WWF Survivor Series 1996 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: November 17, 1996

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Ross

Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match: Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and The New Rockers v Doug Furnas, Philip LaFon, and The Godwinns: This is Furnas and LaFon's WWF debut, though they've had surprisingly little buildup on TV leading up to this. I liked them as a kid, but they felt like they came out of left field. Shout out to the awesome entrance set with the sliding cityscape doors. I always loved how they made such interesting sets for MSG back in the day, despite generally having a lot less space to work with. Marty Jannetty starts with LaFon, and he wants to be playful, but Phil is all business. He works a wristlock, so Marty uses a monkeyflip to escape, but gets drilled with a clothesline as he recovers. Tag to Leif Cassidy, and he tries a takedown on LaFon, but gets trapped in a kneebar before long. The ropes save him, and LaFon tags out to Phineas Godwinn. Cassidy and Godwinn measure each other, and a criss cross goes Leif's way with a bodyslam, but he makes the mistake of talking down to Phineas, and gets chased into the corner. Cassidy tries another slam, but this time gets reversed, and Phineas hammers him with rights. Cue a cheap shot from Jannetty, and Owen and Bulldog immediately pounce with some abuse as well. The heels cut the ring in half on Phineas until Marty misses a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, and Henry Godwinn gets the tag. Marty looks like he's legitimately hurt his knee here, and Godwinn doesn't know how to work around it, like he's pre-programmed to do a certain sequence, and has no clue how to improvise around the injury. Luckily, he doesn't drag it on for too long before finishing Jannetty with the Slop Drop at 7:19. Unfortunately for Henry, he's immediately blindsided by Owen with a spinheel kick at 7:26. That riles Phineas up, and he unloads on all of the heels, and tosses Owen over the top. Hart blind tags Bulldog on his way back in (with Davey missing his cue, resulting in an awkward bit where Phineas and Owen have to stand around waiting), and Smith hits Phineas with the Running Powerslam at 8:12. Just moving right along here. Dust settles on Bulldog and Furnas, and an extended criss cross ends in Doug missing a dropkick. Tag to Cassidy with a backelbow and a uranage for two, and Leif nicely cuts the ring in half. Owen with a missile dropkick, but Doug counters a suplex with a small package for two, so Owen clotheslines him to cut off a comeback. Bridging fisherman’s suplex gets two, and Smith tags in with a hanging vertical suplex, as they work Doug over. Cassidy with a stomachbreaker, but he misses a charge in the corner, and LaFon gets the tag - ending Leif's night with a modified side superplex at 12:50. Davey comes in next, but eats a savate kick for two, and LaFon destroys him with chops. Kneelift sets up a somersault cradle for two, as the communication issues that have plagued this entire match continue. It's like they're all constantly on different pages. Davey manages a pop-up flapjack to allow the tag to Owen, and Hart manages a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Neckbreaker sets up a 2^nd rope elbowdrop for two, and a leg-feed enzuigiri is worth two. The tag champs work LaFon over, but miss a double team move, allowing LaFon to catch Davey off guard with a sunset cradle at 16:30. Unfortunately for Phil, Bulldog clips his knee on the way out, and Owen is quick to capitalize by bashing it into the post. I love how the referee is holding Furnas back, despite that Hart is doing the attack from outside of the ring. Like, if you want to go after him and help your buddy, just hop off the apron! Why are you even trying to go into the ring? What's that gonna do? Inside, Owen keeps working the knee, and a corkscrew legwhip leads to a leglock. Sharpshooter time, but Furnas comes in to save, forcing a break before LaFon quits. That allows LaFon a leg-feed corkscrew kick, and that's enough for the tag to Doug. Furnas blasts Owen with a shoulderblock on the way in, then adds a dropkick for two. Overhead suplex gets two, and a release German finishes at 19:49.
Survivors: Doug Furnas, Philip LaFon
Interesting how perspectives change. When I was younger, I remember watching this match, and being really impressed with Furnas and LaFon, but watching it now, they looked clumsy and awkward throughout. Almost like they were either nervous, or getting used to the ring size, or something. A lot of guys were having timing issues throughout this actually, and watching it with more experienced eyes now, it's clear that Owen is the one holding this whole match together. ** ½ (Original rating: * ¾)

