Showing posts with label Survivor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Survivor. Show all posts
Friday, 2 September 2016
WWF PPV RATINGS LIST
Every match on each PPV is given a star rating and the show as a whole is given a score based on these ratings. Every match can score a maximum of 5 and a minimum of 0 so the show gets an overall average score which is shown as a percentage.
The rankings of the shows reviewed so far based on match quality.
1. Survivor Series 1987 67.50%
2. Survivor Series 1988 61.25%
3. Royal Rumble 1991 55.00%
4. This Tuesday In Texas 54.00%
5. Royal Rumble 1993 49.00%
6. Summerslam 1991 48.75%
7. Survivor Series 1989 47.00%
8. King of the Ring 1993 46.67%
9. Summerslam 1993 46.50%
10. Royal Rumble 1992 44.00%
11. Royal Rumble 1989 43.75%
12. Summerslam 1989 41.11%
13. Wrestlemania III 40.83%
14. Wrestlemania VIII 40.56%
15. Survivor Series 1993 40.00%
16. Summerslam 1992 39.38%
17. Survivor Series 1992 39.38%
18. Wrestlemania VII 39.29%
19. Survivor Series 1990 38.33%
20. Royal Rumble 1990 38.00%
21. Summerslam 1990 37.22%
22. Wrestlemania VI 35.00%
23. Wrestlemania V 33.57%
24. The Big Event 32.73%
25. Wrestlemania IX 31.67%
26. Survivor Series 1991 31.00%
27. Wrestlemania II 30.42%
28. Summerslam 1998 28.50%
29. Wrestlemania 28.33%
30. Wrestlemania IV 27.50%
31. The Wrestling Classic 26.00%
WWF BEST PPV MATCHES (1990-1992)
1. Bret Hart vs British Bulldog - Summerslam 1992 ****3/4
2. Royal Rumble - Royal Rumble 1992 ****1/2
3. Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart - Summerslam 1991 ****1/2
4. Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage - Wrestlemania VII ****1/2
5. Ric Flair vs Randy Savage - Wrestlemania VIII ****1/2
6. Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior - Wrestlemania VI ****
7. The Rockers vs Orient Express - Royal Rumble 1991 ****
8. Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior - Summerslam 1992 ****
9. Roddy Piper vs Bret Hart - Wrestlemania VIII ****
10. Demolition vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1990 ***3/4
11. Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels - Survivor Series 1992 ***3/4
12. Hart Foundation vs Nasty Boys - Wrestlemania VII ***1/2
13. The Rockers vs Barbarian & Haku - Wrestlemania VII ***1/2
14. Royal Rumble - Royal Rumble 1990 ***1/2
15. Randy Savage & Mr Perfect vs Ric Flair & Razor Ramon - Survivor Series 1992 ***1/2
WWF BEST PPV MATCHES OF THE 80s
1. Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat - Wrestlemania III ****1/2
2. British Bulldogs, Strike Force, Killer Bees, Rougeau Brothers & Young Stallions vs Demolition, Hart Foundation, The Bolsheviks, The Islanders & The New Dream Team - Survivor Series 1987 ****
3. Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, The Rockers, Young Stallions & Powers of Pain vs Demolition, Brain Busters, Fabulous Rougeaus, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors - Survivor Series 1988 ***3/4
4. Randy Savage vs Hulk Hogan - Wrestlemania V ***3/4
5. Rick Rude vs Ultimate Warrior - Summerslam 1989 ***3/4
6. Brain Busters vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1989 ***1/2
7. The Rockers & Tito Santana vs Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel - Summerslam 1989 ***1/2
8. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Bam Bam Bigelow & Ken Patera vs Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Rick Rude & Butch Reed - Survivor Series 1987 ***1/2
9. Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan & Brutus Beefcake vs Honky Tonk Man, Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass & Danny Davis - Survivor Series 1987 ***1/2
10. The Dream Team vs British Bulldogs - Wrestlemania II ***1/2
Wednesday, 24 August 2016
WWF Survivor Series 1993
WWF Survivor Series 1993
Venue: Boston, Massachusetts
Date: 24/11/93
Attendance: 15,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan
After changing the format of the previous year's Survivor Series to a regular card, the 1993 edition reverted back to all tag team elimination matches, with the exception of one. The trouble was the WWF no longer had the roster to pull off four eight-man elimination matches and going in the card looked less than exciting. The show was also massively hindered by the suspension of Jerry Lawler who was facing charges of statutory rape (later dropped) as it meant the culmination of his feud with the Hart family could not happen. Lawler had to be replaced by Shawn Michaels who himself had not long returned from suspension for failing a drugs test for steroids. The match didn't make any sense without Lawler and interest waned. The show was headlined by the "All Americans" versus the "Foreign Fanatics" featuring the hardly riveting feud between Lex Luger and Ludvig Borga, the seeds for which were sown in a backstage confrontation at Summerslam. This would also be Bobby Heenan's final WWF pay-per-view before heading to WCW, but at least he went out with a bang.
Review
Razor Ramon, Marty Jannetty, The 1-2-3 Kid & Randy Savage vs IRS, Adam Bomb, Rick Martel & Diesel
The first elimination tag team match was the best of the four on the night and was centred around Razor Ramon's feud with Irwin R Schyster. It was announced by Ramon that Mr Perfect would not be taking part and Randy Savage would be replacing him. Curt Hennig was unhappy with the direction of his character and would soon leave the company. Savage scored the first decision of the night pinning Diesel after the flying elbow drop. Savage was then distracted by the arrival of Crush and was rolled up from behind by IRS. Crush had recently turned on Savage and so intent on getting revenge, Savage lost his job as colour commentator on Raw. Ramon then pinned IRS after the Razor's Edge but when Ramon attempted to do the same to Rick Martel, IRS struck him with his briefcase and caused the Intercontinental Champion to be counted out. Martel and Adam Bomb took control before a quick fire double elimination saw 1-2-3 Kid pin Martel with a sunset flip in the corner before Jannetty pinned Bomb with a sunset flip over the top rope. Kid and Jannetty would soon get a very brief run as tag team champions. This was a fun match to kick off the show.
