Nickrj’s rant for Survivor Series 1994

 

Live from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio Texas on November 23rd 1994. This was the last Survivor Series to have the Thanksgiving tradition as in 1995 it moved to a Sunday in the middle of November and has stayed there. I always have felt that the Survivor Series is part of Thanksgiving though. And since it’s three days until Thanksgiving why not give this a go?

 

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon in cowboy outfits.

 

The Bad Guys (Razor Ramon, The 1-2-3 Kid, The British Bulldog, Fatu and Seone (with Afa and Capt. Lou Albano)) VS The Teamsters (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett)

Good choice to start as there are a number of good workers here in this one and almost every member of the Clique as well! For some reason this year they go back the 5 on 5 elimination format that they used in the first 2 years. Pretty much every other year they used a 4 on 4 format. Can someone tell me why they kept changing it? Gorilla mentions the Ladder match at WM10 and how people have said that it’s possibly the greatest match of all time. 1-2-3 Kid starts it with Owen Hart as Fatu is having problems with his boots. Hart tags to Jim Neidhart and he hits a shoulderblock. Kid with a drop kick though but is taken down by a weak clothesline. Jeff Jarrett comes on it and nails the Kid and rams him to the turnbuckle. He takes a spinning kick however but he rams the shoulder and misses a sunset flip for 2. Seone (The Barbarian) comes in and hits a press slam. Jeff comes back with some rights but it backfires. Seone walks into a double boot in the corner and takes a top rope clothesline for 2. Jeff tags in Owen who comes in to some big time heat. He wants the Bulldog and Bulldog comes in to a big pop. Bulldog with some nice agility moves into a hammerlock. Owen does the same but Bulldog reverses. These two guys will be the seconds in the WWF title match later on. Owen is slingshotted into the wrong corner and takes a press slam. Sunset flip by Bulldog for 2. Enzuguri by Owen. Anvil comes back in and they hit a clothesline. Anvil slams Bulldog by the hair. Owen comes back in but they take a double clothesline. Vertical Suplex and Bulldog tags in Fatu who goes to the top and hits a flying headbutt but his foot is hurting him and Anvil tags in Jeff who goes to work but takes a power slam. Razor Ramon comes in for the first time and Jeff backs into his own corner. Arm drag by Jeff followed by the strut. He trips Razor on the waistlock and slaps around Razor’s face. Headlock by Jeff and a hard right by Razor and Razor clotheslines Jarrett to the outside. Shawn is giving advice to Diesel trying to cool him down. Jeff continues with Razor and comes out of a suplex but is caught on a crossbody and back slammed. Kid comes in now and Razor dumps Kid onto Jarrett for 2. Jeff kicks the Kid followed by an Ab stretch. Jeff gets some leverage from Shawn. Jack Doan sees it but the Kid reverses it and Jeff tosses Kid all the way to the floor. He comes back in and hits an reverse enzuguri. Fatu is back in along with Owen. Spinning heel kick by Owen for 2. Owen makes the mistake of ramming Fatu’s hard head and pays the price. Fatu hits a low headbutt. Diesel gets the tag for the first time and Fatu didn’t see it and Diesel hits the 360 clothesline and Jackknife’s Fatu for the pin at 13:31. Kid comes in now and hits a dropkick. He goes to the top and tries a sunset flip but Diesel picks him up and drops him. Another jackknife finishes the Kid at 14:13. Seone is now in and he starts hammering on Diesel but he takes a Jackknife as well and is pinned at 14:45. Bulldog comes in and pounds on Diesel and shoulders him in the corner. Diesel hits a big boot sending Bulldog to the outside. Bulldog pounds on Jarrett and Owen but is counter out at 15:44. Razor is all alone now and he rolls up Diesel for 2. He hammers Diesel and hits a 2nd rope bulldog for 2. Crowd and Razor thought it was 3 though. Diesel hits a short clothesline. Shawn is calling for the jackknife. Diesel drops Razor on the turnbuckle. Shawn is looking upset here. Razor is shoved in the wrong corner and is clotheslined. Diesel is rammed into the corner though and is slammed. Razor signals for the Razor’s Edge but he is backdropped. Diesel hits a big boot and raises his big fist. He hits the Jackknife on Razor but doesn’t cover him because Shawn wants to get in. Diesel tags him and Shawn tells Diesel to get back in and Diesel holds up Razor and Shawn tries a superkick but kicks Diesel! This is the 3rd time that this has happen! Shawn is upset and Diesel wakes up and is angry at Shawn. He shoves his other teammates and starts going after Shawn in the aisleway. Diesel and Shawn goes back to the locker room while the other 3 guys wonder where they are. They decide to go back to the ring but Doan counts out all 5 members of the Teamsters at 21:40 and Razor Ramon is the Sole Survivor. Well lame ending this was a very good opening bout ***1/2. Shawn in an interview says that he made Diesel and he leaves the arena but not before vacating the Tag Team titles.

