WWF Survivor Series 1995 (Version II)

Original Airdate: November 19, 1995

From Landover, Maryland Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr. Perfect – making his surprise return to the WWF for the first time since right after WrestleMania X

Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Bodydonnas (Skip, Tom Prichard, Rad Radford, and 1-2-3 Kid) v The Underdogs (Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Barry Horowitz, and Bob Holly): Freshly heel turned Kid is subbing for Jean-Pierre Laffite (injured), and Holly is subbing for Avatar (after Holly apparently threw a fit over his lack of recent bookings, and was subbed in as an attempt at appeasement). Thank God for the substitutions too, because there's a crazy level of JTTS in this one. I mean, it would have been a dark match in another era. Razor Ramon shows up before the bell to try and get at Kid, but is restrained by officials. I like how he wears his full gear, including the Intercontinental title belt, while trying to attack a guy. Just come out in your street clothes, chico. Let them fear you for your fanny pack. Prichard and Jannetty start, and he tries to railroad Marty into the heel corner, but Jannetty fights them all off to clean house! Dust settles on Radford and Holly, as the parade of Kid's former tag partners continues. Holly hits Radford with a rana, so Rad tries his own, but Bob counters with a powerbomb! Bodyslam follows, and Holly armdrags him into an armbar. Over to Hakushi to wrench on Radford's arm some, but he runs into a rotating spinebuster, and Kid tags in with a flying frogsplash for two. Kid adds a spinkick in the corner, and Skip tags in with a side superplex, but Hakushi topples him on the way down, and passes to Holly. Bob wins a nice criss cross with a backdrop, and he throws a pair of clotheslines, but gets his eyes raked. Back to Prichard for a gutwrench sitout powerbomb for two, and a bodyslam sets up a flying moonsault, but Holly rolls out of the way! Bob goes up with a flying bodypress, and it's goodnight Dr. Tom at 5:39! Unfortunately for Holly, Skip sneaks in with a schoolboy as he celebrates at 5:45. Hakushi comes in with a sweep and a leg-feed corkscrew kick on Skip, followed by a bodyslam to set up a 2^nd rope pump-splash - the Bodydonna lifting his knees to block. Skip takes him upstairs for a rana off the top, but he makes himself dizzy in the process, and flops to the mat. Cute. That results in a tag to Kid, but Hakushi fights him off with a kick combo, and hits a handspring backelbow in the corner. Funny that we saw these two square off at SummerSlam as well, but now the heel/face dynamic is reversed. Hakushi with a flying shoulderblock for two, and a bodyslam sets up a springboard flying headbutt, but Kid dodges. That allows the tag to Radford, and he pins Hakushi at 8:30. Horowitz runs in to check on his buddy, but gets stomped down by Rad, and he and Kid tandem backelbow Horowitz. I'll bet Mr. Perfect was rubbing his hands together thinking about how much money he could get out of Vince when he first heard Barry Horowitz was working pay per view now. Kid with a snap suplex for two, and a kick combo in the corner. I don't think Barry's 'nerdy Jewish guy' gimmick is offensive, but having a giant star of David on his tights, and Hava Nagila as a theme might be pushing it a bit. The heels work Horowitz over, but Radford gets distracted when Skip wants him to do jumping jacks, and Barry cradles Rad at 11:47. Skip is pissed, but Barry doesn't give him much of a shoulder to cry on, hitting a hiptoss and a jumping backelbow. High knee follows, but Skip makes a blind tag to Kid, and Barry's done at 12:46. Dust settles on Skip and Jannetty, and Skippy misses a cross corner charge, allowing Marty a snapmare. Backdrop, but Skip counters with a kneelift, only to have a powerbomb countered with a sunset flip for two. Jannetty with the Rocker Dropper (inspiring a quip from Perfect about how that'll 'break your neck') to set up something off the top, but Sunny shakes the ropes to crotch him up there. That allows Skip to go up to bring him down with another rana, but Marty counters with a powerbomb at 15:23. Kid charges in with a spinheel kick to set up a flying legdrop for two, and a cross corner dropkick follows. Kid's another guy who turned heel to join Ted DiBiase's Corporation, and couldn't even be bothered to change up his look at all. You'd think he'd have learned the lesson from Tatanka. Kid with a bodyslam to set up a flying somersault senton splash, but Marty moves, and starts mounting a comeback. Dropkick gets two, as Sycho Sid makes his way out to stand around at ringside. Jannetty gets distracted, but stays on Kid with a jumping backelbow, and the Rocker Dropper for two. That's enough to get Sid physically involved, and Kid scores the pin at 19:07.
Survivor: 1-2-3 Kid
This may not have had much name value, but what it lacked in star power, it made up for in hard work. *** (Original rating: *** ½)

