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The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Top 5 Survivor Series Matches
The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…
Week 287 – Top 5 Survivor Series Matches
What are your top 5 Survivor Series rules tag matches that took place at a WWE Survivor Series PPV event?
5. 2008 – Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth & Matt Hardy vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin & William Regal (w/Manu, Layla London & Tony Atlas) – This is one of the “forgotten matches” type deal. It really shouldn’t be surprising that it’s good since those that aren’t incredibly over are at least entertaining to watch and can create a decent match. Regal who was legit sick at the time gets eliminated in 18 seconds but after that a really solid story evolves. The faces get dominated by the heels until Batista is left 4-on-1, goes for broke and eliminates Henry and Benjamin with his big moves. He has Rhodes beaten but Cody isn’t the legal man, which allows Randy to take advantage, RKO and the heels win it. The match isn’t overly long but it’s 15 minutes of continual action, good storytelling and avoidance of overly cheap eliminations.
4. 1993 – Irwin R. Shyster, Diesel, Rick Martel & Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Whippleman) vs. Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, the 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty
– I loved this match for many years and it’s loads of fun. We get heel dissention to start before the newly arrived Diesel eats the first pinfall 10 minutes in. The match is fairly fast paced but things really pick up when Randy gets distracted by Crush on the outside and gets rolled-up for the cheap pin (even in 1993!). Ramon gets counted out after eliminating IRS and we’re left with Adam Bomb and Martel vs. Jannetty and Holly. At the time the faces were JTTS, Martel was a high mid-carder and Bomb was being tapped for a huge push. So imagine everyone’s complete surprise when Kid and Jannetty outlast the heels and pick up the win. So impressive were Jannetty and Kid in their underdog roll they manage to parlay this win into WWE Tag Team championship gold just over a month later.
3. 2003 – Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T & The Dudley Boyz (w/Steve Austin) vs. Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Christian, Chris Jericho & Scott Steiner (w/Stacy Keibler, Teddy Long & Eric Bischoff) – This match gets remembered for an epic Shawn Michaels performance that only he can do. It’s basically Steve Austin vs. Eric Bischoff with the loser vacating their position as co-General Manager of RAW and leaving. The first half is almost every SS match you’ve ever seen with the faces taking most of the eliminations. At the 17 minute mark Michaels finds himself alone against Orton, Jericho and Christian and the shit kicking commences. I mean, Shawn’s like a pinball on speed and even gives us one of his primo, epic blade jobs for good measure. He takes advantage of a cocky Christian and gets to 2-on-1 and after more beating from Jericho gets a fluke small package to get 1-on-1. In one of the best hope spots you’ll ever see, the beaten and bloody Shawn has us believing he’s about to pull one out of the fire to be taken out by Batista and finished off by Orton. I also enjoyed the post-match where Shawn, dejected and beaten keeps telling Austin he’s sorry and as Austin helps him to his feet and you think he’s going to Stunner Michaels, but he offers him his hand. If you want drama done right, call Shawn Michaels!
2. 1991 – Ted Dibiase, The Mountie, The Warlord & Ric Flair vs. Bret Hart, Virgil, the British Bulldog & Roddy Piper – This match is mad, chaotic, insanely fun and it’s a terrible, great pity that it’s only ½ of what could have been a classic match. For 21 minutes we had 8 guys pulling out all the stops for the match to just abruptly end without warning. However, don’t let that detract from what’s an outstanding bout because it’s really that good. Ric Flair, in case you aren’t aware, is one of the best workers anywhere as he proceeds to put on a display of heel cheating that is almost without peer. It doesn’t hurt that he’s playing off Roddy Piper and Bret Hart who know how to work a match in their sleep and still keep the crowd enthralled. We get two eliminations (Bulldog and Warlord) and as the match is humming along with an insane amount of heat, 5 guys get DQ’d (Piper, Hart, Virgil, Dibiase, Mountie) and Flair picks up the super cheap win. While I get the protection of Flair and the cheap ending fits in with his character somewhat, I just feel that if they went another 10 minutes and had some proper eliminations and a better ending, this could have tipped up to the ***** territory. As it is, it’s a great match that is usually forgotten about.
