On the Marc Reviews: Survivor Series 1989

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Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, November 23, 1989

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura

This show is available on the WWE Survivor Series Anthology, Vol. 1 – 1987-1991.

A collage of WWF superstars kick off the show with a bunch of promos; followed by Vince McMahon’s over-the-top announcer voice introducing all of the teams. This year the WWF added clever team names; they also dropped it to four-on-four.

The Dream Team: Dusty Rhodes, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Tito Santana & Red Rooster vs. The Enforcers: Big Bossman, Bad News Brown, Honky Tonk Man & Rick “The Model” Martel (w/Slick & Jimmy Hart): Bossman and Dusty are the respective team captains and were feuding. Akeem was supposed to be a part of the Enforcers, being Bossman’s Twin Tower partner and all but was replaced by notorious loner Bad News Brown for some indiscernible reason, I guess to get accidently nailed and then to walk off on his team as he always does. Tito and Martel also have some unsettled business concerning the Strike Force break up. Tito and Honky start off; Martel distracts Tito from the apron so Honky nails him. His advantage does not last long as Santana fires right back and bodyslams Honky. Tito telegraphs a backdrop and gets nailed; Honky tags in Martel, with Tito reeling, the Model tries to get the advantage. Tito runs the ropes and Martel nails a dropkick. Tito blocks an atomic drop and nails Martel with one; Tito schoolboys him for two. Tito applies a hammerlock; Martel elbows out and tags in the Bossman who Tito quickly arm drags. Dusty tags in and hits the Flip, Flop and Fly on the Bossman. Rhodes reverses a charge and hits a bionic elbow to the top of Bossman’s head. Brutus tags in and comes in off the second rope with a double axe. Bossman thumbs the eye and tags in the Honky Tonk Man who quickly misses an elbow. Martel blind tags in and hits a nice backbreaker; he and Bruti trade headlocks and Beefcake tags in the Rooster who hits a backdrop. Martel catches the Rooster on a corner charge; Honky tags in and dances. Bossman comes in and kicks the crap out of the Rooster. Bossman cups his hands over Rooster’s face and tags in Martel and he drops knees; Rooster hits a surprise inside cradle. Honky returns and gets caught in a sunset flip for two; they hit head-to-head. Martel and Tito both receive tags; Santana hits a couple of dropkicks and a second-rope forearm. Tito goes for the figure-four leglock but Martel breaks it up. Tito and Martel fight over an O’Connor roll-up and Martel wins with a handful of trunks and Tito Santana is the first one ELIMINATED.

Dusty heads in and he and Martel go at it as they show a yet unnamed Sapphire in the crowd rooting on Dusty; Rhodes hits a dropkick, surprising Jesse Ventura. Beefcake comes in and they work over Martel’s arm. Martel reverses a whip and tries a monkey flip and gets stomped. The Rooster tags in and applies a side headlock so Martel counters into a backbreaker. The Bossman tags in and destroys the Rooster again; he applies a bearhug. The Rooster bites the Bossman to free himself; Bad News receives a tag but does not want to enter the ring so the Rooster slingshots him into the ring. Rooster gets a few licks in and it’s all Bad News after that. Brown clobbers the Rooster with his array of punches, boots and fist drops; Jesse complains because Gorilla Monsoon ate all of the pumpkin pie, Monsoon retorts with “you’re just jealous cause you didn’t get any,” Meanwhile the Rooster is in deep trouble until the obvious happens; he and the Bossman screw up a double team and Brown gets nailed, fights with his teammates and walks off and gets counted out. Bas News Brown is ELIMINATED.

The Rooster tags out during the confusion and Bruti and the Bossman battle; Bossman quickly gets the advantage of Beefcake. Honky comes in and hits a backdrop suplex for a nearfall; Honky hits a corner ten punch but Brutus comes back soon after. Honkey rakes the eyes but Brutus reverses a whip and clobbers him with a high knee and gets the pinfall; Dream Team gets the three-on-two advantage as Honky Tonk Man is ELIMINATED.

