WWF Survivor Series 1987 (Version II)

Original Airdate: November 26, 1987

From Richfield, Ohio; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, and Jim Duggan v Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Harley Race, Ron Bass, and Danny Davis: That's quite a lot of heavy hitters on the babyface side. Beefcake starts with Hercules, and they trade snapmares. Criss cross goes the Barber's way with a Sleeper, but Hercules' teammates rush in, and Brutus is forced to let off. Danny Davis tags in, and Beefcake bodyslams him before tagging out to Jake - Roberts working a wristlock. The face team work Davis over with quick tags, but Steamboat misses a charge in the corner, and Danny tags out to Harley. Race gives Ricky a shoulderbreaker, but gets caught with a 2^nd rope tomahawk chop, and they work a cute bit where Race keeps trying to toss him over the top, but Ricky keeps skinning the cat back in. Harley gets annoyed and belly-to-belly suplexes him for two, so the Dragon tags out to Duggan - Hacksaw clotheslining Race over the top. They brawl on the floor for a bit, but don't mind the count, and both are eliminated at 4:33 - establishing a classic Survivor Series booking trope right from the first elimination of the first match on the first show. Dust settles on Roberts and Bass, and Ron bodyslams him, but misses an elbowdrop. Tag to Savage with a high knee, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Bodyslam sets up the Flying Elbowdrop, but Macho gets distracted by Honky, and Ron clobbers him. This is just breakneck pace thus far, and I love it! Bass works him over, but runs into an overhead elbowsmash, and Randy manages a backdrop, before tagging out to Beefcake - Bass not noticing the tag, and getting caught with a high knee from the Barber at 6:58. Hercules jumps Beefcake as he celebrates it, and with Brutus battered, Honky is game to tag in and work an wristlock - Savage near foaming at the mouth to get his hands on him. The heels cut the ring in half on Beefcake in punchy-kicky fashion, but Honky gets caught with an atomic drop, and Brutus unloads on him - neglecting to tag. That allows Davis a cheap shot from the apron, and the Shake, Rattle, and Roll sends Beefcake home at 10:47. That's on Brutus, he should have tagged. As a former tag champion, he's got no excuse there. Savage rushes in to get his hands on Honky, but runs into Hercules instead, and gets hammered in the heel corner. They cut the ring in half on Macho, but Honky gets caught with an elbow during a criss cross, and Jake tags. DDT, but Honky hits the deck to block, then dodges a cross corner charge. Tag to Hercules as they cut the ring in half on Jake, but Davis gets no-sold while unloading in the corner, and Jake hits a short-clothesline to setup the DDT at 15:06. Hercules rushes him with a lariat before he even gets back to his feet, however, and a pair of elbowdrops gets the strong man two. Honky tags in with a snapmare to setup a fistdrop for two, and he works a chinlock, but Jake escapes with a kneelift - only to have the tag cut off by Hercules. He grabs a chinlock of his own, but Roberts escapes with a stunner, and he gets the hot tag to Steamboat. The Dragon breaths fire with a series of chops on Hercules, and a flying tomahawk puts the strong man down. Bodyslam sets up a falling chop, and Savage tags in to punctuate is with the Flying Elbowdrop at 20:56. That leaves Honky all alone, and the fact isn't lost on the Macho Man. He blitzes Honky with elbowsmashes, then tags Ricky in to give him a chance to get some licks in. Steamboat unloads with chops, then passes to Jake to give him his turn. Back to Savage with a 2^nd rope axehandle, and a bodyslam sets up a flying axehandle. Atomic drop sends Honky over the top, and he wisely retreats to the dressing room at 23:38.
Survivors: Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat
Really well paced, fun, and did a great job of setting the tone for what the show (and the event) would be all about - though the heat segments were heavy on the punch-kick stuff. ** (Original rating: *)

