What’s that PPV coming up? Cyber Sunday? No, not that one - I couldn’t care less. No, I’m worried about the card taking place on November 23: Survivor Series.

Every year I do this. I piss, I moan and when I’m finished, I piss and moan some more. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of grumbling and I’m sure those who read my articles are too. However, I can’t stop!

Until things change, I just cannot stop grumbling about the fact that Survivor Series, to utilise a horrid cliché, is not what it used to be.

At last year’s event, Team HHH beat Team Umaga in a good mid-card Elimination tag match, while we were also treated/subjected/tortured with a Ten Woman Divas match in the same vein.

These were nice throwbacks to the original Survivor Series format in the same way that it’s nice to reminisce when Hulk Hogan walks through the curtain to “Real American”.

However, it’s far from the same.

When the Survivor Series started, way, way back in 1987, it was a unique show indeed. Boasting a card of just four matches, it was nonetheless loaded with an enormous array of talent, that showcased the depth of the roster throughout this boom period.

Every bout was an elimination affair and featured ten superstars, except for one, which was the famous all-tag match, with twenty guys in the ring that went for forty plus minutes. This is the one which the majority of fans hold dear, as Rick Martel, The Hart Foundation, The Bulldogs, Tito Santana, the Rougeaus, Demolition and a host of other guys locked horns in an epic.

An outstanding success, the first annual Series drew a huge buyrate, only being outdrawn by Wrestlemania III in the era. It immediately became an annual tradition and one of the most fondly anticipated supercards.

As a kid I remember my friends and I used to salivate over the posters and video covers, admiring the wacky combinations of superstars that we never dreamed (and at times they admittedly could be the stuff of nightmares) would be thrust upon us. Remember when they had a great team of quality wrestlers, but included Jim Neidhart? Then for some reason, Bret was simultaneously included in a team of brawlers? Or how about when Bret’s team, was like, his FAMILY? Awesome stuff.

By the Fourth Annual Survivor Series, the Federation added a new twist. From every bout, the Surviving members of the winning team advanced into the main event, in the ultimate big match scenario. Although in retrospective, the victorious tandem of the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan was somewhat predictable, it was a tremendously exciting experience.

But over the years, this unique show became compromised. It began in 1991, when the most hype for the show went to Hulk Hogan’s title defence against The Undertaker. For my money, one title match per Survivor Series is fine, so long as it doesn’t dominate the card and overshadow the alternative selling point. On this occasion, the card was lopsided, kicking off with a hot SS match that included Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Ted Dibiase.

But things went downhill after that. The Main Event was ruined somewhat when team captains Randy Savage and Jake Roberts were removed from the event, leaving the opener as the highlight of a poor evening’s entertainment.

In 1992, we were afforded a good card (C’mon - Shawn Michaels versus Bret Hart and the return of Mr Perfect, teaming with Randy Savage), but only one traditional Survivor match. But that was a mere excuse to bundle the entire tag division together in a weak reference to the already overlooked format. It just wasn’t the Survivor Series anymore.

The following year was a welcome return to Series tradition, although the matches themselves were a disappoint in what was overall a somewhat lacklustre event. Throughout 1994-1996, each event continued to feature the big bouts that I’m emphatically raving about, but they were often poor and an afterthought in comparison to the title matches.

At times, it were as if the Federation enjoyed employing these bouts in place of having to book actual feuds and storylines that fans wanted to see, confident in the drawing power of this show though reputation (and the main event) alone.

1997 offered four Survivor matches, but their importance was minimal. In singles matches, Owen Hart battled with Steve Austin for the IC title, while Kane tussled with Mankind under some kinky looking red lights and Bret Hart refused to lose the world title to Shawn Michaels, but did so anyway. These matches dominated Vince’s time and energy, relegating what should have been the backbone of the show, to extended concession stand time-outs.

1998 was a one night tournament (and a doozy, I should add), while 1999 was a steaming pile of crud. In 2000, we only got two SS bouts, which the following year, was reduced to a measly one. Though at least it topped the card.

Within the confines of Madison Square Garden in 2002, the WWE didn’t bother to book any traditional Survivor clashes, though still delivered a superb card, the success of which, I guess left them feeling vindicated in their decision to abolish tradition.