Martel quickly gets in on Beefcake and goes to work and hits the chinlock; Beefcake fires out and shoulderblocks Martel down. A knee to the gut puts Brutus back down and Martel hits a poorly executed backbreaker and falls to the apron; Martel rams Beefcake into the buckle a few times. Beefcake hits a slingshot sunset flip but Martel crouches down and grabs the ropes; the referee gets to two and notices Martel grabbing the ropes and forces a break, meanwhile Beefcake completes the cradle and gets a three count. Rick Martel is ELIMINATED, leaving the Bossman alone three-on-one.

Beefcake makes it to the corner and tags in the Rooster; Bossman misses an avalanche. The Rooster hits the ropes and runs right into the Bossman Slam and gets beat so the Red Rooster is ELIMINATED.

The Bossman attacks everyone in the corner but Beefcake and Dusty settle down and double team the Bossman. Brutus gets a few shots in and tires so he tags in Dusty. Rhodes ducks a clothesline and hits a crossbody for three ELIMINATING the Big Bossman and Dusty Rhodes and Brutus Beefcake are the survivors. Post-match Slick tosses the nightstick into the Bossman who clobbers Brutus with it, knocking him to the floor. The Bossman handcuffs Rhodes to the ropes and tosses the referee aside and beats Dusty with the stick until Beefcake makes the save with the hedge clippers. 4.5/10 Basic opening survivor match with the babyfaces getting some measure of revenge and hyping the crowd up; Bossman continues the feud with Rhodes.

In the back Sean Mooney interviews the Big Bossman who says that Dusty Rhodes got what he deserved and forfeits all rights as a human being. Elsewhere, Gene Okerlund talks to the 4×4’s; Bret Hart, with his 2×4, says that the King’s Court is going to find out what the 4×4’s are all aboot. Jim Duggan, the captain, says they are ready to fight and going to beat people up.

The 4×4’s: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Bret “Hitman” Hart, “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin & Hercules vs. The King’s Court “Macho King” Randy Savage, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Dino Bravo & Canadian Earthquake (w/Sensational Queen Sherri & Jimmy Hart): Duggan and Savage are the captains and were briefly feuding over the “kingship” of the WWF; Duggan unseat Haku during the summer and then Savage beat Hacksaw shortly after Summerslam ‘89. Valentine and Garvin had a rivalry over who was the tougher guy; this was just after Valentine had gotten Garvin “reinstated” to the WWF because he was a bigger pain in Greg’s ass while he was retired (Garvin lost a career match during the summer to Valentine). Bret is solo here during the second time they split the Harts up to push him. The Widowmaker (Barry Windham) was supposed to be on the King’s Court but he left the WWF and was replaced by Earthquake; they must have had big plans for him because I remember him being included in a series of WWF trading cards. The 4×4’s clear the ring with their 2×4’s and then stomp around the ring; Savage stalls for too long so Duggan tosses him into the ring for Hercules to clothesline and press-slam him. Valentine tags in and he and Herc trade blows; Valentine misses a clothesline and Hercules atomic drops him. Bret comes in to a decent pop; Duggan tags in and tosses him into the turnbuckle and actually works the shoulder between hooo-ing to the crowd. Garvin tags in and chops Valentine’s nipple off. Sleeper by Garvin but Valentine makes the ropes and gets Bravo in there who hits an inverted atomic drop but misses an elbow drop and Garvin brings in Hercules. Hercules levels him with a series of clotheslines. Bravo reverses a whip and tosses Herc into the corner and tags in Quake who drops the Earthquake Splash on him for three and Hercules is ELIMINATED.

Duggan comes in and gets clobbered by Quake; Duggan hits a few shoulderblocks and cannot floor him so Bret comes in and schoolboy trips him from behind. Garvin tags in and punches away on the fallen Quake. Earthquake recovers and forces Garvin into his corner and tags in Bravo who beats on him. Valentine comes in and works the leg muscles in preparation for the figure-four leglock. He turns his “Heart Breaker” shin guard around and tries to apply the figure-four but Garvin tosses him off. Ronnie just misses a tag and Savage comes off the top with a double axe handle. Bravo returns and gets surprised with a backslide. The King’s Court quick tag until Valentine comes in and he and Garvin get into another loud chopping match. Duggan blind-tags in off a whip, that Valentine reverses and runs right into Duggan’s three-point stance clothesline and Greg Valentine is ELIMINATED.

