Survivor Series '88

Legacy Review

Survivor Series '88

November 24, 1988 from the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, OH

 

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Pilgrim" Ventura

 

The second annual Survivor Series follows almost the exact same format as the successful first one. They're even in the same arena for the second straight year. This year WWF has Thanksgiving all to themselves as far as wrestling PPVs go. After the kickoff of their scheduling wars last Thanksgiving Jim Crockett Promotions had already conceded the date and decided to move Starrcade to late December even before they were bought out by Turner in October. The only real change this year is every team has two "co-captains", but that makes no measurable difference to the matches themselves so I won't even list them. You can probably guess who they are on each team. Oh, and there's no women's match this year. WWF had pretty much given up on the whole division for the time being. Major story wise we're in a bit of a reset gap after the long (LONG) running saga involving Hogan, Savage, Andre and DiBiase was wrapped up at Summerslam and we're not building to Wrestlemania 5 just yet.

 

WWF Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, "Jumping" Jim Brunzell & Sam Houston def The Honky Tonk Man, "Outlaw" Ron Bass, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Bad News Brown & "Dangerous" Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart) in 17:50- Warrior and Honky were still feuding over the IC title after Warrior demolished Honky at Summerslam to end his record reign. Bass and Beefcake were also a (theoretically) big feud as it was Bass that injured Beefcake to keep him from challenging Honky at Summerslam, but they hadn't exactly been setting the world on fire. Blazer is Owen Hart in his early short WWF run, working under a mask so WWF didn't have to promote another Hart brother to compete with Bret. Yet. Warrior's whole team runs in with him at Warrior speed. Unlike today, that's entrance efficiency. Beefcake, who looks desperately in need of his own services, starts with Valentine. We get some quick back and forth and I'm noticing we're now in the period where Valentine was wearing that shin guard to make his figure four even more lethal. Valentine runs Beefcake into one of his teammates to get him down, but then makes the mistake of tagging Davis in. Beefcake gets the sleeper on Davis and the former ref is out and, er, out. About time for him to get back to reffing. Valentine comes back in and starts working over Beefcake's leg. He goes for the figure four but Beefcake pushes free. Blazer tags in and quickly starts showing off his aerial skills. Valentine and Brunzell have some back and forth. Brown blind tags in, but Brunzell doesn't see it and hits Valentine with his dropkick, then tries to cover. Brown ambushes from behind, then he and Valentine double team. Brown actually working with someone? Now I've seen it all. Commentary even says it's the first time they've ever seen him in any kind of tag match. He works Brunzell over. Ghetto Blaster! Goodbye Brunzell. The faces respond with some arm work on Brown, until Houston runs right into Brown's boot. Warrior has been moving and agitating nonstop on the apron the entire match. I guess when you're on that much juice you have energy to burn. Houston, like Brunzell, is clearly overmatched with Brown. Valentine and Brown do some more quick tags. Houston ducks and Valentine accidentally hits Brown! That's all Brown needed to remember why he doesn't work with anyone. Brown says fuck all you guys and walks out! Completely and totally in character. Houston gets a quick roll up on Valentine for 2. He tries a sunset flip but Valentine fights that off and tags out to Bass. Houston manages to get a little offense in before running into another corner boot. He might want to rethink that next time he has an opening. It's mostly all Bass as Houston stays in peril. He tries another corner charge. This time instead of a boot in the face Bass picks him up and powerslams him. Pin and Houston is gone. They're doing a good job of getting the easily eliminated riff raff out early. Warrior finally gets in and takes his frustrations out on all the heels. Flying tackle on Honky. Slam for Bass. Blazer tags in. Warrior rocket launches him onto Bass! And Bass kicks out! Honky blind tags in but Blazer sees it and crossbodys him for 2. After a monkey flip and dropkick Honky scrambles over and tags Valentine. Valentine and Blazer muff a leapfrog spot. Blazer recovers to hit a gutwrench suplex and kneedrop for 2. Setup powerslam and Blazer goes up top. Honky runs over and pushes him off! Blazer hit his knees on the way down and Valentine is not missing that opening. The figure four is on and Blazer submits. Former tag partners Valentine and Beefcake reacquaint themselves before Bass tags in to work his foe Beefcake over. Quick tags from the heels as Beefcake goes in peril. Honky tries for the Shake, Rattle and Roll but Beefcake backdrops free. Bass tags in and keeps Beefcake on the ropes, figuratively and literally. Honky tries coming off the top and that's the opening Beefcake needed. Atomic drop on Honky. Sleeper! Honky tumbles through the ropes to send them both to the floor. Beefcake puts the sleeper back on out there, and after a very quick Hebner count they're both counted out. It's down to Warrior against Valentine and Bass. Warrior actually sells for a bit to make it seem like those guys have a chance. Duck under from Warrior on a double team and hits a double clothesline. Running double ax handle on Bass and Warrior pins him even though he wasn't the legal guy. Another running double ax handle on Valentine and that's it. Weird he didn't hit any of his signature moves. Maybe he blew himself up too much on the apron. Rock solid opener all around. SOLE SURVIVOR: The Ultimate Warrior **1/2

