What’s great about the current crop of WWE Superstars is they all grew up watching sports-entertainment just like we did. They have their favorite moments, matches and, of course, Superstars. With that in mind, WWE.com asked the roster who they’d like on their side if they were to compete in a completely fantastical Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match. Anybody from past or present was game.
Check out last year's dream teams | 2012's edition
This year, we checked in with everyone from the unpredictable Dean Ambrose to the deranged Stardust to get their picks — including some big shockers, plus “Stone Cold” somehow getting drafted to compete on an otherwise all-female team. Check out these dream scenarios, and see if you agree with your favorite Superstar’s selections.
You can’t get much different from Dean Ambrose than the country club cool of WWE Hall of Famer and AWA lead protagonist, Nick Bockwinkel, but that’s exactly where the erratic Superstar started his team.
“[Bockwinkel would] bring a little class and prestige to a team that will have some unsavory characters on it,” Ambrose said. “We need some level-headed veteran leadership to right the ship.”
His next selections were more in line with The Lunatic Fringe’s reputation.
“Terry Funk is unpredictable and versatile and impossible to plan for,” he said. “And third would be Vader, because myself and Terry Funk can take a lot of punishment. We’re gonna need a guy that can really dish it out, and Vader would be the heavy of the team.”
And with his last choice, Tully Blanchard, Ambrose showcased his love for the NWA and his roots in watching southern-style pro wrestling.
“He’s a brilliant strategist,” Ambrose explained, “and a guy with a really good motor to really wear out the opposing team and really keep the pace up.”
Paige is the youngest member of the WWE roster, but she has a depth of ring knowledge that led her to name her four picks in no time.
“Bull Nakano,” Paige quickly declared. “Because she’s a frickin’ bada**. Plus she would probably be able to do it all solo anyway, because she’s such a hard nut. I also steal all her moves.”
Next, the former Divas Champion went with another bada**, one of her favorite Superstars to watch growing up: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“Because he’s a fighter, right? We need a fighter on our team,” Paige continued. “I was a huge Austin fan when I was a kid, because he could be himself whether he was a good guy or a bad guy. He was always himself, which is what I try to do.”
Like Austin, The Diva of Tomorrow likes a little volatility and decided to put differences aside with her on-again, off-again frenemy for the sake of building an epic squad.
“I’ll have AJ,” she said. “We need that little bit of craziness on our team.”
When asked for her fourth choice, Paige went with Molly Holly.
“[Molly] was just incredible,” she said. “She was like a different Diva, too, which I liked. I like all the girls that look different. She’s not cookie-cutter, but she was so relatable. She was amazing and an incredible athlete, too.”
Sami Zayn chose four Superstars that don’t seem to have much in common at first, but all maintain a common quality: The Hardys, Mick Foley and Kevin Steen.
“The Hardys were a huge influence on me becoming a wrestler,” Zayn said of Jeff and Matt. “Not so much the moves themselves, but the concepts behind the moves: trying to be innovative and just being exciting. I don’t ever want to be boring.”
His next pick was anything but boring to longtime Zayn fans.
“I’d have to pick Kevin Steen, who was recently signed and is down in NXT right now, but hasn’t actually debuted yet,” Zayn told us. “From a sentimental perspective, we’ve been through a lot together, so it would be cool to be on a Survivor Series team together as well”
For his fourth and final pick, the Canadian chose a WWE Hall of Famer who is something of a pastiche of Zayn’s previous choices.
“Mick Foley was also a huge influence, just because he was very unconventional and succeeded against the odds,” Zayn said, then continued to explain how all of his team members are oddly connected.
“Steen and myself did a lot of Tables, Ladders & Chairs Matches, and some pretty innovative stuff. It was in the same vein as something Foley paved the way for, and The Hardys took to a new place. I like to think we also tried to get creative with that stuff. Not just ‘bash ’em, smash ’em,’ but really creative ways to implement danger.”
“My first pick would be my man, Dean Ambrose,” Roman Reigns said without hesitation. “We have a huge amount of chemistry and I like his element of surprise. You just don’t know what to expect with him. That would really give our team an advantage in that respect.”
The former Shield powerhouse showed his affinity for maintaining strong allies with his next picks.
“I would go with a tag team situation here, because it’s all about teamwork,” he explained. “And you can’t go wrong with these guys: Edge and Christian. Both of them bring their own strengths to the table. Obviously, Edge also utilizes the Spear, which would be cool with both of us in the ring at the same time.”
For his last pick — The Undertaker — Reigns went with a true legend.
“We need a big man — a really big man,” he said. “A skyscraper, someone with that ‘it’ factor, with that demeanor, and with all his experience, he serves as a huge cornerstone for this group. If there’s any aspect in a situation the other four haven’t been in, I guarantee he would be able to step up and have some knowledge.”
“Well, my first pick is obviously Curt Hennig, Mr. Perfect,” Bo Dallas told WWE.com, as if he’d had his answers prepared for years. “Because he’s perfect!”
For his second choice, Bo went with Shawn Michaels, specifically from his early days as a singles competitor when he was known as The Heartbreak Kid.
“Everybody needs a girl-getter to help all the other guys out in their group!” Dallas said.
After selecting his final choices of Andre the Giant and Jake “The Snake” Roberts (“Because he’s a crazy man!”), Dallas endorsed his dream team with that undying optimism that has become his trademark in WWE.
“We cover all the bases and dynamics,” Bo said. “I conform them, Heartbreak Kid gets the girls for us, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts has that edge, and Andre the Giant, well, he just crushes everybody, and Mr. Perfect is … perfect!”
The leader of The Exotic Express sure likes a weird party, and it’s easy to picture Adam Rose at the center of any discotheque surrounded by his chosen foursome. First, Rose went with two party animals, literally: The Gobbledy Gooker and The Bunny. For his next pick, Rose showed what he’s really into.
“Luna Vachon,” he said. “She was really hot, wasn’t she? Really attractive woman. Luna Vachon could make a man out of anybody.”
And rounding out a team of true oddballs, Adam Rose chose perhaps his most unorthodox pick of all.
“I’ve always been a huge Little Beaver fan. One of the reasons that I broke in was watching some of his stuff,” Rose said of the famed little person who competed at WrestleMania III. “Luna Vachon and Little Beaver: imagine them as a couple.”
Staying true to his macabre persona and his tag team partner’s affinity for the bizarre, Stardust picked four of the most nonconformist individuals to ever step inside the squared circle: WWE Hall of Famers Terry Funk and Abdullah the Butcher, the devil worshipping leader of The Dungeon of Doom, Kevin Sullivan, and an unpredictable wild man who made enemies across the globe, Bruiser Brody.
When asked to explain his picks, Stardust offered only this:
“The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, but the moon is 400 times closer to Earth, so they’d be the same size!”
Uh … if you say so.
Not going with anybody but the best, the man responsible for shattering The Shield picked a quartet of WWE Hall of Famers to create his Survivor Series dream team.
“I’d start by picking Andre the Giant,” Seth Rollins said wisely. “Andre’s my No. 1. I need a bodyguard. I need to make sure someone’s got my back, and who better to have than the Giant himself?”
Next, Rollins went with the competitor he named as his all-time favorite, Shawn Michaels.
“He’s very resilient, he can withstand a lot,” Rollins told us.
For his last choices, he selected what was, perhaps, the most formidable duo in sports-entertainment history.
“I would pick a tag team: The Legion of Doom, Hawk and Animal,” he said. “Andre and The Road Warriors would be my offensive linemen, and Shawn and I would do all the cleanup. That’s a team that’s going to dominate, that’s going to win.”