 

Clowns R Us (Doink, Dink, Pink and Wink) VS The Royal Family (Jerry Lawler, Queasy, Sleasy and Cheesy)

Great. Doink ruined the Survivor Series last year with his 4 Doinks and now he’s fixing do the same with midgets. He and his 3 midgit clowns are facing Lawler and his 3 midgit kings. At least Bastion Booger is nowhere to be found this year. J The king wants to start it off first and a Burger King chant starts. They tie up and get a clean break. Tie up again and Doink hits an enzuguri. Doink makes fun of Lawler there. King misses an enzuguri of his own and he lands on his face both times. Doink with an arm wringer and he goes to a cross body as the 3 midgit clowns run over Lawler and the 3 midgit kings do the same and King gets angry at them. They tie up again and Lawler does the cross arm and the 3 kings run over Doink but on the way back he trips them and they fall over. Funny stuff. Doink slams Lawler 3 times and Lawler falls over on his own. The 3 clowns almost pin Lawler with Doink counting. Lawler slams Doink now and the 3 kings try to do the same thing but Queasy falls on top of Lawler and pins him! But Dink counted the fall so it doesn’t count. Arm drag by Doink and Dink puts the Burger King crown on Lawler’s head making him angry! Doink now comes at Lawler with Dink on his shoulders. Sleasy tries to do the same but instead Lawler climbs on Sleasy’s shoulders and falls on his face instead. Test of strength now by Lawler. Dink headbutts Queasy underneath and 2 clowns runs with 2 kings and the clowns win the battle. Lawler has some knucks in his hand and he nails Doink with it while hiding it all the time. He throws Doink to the corner and the little kings choke Doink on the ropes. Lawler calls for the feet and is rammed into them. Hiptoss by doink as the clowns chase the kings outside the ring. Doink hits a flying elbow and then a spinning cross body but Lawler reverses it and hooks the tights for the pin at 10:36 for the pin on Doink. Doink leaves the ring saying “It’s not fair!” and rightly so. Dink is now in the ring along with Queasy. Queasy tries to bite Dink’s arm but instead Dink bites Queasy’s ass. He does the same to Lawler as well. Wink (Martindale) gets the tag pulls on the goatee of Cheesy. Dink goes to the top and hits an elbow. He does a monkey flip in the corner and tags Wink. Wink is thrown into the corner but Lawler holds on to Cheesy and helps him pin Wink at 13:11. Pink now is in. Sleasy comes in and messes up a somersault. Queasy slams Pink and spins him around. Lawler then drops Cheesy on Pink for the pin at 14:31. We see Pink go underneath the ring though so I guess Wink’s under there as well. Dink is all that’s left and he hammers on Sleasy. He slams him and hits an elbow. Dink hammers on every midgit now. Slam by Dink on Sleasy. He goes to the top and hits a flying bodypress and Lawler tries to break it but is distracted. Queasy turns Sleasy over and he gets the pin on Dink at 16:06. The survivors are The Royal Family. Funny comedy match. One of the best DUD’s I’ve ever seen. Lawler then sees his little kings celebrate and he sends them out of the ring saying “I hate short people.” The kings celebrate outside the ring and Lawler starts chasing them. The 3 clowns come out from under the ring and all 6 midgits chase Lawler. Lawler escapes in the aisleway but Doink comes up from behind and hits Lawler in the face with a pie! Like total hysterical stuff here.

