Match Times: WWE Survivor Series 2015 Edition

WWE's Survivor Series 2015 lasted for 2 hours 46 minutes and 13 seconds (2h 46m 13s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.

The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.

• 0m 19s:  WWE's "Then, Now, Forever" opening
• 2m 33s: Lilian Garcia sings the national anthem
• 3m 24s: Video hyping Survivor Series 2015
• 0m 56s: Opening pyro as Cole welcomes you to Survivor Series 2015
• 3m 30s: Pre-match for Reigns vs Del Rio
• 14m 06s: Reigns vs Del Rio
• 0m 55s: Post-match for Reigns vs Del Rio
• 2m 23s: Backstage interview with Reigns, Ambrose, and Owens
• 2m 29s: Pre-match for Ambrose vs Owens
• 11m 20s: Ambrose vs Owens
• 1m 42s: Post-match for Ambrose vs Owens
• 0m 56s: Commercial and commentator hype for TLC 2015
• 2m 17s: Video celebrating 25 years of Undertaker
• 7m 19s: Pre-match for Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus
• 17m 34s: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus
  
• 0m 36s: Post-match for Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus
• 0m 16s: Commercial for Rolaids Advanced
• 0m 26s: Commercial for Undertaker merchandise on WWE Shop
• 0m 31s: Filler commentary after Cole talks about Atlanta
• 5m 47s: Pre-match for Charlotte vs Paige
• 14m 15s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 0m 54s: Post-match for Charlotte vs Paige
• 1m 25s: Expert panel with Renee, Booker T, Graves, and Saxton
• 1m 18s: Backstage interview with Ambrose and Reigns
• 1m 00s: Commercial for WWE 2K16
• 2m 43s: Pre-match for Ziggler vs Breeze
• 6m 40s: Ziggler vs Breeze
• 0m 53s: Post-match for Ziggler vs Breeze
• 0m 31s: Commercial for Create A WWE Superstar
• 0m 16s: Commercial for Rolaids Advanced
• 0m 25s: Plug for PPV theme song
• 14m 18s: Pre-match for Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 10m 20s: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 4m 21s: Post-match for Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 2m 22s: Commercial for upcoming content on WWE Network
• 0m 34s: Commercial for Breaking Ground
• 3m 21s: Pre-match for Ambrose vs Reigns
• 9m 03s: Ambrose vs Reigns
• 4m 16s: Post-match for Ambrose vs Reigns
• 0m 20s: Pre-match for Reigns vs Sheamus
• 0m 38s: Reigns vs Sheamus
• 4m 31s: Post-match for Reigns vs Sheamus

Match Times

The 8 matches combined for a total time of 1h 23m 56s. This means that 50.5% of the show was devoted to bell-to-bell action.  This is the 30th highest percentage in this category out of the 36 WWE events in my data set, which begins with Royal Rumble 2013.  Out of the 32 three-hour events in my data set, the total match time of 1h 23m 56s ranks 29th highest.

Here is the sorted list of match times for Survivor Series 2015.  This also includes where each match time ranks out of all 257 matches in my data set.

• 17m 34s: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus (64th longest)
  
• 14m 15s: Charlotte vs Paige (94th)
  
• 14m 06s: Reigns vs Del Rio (97th)
  
• 11m 20s: Ambrose vs Owens (136th)
  
• 10m 20s: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper (149th)
  
• 9m 03s: Ambrose vs Reigns (167th)
  
• 6m 40s: Ziggler vs Breeze (213th)
  
• 0m 38s: Reigns vs Sheamus (252nd)
  

Reigns versus Ambrose is the second shortest main event match in my data set.  Rollins versus Lesnar from Battleground 2015 still holds the distinction for shortest main event match with a match time of 8m 16s.

Main event matches in 2015 have collectively been shorter than main event matches from 2013 and 2014.  There are 36 main event matches in my data set, and only three matches from 2015 rank in the top half of the longest match times from that group.  The median time for a main event match from 2013 to 2014 was 24m 38s, and the median time for a main event match in 2015 is 19m 09s.  The most recent 5 main event matches are the primary culprits here, as they all rank below that 2015 median time.

