Survivor Series

This event took place in 1988. Back in 1988 the WWF employed a huge amount of wrestlers most of which were charismatic and good at what they did. This was an era when the WWF had enough quality wrestlers that it could promote an event featuring teams of five against teams of five and even a twenty man tag team elimination match.

The tag team elimination match was awesome. Back in 1988 the WWF had no shortage of exceptional tag teams. It was a hard hitting affair and at the end it boiled down to the two strongest teams at the time-Demolition and The Powers Of Pain!

We also got to see The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan (two of the top wrestlers at the time) lead their teams to victory against the forces of evil!

The really great thing about these events was that there were clear cut good guys such as Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior-and clear cut bad guys such as The Million Dollar Man and Bad News Brown. Today, it's hard to figure out if a wrestler is good or bad.

All in all, a phenomenal event!

The second annual survivor series. Starts off with a tag team match. Still in it's five man form. So 20 men in the ring at the beginning looks more like a battle Royal . After last year rather than considering reducing numbers. They have instead looked at camera angles. There is improvement in this aspect. So many great tag teams during this time a big double cross make it hard not enjoy this match. What follows is A night full of world champions future hall of famers making for an enjoyable evening

I gave this one a 7, because I love the opening tag teams' match, but the 2 mid card matches were edited severely for VHS. About 3/4 of those matches were cut!

The tag match was great, because all teams were exceptional, even the Bolsheviks. The Powers of Pain, however, weren't. This is another example of their mediocrity. They survived the match, but all they had to do was beat the Conquistadors! The real story of this match was Bret Hart, who made 2 eliminations, although one was overturned. And the face turn of Demolition wasn't handled right. This is true because the fans didn't react the way they were supposed to. I'd like to know how Demolition was able to make the turn successfully.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan continued his tradition of eliminating himself and not caring, while Tito Santana was decent. Jake the Snake did surprisingly well when he was left alone against Andre, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, and Dino Bravo (I just realized that all four men have passed since then). His elimination of Rude was the highlight of the night.

Hulk Hogan was mediocre again in his second Survivor Series, eliminating Haku, someone who no one doubts he can beat. The real hero of this one was the Macho Man, who got rid of Terry Taylor (I loved the angle of him losing all the time and Heenan kicking him out for it) and Ted DiBiase. This match was good but could have been better; they used the Mega Powers-Twin Towers feud here for the sake of spectacle rather than substance. Did anyone want to see the Twin Towers blatantly get themselves disqualified?

No feuds were settled, except maybe the one between the Young Stallions and the Bolsheviks. But the role reversal of Demolition and the Powers of Pain was good for historians. And the matches were solid.

Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, the Blue Blazer, Sam Houston, Ultimate Warrior and Jim Brunzell vs. Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Greg "the Hammer" Valentine, Ron Bass and Danny Davis Survivor: Ultimate Warrior

The Rockers, Powers of Pain, Young Stallions, Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs vs. The Rougeau Brothers, Demolition, Los Conquistadores, the Bolsheviks and the Brainbusters Survivors: Powers of Pain

Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Rick Rude, Harley Race and Mr. Perfect vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Scott Casey, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Ken Patera and Tito Santana Survivors: Mr. Perfect and Dino Bravo

Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hercules and Hillbilly Jim vs. Haku, Ted DiBiase, Akeem, Big Boss Man and the Red Rooster Survivors: Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage

Overall Mark: C (A bit better)

After watching/reviewing the first edition of the Survivor Series recently, I gave it a rather average rating with the caveat that it needed to add something to the simple tag-team format. Unfortunately, the 2nd Annual Survivor Series (1988) stagnates instead, adding absolutely nothing to the proceedings.

If you like tag-team action, you'll like this event more than I. The tag format just isn't may favorite, and may prevent me from watching subsequent installments of this event.

What drags this '88 edition down even further is that I didn't really even get the feeling that too many character arcs were being advanced or created here. It just seemed like place-holding. The WWF still had some great personalities at this time in history, so it isn't a completely train wreck, but this is coasting in its highest form.

Thus, overall I was disappointed in the second installment of Survivor Series. If the event doesn't throw a few new things into the mix or find a fresher overall formula, I may not be tuning into subsequent installments.