Next up was the "Family Feud" match as Bret, Owen, Keith and Bruce Hart (along with father Stu) battled Shawn Michaels (replacing Jerry Lawler) and his "Knights of the Squared Circle" who were Greg Valentine, Jeff Gaylord and Barry Horowitz under masks. Ray Combs of the TV show Family Feud was guest ring announcer and colour commentator and personally I thought he did ok. Many members of the Hart family were also seated at ringside for the match. The match was long, boring and lost the heat it would've had with Lawler in there. The Knights were nameless and faceless nobodies to the crowd and there was little reaction when they were in the ring. Owen pinned Gaylord with a top rope dropkick, Bret made Horowitz submit to the Sharpshooter, and Owen then forced Valentine to surrender in his version of the Sharpshooter. Owen then accidentally collided with Bret knocking him into the guard rail and causing Owen to be pinned by Michaels. Michaels then continued to take a pounding before walking out on the match with the odds firmly against him. Owen returned to the ring to confront Bret and begin his heel turn. The highlight of the match was Bobby Heenan's first rate performance on commentary.
The Heavenly Bodies defeated the Rock N Roll Express to win the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title in a good match. The problem was the WWF crowd did not come to see Smoky Mountain Wrestling and couldn't care less. It was a typical NWA-style tag team bout with good action but it played out to mostly silence. Radio commentators Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon took over announce duties for this one. The Bodies victory came when Jimmy Del Rey hit Ricky Morton with Jim Cornette's tennis racket off the top rope.
"The Four Doinks" vs Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & The Headshrinkers
This match evoked more of a reaction from the Boston crowd, but not much more. The "Four Doinks" who turned out to be Men on a Mission and The Bushwackers (complete with Doink face paint and masks) scored a clean sweep victory in an abysmal 'comedy' match that made a mockery of pro wrestling. The Headshrinkers and Bastion Booger were made out to be morons with the minds of wild animals as they were easily distracted by turkey and bananas leading to their eliminations. At one point Mo rode a scooter around the ring for a laugh or something. With the rest of his team eliminated Bigelow was then also beaten as all four of his opponents lay on top of him for the pin fall. He was then mocked by Doink on the big screen. This was terrible.
Things thankfully got more serious for the main event which was decent enough but felt a bit flat for a headline match. Rick Steiner looked ridiculously weak as he was pinned by Borga early on after they botched whatever they were trying to do when Rick came off the top rope. Randy Savage came out for Crush which caused the Hawaiian to be counted out. Luger pinned Rougeau with his strangely no-longer-illegal forearm smash. Yokozuna pinned Scott Steiner. Undertaker then finally tagged in for the hottest part of the match as he battled Yokozuna, although it lasted all of three minutes and both men got counted out. Disaster was also narrowly avoided as Yokozuna almost came down on Undertaker's head as Taker sat up to avoid a second Banzai Drop. Borga then beat up Luger for a few minutes before Luger made a Hogan-like comeback for the win. Santa Claus then joined Luger in the ring to celebrate for a happy ending.
A very average show that was hurt by the lack of depth on the roster and by the lack of a climax to the Hart Family/Jerry Lawler feud, although there was little they could do about that. Lex Luger was lacking the charisma and appeal that Hulk Hogan possessed and his main event match fell flat in a way that no Hogan top liner ever did. Bobby Heenan (like Gene Okerlund before him) soon said his farewells and left for WCW after refusing to relocate to Connecticut as requested by Vince McMahon as part of the WWF's cost cutting measures. Survivor Series 1993 drew a company low buy rate of 0.82 meaning 185,000 buys, 65,000 less than the 1992 event.
Results
1 Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid def Irwin R Schyster, Rick Martel, Adam Bomb & Diesel (26:58) ***
2 Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart & Keith Hart def Shawn Michaels, The Black Knight, The Blue Knight & The Red Knight (30:57) *3/4
3 The Heavenly Bodies def The Rock N Roll Express (c) to win the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title (13:43) ***
4 Men On A Mission & The Bushwackers def Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & The Headshrinkers (10:58) DUD
5 Lex Luger, The Undertaker & The Steiner Brothers def Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Jacques Rougeau & Crush (27:59) **1/4
Rating
10/25 = 40%
Monday, 6 June 2016
WWF Survivor Series 1992
WWF Survivor Series 1992
Venue: Richfield, Ohio
Date: 25/11/92
Attendance: 17,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan
The WWF were forced into a major change to the Survivor Series line up just a couple of weeks prior to the event as the Ultimate Warrior and the British Bulldog were both fired for failing drug tests. Bulldog's match with The Mountie was scrapped but much more disruptive was Warrior's dismissal as he was part of the main event program that had been built for months. With few options left open to them Mr Perfect (who had to come out of retirement and cease claiming his Lloyds of London insurance pay) was chosen as the man to partner Randy Savage in his battle with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in the headline bout. It didn't make a great deal of sense considering what Perfect (and Flair) had done to Savage all year but it was a case of needs must. It was however a memorable turn as Perfect accepted Savage's offer on Prime Time Wrestling by pouring water over the head of Bobby Heenan after being slapped by "The Brain". Warrior would be gone from the company for over three years while Bulldog would be back in the summer of 1994 after a stint in WCW.
