WWF Survivor Series 1987
by Scrooge McSuck
WWF Survivor Series 1987:
- With the upcoming release of a Survivor Series Anthology
- An interesting story surrounding this show. Introduced as the first PPV since WrestleMania III (and first non-WM PPV in over 2 years), the Survivor Series was held on thanksgiving night... running opposite of Jim Crockett's Starrcade. Most cable networks picked up the Series rather than Starrcade, depending on what you believe, because of threats from McMahon holding future rights to broadcast WrestleMania IV, hostage. Throughout the year, random matches of elimination rules were held, no doubt as tests for such an event.
- Live from Richfield, OH, it's the Survivor Series, with Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura on the call. They run down the rules for the matches tonight before we head to the ring for the opening contest.
- Randy Savage (Captain), Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan (w/ Elizabeth) vs. The Honkytonk Man (Captain), King Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass, Danny Davis (w/ Jimmy Hart & Bobby Heenan):
Damn, that's an impressible team for the babyfaces, and upon further review, Savage had issues with all of them at some time during his run. The big feuds here are Honky and Savage (although EVERYONE had issues with HTM at the time) and Duggan/Race. Beefcake and Hercules end up being the inaugural participants in a Survivor Series match (on PPV). Lockup and no one can get a clean push. Beefcake does some strutting and tells Hercules to kiss it. Hercules with a knee lift followed by a snapmare into a chinlock. Beefcake reverses and misses a fist drop. Irish whip and Hercules with a shoulder block. Irish whip and Beefcake with the Sleeper Hold! Arm drag and Beefcake arm drags Bass & Davis. That was fast action. Beefcake sling shots Davis in and scoop slams him. Roberts tags in and applies a wristlock. Roberts heaves Davis into the air and drops him. Savage tags in and rams Davis into Beefcakes boot. Steamboat tags in with a top rope chop to the head. Wristlock and leg lariat by Steamboat. Irish whip to the corner and Steamboat meets the knees. Race tags in and connects with a shoulder breaker. Race rams The Dragon to the buckle. Irish whip to the corner and Steamboat with another karate chop to the head. Both men trade blows and Race dumps Steamboat, but he skins the cat, and he repeats. Race tries a third time and Steamboat tosses him out. Race connects with a belly-to-belly suplex for a two count. Steamboat makes the tag to Duggan and he hammers away on Race. Irish whip and Duggan clotheslines Race out of the ring. Duggan pounds Race and the two are counted-out at 4:32.
Inside the ring Bass works over Roberts. Scoop slam by Bass but he misses an elbow drop. Savage tags in with a running knee to the back. Irish whip to the corner and Savage with a back elbow. Snapmare and Savage with a jumping knee drop for one. Scoop slam by Savage and he attacks Honky Tonk on the apron. Bass connects with a clothesline and Honky tags in and stomps away at Savage. Savage fights back but is locked up in the corner and gets double teamed. Irish whip and Bass in with a back elbow for two. Irish whip and Savage comes off the ropes with an elbow. Savage back drops out of a piledriver and makes a blind tag to Beefcake. Irish whip and Beefcake with a high knee for the three count at 6:59.
Beefcake with a slam to Hercules but he gets headbutted in the midsection. Hercules with a wristlock and a series of elbows to the forearm. Honky tags in and works the arm over. Honky with a series of rights and wrings the arm. Hercules tags back in and kicks at the arm of Beefcake and applies an armbar. Beefcake punches out of a wristlock but Hercules grapevines the leg and tags in Honky to pound away at him. Honky Tonk with a wristlock and Beefcake again tries fighting free, but Honky rakes the eyes and reapplies the hold. Beefcake starts...doing some strutting I think and connects with an atomic drop. Beefcake with a series of lefts and a roundhouse right. Beefcake rams Honky to the buckle and chops away at HTM. Davis with a boot to the back of Beefcake and Honky with the Shake Rattle N' Roll for the pinfall at 10:52.