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Sensational Sherri, Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, and The Glamour Girls v Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, and The Jumping Bomb Angels: And not a boner in sight! Sherri blitzes Velvet, but runs into a bodypress for two, and she tags out to Moolah. Moolah unloads on Sherri with a few snapmares, but the Sensational one manages to tag out to Donna. Moolah flings her across the ring with a slingshot, and Velvet bodyslams her for two, then hooks a victory roll at 1:57. Kai rushes in on Velvet, but walks into a headscissors, and takes a rana. Tags made to Dawn and Robin, and the heels trap Robin in their corner for a beating. Robin fights back with a bodypress and a dropkick, then throws another bodypress to eliminate Marie at 4:12. Dust settles on Kai and Itsuki, and Yamazaki hooks a sunset cradle for two, followed by a gorgeous victory cradle for two. Tag to Martin, but Itsuki throws a bodypress at her for two, then tags out to Tateno. She sends Martin scurrying to tag after a flying armdrag, then double-underhook suplexes Sherri before tagging out to Robin. Robin wins a slugfest with Sherri, but an elbowdrop only gets two, and Sherri bodyslams her, then delivers a vertical suplex to send Robin home at 6:55. Itsuki rushes in with a pair of dropkicks, but doesn't cut the ring in half, and Martin is able to tag in. She tosses Itsuki with a hairpull slam, but she also fails to cut the ring in half, and Velvet nails her with a bodypress for two, then sends Kai flying across the ring with a slingshot. Tag to Moolah for a monkeyflip of her own, and she dropkicks Kai. Tag to Martin allows her a backelbow and a splash on Moolah for two, as Jesse gets in his famous line about the women needing to shave their heads to avoid all the hair pulling going on. Oh, Jesse. You're brilliant. And that's not even his best hairpull related line THAT YEAR. Moolah slams the Glamour Girls around for a bit, but runs into a tandem clothesline from them at 10:55. Tateno rushes in, but gets clobbered by Martin. Tag to Itsuki, and the Bomb Angels work Judy's leg for a bit. McIntyre keeps it going with a Boston crab, then shifts it into a surfboard when Martin won't quit. Dropkick knocks her into the wrong corner, however, and she tags out to Sherri. Sherri unloads on Velvet with a nasty legdrop that hit her with the heel of her boot instead of the inside of the knee, and Sherri adds an equally nasty DDT. They cut the ring in half on Velvet, but she manages to sweep Sherri for a giant swing, and a victory roll finishes her at 14:56. Tag to Tateno, and she catches Martin with a sunset flip for two, but fails to bodyslam her, and passes to Itsuki to double-underhook suplex her instead, for two. Tag to Kai, and she locks on a bodyscissors that makes it look like she's trying to hump her. Unfortunately, a slingshot sends her right into a tag to Velvet, and McIntyre hooks a victory roll for two. They really don't get the concept of cutting the ring in half at all, do they? She tries another, but Kai counters with an electric chair at 17:24. Was that Velvet's only move? All four remaining ladies start brawling, with the Bomb Angels in control. Cheap shot turns the tide, but Kai misses a flying splash, and Itsuki hits her with a flying bodypress at 18:38. Despite being left alone against two, Martin goes down fighting - attacking Itsuki with a fireman's carry slam. Clothesline, but Itsuki counters with a full-nelson slam, and Tateno punctuates it with a flying knee. Tandem backdrop follows, and Tateno finishes with a flying clothesline at 20:17.
Survivors: The Jumping Bomb Angels
While it was really well paced, and well worked, I'm not sure it really belonged on pay per view. They probably should have just done four-on-four matches to spread the roster out a bit more, and skipped this. ** (Original rating: *)

