WWF Survivor Series 1990
As I put this video into my machine, I discover it's the first time I've watched it since I bought it, which must be around a year and a half ago now. And people call me a money waster. Shows what they know!
Clearly this is a re-released version, as we see the WWF Attitude superbowl commercial before entering into the program. When we do, we begin with a Coliseum Video exclusive from Sean Mooney, who talks about the match of survival (all Survivor Series winners will advance to this match at the end of the night), and introduces us to the giant egg, which will hatch later tonight...
Into the event proper, and Vinny Mac runs down the match line-up for tonight, and then we're formally introduced again, by our announce team for the evening, Gorilla Monsoon and Rowdy Roddy Pothead, sorry, Piper. They talk more about the match of survival, and then Piper wishes the troops over in Iraq all the best. The music of Mr. Perfect sounds in the arena, and we're ready for our first match.
The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect and Demolition)
vs.
The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, and LOD)
Ax, Smash and Crush, along with Mr. Fuji come down to the ring, followed shortly after by Mr. Perfect, along with Bobby Heenan. We then cut to Mean Gene, who's with The Warriors. All four men try their best to out-yell each other (don't you just love early 90's promos), with the Warrior coming out the clear winner. He mentions that he has asked Skeletons to follow him. Come on now Jimmy, Stacy Keibler is still 11 years away from joining the company.
Back at ringside, the IC champion, Texas Tornado, makes his way out, followed by LOD, and then the Warrior. Warrior appears to be getting a Jeff Hardy-esque reaction from the crowd, with mainly high-pitched pops.
Animal and Smash get us started, with Smash getting punched into the Warriors' corner, and tasting the fist of all four members of the team. An irish whip soon after sees Animal putting his head down too early and getting thumped by Smash. The future Repo Man then uses the first actual move of the night, by executing a suplex, which gets a 2 count. Animal then gets his head rammed into two different boots in the corner, before Smash tags in Hennig. He hits a couple of punches and chops, before tagging straight back out to Smash again.
An irish whip is reversed, leading to Smash getting powerslammed by Animal. Perfect runs in, swings for a punch and misses, leading to a rather well-worked spot. Animal hits an atomic drop on Perfect, who then bounces over to Hawk, who hits a manhattan drop. As Hennig reels from this, he stops just before the Tornado can hit him, only to turn around and be clotheslined down by the Warrior.
The Tornado is now tagged in, but he gets caught in the corner by Demolition and Perfect. Ax gets tagged in, and he hits a few punches on Von Erich. He whips the Tornado to the corner, but this is reversed, and then Von Erich executes the Claw! Smash breaks this, but Tornado then tags the Warrior. He hits a shoulderblock and a flying tackle, as Ax seems to be confused by the paint-laden freak zipping past him. A big splash sees Warrior get the 3 count, and Ax the first man eliminated. With quick jobs like that, it's no wonder he couldn't afford his hair gel tonight.
Smash and Crush now get slammed by the Warrior, as Perfect is thrown over the top. The momentum soon shifts though, as Crush clotheslines down the Warrior, and then hits a series of stomps. A few punches later, Smash is tagged in, and he hits a scoop backbreaker. Crush then comes off the top with a rather powerful looking knee drop. A very dangerous move, which could have caused the Warrior a chronic injury, bwahahahahahaha...ahem. The Warrior kicks out at 2 following this.
Crush hits a few more punches, and then whips the Warrior to the corner. Warrior sticks his boot out to stop Crush, and then tags in Hawk, as Perfect comes back in. Hawk blocks a couple of punches, and then executes a double arm choke. He then shoves Perfect into the turnbuckle from this, and then hits a big clothesline as he bounces back.
An attempted irish whip sees Perfect stumble to the ground and bop his head on the middle turnbuckle pad. Perhaps he and Piper had been doing some recreational work before the show. Hawk, ever the professional, picks up Perfect, and then whips him back to the other corner. He runs in, but Perfect moves and Hawk gets posted.
