You know, I think I was in a bit over my head when I reviewed the first Survivor Series. I had never even watched one of these elimination tag only Survivor Series events before, let alone tried to review one. I feel like I have a better handle on not only what to expect going into this review, but also how better to present my thoughts about the show. So let's see if I can do a bit better this time, it's Survivor Series 1988, featuring Team Mega Powers vs Team Twin Towers!
- We open the show with a revisiting of one of the biggest moments of SummerSlam a few months prior, as The Ultimate Warrior and the Honky Tonk Man each captain a team. Warrior has Brutus Beefcake, Sam Houston, The Blue Blazer(Owen Hart) and Jim Brunzell, who was replacing Don Muraco after Muraco left the WWF, while Honky Tonk's team consisted of Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Greg Valentine and Bad News Brown. Neither team is particularly impressive, and this match is mostly just a vehicle to get the Warrior over. We do get a nice character moment when Brown walks out on his team, and Blazer is very impressive in his short time in the ring. There's also some solid booking in bringing back old feuds for Beefcake, as he gets to brawl with both Bass and Honky Tonk. Ultimately, it comes down to the Warrior against Bass and Valentine, and both men are felled by double axe handles, a bit of a weak finish but it still puts Warrior over strong ass he is obviously the hottest star in the company at this point.
- The second Survivor Series match of the night is of the tag team variety, as the faces, led by the Powers of Pain and also featuring the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, the Young Stallions and the Rockers(Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) take on the heel team of Demolition, the Bolsheviks, Fabulous Rougeaus, Los Conquistadors(just referred to as Uno and Dos) and the Brain Busters(Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard). That is a hell of a lineup, tons of all-time greats and future world champions here, especially on the face side. Some incredible wrestling to be found in this match, especially when the Rockers, Hart Foundation, Bulldogs or Brain Busters are in the ring. I loved the huge brawl between the Rockers and the Brain Busters as they go to a double DQ, both teams are perfectly matched against each other. This match did slow down a little bit around the middle, as it is going for 42 minutes and the crowd does get tired. The finish is very interesting, as Mr. Fuji causes his own team, Demolition, to be eliminated, opening the middle rope to send Smash crashing to the floor for a count-out. The crowd loves Demolition's face turn, slamming Fuji on the floor, but gets extremely confused with The Barbarian and The Warlord help Fuji back to his feet, turning heel. They then finish off the Conquistadors, who somehow made it all this way to the amazement of Monsoon and Ventura on commentary. I thought this was extremely entertaining for the most part, and while it did go a little long the well executed double turn at the end rewarded you for devoting your attention to it.
- To piggyback off the finish of the last match, I'll just mention Mr. Fuji's post-match promo, where he explains his actions. Apparently, Demolition had gotten too big for their britches since becoming long reigning tag champs, and he wanted to get a team he could control. I thought this promo did a really good job rationalizing the somewhat strange betrayal, and turning Demolition face was definitely a good call, they're as ready for it as they could be.
- Our third match sees Jake Roberts and Andre the Giant each captain their own team, a result of an angle a month or so prior when "The Snake" set Damian loose on Andre, who is deathly afraid of snakes and had a kayfabe heart attack, which is a shockingly serious way to try and get heat on a feud. Jake's team also features Jim Duggan, Ken Patera, Tito Santana and Scott Casey, who was replacing B. Brian Blair who was replacing the Junkyard Dog, while Andre had fellow Heenan Family members Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude and Harley Race on his side, plus Dino Bravo. The face team isn't great and gets trucked through, as Race is the only man eliminated before Roberts is left 4 on 1. A really smart piece of booking here, as Roberts scores one elimination when Rude gets too cocky and is hit with the DDT, a good way to reference that feud. Andre gets himself eliminated getting revenge on Jake, choking him in the corner, allowing Perfect, who did very little in the match, to get the winning pinfall by immediately covering Roberts, a smart way to elevate the hot new heel. This match was nothing special, but got over everything it needed too, heating Roberts' feud with Andre whilst ending the one with Rude, and letting Mr. Perfect get a big moment in the midst of his winning streak.
- Main event time, as Team Mega Powers, also featuring Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim and Hercules, who had just turned face after Bobby Heenan sold his contract to Ted DiBiase, take on Team Twin Towers, who teamed with DiBiase himself, Haku and the recently debuted Red Rooster, who seemed to be only here to take a pinfall, which he did very quickly. This match is all about Hogan and Savage, and while the result is never really in doubt, there are still some interesting twists and turns down the stretch. I do also need to mention that the One Man Gang has undergone a gimmick change to become Akeem the African Dream, a very troubling gimmick in hindsight that is also a strange choice to be a monster heel. Back to the match, and the first big plot point comes when Slick grabs Miss Elizabeth by the arm, leading to Hogan, always the white knight, running interference. That allows Akeem and the Big Boss Man to handcuff Hogan to the rope outside and beat the hell out of him, which gets Boss Man counted out. Akeem is disqualified after double-teaming Savage in the ring, and the worn out Mega Powers now have a 2 on 1 advantage over Haku, who is currently King Haku but that's a story for another day. Elizabeth retrieves the handcuff keys from Slick's coat, Hogan is released and gets the hot tag, quickly dominating Haku and getting an easy win with the leg drop. Afterward, Hogan again celebrates over-zealously with Elizabeth and Savage is none too pleased, extremely reminiscent of the post-match celebration from SummerSlam. This main event match was mostly entertaining but didn't really provide anything too fresh, and I'll admit to being a little disappointed that there wasn't anything too new added to the Mega Powers breakup storyline.
5/10
This is the very definition of an average pay-per-view to me, enough good to be enjoyable but nothing too memorable. The "singles" Survivor Series matches were all okay, and the "tag team" match was very good but just a bit too long. Even though this show was far from perfect, it's still a really well booked, consistently entertaining package, which is more than I can say for most WWF pay-per-views at this time. Between this show and the one last year, Survivor Series is the clear front-runner for the most consistent Big 4 pay-per-view for the company, and the one that feels the most well thought out and distinct. Not bad for a show that was just created to compete with Starrcade.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Royal Rumble 1989, the first Rumble event to be broadcast on pay-per-view, which features the first 30 man Rumble match and more chaos between the Mega Powers. See you soon.
- Henry
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