 

Todd Pettingill interviews Bull Nakano who won the women’s title from Alundra Blayze in the Egg Dome in Tokyo Japan where over 45,000 fans witnessed the match. Bull does the interview in Japanese and Todd can’t understand it.

 

WWF title submission match: Bret Hart (with The British Bulldog) VS Bob Backlund (with Owen Hart)

The second of this match (either the Bulldog or Owen) will signal the submission for his man (Bulldog for Bret and Owen for Backlund) by throwing in a towel. See Bob Backlund is becoming a major heel by attacking everybody with his devastating Crossface Chicken Wing hold. Owen is carrying the same while towel that Arnold Skaaland threw in the ring when Backlund lost the title to The Iron Sheik in December 1983. The Bulldog is carrying a Pink and Black Hitman towel and Stu and Helen Hart are sitting at ringside for this one. Onto the match.

 

Bob is slammed and hiptossed right away by Bret. A hiptoss sends Backlund to the outside. Headbutt by Bret and Bob goes outside again. Bulldog sends bob back in and Bob is slammed and elbowdropped. Bulldog by Bret into a headlock. Back suplex by Backlund however but Bret starts driving some elbows and knocks down Bob. Chinlock now by Bret. Shoulderblock by Bret and into another headlock. Backlund comes back with a drop toe hold and almost hooks the Chicken Wing and Bret goes back to the headlock. Bob trips Bret but Bret is able to go back to the headlock. Bob almost hooks the Wing but takes a belly to belly suplex and Bret almost hooks the Sharpshooter. Front face lock by Bret now. Ab stretch by Bret but Bob comes out with a hip toss. Slam but Bret falls on top but there’s no pinfalls. Uppercut by Bret and Bret hurts his own head with a headbutt. Bret misses a 2nd rope elbow. Bob pulls the right arm of Bret and starts working on it. He rams Bret hard in the corner. Bob almost hooks the Wing on a couple of occasions and goes to an armbar. He rakes the eyes. Nip up by Bret but he takes an elbow and goes to the outside. Backlund almost hooks the Wing outside but Bret was ready for it. They headbutt each other and Bob goes on the right arm and an elbow to the face. Armbar now. Bret gets up and slams Bob but Bob still has control and continues to work on the right arm. Facelock by Bret into a neckbreaker but Bob hangs on to the wrist. Bob works on the right arm again. Bret is back up but Bob wrenches the left arm. Bret hits an inverted atomic drop and he tries the Shooter but Bob hangs on the ropes and kicks out of it. Bret hooks the Figure Four however. Bob is screaming in pain now. Owen refuses to throw the towel in though. Bob tries to reverse it but can’t. Bob looks at Owen now and he turns it over and Owen wants Bob to throw in the towel. Bret reverse it again and Bob makes it to the ropes. Bret works on the weakened left leg of Bob now. Bob hits a right hand though but it’s not enough. Bret almost has the Sharpshooter but can’t do it. Slugfest develops and Bob wins it. Piledriver by Bob. He almost hooks the Wing again but Bret makes it to the ropes. Kneelift by Bob and a headbutt. Neckbreaker and Bret kicks Bob in the face. Bret is thrown hard to the corners but Bob shoulders himself on the ringpost. Bob tries another piledriver but is backdropped. Sleeperhold by Bob. Bret throws Bob into the corner though. Both Bret and Bob collide. Legdrop by Bret and he hits a piledriver of his own. Bulldog and a Russian leg sweep uh oh that means the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! Backbreaker followed by a 2nd rope elbow. Bret tries the Sharpshooter and hooks it! Owen comes in the ring but is chased by the Bulldog. Owen comes back in and nails Bret breaking the hold. Bulldog then charges Owen but runs into the steps instead and is DEAD just like he is now. Owen says that he’s sorry to Bret and Bob hooks the Chicken Wing now! Owen tries to check on the British Bulldog who is still out of it and Owen starts crying now. Bob brings Bret down now but has yet to hook the body scissors. Bret gets up however but he can’t break the Wing and Bob brings down Bret and hooks the Body scissors. Owen is crying as Vince says “This is the true Owen Hart.” Stu and Helen are also watching this as well. Owen now goes over to his parents and is crying at them saying that they should throw in the Pink and Black towel. Bob continues to apply the Wing to Bret but Bret cannot give up. Hey Vince why can’t you go over and ring the bell and give the title to Backlund or something like you would do 3 years later? Owen goes over to his parents again and tells them that Bob’s gonna break Bret’s arm. Stu and Helen now leave their seats and they go over to the towel. Owen grabs it but Stu grabs it as well and refuses to throw it in. Helen can’t take it anymore and he throws in the towel in to end the match at 35:15. Owen then runs out of the ring and back to the locker room laughing. Bob Backlund has again become the WWF Champion. This was a great old school type matchup and even though Bob had on the Chicken Wing for 10 minutes it was made up for by great storytelling by Owen. ****1/4.