Smash comes back in, and then Demolition start to double team Hawk, before Perfect gets tagged in once more. After a few quick tags, an irish whip is reversed by Hawk. After a duck underneath, Hawk hits a flying shoulderblock, USING THE INJURED SHOULDER. Great bit of selling there, Hawkster. He then hits a fistdrop and clothesline, before climbing the titan-tron, sorry, turnbuckle.
Hawk then hits the flying clothesline, again using the injured arm to do this. He covers, but only gets a 2 count, as Crush breaks the fall. Animal comes in to attack Crush. As the two teams brawl in the ring, Smash ends up shoving down the referee, while Hawk gives him a kick to the gut (the ref, that is). Not one to take a beating lying down, the referee then disqualifies...both LOD and Demolition! That's right, even though Crush and Animal didn't lay a finger on the ref, they got DQ'd as well. A rather crappy way to take four guys out of the match, if you ask me. LOD get a small amount of revenge by double clotheslining Crush.
So we're now down to 2 on 1. Warrior and Perfect are in the ring, but Perfect wants the Tornado. The tag is made, and then Hennig attacks Von Erich as he comes in. Tornado reverses the attack in the corner, and then hits a spinning punch, which sends Perfect over the top. Perfect gets back on the apron, but is then flipped back into the rin, only to be clotheslined back over the top on the other side.
Heenan goes over to console his man, but the Warrior comes from behind and bangs their heads together. This raises the ire of the outside referee, who just happens to be Shane McMahon. Shane grabs the Warriors hair, places him on the announce table, and then elbow drops him through it. Or at least, he would have done, if this were 10 years later than it actually is. As it is, he sends the Warrior back to his corner.
After a whip to the corner, the Texas Tornado ends up getting his shoulder posted. Perfect takes control, with his classic knee-lift. A punch by Perfect is blocked, as the Tornado attempts to fire back. However, Perfect grabs him by the hair, and then bops his head into the turnbuckle. A Perfect Plex later, and Von Erich is down and out for the 3 count. Piper then notes the the turnbuckle cover has been exposed, which is obviously why it had such an effect on the champ.
As Hennig relaxes in the corner, Warrior runs in for a big splash, but Perfect moves out of the way, and then hits another Perfect Plex, which only gets 2. Punches from Perfect see the WWF Champion trying to Warrior-up, only for a dropkick to down him. This gets a 2 count. Heenan continues to argue with Shane O Mac on the outside, as Perfect fires away with chops, punches and a clothesline for a 2 count. He then resorts to a few stomps.
All of a sudden, Warrior blocks a punch from Perfect, and starts to Warrior up. He hits clotheslines, a flying shoulder tackle, and then the big splash to get a 3 count. Heenan then takes a punch for his troubles.
Warrior advances to the Match of Survival, while this match gets * 1/2. A few nice spots, but the double DQ, too much punching, and the fact that they felt the need to have such a big gap between the second Perfect Plex and Hennig's elimination let it down.
Mean Gene is with the Million Dollar Team, sans their mystery partner. DiBiase assires us that he's coming soon, and that he'll be a big, very big surprise. DiBiase then rips on all of the opponents, thus saving us from having to hear any words from Rhythm and Blues. We then cut back to ringside.
The Dream Team
(Dusty Rhodes, the Hart Foundation, and Koko B Ware)
vs.
The Million Dollar Team
(Ted DiBiase, Rhythm & Blues, and a mystery partner)
Rhodes' music hits, and he leads his team out to the ring. By this point in his WWF career, Dusty had dropped the polka dot attire, in favour of black trunks with a red trim. Piper notes that Bret is competing here tonight, despite the fact that his brother Dean had died just the day before.
Rhythm & Blues are out next, followed by DiBiase, who introduces the mystery partner. Accompanied by his manager Brother Love, it's none other than...The Undertaker, making his WWF debut. Gorilla and Piper are shocked by the size of him. And for those of you who don't believe that today's Undertaker is the same one that debuted, take a good look at his face in this event, and you'll know that is always has been, and always will be Mark Calloway.