 |
| The original main event line up |
Review
The Headshrinkers defeated High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B Ware) in a fairly good opener which was designed to get the new heel team over. High Energy would prove to be another dead end role for the talented Owen Hart... The Big Boss Man beat Nailz in a "Knightstick (on a pole) Match" in what was supposed to be their big showdown but turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. This match was six months in the making but was over in less than six minutes and despite all the hype being about the knightstick it was barely a factor as Boss Man won clean and suddenly with the Boss Man Slam. A passable brawl... Tatanka and Rick Martel had a pretty boring bout which was overshadowed by the appearance of Matt Borne at ringside introducing the as yet unnamed Doink the Clown gimmick. Tatanka won clean with the "Papoose To Go" (Fallaway Slam).
 |
| The original plan was for Davey Boy Smith to face The Mountie |
Next up was the main event which went on at half way to allow the World Title bout to go on last. Mr Perfect and Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in a really good tag match although it did end with a weak disqualification finish. Despite a 15 month lay-off Perfect looked good here. They teased him having second thoughts on teaming with Savage mid-way through the contest... Yokozuna made his PPV debut with a squash victory over Virgil. Yoko's offense looked devastating... The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters overcame tag champions Money Inc and The Beverly Brothers in a tag team elimination match. While not offensive the match was pretty lifeless and seemed to drag. The Nasty's were the surviving team here confirming them as number one contenders to Money Inc's title... The Undertaker beat Kamala in a terrible "Coffin Match". It was as bad as their Summerslam bout but at least it had a finish. Undertaker pinned Kamala after a Tombstone and then rolled him into the coffin and nailed it shut.
 |
| Randy Savage and Mr Perfect double team Ric Flair |
Finally WWF Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels by submission in a quality wrestling match. Hart was being put over as a fighting champion who defended the title regularly and although Michaels was his biggest challenge so far, nobody really believed "The Heartbreak Kid" had a chance of winning the big one here. Michaels was without Sensational Sherri following an angle where the returning Marty Jannetty smashed a mirror over her head after Shawn had pulled her into harm's way. Santa Claus joined Hart in the ring to end the show on a feel good note for the younger fans.
Overall
Survivor Series 1992, much like Summerslam was a two match show and thankfully the two feature bouts delivered in the ring because the rest of the show was quite forgettable. Considering the disruption caused by Warrior's exit the main event was a success thanks to the intrigue of Mr Perfect turning on Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan to join forces with Randy Savage, regardless of whether it made sense or not. Bret Hart's first PPV title defence against Shawn Michaels was a great technical exhibition with the only possible negative being it was a touch hold heavy in places. The only other notable happening was the emergence of new super heel Yokozuna. Survivor Series 1992 pulled in approximately 250,000 buys on pay-per-view with a 1.4 buy rate.
 |
| Bret Hart applies the match winning Sharpshooter |
Results
1 The Headshrinkers def High Energy by pinfall (7:38) **1/2
2 The Big Boss Man pinned Nailz in a "Knightstick Match" (5:43) *1/2
3 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (11:04) *3/4
4 Randy Savage & Mr Perfect def Ric Flair & Razor Ramon by disqualification (16:29) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna pinned Virgil (3:34) *
6 The Nasty Boys & The Natural Disasters def Money Inc & The Beverly Brothers in an Elimination Match (15:50) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Kamala in a "Coffin Match" (5:27) DUD
8 Bret Hart (c) def Shawn Michaels by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (26:40) ***3/4
Rating
15.75/40 = 39.38%
Friday, 16 October 2015
WWF Survivor Series 1991
Survivor Series 1991
Venue:
Detroit, Michigan
Date:
27/11/91
Attendance:
17,500
Commentators:
Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan
With business in decline the WWF attempted to boost the
Survivor Series card by adding a WWF Championship match to the previously tag
team exclusive event as Hulk Hogan would defend against The Undertaker in a
match dubbed "The Gravest Challenge". After battling Sgt Slaughter
throughout the summer Hogan had spent the last couple of months squaring off
with Ric Flair on the house show circuit but that match appeared to being saved
for a dream clash at Wrestlemania. With a lack of other serious heel contenders
on the roster The Undertaker was pushed into the main event slot to be the next
threat to Hogan's crown. Prior to the event starting we were shown footage of
the still quite shocking angle where Jake "The Snake" Roberts' cobra
gnawed on the arm of Randy Savage who was tied up in the ropes. In response to
this, on-screen President Jack Tunney reinstated the 'retired' Savage and
ordered a match between he and Roberts to take place at a special mini-PPV set
for six days time in Texas. This was part of an experiment by the WWF to sell
an extra pay-per-view event mid-week at fairly short notice as buy rates had
fallen in 1991.
Review
The opening tag team elimination match had the talent and
the star power to be a classic but due to the booking ended up being good, yet
ultimately disappointing. Good because of how well it started and how much the
crowd were into it, but the downside was that we only saw two eliminations in a
near 23 minute match which ended with a mass disqualification excluding Ric
Flair which meant he was the sole survivor. The ending made the whole process
of the match feel pointless. On a side note, Jack Tunney had declared that he
would video distort the image of the NWA/WCW World Title belt anytime Flair
attempted to parade it on WWF television as it wasn't a recognised title in the
WWF. The real reason for this was because the title belt had been returned to
WCW due to a law suit so the WWF were actually distorting the fact that Flair
was now carrying a WWF Tag Team Title belt. The fans in the arena must've been
pretty confused. They should've just dropped the "Real World's
Champion" angle when they were forced to return the "Big Gold
Belt". Another side note for this match was that Virgil had lost the
Million Dollar Belt back to Ted Dibiase on the "Survivor Series
Showdown" (Prime Time Wrestling special) thanks in part to Repo Man (Barry
"Smash" Darsow)...
