Legacy Review
Survivor Series '89
November 23, 1989 from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont (Chicago), ILCommentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura
This is the first Survivor Series where the teams were cut from 5 wrestlers to 4, and the first with team names. This was also the first year that the show wasn't up (within a couple of days) against Starrcade, as the new WCW regime in Atlanta had conceded Thanksgiving and moved Starrcade to December.
The show opens with rotating promos of wrestlers telling us what they're thankful for, starting with Hogan and ending with the usual Warrior craziness. The Brain Busters are still advertised in the card rundown.
The Dream Team ("The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Red Rooster and Tito Santana) def The Enforcers (The Big Boss Man, Bad News Brown, "The Model" Rick Martel and The Honky Tonk Man w/Slick and Jimmy Hart) in 22:02- Brown is a replacement for Boss Man's Twin Towers tag partner Akeem. Notorious loner Brown walked out on his team at the '88 Survivor Series. The same thing can't happen two years in a row, right? Santana starts and he and the crowd want Martel, but Honky gets in instead. Martel distracts Santana and lets Honky get a cheap shot in, but it's only Honky and Santana is quickly on offense. Honky counters a backdrop attempt and tags Martel in while Santana is down. Santana reverses an atomic drop and gets a roll up for 2. All eight guys get in the ring, but only stare off and they quickly back off before there's any donnybrooking. Boss Man is in. Santana with a DEEP armdrag. Dusty works Boss Man over. Boss Man is starting to lose weight and slowly becoming the good worker he would be in the early '90s. Beefcake and Rooster take turns in short face in peril sequences. Brown refuses a tag. Rooster and Honky collide and both get tags, and Strike Force explodes again. I wish these guys had gotten a proper PPV blowoff, they worked so well together. Martel reverses a rollup and grabs a handful of tights to eliminate Santana. Dusty gets in and we see a shot of a Dusty superfan in the crowd. The superfan is, of course, Sapphire, his future manager. Dusty with a dropkick! Ventura is stunned. Boss Man gets a bear hug on Rooster. Rooster bites his way out of it. Boss Man tags Brown in whether he likes it or not. He refuses to get in, so Rooster flips him in. After an initial flurry Brown gets the advantage, and now he's beating someone up he's happy. It's so sad to see Terry Taylor have to pare his moveset down so much to play the Rooster character the way Vince wanted it (a guy that barely knew how to wrestle). The heels go for a double team but Boss Man hits Brown. Brown is displeased. He argues with the rest of the heel team then walks out, taking the countout. I guess they didn't learn from last year after all. A high knee from Beefcake eliminates Honky. Martel works a tired Beefcake over. The ref catches Martel holding the ropes on a pin attempt, allowing Beefcake to reverse it and eliminate Martel, making it 3 on 1. Boss Man Slam on Rooster and he's gone. Beefcake and Dusty work quick tags on Boss Man. Dusty gets a high cross body to eliminate Boss Man and win the match. After the bell Boss Man works Dusty over with the nightstick and Slick handcuffs him to the ropes. A classic heel Boss Man beat down ensues, until Beefcake chases the heels off with the TITANIUN STEEL BLADES. One of Dusty's 47 forehead scars from blading got opened up during the attack. SURVIVORS: Dusty Rhodes and Brutus Beefcake **3/4
The King's Court ("Macho King" Randy Savage, The Canadian Earthquake, Dino Bravo and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/Sensational Queen Sherri and Jimmy Hart) def The 4x4's ("Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Bret "Hitman" Hart, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin and Hercules) in 23:25- This is Earthquake's PPV debut. The "Canadian" part of his moniker wouldn't last long. Who ever heard of an earthquake in Canada? Even the ground is mild mannered there. Quake was a last second replacement for "The Widowmaker" Barry Windham, who had suddenly left the WWF after a short stint back. Savage had recently defeated Duggan for the King title and was running with it better than anyone ever would. Garvin had also just recently been reinstated as a wrestler as part of his long feud with Valentine. Bret and Anvil are in different matches because thought was being given again to a possible singles push for Bret, which was ultimately still almost