I've talked quite a bit about the WWF's need for a new main eventer, specifically a heel, and we've seen over the course of these reviews just how many failures Vince McMahon piled up during the search for his next big star. You had Earthquake, a suitably intimidating gimmick for a quite decent worker in John Tenta, but he was pushed into a program with Hulk Hogan far too soon, booked to look completely pathetic. Sgt. Slaughter managed to draw tons of heat after turning on the USA to publicly support Iraq, but the Gulf War conflict came to an end before the character could truly begin to pick up steam, plus Slaughter just wasn't interesting enough in the ring to make watching his main event matches palatable. Elsewhere on the roster, Jake Roberts had turned heel off the strength of several genuinely unsettling vignettes involving the Ultimate Warrior, but before that feud could go anywhere, Warrior was gone from the company after strong-arming Vince for more money at SummerSlam. The situation was getting desperate, especially after the departures of Warrior and Andre the Giant resulted in the WWF's already star-starved main event scene losing more reliable, over, performers. Fortunately for McMahon, he had received two gifts to try and turn the sinking ship around. The first was the acquisition of Ric Flair, with the longtime NWA loyalist departing after butting heads with WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd, taking the iconic "Big Gold Belt" with him. Vince now had the two most prestigious world championships in American wrestling on his programming, with a ready made main event feud between Flair and WWF Champion Hulk Hogan surely to make McMahon tons of cash in the future. The second gift was the rise of The Undertaker, as Mark Callaway had made the character his own, presenting something completely unique in all of wrestling at the time. Finally, McMahon was saved. Undertaker and Flair could offer Hogan the type of legitimate opposition that Hulk had been lacking for years, and the WWF could once again claim to have the biggest stars in the business on the roster. What could possibly go wrong?
- Survivor Series 1991 comes to you from the legendary Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit, Michigan, the longtime home of the Red Wings. For the first time, Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are exclusively on the call all night long, no third man in the commentary booth in sight. Of course, the two are an iconic duo, and while neither offered anything amazing on this night, they're just so much fun together, it makes sitting through an otherwise pedestrian night a little easier.
- Our opening contest sees Ric Flair team up with Ted DiBiase, The Mountie, and The Warlord, to battle Flair's current rival in the WWF, Roddy Piper, and Piper's teammates, Bret Hart, Virgil, and the British Bulldog. This is a star-studded match, at least on this card, with four of the most over faces on the roster teaming up, plus two incredibly charismatic heels in Flair and DiBiase to oppose them. It should be no surprise that this one was pretty great, especially when Piper and Flair are in the ring. Roddy brings the type of intensity that a lot of the roster has been lacking, just laying into Flair with shot after shot as the crowd goes wild. Of course, Hart gets in some great offense as well, and Bulldog goes after Warlord, a welcome sight after their entertaining match at WrestleMania 7. I would've been totally fine with just seeing these guys fight for most of the night, but after 22 minutes of work, we get the lamest finish possible, with DiBiase, Mountie, Hart, Virgil, and Piper all getting disqualified for brawling, allowing Flair to get the win by default. With a better ending, this could've easily been my favorite Survivor Series match ever.
- As mentioned at the top of the review, Jake Roberts was intended to be going after the Ultimate Warrior, but with Warrior no longer around, "The Snake" turned his attention to Randy Savage instead. Roberts, along with new ally The Undertaker, crashed Savage and Elizabeth's wedding reception by sneaking a live cobra in as a gift, before Jake escalated the feud by setting the cobra lose on a trapped Savage, with the snake proceeding to gnaw on Randy's arm for a few minutes. Jake has been removed from the main event, and Randy has been reinstated, with a match between the two penciled in for the WWF's next pay-per-view, This Tuesday in Texas. Savage gets in a brief, intense promo following the first match, promising to make Roberts pay for upsetting Liz, the first of many aspects on this show that seem to primarily exist just to sell you on the next one.