Savage comes in and chases Honky out of the ring. Hercules pounds away at Savage and stomps a mudhole in the corner. Hercules with a series of rights to drop Savage and Davis tags in for once. Davis with a series of punches but Savage elbows him in the face. Lockup in the ropes and Honky tags in and pounds on Savage. Irish whip and Savage with an elbow. Roberts tags in with a series of jabs and goes for the DDT, but Honky escapes and rams into Roberts midsection. Irish whip to the corner and Honky with the knees to the face of Roberts. Honky with a series of elbows to the back of the head and Davis chokes him across the top rope. Hercules tags in and pummels Roberts with jabs for several two counts. Hercules with a knee to the back and Davis tags in for some punches. Davis with some weak shots in the corner, but Roberts no sells. Roberts unloads and connects with a short-arm clothesline. Roberts with the DDT and Davis is gone at 15:09.
Hercules comes in quick with a clothesline that floors Roberts and connects with a series of jumping elbow drops for two. Hercules stomps away at Roberts and rams him into the buckle. Honky tags back in and taunts Savage. Hercules chokes Roberts across the bottom rope and Honky with a knee to the face. Snapmare by Honky and he connects with a fist drop for two. Honky applies a reverse chinlock to Roberts. Roberts with a series of elbows to the midsection followed by a knee lift. Hercules tags back in and drops a knee across the back of Roberts and applies a chinlock of his own. Roberts breaks it with an arm drag, but Hercules is back on him like stink on a monkey. Roberts breaks the hold with a jaw breaker and finally makes the tag out to Steamboat! Steamboat with a series of rights and a chop to Honky and some mocking taunts! Hercules takes a beating and Steamboat chops him down. Steamboat to the top rope with a chop to the head. Scoop slam by Steamboat followed by a knee drop. Savage makes the tag and connects with the flying elbow drop and pins Hercules at 21:02.
Honky is all alone and takes a pounding from Savage. Irish whip to the corner and Savage misses a charge. Honky with a series of knees to the back of Savage. Irish whip and Savage with a running elbow to the face. Steamboat tags in and drops chops across the throat of Honky. Irish whip is reversed and Steamboat with more chops. Roberts tags in and Honky tries a sunset flip, but Roberts punches him down and steps on his hand. Roberts with a series of rights to a fallen Honky and tags Savage in. Savage off the second rope with a double axe-handle and some choking. Savage with a scoop slam and he goes up top and connects with a double axe-handle again. Atomic drop sends Honky over the top rope and out. Honky has enough and takes a hike, getting counted-out at 23:40, giving Team Savage the win. ***1/4 Match started out hot and energetic, then took a more methodical pace with some rest-holds to build up a face-in-peril situation.
Survivors: Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts.
- The Fabulous Moolah (Captain), Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno) vs. Sensational Sherri (Captain), The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin & Leilani Kai), Dawn Marie, Donna Chirstanello (w/ Jimmy Hart):
Sherri had recently beat Moolah for the Womens Championship, and basically, that's really the only interesting program going on here. Also on the heel side, the Glamour Girls are the Womens Tag Team Champions, a title that vanished on a weekly basis back then. No, the Dawn Marie here is not the one of ECW and later WWE Fame. This one is about 60 years old and looks like a trailer park whore. I have no clue which Bomb Angel is which, so I'm just going to take a blind stab at it. Sherri attacks McIntyre before the bell, and sends her into the buckle. Irish whip, and Sherri with a clothesline. Irish whip again, and McIntyre bounces off the ropes with a cross body for two. Moolah tags in and hammers away on Sherri with a series of forearms. Snapmare takedown by the hair, and Sherri gets knocked into the corner. Christanello is dragged in and slingshot into the corner. Tateno comes in with a slingshot dropkick, and McIntyre comes in quickly after. Irish whip, and McIntyre with a back elbow followed by a dropkick and scoop slam for two. McIntyre with a hip toss and hurricanrana into a victory roll for three at 1:57, eliminating Donna Christanello.
