By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas | +PuroWAVE | @purowavepodcast | +Sledgecorp Productions
Once again, that time of year rolls around. And of course that means a gratuitous amount of food... for most people. I'm of course broker than I've ever been, and MY Thanksgiving is in danger. But I still have the Internet! So even though I'm in desperate need of food, I'm going to write something 15 people MIGHT read. So without further ado and with GREAT HUNGER... I present Survivor Series 1988!
Pre-Show:
As my house was one that RARELY ordered Pay Per Views, these pre-shows that used to play on the PPV channels before everything got all scrambled were really my only ways of getting a taste of the event... with my next episode of Superstars or Challenge being the only way to know what happened. Things sure are different now, what with only needing to get the WWE Network, or searching the darker corners of the Internet.
This is one of those oddball ones, with there being two co-captains on each team.
First bit of build up we get is footage of Slick and Big Boss Man confronting Hogan on the Brother Love show, with BBM brutally choking the Hulkster as he's handcuffed to the railing. Then the hulk-up happens and the Slickster and his consort flee the premises.
Macho Man Randy Savage is up next talking to Gene Okerlund about how he had to beat two guys at the same time. Not sure what to make of this.
Gene again holds an interview, and this time its the infamous "Hercules is my new slave," from DiBiase, with Heenan trying to convince Herc that he earned it. Herc is beaten down and slapped, and told that he is not to do anything without DiBiase's permission. DiBiase turns his back while Virgil is laying into him and doesn't see Herc make his comeback against the "Wrestling Superstar," and soon it's Dibiase making a break for it as Herc swings his chains victoriously.
Back to Macho now, with Hercules on Brother Love, requesting to shake his hands, and its done to a chorus of cheers that can either be legit, or some of the WWF's classic crowd sweetening.
DiBiase complains about this. Love says that Herc is just following the Mega Powers bandwagon. Love then goes on to introduce DiBiase to BBM, (King) Haku, Red Rooster, and Akeem. "It's a lotta love!" Love squeals out.
DO NOT DELAY!
Jake and Hacksaw, Brian Blair, Ken Patera and Tito Santana are announced to be taking on Andre and Dino, along with Curt Hennig (before being known SOLELY as Mr. Perfect), Rick Rude and Harley Race.
We are now shown Jake DDTing Rude, with Andre lumbering down and laying waste to Jake. Andre checks up on Rude, and Jake uses this as an opportunity to grab a Damian, and has Andre backing off (Heenan, in classic form, had already left the ring). Andre, you see, is absolutely horrified at the sight of the snake, with Jesse saying that he wouldn't believe it. Jake dumps Damian on Andre and Andre does his best to let the snake crawl all over him, with Andre passing out, presumably of fear. It's amazing visuals like this that make Jake's WWE run completely awesome.
Next, we have Jake on the Brother Love show. Jake announces his team, and they come down. Jake calls Hacksaw his only friend... which intrigues me for some reason.
With 11 minutes left to the PPV, Hacksaw is in the ring after another match waving his flag, and Dino Bravo comes out with Frenchy Martin doing much the same. MY FLAG IS BIGGER THAN YOUR FLAG!
Gene brings up one of my favorite tag teams ever, Demolition, and the Powers of Pain. PoP here being the faces and captaining the team of the Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, the Rockers, and the Young Stallions to face Mr. Fuji's Demolition as well as the Conquistadors, the Bolsheviks, the Rougeaus and the Brain Busters (better known as Four Horsemen Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard)! A lot of talented people here... will they make something of it? I guess we'll see very soon (or we WON'T see... that's the joke I guess).
Speaking of the Rougeaus, while waving tiny US flags, introduce Jimmy Hart as their manager, saying that they will get 50/50 shares of the contracts of the Hart Foundation. He also says he's going to squeal, like a canary, on the Harts.
Honky Tonk Man and Outlaw Ron Bass, along with Greg Valentine, Dangerous Danny Davis and Bad News Brown, taking on Ultimate Warrior and Brutus Beefcake (I guess making good on their deal to have Warrior face HTM instead of Beefcake for the IC belt), with Jim Brunzel, Blue Blazer and Jake's little bro, Sam Houston.