two years away. Ring Gearhead fact: this is a rare early Macho King era match where Savage is still wearing trunks instead of long tights, complete with a cool but short lived Macho King logo. All of Duggan's team have 2x4s and they march in formation to and around the ring. Savage isn't sure what corner they're supposed to use and shouts "What corner?" while the camera is on him. Savage starts with a rotating group of faces that move in and out. There's a lot of guys going in and out throughout this match with seemingly no tags made. Valentine does an A+ sell of a Hercules atomic drop. One thing I've enjoyed doing these reviews is being reminded how good Valentine was. Garvin gets a sleeper but Valentine collapses into his corner to make a tag. Hercules and Bravo hoss it up a bit. When Herc's down Bravo tags Quake in. He immediately hits the Earthquake Splash and Hercules is eliminated. Duggan tries to chop Quake down, eventually doing it with a schoolboy assist from Bret. Garvin goes FIP for a while. He fights off a Valentine figure four attempt. Stiff chops from Valentine, and Garvin responds in kind. Garvin gets a blind tag to Duggan, who hits a clothesline hiding behind Garvin on Valentine and eliminates him. Garvin Stomp on Bravo. HERE WE GO. Bret and Savage are in. The crowd is going nuts in anticipation. Wow, I didn't know there were that many smart fans in 1989. Good for them. Bret gets the quick advantage and works Savage over with Savage selling at about 250% until he manages to tag in Bravo. Bravo hits his
Mean Gene is in the back, outside the room where doctors are working on Dusty. He says Dusty has bruised ribs and a possible slight concussion. Thankfully, no anal bleeding.
The Hulkamaniacs (WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts" and WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition) def The Million Dollar Team ("The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Zeus and The Powers of Pain w/Mr. Fuji) in 27:32- The DiBiase/Roberts feud was finally getting going after being delayed by Roberts' injury. Demolition won the tag titles back from the departing Arn and Tully in October at a TV taping. The Hogan/Zeus feud for some reason was continuing, despite having the perfect blowoff at Summerslam and No Holds Barred having already had its theatrical run. The most impressive thing about Zeus tonight is his unabrow. The heels stop Hogan from getting into the ring, so Roberts unleashes Damien to clear them out. Zeus and Hogan want to kill each other but their teams hold them back. Zeus starts with Roberts, but he demands Hogan so Roberts tags him in. Zeus no sells everything, including another Flair/Giant style shoulderblock bump from Hogan and an early match big guy bodyslam. Barbarian hits Hogan from behind and Zeus goes to work with his two moves. Hebner tries to pull Zeus off while he's choking Hogan, but Zeus pushes him away twice. On the second one Hebner DQ's Zeus. This was all to build up a special PPV WWF was putting on in December titled, shockingly, No Holds Barred. It was the movie, followed by a (pretaped) Summerslam rematch of Hogan and Beefcake against Zeus and Savage, but this time in a steel cage. DiBiase comes in and works on Hogan. Hogan gets a boot counter and tags Roberts in. Roberts 360 clotheslines DiBiase out and they fight on the floor. Demolition works their patented beatdown on DiBiase, and Hogan joins in! DiBiase gets a desperation counter and tags Barbarian. Fuji trips Ax, allowing Warlord to get the pin and eliminate him. Smash goes face in peril. DiBiase goes for and misses, as always, his fall down elbow off the second rope. That move succeeded less than Flair going off the top rope. But Smash doesn't tag, and pays for his stubbornness by getting eliminated after a Barbarian clothesline off the top rope. Roberts goes in and tries to DDT both Barbarian and Warlord but they're too strong and soon Roberts has also been FIP'd. Roberts is getting Bret-like bumps in off the buckles. DiBiase hits a piledriver but Roberts just gets a foot on the rope. Barbarian misses a headbutt off the top rope, allowing Roberts to get a hot tag to Hogan. Hogan cleans house until the ref gets distracted, allowing POP to double team him. They give Hogan a spike piledriver, but Hebner DQ's them for double teaming through about 15 5 counts. Ventura is absolutely furious. He accuses Hebner of protecting Hogan and treating guys beating on him like defensive lineman that dare to breathe on Tom Brady. DiBiase gets the Million Dollar Dream on Hogan. Hogan backs