Survivor SeriesRichfield Coliseum (Richfield, Ohio)
Original Airdate: November 26, 1987
I swear I entered into this with the best intentions. I watched this show quite awhile ago and have been mulling over ideas for my newest blog entry for at least two weeks. Alas, the reality of my life got in the way and a whole month went by yet again. I apparently just have too many other pressing hobbies to write in this blog several times a month....actually that's not true. I just work a job I hate way too much, and on the rare occasions I'm not working, I play in a dumb band, and balance my wrestling habit with my movie habit and my video game habit. Unfortunately some things just end up falling by the wayside. However, I'd like to once again offer my assurance that even if my updates are slow in coming, this blog is by no means dead. It just may be around for many years before I reach the finish line. Come to think of it, I'm actually not even sure where that finish line is. Do I need to watch every PPV up to the present? Or should I set some sort of end date a few years in the past? Either way, I clearly have plenty of time to decide.
So here we have the Survivor Series. This was the first new PPV spun off from the already mega successful Wrestlemania. However, the company came up with a twist to distinguish this new show. There would be no one on one or tag team matches. Everyone would compete in teams of 5, and all matches would be elimination style. Essentially, that means you could be left with any number of lopsided, uneven situations (up to and including 1 on 5). All 5 members of one team had to lose in some manner before the match was over. Whoever was left on the other team was/were declared the survivor(s). (ahh...so it's not just a clever name)
However, like most first time WWF events, I feel the first Survivor Series didn't quite find its footing. The concept was clearly strong, as evidenced by the fact that it is still on the pay per view schedule today (sidenote: WWE actually declared in the beginning of 2010 that they were phasing this event out, but by November, it was back on the schedule. It was never confirmed, but I suspect high fan demand was the reason for this decision).
In 1987, however, I think there was still a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" mentality. There were actually only 4 matches on the first Survivor Series card, and two were awful. The 10 woman Survivor Series tag match features some decent talent (mostly the Jumping Bomb Angels from Japan) but it suffers from an absolutely lukewarm crowd reaction, and a couple of clearly middle aged participants who seem to have trouble moving, much less putting on a credible wrestling match. The WWF/E has ALWAYS had trouble drumming up interest in the Woman's Division and this was clearly a low point. Clearly no one cared about anyone involved in this match, and the company took notice because I'm fairly certain the Woman's division was phased out for years not too long after this. (authors note: perhaps the subtle sexism of wrestling audiences would make for a good discussion in a future entry)
The other match that doesn't quite work involves the tag team division. Tag team wrestling was still a big focus of the company at this point (unlike the last few years, but I'll get to that another time), so an idea was hatched to have 5 heel tag teams take on 5 face tag teams in a gigantic supersized elimination match. Thankfully, the rules state that when one member of a team is eliminated, both are out of the match. Otherwise, this one would have gone on for at least an hour. As it is though, it is still way too long (wikipedia says it clocks in at around 37 minutes). And 20 participants is just far too many for a tag team match. It ends up being far too busy and no one really gets any chance to stand out. On top of that, for some reason, the sole Survivors of the match are The Killer Bees and the Young Stallions, two highly forgettable, short lived babyface teams. The Bees were actually better known for their ridiculous yellow and black striped ring attire than anything else. The funny thing is, they were not bad wrestlers. They could work quick and loose. However, with that gimmick, they were doomed to never be taken seriously. The Young Stallions were horrendous though, and it is anyone's guess why they were given the victory over far superior teams like Demolition and The British Bulldogs. Anyhow, this match concept lasted one more year before getting the axe (Demolition pun intended) so clearly someone on the creative team agreed with my assessment.
There was clearly a gem of a good idea here though, and the main event match showed that. The team captains for this tilt were Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant. First off, I like that 6 months after their big showdown at Wrestlemania, they found a way to keep their rivalry going (and it was far from over). One thing I dislike about current WWE is they tend to not take any time to develop quality, believable stories. The Hogan/Andre rivalry is an example of how you can have two guys work together for an entire year without the feud becoming stale. Secondly, I liked the fact that Andre's team actually picks up the victory. This is an example of how to use a format like the Survivor Series properly. Vince Mcmahon clearly didn't want Hulk Hogan to seem particularly beatable, but when put in the context of a 10 man match, he avoided having Andre or Hogan look particularly weak. In other words, he moved along the story without giving it any finality. In the early years, that was not what the Survivor Series was about. It was more of a fun one off concept than a serious story builder. And it sure was fun. That's why it's still around today.
Card:
Team Macho Man: Macho Man (w/Miss Elizabeth), Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
def.
Team Honky Tonk Man: The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart), Hercules, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, "The Outlaw" Ron Bass and "King" Harley Race (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan)
Survivors: Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat
The Fabulous Moolah, Rockin' Robin, Velvet McIntyre and the Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno)
def.
Sensational Sherri, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin)(w/Jimmy Hart), Donna Christanello and Dawn Marie
Survivors: Jumping Bomb Angels
Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel), The Young Stallions (Jim Powers and Paul Roma), The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond), The Killer Bees (Jumpin' Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair) and The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid)
def.
The Hart Foundation (Bret "Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart)(w/Jimmy Hart), The Islanders (Haku and Tama)(w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan), Demolition (Ax and Smash)(w/Mr. Fuji), The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff) (w/Slick) and The New Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Dino Bravo)(w/Johnny V)
Survivors: The Young Stallions and The Killer Bees
Team Andre The Giant: Andre The Giant, The One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude and "The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Slick)
def.
Team Hulk Hogan: Hulk Hogan, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, "The Rock" Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink)
Survivor: Andre The Giant
Next Up: (THE FIRST)Royal Rumble (which actually aired on the USA network, but come on. It's THE ROYAL RUMBLE)
