WWF Survivor Series Showdown (November 12, 1989)

Original Airdate: November 12, 1989

Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Roddy Piper, and Bobby Heenan in the studio

Tito Santana v Big Boss Man: All matches were taped on November 1 in Wichita Kansas with Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on commentary. Posturing to start, until Tito lands a pair of dropkicks on him, and Boss Man ends up on the outside. He regroups out there, but Tito still gets a headlock on once he’s back inside. Boss Man won’t go down in the hold, so Tito tries another dropkick, but Boss Man plows through, and side suplexes him. Boss Man with a gutwrench sitout powerbomb, followed by a straddling ropechoke, as he takes control of the contest. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Santana rolls out of the way, and gets on the comeback trail. Bodypress gets him two, but Boss Man drills him with a right hand, and works a headvice. A corner charge misses, however, and Boss Man hurts his knee. That allows Tito the figure four, so Akeem passes Boss Man the nightstick. He knocks Santana silly, and it looks over, but Dusty Rhodes sneaks in to nail Boss Man, and Tito gets the pin at 11:40. Why’s Dusty’s music playing? Who is he, Hogan? The match was pretty dull for the most part, but Boss Man pulled out a gutwrench powerbomb in 1989, and that’s gotta be worth something. Plus, the crowd dug the finish big time. ½*

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Gene Okerlund takes us back to Superstars, where Demolition won the WWF Tag Team Title from the Brain Busters

Mr. Perfect v Butch: Well, this is certainly an interesting pairing. And a unique one: this is their one and only one-on-one meeting. Perfect tries attacking from behind, but Butch wins the resulting brawl, and Perfect ends up on the outside. Back in, Perfect slugs him into the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Butch sinks his teeth it. Literally. Perfect bails to regroup, and he manages to slug Butch down on the way back in. Perfect works him over in dull fashion, until Butch makes a comeback with an atomic drop. Butch goes to work, but gets distracted by Genius, and the Perfectplex finishes at 6:20. Total crap. DUD

Rick Rude and Roddy Piper cut opposing promos hyping their teams going head to head at Survivor Series

Randy Savage v Hercules: Posturing to start, with Hercules displaying power, and Macho stalling. Macho gets a cheap shot off, but Hercules forces a criss cross to escape a headlock, and Randy eats a shoulderblock. Savage unloads in the corner, but Hercules blocks a cross corner whip, so Sensational Sherri lends a hand. That allows Savage a shot, but Hercules absorbs it, and press-slams him. Macho bails, but Hercules chases, so Savage uses Sherri as a shield, and then knocks Hercules into the post with a high knee. Hearing Vince victim blame Sherri after Hercules put her hands on her sounds very different now in late 2022. Macho with a flying axehandle on the floor, and Sherri gets some revenge on Hercules. Randy with another flying axehandle for two on the way back inside, and Savage snaps his throat across the top rope for one. Bodyslam sets up the flying elbowdrop, but Hercules dodges, and makes a comeback. Sherri with another distraction, but Savage misses his charge, and goes flying over the top. Sherri helps him back up, but Hercules is ready with suplex, so Sherri sweeps the leg - Savage toppling for two. Hercules goes after her, but Macho nails him with an axehandle before he can get hold. Flying bodypress, but Hercules catches him in a backbreaker, so Sherri puts the foot on the ropes at two. Hercules stays focused with a few clotheslines, so Sherri pulls down the ropes, and Hercules goes over the top. Randy tries pulling him back in, but Hercules snapmares him over the top, so Sherri passes her man a weapon. Randy knocks Hercules silly with it, and Macho gets the pin at 11:23. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating: it can’t be overstated how much Sherri added to Savage’s act. ** ¼ 

From Superstars, it’s an episode of the Brother Love Show, with guests Andre the Giant and Haku: the Colossal Connection! And manager Bobby Heenan, of course. Simple segment to get over that the Connection are Heenan’s response to Demolition winning the tag title off of his Brain Busters

Gene is in the studio with the Survivor Series Report. Gene notes that the show is a ‘tradition.’ Tradition, really? I mean, certainly today, but there had only been two of them at that point!