1. 1987 – Tag Team Survivor Match: Demolition, The Islanders, The Hart Foundation, The New Dream Team & The Bolsheviks (w/Jimmy Hart, Johnny Valiant, Bobby Heenan & Mr. Fuji) vs. Strike Force, the Rougeau Bros., The British Bulldogs, The Young Stallions & The Killer Bees – This match is epic not only for the fact that the company had 10 viable, legit teams to throw in there to begin with, but the mass of talent is off the charts. The beauty of a match like this is even if you completely suck as a worker, if you just keep tagging in fresh faces every couple of minutes the match will never get boring. This is 30 minutes of end-to-end action and bodies in motion. I still shake my head at the balls that Vince McMahon had putting the Young Stallions over and having them co-winners with the Killer Bees. Spare a thought for the champs Strike Force and the legendary British Bulldogs who got an early shower this night. Regardless, this is great viewing and makes an old fart like myself pine for matches that made being a fan in the 80’s so fucking awesome.
Note: I’m going by favorites, as most of the team matches, to me, are all fun outings
5. 1990 – The Visionaries (Rick Martel, The Warlord, Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma)) (with Slick) defeated The Vipers (Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka and The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)) – No, it’s not the best match of all time, but the surprise result is what really gets this match onto my list. When the match was announced, I remember thinking as a kid that the Visionaries team was in trouble. Sure, Power and Glory were on a bit of a run, but I didn’t see all four guys being able to stop Superfly, the Rockers, AND Jake the Snake. There was just no way. Instead, the Visionaries put the pedal to the metal and destroyed the Vipers, becoming the first team to survive in tact. I was completely dumbfounded as a kid when this match was over.
4. 1990 – The Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and The Texas Tornado) defeated The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect and Demolition (Ax, Smash and Crush)) (with Bobby Heenan and Mr. Fuji) – My second favorite team of all time, The Warriors came out ready to roll. The Ultimate Warrior had been teaming with the Road Warriors in 6 man tags against Demolition on the house circuit, while Tornado and Mr. Perfect were in a feud over the Intercontinental Championship. The eliminations were actually fast, as Ax was taken out quickly, followed by Smash, Crush, Hawk and Animal being eliminated in a double DQ. Tornado was taken out by Perfect, who was then eliminated by the Warrior. Still, a fun match that I really enjoyed.
3. 1989 – The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Demolition (Ax and Smash) and Jake Roberts) defeated The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) and Zeus) (with Virgil and Mr. Fuji) – This match featured my absolute favorite Survivor Series team of all time, with Hogan, Demolition, and Jake Roberts. Both teams were stacked, and I remember as a kid wondering how anyone was going to be able to handle Zeus. Luckily, the big dummy got himself DQ’d when he wouldn’t listen to the referee. Hogan finished DiBiase off with the legdrop for the win in what I consider a fun match.
2. 2005 – Team SmackDown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John “Bradshaw” Layfield, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton*) (with Bob Orton and Jillian Hall) defeated Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters) – I really enjoyed this match when it went down, and nothing has changed in the 9 years since. First off, mixing up the heels and faces in the name of Brand Loyalty was a nice touch, as it showed that the guys could find a common bond, even if it was over something as simple as the color of their shirt. Then, we get a spirited effort including Shawn Michaels trying to rebound from a 3-1 deficit- and nearly doing so- until distraction sealed his fate, giving the win to Team Smackdown.