One year later though and the excellent double act of Raw and Smackdown Survivor matches served to test the waters for public interest in these things. Of course, angles such as WWE champion Brock Lesnar tapping out and Austin’s employment being on the line helped out. But they shot themselves in the nards by topping the bill with a snooze fest between Bill Goldberg, who no-one cared about, and Triple H, who everyone was sick of in 2003.

2004’s effort was a similar mixture of singles matches and a couple of Survivor ones. Fortunately, the main event was a superb SS tag match, with Triple H, Batista, Edge and, errm, Snitsky, taking on Randy Orton, the two Chris’ and, err, Maven. Hotly booked and executed, this one was dynamite and a real eye opener as to how this event is best used when it’s potential is exploited.

In 2005, the show was a bit poo really and the sole SS match was a Raw versus Smackdown outing that was well done, but spoiled by one of the Undertaker’s silly returns, post-match. A year later, they still hadn’t learned and despite their being a few Survivor Style encounters, they were not the focal point of the show and the one featuring the biggest stars (Team DX versus Team RKO - yes the one where CM Punk got a bigger pop than either HBK or the Game) was a complete squash.

And that leads us to last year and a card that was decent, but in no way special. It would be understandable if this was merely a performance issue. But it’s not.

The 2007 SS did not stand out because the booking was such, that it was really no different from any other WWE PPV. And that’s a problem. One of the problems with WWE programming in recent years, is that there’s too much product and not enough fans willing to shell out so many times a year for all of the PPVs. And one of the reasons many folk won’t pay up, is because the PPVs do not stand out enough from the weekly TV shows and from each other.

The main reason that the Royal Rumble does such great business is because it has the bloody RUMBLE! It’s an event unlike any other, that is based around a match unlike any other. Fans have shown time and time again, that they’re more inclined to watch a show that offers them something the other ones do not, hence why some cards are B-shows and others are not.

The infuriating thing is, that this trend is something that the WWE are completely aware of. Look what happened this year with No Way Out - until February past, an average, B-Level WWE PPV. Not anymore. Now it’s set to become our annual Elimination Chamber fest, with the winner of the Chamber match earning a title shot at WrestleMania for their respective brand’s World title.

Vengeance, which historically delivered the goods, became Night of the Champions, a card loaded only with title matches (that also underlines how little most of those belts mean, because there’s so bloody many of them!).

They even attempted to convert Unforgiven into such a gimmick card with this year’s, ahem, innovative, Scramble Match concept. Thankfully, that one tanked somewhat…hopefully the “Scramble” format only returns on rare occasions and doesn’t lead to another gimmick card.

Amidst all these changes and cashing in, the one that it would absolutely be the easiest to manipulate into an appealing novelty card, would of course be…the Survivor Series! It also would run less risk of overexposing a particular match type and is flexible enough to incorporate different stips. Why not try a cage match? Or a hardcore elimination match? But at this stage, it looks unlikely that we’ll return to it’s Eighties roots, especially as Vinnie Mac does not see any value in tag wrestling in 2008.

The 2008 Survivor Series is a few weeks away yet, but the options are countless to follow the old format and offer something different. Clearly, CM Punk and Kofi Kingston are engaged in a feud with Priceless. So there’s a built in match. Jericho and Michaels work superbly together, but their feud has ended. But being on opposite teams would be a great way to add a little of that to the show and integrate a bunch of other guys into storylines.

Nobody buys Rey Mysterio as a headliner, yet he works well with the other main eventers so this is a great opportunity for him to mix it up with those guys.

We could have the first ever teaming of the Undertaker and Triple H on PPV. The weaknesses of guys like Kozlov could be masked (he looked fine when he competed on TNA PPVs a few months back) and the chance to give young guys some rub,should surely not be missed. The entire ECW roster could probably fit on one match!

So at this point, I would sincerely hope that the company are at least considering focusing on some old-fangled groovy tag action. If they’re not, then they’re missing the boat and they’re missing a big giant, fat boat that’s sitting right in front of their eyes - the type that Vinnie and his cronies love to flop about on.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc or simply by emailing me at Michael@ifight365.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!