Match ratings guide: penalty (bad), audit (average), deduction (good), return (excellent).
Event Details:
Location: Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut
Hosts: Gorilla Monsoon and “Rowdy†Roddy Piper
Reported Attendance: 16,000
This is a very hard tape to find and the ones that you can find on eBay usually sell for high prices because of the unique format of this event. This is the only Survivor Series that had a grand finale match of survival that pitted the face survivors against the heel survivors in another Survivor Series-style match.
Vince McMahon uses a pretty cool promo package to introduce the teams that will be facing each other. It is the same one that was used in 1989 and I wish they had kept it for 1991 and beyond.
-The Warriors give a promo for “Mean†Gene Okerlund and the Warrior does lots of crazy facial expressions and goes on about how all the sacrifices have been made so the Perfect Team will not survive.
–Opening Contest: The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect & Demolition w/ Bobby “The Brain†Heenan & Mr. Fuji) vs. The Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, the Texas Tornado & Legion of Doom):
It looks like the Ultimate Warrior lucked out in his choice of partners for this matchup since he was the WWF Champion at the time and the Texas Tornado was the Intercontinental Champion. Interesting tidbit: the Tornado had actually lost the Intercontinental title to Perfect at a television taping before this event but because that match had not aired yet he is still the Intercontinental Champion at this event. Demolition were a shell of their former selves by this point and the three-way combination of Ax, Smash, and Crush was not working. Also, the feud between the Legion of Doom and Demolition at the time was dwarfed by Ax’s bad heart condition and was not living up to expectations. In fact, this would be Ax’s last pay-per-view match for the WWF.
Warrior’s face paint is a silver color tonight and it looks like he had Sensational Sherri share her stuff that she used for SummerSlam 1990. If you have seen that pay-per-view you know what I am talking about. It takes almost a minute to begin and we start with Animal tackling Smash and punishing him just like a fight broke out on a playground. Smash gets pinballed in the face corner but gets a fist off the ropes to turn the tide. Animal gets pinballed by the heels which leads to a near-fall and is then taken into Perfect’s boot in the corner. Perfect gets tagged in to get in a few shots before tagging Smash and Smash has a whip into the ropes reversed and is caught with an Animal powerslam. Perfect runs in but gets an inverted atomic drop for his efforts and then leaps into the arms of Hawk who gives him another inverted atomic drop. Perfect then continues his selling ways by shying away from a Tornado claw only to get clotheslined by the Warrior. Nice sequence and the crowd pops HUGE for it. That is what I miss about today: little moves used to pop the crowd back in the day but now a lot of people just sit on their hands during the matches. Animal atomic drops Smash and then punches Perfect who flies out of the ring as the referee is FINALLY able to restore order.
Tag Tornado and he lays into Smash only to have Smash pull him towards the heel corner and tag in Ax who lays in a Demolition-style beatdown. However, Ax gets caught in the Claw only to have Smash break it up. However, Ax is so dazed from the Claw that he stumbles around the ring and Tornado tags in Warrior who delivers a shoulderblock, a flying shoulderblock, and a splash off the ropes to eliminate him at 3:25.
Warrior clears house after the elimination by slamming Smash and Crush and then violently pushing Perfect over the top rope and to the arena floor. However, Crush floors Warrior with a clotheslines and puts the boots to him. Demolition double-team the Warrior and Crush gets two after a Smash backbreaker and after he delivers a flying kneedrop from the top rope. Blind charge, though, leads to the Warrior tagging in Hawk and Crush tags in Perfect. Hawk chokes Perfect and about kills him with a clothesline. Perfect screws up a Irish whip spot and nearly decapitates himself on the second turnbuckle so they repeat the spot and this time a blind charge by Hawk leads to him colliding with the ringpost shoulder-first. The heels take their respective turns working over Hawk and try to cut him off from the face corner. It works until Hawk catches Smash with a flying shoulderblock off the ropes, gets in a fistdrop, and clotheslines him. Hawk then nails Smash with his trademark flying clothesline but it only gets one before Crush interrupts. Demolition and the Legion of Doom then get into a brawl and the referee disqualifies both teams at 7:39. Oh please, that’s just LAZY booking for a pay-per-view but I can at least give them credit for caring about the tag team division back then. After the bell rings for the DQ, the Legion of Doom double-clothesline Crush and pose for the crowd on the apron to win some kind of moral victory I guess.