him up into the buckles to get out. Hot tag to Roberts. DiBiase goes from super selling mode to super special awesome selling mode. Virgil, who didn't come out with DiBiase at the start of the match, runs in. Roberts gives him a DDT for showing up late. But that distraction allows DiBiase to hit him from behind and get the pin with foot on rope extra leverage. It's down to DiBiase and Hogan. All the time Roberts was in Hogan was on the apron barely moving, selling the Million Dollar Dream. He continues to sell it, including showing one arm is very weak, while DiBiase pummels him, but we all know what's coming. Double clothesline! DiBiase reverses an atomic drop into a belly to back suplex. Hogan no sells it and pops right up. Punches, big boot, legdrop, good night. While DiBiase's leaving we get a clear shot of the outside referee and it's a *very* young Shane McMahon. Since the show's only half done Hogan manages to shorten his postmatch celebration a bit. Ventura is still livid at Hebner. As Monsoon says "Hogan thanks the big man upstairs" Ventura says "He should be thanking the ref instead!" SOLE SURVIVOR: Hulk Hogan **1/4
Intermission time, some of which is on the Network copy. We have dueling promos to hype up the No Holds Barred PPV/match. During the face promo Sherri ambushes them with powder and the heels attack.
Back to commentary for a bit. Ventura is wearing a shirt for his new movie Abraxas, which is available from our good friends at Rifftrax. Ventura says he's been hearing of dissension within the Heenan family which has broken down as far as pushing and shoving in the locker room. This is all to set up Tully Blanchard's absence later.
There's a promo from Piper and his team that's so insane it has to be seen to be believed. I'm not even trying.
The Rude Brood ("Ravishing" Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers w/The Genius and Jimmy Hart) def Roddy's Rowdies ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and The Bushwackers) in 21:27- Rude and Piper had been feuding since Piper mooned Rude during Rude's IC title loss at Summerslam. Perfect is still being billed as undefeated. Commentary notes that Heenan is not with Rude. Rude's tights tonight have portraits of his team on the front, and portraits of Piper's team on tombstones on the back. The Genius is going for subtle heat in Chicago by being decked out in Packers' colors. Perfect and Luke start. The faces all take turns biting into Perfect like Thanksgiving turkey. Well, that ties into that crazy ass promo I suppose. Perfect bails and Jacques slows things down with some stalling. Jacques flips out of a backdrop attempt and celebrates. Snuka congratulates him with a flying headbutt. The Superfly Splash finishes Jacques off. Rude accidentally pulls the top rope down on Perfect and they start arguing. Perfect 360 sells a Piper kneelift. More biting from the Bushwackers. This is what happens when Piper insists on no dinner until after the match. Piper atomic drops Perfect into the heel corner and lets him tag out. And I thought Piper was the brains on this team! Grading on a massive curve, of course. A Piper piledriver eliminates Raymond. Piper goes FIP for a bit until he slingshots Perfect into the post. Both Bushwackers get close near falls on Perfect. How embarrassing would it be to lose a long undefeated streak to the Bushwackers? It'd be like Asuka getting beat by Carmella!.......Hell, I just made myself mad again. Piper taunts Rude with a hip swivel. Perfect 360 sells a punch. Perfect manages to roll up Butch and get the 3. Piper runs in and gives Perfect the same rollup but only gets 2. After a long heel in peril run Perfect finally gets a tag to Rude, but Luke immediately catches Rude coming off the top. Rude fights back and gets the Rude Awakening to eliminate Luke. Snuka comes in and it face in peril for what seems like forever. Perfect does a 360 on a midring collision with Snuka. Tags on both sides and we finally get Piper and Rude in together. They fall out of the ring as they fight and brawl all the way down the isle. Both are counted out. Perfect and Snuka do a decent sequence of near falls before Perfect finally finishes him off with the Perfectplex. Genius takes his mandatory bumps afterward. Perfect and Rude were trying to make this good but it was too much to overcome. Still entertaining though, and a star making performance for Perfect, who was not too far from his first IC title win. SOLE SURVIVOR: Mr. Perfect *3/4
After the match Rude blows off Mooney's questions about Heenan family problems.
