WWF Survivor Series - November 23, 1994
by SamoaRowe
-WWEClassics.com (formerly WWE Legacy) is now presenting a classic pay-per-view every month! So guess what Rowe is adding to his lineup each month?
-The show opens with a montage of the different teams in survivor matches rallying together. Diesel leads The Teamsters against Razor Ramon and the Bad Guys. Jerry Lawler fires up The King’s Court for their bout with Doink and Clowns R Us. Finally, the Million Dollar Team (lead by who else but Ted Dibiase) will collide with Lex Luger’s team of Guts and Glory.
-From San Antonio, Texas. Our hosts are Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon.
Traditional Survivor Series match:
Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon, The 1-2-3 Kid, British Bulldog, Fatu, and Sionne (with Afa and Captain Lou Albano)
HBK and Diesel are the World Tag Team Champions, but HBK appears to want the spotlight for himself. The Kid starts against Owen, who stalls heavily. Neidhart tags in right away and the action goes back and forth. Jarrett tags and takes control, but spends too much time celebrating and The Kid fights back. Sionne tags and wrestles an even contest with Jarrett. Top rope clothesline by Jarrett gets 2. Owen tags to massive heat, but Sionne tags in the Bulldog to make things interesting. They awesomely exchange holds before Bulldog tosses Owen to the wolves and nails a press slam. Owen is crafty and tags in Neidhart for a double clothesline on Smith. Owen and Neidhart try again, but Bulldog takes them both down, and nails a vertical suplex on Neidhart. Fatu tags and nails a diving head butt on Neidhart. Fatu has trouble with his boot and is jumped by Jarrett. Fatu hits a power slam and tags Ramon. Jarrett talks strategy with his team and meets Ramon in an even contest. Ramon dumps Jarrett and takes a swing at Diesel on the apron. Jarrett returns and finds himself on the receiving end of a fall away slam. The Kid tags and Ramon slams him onto Jarrett for a near fall. Abdominal stretch on The Kid by Jarrett. The ref catches Jarrett using the ropes, allowing The Kid to reverse, but Jarrett drops him over the ropes. The Kid rebounds and tags Fatu. Owen tags, but Fatu is possessed and cleans house. Diesel makes a blind tag and blindsides Fatu. The powerbomb finishes Fatu at 13:30. The Kid nails Diesel with a flurry of offense before getting caught with a double chokeslam. Powerbomb finishes The Kid at 14:11. Sionne attacks but is also nailed with the powerbomb and eliminated at 14:44. The Bulldog won’t let this stand and aggressively pounds away on Diesel, but Diesel boots him from the ring. The referee loses control as Owen and Jarrett attack Bulldog at ringside and is counted out (what?). It’s Ramon alone against five! Ramon nails a flurry of offense and thinks he’s beaten Diesel, but the ref calls the cover 2 ½. Michaels orders a jack knife from the apron. Ramon is in bad shape and attacks everyone on the apron. Diesel is slow to follow through with HBK’s orders and Ramon keeps getting in desperate offense. Diesel finally hits the powerbomb and tags in Michaels. HBK orders Diesel back in to hold Ramon up. HBK misses the super kick and nails Diesel! Tensions explode and Diesel shoves off his team mates and chases Michaels from the ring to the back. Owen tries to get his team back before they lose. Razor Ramon is declared the winner by count-out at 22:05. The match was lots of fun and that screwy finish effectively fueled the dissension between Michaels and Diesel, so it’s forgivable. ***½.
Survivor: Razor Ramon
-Michaels is ranting and raving about how ungrateful Diesel is as he flees the arena.
Traditional Survivor Series match:
Jerry “The King” Lawler, Cheesy, Sleazy, and Queasy vs. Doink, Dink, Pink, and Wink
The rules state that if Lawler is the legal man, only Doink can be in there with him and vice versa. In case you aren’t familiar with this angle, everyone but Lawler and Doink are midgets. Doink keeps hitting clever and humiliating attacks on Lawler with help from the clowns. Lawler then tries to copy the attacks and they backfire. Yeah, hilarious stuff, right? Doink locks the arm and a small clown puts a Burger King crown on him. That’s actually pretty funny. Dink climbs on Doink’s shoulders and challenges a fight. Lawler climbs onto Sleazy’s shoulders but it doesn’t work. Lawler is interested in a more serious contest and challenges a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Of course the midgets ruin this with a quadruple crisscross and double drop-kicks by the clowns. This is getting painful and the match is only half over. The bad comedy continues, but at least Lawler establishes some cheap control. Lawler manages to pin Doink at the 10 minute mark, leaving the three little clowns to fend for themselves. Dink gets the upper hand on Queasy by biting. Cheesy has Wink in trouble, but Dink makes the save. Lawler saves Queasy from a monkey flip, allowing Wink to get eliminated at 13:15. Pink is all fired up for a fight but Sleazy trips over his own boots. Lawler drops Cheesy onto Pink for the elimination at 14:30. Dink holds his own for a little bit. The little kings cheat and Dink is eliminated at 16:03. That’s right, they gave this horrible comedy match SIXTEEN minutes. DUD.