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Alundra Blayze, Chaparita Asari, Kyoko Inoue, and Sakie Hasegawa v Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Lioness Asuka, and Tomoko Watanabe: Vince very wisely decides to step back here, and tells JR to go ahead and call this one. Asari and Asuka start, with Asari missing a bodypress, and getting drilled with a spinkick. Asuka follows with a quality giant swing for two, wowing the crowd in the era before seeing Cesaro do it every night. Asari escapes long enough to tag Alundra, and Blayze hits Asuka with a kick, followed by a bodyslam to set up a sky twister press by Asari. Blayze is still legal, and Asuka is finished with a quick bridging German suplex at 1:41. In comes Watanabe, but she misses a flying moonsault press, and bails. Alundra dives after him with a flying bodypress, and it's over Sakie with a crazy five-alarm rolling butterfly suplex on Watanabe. Wild! The crowd has no idea what to make of this. Pop-up powerbomb, but Watanabe counters with a seated senton, then comes off the top with a flying version for two. Over to Kong (sans tag), but Sakie manages to spinkick her down, and hit a pair of exploder suplexes for two. Sakie with a flying bodypress, but Kong kicks her out of the air, and saito suplexes her at 3:55. In comes Asari, but Kong quickly swats her out of the air as well, and uses a bodyslam to set up a 2^nd rope flying splash at 4:24. Blayze is in with a leg-feed enzuigiri, and in comes Inoue with a clothesline on Kong. Sunset flip, but Aja counters with a sit-down splash at 5:00 - leaving Blayze alone. All three heels advance on her, but she holds her own, and takes Tomoko to school with a series of snapmares. She tries for a powerbomb, but has trouble executing on the heavy Tomoko, and ends up wisely going with a piledriver instead at 6:23. Faye is next, but accidentally collides with Kong, allowing Alundra a bridging German suplex at 7:11. And that was actually it for Bertha in the WWF. Aja tries a cross corner whip, but Blayze flips up to the top rope, only to get vertical superplexed off by Kong for two. Cool in theory, but that sequence looked awkward. Kong goes for the kill with a spinning backfist, but Alundra ducks it, so Aja pounds her in the corner instead. Alundra with a rana into a cradle for two (called a 'Frankensteiner'), and a 2^nd rope flying dropkick sets up a standing moonsault for two. Alundra goes up, but Kong slams her off, and heads up herself. Blayze tries superplexing her down, but gets blocked, and Kong bodyblocks her a couple of times, before finishing with a spinning backfist at 10:01
Survivor: Aja Kong
This was supposed to lead to a program between Blayze and Kong, but Alundra bolted for WCW not long after this, and the whole division was scrapped. The match was pretty wild and crazy for the time, with non-stop action, and certainly wowed the crowd, but it would have resonated more had we had any prior introduction at all to more than two of the eight participants. This was basically just a spotfest, but it worked as such. *** ¼ (Original rating: ***)

Goldust v Bam Bam Bigelow: Cute bit during the entrances, as the Bill Clinton impersonator that they've been hyping for weeks leading up to this show is excited to see Bam Bam, but his 'Secret Service' agents tackle him when Bigelow's pyro goes off. Goldust's entrance takes so long that he has time to cut a lengthy promo via split screen, and it's still going on. Bigelow tries to attack, but Goldust fights him off with his fists - though the camera is poorly positioned, badly exposing one super loose shot as a total miss, despite Bam Bam's selling of it. Goldust with a headlock into a hammerlock, but he makes the mistake of slapping Bigelow across the chops, and Bam Bam gets fired up! Dropkick knocks Goldust to the outside, so he sweeps Bigelow out after him, then back in to clothesline Bam Bam right over the top. Bigelow beats the count, so Goldust bootchokes him in the corner, and hits a kneelift for two. He grounds Bam Bam in a front-facelock, then tosses him over the top for a trip into the steps on the outside. He beats the count again, and this time manages to side suplex Goldust, but misses a headbutt drop, and Goldust makes a weird looking sloppy cover for two. That was worse than rookie level. Goldust with a headvice, but Bigelow escapes with an electric chair, so Goldust jumping clotheslines him to set up a kneedrop for two. Chinlock, but Bigelow escapes with a side suplex, and throws a series of clotheslines for two. Cross corner whip follows, but an avalanche misses, and Goldust bulldogs him at 8:19. It's kind of surprising how long it took for them to come up with the Curtain Call as his finisher. Since his debut, every match I've seen him work he finishes with a different move. Pretty dull stuff compared to the last two bouts, but not incompetently worked, or anything. And this would mark Bigelow's last appearance for the WWF. Man, what a rollercoaster 1995 was for him, headlining WrestleMania and King of the Ring, and then being reduced to jobbing for Goldust on his way out of the promotion before the end of the year. * (Original rating: ½*)

Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Darkside (Undertaker, Henry Godwinn, Savio Vega, and Fatu) v The Royals (Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Isaac Yankem): This is Undertaker's return, after taking a month off to recuperate following a legit broken face at the hands of Mabel, and he's sporting a goofy protective facemask tonight. Fatu starts with HHH, and dominates him. He telegraphs a backdrop and nearly eats a Pedigree, but Hunter is scared of Undertaker's mask, and decides against it. Um, okay. Tags to Godwinn and Yankem, with Isaac stomping the Hog Man down, but running into a hiptoss. Henry adds a bodyslam and an elbowdrop, but gets sent into the turnbuckles while trying a headlock, and Yankem side suplexes him. Over to HHH to hammer Henry with some European uppercuts, and a high knee is worth two, but he runs into a delayed press-slam, and Hunter is quick to tag out to Lawler. It's interesting that basically the entire heel side is still with the WWE over twenty years later. Lawler gets beat up by everyone on the Darkside, but Fatu runs into a cheap shot from Yankem, and Isaac tags in to bodyslam him. Legdrop follows, and Mabel comes in for an avalanche, but it misses. That allows the tag to Savio, and he comes in hot on the big Mabel, but runs into a scrapbuster. Mabel with an overhead suplex, and the Royals cut the ring in half on Savio. Lawler drills him with a nice piledriver, but it only gets two. Man, the King was letting everyone routinely kick out of that one in 1995. It gets worse for Jerry, as he drops him with a second one, but Vega completely no-sells, and tags to Undertaker. Lawler hightails it to his home corner, but none of his partners want to tag, and Undertaker Tombstones him at 12:18. Yankem comes in to avenge the King, but Undertaker quickly fights him off with a jumping clothesline, and the Tombstone finishes at 12:49. Something tells me there's more where that came from for Isaac. Helmsley is next, and decides to run away, but Godwinn forces him back in with threat of slop, and a chokeslam ends his night at 13:34. Mabel sneaks up on Undertaker with a belly-to-belly suplex as the fall is counted, and he goes after the crushed face with a legdrop. Poor Undertaker, I can only imagine the post traumatic stress that brought on. Undertaker sits up, shocking Mabel, and the terrified big man runs away for the countout at 14:24
Survivors: Undertaker, Henry Godwinn, Savio Vega, Fatu
Pretty weak in general, but Undertaker running through the entire heel side like he's clearing deadwood out of the Royal Rumble was entertaining, and I appreciated the lack of restholds throughout. The booking pretty much made everyone but 'Taker look like a loser though, since none of the heels could put anyone away, and none of 'Taker's partners could get anything done without him. * ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Wild Card Survivor Series Elimination Match: Razor Ramon, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, and Dean Douglas v Shawn Michaels, Davey Boy Smith, Sycho Sid, and Ahmed Johnson: Dear lord, Michaels was over at this point. Massively. Also, Razor's finally back to the black strap version of the title belt, so all is right with the world again. That white version looked okay on guys like Jeff Jarrett, but not Razor. Of course today, the white version has become the standard, and most of the belts have colored straps. I've always been of the school of thought that every belt should be on a black strap, with the colored straps only used for custom versions, like for Ultimate Warrior. Hart and Michaels start, and they do a quick criss cross, ending in Shawn skinning the cat, and taking Owen over the top with a headscissors. Shawn hops out after him, so Jim Cornette goes after HBK with his tennis racket, but that ends badly for him. It's enough to allow Hart to recover though, and he hits HBK with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the way back in. Tag to Dean for a hanging vertical suplex, but Shawn reverses a cross corner whip, and nails a diving double-ax. Flying axehandle follows for two, but a charge in the corner ends badly, and Douglas bodyslams him to set up a pump-splash, but Shawn moves. Michaels comes off the top with a flying moonsault press for two, and he passes to Johnson. Ahmed comes in with sloppy axekicks on both Dean and Owen, but an attempt to bodyslam Yokozuna goes badly. They cut the ring in half