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

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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

 

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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

 

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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)