Nick Johnson’s rant for Survivor Series 1987
This was the first ever Survivor Series as the WWF has reached it’s peak and Vince McMahon wanted to give fans a new PPV for Thanksgiving. This event was held on Thanksgiving for the first 4 years before they switched it to Thanksgiving Eve. Now it’s on a Sunday in the middle of November
Live from the Richfield Colseium in Cleveland Ohio. On Thanksgiving Day, November 26 1987
Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura
Please note: Coliseum Video edited out portions of three of the matches. I’m only going with times of the matches on my VCR counter.
Gorilla and Jesse go over the ways of elimination of the Survivor Series
When a team member is eliminated in any way as above. He must return to the
locker room then you could have 5 VS 4 or possibly 5 VS 1
Opening Match Honky Tonk Man, King Harley Race, Hercules, Dangerous Danny Davis and Outlaw Ron Bass VS Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Savage gets a huge pop as he and Elizabeth enter the arena. Beefcake and Hercules start it off. They both tie up and Brutus does his strutting. Herc goes to work on Brutus. But Beefcake comes back and hooks the sleeper but Herc gets to his own corner. Danny Davis and Ron Bass both get hip tosses. Beefcake sends Davis in the ring the hard way. He takes Roberts and he goes to work on the arm of Davis. He tags Randy Savage who rams Davis’ head into the boot of Beefcake. Savage tags Steamboat who nails Davis with a flying chop and a karate kick. But misses a charge and Davis tags in the King Harley Race who goes to work on Steamboat. Steamboat hits Race with a flying chop. They both exchange rights. King sends Steamboat out over the ring twice but Steamboat comes back in ala Shawn Michaels. Ricky sends Race out of the ring but he comes back in and nails Steamboat with a belly to belly for a 2 count. Ricky tags in Jim Duggan who clotheslines Race to the floor. Duggan comes out and brawls with Race to the floor and both get counted out at 4:30. We continue with Roberts and Bass. Bass slams Jake but misses an elbow. Savage comes in and sends Bass into the corner. He nails Honky in the corner but gets clotheslined as a result. We cut to Savage blind tagging Beefcake and he nails Bass with the high knee for the pin at 5:35. Hercules comes in and starts beating up on Beefcake. Honky comes in and works on the arm of Brutus. He misses a right and gets atomic dropped. Beefcake starts beating up on Honky but he gets tripped up by Danny Davis on the outside and Honky gives him the Shake Rattle and Roll to pin and eliminate Beefcake at 7:10. Savage comes in and goes after Honky but Hercules is the legal man. Hercules and Danny Davis then beat up on Savage. Honky comes in and takes an elbow and Jake comes in and almost hits the DDT on Honky. Jake runs into a big boot in the corner. Honky starts beating on Roberts. He tags in Hercules who tries three consecutive times to pin Roberts but can’t do it. He tags Danny Davis who beats up Roberts but Jake starts coming back. He nails Davis with the short clothesline and then the DDT to pin Davis at 11:30. Hercules nails Roberts afterward though. He nails a couple of big elbows and gets a 2 count. Savage illegally comes in to beat up Honky but the ref brings him back. Honky starts a resthold and we cut to the end of it with Roberts getting up. He gets a knee lift on Honky but Honky tags in Hercules. Hercules does another resthold and Jake flips him over and Herc goes back to the chinlock. Jake nails Hercules and tags in Ricky Steamboat. And he starts killing Herc. He nails Honky in the corner as well. Steamboat goes to the top and nails another flying chop. He slams Hercules and tags Savage who nails the flying elbow for the pin at 16:36. Honky Tonk Man is the only man left on his team. And Savage, Steamboat and Roberts proceed to kill him for the next couple of minutes. Honky finally gets atomic dropped onto the floor and starts leaving the arena with Jimmy Hart and gets counted out at 19:14 the remaining surviors are Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and Jake Roberts. This was a pretty good opening match **3/4
Women’s Survivor Series Match, Sensation Sherri The Glamor Girls(Judy Martin and Lelani Kai), Dawn Marie, Donna Christenello VS The Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McEntyre, Rockin Robin, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itzuki Yamazaki and Noryno Tateno)
