The Best WWE Survivor Series Teams, Ranked

The Takedown on SI has you covered with a top five list of traditional Survivor Series matches, just in time for Turkey Day.

Survivor Series 1993 promotional poster / WWE.com

Turkey, candied yams, deviled eggs, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, and Survivor Series – these are the Thanksgiving Day staples at the Barnard Home for Wayward and Troubled Youth, and this year will be no different. Our extended family may not understand, but it's a time honored tradition in our home, dating back to the very first Survivor Series in 1987.

Taking place on Thanksgiving Day from 1987 through 1990, then Thanksgiving Eve from 1991 through 1994, and varying days of the holiday weekend through the present day, the Survivor Series concept was simple: Four-on-four, or five-on-five, tag team elimination matches to determine who reigned supreme through WWE.

From 1987 through 2021, with a few deviations and changes in approach, the elimination matches were the signature part of the Survivor Series PLEs. The more recent Survivor Series PLEs have featured WarGames, a concept created by Dusty Rhodes and first introduced in Jim Crockett Promotions. It was first seen in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987, used in WCW, NXT, and then on the WWE main roster beginning in 2022 that formally replaced the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches.

With this year's Survivor Series: WarGames kicking off in just 48 hours, we’re looking at the teams that stood out amongst the rest as the top five traditional Survivor Series teams of all time.

Notes on the List Criteria:

• We’re not including any WarGames matches, as this is an entirely separate concept from the traditional approach.
• 1998 and 2002 were not factored into the rankings, as no traditional matches took place during these years.
• Team Raw and Team SmackDown years were factored into the ranking system and decisions, as these were also traditional matches, just formatted a little differently.

5. The All Americans (1993) - Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers, The Undertaker

It was a time of change in the WWE of 1993. Hulk Hogan had left the company for Hollywood (at the time) and WWE was desperate to find its new top Superstar. Lex Luger, repackaged in new All American gear, fresh off the Lex Express, and was white hot with the crowd, captained the team with The Steiner Brothers and a patriotically-infused Undertaker, complete with an American flag sewn into his jacket, and who replaced a storyline injured Tatanka.

The team faced off against The Foreign Fanatics, consisting of Ludvig Borga, one half of the WWE Tag Team Champion Quebecer Jacques, Crush, who replaced a storyline injured Quebecer Pierre, and WWE Champion Yokozuna. Luger was the sole survivor, defeating his rival Borga via pinfall.

This team and its opponents feel like the perfect collection of top Superstars in the company at a time of turmoil and change. It's also always amazing to watch the Steiner Brothers in their prime, as well as being reminded of what a Lex Luger WWE Championship run could have - and should have - looked like.

4. The Warriors (1990) - The Ultimate Warrior, Legion of Doom, Texas Tornado

Nothing encapsulates the early 1990s WWE like the team of The Warriors. Loud, bright, in your face – it was a perfect team collection for a red hot WWE. Ultimate Warrior was still WWE Champion, Legion of Doom has just debuted in June of that year to a begin a thunderous first run with the company, and Texas Tornado was holding the WWE Intercontinental Championship. A Murderer’s Row of 1990s Talent, they faced The Perfect Team, consisting of Mr. Perfect and all three members of Demolition: Ax, in his last appearance for WWE and sporting a notoriously luscious head of hair, Smash, and Crush.

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Ax took the first pin of the match by Warrior, followed by Smash, Crush, Hawk, and Animal being disqualified in a messy brawl about 7 minutes in. Tornado was pinned by longtime rival Perfect, and Warrior won the match for his team by pinning Perfect.

It's fascinating to rediscover just how over Warrior was with the live crowds, but nothing quite beats that Road Warrior Pop, no matter how many times you've seen it.

3. Team WWE (2001) - The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show

It was a fight for the soul of WWE, as the Invasion was challenged to a "Winner Take All" match by Vince McMahon and WWE. Steve Austin, stumbling creatively through a terribly timed and ill-received heel run, joined forces with the Alliance and set the table for another Rock-Austin feud. The stakes were high for this match, as the winning team would stay in business, while the other would go under forever.

With a who's who of talent that defined the era on both sides, The Rock captained the WWE team with Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and Big Show, and were victorious over Austin's Alliance team with Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Shane McMahon, and Kurt Angle. Rock was the sole survivor and pinned Austin for the win, putting the Invasion out of its long overdue misery.

2. Team NXT (2019) - Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LaRae, Io Shirai, Toni Storm

NXT was on fire in 2019 and were battling for brand supremacy as part of the women's Survivor Series matches. While Team Raw and Team SmackDown were determining their ranks, Team NXT was slowly building in the background, with Rhea Ripley revealing herself as the captain.

Ripley then assembled some of the best women's talent in NXT at the time to join her, with her team consisting of Bianca Belair, Candice LaRae, Io Sharai, and Toni Storm. They were set to face Team Raw, consisting of Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan, as well as Team SmackDown, consisting of Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross.

2019 WWE always felt like it was just on the cusp of something amazing breaking through. For whatever reason, creatively or due to power dynamics, it never found itself pushing through to the next level overall. With a pandemic changing the landscape of professional wrestling, and life in general, in the very near future, Team NXT represented the full scope of just how great that brand and its timeline was, and how bright the future of women's wrestling was (and still is).

1. Team DX (2006) - Shawn Michaels, Triple H, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy

Team DX was facing Team Rated RKO in a traditional five on five showdown. Rated RKO, consisting of Randy Orton and Edge, felt slighted by the reunited Shawn Michaels and Triple H as D-Generation X. Rated RKO wanted DX out of their way to be the dominant tag team in WWE, but DX wasn't going out without a fight. DX assembled another first ballot Hall of Fame tag team, The Hardy Boyz, as well as CM Punk, and faced Rated RKO's team of Edge, Orton, Edge, Johnny Nitro, Mike Knox, and Gregory Helms, and ran unopposed over their opponents in an incredible match.

MORE: WWE Release Never-Before-Seen Footage Of CM Punk's Survivor Series 2023 Return

Outside of the sheer star power in Team DX - one of the best tag teams of all time, one of the greatest factions of all time, and the literal Best in the World - this is a rare moment in Survivor Series history where a team made a clean sweep over their opponents. For these reasons, Team DX is the best traditional Survivor Series team of all time.