They show Warrior beating HTM in 9 seconds. Legendary match. If you haven't seen it yet, go for it:
Warrior is now with Gene, and being interrupted by Jimmy Hart egging him on about the HTM being the greatest IC champ of all time (he had held the belt for over a year at this point I believe (64 weeks, thanks Wikipedia). HTM at this time takes Warrior's leg out with a guitar and continues to beat him with it. The other feud is Brutus vs. Outlaw Ron Bass. Yay.
Bass chokes the life out of Brother Bruti. Pretty viscious I gotta say. Bass grabs a spur and rakes Beefcake's eyes, and t WWE throws the big red X Censored graphic and we're done here. Gene insists that we order on a PPV basis.
Now on to the show!
Gene welcomes us to the Richfield Colisseum. Wonder if that's another changed arena name (after a brief search, surprisingly NO).
Match: Demolition, Conquistadors, Fabulous Rougeaus, Brain Busters and Bolsheviks vs. Powers of Pain, Hart FOundation, British Bulldogs, Rockers and Young Stallions.
Jesse says that if he were in that match, he would stay out, lost in the shuffle and come out fresh later. A great strategy I feel. Last year, this big tag team survivor match was such a long one, I wonder if THAT was the reason behind having this match as the event starter? (Actually, upon researching, this was the first match ONLY on this Coliseum Home Video version. The ACTUAL first match was the next one, Warrior v. Honky. Never knew that.)
Jesse remarks that the Demo's side has a lot of managers. And in fact they do. And they're TALKING TO EACH OTHER!
A Conquistador, a Rougeau and a Bolshevik are all in and out in quick manner. Boris tags out to Marty, and he smartly spins away, only to get the Demolition beat down anyway. The Brain Busters take turns at being human pinballs. Jocques Rougeau now in and misses a dive. Dynamite Kid in with Raymond Rougeau, and a roll up for a near fall. Jim Powers of the Young Stallions up against Nicolai, and Jocques gets tagged in for a drop kick. Bret in, only to get some flying elbow to the face. Bret with a small package on Jocques for the first elimination. The Rougeaus are out!
Anvil and Smash... no... Barbarian and COnquistador... no Warlord and Conquistador... no Bret and Conq, er, Smash, no Axe... yeesh. I am having alot of trouble keeping up with the tags here... A LOT of fast tagging. Great for watching and makes total sense in a strategic sense, but it is HELL for reviewing!
A decent amount of teamwork on both sides, with the heels working together MUCH better than the faces. Besides that, nothing much of note, but nothing terrible. It's all just happening so fast. So far I'm not seeing any cuts at all. Last year's was so chopped up it was difficult to follow. This one is difficult for COMPLETELY different reasons.
We're no 15 minutes into the match (not like you'd know that from MY write up), and it's PoP vs. Demos now, and PoP beats up on Smash, with Gorilla calling it "all out war." Barb shotgun's smash and tags in Anvil who gets a near fall off a powerslam, a move I didn't realize was a finisher until his appearance in the Smackdown vs. Raw video game series.
Boris and Powers in. Powers attempts a slick cross body, but Boris hangs on and lets momentum flip him over and hand him a three count. Young Stallions are out.
Barbie and Volkoff go head to head, locking up then brawling. Axe tagged in, and gives him Demolition's signiture beatdown. Nicolai now in, wailing on Barbarian until he starts wailing away himself. A pre HBK Shawn Michaels quickly tags in Marty Janetty and gets a sunset flip on Nicolai for the Elimination. Bolsheviks are gone.
23 minutes later, and things are still happening too fast to make note of. Quick tags are great visually, but not so much for those looking to review matches. If I followed all the action move for move, than the write up for this match would be WAAAAY too long.