So now we have the World Class boys against the former AWA World Champion and Perfect demands that the Warrior tag in Tornado. Warrior obliges Perfect’s demand but in a very smart move, Perfect immediately pounces on Tornado when he enters the ring. However, Tornado punches his way back to the advantage and a discus punch in the corner sends Perfect over the top rope and to the floor. Perfect gets hit by Warrior was he walks around dazed outside and then is thrown back into the ring by Tornado only to be clotheslined over the top rope and back to the floor. Perfect just is not having a very good evening against these guys but you have to appreciate his selling of their offense. Outside, Heenan tries to consult with Perfect but the Warrior sneaks up behind them and gives them a double noggin-knocker. Warrior throws Perfect back into the ring and then viciously throws Heenan over the guardrail and into the crowd. Yikes, no wonder Heenan hates the guy. Back in, Tornado corners Perfect and whips him into the corner but a blind charge creates another shoulder-first to the post situation and Perfect gets in some fists and a kneelift. Tornado tries to fight back only to get a thumb to the eye and taken to a turnbuckle that is now exposed. I did not see Perfect do that so it might have been Heenan. Perfect then delivers a Perfectplex and Tornado is finished at 11:05.
Perfect hardly gets a rest before Warrior charges into the ring but he moves when Warrior tries to splash him against the buckles that have the exposed turnbuckle and the Warrior’s face eats it. Perfect seizes the opportunity to deliver another Perfectplex but Warrior kicks out at two. Why bury a guy’s finisher in this match? It would not have been so bad if the Warrior had not hit the steel turnbuckle too but that just makes Perfect look ultra weak. Perfect continues to beat on the Warrior and a standing dropkick gets two. Perfect does another slow beatdown before delivering a clothesline for two. Perfect beats on the Warrior but the Warrior is FEELING THE SPIRITS and resisting and Perfect is suddenly drilled with three clotheslines. Perfect is then nailed with a flying shoulderblock and a splash off the ropes finishes at 14:24. Afterward, the Warrior knocks Heenan off the apron.
MATCH RATING: DEDUCTION. Not a great Survivor Series match but Perfect and Heenan’s selling combined with the heat this match got from the crowd put it over the average category. I hated the LOD-Demolition elimination but to be honest all of the eliminations made sense since Ax was on his way out, the LOD-Demolition had to continue their issue, the Tornado and Perfect had their thing going where Perfect was going to win out anyway, and then Warrior had to be kept strong because he was the WWF Champion.
-Sean Mooney interviews the Million Dollar Team with “The Mouth of the South†Jimmy Hart and Virgil. “The Million Dollar Man†Ted DiBiase says that he will deliver big on his mystery partner and he rips the entire Dream Team saying there will be no mercy for any of them.
–The Dream Team (“The American Dream†Dusty Rhodes, “The Birdman†Koko B. Ware & the Hart Foundation) vs. The Million Dollar Team (“The Million Dollar Man†Ted DiBiase, Rhythm & Blues & a Mystery Partner w/Virgil and Jimmy Hart):
This was when Dusty had dropped the polka dots and was also on his way out of the WWF. The Hart Foundation were enjoying their last tag team championship reign at this point and Piper spends some time putting over Bret before the Million Dollar Team comes out. Ted DiBiase introduces the world to his mystery partner, a partner who would change the face of the WWF forever, the Undertaker who is accompanied to the ring by Brother Love. His entrance music is a little high pitched from what it eventually became and Mark Calloway walks faster than he would end up doing but he looks across the ring and stares into the soul of the face squad. Crowd does not really know what to make of him at the beginning.
The Undertaker and Bret “The Hitman†Hart start and the Undertaker gives a weird looking chokeslam to Bret off the ropes and chokes him. Bret tags out to Jim “The Anvil†Neidhart but he gets slammed by the Undertaker after he tried a shoulderblock off the ropes and then tags out to Ware but I have a feeling this is not going to end well for him. Sure enough, the Undertaker moves out of the way of a Ware dive and Ware hot shots himself across the top rope. The Undertaker then picks Ware up and delivers a really sloppy Tombstone piledriver that looks like it might have broken Ware’s neck and that gets the first elimination at 1:44.