Randy Savage and Elizabeth were interviewed in the arena by
Gene Okerlund to sell "This Tuesday In Texas" and talk about the
aforementioned angle with Jake Roberts... Ahead of the second Survivor Series elimination match, just
looking at the two teams you instantly felt this would be a squash match of
sorts... and it was. Skinner, Col Mustafa and Hercules were all routinely
dispatched before The Berzerker went down last having at least put up somewhat
of a fight. Sgt Slaughter, in alliance with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, was now
supposed to be a super patriotic babyface having spent most of the year
supporting Saddam Hussain and waving the Iraqi flag. Wrestling, eh? ... Like the "Macho Man" earlier, Jake Roberts had an
arena interview with Gene Okerlund. Jack Tunney had banned all reptiles from
ringside but Roberts insisted that he was always the snake you needed to worry
about...
The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF
Heavyweight Title in a lousy match with help from Ric Flair. Flair brought a
chair into the ring allowing Undertaker to Tombstone Hogan onto it, although
Hogan's head was a good six inches from contact. Knowing that Hogan didn't have
long hair to cover the point of impact this move should have been shot from a
different camera angle. While nowhere near the level John Cena often has to
endure there were audible cheers as the three count was registered. The fact
that the main event was placed midway through the show may have alerted the
more knowledgeable fans that the heel was going over here. Vince McMahon,
especially back in those days, didn't like to leave big shows on a sour note
for the fans. It also gave him time to have Jack Tunney announce a rematch for
"This Tuesday In Texas" which they spent the rest of the show
selling. The trouble with putting your big match on half way through the show
is that the rest of the card tends to fall flat and that was certainly the case
here...
The Rockers and The Bushwackers fell to The Nasty Boys and
The Beverly Brothers in an okay match that would lead to the big split between
Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Jannetty accidently hit Michaels in the face
while body slamming Jerry Sags enabling Brian Knobbs to roll him up for a three
count. The future "Heartbreak Kid" was livid with his partner and
stormed off to the back while Jannetty appeared oblivious to what had happened.
Annoyingly Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan somehow missed the pin fall and
assumed Michaels had simply walked out on the match... The default main event was The Legion of Doom and The Big
Boss Man versus The Natural Disasters and Irwin R Schyster. Jake Roberts and
Sid Justice were originally booked for this match but Roberts was pulled by
Tunney after the snake bite incident and Sid stepped aside as well to make it
an even 3 versus 3. Boss Man was eliminated first after a briefcase shot by IRS
but the same trick backfired later as IRS accidently nailed Typhoon causing him
to be eliminated. Earthquake then walked out in protest meaning we had an
anticlimactic finish as IRS was clearly no match for both Hawk and Animal. It
was a weak finish to an average match and there wasn't even a Doomsday Device
to end the show (some wrestlers just flat out refused to take that move)... The event closed with The Undertaker holding the WWF title
belt informing us that Hulkamania had died and all that remained was "This
Tuesday In Texas", the burial.
Overall
This was a pretty poor show. The matches were average to bad
except for the opener which was actually good until the stupid and lazily
booked finish. This card is only memorable for The Undertaker's first world
title win and the beginning of the end for The Rockers. Apart from that the
show seemed to be one long advert for "This Tuesday In Texas" which
is not what you want to see if you've just handed over your hard earned money
to buy a pay-per-view. The tactic of adding a world title match to the event
for the first time didn't appear to work either as Survivor Series 1991 drew a
very disappointing 300,000 buys, down by 100,000 from the 1990 edition. The WWF
were heading down a slippery slope.
Results
1 Ric Flair,
Ted Dibiase, The Mountie & Warlord def Bret Hart, The British Bulldog,
Roddy Piper & Virgil (22:48) **3/4
2 Jim
Duggan, Sgt Slaughter, El Matador & Texas Tornado def Col Mustafa, The
Berzerker, Skinner & Hercules (14:19) 3/4
3 The
Undertaker pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (12:45) 1/2
4 The Nasty
Boys & The Beverly Brothers def The Rockers & The Bushwackers (11:28)
**
5 The Legion
of Doom & The Big Boss Man def The Natural Disasters & Irwin R Schyster
(13:09) *3/4
Rating
7.75/25 = 31%
Star Rating
Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1 min)
Sunday, 7 June 2015
WWF Survivor Series 1990
WWF Survivor Series 1990
Venue: Hartford, Connecticut
Date: 22/11/90
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Rowdy Roddy Piper
The fourth annual Survivor Series would be the last to be solely
comprised of tag team elimination matches but would be the first (and only)
event to feature an "Ultimate Survival Match" where the survivors of
each bout would face off in a final battle to close the show. There was also a
lot of speculation at the time about who (or what) would be revealed from inside
a giant egg on the show. I wonder how many extra buys that got for the show...
Review
The Ultimate Warrior, The Texas Tornado & The Legion of Doom
vs Mr Perfect & Demolition
Eliminations: Warrior pinned Ax; Hawk, Animal, Crush & Smash were
disqualified; Perfect pinned Tornado; Warrior pinned Perfect. Warrior was the
survivor.
Warrior continued to struggle as champion but to be fair to Mr Hellwig
the company failed to line up any serious heel threats during his reign.
Warrior spent a lot of his time tagging with Legion of Doom against Demolition
on the house show circuit. Speaking of Demolition, Ax was soon to be leaving
the WWF so naturally he was crushed on his way out. No pun intended. Also his
'heart condition' turned out to be a serious shellfish allergy which he was
first struck down with on the WWF's tour of Japan back in April. Demolition
would continue with Smash and Crush but it wouldn't last long. The Texas
Tornado was still wearing the Intercontinental Title here despite losing it
back to Mr Perfect just three days earlier at the Superstars of Wrestling
taping. Their match wouldn't air until 15/12/90. This opening bout was fine
although it felt a bit like a squash match when Warrior was involved. He
dispatched Ax after about two minutes before the Legion of Doom and Demolition
(Smash & Crush) were eliminated in an ultra lame mass disqualification.