Bret and the Taker get the match started, with Undertaker hitting a kick to the gut, and then thumping Bret on the back. Bret bounces off the ropes, ducks underneath a clothesline, but then gets somewhat sloppily chokeslammed down to the canvas. Taker continues to choke Bret on the ground. When this is released, Bret tags in the Anvil.
Anvil hits a shoulderblock, which does nothing. He bounces off the ropes again, but this time gets caught and slammed down. Anvil now tags Koko, who bounces off the ropes and leaps at the Taker. Taker, though, sidesteps and shoves Koko so that he guillotines himself on the top rope. We then see the debut of the Tombstone, looking rather vicious back in those days, and then Koko is out for the three count.
Bret's back in now, and he gets shoved into the ropes. He responds with punches, which Taker completely no-sells. In fact, after the third punch, Taker simply turns his head to Greg Valentine and tags him in. Bret, in the mean-time, tags in Dusty Rhodes.
Rhodes and the Hammer lock up, as Dusty is backed into a corner. They trade chops, before Dusty hits an elbow. Anvil is tagged in, and he gives Hammer a few thumps, before tagging in Bret again. Bret pounds on the Hammer in the corner, before whipping him to the other side. Bret charges in, but Valentine gets his boot up. He then drags Bret to the corner and tags in the Honky Tonk Man.
He gives Bret a few stomps, and a kick to the gut. Bret tries to fight back, but ends up getting kitchen sinked. While Honky showboats, Bret gets a blind tag to the Anvil. Not realising this, Honky whips Bret into the ropes, but gets reversed. Bret ducks down, and then Honky is caught by the Anvil. A big powerslam and a 3 count later, and Honky is eliminated. Ah, there's nothing like the Survivor Series for making guys look weak. Except maybe the Royal Rumble.
DiBiase comes in and attacks the Anvil now, chopping him in the corner. However, an Irish Whip is reversed, and then Anvil nails a clothesline. After a slam, Rhodes is tagged in, and he goes to work on Ted DiBiase, hitting 10 bionic elbows in the corner. You know, I really think that Rhodes should start using John Cena's finisher, but spin around 360 degrees before hitting it. Then he could call it the F.U. Wheel. Ahem.
Rhodes whips DiBiase into the ropes and hits a dropkick, and then tags in the Anvil. A double team elbow earns a 2-count, followed by a suplex, which also gets 2. Following a headlock, Anvil hits a shoulderblock on DiBiase. He then runs into the ropes for another one, but Virgil hooks his leg. Anvil turns around and argues with Virgil, before turning his attention back to the match. Unfortunately, DiBiase is ready and nails a clothesline as soon as Neidhart turns, thus putting him out for a 3 count. No, really, one simple little clothesline was enough to pin the Anvil. See what I mean about the Survivor Series?
Bret comes in and starts punching away at DiBiase, a few kicks to the guts and punches are executed, and then Rhodes comes in. DiBiase, however, regains the advantage, hitting a clothesline, and then tagging in the Undertaker. Taker runs off the ropes and hits a jumping stomp, but this isn't enough to stop Rhodes from tagging Bret.
Taker attacks, throwing Bret to the corner, and then tagging in Greg Valentine again. However, the Taker decides to continue choking Bret. Valentine hits a few kicks of his own, before tagging in DiBiase, who starts to chop away at Bret. Bret manages to punch his way out of the corner though, before hitting a Manhatten drop. He gets the tag to Rhodes, who hits a few more elbows, before DiBiase tags the Taker. Taker attacks Rhodes, while the Dweam tries to get at DiBiase.
A reversed irish whip follows, before Taker kitchen sinks Dusty. He then goes to the top turnbuckle, walks along the rope and hits a double axe handle on Rhodes for the 1, 2, 3. If you're keeping score folks, that's a slam, a clothesline, and a double axe handle that have generated pins in this match. Bret is now the only man left against 3 members of the Million Dollar Team.