I might confuse the Bomb Angels so I’ll take a wild guess and choose which one is which since they both look alike. Sherri was the Champ at this point while the Glamor Girls were the tag champs and are managed by Jimmy Hart. Velvet and Sherri start it off. Sherri really goes to work on Velvet but Velvet gets a high cross body for 2. Moolah comes in and is booed. She starts hammering on the champ. But she tags out to Donna. Donna is slingshoted across the ring. Tateno comes in hits a dropkick and misses one. Velvet comes back in and works on Donna. A nice shoulder straddle into a pin gets Donna at 1:57. Kai comes in and starts beating on Velvet. Velvet does a swinging Hurricurana and a one foot drop kick. Robin comes in and gets in the wrong corner. Marie gets tagged in and goes to work on Robin. She tags Judy Martin. Robin gets a high cross body for 2. But she gets in trouble again as Sherri works on him some more. Marie comes in but Robin nails a clothesline and then a high cross body pins Marie at 4:09. Martin comes in and so does Itzuki. Itzuki gets slammed but comes out of a pin nicely. A reverse cover gets 2. A spinning body scissors gets another 2. A high cross body gets another. Tateno comes in and pulls Martin’s arm from the top rope. Sherri comes in and takes a double underhook suplex. Robin comes back in and works on Robin. Kai comes in and Robin goes a nice Monkey Flip. Sherri comes in and slams Robin followed by a Suplex that gets Robin at 6:49. Tateno comes back in and nails two drop kicks. Martin comes in and misses a charge but she sends Tateno flying by pulling her hair. Velvet comes in and nails a spinning high cross body. Kai comes in and she gets slingshoted as well. Moolah comes back in and does a monkey flip of her own. Itzuki comes back in and gets into the wrong corner. Kai gets slammed from the top rope but Itzuki misses a drop kick and takes a double axehandle. Sherri comes in and slams her face to the mat. Martin comes in and so does Tateno. Tateno gets sent thru the ropes as Moolah gets tagged and gets pulled over the top. She nails a clothesline. She gets caught by a double clothesline and gets pinned by Martin at 10:52. Tateno comes in and gets kicked. Tateno catches the leg of Martin and nails her with a right. Itzuki comes in and works on the right leg. Velvet comes in and does a boston crab but can’t get Martin to tap out. Velvet then turns it into a surfboard. Velvet nails another one foot dropkick. The champ comes in and slams Velvets face in the mat and clotheslines her on the top rope. Sherri nails a legdrop. Then a weak underhook suplex. Kai sends Velvet flying by the hair then does the some to Tateno. Kai nails a double underhook suplex for a 2 count and Tateno does a nice bridge. The timekeeper rings the bell inadvertanly and gets booed. Velvet comes in and gets dragged in the wrong corner. Sherri comes in and Velvet spins her around and around and lands her on her back. Velvet climbs to the top and does a victory roll to get Sherri at 14:53. But Martin comes in and goes to work on her. Tateno comes in and she does a sunset flip for 2. She tags Itzuki who takes two attempts to get a double underhook suplex but nails Martin for a 2 count. Kai comes in and gets caught in a body scissors. Kai does a slinghot on Itzuki though. Velvet comes in and a nice move injures her back. A rollup gets two. She gets on the shoulders of Kai but Kai sends her on her back and pins Velvet at 17:19. Down to the Bomb Angels and Glamor Girls. And the Bomb Angels are dominating the Glamor Girls. They slam both Glamors at the same time. and Tateno sends Martin into her own partner. Itzuki comes in but takes a knee to the back. Kai slams Itzuki but misses a splash from the top rope. Tateno nails a flying body press to pin Kai at 18:34. Martin starts working on Tateno. She drops her from a fireman’s carry and covers her but Tateno reachs the ropes. Tateno makes it to her partner and Itzuki nails a high knee from the top. Jimmy Hart jumps on the apron and Tateno drop kicks him to the floor. Itzuki nails a flying clothesline to pin Martin at 20:13. The Jumping Bomb Angels are the surviors. This was a very good match and I wish we could see female Japanese wrestlers wrestle more in the WWF. ***1/2
Tag Team Match The Hart Foundation, The Bolsheviks, Demoliton, The Dream Team (Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine) The Islanders VS Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Young Stallions, The Rougeau Brothers, The Killer Bees