Bravo comes in and nails Duggan from behind; Savage tags in and gets his over the top hangman’s clothesline. Quake comes in and mashes Duggan in the corner with shoulderblocks. Earthquake misses an elbow drop and Garvin tags back in; Quake tags in Bravo and Garvin hits a standing head-butt. Ronnie gets the Garvin Stomp and goes for the reverse figure-four (Sharpshooter) but Garvin rakes the eyes and tags in the Macho King; Garvin responds by tagging in Bret Hart. Here’s a rare but excellent matchup that never graced us with a feud save for one EXCELLENT Saturday Night’s Main Event match back in 1988. Savage tries to toss Bret into the buckle but is reversed and Bret hits an inverted atomic drop. Bret stomps the midsection and Savage retreats and tags in Bravo; Bret backs him into his corner and drops the second-rope driving elbow. Garvin tags in and Bravo quickly side suplexes him for three; Ronnie Garvin is ELIMINATED.

Duggan comes in and gets a “USA” chant going so Quake tags in and he and Duggan battle; Duggan gets him into the corner and tosses him into Bret’s boot. Bret and Duggan floor Quake with a double clothesline. Earthquake tags in and Savage and Bret go at it again; Savage gets too close to Duggan on the apron, a rarity for him and Bret is able to take over from behind. Bret works over Savage; Duggan adds some cheating from the apron and ties Savage in the ropes. Savage takes back control raking the eyes; Bret comes back with a pendulum backbreaker. Savage reverses a whip but Bret gets his boot up to counter in the corner; Bret misses a second rope elbow drop and Savage tags in Dino. Bravo takes over with his power stuff and applies a bearhug. Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon get into a humorous debate over whether Jim Duggan would take a count out loss if Bret were to submit; Gorilla says that he [Duggan] doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”; Jesse retorts with “he don’t know meaning of much.” Classic. Quake tags in and choke-lifts Bret; Earthquake drops an elbow but Bret kicks out. Bravo comes back in and he and Bret screw something up. Duggan, the idiot, runs into the ring allowing triple teaming; actually it didn’t as the King’s Court looks like bigger idiots standing around staring at each other. Savage tags in and a heel miscommunication allows Bret to tag as Bravo takes a knee from Savage. Duggan cleans house and runs over Savage with clotheslines and bodyslams him; Duggan immediately tags Bret back in who is still winded and gets overwhelmed almost instantaneously. Bravo unloads with “the heavy artillery”; Bret misses a corner charge and posts his shoulder. Bravo smartly shoulder breakers him and tags in the Macho King who drops the elbow off the top and pins Bret Hart, ELIMINATING him and Duggan is alone three-on-one; Sherri and Jimmy Hart celebrate on the floor.

Jim Duggan gives it a go and Earthquake starts and muscles Duggan into the corner and beats him there; Quake misses a running shoulderblock into the corner and Savage and Bravo run in illegally, but get floored by Duggan. He tosses all of the heels into Earthquake and clears the ring to a huge ovation. Savage jumps in and he and Dino try a double clothesline; Earthquake charges in and levels Duggan from behind. Quake was the legal man, why he wasn’t counted out is beyond me as he drops an elbow but Duggan kicks out. Bravo tags in, the fans try to rally him with a “USA” chant, Savage comes off the top with a double axe handle. Savage misses a splash on the ropes and Duggan fires back. Bravo comes in illegally to distract the referee as Sherri pulls the ropes down, low bridging Duggan to the floor and he gets counted out and ELIMINATED. Dino Bravo, Canadian Earthquake and Randy Savage are the survivors. Post-match Duggan clobbers Bravo and Savage with a 2×4. 3.5/10 Some good stuff some bad stuff and the result was bland; when it got down to Duggan versus three why did the referee not count out Quake or DQ Bravo for illegally double teaming and not tagging? If it were against Hulk Hogan it would have been different as we will soon see.

Gene Okerlund talks to the doctors who are checking on Dusty Rhodes post Big Bossman attack. Back in the arena, the Genius recites a Thanksgiving poem.