 

Guts & Glory (Lex Luger, Adam Bomb, Mabel, Billy and Bart Gunn (with Oscar)) VS The Million Dollar Team (Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy, Tom Pritchard and Jimmy Delray (with Ted Dibiase))

This is the for the feud which started at Summerslam when Tatanka sold out to Dibiase and destroyed Luger in the process. The two team captains Luger and Tatanka start it off. Tatanka pounds on Luger. Luger no sells some chops and a suplex and now he starts pounding on the Indian with a series of clotheslines. Luger takes care of the rest of the team and Mabel and Bundy start a staredown. Tatanka takes in Pritchard and Mabel is tagged in as well. Mabel drops Tom but misses an elbow. Tom hits a kneedrop and hammers on the big Mabel. Mabel hits a backdrop however and he goes to the 2nd rope and hits a body press for the pin at 3:58 eliminating Pritchard. Delray starts hammering on Mabel but Mabel no sells all of his offense and hits a Boss Man slam. Bundy gets the tag and they trade Shoulderblocks. Mabel knocks Bundy down with one though and Bundy wants out. Bam Bam gets the tag and Mabel pounds on him. Bammer misses an enzuguri and Mabel hits a spinning heel kick. Mabel goes to the top but Bigelow tosses him off. Bammer goes to the top now and tries a Sunset Flip but Mabel sits on him. Mabel clotheslines Bammer but he is thrown to the outside as well and Mabel is counted out at 7:10. Billy Gunn starts unloading on Delray. He took an eyerake and a superkick though. Nice Bridge and a backslide by Gunn for 2. Bammer gets the tag as does Adam Bomb. Bomb wearing the same outfit he did at last years Series. He unloads on Bammer but he goes flying to the outside and gets back up. He hits a slingshot clothesline. Bomb slams Bammer but is nailed by Bundy. Bammer hits a bulldog and hits a moonsault for the pin at 9:09. Luger rolls up Bammer for 2. Luger runs into a kick and Delray comes in and hits a superkick and a kneedrop and chokes out Luger for 2. Delray continues to pound away on Luger but Luger fights back and hits the running forearm for the pin at 10:56. Down to 3 on 3 now. Bart Gunn hits an atomic drop and a slam on Tatanka and a dropkick for 2. Billy is in and a double Russian leg sweep for 2. Bart is back in and works on the right arm. Billy comes in as well slams Tatanka and hits a knee drop. Bart is back in and hammers on the Indian some more. Billy is back in and hits a dropkick for 2. Bart gets the tag and hits a monkey flip for 2. Tatanka starts fighting back and the Gunns hit a sidewinder for 2. Blind tag by Billy and Bart tries a Crucifix but Tatanka counters with a Samoan Drop for the pin at 14:26. Billy hits a clothesline for 2. Luger comes in and works on the right arm of Tatanka. Gunn comes back in and hammers the right arm some more. Hiptoss for 2. Elbow by Billy for 2. Luger gets the tag and slams Tatanka. Billy does another hiptoss for 2. Tatanka hits a spinebuster though and gets the hot tag to Bundy who misses an elbow. He hits an avalanche though and gets the pin at 17:11. Luger is by himself now against 3 men. If I were Luger I’d run just like Honky Tonk Man did in the first Series. Luger hammers on Tatanka but Bundy nails him from behind. Bammer comes in and misses an avalanche. Tatanka hits a clothesline for 2 ¾. Sunset Flip but Tatanka gets the tag on the way over. Bammer comes in and starts pounding on Luger now for 2. Bundy is in and he hits an elbow and a kneedrop for 2. Tatanka is back in and chops away on Luger now. Bammer is back in and he pounds on Luger some more as does Bundy who mocks the crowd by saying “USA!!” Tatanka is in and he hits a powerslam and drops 3 elbows. Luger gets a small package however and pins Tatanka at 23:10. Bundy comes in however and splashes Luger for the pin at 23:19. The remaining survivors are Bundy and Bam Bam. Good match but not a great one. **1/4 The Millon Dollar team continue to pound on Luger but the rest of Guts N Glory come out and make the save.