Faces just seem confused about how to handle the Undertaker as Bret comes back in and gets some fists off the rope to daze the Undertaker who then slowly tags over to Greg “The Hammer†Valentine in a gesture out of mere boredom than desperation. Bret tags in Rhodes and he and Valentine exchange chops. The faces work over Valentine’s arm but a blind charge by Bret into the corner eats knee. Tag to the Honky Tonk Man and he goes through some of his boring offense on Bret. Bret comes back with a shoulderblock but gets hit with a knee to the gut. However, when Honky taunts the crowd, gets a tag to Neidhart and Bret reverses Honky’s whip into the ropes where Honky is then scooped up by Neidhart and drilled with a spikeslam for the pinfall at 4:23.
DiBiase immediately enters the ring and unloads with knife-edge chops on Neidhart in the corner. However, Neidhart reverses a whip into the corner and hits DiBiase with a clothesline on the rebound. Big bodyslam by Neidhart and he tags in Rhodes who gets in ten elbows to DiBiase while perched on the second rope and delivers a dropkick. Tag Neidhart and he and Rhodes hit DiBiase with a double-elbow off the ropes for two. Neidhart delivers a suplex for two. Neidhart gets a shoulderblock off the ropes but Virgil grabs Neidhart’s leg when runs at DiBiase again and DiBiase seizes the opportunity to catch Neidhart with a clothesline when he turns around to eliminate him at 5:57.
Bret comes in and wails away to defend his partner’s honor and takes DiBiase to Rhodes’s elbow. Tag Rhodes and he gets in some funky like a money punches only to have DiBiase fight back and catch him with a clothesline. Tag Undertaker and he gets a big stomp to Rhodes’s face off the ropes. Rhodes tags in Bret and the Undertaker immediately pounces him and takes him to the buckle in the heel corner. The heels try to give a beatdown to Bret but he uses his fists to back up DiBiase and gets in an inverted atomic drop before tagging in Rhodes. Rhodes gets in a series of standing elbows but DiBiase goes back to the heel corner and tags in the Undertaker. The Undertaker gets a running knee to Rhodes’s gut and gets a top rope axehandle for the pin at 8:32.
The Undertaker throws Rhodes to the arena floor after he eliminates him and then holds Bret at bay for Valentine who comes in and starts to work Bret over. Outside, Brother Love is kicking Rhodes until he revives and fights back which prompts the Undertaker to leave the apron and fight Rhodes in the aisle. The bell rings at 9:25 and Howard Finkel tells us the Undertaker has been counted out which I find is funny because I do not think the Undertaker is NOT the legal man. However, they had to find a way to eliminate him without ruining the persona so I guess this was as good a way as any. We return to action inside the ring and Valentine is going for the figure-four leglock on Bret only to have Bret reverse it into a small package and eliminate him at 10:01.
The crowd is going nuts as Bret punches DiBiase and atomic drops him to the arena floor. Bret then delivers a pescado to the outside and rains punches down on DiBiase from a mounted position on the floor. Outside, DiBiase gets an eye rake but is thrown shoulder-first by Bret into the ring post and is taken to the steps. Back in, Bret stomps DiBiase in the gut and unloads in the corner with European uppercuts. DiBiase reverses a whip into the corner and Bret does his signature chest-first corner bump to give DiBiase a two-count. DiBiase now takes his turn to lay into Bret in the corner with knife-edge chops and whips him into the opposite corner. Bret forgets to immediately come out of the corner and trap DiBiase in a backslide so DiBiase has his head down for an awkward few seconds before Bret executes the sequence for two. Bret applies a headlock and trips over DiBiase when he is whipped into the ropes. Bret fakes a knee injury and when DiBiase goes to taunt the crowd Bret rolls him up but that only gets a two-count. Virgil grabs Bret from the apron when Bret tries to hit him but DiBiase accidentally kneelifts Virgil off the apron and Bret gets a schoolboy for two as the crowd sounds like its going to have a heart attack. Bret hits a backbreaker and hits his patented second rope elbowdrop but only gets two. Bret catches DiBiase with a crossbody off the ropes when he ducks a clothesline but DiBiase rolls though it and catches Bret in a tight pinning combination to get the victory at 14:00.