When a team member is eliminated, his partner must return to the locker room as well. Strike Force are the tag team champions here. Rick Martel and Nicolai Volkoff start it off. Volkoff pounds away on Martel but Martel gets some shots in. Volkoff slams Martel and tags his partner Boris Zhukoff who misses an elbow. Martel nails a few dropkicks and tags his partner Tito Santana. And Santana nails his flying forearm to eliminate Boris at 1:44. Ax of Demoliton comes in and starts pounding away on Santana but misses a flying elbow. Jacques Rougeau comes in and nails a flying elbow of his own. Dino Bravo comes in and gets greeted by a dropkick. Jacques tags Jim Brunzell who grabs the arm of Bravo and tags B. Brian Blair who hits an elbow to the arm. He tags Davey Boy Smith and Bravo tags in Smash. Smith grabs the arm of Smash and tags Santana who pounds on Smash. Dynamite Kid comes in and gets nailed. Haku of the Islanders comes in and starts exchanging chops on Dynamite. Haku Headbutts Dynamite his corner. Blair comes in and drop toe holds Jim Neidhart. Paul Roma comes in and works on the Anvil, but Neidhart takes advantage and they start pounding away on Roma. Ax and Haku gets some shots in. Haku tags in Tama and Roma tags his partner Jim Powers. Ax comes back in and slams Powers towards Jacques. He comes in and starts pounding on Ax. But misses a flying spinning high cross body and gets pinned at 5:47 eliminating the Rougeaus. Dynamite starts working on Tama. He tags in Powers who runs into clothesline. Neidhart comes in and grabs Powers high over his head and Haku nails him with a big chop. They only get a one count out of it. Roma comes in and so does Ax. Roma misses a charge in the corner. Valentine comes in and nails a shoulderbreaker for 2. A suplex for another 2. Bravo comes back in and nails a gut wrench suplex followed by a legdrop and counts along with the ref and only gets 2. Roma tags Brunzell while Bravo tags Smash. Smash misses a charge and Dynamite comes in and gets a clotheline for 2 but gets kicked into the wrong corner. Demolition starts pounding on Dynamite but Smash throws the ref across the ring and Demolition is DQ’d at 9:09. Bret Hart comes in and nails Dynamite with a pile driver but only gets 2. Bret misses a charge and gets his shoulder rammed into the post. Powers comes back in and gets kicked in the head by Bret. Tama comes in and works on Powers but misses a vader bomb. Martel comes back in and pounds away on Tama. He does the boston crab but Tama tags in Neidhart and he nails Martel for a 2. Santana comes in and he nails his flying forearm but Bret interrupts the count with a elbow drop. And Neidhart pins Santana eliminating Strike Force at 12:01. Powers and Neidhart continue and Powers misses a drop kick. Haku comes in and nails a drop kick. He tags Valentine and Powers does a sunset flip but gets nailed. Valentine gets nailed in the hamstring and Neidhart comes in and clothelines Powers on the top rope. Haku nails a superkick but only gets a two count. Valentine comes back in and tries a suplex but Powers blocks it and reverses it. A huge edit follows during which the British Bulldogs were eliminated when Haku pinned Dynamite Kid. Valentine clothelines Powers again on the top rope. Bravo comes in and pounds away. Neidhart comes in and gets a 2 count. Bret comes in and hooks Powers into their own corner allowing the Bees and Roma to come in. Valentine is back and Powers starts to fight back but Valentine drags him into his own corner. Bravo comes in and nails a back drop and gives him yet another clothesline on the top rope. Bravo does his Sidewalk Slam and tags Valentine who tries the figure four but Powers pushes Valentine. He blind tags Roma and Roma nails a sunset flip off the top rope to pin Valentine at 17:07. Brunzell and Neidhart continue. Blair nails a flying elbow. A small package gets 2. The Killer Bees double team on Neidhart. Brunzell nails a high knee for 2. Bret comes in and Brunzell works on the right leg. He tags Paul Roma and does a leap frog but gets nailed. Tama nails a flying chop on Roma and slams his face in the canvas. Haku comes in and the Islanders nail Roma with a double elbow. Haku misses a leg drop. Brunzell comes in and nails a leg drop but gets a 2 count. Brunzell hip tosses Haku to his own corner and Bret comes in. Roma comes in and slams Bret and nails a flying fist for 2. Bret starts working on Roma and nails a suplex for 2. Tama comes in and works on Tama some more. Haku comes in and misses a charge but he nails Roma with a standing drop kick. Neidhart comes in and does the