 

Bob Backlund does a crazed interview as the new WWF champion. Gorilla responds by saying “We’ll all have to live with it.” Yes Gorilla we lived with Backlund as the champion FOR THREE DAYS!! Diesel would win the title from him in 8 seconds at MSG 3 days later.

 

Casket Match: The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) VS Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette)

At the Royal Rumble 10 men helped Yokozuna win a casket match against UT and now this time, Chuck Norris is introduced as a special troubleshooting referee. UT makes the death jesture and Yoko falls flat. UT hammers on Yoko and no sells an avalanche. Yoko almost falls into the casket and he’s on top. They fight on the outside and Yoko is rammed into the steps. Yoko runs into the post on his own. UT grabs the right arm and does the top rope walk and forearm to the back. Yoko with a samoan drop but the zombie situp by UT. Clothesline by UT and another situp. Headbutt by Yoko and another one and Yoko tries to dump UT in the casket but can’t do it. UT clotheslines Yoko on the top rope. UT misses an elbowdrop and sitsup. Boss man slam by Yoko followed by a legdrop. Yoko drags UT now and tries to dump him in and does but UT blocks the lid from slamming. UT with some thrusts now and their both in the casket now. Fuji tries to intervene but it’s a big mistake. He thrusts Cornette. Slam by Yoko inside. He knocks UT to the outside. He throws UT in the steps. Yoko pounds away on UT now. UT starts to fight back however. He slams Yoko back first. UT goes to the top and hits a flying clothesline. He starts to roll Yoko towards the casket very slowly. King Kong Bundy starts walking down the aisleway though to challenge Chuck Norris. Bam Bam Bigelow comes down as well and they distract Norris so that I.R.S can come from behind thru the audience and pound away on UT. He hooks a sleeper and dumps UT in the casket and leaves. Yoko gets up and falls over. He tries to slam the lid but UT grabs the throat of Yoko. Jeff Jarrett comes down as well but he takes a thrust kick from Norris and sells it by doing a handstand and falling over. UT hits a flying clothesline and a DDT. He knocks Yoko into the casket with a boot. He breaks the Japanese flag and throws it in the casket and shuts the lid to win it at 15:24. Match was not good but the psychology was there 1/4*

 

Summary: Another good PPV. Not much to scream about or get angry about here. RECOMMENDED