MATCH RATING: RETURN. I wish this match could have gone twenty-five minutes but they accomplished a lot within fourteen minutes. This was as well booked a Survivor Series match as you can get, with the Undertaker being put over Ware and Rhodes and dominating the Hart Foundation, Bret getting a lot of good exposure, and Rhythm & Blues being put out without much ring action. This is a perfect example of using veteran superstars and established names to elevate new talent and the future of the company, something today’s WWE would do well to take notice of. What makes this match is the four minute battle between Bret and DiBiase at the end which, although DiBiase wins, showed that Bret was over as a singles competitor and had a bright future in from of him after he left the tag ranks. Definitely one of the better Survivor Series matches you will ever see even with time constraints.
-Okerlund interviews the who are in a shower and Jake “The Snake†Roberts runs through the credentials of his team and how they are all survivors. This was also shortly after “The Model†Rick Martel “blinded†Roberts with Arrogance so his left eye is totally white.
–The Visionaries (“The Model†Rick Martel, Power & Glory & The Warlord w/Slick) vs. The Vipers (Jake “The Snake†Roberts, The Rockers & “Superfly†Jimmy Snuka):
We start off with Marty Jannetty and the Warlord and it is sort of fitting since the Vipers are giving up a large size advantage to the Visionaries anyway. Jannetty uses his speed to maneuver around the Warlord in the beginning but finally gets corned and shoved into the corner. However, the Warlord misses a blind charge and Jannetty gets a dropkick in from the apron and some more dropkicks but the Warlord brushes him off. Jannetty slides his way around the Warlord and takes shots at the heels and when Warlord tries to hit him from behind he hits Hercules instead. Jannetty tags in Shawn Michaels and after Jannetty tries to take down the Warlord with a sunset flip, Michaels hits the Warlord with a clothesline to complete the move for a two-count. The Warlord pushes Michaels into the heel corner and Martel is tagged in. However, Michaels reverses a take to the buckle and reverses a hiptoss. Michaels nails a dropkick and gets a monkeyflip out of the corner before tagging in Roberts. Martel, seeing Roberts enter the ring, quickly runs to the heel corner and tags in Paul Roma.
We get a lockup and Roma lays into Roberts with a few shots just to get knocked down by a Roberts fist off the ropes. Roberts works the arm and tags in Snuka who continues working the arm until Roma tags in Hercules. Hercules gets a shoulderblock off the ropes but is knocked down by a Snuka knife-edge chops and the Warlord gets tagged in. Shoulderblock by Snuka goes nowhere and Snuka gets bodyslammed when he runs at the Warlord again. However, the Warlord misses an elbowdrop off the ropes and Snuka gets a dropkick and tags in Jannetty. The Warlord quickly grabs Jannetty in a bearhug but Jannetty boxes the ears to escape and gets a forearm from the second rope but when he tries the move a second time, the Warlord delivers a vicious powerslam and eliminates Jannetty at 5:28. Nice elimination sequence there.
Michaels comes in and starts punching the Warlord and ducks under a Warlord clothesline only to get perched on the Warlord’s shoulders. After they had to readjust their positions for a second, Michaels gets into a hurricarana position and Roberts pushes the Warlord in the back from the apron to allow Michaels to complete the move. Tag Roberts and he unleashes a series of boxing punches and gets a rebound clothesline after he is whipped into the corner. Blind charge by the Warlord eats knee and Roberts hits another clothesline. Tag Michaels and he covers the Warlord for two. Well that was pretty stupid, Roberts should have just covered. The Warlord’s kick out sends Michaels to the floor and Roma gets tagged in and when Michaels returns to the ring he gets beaten down. Tag Warlord and he delivers a back body drop that sends Michaels nearly ten feet into the air. Hercules gets tagged in and covers for two. Hercules drills Michaels with a clothesline that Michaels sells by twirling around 360 degrees.
Tag Martel and he gets in a kneedrop for two. Martel delivers a series of knees in the corner and a backbreaker gets two. Roma now comes in and Michaels does a semi-Flair flip when he is whipped into the corner and Martel covers for two. Blind charge by Martel sees him hit the ringpost shoulder-first and Michaels gives a momentum swinging tag, if those even exist in this match, to Snuka and Snuka unloads on Martel in the corner. Martel gets whipped into the opposite corner and Snuka gets in a backdrop. Snuka ducks a Martel clothesline and gets a flying headbutt off the ropes for two. Snuka takes Martel to the buckle and tries to do a reverse bodypress off the second rope when Martel whips him into the corner but Martel rolls through the move and pins Snuka after grabbing a handful of tights at 9:53. It looks like Roberts did not pick any good partners for this match that is for sure.