Ultimate Warrior v Tully Blanchard: Another interesting pairing! Warrior’s WWF Intercontinental title is not on the line. Rare production gaffe: the Wrestling Challenge banner over the ring is half folded, blocking out the WWF logo. Or, maybe, someone from the mid-2000s went back in time and did that to make it easier for the DVD editors. Blanchard stupidly tries to match power with Warrior at the bell, so Tully goes to the eyes, and that gets some attention. Cross corner whip, but Warrior reverses, and Blanchard takes a bump over the top. Blanchard tries outmoving him, but a charge gets sidestepped, and Tully takes another spill over the top. He decides to walk out, but Warrior drags him back, pressing him into the ring. Warrior with a flying axehandle, but a corner splash misses, and Warrior knocks himself silly. Blanchard hammers him, and successfully delivers the cross corner whip, but Warrior rebounds with a clothesline. He looks to add a splash, but Blanchard lifts his knees to block. That allows Blanchard to go for a suplex, but Warrior reverses. Elbowdrop, but Tully dodges. Cross corner whip, but Warrior reverses, only to hit knee on the charge. That allows Blanchard a flying bodypress, but Warrior catches him in a powerslam, and there’s no more comeback from Tully. Press-drop looks to finish, but Arn Anderson runs in for the DQ at 5:47. This was fun, with Blanchard walking Warrior through things nicely. Afterwards, the Heenan Family run in on Warrior (well, except for Andre), but the Rockers and Jim Neidhart make the save! That finally draws Andre out, and we have a big staredown to set up the pay per view. This was actually Tully’s last match for the WWF, as he got the boot before even making it to the pay per view they were hyping. **

WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition, and Jake Roberts are ready to fight, kick, and grind. Hogan’s really trying to get ‘Multi Million Dollar Man’ over as a nickname for Ted DiBiase. Let’s all be glad that didn’t work out

Smash v Ted DiBiase: Ted stupidly tries to punch him while he still has the spiked mask on, and that ends badly. An atomic drop sends Ted to the outside, and Smash steals a wad of cash off of him. That draws Ted inside in a hurry, but Smash is ready with a backdrop, and few clothesline lead to Ted bailing. Smash chases, but loses the high ground, and gets clobbered on the way back inside. DiBiase hammers him on the ropes, but a clothesline misses, and Smash delivers one of his own. Another clothesline sends Ted over the top, and Smash follows to post him. Clothesline, but DiBiase sidesteps, and Smash hits the post. That allows Ted a clothesline on the floor, and he hammers Smash on the way back into the ring. Ted with a knee to the gut to set up a fistdrop, and a ropechoke follows, as Jesse sings ‘bye bye Hulkster’ to the tune of ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ Well, that was certainly something. Ted with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and I really miss Ventura on commentary. He was so sharp, could be entertaining with anyone, and always pointed out things no one else did. DiBiase with a chinlock, but Smash fights free, so Ted throws another knee to keep control of things. DiBiase puts the boots to him for two, and it’s back to the chinlock, as Vince and Jesse debate the psychology of wear down moves, with Jesse suggesting McMahon call Frasier from Cheers for a guide. Ted with a corner whip, and he delivers a clothesline on the rebound for two. Back to the hold, but Smash drops into the corner to force a break, so Ted tries a 2nd rope axehandle, but Smash blocks with a gut punch. Smash makes the comeback, and a running powerslam looks to finish, but Zeus is at ringside. That distraction allows DiBiase to dump Smash to the outside, right into Zeus’s violently waiting arms. Smash gets wrecked, and DiBiase gets an easy pin at 11:09. Basic, but competent. Afterwards, Ax runs out to make the save, before the heels can do any serious damage, giving us another standoff to hype Survivor Series. *

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BUExperience: I enjoyed this. It wasn’t anything incredible, but it had some interesting pairings, and Savage/Hercules was a damn fun match. Worth a watch.