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November 15th
On this day in history in ....
1954 - Tex McKenzie & Ilio DiPaolo defeat Tiny & Al Mills in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Title.
1976 - Greg Valentine defeats Tim Woods to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic
Television Title.
1983 - Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson defeat The Samoans (Afa & Sika)
for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Allentown, Pennsylvania, ending The Samoans
third, and final, tag title reign. The Samoans would continue to defend the tag
straps on house shows until the title change airs on TV on December 9, 1983.
1989 - The NWA holds their ninth Clash Of The Champions event at the RPI
Fieldhouse in Troy, New York. Titled "New York Knockout", the show
aired a 4.9 rating for TBS, and featured the final battle in the classic 1989
feud between Ric Flair and Terry Funk. Here are the results:
- The Freebirds (Jim Garvin & Michael Hayes) defeated The Road Warriors via
DQ when Hawk threw the referee to the side after getting annoyed with the
Freebirds double teaming Animal.
- Ric Flair was presented with the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Wrestler Of
The Decade" trophy, and Sting was given the NWA "Most Popular
Wrestler" trophy.
- Doom defeated Eddie Gilbert & Tommy Rich when Butch Reed pinned Rich after
a clothesline/bearhug combo.
- The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) defeated The Dynamic Dudes
(Johnny Ace & Shane Douglas) when Eaton pinned Douglas. The story of the
match was that Jim Cornette was standing in a "neutral" corner, as he
had been advising the Dudes while managing the Midnights. At the end of the
match, Bobby Eaton was going to use a chain on Douglas, but Cornette grabbed it
and tossed it away. Then, Cornette turned and blasted Douglas with his tennis
racket so Eaton could get the pin. Cornette then celebrated with the Midnights,
having tricked the Dudes.
- Steve Williams defeated The Super Destroyer (Jack Victory under a mask) in
under two minutes with an Oklahoma Stampede.
- Rick & Scott Steiner defeated The Skyscrapers (Dan Spivey & Sid
Vicious) via DQ when Doom interfered. This was followed by The Road Warriors
running in, and a huge brawl breaking out.
- United States Champion Lex Luger defeated Brian Pillman after a chair shot.
Post-match, Sting came out for a brawl with Luger.
- NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Terry Funk in an "I
Quit" match when Funk was forced to submit to the figure four leglock.
Post-match, Funk shook Flair's hand, as he had promised in a pre-match
interview. Manager Gary Hart then attacked Funk, and was joined in his assault
by the Great Muta and the Dragonmaster. Sting came out for the save, but Lex
Luger attacked him. Hart, Muta, Dragonmaster and Luger beat down Sting, Funk and
Flair. Luger then took a steel chair and destroyed the trophies that had been
presented to Flair and Sting earlier in the evening. Recognized as one of the
best matches of Flair's career, this bout is included on the "Ultimate Ric
Flair Collection" DVD, which is available from Highspots.com.
1998 - WWE's Survivor Series Pay-per-view is held in St. Louis, Missouri.
Here is a "Survivor Series Retro" look back at the show by Matt Shalk.
SURVIVOR SERIES 1998
November 15, 1998
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Arena: Kiel Center
Attendance: 19, 322
Survivor Series 1998 featured a 14 man tournament to determine a new World
Wrestling Federation Champion. Two months earlier at Breakdown: In Your House,
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin lost the championship in a Triple Threat
Match when Kane and the Undertaker pinned him simultaneously. Mr. McMahon
declared the title vacant, and ordered a match between Kane and the Undertaker
at Judgment Day: In Your House to determine a new champion. To add insult to his
loss, Steve Austin was forced to referee the match. The match ended when the
Undertaker hit Kane with a chair and covered him, but Austin refused to count
the pin. Instead, Austin stunned the Undertaker and hit him with the chair,
counted both men down, and declared himself the winner. Mr. McMahon was furious,
and fired Steve Austin on the spot. The next night on RAW McMahon announced
there would be a tournament at Survivor Series to determine a new WWF Champion.
Despite his termination, Steve Austin still appeared on RAW that night,
kidnapping Mr. McMahon and embarrassing him in the ring (think "Bang
3:16"). The next week, it was revealed that Shane McMahon had rehired Steve
Austin and but promised him a WWF Championship match the night after Survivor
Series. Instead, Mr. McMahon entered Austin into the tournament, noting that he
would need to win four matches to capture the championship instead of just one.
Elsewhere in the company, the Rock was quickly gaining fan support despite still
being a heel, and Mr. McMahon and the Corporation seemed determined to help
Mankind win the championship tournament at Survivor Series…
or were they?