Undertaker v Mankind: Paul Bearer suspended in a shark cage above the ring is the stipulation du jour. For those keeping track, this is the second time Undertaker no-sold death by simply changing his outfit - in this case going from the second old school Undertaker look, to his leather bat king ensemble. It's also the reason why I always carry a change of clothes with me. Mankind attacks while Undertaker is busy forcing Bearer into the cage, and it quickly spills to the outside for a slugfest. Inside, Undertaker with a pair of cross corner whips to set up a drop-toehold, and he starts going after the claw hand. Into the corner, Undertaker bashes the hand against the turnbuckle, and uses a fireman's carry to set up a cross-armbreaker - wrenching the hand the entire time. Undertaker changing it up like this along with the outfit change was really jarring at the time, and I actually really appreciate it from an artistic standpoint now. He could have made his money working the same old match for years to come, but instead reinvented himself for the times. And then he did so again in the mid-2000s. Clothesline sends both tumbling over the top, and they brawl into the crowd for a bit, with Mankind then taking a backdrop back to ringside. Undertaker starts bashing the hand against the post next, so Mankind goes low to shake him off, and he dives off the apron with a somersault senton. Mankind unloads headbutts on the way back in, and a corner whip sets up a running kneesmash. Undertaker slugs back and starts biting at the hand to shake him off, so Mankind plants him with a piledriver, and tries for the Mandible Claw, but Undertaker blocks. Undertaker with a big boot to set up the Tombstone, but Mankind counters with the Claw - only for Undertaker to dump him to the outside for a quick escape. He violently sends Mankind into the guardrail out there (with the camera completely missing it), and it's time to bash the hand into the steps some. Back in, Undertaker hits the ropewalk forearm, but Mankind fights him off with a swinging neckbreaker. Mankind heads upstairs for a flying axehandle, but gets caught in a chokeslam on the way down - Mankind able to counter with the Claw. Undertaker fades fast, but manages to recover on the third arm drop... to a surprisingly subdued reaction. Undertaker uses a chokeslam to escape the hold, but a charge misses, and he takes a bump over the top. Mankind follows with another somersault senton off of the apron, but Undertaker dodges it this time, and unloads on the hand as they head back in. Mankind tries to buy time with a sleeper, but Undertaker quickly side suplexes his way out of trouble, so Mankind pulls out a spike. He nails Undertaker in the face with the weapon a few times, but gets caught with the Tombstone while trying to cut him up in the corner at 14:54. Good action! Not quite on par with the Buried Alive match from the month before, but still lots better than the King of the Ring and SummerSlam ones. Afterwards, Undertaker gets five minutes alone with Bearer, but Executioner runs in before he can even get his mitts on him. *** (Original rating: *)

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Goldust, Crush, and Jerry Lawler v Marc Mero, Jake Roberts, Stalker, and Rocky Maivia: Roberts is a surprise sub for Mark Henry, and he looks badly out of shape here. This is also Rocky's in-ring debut, and Sunny joins us for commentary. Mero and Lawler start, but Stalker really, really, really wants in, so Mero obliges. And then Lawler tags HHH instead of locking up. That prompts Stalker to pass back to Mero, so HHH bails, then tags to Goldust on the way back in. Almost two minutes in, and no one has even made contact yet. Mero and Goldust engage to start this off, with Marc unloading, and hitting a backdrop. Armdrag sets up an armbar, but Goldust escapes, so Mero schoolboys him for two. Over to Stalker, and a criss cross ends in him hitting a jumping clothesline, so Goldust quickly passes to Hunter. Stalker tries to sucker him into Mero's grasp, but HHH passes to Crush before that one goes south for him. Mero grabs a wristlock on Crush for a moment before tagging out, and it's Rocky time for the first time! Maivia immediately gets trapped in the heel corner, and Lawler tags in, but Rocky fights him off with a dropkick during a criss cross. Right hand sends the King over the top, so he passes to HHH on the way back in - giving us the first of many Rock/HHH matches. Hunter unloads on him in the corner, and a vertical suplex sets up an elbowdrop from Goldust for two. The heels work the rookie over, but he manages to fight HHH off long enough for the tag to Jake, and Roberts comes in hot. Backdrop and a short-clothesline look to set up the DDT, but HHH manages to railroad him into the heel corner to block, and it's gang up time. With Jake battered, Lawler wants in to pound on him some, complete with the usual drunk jokes. Unfortunately for the King, it backfires on him, DDT style at 9:23. Jake looks done, though. Like, he looks like it's legitimately taxing for him to even move anymore, and I don't think he's selling. Goldust hustles in to trap Jake in a chinlock before the guy has a heart attack at center ring, but Jake escapes with a tag to Stalker. Floatover suplex gets Stalker two, and he takes Goldust up for a superplex, but Goldust fights him off. Goldust tries a 2^nd rope dive, but Stalker blocks with a gut punch, so Crush takes a cheap shot from the apron. That allows Goldust the Curtain Call at 12:07. Mero rushes in with a running kneelift on Goldust, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and eats boot. Goldust adds a clothesline before tagging out to HHH - Hunter now more than willing to engage the man he stole the Intercontinental title from. HHH unloads in the corner, and uses a kneedrop for two. Backbreaker follows, and he passes out to Crush to throw a headbutt to the ribs, followed by a bearhug. The heels go to work on Mero, utilizing quick tags and cheating as they cut the ring in half, until HHH gets caught with a headscissors takedown while trying a sidewalk slam. That allows Mero to mount a comeback, so Hunter tosses him over the top to buy time, but Mero dives back at him with a flying moonsault press at 18:43. Crush rushes in to attack Mero before he can tag out, but gets blasted with a dropkick for his efforts, ending up on the outside. Marc tries diving with a plancha, but Goldust shoves Crush out of harms way, and Marc wipes out. Inside, Crush capitalizes with the Heart Punch at 19:54. Jake's in with a series of jabs as soon as the fall is counted, but Crush ducks a short clothesline, and another Heart Punch ends Jake's night at 20:17. That leaves Rookie Maivia alone, and the heels are openly smiling now. Crush suckers him into a cheap shot right away, but Rocky counters a suplex with a small package for two, and adds a bodyslam. That draws Goldust in without a tag, and Rocky gets overwhelmed fighting a two front war. Heart Punch, but Rocky ducks, and it hits Goldust by accident - allowing Rocky to dive on Crush with a bodypress at 22:36. Goldust is still reeling from Crush's finisher, allowing Rocky to execute a quick shoulderbreaker for the win at 23:07.
Survivor: Rocky Maivia
Impressive night for debuting wrestlers here. This was generally fine once it settled into the Mero heat segment, but was pretty hit-or-miss before that, and never really got out of second gear overall. ** (Original rating: ½*)