Ten Tag Team Survivor Series Elimination Match: Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, and The Young Stallions v The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The New Dream Team, The Islanders, and The Bolsheviks: If you're eliminated, so goes your regular tag partner. The sheer mass of humanity on the apron is daunting. Rick Martel starts with Nikolai Volkoff, and quickly rolls him up for two. Backdrop, but Volkoff blocks with a boot to the face, and he bodyslams Rick to setup a stomp. Tag to Boris Zhukov, but he misses an elbowdrop, and Martel plants a dropkick on him. Rick with a quick bodypress for two, and a backdrop leads to a tag out to Tito Santana. Tito runs into an eyerake and a headbutt, but he manages to win a criss cross with a Diving Forearm to finish Zhukov at 1:45. Ax rushes in to hammer Tito, and he bodyslams him, but misses an elbowdrop. Tag out to Jacques Rougeau for a jumping backelbow, and he plants a dropkick on Dino Bravo when he tags in. There's so many guys out there, they literally have to shoot the match from the corners, or else you can barely see what's going on. The Bulldogs take turns unloading on Smash, but Dynamite Kid ends up in the wrong part of town, and gets into a crazy chopfest with Haku. Tags to B. Brian Blair and Jim Neidhart, and Blair drop-toeholds him down, then wishbones the Anvil with Paul Roma. Roma keeps after him, but takes a bodyslam, and gets worked over by Demolition and the Islanders. He manages to get away long enough to tag out to Jim Powers, but things don't go so well for him either. Back to Jacques and Ax, and Jacques manages to dodge a backdrop, but misses a 2^nd rope bodypress, and gets pinned at 5:49. Considering it was Jacques and Ax in after the last fall, that was a really longwinded way to get to that elimination. But then, that's part of what's so fun about the Survivor Series. Powers gets the best of Tama in the corner, but misses a charge, and gets dropped with a cool powerbomb/flying axehandle combo from Neidhart and Haku. Tag to Roma, but he also misses a charge, and gets his face bashed in by Ax. If it were Smash, I totally would have written 'gets his face smashed in by Smash.' Know that. Greg Valentine comes in with a few suplexes for some two counts on Roma, and Bravo gutwrench suplexes him to setup a legdrop for two. Tags to Smash (NOW he comes in!) and Kid, and Kid executes a dropkick for two, but telegraphs a backdrop, and gets his face smashed in by Smash. There we go, all better. Demolition work Kid over in the corner, but the referee objects, and disqualifies them over it at 9:11. Clearly, they had big plans for Demolition. Bret Hart capitalizes with a gorgeous piledriver on Kid for two, and he just lets him have it in the corner with European uppercuts. Dear lord, what did he do to piss the Hitman off. Charge misses, however, and Powers tags in as Hart tags out to Tama. Powers manages to blitz him in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Tama slams him. 2^nd rope pump-splash misses, however, and Martel tags in to backdrop the Islander. Dropkick sets up the Boston Crab, but the idiot does it right in the heel corner, and Neidhart breaks it up. As half of the tag champions, you'd think he'd know better. Tag to Tito with the Diving Forearm on Neidhart, but Bret breaks up the pin - allowing Neidhart the fall at 12:04. The Stallions jump him, but Powers face plants on a dropkick, and Haku shows him how it's done for two. The heels cut the ring in half on Powers, but Valentine has a vertical suplex reversed - though still manages to hold his wrist long enough to prevent a tag. 80s ladies wrestlers, take note! Actually, all wrestlers, take note! That was some brilliant tag psychology. He does make the tag to Roma after escaping a double-team from Hart and Tama, but the heels promptly destroy him before he can get much off. Kid tags himself in and lets Bret have it with a cross corner whip for two and a side suplex for two. Tags Blair and Haku, and B. Briar backdrops him. Alliteration! Davey Boy Smith unloads with a series of headbutts that ACTUALLY WORK, which has to be the first time that's happened in the history of wrestling. Even Powers successfully headbutts him! Holy shit! Davey looks to finish Haku with the Running Powerslam, but it only gets two. Vertical suplex/2^nd rope flying headbutt combo with Kid follows, but Kid hurts himself as much as he does Haku, and Haku sends the Bulldogs home with a superkick at 19:57. Roma rushes in with a dropkick for two, but gets his eyes raked, and Haku slams him. Tag to Dino with a spinebuster on Powers, and the heels cut the ring in half on him for an extended beating. Valentine looks to finish with the Figure Four, but Powers blocks, and Roma dives in with a flying sunset flip on the Hammer at 23:39. The Killer Bees unload on Neidhart next, and Blair hooks a small package for two. Tandem backelbow leads to a high knee by Jim Brunzell for two, but he loses a tug-of-war, and Neidhart tags out to Bret. Brunzell sweeps him down, and Blair works a spinning-toehold on the Hitman, then wishbones him with Roma. Paul with a bodyslam to setup a 2^nd rope fistdrop for two, but Bret manages to sweep the legs, and deliver a side suplex for two. The heels work Roma over, but he manages to dodge Hart during a criss cross, and tag out to Brunzell. Big criss cross with Bret ends in a double-knockout, and a miscommunication allows Brunzell to pin Bret at 30:27. The Islanders rush in on Brunzell to salvage control, and Haku delivers a shoulderbreaker for two, then grabs a nervehold. The Islanders cut the ring in half on Brunzell, but he catches Haku with a high knee to allow the tag out to Powers. Powers with a backdrop, and Roma tags in with a powerslam for two - only to run into a cheap shot from Tama. They fail to cut the ring in half when Haku misses a charge, however, and Blair gets the tag. He charges right into an eyerake, however, and Tama plants a jumping backelbow on him. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Blair rolls out of the way, and passes to Brunzell to backdrop him. Dropkick gets two when Haku breaks up the count, but the Stallions chases him out, as Blair dons the mask and comes in illegally with a slingshot sunset flip at 37:14.
Survivors: The Killer Bees, The Young Stallions
Not really who I would have predicted would have survived out of that murderers row of tag teams, but there you go. This was just phenomenal stuff for the most part, with everyone firing off quick tags to keep an insane pace and make for interesting combinations, and the heat segments were actually proper tag wrestling from proper tag wrestlers, and not just endless punch-kick stuff like the opener, or zero cutting the ring in half like the women's match. It ran a little too long though, and with ten minutes of excess trimmed this would have likely been an all time classic. *** (Original rating: ** ½)