 

Like last year this show will feature a giant 5 tag team vs 5 tag team, 10 men on each side 20 men total match. Since it's so long and has a ton of moving parts a few notes on it before getting going. This match features two major teams making their WWF PPV debut: the Brain Busters, who came over from JCP in September after WWF failed to convince Ric Flair to make the jump in time for Summerslam, and gaining a team name in the transition because in WWF you had to have that; and the Rockers, coming off their AWA runs (as the Midnight Rockers) and getting a second chance in the company after blowing their first one after being too focused on partying instead of wrestling. The original Conquistadors (non-comedy pre-Edge & Christian version) are also making their only PPV appearance, while the British Bulldogs are wrestling their final WWF match as a team, and it will be Dynamite Kid's final WWF appearance ever.

 

The Powers of Pain, The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Rockers & The Young Stallions def WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors (w/Mr. Fuji, Bobby Heenan, Slick & Jimmy Hart) in 42:12- The POP have been the default #1 contenders for Demolition's tag titles since coming over from JCP during the summer, though they haven't gotten any kind of title shot yet outside a few random house shows. There is one major change to this match versus last year's. Last year was individual elimination, this year they're doing team elimination. Once one member of a team has been eliminated the other one is automatically also gone. Everyone clears out and we start with Davey Boy and one of the Conquistadors. Once again marvel at nearly the entire apron being full of guys waiting to tag in. Jacques tags in and takes a press slam. The Bolsheviks work Shawn over a bit until Shawn comes back with some flippydo. The Rockers break out the classic double teams. Arn tags into a WWF ring on PPV for the first time and has a nice quick exchange with Janetty. Blanchard comes in and does no better, taking shots from all across the face apron. Janetty dodges a Jacques reverse crossbody for 2. Classic Dynamite snap suplex on Jacques for 2. Powers looks more like a jacked up Tito Santana than ever as we continue to slowly cycle through guys getting in for the first time. Bret catches Raymond with a small package and pins him! The Rougeaus are gone. Not a team I would have picked to eliminate first, but there was a reason for it. They wanted the Rougeaus out quickly after the infamous Dynamite/Jacques backstage "fight" that led to Dynamite leaving the company, in case something else happened. Roma shows off his athleticism by leaping straight up to the top rope to hit a crossbody. Anvil hits Smash with a clothesline and tags Barbarian in, the first time a POP guy has been in, and it's against their tag champ rivals. He and Smash get in a slugfest. Smash quickly abandons the ring for one of the Conquistadors, who have no chance against the POP. The Demos get Bret and axsmash on him a bit. Shawn tries a crossbody on Smash but Smash catches him and props him on top of the heel corner to get pounded on. Arn World's Greatest Spinebuster on Shawn! But it only gets 2. Again it's a Conquistador that loses the advantage as Shawn tags out to Janetty. Janetty definitely has his working boots on tonight, speeding around everyone. Warlord no sells everything a Conquistador tries on him and presses him away. Ax tags in and has a big standoff with Warlord. The Demos actually get Warlord to sell a little. Barbarian tags in and pummels Smash with kicks from every angle. Anvil powerslam on Blanchard for a long 2. Dynamite about decapitates Blanchard with a clothesline, then Blanchard tights pulls Dynamite out to the floor. Powers tries a reverse crossbody on Zhukov, but Zhukov reverses it and gets a pin. The Stallions are eliminated and we're back to even. Shawn's going around so quick Hebner's having a hard time getting out of the way. Funny bit after Barbarian runs Zhukov over with a tackle. Zhukov goes to tag, no one wants it, then finally Blanchard does, but then he immediately struts over and tags Volkoff in. Ax axes Barbarian down. Janetty blind tags, does a slingshot sunset flip on Zhukov, and that gets a pin to eliminate the Bolsheviks. Janetty does a nice sunset flip counter to a Conquistador backdrop, but it only gets 2. The other Conquistador pulls off the backdrop. Davey Boy does a crazy upside down bump into the corner off a Blanchard whip. The Harts hit their decapitation device style double team on a Conquistador for 2. Another Dynamite snap suplex and kneedrop off the second rope for 2. The Demos get Barbarian in position to axsmash him. The heels actually keep Barbarian in peril for a bit. Unusually it's Arn that screws it up. He knows better. Blanchard and Anvil have a fun exchange, then Bret works Blanchard over. That will be a hell of a match when they get a PPV one next summer. Bret catches Blanchard with a German suplex, and that gets a pin! But Blanchard gets a shoulder up and Bret didn't, so it's Bret and the Harts that are gone! Dynamite plants Blanchard with a tombstone but Blanchard kicks out. The Busters and Rockers all get in the ring and it devolves into an all out 2v2 brawl. Both refs get in the ring and both teams have been DQ'd. That will be a hell of a feud after this, one that sadly never got a PPV match. Arn and Blanchard will teach the Rockers a ton to take their game to the next level. 