Roberts comes in and tries to corner Martel but he gets away and tags in Hercules. Roberts is frustrated and curses himself. Hey Jake, if you eliminate more guys on the other team you will eventually get your hands on Martel so there is no reason to flip out. Lockup sees Hercules get some shoulder thrusts against the ropes but when he puts his head down on a whip, Roberts delivers a kneelift. Roberts goes for the DDT but Hercules slithers out of the hold and bails. Back in, the heels hold a conference in their corner and Hercules lures Roberts near the ropes which allows Martel to nail him with a clothesline off the apron. Roma comes in to stomp away and slams Roberts only to miss a top rope fistdrop. Roma sells it and I am not sure why because when you executed a fist drop your knees should hit the mat first and Roberts gives a much needed tag to Michaels.
Michaels gets a spinning elbow off the ropes and suplexes Roma when he puts his head down on a whip. Michaels hits a second rope elbowdrop for two. Michaels hits an atomic drop but Roma gives a blind tag to Hercules and Hercules blindsides Michaels. The heels are just clearly outsmarting the faces here so much it is not even funny. Hercules pounds Michaels in the corner and clotheslines him. Hercules gets a gorilla press slam and takes a turn with Martel adding more punishment. Power & Glory then deliver the Powerplex, a move I always mark out for, to Michaels and he is eliminated to leave Roberts all alone at 15:31.
The heels pound Roberts in the corner and the Warlord adds to it by whipping Roberts into the corner and catching him with a bearhug. Roberts fights out and tries to attack the heel corner only to get up by the Warlord from behind. The referee manages to get distracted by Hercules on the outside after he is knocked off the apron by Roberts and missed Roberts floating over a Warlord bodyslam attempt and delivering a DDT. Roberts covers but Martel sprays him with Arrogance. Roberts grabs Damien out of the bag and chases Martel to the locker room but that gets him counted out to finish the match at 18:19. Survivor Series history is made as the Visionaries become the first team to have all four of its members survive.
MATCH RATING: DEDUCTION. I had a feeling this match might end up average but they did a good job keeping those who could work well inside of the ring for extended periods of time such as Roberts, the Rockers, Martel, and a motivated Power & Glory. It is also a unique match because the heels outsmart the faces from beginning to end. It is almost like the New England Patriots were coaching Martel’s team.
-Mooney interviews the Hulkamaniacs and he says he has assembled the best team of Hulkamaniacs in the world. Just a generic Hogan interview with his friends added in with some anti-Saddam Hussein words which is weird to hear today since he is now deceased. Also, what is it with the faces getting nearly all the interview time and the heels being ignored to a large degree?
–The Natural Disasters (Earthquake, “The World’s Strongest Man†Dino Bravo, Haku & The Barbarian w/Jimmy Hart and Bobby “The Brain†Heenan) vs. The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Tugboat, Hacksaw Jim Duggan & The Big Bossman):
Interesting footnote: two of Hogan’s three teammates in this match were captains of their own teams at the Survivor Series the year before (Duggan & Bossman). Duggan works in a USA chant against the “foreigners†on the other side which does not make a lot of sense to me but then again its Duggan we are talking about here. Duggan clotheslines Haku down a series of times to start the match and gets in an elbow off the ropes. Duggan hits another clothesline but misses an elbowdrop and Haku tags in Bravo. The heels take turns beating up Duggan with their movesets until Duggan falls into the face corner and tags in Bossman who floors Haku only to get dropkicked for two. However, Bossman reverses a whip into the ropes and delivers the Bossman slam to eliminate Haku at 3:15. Well that sure was quick.
