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SURVIVOR SERIES RETRO: LOOKING BACK AT EVERY SURVIVOR SERIES PPV

By Matt Shalk, Buck Woodward & Mike Johnson on 2010-11-20 09:00:00

SURVIVOR SERIES 1988

November 24, 1988

Location: Richfield, Ohio

Arena: Richfield Coliseum

Attendance: 13, 500

RESULTS:

â–º The Powers of Pain (Barbarian & Warlord), The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid), The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart), The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty), & The Young Stallions (Paul Roma & Jim Powers) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax & Smash), The Brainbusters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard), The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau), The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zuchov), & The Conquistadors (Jose Luis Rivera & Miguel Perez) in a team elimination match. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan accompanied The Brainbusters to ringside. Slick accompanied The Bolsheviks. Jimmy Hart accompanied The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. Mr. Fuji accompanied Demolition. The Powers of Pain and Demolition were co-captains of their respective teams.

In this match, if one member of a tag team was eliminated, his partner was eliminated as well.

Eliminations: Bret Hart pinned Raymond Rougeau with a small package (The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers are eliminated). Boris Zuchov pinned Jim Powers after rolling through a crossbody (The Young Stallions are eliminated). Marty Jannetty pinned Boris Zuchov with a sunset flip (The Bolsheviks are eliminated). Tully Blanchard pinned Bret Hart when Hart hit a German suplex but failed to get his shoulders off the mat (The Hart Foundation are eliminated). The Brainbusters and the Rockers were both disqualified for brawling with each other and accidentally hitting the referee (The Brainbusters and The Rockers are eliminated). Demolition Smash pinned the Dynamite Kid following a clothesline (The British Bulldogs are eliminated). Demolition Smash was running the ropes, but his manager Mr. Fuji held them open, and Smash fell to the floor and was counted out (Demolition are eliminated). Demolition attacked Mr. Fuji before leaving ringside, but the Barbarian and the Warlord picked him up and welcomed him into their corner. The Barbarian pinned Conquistador #1 following a head butt (The Conquistadors are eliminated) to win the match for his team.

Survivors: The Powers of Pain (Barbarian & Warlord)

Following the match, the Powers of Pain celebrated with Mr. Fuji, but Demolition returned and cleared the ring, effectively completing a double-turn that repositioned Demolition as babyfaces and the Powers of Pain as heels managed by Mr. Fuji.

â–º WWF Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Sam Houston, & Jim Brunzell defeated The Honky Tonk Man, "Outlaw" Ron Bass, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, & Bad News Brown in a team elimination match.

Jimmy Hart accompanied The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, & Danny Davis to ringside. The Ultimate Warrior & Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and The Honky Tonk Man & "Outlaw" Ron Bass were co-captains of their respective teams.

Eliminations: Brutus Beefcake eliminated Danny Davis with a sleeper. Bad News Brown pinned Jim Brunzell following a Ghetto Blaster. Greg Valentine accidentally hit Bad News Brown, and Brown responded by walking out on his team and getting counted out. Ron Bass pinned Sam Houston. Greg Valentine forced the Blue Blazer to submit to the figure four. Brutus Beefcake and the Honky Tonk Man fought on the floor until both men were counted out. The Ultimate Warrior pinned Ron Bass following a double axe handle. The Ultimate Warrior also hit Greg Valentine with a double axe handle, and made the pin to win the match for his team.

Survivor: The Ultimate Warrior

â–º "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "King" Harley Race, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect, & Andre the Giant defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera, & Scott Casey in a team elimination match.

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan accompanied "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "King" Harley Race, & Andre the Giant to ringside. Frenchy Martin accompanied Dino Bravo. Jake "The Snake" Roberts & "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Andre the Giant & Dino Bravo were co-captains of their respective teams.

Eliminations: Rick Rude pinned Ken Patera following a Rude Awakening. Dino Bravo hit Scott Casey with a side slam and made the pin. Tito Santana pinned Harley Race following a flying forearm. Andre the Giant pinned Tito Santana by sitting on him when Santana attempted a sunset flip. Jim Duggan was disqualified for using his 2x4 on Dino Bravo. Jake Roberts pinned Rick Rude following a DDT. Andre the Giant was disqualified for choking Jake Roberts. Mr. Perfect pinned the incapacitated Jake Roberts to win the match for his team.

Survivors: Dino Bravo & Mr. Perfect

â–º The Mega-Powers (Hulk Hogan & WWF Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage), Hillbilly Jim, Hercules, & Koko B. Ware defeated The Twin Towers (Big Bossman & Akeem), "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, King Haku, & The Red Rooster in a team elimination match. Slick accompanied Big Bossman & Akeem to ringside. Virgil accompanied "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan accompanied King Haku & The Red Rooster. Hulk Hogan & "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Big Bossman & Akeem were co-captains of their respective teams.

Eliminations: Randy Savage hit the Red Rooster with a big elbow and made the pin. Akeem pinned Hillbilly Jim following a big splash. Big Bossman hit a Bossman Slam and pinned Koko B. Ware. Ted DiBiase pinned Hercules. Following the elimination, Hercules attacked Virgil, distracting Ted DiBiase. Randy Savage rolled up the distracted DiBiase for the pin. Akeem and the Big Bossman attacked Hulk Hogan outside the ring, handcuffing him to the bottom rope. The Big Bossman was counted out in the process. Akeem and the Big Bossman then attacked Randy Savage, and the referee disqualified Akeem. Miss Elizabeth freed Hulk Hogan from the handcuffs, and a big boot and leg drop allowed Hogan to pin Haku and win the match for his team.

Survivors: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage

CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE: The Junkyard Dog was originally scheduled to compete as a member of the Jake Roberts / Jim Duggan team, but left the WWF for the NWA prior to the event. B. Brian Blair was initially announced as his replacement. Blair, however, also ended up leaving the company prior to the pay-per-view, and Scott Casey ultimately filled the empty spot on the team. Don Muraco was originally scheduled to compete as a member of the Ultimate Warrior / Brutus Beefcake team, but Muraco left the company prior to the event. He was replaced on the team by Jim Brunzell.

NOTES: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse "The Body" Ventura did commentary for the event. "Mean" Gene Okerlund & Sean Mooney handled interviews. Howard Finkel was the ring announcer....The pay-per-view was eventually made available for video rental through Coliseum Home Video, though the show was edited to two hours. The second and third matches were clipped on the release, and the tag team opener and the main event were included in their entirety.

Buck Woodward: The "didn't know it at the time" incident from this show was that the Rougeau Brothers were eliminated so quickly in order to avoid the Dynamite Kid, who was looking to give them some payback from a backstage fight from a short time earlier. ... Scott Casey on a Pay-per-view. Sort of proved WWF was stretching their roster to the limit for this thing. ... It was around this time I was starting to enjoy the NWA more, as I felt the WWF main events were too limited, with it always being Hogan and Savage and the heel of the moment on top.

Mike Johnson: I remember the tag team match being great because there was so much back and forth action that was fun, and it evolved over a long time, which was a rarity for WWF matches at the time. No one would have guessed the Conquistadores of all people, were going to be the last heel team out. I remember the double turn with the Powers of Pain and Demolition not really working live, but WWF corrected that once they played the story out on their weekly TV. How funny was it to see Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s team using guys like Hillbilly Jim and Koko B. Ware when every fan watching knew that they were hardly main event performers, even then?....This will go down as the forgotten PPV debut of Owen Hart, and I recall he actually was injured during the PPV because when he wrestled Greg Valentine a few days later at Madison Square Garden, he was working a totally different style with no real high spots.

 


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