Leilani Kai comes in from behind, but gets taken down with a head scissors and dropkick. Robin tags in and gets dragged into the heels corner. Marie comes in with a series of knees to the midsection, followed by some hair pull throwing. Martin tags in but gets taken down with a cross-body for a two count. Robin with a dropkick, followed by a snapmare, but she gets taken down for a two count. Irish whip, and Martin with a boot to the midsection. Sherri tags in and connects with a dropkick. Marie tags back in and chokes Robin on the ropes. Irish whip, and a clothesline drops Robin like a crackwhores sister. Robin fights back and connects with her own clothesline, followed by a cross-body for the three count at 4:07, eliminating Dawn Marie.
Leilani comes back in the ring and drops Robin with a back elbow. Yamazaki comes in and gets taken down by a slam. Yamazaki bridges out of a pin, and takes Kai down with a victory roll for two. She comes off the ropes and victory rolls Kai for another two count. Martin comes in and eats several high knees to the face and Yamazaki with a cross body press for two. Tateno comes off the second rope with an arm drag takeover, and Sherri is thrown in by the hair. Irish whip, and Tateno with a back elbow followed by a double underhook suplex for two. Robin tags back in and knocks Sherri down for a two count following an elbow drop. Kai is whipped into the corner, and gets taken over with a monkey flip. Sherri comes in to hammer away on Robin in the corner, and puts her down with a scoop slam, followed by a suplex for the three count at 6:50.
Tateno comes in and connects with a dropkick, followed by a second, sending her into the corner. Martin tags in and whips Tateno to the corner, but misses a charging elbow. McIntyre comes in and comes off with a twisting cross body press for two. Kai comes in and gets to take a ride into the corner via sling-shot. Moolah tags back in and takes over Kai with a monkey flip, followed by a dropkick. Martin tags in and gets thrown around by the hair. Irish whip, and Martin catches Moolah with a back elbow for a two count. Headlock takeover by Moolah gets a two count, and in comes Yamazaki. Leilani tags in but gets slammed off the top turnbuckle, but Yamazaki misses a dropkick. Irish whip, and Martin with a diving forearm to the chest of Yamazaki. Sherri tags in and slams the face of Yamazaki into the ring several times for a two count. Snapmare into the corner, and Tateno comes back in, only to get thrown out and choked under the ropes. Moolah comes back in and connects with a clothesline followed by a scoop slam. Snapmare by Moolah and she takes over Martin with a headlock. The Glamour Girls catch Moolah with a double clothesline, and Martin is able to get the pin on her at 10:53.
Tateno kicks away at Martin but runs into a boot. Irish whip, and she tries again, but Tateno catches the foot and whiffs on a punch. Yamazaki in to work over the left knee of Martin, and she connects with a sit down splash across the leg. McIntyre comes in and applies the Boston Crab. McIntyre releases the hold and applies a bow and arrow back breaker. Irish whip, and McIntyre with a dropkick. Sherri gets the tag, and gets snapmared back into the ring. Sherri takes over and chokes Velvet across the top rope, then follows up with a leg drop. Sherri with a DDT, and Martin tags back in with hair throw. Tateno comes in and takes the same. Irish whip, and Martin with a body block followed by a double underhook suplex for a two count. McIntyre gets thrown into the corner, and Sherri comes in, only to get taken down with a double leg trip, and gets thrown around with a giant swing. Irish whip is reversed to the corner, and McIntyre catches Sherri with a victory roll for three at 14:54!
Martin comes in quickly to hammer away on McIntyre, and she chokes her down. Tateno tags back in and comes off the top with a sunset flip for a two count! Irish whip, and Tateno with a rolling headbutt to the midsection, and she tags in Yamazaki for a double underhook suplex for a two count. Kai finally comes back inot the ring and takes Yamazaki down with a choke, but gets caught in a body scissors. McIntyre comes in with a series of blows to the chest followed by a back elbow. Leilani drops McIntyre with the electric chair drop, and that eliminates Velvet McIntyre at 17:19.