The heels try to gang up on the Bossman but he survives and gets the advantage over the Barbarian before grabbing Heenan when he jumps on the apron and slamming his face into the ringpost. It just is not a good night to be Heenan. The Barbarian suplexes the Bossman and slams him but an elbowdrop off the second rope misses and Bossman tags in Duggan. Duggan backdrops the Barbarian and Barbarian tags in Bravo. However, Duggan did not see the tag and it allows Bravo and Earthquake to double-clothesline him. Earthquake ends up getting tagged in and smashes himself into Duggan against the corner. Duggan tries to shoulderblock Earthquake down but that, of course, does not work and he tries running the ropes again but Hart pulls down the top rope and Duggan falls to the floor. Duggan chases Hart around ringside with the two-by-four and Hart runs into the ring so Duggan decides it is a good time to break the rules and he hits Earthquake in the gut with the two-by-four. However, the referee DOES NOT disqualify him immediately once again showing the referee bias for Hogan’s team that Earl Hebner showed the previous year and it takes another Duggan two-by-four shot on Earthquake, this time to the back, to get him disqualified at 6:12. Stuff like that is why I would NEVER allow Duggan on my Survivor Series team.
Hogan comes in now to take advantage of a dazed Earthquake and he punches and slams the entire heel side INCLUDING Earthquake. I was sure they would build to that later in the match but I guess not. Hogan clotheslines the Earthquake against the corner and gets some second rope punches in from the turnbuckle only to have the Earthquake powerslam himself out of it. Tag Bravo and he delivers two running elbowdrops. However, after Bravo finishes celebrating Hogan catches him with a SMALL PACKAGE to get the pinfall at 7:59. That was weird to see but it was refreshing.
Hogan tags in Bossman and he delivers a series of shots to Earthquake but when he tries a crossbody off the top rope he gets caught. However, Hogan comes in and pushes the Bossman’s back allowing him to fall on top of Earthquake for two. Bossman attempts a series of shoulderblocks to Earthquake but that only gets him kneed in the back by the Barbarian and Earthquake delivers two big running elbowdrops to get a pin at 9:08.
Hogan comes in again and gets in a bit boot and clotheslines Earthquake and then gets in a cheap shot to Barbarian in the corner. Hogan takes Earthquake to Tugboat’s boot and hits another clothesline. Hogan tries twice to bodyslam Earthquake but gets clubbed to the back the first time and then Earthquake falls onto him when he tries it the second time for a two-count. Earthquake tries a big splash off the ropes but Hogan moves and we have a double KO. Hogan gets the momentum swinging tag to Tugboat, who has yet to enter this match, and the future Natural Disasters collide. Tugboat knocks Barbarian off the apron and shoulderblocks Earthquake into the ropes. Hogan, being the sportsman that he is, pulls Earthquake outside of the ring, and Tugboat brawls with him until both of them are counted out at 11:33. However, before he was counted out, Earthquake squashes Hogan against the ringpost for good measure.
The Barbarian goes outside to pounce on an injured Hogan and rolls him into the ring. Barbarian gets in his shots on Hogan and gets a sloppy piledriver for two. Both men then clothesline each other and we have a double KO spot. Barbarian gets up first and nails Hogan with a big boot. The Barbarian hits his signature top rope clothesline but Hogan kicks out just after two and its HULK UP time. I always hated how Hogan kicked out of the heel’s finisher right after the referee’s hand hit the mat for the second time. There was never any suspense to lend the heel’s finisher and chance of credibility. Anyway, a Hogan legdrop finishes the Barbarian at 14:50 and afterwards he punches Heenan and then violently hurls him into the corner where Heenan goes over the top rope and to the floor. Poor Bobby.
MATCH RATING: AUDIT. This match was not as quick in action due to the more heavyweight nature of the participants but there was never much of a story told in this match. Hogan and the Earthquake had an issue but that was not really explored since Hogan slammed Earthquake in the beginning of the match and everyone and their mother knew that the Barbarian did not stand a chance when it got down to the final two. Also, there were not a lot of near-fall sequences to hold the crowd’s interest between eliminations.
-Fans are interviewed about who they think is going to win the Survivor Series Grand Finale and the fans are split between the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan except for a few guys who are rooting for Sergeant Slaughter.
-Okerlund interviews “The Macho King†Randy Savage who is not a participant in this year’s Survivor Series. He calls out the Ultimate Warrior and says that he will soon be the next WWF Champion. In an ironic moment, he says after he wins the title he might retire.