Tully in against Barbie, consults with the Brain, and he tags out to Smash, who proceeds to work over Barbarian with some assistance by Axe. Chinlock powered out of, but smash regains control and tags out. Chinlock by Axe this time. Arn Anderson eats a foot and Janetty is in, followed by Anvil. Tully tries to get in a high cross body but Anvil kicks out. Bret in, and proceeds to lay in his proverbial five moves of doom (re: Scott Keith), leading to a german suplex double pin spot, with the ref saying that Tully got his shoulder up, with Bret essentially pinning himself. Hart Foundation eliminated.
The Rockers and the Brain Busters double team each other with both sides pushing the refs away. So, what does this mean? Both Brain Busters and Rockers are disqualified. It did lead to a sweet double chin kick sending the Busters up and over the top rope.
It is now Powers of Pain and the British Bulldogs vs the Conquistadors and Demolition. Dynamite with a snap suplex, but misses the top rope headbutt. Smash with a clothesline for the 3. The British Bulldogs are out.
The conquistadors are, surprisingly, still there. Not bad for a team that (unless I missed an episode of Superstars or something) wouldn't be seen again until the late 90's.
Powers of Pain are by themselves on the face side now, and Mr. Fuji is up on the apron. We find out why when Smash falls out of the ring by Fuji holding the ropes open, leading to a countout elimination for Demolition. Axe goes ape, pushes Fuji, Fuji wacks Axe with the cane, and Smash pushes Fuji into Axe and is bodyslammed. Powers of Pain notice this, stop beating on the Conquistadors, and HELP FUJI BACK UP, even going so far as to brush him off!
Back in the ring, it's all wierd now, as FUji trips up a Conquistador for the win, and they celebrate with Fuji on their shoulders! Mixed reaction for PoP. Demos come back and slug it out. Demos get just as mixed a reaction. I don't think the "jam packed to the rafters" was really able to see all that went down. In today's era of multiple big screens, this wouldn't have had nearly the same amount of trouble coming accross.
If you like tag matches and their psychology, you MAY like this. But at 40 minutes long it was tough to slog through it for me at least.
Beefcake and Warrior's team come out to Warrior's theme, and all get a decent reaction, except for Sam Houston. Honky's team come out to his music, which is really wierd in Bad News Brown's case. Just doesn't match his personality.
Beefcake with a HUGE mullet here. The former dream team go at it right away. Gorilla notes that it's unfair for Valentine to be in there right away, as he normally doesn't even get going until 10-15 minutes in. By then most of today's matches are done.
Davis in, and it's Barber vs barbershop pole! Barber gets his sleeperhold locked in, and Davis is done for.
And NOW we get our first edit of the tape, which goes right to Jim Brunzell on the receiving end of a Bad News beatdown. Ghetto Blaaster calls it, eliminating Brunzell.
Another cut brings us to Sam Houston being beat up on by Bad News and Valentine, with a miscomunication leading to Valentine wacking Brown! Brown is of course PISSED and a fight ensues. Dissention in the ranks as HTM and Ron Bass try to smooth things over. Bad News says F' it and is gone, not even looking back.
Yet a third cut shows us Sam Houston with a high cross body onto Bass, but does not have the body weight to keep his opponent down. Houston then eats a clothesline, then an elbow drop TO HIS HEAD for a count. Houston rallies, but jumps INTO a Ron Bass powerslam, and Houston is gone.
Good match from what we were able to see here, though if the cuts are any way to judge things, I wonder if the match shown uncut would be better or worse.
Sean Mooney in the back with Bad News Brown. Bad News says he's always been a loner, and what happened to him tonight is an example why. He is looking to go after the "cheese champ" Randy Savage.
Gene segways by saying that while Bad News has a terrible attitude, Warrior has a great attitude. Gotta love that, considering what everyone said about Warrior back in the day. You know, before he got friendly with the WWE again. Oh YOU, wrestling politics.
Warrior in the back with Mooney, and says something about power being shoved down his throat. Okay then, that's enough for me.
Match: Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, and "Not The King" Harley Race vs. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Scott Casey, Ken Patera, and Tito Santana. (Apparently, the Junkyard Dog was originally scheduled to be a part of Jake's team, but had left the WWF.)