on Johnson, with even Ramon joining in with cheap shots! I love it! Ahmed manages a powerslam on Douglas, and he passes back to Shawn - Johnson press-slamming Michaels onto Dean for two. Superkick, but Douglas bails, so Ramon forces him back in - allowing Michaels a rollup, but Dean reverses for two. Unfortunately for him, he gets distracted by Ramon again, and Shawn schoolboys him at 7:29. Owen rushes in next, so Shawn decides to mess with him by immediately tagging to Bulldog. Hilariously, they both take a cheap shot during the handshake, and a criss cross ends in Owen spinheel kicking him for two. They then decide to turn the tables by tagging to Ramon and Michaels, and a criss cross ends in Shawn dumping him over the top, infuriating the Bad Guy. He charges back in for another criss cross, this one won by Shawn with a jumping forearm, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and eats a Razor's Edge - Ahmed breaking the cover at two! Razor keeps going with a kneelift, but another criss cross results in them colliding for a double knockout spot. Shawn recovers first, and tags to Sid, who comes in pounding Ramon with axehandles. He works Razor over in his usual kicky-punchy manner, but Yokozuna gets pissed, and tries coming in for the save. I'm assuming he was chaffed at the notion that someone else was sucking the life out of a fun match instead of him. The assist is enough for Razor to recover and slam Sid off the top rope for two, but he runs into a chokeslam. Instead of finishing, however, Sid wants to put the cherry on top by tagging Shawn in to help with a Superkick, but just like it did with Diesel the year prior, it backfires! Shawn's 'oh, well' shrug upon missing is truly brilliant. Razor crawls over for the pin, so Davey rushes in to save, but Ramon gets three anyway at 16:17. I think Bulldog might have had his wires crossed, because it looked like he wasn't meant to try and save there, based on everyone’s reactions. No biggie. Sid flips out at taking the Superkick though, and decides to powerbomb Shawn on his way out, as Bulldog stomps the ever-loving shit out of Razor. Ramon and Michaels are the legal men, and both are down - Razor crawling over to cover for a dramatic two. Tag to Owen, and Hart rushes in with a backbreaker, followed by a backdrop. Tag to Yoko to pound Michaels in the corner, prompting Mr. Perfect to quip 'welcome back to Syracuse.' Yoko works a nervehold, which is astoundingly lazy, given how little he has actually done thus far, and the fact that he has two legit workers he can tag out to. It's effective at building heat and sympathy, but still. Shawn fights free, but runs into a backelbow, and Hart tags in for a tandem headbutt. Owen snap suplexes him to set up a flying headbutt, but Shawn rolls out of the way, and that's enough for the tag to Ahmed! Johnson comes in hot, and the Pearl River Plunge finishes Owen at 21:47. Ramon hustles in with a 2^nd rope flying bulldog , but Ahmed is way out of position, leaving Razor to hop down and hit a regular bulldog instead. Ahmed manages to fire back with a spinebuster, but then stupidly decides to randomly climb the ropes to pose, setting himself up for the Edge. That entire sequence of stuff looked horrible. Meanwhile, Sid starts heading back down with 1-2-3 Kid in tow, as Ramon fallaway slams Bulldog for two. Kid trips him up as he looks to polish Smith off, and Davey capitalizes with a Running Powerslam at 24:06. That leaves Yoko alone, and Shawn is in to stick and move, but gets cornered, and dropped. Yoko with a bodyslam to set up a legdrop, the big guy moving at a glacial pace here. Banzai Drop looks to finish Shawn off, but HBK rolls out of the way, and manages the hot tag to Johnson! Ahmed comes in with a bodyslam on the massive Yokozuna, but Bulldog goes off the reservation, and decides to break up the pin at two. I'm assuming that was the mark he jumped the gun on earlier. That earns him a beating from Shawn and Ahmed, however, and they put Yoko away at 27:23 - with Bulldog and Cornette hilariously running back in to get in on the victory celebration
Survivors: Shawn Michaels, Davey Boy Smith, Ahmed Johnson
This was tons of fun! Seriously, how have they never followed up on this in all the years since? It had its share of flaws (some glaring - Johnson, in particular, looked absolutely horrible, botching stuff left and right), but it was a really enjoyable half hour, and didn't drag. *** (Original rating: ** ½)