–The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana & The Bushwhackers) vs. The Mercenaries (Sergeant Slaughter, Boris Zhukov & The Orient Express w/General Adnan & Mr. Fuji):
This was the culmination of the recently turned, pro-U.S. Volkoff versus the turncoat Sergeant Slaughter feud. All of the Mercenaries are wearing military paint, including Adnan and Fuji. Okerlund interviews Slaughter in the aisle on the way to the ring and he says that he only salutes one flag, that of the Iraqi nation. He then rips on the U.S. military forces in the Middle East about how they had a bad turkey dinner that smelled of camel dung and had sand flies in it and then says that President Bush should take into consideration that the Iraqi army, like his team, is made up of survivors. Just remember, if you think the WWE being distasteful is anything new, then you have no idea how much outrage this angle caused in late 1990 and early 1991.
We start off with Butch and Zhukov and the Bushwhackers give him a double-clothesline. Santana gets tagged in and hits a flying forearm to get the elimination in 48 seconds. See ya later, Zhukov and I hope you had a good WWF career. Sato now comes in and gets the advantage over Santana but when Tanaka gets tagged in he accidentally nails Sato and Luke is tagged in to clothesline Tanaka. The Bushwhackers then come in and deliver a battering ram to eliminate Sato at 1:47. Hope you had a good career too Sato because by Royal Rumble 1991 Tanaka would emerge with a new partner, Kato, to replace you.
Tanaka takes down Butch but misses a falling headbutt off the ropes and Butch tags Santana who hits a flying forearm to get another elimination at 2:08. Slaughter looks like he chose an absolutely terrible team for this year’s event. Santana tags in Volkoff and he lays into Slaughter. However, Slaughter catches a Volkoff boot off the ropes, spins him around into a clothesline, and delivers four elbowdrops. Slaughter gets an elbow to the mid-section off the ropes and does some more “methodical†offense with Volkoff against the ropes. Slaughter grabs Volkoff in a headlock and rams his head into the top turnbuckle and bores the crowd with some punches. Dropkick by Slaughter and a snapmare followed by an elbowdrop gets the pin at 5:27. Well that is what you call a decisive squash.
The Bushwhackers deliver a double-bodyslam to Slaughter and hit a double-clothesline and Luke covers for two. Luke hits a spinning elbow off the ropes for two on Slaughter and tries delivering a top rope splash but Slaughter puts his knees up and hits a stomachbreaker for the pin at 6:33. Butch comes in and is whipped chest-first into the corner and clotheslined for another pin at 6:56.
We are now one-on-one, not a rare sight tonight, and Santana dropkicks Slaughter in the back as he taunts the crowd, whips him into the corner, and hits a backdrop. Santana then delivers a forearm from the top rope for two. Slaughter grabs the ropes to block a monkey flip out of the corner and delivers a swinging neckbreaker for two. Slaughter delivers a backbreaker for two as Piper goes into a weird rant about fighting Latin American people. In this politically correct era those comments definitely would not fly. Slaughter hits a suplex and we had a double KO spot with Slaughter covering for two. Santana moves out of the way of a Slaughter kneedrop but when he traps Slaughter in a headlock, Slaughter pushes him into the referee. Slaughter gets nailed with the flying forearm off the ropes but the referee is too dazed and Santana is too exhausted. Adnan then comes into the ring and jams the Iraqi flag into Santana’s back and Slaughter applies the Camel clutch as the match ends at 10:41 with the announcement that the referee is disqualifying Slaughter and awarding the match to Santana.
MATCH RATING: PENALTY. Not a very fun match to sit through. I guess the whole purpose was to put over Slaughter while not allowing him to advance to the grand finale but his methodical offense really made the match terrible, especially the minute by minute beatdown of Volkoff in the middle. I thought about lifting the rating to audit after the Slaughter-Santana exchange but the finish erased that thought rather quickly.
-Mooney interviews the heel side for the grand finale that will be composed of “The Million Dollar Man†Ted DiBiase and the Visionaries. DiBiase said he has offered a lot of money to make sure the heels win and that the face side is riven with divisions because Hogan and Warrior just fought at WrestleMania VI.
-Okerlund is by the egg that has been sitting near the entrance and due to the “heat†of the event the egg cracks open to reveal the Gobbledegooker and the fans are silent at first and do not really know what to make of it. However, you can tell by the reaction that the crowd sees this as a complete waste of time. The Gobbledegooker dances in the ring as Piper tries to make it seem like the kids are loving this thing but the crowd is sitting on their hands and any audible sounds are boos. I get sick of watching so I just fast forward.