The Hulkamaniacs: Hulk Hogan, Jake “The Snake” Roberts & Demolition vs. The Million $ Team: Ted Dibiase, Zeus & Powers of Pain (w/Mr. Fuji): I’ll let you guess who the team captains are here. There are a couple of champions involved here; Hogan is the WWF champion and Demolition are the tag team champions plus Dibiase is the “Million Dollar” champion. Ted Dibiase was feuding with Jake Roberts but Jake got hurt and was out for a while; he had just returned to active competition shortly before this match, in the meantime Dibiase started things up with Hogan again and paid off Zeus to help him out. Demolition and the Powers of Pain had been feuding on-and-off since before the last Survivor Series. I know that the WWF was testing out the Ultimate Warrior as a main eventer but this should be the main event. The heels won’t let the babyfaces into the ring so Jake unleashes Damian and the Hulkamaniacs enter the ring. Zeus shoves all of the other wrestlers out of the ring to get to Hogan. Jake starts off with Zeus who tells Jake to get out of the ring because he wants Hogan. Hulk tags in, no legal contact had been made so the tag was superfluous, Hogan and Zeus push each other and Hogan tries a shoulder block but he just bounces off of Zeus. Hogan kicks him and hits a high knee and Zeus no-sells all of it; Hogan rakes the eyes and bodyslams him but Zeus immediately gets up and hits his neck snap finisher. Zeus blatantly chokes away the referee tries to stop him and Zeus tosses the referee across the ring for the disqualification. Zeus is ELIMINATED; the rest of his team has to pull him off of Hogan, Zeus casually shoves aside the Powers of Pain upon his exit. The commentators hype the No Holds Barred PPV in December.

Dibiase attacks the downed Hogan and hammers him in the corner. Hogan gets a boot up in the corner and tags in Jake Roberts; Jake kicks the ever loving snot out of Dibiase clotheslining him to the floor and tosses him into the post there. Jake tags in Demolition Ax and then he and Smash hammer Dibiase down. Smash tosses Dibiase in to the boot of Ax and tags in Hogan who comes off the second rope with a double axe handle. Hogan joins Ax and Smash as a triple team Demolition sledge follows; Hogan punches away on the mat. Ax returns and clotheslines Dibiase but Ted comes back with a desperation elbow. Warlord comes in and hammers away on Ax and brings in the Barbarian and holds Ax for a running Barbarian head-butt. Barbarian hits a shoulder breaker but misses an elbow off the second rope. Ax comes back with some clotheslines but Mr. Fuji hooks his foot with the cane allowing the Warlord to drop an elbow and get the three count; Demolition Ax is ELIMINATED.

Smash heads right in there and sledges Warlord down; Hogan tags back in and hits a running clothesline and bodyslams the Warlord. Jake tags in and the fans chant for the DDT. Smash hits the ropes and the Warlord tries a dropdown but Smash sees it and drops a double axe; he tries to slam the Warlord but gets his eye poked. Barbarian tags back in and gets hit big boot caught by Smash but he misses an elbow drop; Dibiase, now recovered, tags in and drops a double axe off the second rope. Dibiase drops a few Million Dollar fist drops; Dibiase applies a double reverse chinlock. Smash fights out but Dibiase slams him; Dibiase tries his reverse elbow drop off the second rope that always misses but Smash won’t tag out. Smash whips Dibiase off the ropes, Barbarian blind-tags in, meanwhile Smash clotheslines Dibiase off the top rope and tries to pin him; referee tries to explain to him the tag was made but it is too late and the Barbarian levels Smash with a top-rope clothesline as he is getting up. Barbarian pins him and Demolition Smash is ELIMINATED.

Jake rushes in and knee lifts the Barbarian and tries the DDT but Barbarian backdrops him. Warlord returns and whips Roberts across the ring a few times. Barbarian signals the money sign to Dibiase and drives a head-butt into Jake and gives him a backbreaker. Warlord comes in and tosses Jake into the corner hard. Now Dibiase comes in and they draw Hogan into the ring and then triple team Jake. Dibiase drops knees to the back of Jake’s head; Ted kills Roberts with a piledriver but Jake gets his foot on the rope to stop a three count. A Hogan tag is cut off again and Barbarian goes up to the top rope again but misses the diving head-butt. Hogan gets the tag and he wipes out all three heels; Hogan hits an axe bomber on Barbarian but gets a nearfall. Hogan suplexes the Barbarian; Warlord comes in illegally and Hogan manages a double clothesline. Dibiase and Jake battle on the floor; meanwhile in the ring the Powers of Pain crack Hogan with a spike piledriver. The referee has seen enough double teaming and disqualifies both of the Powers of Pain; Warlord is ELIMINATED and Barbarian is ELIMINATED. Jesse Ventura is disgusted and points out that the referee has eliminated all of the heels.