Main Event: WWF Title No Holds Barred Match: Diesel v Bret Hart: Both guys don't waste anytime, each undoing a top turnbuckle pad before the bell even rings. That's just great! Hart goes right for the legs, but fails to take Diesel down, and gets pounded in the corner. Diesel shows no mercy, hammering Hart with closed fist after closed fist, until Bret falls out of the ring - the referee powerless to stop it. Diesel follows him out for a drop across the guardrail, and a shot into the apron - the champion taking his time, since countouts are not a factor. He rolls Bret back in, but Hart wisely rolls back out on the opposite side to buy time, but the results are mixed, since Diesel marches over and stands on his throat. Ouch! Back in, Bret tries to match the big man in a slugfest, but ends up getting knocked out of the ring again. Hart's just making him look like a total monster here, and if they'd have allowed Diesel to work heel(ish) like this against a master level worker like Bret every night for a few months back at the start of the year, his title reign might not have bombed. Diesel whips Bret into the steps and whacks him with a chair on the outside, the referee wanting them to cool it, but unable to do more than simply make suggestions. Inside, Diesel rattles the ring with a cross corner whip, and he clobbers his challenger with a short-clothesline. Jackknife looks to finish, but Bret is able to scramble a realistic looking block, and he fires some rights off at the champion. He bites and eye gouges him with abandon, ratting the champion enough so that the Hitman can go after the leg without getting clobbered. He manages to get Diesel down, working the leg in a manner that doesn't put everyone to sleep the way Davey Boy Smith did at the last In Your House. Figure Four is applied, but Diesel makes the ropes - Hart refusing to let off! Ha! After hanging on long enough to wear Diesel down, he lets off in order to try for the Sharpshooter, but Diesel rakes the eyes. Bret holds on tenaciously, so Diesel uses his long legs to thrust the Hitman right into the exposed buckle! Exemplary selling by the Hitman there. Diesel stalks after him in the corner, so Hart slips out to the floor, and sweeps Diesel for some abuse with the post. He grabs some cable, and uses it to tie the champion's feet together, but Diesel is able to fight him off before he can get him fully tied up. In the end, Hart gets one foot tied, and he uses a 2^nd rope flying forearm smash to subdue the big man. Hart hops to the outside to grab a chair, but Diesel blocks him from using it with the one free leg. Unfortunately for Big Daddy Cool, he's still tied to the post, and Hart is able to go to town with the leg before Diesel can free himself. Hart with a pair of pointed elbowsmashes, and a backbreaker follows. Bret climbs to the top with the chair in hand, but Diesel manages to crotch him up there, and he slams his challenger down to the canvas! That's enough damage to allow Diesel to untie his leg, and he uses it to choke Hart down before Bret can swipe at the leg. Diesel muscles through a sidewalk slam for two, and he whips Hart chest-first into the exposed buckle! Diesel with a straddling ropechoke (remembering to realistically sell the leg the whole time), and a snake-eyes follows. Again into one of the exposed buckles, but Bret counters by turnbuckle smashing the champion into the steel! He unloads on the big man, and uses a hangman's clothesline to put him down for two. 2^nd rope flying bulldog gets two. Lucky for him he wasn't in there with Ahmed Johnson. Russian legsweep for two, and he knocks Diesel over the top with a thunderous clothesline. He looks to follow out with a plancha, but Diesel sidesteps, and Hart wipes out on the floor. Hart fights up onto the apron, but Diesel gives him a hard shove off, sending the challenger flying off, and through an announce table - in an iconic spot! That simply spot looked more brutal and realistic than most any of the table spots you see today, even without needing to fall off of a cage or ladder. Helps that it didn't require tons of prep, too. Like, no taking off the hood, no moving the monitors off - just an out of nowhere crash, which leaves Bret in a pile of rubble on the outside. Tremendous! Diesel limps out, dragging a broken Hitman back inside to finish, but Hart is so battered that Diesel can't even set him up for the Jackknife. Instead of simply covering, Diesel gets greedy, and wants to try the Jackknife again - Hart suckering him with a small package to win the title at 24:51! Unfortunately for Bret, Big Daddy Cool doesn't take the loss so well, and drops Bret with a couple of Jackknifes after the bell - getting the biggest pop he'd gotten all year in the process! Great match here, with strong psychology, realistic selling, and awesome storytelling. **** (Original rating: *** ¾)

BUExperience: The fall of 1995 was not exactly a strong period for the WWF (both in terms of the onscreen product, and behind the scenes), making this show something of an anomaly. Well worth checking out.


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