Survivors: Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy, and Cheesy
-Lawler berates his teammates for celebrating since Lawler obviously won the match all by himself. The little kings refuse to give up their celebration and Lawler kicks them out. They keep celebrating so Lawler chases them around the ring. Meanwhile, the little clowns were hiding under the ring and they rush out to attack Lawler. The six midgets chase Lawler around the ring. Lawler runs to the exit, but the big Doink runs out with a pie, smashing it into Lawler’s face. Well, the torment is finally over.
-We are treated to footage of Alundra Blaze losing the Women’s title to Bull Nakano. Nakano is here for a live promo, but apparently doesn’t know any English. That means she’s a heel, right?
WWF Championship:
Bret “The Hitman” Hart © (with The British Bulldog) vs. Mr. Bob Backlund (with Owen Hart)
This is a submission match. Stu and Helen Hart are in the front row. Bulldog and Owen both are holding towels to throw in if their man is in trouble. Backlund runs into a scoop slam immediately, giving control to the Hitman. Backlund powers out of a side headlock, but Bret retains control. Backlund really wants the chickenwing, but Hart counters everything and wears him down with headlocks. Backlund counters an abdominal stretch but his scoop slam is countered. Backlund counters and goes to work on the arm. Bret fights out, but is distracted by Owen and ends up butting heads with Backlund. More arm work by Backlund. Neckbreaker by Bret, but Backlund hasn’t let go of his wrist. Backlund is merciless with his arm attacks. Inverted atomic drop by the Hitman, but he struggles to apply the sharpshooter. Bret improvises with the figure four! Backlund screams for the towel, but Owen refuses out of hatred for his brother and a lack of concern for Bob. They trade reversals on the figure four before Backlund finally gets the ropes. Bret smells blood and goes to work on Backlund’s leg. Piledriver by Backlund! Bret hides in the ropes to avoid the chickenwing from an increasingly crazed Backlund. Swinging neckbreaker by Backlund. Bret connects with a series of reversals but gets caught in a sleeper. Bret thrusts Backlund into the turnbuckles. A series of counters leaves both men down. Piledriver by Bret and a running bulldog! Side Russian legsweep by Bret and a backbreaker! Fist drop off the ropes by Bret and he’s ready for the sharpshooter! Owen lures Bulldog into a chase and succeeds in breaking the sharpshooter! Bulldog gets tripped into the steel steps by Owen is appears to be unconscious! Backlund applies the crossface chickenwing! Meanwhile, Owen suddenly looks remorseful about Bulldog and is broken up over his brother’s ordeal. Backlund locks on the body scissors to take Bret down to the mat. Owen now appears to be weeping, as Bret has been trapped in the chickenwing for several minutes. Owen pleads with his parents to throw in the towel, claiming this isn’t what he wanted. Owen pulls his mom and dad into the ringside area and hands Helen the towel. Stu pulls the towel away, refusing to throw it in. Bret had been in the chickenwing for almost ten minutes when Helen finally pulled the towel from Stu and tossed it into the ring to end the match at 34:38. The match was truly an epic, everyone played their parts excellently, and it featured some grand in-ring (and out of ring) storytelling, ****¼.
Winner and new WWF Champion: Bob Backlund
-Stu looks disappointed with Helen’s decision. Owen bolts from the arena. Bret needs to be helped from the ring. Backlund looks shocked as he is declared the new WWF Champion. Too bad his reign would end days later in a squash against Diesel.
-Backstage interview with Owen Hart. Owen is gloating over the set-up. He lured his parents into a trap and now his lousy brother is no longer the WWF Champion! Owen has achieved his ultimate revenge and declares Bret to be a quitter. Owen promises to win the WWF title himself and that unlike Bret, he’ll never quit! Owen was so awesome it’s painful to think about it now.
-McMahon and Monsoon are appalled by just how low Owen Hart proved himself to be tonight.