Dibiase knees Hogan in the back and then slaps on the Million Dollar Dream; Jake comes in and breaks it up. Why doesn’t the referee DQ Roberts? Dibiase applies the Million Dollar Dream again; Hogan breaks it himself. Dibiase tries a second-rope double axe but catches a punch in the gut; Jake tags in. Roberts punches away in the corner and backdrops Dibiase and then clotheslines him on the top rope. Jake drives a series of knees into the back Dibiase’s head. Virgil finally shows up at ringside, with his hand in a cast, Jake drags him into the ring and DDTs him; Dibiase immediately drops an elbow and gets a pinfall with his feet on the ropes. Jake Roberts is ELIMINATED.

Hogan is still out in the corner; Dibiase rolls the unconscious Virgil to the floor. Dibiase applies a reverse chinlock as Virgil is starting to come to on the floor. Hogan fights to his feet and both guys clothesline each other for a double KO. Hogan tries an atomic drop but Dibiase goes-behind and back suplexes Hogan but that serves to Hulk him up; big boot, legdrop for three. Ted Dibiase is ELIMINATED; Hulk Hogan is the sole-survivor. 4/10 For a match that had epic written all over it is was quite underwhelming; the referee eliminated three fourths of the opposition for the babyfaces, the heels had to pin to get their eliminations.

Sean Mooney talks to Randy Savage and Zeus who are back together again to talk about the steel cage match at the No Holds Barred PPV next month. Elsewhere, Gene Okerlund talks to Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan to offer their rebuttal; Hogan is concerned with Zeus who is out of control. Sensational Sherri arrives and tosses powder into their eyes and Savage and Zeus attack until a whole bunch of wrestlers, heel and babyface, arrive to separate them.

Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon discuss alleged dissention and pushing and shoving in the [Bobby] Heenan Family.

Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect say their team will stand tall and win; Rick Rude shows off his Survivor Series tights. Elsewhere, Roddy Piper and his band of misfits cut a promo that needs to be seen to be believed.

Roddy’s Rowdies: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka & Bushwhackers vs. The Rude Brood: “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect & Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (w/Jimmy Hart & Genius): Bobby Heenan is notably missing from Rude’s side confirming the earlier reports of dissention amongst the Heenan Family. Rude continues his fantastic Survivor Series string of tights with all of the teammates airbrushed on the front and the opponents are on the back (on tombstones); Piper and Rude do not like each other (they are the captains) since Piper cost Rude the IC title to the Ultimate Warrior back at Summerslam ’89. Mr. Perfect was still undefeated but not really had a real feud yet in the WWF. Rude has some awesome wrestlers (and bumpers) on his team; Mr. Perfect handles Bushwhacker Luke who tags in Bushwhacker Butch. Butch bites Perfect, he tags in Piper who bites then Snuka bites and finally Luke returns and bites Perfect on the ass. Snuka tags in as does Jacques Rougeau who shows off his athleticism doing a nip-up; Jacques flips over the back of Snuka so the Superfly hits a running head-butt and double leapfrogs into a chop. Backbreaker by Snuka and then a jumping head-butt; Snuka goes up and clobbers Jacques with the Superfly Splash for three and Jacques Rougeau is quickly ELIMINATED.

Rude rushes in and gets the advantage on Snuka. Rude hits a leapfrog and swivels his hips so Snuka head-butts him into a tag to Perfect. Rude crawls to the apron and uses the top rope to pull himself up but inadvertently low bridges Perfect to the floor. Perfect and Rude get into a brief argument ended with a double noggin knocker. Mr. Perfect is in trouble and Piper comes in and knee lifts him. Piper calls for a knee and rams it into Luke’s knee and tags him in. All of the babyfaces revert back to their former vicious heel days to work over Perfect. Luke bites again and the Kiwis… I mean Bushwhackers continue to dominate Perfect; Piper returns and has a brain fart, atomic dropping Perfect into his corner, Raymond comes in. Raymond kicks away but Piper tries a powerbomb but Raymond backdrops him; Piper continues down the back into a sunset flip for two. Raymond is up swinging and gets a savate kick in the corner; Raymond drops his head for a backdrop so Piper hits a falling piledriver to ELIMINATE Raymond Rougeau. Boy, the Rougeaus looked like total jobbers there.