Both Angels come in with stereo dropkicks, and the Glamour Girls are whipped into each other. Slams to both women, and Tateno slingshots Kai onto Martin. Yamazaki with a scoop slam, but gets whipped into the boot of Martin. Leilani with a scoop slam, and she goes up to the top rope, and misses a splash. Tateno goes up to the top rope and comes off with a cross body press at 18:36 to eliminate Kai. Irish whip by Martin, and she drops Tateno with a boot to the midsection. Tateno gets slammed into the canvas face first, and Martin follows up with a firemans carry slam for a two count. Irish whip, and Tateno drops Martin on her ass. Yamazaki comes off the top rope with a knee drop to the chest, and the Angels connect with a double back body drop. Jimmy Hart gets dropkicked by Tateno, and Yamazaki clotheslines Martin from the top rope for the victory at 20:16! *** I'm not really a fan of womens wrestling, but almost everyone in this match busted their ass to get a good match and thanks to the Angels especially, they succeeded. However, my main problem is that everyone repeated some moves way too often to the point it got boring.
- Strike Force (Captains), Rougeau Brothers, The Killer Bees, The Young Stallions, The British Bulldogs vs. The Hart Foundation (Captains), Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Islanders, The New Dream Team (w/ Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, Johnny V., Slick, Bobby Heenan):
This is going to be mighty confusing in the first twenty or so minutes of the match. Recently on WWF TV, the team of Rick Martel and Tito Santana defeated the Hart Foundation for the Tag Team Championship. The Bolsheviks sing the Russian national anthem before the rest of the team comes to the ring, lead by the music of Demolition. Martel and Volkoff start the match. Volkoff with a knee to the midsection and several blows to the back. Martel escapes a slam attempt and rolls up Volkoff for two. Martel with a series of roundhouse lefts, but gets a boot in the face. Volkoff works over Martel, and puts him down with a scoop slam. Zhukov tags in and misses an elbow drop. Martel with a dropkick followed by a cross body press for two. Irish whip and Martel with a back body drop. Santana tags in for a two count. Irish whip and Santana nails the Flying Forearm, eliminating Zhukov (and Volkoff) at 1:44.
Ax comes in and hammers away on Santana with sledges to the back of the head. Scoop slam by Ax, and he misses an elbow drop. Jacques Rougeau tags in with rights and a diving back elbow. Bravo tags in and walks into a dropkick. Jacques with a wristlock, and Brunzell tags in. Blair tags in with an elbow to the arm and works the arm as well. Davey Boy comes in with a headbutt, and Bravo tags out to Smash. Davey Boy with a series of rights and a wristlock. Smash reverses, but Santana makes the tag in. Irish whip, and Smash eats the boot of Dynamite. He tags in and nails a series of rights and a headbutt. Smash with a knee to the midsection, and Haku tags in with several chops to the chest. The two exchange blows, with Haku coming out on top with a rake of the eyes. Single leg trip by Brunzell, and Blair comes in for a wish bone. Blair kicks away at the leg of Haku, and he tags in Neidhart, who walks into a single leg trip. Roma tags in for another wish bone, and he works the knee. Neidhart drops him with a slam, and Smash tags back in with another slam. Ax tags in for more punishment, followed by a throwing slam into the corner. Haku comes in and drops Roma with a clothesline. Tama tags in, and hammers away on Roma with punches on chops. Powers tags in and gets worked over by both members of Demolition. Ax tags in with a slam, and Raymond Rougeau tags in... sorry, thats Jacques. Irish whip, and Jacques hammers away on Ax, and comes off with a twisting cross body, but misses, and Ax pins Jacques at 5:48.
Dynamite Kid comes in with a headbutt followed by a snap suplex. Tama tags in, and quickly gets rammed into the buckle. Dynamite gets caught charging into the corner, but Powers tags back in and send Tama back to the corner. Irish whip, but Tama comes out of the corner with a clothesline. Niedhart comes in and applies an overhead back breaker, and Haku comes off the top rope with a double axehandle for a two count. Paul Roma tags in and connects with a series of rights. Irish whip to the corner, and Haku misses a charge, but Ax tags in with more blows to the back. Roms whips Ax to the corner, but runs right into a boot. Ax rams Roma into the boot of Valentine, and he tags in with a shoulder breaker and a two count. Valentine with a vertical suplex gets another two count, and Bravo tags in with a series of forearms to the back, followed by a gutwrench suplex and leg drop for a two count. Smash tags in and hammers on Blair, but misses a charge in the corner, and Dynamite Kid tags in with a charging clothesline for a two count. Irish whip, and Smash boots Dynamite in the face. Smash and Ax work over Dynamite, then throw the referee down, causing a Disqualification at 9:09, eliminating Demolition.