Paving the way for their title match in December, Perfect pinned Tornado with a
little help from an exposed turnbuckle. The same turnbuckle would be no match
for the Warrior though as he kicked out of the Perfect-Plex and quickly beat
Perfect with a splash.
 |
| Hawk nails Smash with a flying shoulder block |
Ted Dibiase, The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine & The Undertaker vs
Dusty Rhodes, Koko B Ware & The Hart Foundation
Eliminations: Undertaker pinned Koko; Jim Neidhart pinned Honky; Dibiase
pinned Neidhart; Undertaker pinned Rhodes; Undertaker was counted out; Bret
Hart pinned Valentine; Dibiase pinned Hart. Dibiase was the survivor.
The Dream Team versus The Million Dollar Team was based on Ted Dibiase's
continuing feud with Dusty Rhodes which would later involve Rhodes' son Dustin.
The Rhodes family would soon be on their way to WCW but in the opposite
direction came Dibiase's mystery partner. The former "Mean" Mark
Callous was repackaged as The Undertaker and managed by Brother Love. He was
originally called Cain the Undertaker but thankfully that was dropped just as
Brother Love would soon be once a more suitable manager became available in the
form of Paul Bearer. The Honky Tonk Man was another on his way out of the WWF.
He would continue as a heel colour commentator on Superstars of Wrestling until
his departure in January. The Undertaker made short work of Koko B Ware with
his first tombstone piledriver before Jim Neidhart sent Honky packing with a
power slam. Then came a hat trick of weak eliminations. Dibiase beat big
Neidhart with a clothesline; Undertaker beat big Dusty Rhodes with a double axe
handle; then Undertaker was counted out despite not being the legal man in the
ring! It was then time for Bret Hart to once again show his potential as a
singles wrestler as he pinned Greg Valentine before having a good four minute
finale with Dibiase. Dibiase managed to reverse a cross body to pin the
"Hitman" who uttered the word "f*ck" on camera after the
three count. This was a decent match but still nothing special.
 |
| The Undertaker is about to finish off Koko B Ware |
Rick Martel, The Warlord & Power & Glory vs Jake Roberts, Jimmy
Snuka & The Rockers
Eliminations: Warlord pinned Marty Jannetty; Martel pinned Snuka; Paul
Roma pinned Shawn Michaels; Roberts was counted out. Martel, Warlord &
Power & Glory were the survivors.
On the 6/10/90 edition of Superstars of Wrestling, Rick Martel
attempted to spray "Arrogance" (his cologne) on Damien while Jake
Roberts was being interviewed by Brother Love. As Roberts attempted to stop
him, Martel sprayed the substance into Jake's eyes blinding him. In the weeks
that followed Roberts even wore a white contact lens to 'sell' his blindness.
Come Survivor Series, Roberts was partially sighted in just one eye and was cleared
to wrestle as he captained his team of "Vipers" against Martel's
"Visionaries". Clever. Meanwhile Shawn Michaels had returned from
injury as he and Marty Jannetty resumed their feud with Power & Glory while
Jimmy Snuka and The Warlord rounded off the teams. It didn't turn out too
well for the reptile team as one by one they were eliminated leaving Roberts to
face all four members of the heel team by himself. In the end Roberts chased
Martel back to the locker room with Damien meaning the "Visionaries"
became the first team to survive completely intact at the Survivor Series. You
see, unlike in the previous match Martel was correctly not counted out as he
was not the legal man. Despite being so one-sided the match was another decent
affair.
Hulk Hogan, The Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Tugboat vs
Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku & The Barbarian
Eliminations: Boss Man pinned Haku; Duggan was disqualified; Hogan
pinned Bravo; Earthquake pinned Boss Man; Earthquake & Tugboat were counted
out; Hogan pinned Barbarian. Hogan was the survivor.
Hulk Hogan and Earthquake continued to feud as they captained their
respective teams in this next encounter. Ravishing Rick Rude was
originally to be part of the heel team but he left the WWF in October after a
disagreement and debuted in WCW at Halloween Havoc soon after. The Big Boss
Man, who was feuding with Rude would continue the conflict with the rest of the
Heenan Family instead. This was a fairly standard match as you might expect.
Boss Man pinned Haku early on before Jim Duggan got himself disqualified. Hogan
then pinned Dino Bravo with a small package before Earthquake evened things up
by downing the Boss Man. Tugboat's only contribution was a showdown with
Earthquake which lasted less than a minute before both men were counted out.
That left Hogan and The Barbarian for a quite predictable climax as Hogan
advanced to the final battle.
Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana & The Bushwackers vs Sgt Slaughter,
Boris Zhukov & The Orient Express
Eliminations: Santana pinned Zhukov; Luke pinned Sato; Santana pinned
Tanaka; Slaughter pinned Volkoff; Slaughter pinned Butch; Slaughter pinned
Luke; Slaughter was disqualified. Santana was the survivor.
This was essentially a jobber match that existed to fill time and to
help get Sgt Slaughter's heel character over. Slaughter had a looong interview
with Gene Okerlund on his way to the ring to drive home his anti-American
stance. Akeem was originally supposed to be on the "Mercenaries" team
but left the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Boris Zhukov. Sato was
also about to leave the company although we would see him again as the flag
bearer for Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993 and as Hakushi's manager Shinja in 1995.
The Orient Express and Zhukov are eliminated quickly but Slaughter then
ploughed through The Bushwackers and Nikolai Volkoff with ease. Slaughter's
manager General Adnan was then caught out attacking Tito Santana with the Iraqi
flag meaning a disqualification for Slaughter. It was nice to see Santana get a
win for a change! This was a poor match and there was no sign here that
Slaughter would be World Champion in two months time. His offense was slow and
looked weak.
 |
| The Gobbledy Gooker - Hard to believe this idea bombed... |
Just before the main event it was time to reveal who was inside the
giant egg! It was of course the Gobbledy Gooker played by the talented Hector
Guerrero. To say it was a massive disappointment would be an understatement
although could you really expect anyone good to debut from an egg? The crowd
were stunned. Believe it or not some people at the time thought it would be Ric
Flair!