#1 Contender's Match: Bret Hart v Steve Austin: Ross goes on a pretty epic rant during the entrances, about how these two aren't 'clowns or trash men,' and how they're wrestlers. It must have been a ball to do all that stuff while sitting right next to Vince. They both approach cautiously at the bell, and that trend continues as they feel each other out. Really basic stuff early on, with lots of chain wrestling, which is interesting compared to their later brawls. Austin turns it up with a clothesline, and he starts throwing right hands, but Bret fights him off with a snapmare, and he grounds Steve in an overhead wristlock. Steve gets into the ropes to force a criss cross, and manages to drop the Hitman with a hotshot, setting up a pair of pointed elbowdrops. Austin puts the boots to him ahead of a catapult underneath the bottom rope, and he blatantly chokes Hart down, testing the limits of the referee's five count. Snapmare leaves Bret trapped in a chinlock, but he fights to a vertical base, and we have a slugfest! Austin gets the better of it and bootchokes him in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Hart throws a clothesline on the rebound. Inverted atomic drop sets up another clothesline, and a rollup follows for two. Russian legsweep gets two (sloppy execution on that one, surprisingly), but a bulldog attempt is countered with a shove into the turnbuckles. Austin follows up with a suplex, but Bret blocks, so Steve takes him upstairs with it. Superplex, but now Bret counters with a gourdbuster, and he dives off the top with a flying pointed elbowdrop for two. Backbreaker, but Steve goes to the eyes to block, and tosses the disoriented Hitman to the outside. Austin dives off the apron with an axehandle out there, and then rams Bret into the post for good measure - as some idiot fan keeps poking Hart with a foam finger. Into the rail, but Bret reverses, and they spill into the first row, where Hart puts the boots to him. The rail gets toppled on the way back to ringside, and Austin is in trouble, but has enough presence of mind to avoid getting rolled back into the ring. Bret responds by pounding him on the outside some more, but gets swept, and sent flying into an announce table with a catapult! Austin then dives after him with a flurry of mounted punches, followed by a bodyslam onto the table to set up an elbowdrop from the apron. That's three bumps now, and the table hasn't even broken! Some dude in the front row has a Savio Vega t-shirt, how embarrassing. Steve vertical suplexes him back in for a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop, and he hooks the leg for two. Standard pointed elbowdrop also gets two, so Steve punishes him with a cross corner whip, then jumps on him with straddling ropechoke for two. Bret is selling like an absolute champ here. Abdominal stretch, but Austin gets caught using the ropes, and again tests the referee's limits. Hart finds the strength to engage in a slugfest after the break, and actually gets the better of Stone Cold, leading to a cool Irish whip reversal spot that ends in Bret landing his own hotshot. Sloppy Oklahoma roll gets two, so Bret makes up for it with a well executed piledriver for two. Backbreaker works this time, and Bret goes upstairs, but ends up getting crotched. Steve unloads with chops on a straddled Hitman before bringing him down with a vertical superplex - only for Bret to roll back into a cradle for two after the landing! Austin responds by dropping him with the Stunner, but it only gets two! Frustrated, Steve tries covering again, but still only two. He tries mounted punches to wear him down, but still only two. Texas cloverleaf looks to finish, but Bret makes the ropes, and Austin nearly gets disqualified as he pushes the limits of the count. Cross corner whip, so Bret tries a drop down and slide out of the ring to avoid the impact, but he collides with the post instead. Nice spot! That gives Austin another two count, and he capitalizes on it with a Mexican surfboard, but Bret counters to the Sharpshooter! Unfortunately for him, Austin is in the ropes before he can get it locked on, so Bret settles for mounted punches instead. Sleeper, so Steve tries dropping into the corner to escape, but Bret won't let off. Austin responds by dropping down with a jawbreaker escape, but Bret is stirring before a cover can be made. Steve decides to go for the kill with the Million Dollar Dream, and he gets it locked on, but Bret thinks fast - pushing off of the corner into a cradle at 28:35! Wow, really, twenty nine minutes? This flew by! Even all these years later, this still absolutely holds up. I've reviewed this match three times now (2001, 2012, 2019), and I've never given it the full five-stars, despite always loving it. I remember re-watching it about a year and a half ago, and thinking it would surely get the full five during my next review, but I'm still not there. It's unquestionably a great match, but the first half is really, really slow, and feels light on the intensity. I mean, here's Austin, fresh off of shattering a guys leg, and then committing a home invasion to kick his ass some more, and he comes at Bret with... hammerlocks. That's not to say that it didn't play, but it went on for a little too long, and they almost lost the crowd. It's also worth noting that there were a few noticeably sloppy moves here, which maybe you can overlook at a lower level, but at this level do hurt the final piece. It's funny that I thought I would be upgrading this one for sure, and here I am slapping my lowest rating on it yet. Still great, but not without flaw. **** ¼ (Original rating: **** ½)