Bret Hart comes in for the first time with an elbow drop followed by a jumping piledriver on Dynamite for a two count. Hart with a european uppercut in the corner, but gets caught with a headbutt. Bret fights back with boots to the midsection, and charges the corner, only to post himself. Jim Powers comes in, but gets kicked in the face on a back drop attempt. Tama tags in to get rammed into the corner. Irish whip is reversed, and Tama connects with a diving clothesline. Scoop slam by Tama, he comes off the middle rope, missing a splash. Martel tags in with a back body drop, followed by a kick to the face. Irish whip, and Martel connects with a dropkick, and applies the Boston crab, but Neidhart clotheslines him from behind and covers for two! Irish whip to the corner, and Neidhart runs into the boots of Martel. Santana tags in and hammers away on the Anvil. Irish whip is reversed, and Santana scores with the Flying Forearm, but Bret drops an elbow on the back of the head and Neidhart covers Santana, eliminating Strike Force at 12:03.
Paul Roma takes Neidhart to the corner, and Powers tags in, missing a dropkick. Haku back in the ring, and he connects with a dropkick to the face for a two count. Valentine tags in, and he hammers away on Powers with a series of elbows. Irish whip, and Powers tries a sunset flip, but gets punched in the face for his troubles. Scoop slam by Valentine, followed by a forearm across the throat for another two count. Neidhart comes in again and puts Powers down with a clothesline across the top rope. Haku tags in and drops Powers like a sack of potatoes with a reverse crescent kick, followed by a back breaker for two. Irish whip, and Valentine comes in for a double chop to the chest for a two count. Powers blocks a suplex attempt, and takes Valentine down with one of his own. Valentine with a drop toe hold and Bret comes in with a back breaker, followed up with a Tama elbow drop off the top rope. Snap suplex by the Hitman, and he covers for a two count. Roma gets the tag in and hammers away on Hart in the corner, but gets poked in the eyes. Neidhart tags in for a series of forearms across the back of the head, and another rake of the eyes. Valentine in with a boot to the midsection followed by a scoop slam. The Hammer goes to the top rope, and he comes off with an elbow to the back of the head of Roma for a two count. Powers tags back in to take some more punishment. Irish whip, and Bret comes in to miss a dropkick. Dynamite Kid gets the tag, and sends Bret into the corner at 100 mph for a two count. Dynamite with a back suplex for another two count. Roma tags back in (stupid) and drops Hart with a back elbow, but misses an elbow drop. Haku comes in as does Blair, and B. Brian takes Haku down with a back drop. Haku gets rammed into the head of Dynamite Kid, and Davey Boy tags in for a double back elbow. Powers comes in for a series of rights to the midsection. Irish whip to the corner, but Powers misses a charge and gets stomped on like a bitch. Neidhart with a boot to the midsection and applies a front facelock. Hart tags in with a headbutt, and here comes Davey Boy again. Irish whip, and Smith with a gorilla press slam for a two count. Davey Boy with a headbutt and several blows to the side of the head. Haku gets the tag, and Davey pulls him into the ring and plants him with the running powerslam for a two count. Dynamite comes in with a second rope headbutt, but he hurt himself, and Haku recovers enough to drop him with a reverse crescent kick, pinning Dynamite at 19:56.
Roma comes in with several rights and a dropkick. Irish whip, and Roma with another dropkick for a two count. Scoop slam by Haku, and Bravo comes in, missing an elbow drop. Powers back in with blows to the midsection. Irish whip to the corner, and Bravo catches Powers with an inverted atomic drop. Irish whip and Bravo with a boot to the midsection. Valentine tags in with a chop and elbow to the back of the head. Scoop slam by Valentine drops Powers across the top rope. Bravo tags back and puts Powers down with several boots. Irish whip, and Neidhart comes in with a double chop to the chest for a two count. Hart comes in and puts Powers in the Tree of Woe, but Brunzell comes in to hammer on everyone illegally. Valentine gets the tag, and Powers and he trade blows. Front facelock by Valentine, and he tags out to Bravo to hammer on him in the corner. Irish whip, and Bravo with a back body drop. Bravo drops Powers across the top rope, and puts him down with the side suplex. Valentine tags in for the Figure Four, but Powers escapes, and makes the tag to Roma. Roma goes up top, and comes off with a sunset flip for three at 23:27, eliminating Valentine, and Bravo in the process.