 

It's down to two teams on each side. Meanwhile the Busters/Rockers fight is continuing on the floor and all the way to the locker room. After being in peril for a bit Dynamite dodges a Conquistador senton and tags out. Like the Stallions last year, it's hard to figure out how the Conquistadors have lasted so long this year. Davey Boy hits a delayed suplex for 2. Davey Boy crucifix on Ax for 2. The Demos and Bulldogs have a nice extended sequence. Davey Boy hits a Conquistador with the running powerslam, but doesn't cover and tags Barbarian in instead. Uno or Dos then gets away and tags out to Ax. Dynamite gutwrench suplex on Uno or Dos for 2, then he hits a diving headbutt for 2. This is the stretch of the match where it starts to feel like it might be going on a tick too long. Lots of cover opportunities with none taken. Smash dodges Dynamite's headbutt off the top rope. he hits a clothesline, and pins Dynamite. The Bulldogs are out of the match and, right after this show, the whole WWF. Barbarian quickly gets caught in the wrong corner, but again it's a Conquistador that blows it. Corner dodge and Warlord posts his shoulder. In theory. He didn't really come close to hitting it. As the Demos target that Fuji gets on the apron waving his cane. Hebner gets him back down. The heels continue to focus on Warlord's shoulder. Fuji is on the apron again. When Smash goes to hit the ropes Fuji opens them and Smash tumbles to the floor! What? Ax goes to check on his partner, but he can't get back in and is counted out. Ax gets in Fuji's face about what the hell he was doing. Fuji pokes Ax in the chest with his cane and says "I don't care, I'm the boss!". Fuji hits Ax with the cane! Ax shoves back! Ax turns his back and Fuji hits him in the back with the cane! Smash comes in and the Demos slam Fuji on the floor! They leave, leaving Fuji behind. And for part 2, the POP then go out and help Fuji back up! There's something fishy going on here. The POP escort Fuji over into their corner! Meanwhile the last two teams left are the POP and, of all teams, the Conquistadors. But all anyone is thinking about is the drama we just saw. Fuji trips one of the Conquistadors with his cane, then Barbarian headbutts him for the pin and match victory. The POP make sure everyone knows what's happening by lifting Fuji up their shoulders! The Demos run back in and attack. The POP get away and leave with Fuji alongside. Double turn complete and solidified. Brilliantly done all around. The match was fantastic, all out action from start to finish with lots of interesting if short lived pairings, and the perfectly executed double turn is a great cherry on top. Though as mentioned it did start to drag pretty bad down the stretch run, it could have used 5-7 minutes knocked off of it. SOLE SURVIVORS: The Powers of Pain ***3/4