The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana vs Ted Dibiase, Rick
Martel, The Warlord & Power & GloryEliminations: Santana pinned Warlord; Dibiase pinned Santana; Hogan pinned Roma; Martel was counted out; Hogan pinned Dibiase; Warrior pinned Hercules. Warrior & Hogan were the survivors.
The final showdown was effectively a victory parade for the babyface superpowers (sorry not you Santana). The heels were squashed but the only man beaten of any value was Dibiase (Martel walked) and at least he went down last. It was a nice feel good ending for the crowd but the victory was far too easy for Hogan and the Warrior. There was a serious lack of top heels at that time but Randy Savage and Sgt Slaughter were being readied.
 |
| "The Final Match of Survival" |
Overall
This was pretty much a nothing show overall. The matches were mostly adequate but there was certainly nothing outstanding. There were no significant happenings with the exception of The Undertaker's debut but it was way too early to know how well he would get over (quite well as it happened). Roddy Piper continued in his role of colour commentator but had now firmly settled in the face role after see-sawing at Summerslam. Survivor Series 1990 drew 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.
ResultsThis was pretty much a nothing show overall. The matches were mostly adequate but there was certainly nothing outstanding. There were no significant happenings with the exception of The Undertaker's debut but it was way too early to know how well he would get over (quite well as it happened). Roddy Piper continued in his role of colour commentator but had now firmly settled in the face role after see-sawing at Summerslam. Survivor Series 1990 drew 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.
1 The Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado & The Legion of Doom def Mr Perfect & Demolition (14:20) **1/4
2 Ted
Dibiase, The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine & The Undertaker def Dusty
Rhodes, Koko B Ware & The Hart Foundation (13:54) **1/2
3 Rick
Martel, Warlord & Power & Glory def Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka & The
Rockers (17:42) **1/2
4 Hulk
Hogan, The Big Boss Man, Jim Duggan & Tugboat def Earthquake, Dino Bravo,
Haku & The Barbarian (14:49) **
5 Tito
Santana, Nikolai Volkoff & The Bushwackers def Sgt Slaughter, Boris
Zhukov & The Orient Express (10:52) 3/4
6 The
Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana def Ted Dibiase, Rick Martel,
Warlord & Power & Glory (9:07) *1/2
Rating
11.5/30 =
38.33%
Star Rating
Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1 min)
Monday, 9 February 2015
WWF Survivor Series 1989
Venue: Rosemont, Illinois
Date: 23/11/89
Attendance: 15,294
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura
The third annual Survivor Series saw teams cut from five members to
four and the addition of team names. Could the 1989 edition live up to the high
standards of the previous events?
Review
The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana &
The Red Rooster) vs The Enforcers (The Big Boss Man, The Honky Tonk Man, Rick
Martel & Bad News Brown)
Eliminations: Martel pinned Santana; Bad News Brown was counted out;
Beefcake pinned Honky; Beefcake pinned Martel; Boss Man pinned Rooster; Rhodes
pinned Boss Man. Rhodes and Beefcake were the survivors.
Notes
The Big Boss Man and Dusty Rhodes were feuding at this time as were
Tito Santana and Rick Martel following their split back at Wrestlemania...
Martel got the better of Santana again by eliminating him from the match
first... Boss Man accidentally nailed Bad News Brown (who was replacing the
injured Akeem) causing Brown to walk out on his team. Brown did the exact same
thing last year you might remember... Brutus Beefcake scored big wins over The
Honky Tonk Man and Rick Martel... Rhodes pinned Boss Man to win the match for
his team but Boss Man got his heat back by handcuffing Rhodes and giving him a
few shots with the knight stick... Good opening match which the crowd
appreciated.
The 4x4's (Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, Ronnie Garvin &
Hercules) vs The King's Court (Randy Savage, Greg Valentine, Earthquake &
Dino Bravo)
Eliminations: Earthquake pinned Hercules; Duggan pinned Valentine;
Bravo pinned Garvin; Savage pinned Hart; Duggan was counted out. Savage,
Earthquake and Bravo were the survivors.
 |
| Here's the original King's Court team with Barry Windham included |
Following Summerslam Randy Savage defeated King Hacksaw Jim Duggan
to become the Macho King so this was a continuation of that feud. Ronnie Garvin
and Greg Valentine were still embroiled in a feud, and this was the second half
assed attempt to give Bret Hart a run as a singles wrestler. He would be back
with Neidhart within a couple of months. Hercules is now just a mid-card
jobber. Barry Windham was supposed to be on the King's Court team but left the
company prior to the event. Windham was billed as the Widowmaker during his
short WWF stint in 1989. Hart and Savages had some great exchanges. A feud
between these two would surely have got Hart over as a solo act not to mention
the great matches they would have produced. Duggan is left alone to face three
guys and yet lots of illegal double teaming goes unpunished by the referee.
Keep that in mind for the next match. Duggan eventually is counted out to
protect him from a loss in the ring… Passable contest.
The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts & Demolition) vs The
Million Dollar Team (Ted Dibiase, Zeus & The Powers of Pain)
Eliminations: Zeus was disqualified; Warlord pinned Ax; Barbarian
pinned Smash; The Powers of Pain were disqualified; Dibiase pinned Roberts;
Hogan pinned Dibiase. Hogan was the survivor.
Notes
Hogan was still feuding with Zeus here ahead of the No Holds Barred
pay-per-view which would contain the movie and then a steel cage final battle
between Hogan & Brutus Beefcake and Zeus & Randy Savage. Dibiase
resumes his feud with Jake Roberts who had recently returned from injury.