Survivor Series Elimination Match: Vader, Faarooq, 'Razor Ramon,' and 'Diesel' v Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Flash Funk, and Jimmy Snuka: 53 year old Snuka is a hyped mystery partner, in what was a major disappointment at the time. This is also Funk's debut, and the Faarooq's first appearance doing the Nation of Domination gimmick, as well as Yokozuna's last appearance in the WWF. And Jim Cornette sits in for commentary. Okay, done? Despite the new gimmick and entourage, Faarooq immediately looks lame for his association with the two imposters. Vader and Funk start, and it doesn't take long for Vader to start unloading in the corner. Short-clothesline hits, but a criss cross goes Funk's way, with Vader nice enough to sell a spinheel kick before it even hits. Flash knocks him over the top, and dives with a flying moonsault press into the aisle, but gets clobbered by the big man on the way back in. Powerbomb follows, so Yokozuna comes in without a tag to attack, and he hits a sloppy uranage on his former nemesis. All this results in tags to Faarooq and Vega, and Savio throws a spinheel kick, so Faarooq tags to 'Razor.' Vega fights him off with hiptosses and a dropkick, then unloads with chops in the corner. Bodypress, but 'Razor' catches him in a fallaway slam, and passes to 'Diesel.' Vega passes to Funk before 'Diesel' can do much, and Flash ducks a big boot, but runs into a clothesline. This match is death, and needs to end. The heels take turns beating up on Flash, but he manages a tag to Vega - who immediately ends up in the heel corner. Dust settles on Savio and 'Diesel,' and the babyfaces gang up on him in their own corner. Tag to Snuka, but he misses a charge, and Vader tags in, but misses a clothesline. That allows Snuka a dropkick and a bodyslam, and man, he looks terrible. The heels get him in their corner, but it goes nowhere, and tags are made ending in 'Diesel' and Vega as the legal men. Savio hits a spinheel kick, but gets dumped over the top when Vader pulls down the top rope, and the Jackknife ends Vega's night at 8:28. 'Diesel' unloads on Snuka next, but that goes nowhere, so 'Razor' comes in to try. Jimmy fights him off with a bodyslam and a kneedrop to set up the Superfly Splash at 9:24, so 'Diesel' runs in with a chair, triggering a big brawl between both teams until the referee throws the whole thing out at 9:40. Boy, he gave up on that one pretty quick, didn't he?
Survivors: None
Lots of historical notes (as outlined above), but definitely the low point of the show. Just terrible. I'm guessing this got cut for time, and thank God. –¼* (Original rating: ½*)