Brunzell tags in with a wristlock to Neidhart, and Blair tags in with an elbow to the arm. Irish whip, and Blair with a fist to the midsection, and traps Neidhart with a small package for a two count. Irish whip, and the Bees connect with a double elbow. Irish whip, and Brunzell connects with a running high knee for a two count. Hart tags in, but gets taken down with a single leg trip, and Brunzell works the knee. Blair tags back in and applies a spinning toe hold. Roma comes in for a wish bone, but gets taken down with a roundhouse right to the side of the head. Tama goes to the top rope with a double chop ot the neck of Roma, and rams his head into the canvas. Haku tags in and the Islanders connect with a double back elbow. Scoop slam by Haku, and he bounces off the ropes, missing a leg drop. Brunzell gets the tag, and he puts Haku down with a slam followed by a leg drop for two. Hip toss takeover by Brunzell gets another two count. Hart comes in and Brunzell hammers on him with forearms, and rams him into the corner. Roma tags in with a scoop slam, and he goes to the seocnd rope with a fist drop for a two count. Bret with a double leg sweep and a stomp to the midsection. Back suplex by Bret gets a two count, and he tags in Tama. He rakes the eyes of Roma and tags in Haku for a double headbutt, covering for a two count. Irish whip to the corner, and Haku misses a charge, and taken down by an arm drag. Haku no sells though, and chops away at the throat of Roma, and connects with a standing dropkick. Monsoon comments on he would like to see Niedhart do that. Irish whip, and Neidhart connects with a dropkick of his own for a two count. Powerslam by Neidhart connects for another two count. Here comes Hart with a boot to the midsection. Irish whip, and Brunzell tags in to send Bret into the buckle. Irish whip is reversed, and a double collision knocking both men down. Haku dropkicks Bret on top of Brunzell, but he rolls through, and Brunzell pins Hart at 30:26!
Haku pounds away on Brunzell and Tama comes off the top rope with a double axehandle, followed by some choking. Snapmare by Tama, and he applies a chinlock, the first resthold of the match! Haku tags in for some more pain, and connects with a shoulder breaker for a two count. Brunzell tries fighting back, but gets taken over with a snapmare, and Haku applies the Vulcan Neck Pinch. Tama tags in with a knife edge chop to the chest, and a rake of the eyes. Snapmare by Tama, and now he applies the nerve lock. Haku comes in again, but gets taken down with a sunset flip for a two count. Haku continues to hammer away on Brunzell, and takes him over with a suplex for a two count. Irish whip, and Brunzell kicks Haku in the face, then tags in Powers. He hammers away on Haku with lefts and rights, and takes him over with a back drop. Irish whip, and Rom tags in with a powerslam for a two count. The Islanders double team Roma momentarily, but he avoids a Haku charge in the corner and tags out to Blair. Haku catches him coming in with a series of elbows and a rake of the eyes. Tama tags in and drops Blair with a double axehandle to the back of the neck. Irish whip, and Tama connects with a diving back elbow. Scoop slam by Tama, but he misses a jumping elbow drop. Brunzell tags in and puts Tama down with a back body drop, and rams the Islaners heads together. Irish whip, and Brunzell with a dropkick to Tama for a two count. All hell breaks loose, and here comes Blair wearing the bee mask, and he sunset flips Tama, covering him for the victory at 37:14, making the Young Stallions and Killer Bees the Survivors! **** Great match, with non-stop action for the entire match until the very last few minutes, with basically no rest holds, and smart booking. All the big teams eliminated each other early, allowing for the underdog teams to get a few upsets en route to a victory. Of course, no push came out of this for either team, and the Stallions would fall back to their JTTS ways soon after. Both Bees and Stallions were split up by the beginning of 1989.