Taker throws Rhodes over the top, and then gets wailed on by Bret. Again, it has no effect and the Dead Man headbutts the Hitman. Outside the ring, Brother Love is putting the boots to Dusty Rhodes. Back inside, the Hammer is in again, but he misses an elbow drop.
After repeated kicks by Brother Love to Dusty Rhodes, Dusty gets up, and starts backing Rhodes down the aisle. Not taking too kindly to this, the Undertaker comes from behind and attacks Rhodes, despite the best efforts of Shane O Mac to stop him. In doing this, he gets counted out and eliminated. Now, I don't mind them getting rid of him in this way, as it gets him out of the match without looking weak, but the fact is, the Taker WASN'T THE LEGAL FREAKIN' MAN! Chalk that up as lame elimination #4 for this match.
Back in the ring, the Hammer is still working on Bret. He goes for the figure four, but in a classic spot, Bret rolls him up and gets the three count. It's now down to 1 on 1, Bret Hart vs Ted DiBiase. Now there's a potential five star match-up. I don't know if these guys ever fought during Bret's singles pushes, but if they did, I'd like to see those matches.
Bret attacks DiBiase, who then swings and misses, before being atomic dropped. This causes DiBiase to go bouncing over the top to the outside. Bret vaults over the rope, down onto DiBiase, and nails a few punches for good measure. An eye rake from Ted gives him a brief advantage, but as he tries to ram Bret into the steel post, the Hitman reverses in, and then slams DiBiase's head into the steps.
Back into the ring they go, as DiBiase starts to beg off. Bret grabs him by the legs, as the crowd go wild. Now, if this match was taking place a year or more later, it would be Sharpshooter time, but for now, DiBiase receives a kick to the midsection. That's one of the worst things about watching pre-91 Bret matches, seeing him in the set-up position for the Sharpshooter, but knowing that he won't be using it.
Anyways, Bret remains in control, punching DiBiase in the corner. A whip is reversed, causing Bret to go sternum-first into the turnbuckle, another classic Hitman spot. This gets a 2 count. DiBiase appears to be weakening Bret's neck, looking for a possible Million Dollar Dream, and then starts to chop him in the corner. Bret gets irish whipped to the other side, but DiBiase puts his head down too early, allowing Bret to score a backslide for 2.
After a headlock, Bret gets whipped into the ropes and DiBiase ducks down. However, Bret catches his foot on DiBiase and goes down, holding his knee. Being the evil heel that he is, DiBiase celebrates this apparent match-ending injury, but makes the cardinal mistake of turning his back on Bret. The Hitman gets straight back up, and then rolls up DiBiase for another 2 count.
Virgil leaps up on the apron following this, causing Bret to swing at him. He misses, and the bodyguard grabs Bret's arms. DiBiase runs off the ropes, looking for a high knee, but Bret moves and Virgil gets hit. A school boy roll up gets another two count. Bret then hits the backbreaker and driving elbow combo for another two.
With the crowd getting behind the Hitman, he whips DiBiase into the ropes, but gets reversed. After ducking a clothesline, Bret fires back with a crossbody, but DiBiase rolls through on this and gets the three count. Bret, clearly disappointed by this, yells something out. We can't hear him, but his lips tell the whole story. He was clearly yelling the name of his favorite animal, the duck.
All in all, this match gets ** 1/2. While there were some rather weak eliminations, and again, far too much punching and kicking, the Bret vs DiBiase moments more than made up for it. It's a crime that these two never had a major feud over the Intercontinental Title. Anyways, DiBiase has advanced, leaving him and the Warrior on seperate teams for the Match of Survival.
We now cut to Mean Gene, who's standing by with the Vipers. Jake the Snake tells us how his team are all Survivors, and shows off his rather messed up eye. Nice to see that the budget stretched to white contact lenses in those days. In case you didn't know, this stemmed from Martel spraying his cologne, Arrogance, in Jake's eye.