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Sycho Sid: Cool start, as they stare each other down from a distance, and then Sid just starts wailing on him like there's no tomorrow. Shawn tries to hold his ground, but gets totally killed, and Sid goes to work in the corner. Michaels manages to stick and move, and uses a quick bodypress for two, before trapping the challenger on the mat in a side-headlock. Sid counters to a headscissors, but Shawn kips out of it, so Sid grabs his own headlock. Shawn goes to a headscissors, so Sid kips out, and we have a slugfest, buddy! Sid wins that, and decides to press-slam HBK, but Shawn slips out of it. Sid responds by going for the Powerbomb early, but Shawn hits the deck to avoid going for the ride, and he bails to the outside to regroup. Sid chases, so Shawn steals the high ground, and clips the big man's knee. Michaels works the leg to set up a figure four, and he's coming off like a subtle heel here, especially with Sid's selling of it. Sid reverses the hold, but Shawn's in the ropes to escape, and he goes back to pounding on the leg. Back to the figure four, but this time Sid blocks, and he starts unloading on the champion with kicks to the body. Corner big boot misses, however, allowing Shawn to dropkick the knee, and he hammers it on the mat. Figure four, so Sid shoves Shawn over the top to block, then clotheslines him back over when Shawn tries skinning the cat. Sid follows for a whip into the apron, followed by a press-drop across the rail, and the MSG crowd is firmly behind the challenger here. Or, at least the guys with the best seats are. Back inside, Sid covers, but he's taken too long playing to the crowd, and only gets two. Backdrop follows, as Sid seems to be reveling in the Garden's acceptance. He unloads on Shawn with more kicks, and a cross corner whip sends him flipping over the top to the apron. Sid tries grabbing him, so Shawn snaps the challenger's throat across the top rope - only to have a flying bodypress caught in a backbreaker for two. Cross corner whip gives Shawn the chance to try and one-up Bret's execution of that bump, and he quite nearly does! Shawn's on spaghetti legs now, and can barely stand as Sid takes shot after shot at him. Michaels fires back on instinct alone, and actually manages a bodyslam as he catches a second wind, setting up a dive off the middle that lands on Sid's boot. Didn't look great, but the sell did. Sid decides to try a cobra clutch, and Shawn fades fast, but manages to fight free before going out. Sid responds with a chokeslam, but Michaels blocks. Superkick, but Sid counters back to the chokeslam, and he sticks it this time. Powerbomb time, but Shawn takes a page out of Bret's book from last year, and counters to a small package... for two. Sid stays on track with a powerslam for two, but Shawn barrels into him with a jumping forearm when he tries a follow-up move. Kip-up signals the start of the comeback, but Sid is ready with a clothesline for two. Shawn is still stirring, so Sid decides to steal one of the heavy TV cameras from the cameraman to get it done. That prompts a protest from Jose Lothario, so Sid whacks HIM with the weapon instead, but that allows Shawn to recover enough to throw the Superkick! Shawn probably has it won, but he spots Jose down on the outside clutching his chest, and decides to head out to get him medical attention rather than covering. Fool. That allows Sid to recover, and he drags Michaels in. Cross corner whip, but Shawn lands on the middle rope, and dive back with a bodypress - only to hit the referee instead. He goes back to Jose duty without bothering to contend with Sid, and with the referee down, the challenger calmly grabs the camera again, and nails Michaels with it out on the floor. Back in, Sid adds a Powerbomb to make sure, and we have a new champion at 20:03. Huge pop for that one, with all the men in the crowd wanting to hug Sid, while all the women try to kill him. I must have been out to lunch the first time around, because I liked this one MUCH better this time. This was a really interesting match, with Shawn kinda switching between working heel and babyface throughout, and a hostile, smarkish crowd adding to the flavor. Probably Sid's best individual match ever, and while the lion's share of the credit certainly goes to Michaels, Sid was energetic, and game to hold up his end here. *** ¾ (Original rating: * ¾)

BUExperience: Good show, with two great matches on top, lots of interesting historical tidbits throughout, and nothing (well, almost nothing) sucking. All that set in the heart of New York, with a reliably spicy crowd making for a great atmosphere, and resulting in the best overall WWF pay per view effort since back at the '95 Survivor Series. 

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