Perfect enters and gets some of Piper who sneaks in an inside cradle; Perfect comes back with the Hennig neck snap for a two count. Perfect gets a between the legs, neck twist and Piper cannot get to a tag. A front facelock battle supervenes as Piper fights for a tag; a slingshot, Perfect hit the post, allows a tag to Butch. Butch stomps Perfect and gets a two count. Luke comes in and gets a shot in and tags Piper who rapid-fire punches away on Mr. Perfect; Piper swivels his hips stealing Rude’s taunt and nails Perfect with the knockout punch, which Perfect sells 360º. Butch tags back in and bites Perfect’s ass; Butch goes to the ropes to yell at the crowd and Perfect O’Connor rolls him for three and Bushwhacker Butch is ELIMINATED.

Piper comes in and tries his own O’Connor roll and gets two; Snuka tags in hammers Perfect for Luke. Luke pokes Mr. Perfect in the eye and head-butts his abdomen. Luke brings Perfect in too close to his own corner and he tags in Rude who tries a double axe off the top buts get caught in the gut; Luke rams his face into the mat and bites him in the face. Rude quickly hops over a telegraphed backdrop and ends Luke’s evening with the Rude Awakening; Bushwhacker Luke is ELIMINATED.

Sides are even and Snuka charges over into the wrong corner and gets caught by Perfect. Rude and Perfect work over the Superfly in the corner; Rude taunts Piper swiveling his ass at him. Perfect knocks Piper off the apron drawing Piper into the ring a few times allowing Rude to choke him in the corner. Perfect hits a dropkick and gets a nearfall; the kick out sends Mr. Perfect onto the referee, knowing what a notorious prankster he was, probably did it on purpose to fluster the referee as he is laughing at him. Mr. Perfect drops his head on a backdrop but Rude gets a tag and applies a neck crank; Snuka fights back but Rick Rude scratches his back. Snuka sneaks in a close nearfall on Perfect via small package cradle. Perfect rakes Snuka’s eyes with his bootlaces; Snuka gets a few head-butts in but Perfect stays on top. They hit head-to-head for a brief double KO; double tags are made and Piper and Rude finally go at it. Rude tries to exchange fists with Piper and that goes as well as you’d figure and Piper knocks him down. Piper wildly knocks Mr. Perfect off the apron and then spears Rude through the ropes and the battle continues out there until they both get counted out. Roddy Piper is ELIMINATED and Rick Rude is ELIMINATED. That was a long boring heat sequence on Snuka whose payoff was about thirty seconds, and for a double count out?

Piper and Rude fight all of the way back to the dressing room and Snuka, who is still hurt, remains against Mr. Perfect. The outcome here is obvious, although Snuka hadn’t hit his JTTS status until 1990-ish, so there is a little shadow of doubt. Mr. Perfect rams Snuka’s head into a turnbuckle, since he is a Pacific Islander, it has no effect and the Superfly grabs a side headlock. Mr. Perfect and Snuka amp the wrestling up and Perfect hits a few arm drags and standing dropkicks Snuka to the floor. Perfect vertical suplexes Snuka back in the ring from the apron; Snuka comes back with punches and chops. Perfect nearly gets three off another O’Connor roll, Snuka switches into a jackknife cover and they go through a series of nearfalls. Snuka chops the crap out of him and tries a second-rope reverse crossbody that Mr. Perfect rolls-through and gets a close nearfall. I thought that was it. Snuka telegraphs a backdrop and gets nailed with a Perfect-plex for three. Jimmy Snuka is ELIMINATED; Mr. Perfect is the sole-survivor. Post-match Snuka nails Perfect and the Genius and tries to drop the Superfly Splash on the Genius but Perfect pulls him to safety. 4/10 Boring-ish match that had a great ending sequence that was made all the more impressive since Snuka and Perfect had both done the bulk of the ring work throughout the twenty minute, or so, match. The tag teams looked weak but the WWF used them both for comedy matches anyway, which this was until they were all eliminated; the fans were gypped on the promised Rude/Piper confrontation but they kind of made up for it with the decent wrestling at the end.