Main Event: Survivor Series Elimination Match: Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Bam Bam Bigelow v Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Butch Reed, and Rick Rude: Lots of downtime here since the last match (about twenty five minutes), as they fill time with vignettes (including a classic Ted DiBiase one), podium interviews, and chatter. Not that I mind, because I could listen to Gorilla and Jesse banter all day long, no problem. Muraco starts with Rude, and they get right into a slugfest - Rude winning with an eyerake, but missing a cross corner charge. Tag to Orndorff for a flying elbowsmash, and he kneelifts Rude down. Over to Hogan with a clothesline to setup a series of elbowdrops, then the tag to Bam Bam to splash him. The crowd is just loving this! Bigelow casually press-slams Rude, and Patera hits a flying axehandle, but that knocks Rick into his home corner, and he tags out to Reed. Leave it to Ken Patera to fuck things up, I always say. Reed gets more of the same as the faces work him over with quick tags, and Hogan sends him home with the Legdrop at 3:06. Hulk does a huge celebration off it (dude, calm down, it was Butch Reed), but fails to notice that Andre is now standing at center ring, staring at him. Stupid bit follows, as Hogan 'wants' to fight Andre, but the referee refuses to allow it, since when he high-fived Patera during the celebration, that counts as a tag. And Hulk throws a HUGE fucking tantrum over it. Why? Just tag back! It's not like the referee disqualified you, or something. Anyway, Andre doesn't want to waste his time with Ken, so he sends Bundy in instead, and Ken actually manages to clothesline him down. Tags to Orndorff and Gang, and Mr. Wonderful wins a slugfest, then clotheslines Rude down to setup a pointed elbowdrop for two. Rude gets pinballed around between all the faces for a while, but he goes to the eyes on Muraco to turn the tide, and tags back to Gang. Patera throws a bodypress at him for two, and a cross corner high knee follows. One thing that's distracting about this show, after the first two matches someone made the decision to switch the corners being used to the more traditional upper left/lower right configuration. I'm assuming that this was done so fans in every part of the arena get a turn to have the corners on their side, but it just strikes me as odd. Anyway, Gang gets the best of a double-clothesline spot with Patera to eliminate him at 8:45. In comes Hogan with a cross corner clothesline on the Gang, and holy shit is that a loud pop for Bam Bam when he tags in to tandem big boot Gang with Hogan. Tags to Orndorff and Rude again, and Paul vertical suplexes him to setup another pointed elbowdrop. Backdrop sets up the Piledriver, but Bundy comes in with a cheap shot, and Rick schoolboys Orndorff at 10:25. He takes too long gloating, however, and Muraco rushes in with a side suplex, followed by a vertical suplex by Bam Bam. Hulk with a high knee, and Don finishes him with a powerslam at 11:20. In comes Bundy with a backelbow on Muraco, but a kneedrop misses, and Don goes after the leg. Bundy rakes the eyes to stop the effort, however, and tags out to Gang. Muraco stupidly tries to slam him and gets toppled for two, and Gang finishes with the 747 Splash at 12:56. Bam Bam tries a sunset flip, but gets sit-down splashed for his efforts, and Bundy clobbers him with a clothesline to setup a kneedrop for two. Kinda wonderfully amazing how much more varied the heel offense is with all these big heavy’s here than the punchy stuff we saw in the opener. They continue to cut the ring in half on Bigelow, but they can't put him away. Andre comes in to finish things, but Bam Bam is able to dodge the lumbering Giant, and pass to Hogan. Big pop for that, of course! Hulk staggers the Giant with some turnbuckle smashes, but he gets pulled to the floor by Bundy, and ends up getting into a brawl with he and Gang - getting counted out while bodyslamming them both at 18:05. Man, if you bought this show to see some Hogan/Andre action, that was disappointing. Hulk acts like a petulant child over the call to, to the point where the referee has to threaten to DQ Bigelow if he doesn't leave ringside, with Hulk then hilariously grabbing his title belt, and stomping off. What a fucking baby! Despite being left alone against three giants, Bigelow is in good spirits, and dodges an Avalanche from Bundy to setup a slingshot splash at 20:32. One down. Gang's next, and he hammers the worn Bammer in dull fashion, but a flying splash misses, and Bigelow pins him at 22:52. Things that big weren't meant to fly! Unfortunately for Bam Bam, he's now left alone with Andre. Bigelow tries to stick and move, but that only succeeds in angering the Giant, and Andre finishes him with a simple hiptoss at 24:07.
Survivor: Andre the Giant
It got a little dull after Hogan was eliminated, but still a really exciting main event, that hit the right booking notes, and in front of a molten crowd. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

BUExperience: Certainly historically significant, and certainly entertaining in all its Golden Age glory, but I’d still consider this one an acquired taste.

**