Charlotte versus Paige is now the longest one-on-one Divas match in my data set, beating out Charlotte versus Nikki from Night of Champions 2015.  This was the first time a Divas match ranked as one of the two longest matches on the main card of a PPV.

I don't include pre-show matches in my data set.  However it is worth noting that if the match time that is listed on ProFightDB is accurate, then the pre-show match time of 18m 03s was actually the longest match of the night.

The cash-in match made Survivor Series 2015 the first 3-hour PPV in 2015 to fit 8 matches on to the main card.  However this event still came up just short of 84 minutes of total match time, which is about as low as it gets.  Every PPV in my data set has at least 1h 22m 30s of total match time.  Survivor Series 2015 essentially provided the bare minimum content in this regard.

The total show time of 2h 46m 13s ranks 27th longest out of the 32 three-hour events in my data set.  WWE clearly could have extended the main event match by at least 5 minutes and still would have had plenty of time available for the cash-in angle.

Survivor Series 2015 joined Payback 2015 as the only PPVs of the year without a 4-star match, as judged by Dave Meltzer.

The Roman Empire lasted for 5m 14s.

John Cena had no match time on PPV for the first time since Battleground 2013, which was just over 2 years ago.

Seth Rollins also had a long streak of PPV matches snapped, depending on how you judge his forfeit victories over Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns in 2014.  If you count those forfeits as matches, then the last time Seth Rollins did not have a match on the main card of a PPV was SummerSlam 2013.

Kevin Owens has now wrestled on the main card of 7 consecutive PPV events, and with Rollins and Cena out of the mix, that makes him the active leader in this category.  Roman Reigns would be the leader if it were not for missing out on a match at Elimination Chamber 2015.  I'm not sure if that event technically qualifies as a PPV since it may have been exclusive to WWE Network, but for the purposes of my data set it is treated no differently from any of the other PPV events.

The survival times for Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are unclear because they voluntarily left the arena after Big E's elimination.  There was never an announcement of their official elimination, and the commentators were talking as if the New Day could return at any point.  I chose their elimination point as the moment when they were last seen on camera as they walked back up the entrance ramp.

With that choice in mind, here are the survival times for the wrestlers who participated in the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match:

• 17m 34s: Jey Uso, Kalisto, Ryback, Sheamus
• 12m 27s: Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods
• 11m 23s: Big E
• 10m 43s: Sin Cara
• 9m 23s: Jimmy Uso
• 7m 47s: King Barrett     
  

Pre-match Segments

The pre-match segments combined for a total time of 39m 47s, which is 23.9% of the show.  This is the 12th highest percentage in this category out of the 36 events in my data set.  Out of the 32 three-hour events in my data set, the total pre-match segment time of 39m 47s ranks 14nd highest.

Here is the sorted list of pre-match segment time for all 8 matches.  For some context, keep in mind that the median pre-match segment time in my data set is 4m 51s and the average time is 5m 40s.

• 14m 18s: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 7m 19s: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus
• 5m 47s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 3m 30s: Reigns vs Del Rio
• 3m 21s: Ambrose vs Reigns
• 2m 43s: Ziggler vs Breeze
• 2m 29s: Ambrose vs Owens
• 0m 20s: Reigns vs Sheamus

Survivor Series 2015 included 17 separate pre-match superstar entrances.  These 17 entrances took up a total time of 24m 11s.  Here is the sorted list of these 17 entrance times:

• 5m 24s: The Undertaker
• 1m 57s: The Wyatt Family
• 1m 45s: Del Rio with Colter (with a 0m 12s intro of Spanish announce team and 0m 31s inset Colter promo)
  
• 1m 40s: Reigns (semi-finals, with a 0m 14s intro of Cole's announce team and a 0m 11s bracket update)
• 1m 34s: Tyler Breeze (with a 0m 31s Smackdown recap of his debut)
  