The Vipers
(Jake Roberts, The Rockers, and Jimmy Snuka)
vs.
The Visionaries
(Rick Martel, Power & Glory, and the Warlord)
Martel leads the Visionaries to the ring, as I observe that his music is a tad similar to Val Venis' music. Could that be a suggestion of what type of modelling Rick Martel was involved in?
Jake's music then hits, and he's on his way to the ring, with Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty and Jimmy Snuka following behind. Gorilla Monsoon refers to Jimmy Snuka as the Phenom. The less said about his run as the Fijian Bad Ass, the better.
Jannetty and Goldberg, sorry, The Warlord, get started. Warlord tries a clothesline, but Jannetty ducks underneath. He then ducks under an attempted lock-up and another clothesline, before nailing a punch. Warlord eventually manages to trap Jannetty in a corner, twice shoving him back into it as he tries to run. Warlord charges, but Jannetty moves and gets out of the ring, before leaping over the rope with a dropkick. Two further dropkick attempts from Jannetty are swatted away, however.
Jannetty backs off a bit, before using some clever maneuvering, such as ducking underneath and sliding through Warberg's legs in order to avoid him. Following this, he nails Paul Roma and Rick Martel on the outside, before having two punches blocked by Hercules. However, as the Goldlord tries to come from behind, Jannetty moves and Herc ends up getting nailed by his own partner.
Jannetty makes it to the corner and tags Michaels, who doesn't seem too thrilled about being tagged in. Jannetty doesn't leave however, and then attempts a sunset flip on the Warlord. He won't go down, but Michaels clotheslines him into the move. Shawn then goes for the pin and gets a 2 count, before a big kick out.
Shawn is then shoved into the corner, where Rick Martel gets tagged in. He hits a few punches, and then tries to ram Michaels' head into the turnbuckle. Shawn blocks this with his foot, and then smacks Jannetty into the pad himself. Michaels puts on a headlock, and then gets whipped into the ropes, Martel tries a hiptoss, which Shawn flips out of, before delivering one of his own. After a couple of dropkicks, and a monkey flip out of the corner, Michaels tags in Jake. Martel, wanting no part of the Snake man, runs to the corner and tags in Paul Roma.
They lock up, but Roma takes control. Jake gets whipped, and Roma jumps over him, but then turns round and receives a punch in the jaw from Jake. After a quick arm wringer, Snuka gets tagged in, and then uses a few axe handles, before taunting Roma with "woo's". Clearly intimidated by this, Roma tags in Hercules.
After a shoulderblock, Herc runs into the ropes, before being taken down by a bug chop from Snuka. Herc tags in Bill Warlord. An attempted shoulderblock from Snuka does nothing. He tries again, but only ends up getting slammed. An attempted elbow drop from Warlord misses, allowing Snuka to hit a dropkick and then tag Marty Jannetty back in. Marty, however, only ends up getting bearhugged. He breaks out, and then goes to the top to hit a double axehandle. Seeing how this worked, he goes back up for another one, only to get caught, powerslammed, and then pinned. Jannetty is gone.
Michaels returns to the ring, hitting punches, and then whipping the Warlord into the ropes. Michaels attempts to leapfrog over, but gets caught in a kind of Last Ride position. However, the Warlord steps back far enough to allow Jake to give Shawn a shove, thus allowing him to execute a hurracanrana, or leg scissors, if your last name is Cole.
Shawn now tags Jake, who tries to knock down the big man. Punches won't do it, and a clothesline staggers hims, but it's still not good enough. Jake tries to whip him to the corner, but gets reversed, only to get his foot up in time to stop him from charging. Another clothesline finally takes the Warlord down. Jake then tags Shawn back in once more.
Michaels goes for the pin, but another big kick out from the Warlord sees him launched outside. Roma gets tagged in, and then gives Shawn a big elbow drop as he comes back in. Following a few stomps, the Warlord returns. He hits a whip and a huge baaaaaack body drop, before tagging Hercules. He executes a whip and hits a clothesline, before tagging in Martel. A knee drop gets 2, and then Martel smartly goes to work on Shawn's back. A backbreaker gets a 2 count.
