WWF Survivor Series Showdown (November 18, 1990)

 

Original Airdate: November 18, 1990 (taped October 29)

From Indianapolis, Indiana; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan

Tito Santana v Sgt. Slaughter: Slaughter stalls, as the announcers hype the mystery egg that will hatch at Survivor Series. I mean, they’ve been talking about it so much that you just know that it’s going to be something really good. Slaughter gets control, and works Tito over, in dull fashion. Tito manages a sunset flip for two, before Slaughter cuts him off, and goes back to work. Slaughter misses a charge, and goes flying out of the ring, allowing Tito to recover. Inside, Tito delivers an earringer, and a 2nd rope fistdrop follows. Santana with a kneedrop for two, and he puts Slaughter in a chinlock. Sarge escapes, and goes to the top with a flying splash, but Tito manages to dodge. He tries a dropkick, but now Slaughter dodges, and he goes to the top. Tito slams him off, and he nails him with the jumping forearm, but Slaughter falls out of the ring before he can cover. Tito looks to slam him back in from the apron, but General Adnan trips him up, and Slaughter topples for the pin at 10:59. This was really slow, and felt more like they were working a house show match than a TV one. ¼*

Survivor Series ad

Backstage, Sean Mooney catches up with the Mercenaries, and Sgt. Slaughter thinks he can beat the Alliance on his own, if necessary 

Backstage, Gene Okerlund catches up with the Alliance, and Tito Santana is fuming about what happened moments ago, but he’s ready to get revenge at Survivor Series

Video highlights of the Rick Martel/Jake Roberts feud 

Rick Martel v Marty Jannetty: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Jannetty. One of the favorite things to see from this era is when the building security guy would spin around in his chair to watch the matches like a fan, and it's great. I mean, he's doing a shit job, yeah, but it's not like I was paying him. I also dig when the opposite happens, and the security guys just totally ignore the action completely, even if guys get right in their faces. Martel uses a cheap shot to get control, but Jannetty goes after the leg to take it back, and he works a toehold. Marty keeps working the leg in dull fashion, until Rick finally shakes him off, dumping Jannetty to the outside to block a figure four. Nice sell from Marty there. Back in, Martel uses a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop to the lower back, but a 2nd rope axehandle misses, and Jannetty makes a comeback. 2nd rope facebuster gets two, but Rick sidesteps a slingshot sunset flip, and just pins him at 10:00. I've never seen that counter ever, and it's pretty brilliant, actually. Unfortunately, the match was pretty boring. ½*

Survivor Series ad. I’m going to start working ‘drumstick it’ (as in: the Hulkamaniacs are going to drumstick it to the Natural Disasters) into conversations

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with the Vipers, and Jake Roberts is in full pirate mode

Backstage, Mooney catches up with the Visionaries, who enjoy making fun of disabilities, so the Vipers run in to attack them

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with the Hulkamaniacs, and Hulk Hogan is in all his glory here

Big Boss Man v Earthquake: Boss Man lost a ton of weight between ‘88 and ‘91. He grabs a standing side-headlock right away, but Earthquake escapes, so Boss Man slugs him. Earthquake manages to knock him down, but an elbowdrop misses. Avalanche, but Boss Man dodges that, and schoolboys for one. Boss Man goes up with a flying bodypress, but Earthquake catches him in a powerslam, as Heenan decides to leave his post to go down to ringside. Earthquake goes to work, and Heenan slaps Boss Man around, after spending the entire show expressing remorse for all the bad things he’s said about Boss Man. Earthquake continues hammering away, until Boss Man finds the fire to make a comeback. He misses a charge and goes flying out of the ring, where Heenan is ready to put the boots to him. Boss Man is up, so Bobby takes off running, and Boss Man chases him to the back - getting counted out at 10:38. DUD

Survivor Series

Backstage, Mooney catches up with the Natural Disasters, where Earthquake desperately needs to go make a pee pee

Bret Hart v Honky Tonk Man: The announcers discuss who the mystery member of the Million Dollar Team is going to be, and I don’t think anyone could have ever guessed that the guy would become one of the biggest stars and longest running gimmicks of all time. Hart works the arm in the early going, until Honky manages a cheap shot, and he pounds the Hitman into the corner. A charge misses, however, and Honky hurts his shoulder on the miss. That allows Hart an inverted atomic drop, so Honky goes to the eyes to buy time, and uses a corner whip. He tries a ten-punch, but Hart shakes him off with another inverted atomic drop. Elbowdrop, but Honky dodges, and covers for two. Honky goes to a chinlock, as Bobby goes on a rant about how shitty Indianapolis is. Considering he was from there, and apparently loved it very much, it’s especially entertaining. Hart escapes, but runs into a knee coming out of the ropes, and Honky delivers an axehandle drop for two. Back to the chinlock, as Gorilla tells us that we’re basically idiots if we don’t call and order Survivor Series right now. On the strength of this match? Honky tries a 2nd rope axehandle, but Bret blocks, and goes on the comeback trail. A snapmare sets up a legdrop for two, and a vertical suplex is worth another two. Backbreaker for two, so Jimmy Hart gets on the apron for a distraction. That allows Honky to attack, but Bret rams them together, and cradles at 10:43. ¾*

Survivor Series ad

Backstage, Mooney catches up with the Million Dollar Team, and based on this promo, it feels like they’re telegraphing Dustin Rhodes as the mystery partner. Obviously, the actual mystery partner was a homerun, but that actually could have been a cool angle too, with Dustin taking Ted DiBiase’s money, and betraying his father

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with the Dream Team, and it feels especially odd seeing Dusty hype up Survivor Series, of all shows

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with the Warriors, and it’s odd seeing Ultimate Warrior with the black leather version of the WWF Title. Meanwhile, the Legion of Doom keep obnoxiously slapping him on the back throughout the segment, and you can see him getting more and more annoyed by the moment. I’m half shocked that he didn’t snap on him. Who knows, maybe he did, this wasn’t live

Kerry Von Erich v Smash: The WWF Intercontinental title is not on the line. Smash is working in a mask here, during that strange period for Demolition. Posturing to start, dominating by Kerry. He goes the clawhold almost right away, but Smash manages to get away, and he bails to break the momentum. Inside, Smash takes him down, but trying to toss Kerry over the top fails when the Tornado lands on the apron. He hustles back in and tosses Smash over the top, then follows to slam him on the floor. Back in, Tornado grabs a wristlock, but Smash gets into the corner for a break, and throws a right hand when the referee forces it. Cross corner whip, but Kerry reverses, and armdrags Smash into an armbar. Kerry with a corner whip, but a charge in misses, and Smash pounds on the arm. Smash with a backbreaker for two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Von Erich slaps on the clawhold. Smash makes the ropes, but Kerry pulls him off. Smash goes to the eyes to force the break, and a clothesline connects. Smash unloads in the corner, as Mr. Perfect struts down to ringside. He attacks, and along with the other two members of Demolition, it becomes four-on-one for the DQ at 7:16. It took the referee a really long time to call for the bell there. Demolition unload, but the LOD and Warrior make the save. ¾*

Backstage, Mooney catches up with the Perfect Team, and I just can’t get comfortable with this masked version of Demolition 

BUExperience: On the one hand, I really enjoyed how focused the booking for this was in terms of getting the Survivor Series over. On the other, almost every single match felt like a house show effort. The agenting there was so lazy that almost every match even clocked in at ten minutes. 

Positives and negatives, but I enjoyed it overall.