Jake's theme hits, and it already sounds like it's halfway done by the time Jake comes out. Love that theme.
Andre's team come out to Dino's theme (RHYME) and it's not nearly as impactful.
 |
| I've seen this even many times, and I'm still weirded out by "Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig" announcement. It just don't seem right. |
First cut brings us to Patera and Rude. Patera sends rude to the corner, rude lifts up a boot, and then it's Rude Awakening time, and Patera is out.
Second cut is with Harley Race and Scott Casey. I'm told that this was Casey's highest profile appearance. Dino Bravo is tagged in and a side suplex takes Casey out. Sorry man.
Next cut brings us Tito Santana and Dino Bravo. Harley Race is in, and delivers a piledriver, but that only gets a two. Awkward clothesline SLOWLY takes Tito down, and only nets Race a 2 count. Tito ducks another clothesline attempt and nails his flying forearm shot for the elimination. This is just one example of how downhill things went for Harley Race after losing his "kingship." Andre is in immediately and its headbutts, chops and "legal" chokes aplenty. Andre sits repeatedly on Tito's chest. Tito fights back some, and Andre goes back to a few "legal" chokes, and sent to the rope, where an attempt for a sunset flip is blocked by Andre into yet another big guy sits spot, and that nets the 3. Hacksaw in and in seconds Andre is caught in the ropes! Jake is in and WAILS on Andre! Jake turns the tables and chokes Andre. A headbutt stops that momentum and Rude is now in. Jesse brings up Cheryl Roberts. Perfect in, and we cut right away to... Hacksaw going into his 3-point stance.
Hacksaw is thrown out, but comes back in and nails Bravo with his 2X4. He is disqualified.
Rude and Jake back in. Rude goes to the top rope and hits a kneedrop. Rude swaggers over to his corner, and it's enough for Jake to lock him into and hit the DDT for the 3.
Andre comes in and goes to town, even going so far as to BITE, something we rarely saw from him. Andre seems to literally be choking the LIFE out of Jake, not even bothering this time to let go at the 4 count. In fact he is indeed disqualified, and Perfect comes in for the easy 3 count. Your winners are Perfect and Bravo here. Jake lets his snake out and the heel team races to the back.
I feel that everyone, except for Casey and Race, shined in what made it to the tape. I particularly liked how intense things were between Andre and Jake, and of course Rude and Jake.
Jake now being interviewed. Jake says go ahead and make it 4 on 1. He takes care of business. He says he'll get what he wants from everyone next year. Mooney brings up the choking, and Jake says it's like a vice squeezing the life out of him. God I love Jake promos.
Match: The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage), Hercules, Koko B. Ware, and Hillbilly Jim vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem and the Big Boss Man), Ted DiBiase, Haku, and The Red Rooster.
The production team hits Slick's song, and we're getting started. Akeem looks like he's the one having the most fun here. Hercules... one of the few guys for whom, when he died, he got no condolence screen from the WWF. I never understood that. Hulk Hogan of course comes out to his own theme, completely eschewing the night's tradition of one theme song per team. Hogan looking intently at DiBiase, as it's DiBiase who cost Hogan the belt vis a vis Andre before Wrestlemania 4.
Bell rings, and it's Macho and DiBiase. They go back and forth until Macho hits a nice full-bodied clothesline and tags in Herc. Red Rooster in and nearly Rics the Flair out of Herc, until an eyepoke releases Herc from the figure 4. Koko B Ware tagged in, followed by Akeem, then finally King Haku. Koko dodges a legdrop and gets Herc back in there. Hogan tagged in and the place goes a little crazy. Axe bomber, two elbows... and an eye rake for Haku. He gets Hillbilly and they give Haku the double boot. Rooster in now and is slammed pretty hard. Hillbilly looks like he's going to figure 4 Rooster, but only kicks him in the groin. "He's such a nice guy, that Hillbilly." - Gorilla Monsoon.