 

Back to the Bulldogs' WWF departure for a moment. Officially the reason given was Dynamite was fired for sucker punching Jacques Rougeau backstage as part of a rib gone wrong (a harmful rib if you will, shoutout back to the day when I watched Being the Elite), which led to an all out backstage "altercation" in HR parlance. Dynamite's story was he was arguing with WWF management about comp airfare and resigned on principle, and Davey Boy stood with him and quit too. As usual with these things both sides fervently believe their versions and the truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but given the evidence available in this case I'm more inclined to believe the official WWF account. The Bulldogs would return to Stampede before WWF bought that out, as well as All Japan. Davey Boy then pulled a bit of a real life heel turn on Dynamite by abruptly returning to the WWF in the fall of 1990 as a singles wrestler and the only "British Bulldog". His prior team and teammate weren't even mentioned by WWF during that run. While Davey Boy was becoming a singles star, Dynamite's ongoing health problems forced him into on again, off again retirement during the first half of the '90s and he'd wrestle his last match in '96. He passed away in 2018 having never reconciled with WWE. He deserves a place in the Hall of Fame for sure.

Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. With Sean Mooney, Bad News Brown says he smelled the worst kind of piracy, CONSpiracy, and he bailed before anyone could claim they beat him. He also hypes up the fact that he's Savage's current WWF Title challenger on the house show loop. We then go to Mean Gene with Fuji and the POP to try to explain themselves. Fuji basically says he got tired of Demolition and decided to switch horses. The POP also ignore Okerlund's very fair point that Fuji's proven he can't be trusted. 

 