• 1m 27s: Kevin Owens
• 1m 25s: Reigns (main event, with a 0m 12s bracket update)
• 1m 04s: The Usos (with a 0m 15s plug for Hulu)
  
• 1m 04s: Charlotte (with a 0m 14s Becky Lynch tweet)
  
• 1m 04s: Dolph Ziggler (with a 0m 13s Ziggler tweet)
  
• 1m 03s: New Day, King Barrett, and Sheamus
• 0m 58s: Kane
• 0m 57s: Paige (with a 0m 17s Paige tweet)
  
• 0m 55s: Dean Ambrose (semi-finals, with a 0m 11s plug for Rolaids Advanced)
• 0m 42s: Dean Ambrose (main event)
• 0m 39s: Lucha Dragons
• 0m 33s: Ryback

Survivor Series 2015 also included one other entrance outside of these 17 pre-match entrances.  When you add on the entrance time for the Triple H (0m 29s) after the main event ended, it results in a total entrance time for the show of 24m 40s.

In addition to 17 entrances, the pre-match segments also featured 2 extended video packages.  The video packages for Charlotte versus Paige (2m 16s) and Undertaker's match (3m 16s) add up to 5m 32s.

So when you combine the 17 pre-match entrances (24m 11s) and the 2 dedicated video packages (5m 32s), that accounts for 29m 43s of the overall pre-match segment time on the show.

The New Day's promo lasted 3m 07s.  I ended the clock on their entrance time at the beginning of their promo.  The reason I do this is because when I measure entrance time the idea is to see how much time is spent on non-essential content.  As soon as a promo begins during an entrance, I consider that as essential content for the show, and so I try to exclude it from entrance time.

The cutoff point that I chose between the post-match segment for the main event match and the pre-match segment for the cash-in match was the moment when Triple H's back hit the mat from Roman's spear.  There is some ambiguity here, as it could be argued that Triple H's entire appearance was part of the pre-match content for the cash-in match.  But I judged it as part of the post-match content for Roman's championship victory.  This is one of those cases where things get dicey due to my decision to make all pre-match and post-match segments mutually exclusive.

Most of the pre-show segments on this card really weren't that long.  But the pre-match segment for the Undertaker's match was a behemoth and more than made up for the shorter pre-match segments elsewhere on the card.  Undertaker's entrance alone is giant time-filler, and Bray Wyatt's entrance is also one of the longest on the roster.

It can't be emphasized enough how long the pre-match segment time was for the Brothers of Destruction versus The Wyatt Family.  Clocking in at 14m 18s, this pre-match segment was actually longer than all but one match on the main card of the PPV.  This is tied for the 4th longest pre-match segment in my data set out of 257 total pre-match segments.

One of the consequences of having a 10-man elimination tag team match is lengthy entrance times, particularly because Ryback's team did not come out as a unified unit with just one entrance.

Dean Ambrose is once again the king of short entrances.  This man power walks to the ring and is ready for business.  His two entrances combined for 1m 37s.  The only reason his first entrance even lasted as long as it did is because WWE snuck in a 0m 11s ad for Rolaids Advanced while Dean was waiting in the ring with his entrance music still playing.

Post-match Segments

The post-match segments combined for a total time of 20m 03s, which is 12.1% of the show.  This is the 6th highest percentage in this category out of the 36 events in my data set.  Out of the 32 three-hour events in my data set, the total post-match segment time of 20m 03s ranks 7th highest.

Here is the sorted list of the post-match segment time for all 8 matches.  For some context, keep in mind that the median post-match segment time in my data set is 2m 01s and the average time is 2m 29s.

• 4m 31s: Reigns vs Sheamus
• 4m 21s: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 4m 16s: Ambrose vs Reigns
• 2m 50s: Reigns vs Del Rio
• 1m 42s: Ambrose vs Owens
• 0m 54s: Charlotte vs Paige
• 0m 53s: Ziggler vs Breeze
• 0m 36s: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus

There were no post-match replays for Charlotte versus Paige, Ziggler versus Breeze, or the elimination tag team match.