Roma is tagged in now, who continues to attack the back of Michaels. A whip to the corner sees Michaels executing his version of the classic Flair flip. Martel comes in and gets a 2 count. He then whips Shawn to the other corner, but Michaels moves and Martel gets posted, thus allowing Shawn to tag Jimmy Snuka in.
Snuka goes to work, hitting a back body drop, and then a flying headbutt for a 2 count. Martel reverses a whip to the corner, but Jimmy jumps onto the ropes, and then comes back with a flying crossbody. Martel rolls through on it, and then grabs the tights to get a 3 count. It's down to 4 against 2.
Jake gets in and traps Martel in the corner, however the Model is able to sneak away and tags Hercules, leaving Jake frustrated. Michaels attempts to rally the crowd behind the Snake Man in the corner. Jake and Herc lock up, only for Herc to get in some shiulder thrusts. A whip is reversed, leading to a duck down, and then a knee lift from Jake. Jake goes for the DDT, but Herc gets away. The Visionaries decide to have a conference in the corner.
Jake and Herc lock up again, only for Jake to hit a few punches, knocking Herc back. However, Martel then runs across the apron and clotheslines him down. Piper is worried, because Jake didn't see Martel, despite the fact that he was on the side of his good eye. Roma comes in and puts the boots to Jake, followed up by a slam. A fist drop from the top misses though, and then Jake is able to tag in Michaels. Shawn hits a kick, punches and then a flying elbow attack.
Roma reverses a whip but puts his head down, allowing Michaels to hit a rather impressive suplex. Shawn then goes to the second rope and hits his flying elbowdrop. Kind of symbolic really, as he was still a few years away from taking that extra step to the very top. Roma kicks out after 2, and then swings and misses. However, he was able to get a blind tag to Hercules. Michaels hits a dropkick on Roma, but Herc nails him with an elbow drop before he can get up.
Shawn gets punched out in the corner, then whipped and clotheslined, before finally being hit with a press slam. In comes Martel, who nails a few punches, and then tags Herc in again. He hits a few more punches, and then sets Shawn up for the Power Plex. In case you didn't know what that is, Herc tags in Roma, and then superplexes Michaels, while Roma comes off the top rope opposite with a big splash. This gets 3, leaving Jake all alone against all 4 men.
The fans are really behind Jake, but he's not in the best of situations. Herc kicks him in the gut, and then punches him down. Warlord comes back in now for a spot more brawling, before executing another bearhug. Jake breaks this with a punch, but gets distracted by the Visionaries. The ref goes to admonish them, while Jake ends up hitting the DDT on Warlord. However, with no ref to count, Jake is screwed.
Martel runs in with the Arrogance, and then tries to spray it in Jake's good eye. It seems to hit, but Gorilla and Piper say it didn't so we'll believe them. Martel doesn't realise this and showboats, while Jake goes and unleashes Damien. He chases Martel out of the arena with it, but unfortunately for him, the referee is back on duty and counts him out. Unlike Earl Hebner however, this ref doesn't count out a non-legal man, just Jake. For the first time in Survivor Series history, an entire team has survived a match. Now the Warrior is facing a 5 on 1 handicap match later tonight.
This is another * 1/2 match. There may have been more wrestling moves than the opener, but there was still too much stalling and brawling, plus it went on too long for a match that was essentially a squash. A good showing for Shawn Michaels though, for the limited amount of time he was in there.
Sean Mooney is backstage with the Hulkamaniacs. Hogan calls them the baddest team of Hulkamaniacs ever. When you consider that he's taking about the Big Boss Man, Tugboat and Jim Duggan, you'd be inclined to agree with him. Hulk dedicates the upcoming match to the troops out in the middle east, and then offers his team's services to President Bush, before asking Saddam what he was going to do, when the Hulkamaniacs ran wild on him.
Part 2
Back to index