Andre the Giant, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, Harley Race & Dino Bravo (w/Bobby Heenan & Frenchy Martin) def "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey in 30:03- A lot of guys kind of floating in midcard limbo right now. We're even scraping the bottom of the roster as literal jobber Casey is getting a PPV payday to fill out the match. Perfect is making his PPV debut and was in the midst of his introductory undefeated streak. Because he's perfect, you see. I think the whole Rude/Roberts thing was still going too but on its last legs. Santana's Strike Force partner Rick Martel was currently out with an injury. Rude starts out with Patera. Usual great tights from Rude, this one with women's hands grabbing at his general groinal area. And his ass. Patera wins the initial lockups so Rude tags out to the stronger Bravo to have a try. Perfect is still wearing his AWA era trunks instead of his later singlet. The faces trade off some arm work on Perfect. He and Santana have a very nice back and forth exchange, Santana's one of the guys on the roster that can just about keep up with him. Things go down a bit when Bravo and Casey get in. Race, still in his King gear despite not being the King anymore, treats Casey like the jobber he is. As does the rest of the heel team. Strangely it's again Perfect that gets in a bit of trouble from the heel team. A punch from Duggan sends Perfect 360 over the corner to the floor! There's a classic Hennig sell. Santana hits Rude with the flying forearm but Rude manages to kick out. Duggan actually gets his working boots on to keep up with Rude a bit. Rude hits Patera with a knee up in the corner, hits the Rude Awakening, and Patera is gone. This would, thankfully, be Patera's final WWF appearance. Race manages to hit a dropkick on Casey. He still had a little bit left. Casey catches Bravo with a backslide for 2. Bravo plants Casey with the side suplex, and the jobber is gone. The heel team have a two man advantage. We get a little more Santana/Perfect goodness. Duggan gets trapped in the heel corner where Andre, who hasn't tagged in all match yet, grabs and headbutts him. After a long speed run Santana gets a crossbody on Bravo for 2. Corner floatover cradle from Santana for a long 2. Race hits a piledriver on Santana for 2. Santana flying forearm outta nowhere on Race! That gets a pin and Race is out. First blood for the face team. But unfortunately for Santana, Andre decides to finally enter the fray. That doesn't go well for Santana. Santana, insanely, tries a sunset flip on Andre. He must have hit his head bad somewhere in there. Andre sits right on Santana and pins him. It's now four on two. Duggan runs in with a clothesline and Andre gets tied in the ropes! The two remaining faces take full advantage. Andre finally gets free from Roberts and tags out to Rude. Ventura asks who Cheryl Roberts is cheering for, referencing their nearly run its course feud. Roberts goes in peril as the heel team works him over. Roberts comes back with a short clothesline on Bravo. He sets up for the DDT but Rude takes him out with a clothesline before he can hit it. Like the last match, things start to drag a bit as they struggle to fill all the time the match has left. Bravo piledriver on Roberts for 2. Roberts dodges Bravo elbow drops and gets the tag to his only remaining partner, Duggan. Frenchy distracts Duggan and Bravo knees him in the back to send him out to the floor. Bravo then slams Duggan on the floor. Duggan loses his cool, gets his 2x4 and nails Bravo with it in the ring right in front of the ref. Duggan is out by DQ. He shouts "BULLSHIT" as Marella tells him and it's bleeped out. Roberts is all alone against a still four strong heel team. Four and a half with Andre. The heels know Roberts is sneaky so they take some time to game plan. It's four on one, I'd attack, attack, attack. You can spare a pawn or two. Roberts fights Perfect off and again the heels confer. Big Roberts kneelift on Perfect. Perfect says that's enough and tags Bravo in. Bravo knucklelocks Roberts down. When Roberts gets free he tries for a flash DDT but Bravo backdrops free. Rude tags in and Roberts slides out to the floor. Rude finally gets the opening and Roberts goes in peril. Gutbuster from Rude. Rude slaps Roberts around imploring him to fight. That can't be smart. Rude keeps the advantage though, and tries a bear hug. Roberts quickly gets free. Rude then goes up top and hits a fistdrop. But he still won't finish Roberts off, he's still playing with his food. Roberts grabs him from behind and hits the DDT! Rude is out! Andre comes in and pounds on Roberts. He chokes Roberts in the corner and won't let go, and even bites Roberts! Marella has enough and DQ's Andre! Roberts has been choked half to death though and just collapses in the middle of the ring. Perfect comes in, covers Roberts with no additional moves, and gets the pin to finish the match. Another very solid match, though again let down by having to fill more time than it really needed. SURVIVORS: Mr. Perfect and Dino Bravo **3/4

 