Koko in, and hits a powerslam. One thing that I think is sorely missing in today's wrestling are announcers giving their opinions of what would have been better for a wrestler to do, and they do it here with Rooster slipping out of Koko's powerslam. It's a great way to keep it kayfabe, yet still acknowledge a mistake that everyone sees.
Rooster rams Koko's head in the corner, but Koko doesn't feel it (why? is he samoan?) and hits a top rope dropkick for 2. Hulk in, hits a big boot, and tags in Macho for the top rope elbow drop. Really? Did you need all that to take the Red Rooster out? Heels bail while faces celebrate pinning Terry Taylor like they won the Superbowl. We get to see the managers trying to console each other.
Back in it's Macho and Haku, and Hogan is back in. BIG dropkick takes down the Hulk. A whip to the corner is reversed into a corner clothesline, and Herc is in. Haku kicks out after the 3 count, but that's ok because it doesn't count.
Akeem in and misses an elbow drop, which leads to Hillbilly Jim taking on the man from Deepest, Darkest Africa. Big boot causes Akeem to wobble, but a stupid attempt at a bearhug causes Hillbilly to lose momentum, and the 747 splash ends it for Hillbilly at the 3. Akeem hand jives in celebration.
Hogan and BBM are in, and the crowd goes nuts. Hogan fires away and hits his Axe Bomber to no knockdown. He gets passed around the face corner like a doobie, gets bit, and receives a Hogan boot and STILL does not go down!
Hogan gives his gorilla press sign to the audience, so that means a regular body slam on a fat guy is coming up. And there you go. Boss Man catches Hogan with a spine buster and tags in Akeem. Double elbow to Hogan, and Haku is back in. Boss Man eventually tagged back in, and the announcers refer to Boss Man's tactics as "interrogation techniques." Dibiase in with his patented fist drops, goes for the pin, and IT'S HULK UP TIME! Dibiase does not see Hogan taggin Herc in, and its SLAVE UP TIME! Herc hitting some shots until Virgil trips him up, and he is distracted like a meat head until DiBiase rolls him up for the three! DiBiase himself is subsequently rolled up by Savage for the three!
HaKU and Savage go at it until Haku misses a head butt, sends Savage to the ropes, Savage tags Hogan, and Hogan gets hurt. BBM goes to town and pins Hogan with a weak kickout for the save. Akeem in, and of course goes to work on Hogan with fists and axehandles. Haku "unloads with martial arts," in other words he chops him a lot. Pin fall for 2. Nerve pinch has Hogan attempting to rally the crowd, but he goes down. One, two and third time is the charm as the arm stays up, but is brought to the wrong corner. Boss Man Slam onto Hogan. BBM takes WAAAAAAY too much time, and goes to the top rope and misses the big splash. Hogan crawling to his corner, and makes the hot tag to Savage much to the crowd's approval. Slick trips up Savage, and BBM slows the pace down. Bear hug has Savage in trouble, but Slick attempting to drag Elizabeth away gets him a Hogan attack, and BBM handcuffs him to the bottom rope. Big Boss Man is counted out. This does not worry him as he waylays Hogan with the nightstick. Hogan is supposedly "not able to stand."
All the while Savage is being beat up by Haku and Akeem, and Boss Man decides to say F' it and help out. Akeem is disqualified.
It is now all down to Haku and Macho. Slick plays "look at the keys" with Hogan. Savage dodges a dropkick, and tries to tag a partner that is not there. Haku kicks Slick in the chops, and Heenan blasted by a still handcuffed Hogan. Elizabeth goes through Slick's pockets and gets the keys! She lets Hogan loose! Haku slams Savage, goes to the top rope, AND SAVAGE KICKS OUT!!!!! Savage falls back into his corner, and Hogan tags himself in. Big boot, body slam and legdrop calls it! The survivors: The Megapowers!
It was a little hard to get through the first match for the reasons explained above. But the rest of the show was quite enjoyable, even if that has a lot to do with the VHS version being chopped up so frequently. I just wish I had some damn food to eat.
Next up, this event's DIRECT competition - Starrcade '88!
Next up, this event's DIRECT competition - Starrcade '88!
0 comments:
Post a Comment