Survivor Series (2007) - Background

Background

Survivor Series was the culmination of various scripted plots and storylines. For three months before the event, several professional wrestling matches and scripted plots were played out on WWE programming (Raw, Friday Night SmackDown!, and ECW on Sci Fi) to create feuds between various wrestlers, casting them as villains and heroes. Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW were also the names of WWE's televised brands – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a specific program, thus each brand promoted distinct matches.

The main narrative for Survivor Series from the SmackDown brand continues the events that unfolded at WrestleMania 23, WWE's April pay-per-view, in which The Undertaker defeated Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. Over the course of several months, the two wrestlers fought in various matches over the title, which eventually involved Edge. The Undertaker was billed as having been injured in one of these matches in May, in which Edge had won the title. During The Undertaker's absence, Edge was legitimately injured, and The Great Khali won the championship in a Battle Royal, in which wrestlers were eliminated until one remained as the winner. At Unforgiven, WWE's September pay-per-view event, The Undertaker returned to WWE, while Batista won the World Heavyweight Title from The Great Khali. Afterwards, the original feud between the two wrestlers was restarted and culminated into a standard wrestling match, known in professional wrestling as a singles match, at WWE's October pay-per-view event Cyber Sunday; Batista won this match and retained his title. On the November 2, 2007 episode of Friday Night SmackDown!, a rematch was advertised in a Hell in a Cell match, in which both wrestlers would fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel structure at Survivor Series.

The prime rivalry scripted from the Raw brand continued a storyline that extended from Cyber Sunday, between WWE Champion Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels over Orton's title. At Cyber Sunday, Michaels was chosen by the WWE fans, via online voting, to face Orton for the title, though, Orton retained his title via disqualification. A rematch was promoted for Survivor Series on the October 29, 2007 edition of Raw, in which Michaels would face Orton for his title. Afterwards, Michaels and Orton fought in different match types over the weeks leading to Survivor Series. On the episode of Raw before Survivor Series, Michaels and Orton met "Face to Face" in a scripted confrontation, in which Orton attacked Michaels.

The prime storyline on the ECW brand featured ECW Champion CM Punk, John Morrison, and The Miz. Morrison and Punk's rivalry revolved over the outcome of their match at Vengeance: Night of Champions, WWE's June pay-per-view event, in which Morrison defeated Punk to win the ECW Title. Punk sought revenge, but Morrison defeated Punk in two championship matches; however, Punk won the title from Morrison on the September 4, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci fi. At Cyber Sunday, The Miz was voted online by fans to challenge Punk for the ECW Title, though, Punk defeated Miz to retain his title. A Triple Threat match was announced for Survivor Series on the November 13, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci-Fi, in which Punk would defend his title against Morrison and Miz, and the first wrestler to gain a pinfall or submission would win the match and the title.

In a narrative extending to the September 10, 2007 episode of Raw, in which Hornswoggle, a dwarf, was announced as Vince McMahon's illegitimate son. In this storyline, McMahon did not like the fact that Hornswoggle was his son, and as a result, he promoted matches in which Hornswoggle faced much larger opponents. As part of this storyline, McMahon announced that The Great Khali, who was billed as standing at 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m), would face Hornswoggle at Survivor Series. In a promotional in-ring segment on the episode of Friday Night SmackDown! before the pay-per-view event, Khali and Hornswoggle weighed in for their match, in which Khali weighed double the weight of Hornswoggle; this was a segment created by McMahon to humiliate his son. As a Survivor Series tradition, every event features an inter-brand 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Announced via WWE.com, WWE's official website, Team Triple H (Triple H, The Hardys (Matt and Jeff), Rey Mysterio, and Kane would face Team Umaga (Umaga, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), Finlay, Big Daddy V, and Mr. Kennedy).