- Special vignette from Ted Dibiase about his Thanksgiving. We get highlights of him paying off people, like a kid to do a certain amount of push ups. Also, my all time favorite... Ted Dibiase offering a little kid to dribble a ball 15 times, then kicking the ball away at the 14th dribble (Dibiase says though that the kid got the money anyway, since he was a plant). We also get to see a woman (who is actually Linda McMahon) being paid to bark like a dog, as well as a young fan who ended up being Rob Van Dam licking his dirty feet after a match. Dibiase then pays off some guy to clear out a public pool for his own private use.
- The Survivor Series Main Event:
Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera (w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink) vs. Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Rick Rude, Butch Reed (w/ Bobby Heenan & Slick):
I never undertstood why the hell Paul Orndorff is teaming with Hulk Hogan. It just doesn't make sense. The feuds here are Hogan/Andre, Orndorff/Rude, Muraco/Reed & Gang, and Patera/Heenan Family. Bigelow was getting a monster push at the time, and damn if that didn't fizzle out just as quickly as it started. Muraco and Rude start the match for their teams. Lockup into the corner, and the two exchange blows. Irish whip to the corner, and Muraco boots Rude in the face. Orndorff tags in wih an elbow off the top rope. Orndorff with a series of rights, followed by a running knee lift. Hogan makes the tag and Rude eats his boot. Irish whip and Hogan connects with a clothesline followed by a series of elbow drops. Bigelow tags in and Hogan with a scoop slam, which Bigelow follows with a headbutt. Press slam by Bigelow and Patera comes in with a forearm to the back. Reed gets the tag in and gets taken down with a clothesline. Scoop slam by Patera, followed by a headlock takeover into a cover for two. Wristlock by Patera, and Muraco comes in with a dropkick. Orndorff in with a dropkick of his own, followed by a second. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Reed misses an elbow. Hogan comes in, and he and Orndorff connect with a double clothesline. Hogan off the ropes, and he drops the big leg for the three count at 3:07, elinminating Butch Reed.
Andre The Giant comes in, but Hogan accidentally tags out to Ken Patera, which Ventura mentions as Joey Morella saving Hogan from Andre. Bundy tags in and quickly gets worked over by Patera. Irish whip, and Patera drops the big man with a clothesline. Orndorff tags in, as does the One Man Gang. Lockup, and the Gang hammers away on Orndorff with forearms. Mr. Wonderful fights back with a flury of roundhouse rights, and whips the big man to the corner, only to run into a knee. Rude tags in and elbows to the side of the head of Orndorff. Irish whip is reversed, and Orndorff drops him with a clothesline followed by a scoop slam. Orndorff off the ropes with an elbow drop gets a two count. Muraco tags in with a clothesline, and Hogan takes a cheap shot from the apron. Rude rakes the eyes of Muraco and tags in the Gang. He hammers away on Muraco, but misses a charge to the corner, and Patera tags in with a series of boots to the midsection. Irish whip, and Patera drops the Gang with a cross body for a two count. Irish whip to the corner, and Patera nails a high knee. The Gang rakes the eyes of Patera and clobbers him in the corner. Rude chokes away on Patera from the apron while OMG distracts the referee. The Gang with a front facelock as the crowd chants for... I think Patera, but it's not very clear to hear. Patera soons fights free with elbows to the midsection and several rights. Irish whip, but the Gang clotheslines him down for the three count at 8:48.
Hogan comes in and hammers away on the Gang, and whips him to the corner, following in with a clothesline. Hogan with several knife edge chops, and Bigelow tags in for a double big boot. Bigelow connects with a series of forearms, followed by a shoulder block, but both men go down from the blow. Orndorff and Rude both get the tag in the ring, with Orndorff hammering away on Rude. Suplex by Orndorff followed by an elbow drop. Irish whip, and Orndorff sends Rude up with a back body drop, and calls for the Piledriver, but Bundy with a cheap shot, and Rude rolls him up for the three count at 10:26.