same thing. He nails a power slam and almost gets a 3. Bret comes in and Roma finally tags out to Brunzell. Both Brunzell and Bret hit head to head. Bruzell picks up Bret but Tama dropkicks Bret onto Brunzell but Brunzell reverses the cover to pin Bret at 23:56. Brunzell celebrates but then gets nailed by Tama. The Islanders start working on Brunzell. And we finally have a resthold 25 minutes in (unless there were some during the edited portion.) Brunzell eventually tags in Powers who nails Haku with a back drop. Roma comes in and nails a power slam. The Islanders pound away on Roma but Haku misses a charge. Blair comes in and he gets caught by the Isle’s but Tama misses an elbow and Brunzell comes back in. He gives Tama his drop kick but Haku interrupts the pin count. The Stallions come in and knock Haku out of the ring. Brunzell does a sunset flip but Tama reaches the ropes. Blair (with the killer bee mask on) does a sunset flip and pins Tama at 30:43 The survivors are The Killer Bees and The Young Stallions. This was and excellent fast paced match with not too many restholds. A match that I enjoy watching time and time again ****1/2
Main Event Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff VS Andre The Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, One Man Gang
This was the match that
came 8 months after Hogan beat Andre at Wrestlemania III. But a questionable
pin count by Andre and fans talking. This was Andre’s first match since
Wrestlemania III Muraco and Rude start it off. Muraco gains the advantage and
the faces take turns of pounding on Rick Rude with Bam Bam nailing a big
splash. Patera eventually hits Rude back to his own corner. Butch Reed comes in
and fares no better and gets legdropped and pinned by Hogan at 3:08. Hogan then
high fives Patera as Andre steps in the ring but the ref decides that when
Hogan high fived Patera that it was a tag. Andre leaves the ring. Bundy comes
in and Patera goes to work on Bundy. Orndorff comes in and so does the Gang.
The Gang starts pounding on Orndorff but Paul fights back but runs into a foot.
Rude comes back in and pounds on Orndorff but gets in trouble again. Muraco
comes in and clotheslines Rude but Rude comes back and tags the Gang. The Gang
misses a charge and Muraco tags in Patera. Patera hits a high cross body for 2.
But the Gang sends Patera in the wrong corner. And the heels start pounding on
Patera. Patera sends the Gang in the ropes and the Gang falls on top and pins
Patera at 8:00. Hogan comes in and works on the Gang. He tags Bam Bam and he
and Hogan do a double boot. Bam Bam and the Gang run into each other though.
Rude and Orndorff comes in. Orndorff pounds on Rude but when he gives the sign
for the pile driver Bundy comes in and nails him. Rude rolls up Orndorff for
the pin at 9:39. Rude decides to pose and he pays for it. Muraco nails a power
slam to pin Rude at 10:26. Bundy then works on Muraco but misses a knee drop.
Muraco works on the right leg of Bundy. But he gets up and tags the Gang.
Muraco tries to slam the Gang and the Gang falls on top for 2. The Gang sends
Muraco into Andre and the Gang nails a splash and pins Muraco at 12:10. Bundy
and the Gang then slowly works over on Bam Bam. Andre comes in and Bam Bam
ducks a right hand and tags Hogan. Hogan starts firing away over Andre and
nails the other heels but when he goes to the ropes Bundy pulls him out of the
ring. Hogan slams both the Gang and Bundy but gets counted out at 16:45. Hogan
argues for a minute before realizing he’s counted out. Finkel announces that if
he doesn’t leave the ring Andre’s team would win the match. Hulk pissed off
leaves the ring. It’s now Bam Bam against Andre, Bundy and the Gang. Bam Bam
works on Bundy pretty easily and pins him after a slingshot onto Bundy at
19:18. The gang then slowly works over Bam Bam but he misses a splash off the
top rope and gets pinned at 21:38. Andre comes in and works on Andre. Bam Bam
tries a comeback but get caught and Andre pins him with his lame suplex move at
22:54. Sole Survivor Andre The Giant. Hard to believe Bam Bam was the best
worker out of this whole match *1/4. After Andre wins Hogan comes back into the
ring and nails Andre with the WWF title and does his 10 minute pose thing to
end the show.
Summary: This was a very good show. Everyone seemed to be involved in each matchup save for the last one. This was a revoluntionary show for it’s time and the crowd was pretty hot throughtout the entire show. I’d say this is the best Survivor Series out there RECOMMENDED