Traditional Survivor Series match:
Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow, King Kong Bundy, Tom Prichard, and Jimmy Del Rey (with Ted Dibiase and James E. Cornette) vs. Lex Luger, Mabel, Adam Bomb, Billy Gunn, and Bart Gunn (with Oscar)
Luger squares off with Tatanka to kick things off. Luger clotheslines Tatanka to the floor and fights off the Heavenly Bodies. Bundy gets involved, but Mabel punks him out. Mabel tags and mixes it up with Prichard. Mabel splashes Prichard off the second rope to eliminate him at 4:03. Del Rey runs into a sidewalk slam. King Kong Bundy tags and lumbers around against Mabel. Bigelow tags and a slugfest erupts. Bigelow misses a spin kick but Mabel connects with one of his own. Mabel climbs the ropes but Bigelow slams him down! Bigelow goes high risk but his sunset flip is countered by a big splash! Mabel clotheslines Bigelow and himself to ringside. Mabel is counted out at 7:15, but Bigelow barely returns. Billy Gunn and Jimmy Del Rey mix it up. Adam Bomb tags and squares off against Bigelow. Bomb cleans house but a cheap shot from Bundy ends his momentum. Moonsault by Bigelow finishes Bomb at 9:06. Luger attempts a quick pin but Bigelow kicks out. Del Rey tags and resumes control. Luger nails a desperate clothesline to pin Del Rey at the 11 minute mark. The Gunns work on isolating Tatanka. Tatanka takes a long beating before countering a crucifix by Bart and eliminating him at 14:39. Luger takes Bart’s place, keeping Tatanka from his teammates. King Kong Bundy gets something resembling a hot tag but misses an elbow drop on Billy. Bundy tries again and eliminates Billy at 17:12. Luger is alone! Luger fights off Bundy and Bigelow, and gains a painfully near fall on a fresh Tatanka. Blind tag by Bigelow, who nails a suplex for 2. The Million Dollar Team keep the tags coming. Luger gets a desperate roll-up on Tatanka to eliminate him at 23:12. Bundy rushes in for a splash and pins Luger to end this at 23:19. This was all-around solid (and featured some good booking for Mabel) but fell flat towards the end, since the fans didn’t buy that Luger stood a chance, **½
Survivors: King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow
-Bundy, Tatanka, and Bigelow proceed to beat down Luger until his eliminated teammates rush out to make the save. Mabel dispatched the returning Heavenly Bodies in the entrance way. I guess a moral victory is better than no victory.
-Backstage interview with new WWF Champion Bob Backlund. Mr. Backlund says he’s been the champion since 1978 and has never lost it. All he did tonight was regain the physical belt and he did it by beating the man who represents “your” society. Backlund promises to take on anybody. I don’t think he was counting on meeting Diesel within the next week, eh?
-Chuck Norris is our special guest referee for the main event! He enters to arguably the pop of the night.
Casket match:
Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji and James E. Cornette) vs. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer)
The Undertaker’s big, long, scary entrance has shaken up Yokozuna, who is clumsy in the early going. Yokozuna is even scared of Norris, who is stationed by the casket. Taker stalks Yokozuna around ringside. Back to the ring, Undertaker is in firm control with his usual bag of tricks. Yokozuna nails some desperate offense, but Taker keeps getting right back up. Taker drops Yokozuna neck-first on the ropes. Urinagi by Yokozuna and a leg drop. Taker is placed in the casket but he won’t let the lid shut. He pulls Yokozuna in with him and they brawl. Undertaker has to fight off Mr. Fuji and Cornette, enabling Yokozuna to retake control. Undertaker fights back from the plodding beat down with a flying clothesline. Undertaker is looking for the win, but King Kong Bundy comes out to the arena. Officials try to send Bundy away, and Norris gives him the a stern look. Bam Bam Bigelow also wants a piece of Norris. The distraction allows IRS to run in through the crowd and attack Undertaker. IRS applies a sleeper and tosses Undertaker into the casket. Yokozuna can barely stand and is very slow to capitalize on the situation. Yokozuna reaches for the lid, but Taker grabs him by the throat. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett marches out and eats a thrust kick from Norris! Back in the ring, Taker is unloading on Yokozuna. Taker boots Yokozuna into the casket and snaps the Japanese flag over his knee and tosses it in with him (can you imagine WWE doing that today with their interest in foreign markets?). The casket lid is shut and Taker is declared the winner at 15:25. This was certainly less painful than the previous Royal Rumble casket match, but it was still boring and stupid, *.
Winner: The Undertaker
Final Thoughts: That main event was certainly a bore and is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth for this show. It almost makes me forget that the WWF Championship match was fantastic and the opening survivor match was a lot of fun. Otherwise, this show was something of a mess (especially the Doink/Lawler match, which probably would have been fine if ten minute had been trimmed from it). Last I knew, you can still watch Hart/Backlund on WWEClassics.com by itself, so why don’t you go ahead and watch that and just skip the rest of his one.
Thumbs down.
Sound Off!Comment about this article on Da' Wrestling Boards!