Muraco comes in from behind with an atomic drop followed by a clothesline. Bigelow tags in with a kick to the midsection followed by a suplex. Hogan tags in and he drops Rude with a running high knee. Muraco tags back in for a powerslam, and thats good enough for the three count at 11:14. Bundy hammers away on Muraco, and drops him with a back elbow, but he misses a knee drop. Muraco works over the leg of Bundy and drops a leg across the left knee. Bundy fights back to his feet, and rams him into the corner. The Gang tags in with a series of blows as the match starts to slow down. Muraco fights off the Gang with rights, and whips him to the corner, but the Gang falls on top from a slam attempt for a two count. Andre headbutts Muraco, and the Gang drops the 747 Splash for the three count at 12:57.
The Gang attacks Bigelow from behind with forearms, and squashes him on a sunset flip attempt. Bundy tags in and drops a knee across the head of Bigelow, and drops him with a clothesline with the famous spinning oversell for a two count. Gang drops another knee for two once more. The Gang tags back in with a forearm across the back, but Bigelow fights back with rights to the midsection. Bigelow gets choked across the top rope, and Buncy comes in for more punishment. Irish whip, and Bundy with a knee to the midsection, followed by an axehandle to the back. OMG comes in with more punching and an elbow to the top of the head. Irish whip, and Bigelow gets taken down with a back elbow. Bundy comes in again and stomps away at the fallen Bam Bam. Bundy misses an elbow drop, but stomps him in the head again. The Future Corporation members continue fighting, and Bundy covers for a two count. OMG tags in Andre for the first time tonight (16:43 mark) and Hogan gets the hot tag! Hogan with a series of roundhouse rights in the corner, and he blocks a headbutt with choking. The two exchange chops with Hogan coming out on top. Andre gets rammed into the buckles, and he takes shots at Bundy and Gang in the corner. Hogan gets tripped up and dragged out of the ring, where he slams both Bundy and the Gang, but he's counted out at 18:13, leaving Bigelow by himself!
Bam Bam hammers on Bundy as he comes into the ring, and drops him with a big clothesline. Bigelow goes for the peoples elbow... alright just the kick of the arm part, but he does drop an elbow for a two count. Bigelow off the ropes, and he floors Bundy with several headbutts for two again. Dropkick by Bam Bam staggers Bundy, and he takes him down with a double leg sweep. Bigelow with an elbow to the inside part of the leg. Irish whip is reversed, but Bundy misses the avalanche. Bigelow with the slingshot splash gets three at 20:49, eliminating Kong Kong Bundy. The Gang comes in now and hammers on Bigelow, who looks exhausted at this point of the match. Clothesline by the Gang, and he takes his time to cover, only getting a count of two. Bigelow continues taking punishment, before fighting back to his feet with blows to the midsection of the Gang. Andre boots Bigelow in the face, and the Gang goes up to the top rope, but misses a splash, and Bigelow covers for three at 23:07! Andre comes in with a series of blows in the corner and a headbutt. Bigelow looks like a midget compared to Andre. Irish whip, and Bigelow holds onto the ropes, trying to get away from Andre to get some air. Bigelow misses a charge to the corner, and gets caught with a series of shoulderblocks in the corner, and Andre finishes him with the double underhook suplex at 24:23, making Andre the Sole Survivor. Hogan returns to the ring and beat up on Andre, cause good-guys are sore losers. **1/2 Decent match, and that's what you could hope for with this collection of performers. Andre winning was pretty shocking, but not out of the world surprising. Bam Bam was made to look good before finally losing to a man who spent very little time in the ring. Post-match, Andre and Heenan celebrate.
Final Thoughts: Much like all of the early day Survivor Series', nothing on the show was really must-see television, even the Andre/Hogan stuff. Anything like that would be touched up on by the weekend. No storylines get settled at the Survivor Series, nor do they really do much to advance them. However, most of the card was pretty entertaining. The main event was technically the worst match, but even that was entertaining, in my opinion. The 10-Tag Team Survivors match is a must-see for old school wrestling fans. Strong Recommendation for the first ever Survivor Series.
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