The Mega Powers, Koko B Ware, Hercules & Hillbilly Jim (w/Elizabeth) def The Twin Towers, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, King Haku & The Red Rooster (w/Slick, Virgil & Bobby Heenan) in 29:10- The Twin Towers are the Big Boss Man and Akeem (a repackaged One Man Gang as a white theoretically African rapper with zero rhythm). They would be heavily involved in the coming Mega Powers breakup when we really get into WM 5 build after the first of the year, and Boss Man is Hogan's current feud on the house show loop. Herc had just turned face after Heenan tried to sell his contract to DiBiase to be literally a slave, which is why DiBiase is in this match despite his beef with the Mega Powers being over. Hogan, naturally, gets his own entrance after everyone else and wants to go RIGHT NOW but the rest of his team holds him back. Once the ring clears out it's old foes Savage and DiBiase starting. In true WWF style no reference is made to their prior feud. They've certainly still got it chemistry wise though, not that you'd doubt it with those two. When DiBiase is down Savage tags Herc in. He tears after DiBiase, who gets the hell out of town. After a small chase on the floor it's Rooster in with Herc. Poor Terry Taylor. He was always one of the most consistently good workers of the entire era, and now he's saddled with the gimmick of a delusional guy that didn't know how to wrestle and had to have Heenan coach him every second. The face's jobber, Ware, then gets in trouble. The faces then get Haku on the ropes. Hogan and Jim hit him with a double big boot for 2. Rooster tries to slam Jim and that doesn't end well for him. The two jobbers then have a spiffy exchange. Missile dropkick from Ware for 2. Rooster turns around into a tagged in Hogan and about shits his pants. Hogan big boot and slam, Savage elbow, and Rooster is the first one out. The face team celebrate like they just won the whole match. You just got the RED ROOSTER out, I'd wait a while before celebrating anything. The Mega Powers work Haku over after the reset. Jim and Akeem have some big man violence. Clothesline from Akeem, he hits the 747 (still called that despite his gimmick change), and Jim is eliminated. The Mega Powers try to chop the big Akeem tree down. Herc tries and he still won't go down. Akeem dodges a Ware corner dive and Boss Man tags in for the first time. The first thing he does is hit Ware with the Boss Man Slam and Ware is out. Hogan gets right in and wants at Boss Man. Like Akeem, Hogan pounds away on Boss Man but Boss Man won't go down. Even the big boot doesn't do it. Hogan calls for and hits a slam to finally get Boss Man down for half a second. But then Hogan runs into a Boss Man spinebuster! Towers double back elbow on Hogan. Hogan actually goes fully in peril. After some DiBiase fistdrops he Hulks Up and hits an atomic drop. Herc tags in and wails away on DiBiase. Virgil trips Herc, DiBiase knees him in the back, and rolls him up to pin him. The Mega Powers are now alone against four other heels. Savage sneaks in, rolls DiBiase up (with tights), and pins him! So much for that. Three on two now. The Mega Powers get the smallest guy left, Haku, isolated. Until Haku hits Hogan with the superkick to get him in peril again. Boss Man quickly gets back in to work Hogan over again. Haku puts on the Nerve Pinch of Double Fisting +2. Boss Man Slam on Hogan. But Boss Man doesn't cover. No one can figure out why. Instead Boss Man in a fit of insanity goes up top. Hogan dodges a big splash. Tag to Savage. He fires away on the whole heel team, until Slick hits him in the back with his cane. Boss Man puts Savage in a bear hug while Slick for some reason tries to drag Elizabeth away. Hogan runs over and saves her. The Towers attack Hogan on the floor, then handcuff him to the bottom rope. While they were out there Boss Man was counted out. He doesn't care and works Hogan over with the nightstick to keep their feud going. Boss Man then hits Savage in the back with the nightstick as the whole thing devolves to pure chaos. Hebner can't DQ Boss Man, so he DQ's Akeem instead. Now Haku is all alone against the Mega Powers, but Hogan's still handcuffed. Haku works Savage over in the ring. While that's going on Slick taunts Hogan with the handcuff key just out of reach. Savage dodges a dropkick and goes to his corner, but Hogan's not there to tag. While trying a double team Haku superkicks Slick. Elizabeth saves the day by nicking the keys out of Slick's pocket and freeing Hogan. Haku hits a big splash off the top rope. Savage kicks out! Then Haku makes a big mistake, superkicking Savage back into his own corner where Hogan was waiting to tag in. Big boot, slam, legdrop, good night. The work in this match was just fine from everyone involved, but layout wise it turned into a bit of a mess down the stretch with everyone seemingly more interested in protecting their spots than doing what was good for the match. On the whole it still works though. SURVIVORS: The Mega Powers ***

After the bell Hogan gives Elizabeth a huge hug and Savage gives him a bit of a "what the hell" sideways glance. There's some foreshadowing for later.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- There's a lot of "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" shows from this era, that are much better than the pure match ratings look on paper. This is kind of the opposite. On paper it looks good, but it doesn't really play out that way watching it. It's not *bad*, but it's not anything special either. Other than the Demolition/Powers of Pain double turn it's pretty inconsequential too. Part of the problem was with only four matches everything was stretched out to and sometimes beyond breaking point to fill the show's runtime. That's an adjustment that'll be made next year, with more matches and slightly smaller teams.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

 

v2.0 posted 10/26/26