Right behind the curtain the rest of the Rude’s Brood await Mr. Perfect and celebrate with him. Sean Mooney asks Rick Rude the whereabouts of Bobby Heenan and gets roughly rebuffed. Gene Okerlund is with the Ultimate Warriors, Jim Neidhart is psyched and laughs a lot; the Rockers are going to rock n’ roll and strut n’ stroll. Ultimate Warrior cuts a classic nonsense promo discussing organ donor cards.

The Ultimate Warriors: Ultimate Warriors, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart & Rockers vs. The Heenan Family: André the Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan: Ultimate Warrior and André are the team captains; Warrior is the IC Champion. The backstory here is Tully Blanchard failed a surprise drug test at the arena and was fired that afternoon; they had been teasing a Brain Busters break up for a while, so it segued perfectly here. Arn Anderson knows that this has to be his last day as he would be released the next day. Neidhart, whom I like, sticks out like a sore thumb on his team in the main event. A huge brawl erupts before the Warrior gets to the ring and André wipes out the Rockers and the Anvil. Warrior’s hits the ring and the bell rings; Ultimate Warrior hits three clotheslines and knocks André over-the-top to the floor and gets him quickly counted out. André the Giant is ELIMINATED. This immediate count out for André here, and in their subsequent feud, I hear was a huge insult to the Ultimate Warrior (although he never realized it) as André flat out refused to work with or put over the Warrior, whom no one seemed to like back stage. André getting counted out in thirty seconds meant the he doesn’t respect the Warrior enough to give him a match; however it did make the Warrior look invincible.

The Warrior slingshots both Haku and Anderson into the ring and clobbers them; he sends Arn into his corner for a few shots. Neidhart tags in and hits an axe bomber. Anvil hits a shoulder tackle in the corner but Anderson eye rakes him and brings him over to his corner and tags in Haku. Meanwhile, André has finally gotten up and is meandering about ringside wondering what happened; Warrior and the Rockers (who were apparently terrified of André legit) take this time to get a few cheap shots in upon his exit. Anvil works over Haku in the ring; Neidhart decides to take a shot at Anderson on the apron for past tag teaming days, which allows Haku to retake the advantage. Anvil fights back but they entrap him in the corner and work him over; Warrior, the Rhodes Scholar that he is, keeps running around the apron to attack someone and draws the referee over, allowing triple teaming. Arn distracts the Anvil allowing Haku to crescent kick the back of his head and get the pinfall; Jim Neidhart is ELIMINATED.

Shawn Michaels heads into the ring and Haku clobbers him with a shoulder block; Shawn uses his speed and tags in Marty and they bust out some classic Rocker double teams. The Warrior keeps trying to tag in and the Rockers ignore him. Funny. They hit the double arm wringer into double chops on Haku. The Rockers try a double clothesline but Haku ducks and levels Shawn with a lariat, Marty ducks and tries a high crossbody but Haku catches him; Michaels has to dropkick Marty’s back to complete the move… for two. Haku rakes Jannetty’s eyes and tags in Anderson for a half of an awesome tag match; Anderson and Jannetty fight for a suplex. Haku comes in and they double suplex him but Shawn sneaks in from behind and assists Jannetty, in landing on his feet, and they double superkick Haku and Arn. Warrior tags in and chops the crap out of Haku and backdrops him; he misses an elbow drop and forces Warrior into the corner and tags in Arn. Anderson (or Haku) is no match for the Warrior so he forces him into the corner and tags Marty back in. Arn uses the hair to attempt to break an arm wringer but Jannetty nips back up so Anderson utilizes the drop-toehold to break the hold. Jannetty applies a side headlock; Jesse Ventura blames Gorilla Monsoon for starting a “weasel” chant. Jannetty finally misses a charge and Bobby Heenan tags in; Marty recovers and gets a shot in on him so Bobby quickly tags back out to Anderson. Arn gets a Tully move nailing Jannetty from the apron allowing Haku to crescent kick Marty… for a nearfall. Heenan tags in, drops a knee, grabs the tights and gets the pinfall; looks like Haku may have messed up there, going for the pinfall post crescent kick, as Heenan was supposed to get the fall. Marty Jannetty is ELIMINATED. I just realized that Warrior’s team was in trouble considering it has the Marty Jannetty of the Hart Foundation on it and the Marty Jannetty of the Rockers on it as well.