1. 1990 – Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana defeated Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord and Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) (with Virgil and Slick) – Maybe it’s a bit of a cheat, but damn if this isn’t my favorite Survivor Series team match. Billed as “The Grand Finale Match of Survival,” this pitted all the survivors from the previous matches into a match against each other for the most bragging rights. Facing a 3 on 5 situation, Hogan, Warrior, and Tito came out swinging, with Tito taking out the Warlord. Tito would go next, leaving Hogan and Warrior to take on DiBiase, Martel, Hercules, and Paul Roma. Nine minutes after the match started, Hogan and Warrior were standing tall as the victors. It’s probably not (definitely not) the best quality match ever, but I always loved this, and wish each year that they’d bring the concept back.
5. Big Show/1999 – Just your usual reminder that I am terrible at compiling best of lists. My mind could change tomorrow, and the order would be totally different. In this case, I wrote similar column for The Layfield Report (leave the memories alone) last year, so a lot of my stuff will be from there. Coming in at number five is a strange choice but something I always thought was cool. Big Show in 1999 just running through everybody in sight and not giving two sticks about his own teammates. All by himself out there, he wanted to destroy The Big Bossman, and nothing was going to stop him. Now…adding their feud to the WWE Championship picture? No thanks. That should have gone to Test, but for this two-three minute match, it was great.
4. Team DX Sweeps Team RKO/2006 – Just for the whole spectacle surrounding it all. The reunion of DX was still a hot topic in late 2006, so there was still some shine of seeing them captain a team a Survivor Series. CM Punk was gaining momentum on the ECW brand Tuesday nights, as seen by the live crowd reaction before the bell rang AND cool gesture from Triple H to give him that ‘pop.’ Plus, the Hardyz were back together at the time. The other side? Well, the heel side was not as strong. However, they all got more attention than anybody ever expected, so that is a plus for them I suppose. Regardless, the star power was just off the page for Team DX in the sense NONE of them could take a pin fall/submission loss. That is how stacked it was.
3. Team Austin Loses To Team Bischoff/2003 – This was about as good as tag team wrestling gets right here. You had ten guys in there that were fun to watch and more than willing to deliver a fun spectacle. From Chris Jericho to Christian to Randy Orton to Shawn Michaels to Mark Henry to Rob Van Dam to Booker T to more, what more can I say? With Stone Cold’s role as Raw General Manager on the line, things were even MORE interesting. Must watch match! I will not spoil the ending for those who have not seen it, but wow…
2. The Last Time Raw VS. Smackdown Meant Anything/2005 – The brand extension was still in full effect. Once again, superstars from all walks of life were featured here. JBL was in there. Rey Mysterio was in there. Shawn Michaels was in there. Randy Orton was in there. A couple of upstarts were even thrown in the mix to make it intriguing. All the while, both the Raw and Smackdown commentators were jawing at each other during the whole thing. Came off as VERY legitimate brand pride. Fun stuff here…with a surprise return after the match.
1. Winner Take All/2001 – WWE vs. ECW/WCW sells itself. The losing side goes out of business. The winning team stands tall as the supreme entity. When ECW and WCW went by the name “The Alliance,” I liked their future. When the Survivor Series main event was announced, I feared for their future. Their time was over, but in true wrestling fashion – a few twists and turns were inserted first. With a ‘best of’ squad featuring The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, Undertaker, and Big Show, their opponents stood no chance. To this day, I loved the Invasion story line in 2001 and can happily re-watch the Survivor Series main event.
5. Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, & Lioness Asuka vs. Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, & Chaparita Asari (1995) – I remember being intrigued by this match when it was first announced for the show, because it promised something that I hadn’t seen much of before as a wrestling fan: Female stars from Japan. When the bout took place it was something completely different than any other Survivor Series match up to that point. It was higher impact and it was harder hitting, despite the fact that it featured members of what has traditionally been referred to as the “fairer sex.” In addition to being an entertaining ten minute sprint, this was also a match that had a certain amount of importance to my life as a pro wrestling fan, as it was what got me interesting in hunting down joshi when I discovered the world of tape trading a few years later, building a solid foundation for my enjoyment of puroresu today.
4. Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Christian, Scott Steiner & Mark Henry vs. Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Bubba & D-Von Dudley (2003) – The year 2003 was probably one of my least favorite years for Monday Night Raw. A lot of the top stars felt like their acts were getting stale, and there was entirely too much time consumed by the feud between Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff; which didn’t serve to elevate anybody who was actually wrestling. However, if there is one great thing that came out of said feud, it’s this match. Actually, if you want to get even more specific, you can say that it is SHAWN MICHAELS’ PERFORMANCE in this match. The majority of the bout was a pretty fun little romp, but then things reached a point where HBK was all-alone with three members of the heel team, with Steve Austin’s career to supposedly come to an end if he lost. Michaels put on one of the all-time great underdog babyface performances in wrestling, to the point that Ricky Morton, who was no doubt watching this match on the television provided by whatever jail was holding him for nonpayment of child support at the time, would have shed a tear.
3. Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Davey Smith, & Psycho Sid vs. Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, & Dean Douglas; (1995) – This was the first and only Survivor Series “Wild Card Match,” a wacky concept in which the teams were supposedly selected at random, leading to babyfaces teaming with heels on both sides of the lineup. Of course, there was some dissension in the ranks on both teams that played into the outcome of the bout, but, even when you include that tomfoolery, I thought that the match was very well put together and executed. In addition to some exciting action, it did a great job of putting over none other than Ahmed Johnson, who, though he has become nothing more than a footnote in the grand scheme of pro wrestling history, was at the time positioned to be the company’s next top babyface. Solid work, sensible booking, and some of my personal favorite wrestlers from the era being involved combine to bring the Wild Card Match in at number three.
2. The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, & The Big Show vs. Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, & Shane McMahon (2001) – Like most people who were fans at the time, I was supremely disappointed by how the WCW invasion of the WWF was booked. It wasn’t that I missed the Goldbergs, Flairs, and the Hogans of the world. It was more that I didn’t like how the WCW wrestlers who DID make the jump were treated. WWF could have booked Booker T., DDP, Sean O’ Haire, Mike Awesome, Lance Storm and others to be legitimate threats, but instead they turned them into second class citizens and basically made the feud another round of “WWF Heels” vs. “WWF Faces.” However, no matter how much I disliked the booking, I can’t deny that, in 2001, the WWF talent roster had more depth than it has at perhaps any other time in history, and that’s even with two of its most talented performers (Chris Benoit and Triple H) sidelined for most of the year due to injury. The depth of talent was on full display in this match, which managed to take a lackluster main event storyline and turn it into one of the most – if not the most – dramatic SS elimination matches in history. Jericho, Austin, Rock, RVD, Undertaker, Angle . . . these were all top tier performers, and they were firing on all cylinders this particular evening.
1. Bret, Owen, Bruce, & Keith Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, The Red Knigh, The Blue Knight, & The Black Knight (1993) – I fully admit that there’s probably a fair amount of childhood nostalgia coloring this choice, but I’m still going to make it. I was 11 years old when this match took place, and, at the time, I loved absolutely everything that the Hart family did. As a result, when I saw that there were two “new” (to me) Harts coming in, I was excited to see what they could do. Stampede Wrestling alums Bruce and Keith actually more than held up their end of the bargain, as did the three masked knights, all of whom were good hands in their own regard (Greg Valentine, Barry Horowitz, and Jeff Gaylord – NOT Glen Jacobs as some sources report). And, of course, Bret, Owen, and Shawn all brought their respective a-games, as I couldn’t imagine them doing anything else in 1993. And, again, you had a good, subtle storyline twist here, as Owen carried the day and got the majority of the eliminations for his team before getting pinned himself off of an inadvertent collision with Bret on the apron. This would add more steam to the Rocket’s heel turn and one of my favorite feuds of all time, which would take place throughout 1994.
List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:
5. CHOICE: Explanation
4. CHOICE: Explanation
3. CHOICE: Explanation
2. CHOICE: Explanation
1. CHOICE: Explanation