Demolition and the Powers of Pain were still feuding over a year after their
issue began... Zeus was disqualified in the opening minutes for relentlessly
choking Hogan and shoving down the referee. It kept him looking like a monster
and prevented him from having to take a loss before No Holds Barred... The
Powers of Pain defeated both members of Demolition yet it would be Andre the
Giant and Haku who were about to (temporarily) relieve Ax and Smash of the
championship... The Powers of Pain were both disqualified for continuously
double teaming Hogan which begged the question why these rules were not
enforced in the previous match. No consistency! It did make it look like the
referee was favouring Hogan... Dibiase eliminated Roberts with a bit of help
from Virgil before Hogan made his comeback to defeat Dibiase and win the
match... After the match Zeus and Savage attacked Hogan and Beefcake in the
locker room to set the stage for No Holds Barred… The match was fine for what
it was but while the Zeus' disqualification made sense in hindsight, the double
disqualification of the Powers of Pain was too much. Quite why Hogan or Roberts
couldn't have beaten one of them is beyond me.
 |
| Hogan bodyslams Zeus to the delight of his teammates |
Roddy's Rowdies (Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka & The Bushwackers)
vs Rude's Brood (Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr Perfect & The Fabulous Rougeau
Brothers)
Eliminations: Snuka pinned Jacques; Piper pinned Raymond; Perfect
pinned Butch; Rude pinned Luke; Piper and Rude were counted out; Perfect pinned
Snuka. Perfect was the survivor.
Notes
Piper and Rude were feuding after Piper had a hand in Rude losing
the Intercontinental Title to the Ultimate Warrior at Summerslam... The first
half of this bout was comedy (not the good kind) with the Bushwackers leading
the way with lots of biting and stomping around the ring... The Rougeaus both
went down without much of a fight before Perfect and Rude restored parity by
eliminating the Bushwackers... Snuka took a beating setting up for a hot tag to
Piper so we could get a big showdown between Piper and Rude, except it didn't
even last a minute as both men got counted out. What a joke... It came down to
Perfect and Snuka and it was a decent wrestling contest where Perfect went over
clean to remain undefeated… Once again overall the match was okay.
 |
| Mr Perfect and Rick Rude have Jimmy Snuka in trouble |
The Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart & The Rockers)
vs The Heenan Family (Andre the Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson & Bobby Heenan)
Eliminations: Andre was counted out; Haku pinned Neidhart; Heenan
pinned Jannetty; Michaels pinned Haku; Anderson pinned Michaels; Warrior pinned
Anderson; Warrior pinned Heenan. Warrior was the survivor.
Notes
There was a real mid card feel to the main event not helped by the
fact that Andre didn't like or respect the Warrior and refused to work with
him, therefore we got Andre being eliminated in the first minute of the bout by
count out. This left Haku, Arn Anderon and Bobby Heenan as Tully Blanchard was
fired before the event for failing a drug test. Anderson would also leave
following the event. The outcome was never in doubt here... Haku beat Neidhart
who, as good as he was as part of a tag team was never going to get over as a
singles wrestler... Heenan got a cheap pin fall over Jannetty after Haku had
done the hard work... Shawn Michaels got a big win over Haku but then went down
clean to Anderson... Warrior was left alone but he easily despatched Anderson
and then Heenan for an anticlimactic finish… This match, while still decent,
should have been moved to the middle of the show especially knowing that
Blanchard was gone and that Andre wouldn't work with Warrior.
 |
| Bobby Heenan is about realise he's alone with Warrior |
Overall
The 80's and early 90's WWF PPVs with fewer matches tend to get
higher ratings as there were usually less lousy filler matches shoved in. All
matches here were above average to good so the overall rating looks good.
However there was nothing really standout or historically significant on this
card. A definite step down in quality from the first two Survivor Series events
but still an entertaining show. Survivor
Series 1989 drew 385,000 buys on pay-per-view.
Results
1 Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana & The Red Rooster
def The Big Boss Man, The Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown & Rick Martel
(22:02) **3/4
2 Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Randy Savage & Greg Valentine def
Hercules, Bret Hart, Jim Duggan & Ronnie Garvin (23:25) **
3 Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts & Demolition def Ted Dibiase, Zeus
& The Powers of Pain (27:32) **1/4
4 Mr Perfect, Rick Rude & The Fabulous Rougeaus def Rowdy Roddy
Piper, Jimmy Snuka & The Bushwackers (21:27) **1/4
5 The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart & The Rockers def Andre the
Giant, Arn Anderson, Haku & Bobby Heenan (20:28) **1/2
Rating
11.75/25 = 47% Rating
Star Rating Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1
min)
Monday, 22 September 2014
WWF Survivor Series 1988
WWF Survivor Series 1988
Venue: Richfield, Ohio
Date: 24/11/88
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura
As with the inaugural event, the second annual Survivor Series took
place at the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio and was comprised completely of tag
team elimination matches. This year there was no clash with Starrcade which had
been moved to December.
Review
The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus The Barber Beefcake, The Blue Blazer,
Sam Houston & Jim Brunzell vs The Honky Tonk Man, Greg The Hammer
Valentine, Bad News Brown, Ron Bass & Danny Davis
Eliminations: Beefcake beat Davis; Brown pinned Brunzell; Brown was
counted out; Bass pinned Houston; Valentine beat Blazer; Beefcake and Honky were
counted out; Warrior pinned Bass; Warrior pinned Valentine. The Ultimate
Warrior was the survivor.
