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)
