Survivor Series

This Fourth Survivor Series event is a big disappointment in my opinion. The matches suffer from being far too short and the way in which some of the wrestlers are eliminated, was rather lazy and unimaginative. The most stupid thing about this Survivor Series from 1990, is the appearance of some idiot dressed up as a feathered hen! I know it was the holiday of Thanks-giving but even so, it was ridiculous. The match of the Ultimate Warrior's team against Mr. Perfect's team, had some potential initially. The Legion of Doom - still one of the best tag teams in Wrestling history - were having a story angle with Demolition. The two teams were on opposing teams at the 1990 Survivor Series. What could have been a great match, resulted in there being an average one. Ax from Demolition was due to leave the WWE for various reasons and new member Crush took his place. Ax had little to do and was eliminated early. The fact that both members of Legion of Doom and Demolition were eliminated at the same time, was both thoroughly lazy and disappointing. It was left to the Ultimate Warrior to win the match. The next match is quite a bit better. We are introduced to a wrestler who would proceed to become one of the company's biggest names - The Undertaker. He was a last minute replacement for Bad News Brown who had left the WWE not long before the date of the Fourth Survivor Series. The Undertaker was on the team of the Millon Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. The match has some good action and the confrontation between DiBiase and Bret Hart is like poetry in motion. Next is the Hulk Hogan match where his team is pitted against his enemy, Earthquake and his team. The match is not bad and is at least entertaining. It's too brief though and should have been about 6 minutes longer. The match of the Vipers vs. The Visionaries is absolutely terrible. Of all the matches on the card, this one should have been shorter as it is too one-sided. The ending was rather stupid as well. The final match is also lamentable. The whole thing was woefully uneven in the way the wrestlers were eliminated. To conclude this Survivor Series event, all the survivors from the matches gathered to wrestle in a match to decide who would be the ultimate survivors. This match was passable without distinguishing itself. A few wrestlers were due to participate in the Fourth Survivor Series but had left before this could happen. Akeem the African Dream and Ravishing Rick Rude each were part of the official photos that were taken to show who the teams were going to be. Macho King Randy Savage didn't take part and I was disappointed.

This event was great, and had some of the greatest gimmicks here. In the opening match we have Mr Perfect (with Bobby Heenan) and Demolition (Ax, Smash and Crush with Mr Fuji) vs. Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, and Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This was during the time that Ax was on his way out and Crush was on his way in, when Demolition was a 3 man team. I thought that was pretty cool.

Then we have Dusty Rhodes, Hart Foundation and Koko B Ware vs Million Dollar Man (with Virgil), Rhythm and Blues (Honky Tonk Man and black-haired Greg Valentine with Jimmy Hart) and the Undertaker (with Brother Love). This is the event where the Undertaker was introduced to the WWF and this is his first match ever. Here, Brother Love is he chubby manager/boss, before Paul Bearer.

The next match is Jake the Snake, the Rockers and Jimmy Snuka vs. Rick Martel, Power and Glory (with Slick) and the Warlord (with Slick).

Then we have Hulk Hogan, Tugboat, Big Boss Man and Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart), Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart), Haku (with Bobby Heenan), and Barbarian (with Bobby Heenan). Rick Rude (who had a world title shot at Summerslam just 3 months earlier) was scheduled to be on Earthquake's team, but he quit the WWF before this event took place. He was replaced by Haku, another Heenan family member. This is during a period where the entire Heenan family was feuding with the Big Boss Man.

The next match is Nikolai Volkoff, Bushwackers and Tito Santana vs. Sgt Slaughter (with General Adnan), the Orient Express (Sato and Tanaka with Mr Fuji) and Boris Zukov (replacing Akeem). I am no sure why Slick's man Akeem did not appear at this event, he was a no show at last year's Survivor Series also. Boris Zukov replaces him (I didn't know Zukov was still in the WWF at this time!) Zukov was once managed by Slick, too, so I am not sure why Slick does not appear with him here.

We then have Mean Gene with the hatching of the Gobbledy Gooker (a gimmick played by Hector Guerrero) This was the only appearance of the Gobbledy Gooker until Wrestlemania X-7 in 2001.

The last match feature the the good guy survivors from the previous matches against all the bad guy survivors from the previous matches, so this match was Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana vs. Million Dollar Man, Rick Martel, Power and Glory and Warlord. 3 vs 5. In all, this event was one of the best WWF pay per views ever and I give it 10 out of 10

What many fans today don't often understand is back in the 80's and early 90's, watching wrestling was about spectacle. We didn't care so much if we were watching a five star match, we just enjoyed the show. This ppv is a classic example.

The matches meant nothing, no titles on the line and some of the wrestlers were arbitrarily thrown on teams. However, it was pretty damn awesome as a kid to see the Ultimate Warrior team with LOD and Kerry Von Erich in a match. Even if we knew the probable outcome.

Same with the Gooker and final match. They meant nothing but 30+ years later I still have fond memories of watching this event Thanksgiving night with my cousins.

This one was marred by potentially great matches being cut very short.

The opening match was a waste of the Legion of Doom, but I guess the only way they could have been eliminated by Demolition was a double-DQ. Otherwise, Mr. Perfect would have had to put in overtime. Kerry von Erich, the I-C champ, was wasted here. And this was the third ppv in a row where Perfect jobbed. Remember, before that he never lost a match.

The second match was very good, possibly the best of the night. Ted DiBiase and the Undertaker were excellent, while the Jim Neidhart had one of his WWF highlights, pinning the Honky Tonk Man. Koko B. Ware continued his tradition of being the first to put over a new heel (remember the Big Bossman and Yokozuna?). This was a foreshadowing of Bret Hart's singles career, as he came back from two-on-one and almost survived the match. He and DiBiase put on a wrestling clinic, making us forget that the point of the match was DiBiase's boring feud with Dusty Rhodes.

Even though the Visionaries were the first team to have all of its members survive (and only the second since '87 to have four survivors), this match was not a squash. This was the longest match of the night, and Jake did a repeat of his '88 performance when he was left alone against four men and dominated. I think he could have actually pulled off an upset. These days, the match would have ended the other way around.

One of the shortest SS matches ever was also one of its most surprising. Possibly the most underrated wrestler ever, Tito Santana was the inspirational wrestler of the night, putting on war paint and pinning Boris Zukhov, Tanaka, and even the Warlord in the final survival match. It was so strange to see him put over so overwhelmingly, then go right back to his mediocre career. Sgt. Slaughter also did well, getting rid of Volkoff and the Bushwhackers, but that just wasn't a surprise. Tito was.

I think the only point of the survival match was to have Hogan and the Warrior win together at the end.

This show was boring and the matches were too short. The Undertaker's debut was cool, but Tito Santana is the reason I will remember this one.

Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado and Legion of Doom vs. Mr. Perfect and Demolition Survivor: Ultimate Warrior

Ted DiBiase, the Undertaker, Greg Valentine and Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes, Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware Survivor: Ted DiBiase

The Model, the Warlord, Hercules and Paul Roma vs. Jake Roberts, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty Survivors: Model, Warlord, Hercules and Paul Roma

Hulk Hogan, Tugboat, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Big Boss Man vs. Earthquake, Dino Bravo, the Barbarian and Haku Survivor: Hulk Hogan

Tito Santana, Nikolai Volkoff and the Bushwackers vs. Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zukhov, Sato and Tanaka Survivor: Tito Santana

Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana vs. The Model, Paul Roma, Hercules, the Warlord and Ted DiBiase Survivor: Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan

Overall Mark: B