This event featured some of the longest and some of the shortest post-match segments in my data set, with not much in the middle.  Only 23 post-match segments out of 257 in my data set have lasted under 60 seconds, and 3 of them came from this event.

The post-match segment for the elimination tag team match is tied for the second shortest post-match segment in my data set.  The post-match segment for Titus O'Neil versus Darren Young from Elimination Chamber 2014 is the shortest, with a post-match segment time of 0m 26s.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, only 38 post-match segments have lasted longer than 4 minutes, and 3 of them came from this event.  The Undertaker sure knows how to fill time by slowly walking.

Miscellaneous Segments

That leaves about 13.5% (22m 27s) of the show for everything else.  This is the 13th highest percentage in this category out of the 36 events in my data set.  Out of the 32 three-hour events in my data set, the total miscellaneous segment time of 22m 27s ranks 12th highest.

WWE spent 2m 33s of the show on Lilian singing the national anthem, which was perhaps a response to the rumors that Survivor Series 2015 may have been a terrorist target.

The backstage segments featuring Reigns and Ambrose combined to take up 3m 41s.

There were commercials or hype for things like Breaking Ground, TLC 2015, Rolaids Advanced, WWE Shop, WWE 2K16, Create A WWE Superstar, and WWE Network content.  The sum of these times was 6m 56s.

The rest of the miscellaneous time came from the opening hype video for the event, the expert panel, a video celebrating Undertaker's career, filler commentary, and a plug for the PPV theme song.

Summary

Here is a listing of how much total show time was allocated for each match when you add up all 3 components: pre-match time, match time, and post-match time.  This list also includes where each total time ranks among the 257 entries in my data set.

• 28m 59s: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper (65th longest out of 257 entries)
  
• 25m 29s: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus (83rd)
  
• 20m 56s: Charlotte vs Paige (111th)
  
• 20m 26s: Reigns vs Del Rio (117th)
  
• 16m 40s: Ambrose vs Reigns (157th)
  
• 15m 31s: Ambrose vs Owens (164th)
  
• 10m 16s: Ziggler vs Breeze (225th)
  
• 5m 29s: Reigns vs Sheamus (255th)

Now here is a look at the "Match Time Percentage" for each match.  For any given match, this percentage shows how the match time compares to the combined pre-match and post-match segment time.  For some context, it's good to know that the median result here since 2013 is 63.0%.

• 73.0%: Ambrose vs Owens
• 69.0%: Reigns vs Del Rio
• 68.9%: Usos, Ryback, Lucha Dragons vs New Day, Barrett, Sheamus
• 68.1%: Charlotte vs Paige
• 64.9%: Ziggler vs Breeze
• 54.3%: Ambrose vs Reigns
• 35.7%: Brothers of Destruction vs Wyatt and Harper
• 11.6%: Reigns vs Sheamus

The percentages for Ambrose versus Reigns and Reigns vs Sheamus could drastically change depending on where the cutoff is made for the post-match segment of Roman's win and the pre-match segment for the cash-in.  If you instead lump all of the data for those two matches into one block, the overall Match Time Percentage would be 43.7%.

The low percentage for Undertaker's match was a result of the triple whammy - extremely long pre-match and post-match segments, and a short match time.

Survivor Series 2015 spent a lot of time on Undertaker walking.  If you are a big fan of Undertaker you probably considered this time well spent, otherwise this show was lacking in exciting content until the cash-in angle.  The match times were about as low as it gets, and the overall show time was also relatively short.  However the Divas continue to assert their rising prominence when it comes to individual match times.

Final Results for Survivor Series 2015

Match - 50.5% - 1h 23m 56s

Pre-match - 23.9% - 39m 47s

Post-match - 12.1% - 20m 03s

Miscellaneous - 13.5% - 22m 27s