had been vacated.

It wasn't a great show as far as the quality of the matches (far from it), but the show-long story was captivating and, I hate to say it, a rare triumph from the mind of Vince Russo.

There were plenty of twists and turns leading into the final between The Rock and Mankind. The Great One was starting to catch on as a babyface in a big way, while Mick Foley's alter-ego was being favoured by the villainous Mr. McMahon and being groomed for the top.

The match was the best on the show but, once again, it was the finish that everyone remembers.

In it, McMahon 'screwed' Mankind, as The Rock had him locked in the Sharpshooter. It was a replay of the infamous Montreal Screwjob from the year before, the first time it had been done (before WWE decided to dust it off seemingly every other year).

Yes, it was a setup all along! McMahon was actually in cahoots with Rock, while poor Mankind had been played like a sock-wielding puppet.

A genuinely great surprise and a fitting conclusion to the show as well.

5. The Death Of Hulkamania? - 1991

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The Undertaker's debut at the 1990 Survivor Series is one of the best moments in the history of the event.

The Deadman took WWE by storm in his first year in the company, and by the '91 Survivor Series he was booked in a WWE Title match opposite Hulk Hogan.

The zombie mortician was a formidable opponent, sure, but this was Hulk Hogan we're talking about here. The golden goose. The licence to print money. The man of the millennium, etc...

The match was hot garbage, moving at a glacial pace and featuring plenty of shenanigans, with Hogan no-selling a Tombstone, Paul Bearer breaking up the Leg Drop and Ric Flair sauntering out to play difference-maker.

The Nature Boy slid a chair into the ring and, when 'Taker dropped Hogan with a Tombstone on it, he won his first WWE Title.

For about a week, anyway, before dropping it back to the Hulkster at the This Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view.

The funniest thing about the title change, of course, is Terrible Terry claiming that Mean Mark injured him with the winning move, despite the evidence suggesting that Hogan's head was a good half mile away from the canvas.

4. Goldberg Squashes Lesnar - 2016

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So it's come to this: booking pay-per-view main events specifically to promote video games.

Regardless of the motivations behind making the match, the prospect of Goldberg meeting Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016 was a juicy one.

After all, Goldberg hadn't been seen in a WWE ring in over twelve years and, the last time he was in one, was at WrestleMania XX, after he had beaten Brock in a match that fans completely turned on and sabotaged.

This time, things were different and fans were clamouring to see Da Man do his thing once again.

The smart money was on Lesnar, the long-term big-money investment who had been on the warpath since returning in 2012. I mean, this is the guy who beat The Undertaker's WrestleMania undefeated streak - what chance did an almost-fifty-year-old Goldberg have?

Not only did the former WCW and WWE World Heavyweight Champion beat Lesnar, but he did so in utterly convincing fashion. Booked to resemble a squash against a prelim guy from his glory days, Goldberg simply ran through The Beast with a pair of Spears and a Jackhammer to pick up the victory in just 86 seconds.

Lesnar had never been beaten so easily and the way the match went down was a (pleasant) surprise to those who harkened to see the Goldberg of old once more.

3. The Shield Debuts - 2012

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Come Survivor Series 2012, CM Punk was clinging onto his WWE Title, having retained it against John Cena (at Night of Champions) thanks to a flukey draw and against Ryback (at Hell in a Cell) thanks to a crooked referee.

At Survivor Series, he would have to contend with both men and there would be nowhere to run.

One of his sternest tests yet as champ, Punk looked like relinquishing his title on several occasions during the course of the contest.

He had a backup plan, however, enlisting help from a place that nobody would think to look.

On the night, developmental prospects Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose debuted and intervened on the Straight-Edge Superstar's behalf, putting The Big Guy through the announce table, allowing Punk to pin Cena (who had been Shell-Shocked by Ryback).

It was an awesome debut and came as a complete surprise, since the group henceforth known as The Shield did not issue any cryptic teases about their impending arrival, nor did Punk hint at what was to come.

The rest, as they say, is history.

2. The Man They Call Sting - 2014

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Following the sale of WCW to WWE, pretty much every major WCW star made their way to WWE (often their way back) in the years after.

The one major exception was Sting, a man who had never worked for WWE and resisted their overtures, deciding instead to sign with TNA (where he wrestled off and on until January 2014).

His TNA departure fuelled the rumour mill about a jump to WWE, but things were quiet and every indication was that The Icon had little interest in signing with Vince McMahon.

And so it was unexpected, to say the least, when he finally showed up at the conclusion of the 2014 Survivor Series.

Sting emerged unannounced to help thwart Team Authority, nailing Triple H with a Scorpion Death Drop and pulling a knackered Dolph Ziggler on top of Seth Rollins.

Sting was hidden the entire day of the show and his debut was kept a secret from just about everyone. The company went to extraordinary lengths to keep his debut a secret, and it worked perfectly.

That initial pop as fans suddenly realised who was coming out was something else.

Shame about pretty much everything else that followed, but what a start.

1. The Montreal Screwjob - 1997

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Could it be anything else?

Not only the most shocking moment in Survivor Series history, the Montreal Screwjob stands almost a quarter of a century after the fact as one of the most controversial and shocking moments in the history of the business.

It would take far too long to recap the events that led up to Vince McMahon and a small in-the-know crew of others to forcibly take the WWE Title away from Bret Hart in his main event match with Shawn Michaels, and for those who want the know 411 there are plenty of places to find it.

I personally would recommend either the documentary Wrestling with Shadows or Cultaholic's very own Screwed.

Essentially, Bret was going to leave for WCW and Vince needed to get the WWE Title off beforehand. Vince wanted Bret to drop it to the Heartbreak Kid in Montreal, but Bret refused.

The Hitman was in the right, since he had a 'reasonable creative control' clause in his contract, allowing him to protect himself in the 30 days before his exit. Besides, Michaels was a dick and had already told Hart, to his face, that he wouldn't reciprocate if the shoe was on the other foot.

A disqualification finish was agreed upon but, unbeknownst to The Excellence of Execution, Vince, Shawn, referee Early Hebner and a few others had conspired to 'screw' Bret, calling for the bell and declaring a submission as Shawn had him trapped in his very own Sharpshooter.

It was a sickening end to WWE life for one of its most dependable and beloved performers, as well as a stark reminder of who really holds the power in the world's biggest sports entertainment outfit.