Warrior comes in and gets Marty out of the ring; Arn Anderson wants no part of the Warrior who immediately bearhugs him. Arn rakes the eyes to free himself and tags in Haku who also gets immediately caught in a bearhug. Warrior atomic drops Haku and tags in Marty as Arn Anderson is beginning to get annoyed with Heenan on the apron. Shawn hits a nice, high, standing dropkick on Haku. Haku tosses Michaels to the floor and the Warrior tosses him back in rather forcefully; Heenan chokes from the apron as the Warrior keeps distracting the referee. Shawn backflips off the top rope and drop-toeholds Arn and rubs his face into the canvas. Warrior tags in and they double clothesline him; Arn bags off and gets kicked. Warrior and Shawn collaborate on a Rocket Launcher for two. Haku tries a second-rope cross body and misses; Shawn goes all of the way to the top with a high crossbody for three. Warrior added a little assist there, pushing Shawn off, I’m sure that someone will probably misconstrue that as Warrior had to have a hand in the elimination, since Shawn Michaels is a mere midcard tag wrestler. Anyway, Haku is ELIMINATED and poor Arn, in his last WWF appearance, has to take on two future world champions alone, despite Heenan in the corner.

Anderson tosses Shawn into Bobby’s boot and then tags him in and punches away until the Warrior, illegally runs over and Heenan covers up in the corner. The referee extricates the Warrior to the apron as Arn extricates Shawn to the floor; Bobby Heenan teases coming off the top rope onto him. Shawn gets a slingshot sunset flip; Arn tries to tag but Heenan short-arms him, Arn kicks out, which leads to an argument between them. Arn demands a tag to Heenan who gets two shots in, and as soon as Michaels gets a shot in, Bobby tags back out. Michaels and Arn hit head-to-head for a double KO; they battle from their knees and Arn gets caught on a corner float-over. Anderson counters a monkey flip out of the corner and whips Shawn into the Anderson Drop (spinebuster), bouncing Shawn’s head hard off the mat, and gets the pinfall ELIMINATING Shawn Michaels.

Warrior heads into the ring but Arn is exhausted; Anderson sidesteps the Warrior and sends him to the floor. Bobby teases coming off the top again but the in-ring referee forces him down. Arn tosses the Warrior back in and tags in Bobby. Warrior comes back and Heenan quickly bails; Anderson, barely with time to catch his breath, returns. Arn knows his days are numbered in the WWF but he is going out in a blaze of glory. Warrior blatantly chokes but Arn catches him in the gut and Heenan adds an assist in the corner. Warrior comes back tossing Arn into Bobby, knocking him off the apron, Warrior hits the Gorilla press-slam/splash combo and pins him; Arn Anderson is ELIMINATED.

Heenan, who has no idea that Arn was pinned, thinks Anderson is walking out on him, yells at him to come back. Bobby’s facial reaction is great as he stares at the Warrior, once he figures everything out. Warrior flings Bobby into the buckles upside down; Warrior tosses him into the corner and to the floor. Heenan tries to walk off but Warrior brings him back in and shoulderblocks him and splashes him to pin him and Bobby Heenan is ELIMINATED. The Ultimate Warrior is the sole-survivor. Post-match, the Warrior briefly poses and runs to the back clotheslining Heenan on his way. 3.5/10 Here was the WWF dipping its’ toes in the Ultimate Warrior’s pool seeing if he can lead the WWF into the nineties, funny thing is, there WAS a guy involved in this match who would do just that but it wasn’t the Warrior. I’ll give you some help it wasn’t Haku either. The match itself was thrown into a tailspin with Blanchard’s firing; which hampered all of the excellent tag work we are used to seeing the Rockers and Brain Busters do that was probably slotted to carry the bulk of the match. Probably should have switched this match with the Hogan/Dibiase match and had the Warrior win the Royal Rumble and test his main event cred there.

The 411:  This show was completely average filled with average matches; it continued all of the ongoing feuds in the WWF and began to build to the Royal Rumble and eventually WrestleMania VI. Nothing special and if you pick up the Anthology, it’s a brief foray into the late, late eighties of wrestling.
Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]