-Mooney interviews the face side of the grand finale that is composed of WWF Champion The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, and Tito Santana. Hogan tries to hype up the intensity of the Warrior and calls Santana “The Arriba Man.†Santana says a few nice things and then Warrior comes in to wreck it with a bunch of gibberish. Santana is just the odd man out here because he does not really have a following like “Warrior Wildness†or “Hulkamaniacs†so I think Warrior just refers to his following as “Arriba Nation†or something. Unintentionally hilarious.
–Grand Finale Match of Survival: “The Model†Rick Martel, Power & Glory, The Warlord & “The Million Dollar Man†Ted DiBiase w/Slick & Virgil vs. Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana & The Ultimate Warrior:
Hogan nails the Warlord to begin and Santana blindsides him with a flying forearm to get the first elimination in 28 seconds. That sure was fast but it sort of fit the story of the Visionaries last match because Warlord was still recovering from that DDT Roberts gave him towards the end of that match. Roma immediately comes in to work over Santana and gets a nice powerslam off the ropes. DiBiase gets tagged in and he kneedrops Santana and then hits a suplex for two. Santana hits DiBiase with a clothesline after ducking a clothesline and then gets a backdrop but misses the flying forearm and DiBiase hotshots Santana after Santana ducks under another one of his clotheslines at 1:53. Good psychology by DiBiase to set up Santana on that one.
Hogan now comes into the ring and taunts DiBiase and then fires away on him in the corner. Hogan takes DiBiase to Warrior’s boot but ducks his head on a whip and DiBiase seizes the advantage. The heels work over Hogan and Roma gets a chop from the top rope for two. The heels continue their quick tags on Hogan and keep him cut off from Warrior. DiBiase hits kneedrop for two. DiBiase hits a series of fistdrops for two. Power & Glory deliver the Powerplex but Hogan hulks up out of that and clotheslines Roma for a pin at 5:38. Was it REALLY necessary for Hogan to kill that finisher?
Martel takes his shot at Hogan now but Hogan is able to tag in the Warrior and Martel gets whooped badly in the corner. Warrior hits Martel with a backdrop on a rebound out of the corner and FEELS THE SPIRITS to clean Martel’s clock some more with two bodyslams and slamming his face into the canvas. Tag Hogan and Martel gets hit with a big boot and gets clotheslined out of the ring. Martel then pulls a Roberto Duran and says “no mas†and gets counted out at 7:18 as DiBiase throws a tantrum.
DiBiase and Hogan now square up and DiBiase slams Hogan’s face into the buckles only to get whipped into the opposite corner and clotheslined against the buckles. DiBiase begs off only to get pulled out of the corner and Hogan then knocks Hercules off the apron. Hogan then hits a bit boot and a legdrop finishes DiBiase at 8:38 leaving Hercules all by himself. Hogan then powerslams a charging Hercules, tags in Warrior, and the Warrior hits two clotheslines, a flying shoulderblock, and a running splash off the ropes to finish at 9:08. Afterwards, Hogan and Warrior toss Slick over the top rope and to the floor. Hogan holds the ropes open for the Warrior and the Warrior refuses and opens them for Hogan instead. How sweet.
MATCH RATING: AUDIT. Due to time constraints and also because the participants had already wrestled earlier in the evening, this match had to be short. As a result, it did not allow any great elimination sequences or a very solid match to develop. Instead, it was just a by the books Hogan/Warrior Survivor Series match after Santana got eliminated.
The Inside Pulse
FINAL EVALUATION: As I said at the top of the review, this card is very difficult to find and will cost you a pretty penny to obtain. The first three matches on the card offer some solid wrestling and the Million Dollar Team vs. The Dream Team match is pretty entertaining. However, this card saw the end of the 1980s era in a large way because Demolition, Rhodes, the Bolsheviks, Power & Glory, Sato, and others were on their way out the door and a new generation of superstars led by Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker were beginning to emerge. This really comes through on this tape. That said, this is mostly another Survivor Series lovefest for Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, one you have probably seen before so I cannot 100% recommend you go see this tape but it’s worth at least one viewing just to say that you have seen it.