Notes
Originally on the face team, Don Muraco left the WWF prior to the
event and was replaced by Jim Brunzell... Danny Davis was eliminated in short
order by Brutus Beefcake's sleeper hold... Bad News Brown was struck accidently
by Greg Valentine during the match and took a walk eliminating himself... Intercontinental
Champion the Ultimate Warrior was massively over here but his participation is
kept to a minimum to help conceal his limitations. Warrior was left alone to
face Valentine and Ron Bass but he disposed of them both rather quickly with a
running double axe handle. Fortunately he didn't use that as his finisher for
long, it was rubbish... Good opening match overall.
 |
| Bad News Brown drops a leg on Sam Houston as his teammates look on |
The Powers of Pain, The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, The Hart
Foundation & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Brain Busters, The
Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Bolsheviks & Los Conquistadores
Eliminations: Bret Hart pinned Raymond Rougeau; Boris Zhukov pinned
Jim Powers; Marty Jannetty pinned Boris Zhukov; Tully Blanchard pinned Bret
Hart; The Rockers and The Brain Busters were counted out; Smash pinned The
Dynamite Kid; Smash was counted out; The Barbarian pinned Uno. The Powers of
Pain were the survivors.
Notes
Demolition were the tag team champions and were in the midst of a
big feud with the Powers of Pain. The climax of this match saw a double turn as
Mr Fuji turned on Demolition causing them to be eliminated. Demolition then
gave Fuji a hiding and after they had left ringside the Powers of Pain took
pity on Fuji bringing him into their corner. The Powers went on to win the
match and celebrated by lifting Fuji on their shoulders with half the crowd
still cheering and the other half confused... The Rougeau Brothers and the
British Bulldogs were involved in a legitimate feud at the time. According to
Bret Hart, Jacques Rougeau had sucker punched the Dynamite Kid knocking his
teeth out in response to Dynamite's constant bullying. Rumour has it Vince
McMahon found out about a plan by the Bulldogs to attack the Rougeaus after the
match so he booked the Rougeaus to be eliminated early on and ensured they had
left the building before the Bulldogs were eliminated. The Bulldogs left the
WWF after this event. Davey Boy Smith would be back in about two years but
Dynamite would never return... The match was very good although it did drag
slightly towards the end. The Conquistadors were a strange choice to go the
distance for the heel team especially with other more accomplished teams in the
match. They survived far too much punishment, especially from the Powers of
Pain, to be believable for a lower card team. The match is most remembered for
the big double turn at the end.
 |
| Bret Hart defeats Raymond Rougeau with a small package |
Jake The Snake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera
& Scott Casey vs Andre the Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr Perfect, Dino
Bravo & Harley Race
Eliminations: Rude pinned Patera; Bravo pinned Casey; Santana pinned
Race; Andre pinned Santana; Duggan was disqualified; Roberts pinned Rude; Andre
was disqualified; Perfect pinned Roberts. Mr Perfect and Dino Bravo were the
survivors.
Notes
The Junkyard Dog was originally on the face team but left the WWF
prior to the event so was replaced by B. Brian Blair. However, Blair also left
the company before the event and had to be replaced by Scott Casey... The match
was centred around Jake Roberts' feud with Andre the Giant. Roberts' team was
down to two versus four when Jim Duggan got himself disqualified leaving
"The Snake" alone. Duggan came across as an imbecile in doing so.
Roberts fought against the odds bravely as a babyface should and eliminated
Rick Rude with a DDT before Andre entered the ring and choked Roberts out.
Andre was disqualified for refusing the release the choke but the damage was
done and Mr Perfect picked up an easy pinfall victory for himself and Dino
Bravo. Decent enough match.
 |
| Jake Roberts nails Mr Perfect with a short clothesline |
Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B Ware vs The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster
Eliminations: Savage pinned Rooster; Akeem pinned Hillbilly; Boss
Man pinned Koko; Dibiase pinned Hercules; Savage pinned Dibiase; Boss Man was counted
out; Akeem was disqualified; Hogan pinned Haku. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan
were the survivors.
Notes
The Mega Powers (Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan) versus the Twin
Towers (Big Boss Man & Akeem) was the top feud in the WWF at the time...
The Red Rooster was berated by his manager Bobby Heenan after being crushed by
Savage and Hogan early on. It would lead to a feud between the two... The faces
toppled leaving Savage and Hogan against four. Savage pinned Dibiase before
Hogan was handcuffed outside of the ring by the Big Boss Man leaving Savage
alone. The Boss Man was counted out but returned to the ring to help Akeem
attack Savage which led to Akeem being disqualified. Eventually Hogan clobbered
Slick on the outside allowing Elizabeth to steal the keys to release him.
Savage manages to tag Hogan who finishes off Haku to win the match for the Mega
Powers. During the celebration Hogan hugs Elizabeth as he did at Summerslam,
only this time Savage is more visibly angered while Hogan remain oblivious to
it. After the show Jesse Ventura tries to stir the pot in an interview with the
"Macho Man" but Savage denies there are any problems between he and
Hogan. Good main event.
 |
| The Mega Powers survive but trouble is on the horizon |
Overall
While not as strong as the original event the second annual Survivor
Series was still a very good show with not a single bad match on the card.
After giving us the smallest of hints at Summerslam, the WWF were a little less
subtle in showing us there could be trouble ahead for the Mega Powers duo. The
build to the "explosion" at Wrestlemania was being worked slowly and
expertly and this was the first real step in that direction. The big tag team
elimination bout was the match of the night and while not quite at the level of
the 1987 version, it is perhaps more memorable because of the double turn at
the end. Survivor
Series 1988 drew 310,000 buys on pay-per-view.
Results
1 The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Jim
Brunzell & Sam Houston def The Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Greg
Valentine, Ron Bass & Danny Davis (17:50) ***
2 The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Powers
of Pain & The Young Stallions def Demolition, The Brain Busters, The
Fabulous Rougeaus, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors (42:12) ***3/4
3 Andre the Giant, Mr Perfect, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo & Harley
Race def Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey
(30:03) **1/2
4 Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B
Ware def The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster
(29:10) ***
Rating
12.25/20 = 61.25%
Star Rating Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1
min)
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