- Sgt. Slaughter is now a face, for some reason, ditching his Iraqi allies, and is once again proudly displaying Old Glory as he makes his entrance for the next match. Slaughter is teaming with fellow patriot Jim Duggan, "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, and Tito Santana, who has now been given his "El Matador" gimmick. The opposition for these four is about as pathetic as it could be, with Col. Mustafa (The Iron Sheik), The Berzerker, Skinner, and Hercules all getting put in their place on this night. The faces cruise to a clean sweep in a lifeless match that makes you realize just how shallow the WWF's midcard has become. The crowd doesn't care about these guys, and I'm under the impression that no one in the match really cared either. Awful stuff.
- For the first time, a Survivor Series event features a singles match, as The Undertaker challenges Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship. It's insane that this went on so early, but I have to imagine Vince may have been gun shy about giving the still-unproven Undertaker a main event slot, and the finish likely would've upset the crowd. For that finish, Ric Flair interferes, sliding a chair into the ring, which Undertaker completely misses for the match-ending Tombstone Piledriver. In fairness, I think Undertaker was trying to make the move as safe as possible, as apparently Hogan was bugging Undertaker about not doing damage to Hulk's neck. The rest of the match mostly consisted of Hogan slowly being dissected with chokes and some strikes, it's far from the best performance of Undertaker's career, although Hogan might not have been willing to do anything more dangerous. Undertaker does get to hit his flying clothesline, which reliably got a pop, and the crowd explodes when Hogan no-sells the first Tombstone and begins to Hulk up. I don't know how to feel about that spot, because on one hand, it was the jolt of electricity that this match absolutely needed, but on the other hand, it devalued the finish and made the move lose a little bit of luster for the future. This wasn't as dull as some of Hogan's other matches from this era, and Undertaker winning did a lot to legitimize him as a true main event player, but it's not a highlight of either man's career.
- It's an all tag team affair for the next elimination match, as the Nasty Boys and the recently debuted Beverly Brothers take on The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. The crowd was in a state of shock after Hogan's loss, and took a while to warm up to this one, which was a snoozer for the most part. The work here wasn't bad, but there wasn't much of a reason to care. At least some intrigue is added throughout the match by Monsoon and Heenan on commentary, who lay the groundwork for the upcoming Rockers split, with Bobby noting that both men had grown some ego and Gorilla noting that both seemed reluctant to tag out. Late in the match, Jannetty loses track of Michaels' location, resulting in Shawn's elimination after Marty lifts one of the Nasty Boys up, accidentally allowing Shawn to be kicked in the head. The two bark at each other for a bit, before Shawn, like a true heel, shoves Marty into the heels' corner, and despite his best efforts, Jannetty is eliminated shortly after.
- Main event time, as the Big Boss Man and the Legion of Doom face Irwin R. Schyster and the Natural Disasters. This match was originally supposed to include Sid Justice and Jake Roberts, but Sid had an elbow injury, so he had to be pulled, and Roberts was then suspended by Jack Tunney to even up the numbers. The crowd have finally recovered and have some interest in this one, particularly to see Hawk and Animal go on a rampage. LoD do just that, as after Boss Man is taken out early on, the two face painted behemoths maul their way to victory, taking out Typhoon and Earthquake, before leaving IRS laying for the win. It wasn't much, but at least the crowd went home happy.
2/10
This show didn't include as much bad as the Survivor Series from the year prior, but still failed to provide much interest anyway. The card was incredibly weak, falling off a cliff after the opening match and ending with a whimper after two completely skippable matches. On the good side, it included a few interesting story advancements for the future, with Undertaker capturing the WWF title, the clash between Randy Savage and Jake Roberts being hyped up, and the split between The Rockers beginning in earnest. However, this really just felt like a placeholder, with commentary much more interest in discussing the Texas show 6 days later, and most of the talent felt like they were holding something back, with the need to be fresh to compete again in under a week clearly a factor. Survivor Series 1991 could best be described as a waste of time, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than completionists.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: This Tuesday in Texas, where Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker meet in a rematch for the WWF title, and Randy Savage squares off with Jake Roberts in a grudge match. See you soon.
- Henry
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