Warrior does his usual mad group promo pacing around then says he bonded his team through darkness and pain. They participated in a Klingon wedding together? Tonight's Warrior belt strap color is.....classic black. Kinda disappointing.
The Ultimate Warriors (WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and The Rockers) def The Heenan Family (Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Andre the Giant, Haku and Arn Anderson) in 20:28- Commentary is surprised Heenan is out in wrestling gear. No one mentions Blanchard but he's the odd man out. He an Arn were already set to go back to WCW after this show, but Tully got himself fired by WWF for failing a drug test, which WCW also got wind of and refused to take him back after. Interesting that Warrior is closing the show instead of Hogan. They were already thinking about Wrestlemania 6 and giving Warrior a test run in the main event slot. Everyone starts going at it before Warrior's even had his entrance. Everyone but Andre is cleared out of the ring. Warrior runs in and clotheslines him out while he still has the belt on. The bell rang while Warrior and Andre were in the ring so Andre is legal and is counted out. Smart way to get him out of the match quick. Andre was in no physical shape to wrestle anymore but was still months away from finally hanging it up. He and Haku would even win the tag titles soon after this show! Arn takes a beating in the face corner. Haku and Anvil trade some semi-stiff forearms. About .4 Suzuki/Ishii. Warrior is doing anything but standing in the corner waiting for a tag. He's pacing up and down the apron nonstop, and even goes around the post toward the heel corner on the apron once. Haku kicks Anvil in the back of the head and eliminates him. The faces start working quick tags on Haku, with Warrior pushing the Rockers off the ropes on all their moves. Arn gets in there with the Rockers one last time. Rockers/Brain Busters is one of the great WWF tag team feuds of the '80s. Warrrior finally tags in so he can work some of that roid rage or whatever it is off. The heels get Janetty down and Heenan finally tags in. He gets two kicks in and tags right back out. Haku pummels Janetty, then tags Heenan in again. Heenan gives Janetty a kneedrop and pins him! Warrior and Arn get in. Arn shouts at him to "calm down!". I think that was 50/50 character/shoot. Warrior and Shawn do a rocket launcher that only gets two. Shawn dodges a Haku cross body off the 2nd rope, goes up and hits his own off the top rope and eliminates Haku. Shawn's thrown out. Heenan teases coming off the top rope onto the floor! But he can't get a good foothold. Arn and Heenan argue a bit about Heenan not tagging in. Arn makes him tag out, but as soon as Heenan takes one shot he bails again. Arn plants Shawn with the World's Greatest Spinebuster to eliminate him. Heenan's in again, but tags right back out when Warrior resists. Arn and Heenan collide. Warrior gets the press slam and big splash and Arn is done for the night and in the WWF until after the fall of WCW. Arn Anderson, Consummate Professional, gave his usual max effort on his last night with the company and carried a lot of this match. It's down to Warrior and Heenan. Warrior sneaks around the ring so Heenan doesn't see him. Heenan gets on the second rope and yells at Arn to come back in, turns around, sees Warrior, and realizes he's a dead man. Heenan does some crazy bumps, including the Triple H flip over the top and to the floor! A flying tackle and big splash end it. Warrior clotheslines Heenan again on the floor on his way out. The last shot of the show is Heenan writhing in pain in the entrance isle. SOLE SURVIVOR: The Ultimate Warrior **1/2
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: This is a perfectly typical and average no stakes early Survivor Series. Nothing will blow you away, but everyone was working hard and the whole show is watchable and usually entertaining. And even better, there's no Gobbeldy Gooker nonsense to suffer through.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-
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