RESULTS:
► First Round Match: Mankind advanced in the tournament when he quickly
pinned Duane Gill following a double-arm DDT. Gill was a "mystery
opponent" handpicked for Mankind by Mr. McMahon.
► First Round Match: Al Snow advanced in the tournament when he pinned
Jeff Jarrett following a Head shot. Debra McMichael, making her WWF debut,
accompanied Jeff Jarrett to ringside.
► First Round Match: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated the Big
Bossman when the Bossman was disqualified for hitting Austin with his
nightstick. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin advanced in the tournament.
► First Round Match: Stephen Regal and X-Pac fought to a double count out.
Commissioner Slaughter ordered a five minute overtime period, but X-Pac could
not continue and the match was ruled a draw. Because neither man advanced in the
tournament, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin received a bye into the
semi-finals.
► First Round Match: Ken Shamrock forced Goldust to submit with the ankle
lock. Shamrock advanced in the tournament.
► First Round Match: The Rock pinned Big Bossman with a small package to
advance in the in the tournament. Triple H was originally scheduled to face The
Rock, but Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson announced that the Big Bossman, making
his second appearance of the evening, would face The Rock instead.
► Second Round Match: The Undertaker defeated Kane following a tombstone
piledriver. Paul Bearer accompanied the Undertaker to ringside. Both men had
received a bye into the second round. The Undertaker advanced in the tournament.
► Second Round Match: Mankind advanced in the tournament when he forced Al
Snow to submit with the "Mr. Socko" mandible claw.
► Second Round Match: The Rock pinned Ken Shamrock to advance in the
tournament. The Big Bossman tried to throw his nightstick to Ken Shamrock, but
The Rock intercepted it and used it on Shamrock, scoring the pin.
► Sable pinned Jacqueline following a Sable Bomb to regain the WWF Women’s
Championship.
► Semi-Final Match: Mankind pinned "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
Steve Austin covered Mankind following a Stone Cold Stunner, but Mr. McMahon
broke up the count and incapacitated the referee. Austin hit Mankind with a
second Stunner, and Shane McMahon ran in to make the count, but stopped at two
and gave Austin a pair of middle fingers. Austin chased Shane, but Gerald Brisco
and Pat Patterson stopped him with a chair shot, allowing Mankind to make the
pin and advance to the tournament final.
► Semi-Final Match: The Rock advanced to the tournament final when he
defeated The Undertaker via disqualification. The Undertaker was disqualified
when Kane chokeslammed The Rock. Following the match, the Undertaker attacked
the referee, the he and Kane fought into the crowd.
► The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) retained the WWF Tag
Team Championship by defeating The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) and D-Lo
Brown & Mark Henry in a Triple Threat Match. Billy Gunn pinned Headbanger
Mosh to win the match.
► Tournament Final: The Rock defeated Mankind to win the vacant WWF
Championship. The Rock had Mankind in the Sharpshooter, and Mr. McMahon called
for the bell and screwed Mankind in a repeat of the finish to the Survivor
Series 1997 main event. McMahon and the Corporation celebrated with the new
"Corporate Champion," until "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
returned and cleared the ring, hitting The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner to end
the show.
CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE: Big Bossman substituted for Triple H in his first round
match against The Rock. Triple H was out of action with a knee injury.
NOTES: Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler did commentary for the
event. Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich did Spanish commentary. Michael Cole,
Kevin Kelly, & Dok Hendrix handled backstage interviews. Howard Finkel was
the ring announcer....Too Much (Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor) defeated
The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy), The J.O.B. Squad (Bob Holly &
Scorpio) defeated LOD 2000 (Animal & Darren Drozdov), Val Venis defeated
Tiger Ali Singh, and Gangrel defeated Steve Blackman in matches featured on
Sunday Night Heat prior to the pay-per-view....The theme for the pay-per-view
was "Deadly Game" complete with its own original theme music.
Buck Woodward: I remember thinking that this tournament has so much
potential, and loved the way they had Rock, Undertaker, Austin and Foley in the
semifinals. But, everything was so overbooked, with the interference and
screwjobs, that it killed the show for me, especially when they redid the 1997
finish for the Foley double-cross. Of course, it wouldn't be the last time they
overdid the '97 screwjob.
Mike Johnson: Like Buck, I thought the finish was overbooked, although it
was more a middle finger to Bret Hart than anything else....The bit introducing
Duane Gill was brilliance, as was the Titantron video of him getting totally
wrecked....I thought this was a really entertaining show, as the booking made
sense once you looked back at the final result and saw all the small pieces that
built to a larger story....That Foley victory over Austin is pretty much
forgotten by history, but I believe it was his first WWF victory over him.
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