WWE Survivor Series '90

WWE Survivor Series ‘90
November 22, 1990
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Connecticut

After SummerSlam Rick Rude departed the WWE. The Warrior was transitioning to a feud with Randy Savage, but in explicably they didn’t captain teams against each other here. The WWE had some feuds brewing but they were really lost at this point as they didn’t seem to know where they were going in terms of building towards WrestleMania VII. This show is a prime example of that, as the usual raw emotion of storytelling that they were known for, was not there.

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Rowdy Roddy Piper

8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior (captain), Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), and “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich) vs. The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect (captain), and Demolition (Ax, Smash, and Crush)) w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Mr. Fuji

Perfect at this time was still chasing Von Erich trying to get his IC title back. That would happen a few weeks after this. The Warrior as stated before was feuding with Randy Savage but was teaming up with the LOD here in their feud with Demolition. LOD and Demolition was a dream match for most, but by the time it actually happened the magic was long gone. Basically Demolition jobbed like crazy to LOD. Warrior knocks out Ax, and then Demolition and LOD get disqualified, leaving Perfect against the Tornado and Warrior. Perfect got a small bit of revenge in pinning Von Erich clean, but Warrior makes a comeback and beats Perfect. Match was only good for Perfect bumping all over the place. **

8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match
Dream Team (“American Dream” Dusty Rhodes (captain), Hart Foundation (Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart), and Koko B. Ware) vs. Million Dollar Team (“Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase (captain), Rhythm and Blues (Honky Tonk Man and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine), and Mystery Partner) w/ Virgil and Jimmy Hart

The mystery partner turns out to be a guy that became rather famous. You might have heard of him. His name is the Undertaker. This is one of the best debuts of all time, as he totally had everyone in the palm of his hand. No one had ever seen anyone like him before. He was impressive in the ring as he squashed Koko right away, and pinned Dusty Rhodes, until getting himself counted out to beat up Rhodes to save his manager Brother Love. The match boils down to Bret Hart vs. Ted Dibiase and it is an outstanding one on one encounter and really saves this match and makes it a pretty solid one. Dibiase wins by reversing a cross body into a pin. Excellent match with the debut of Undertaker and then the exciting finish. ***

8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match
Visionaries (“The Model” Rick Martel (captain), Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma), and Warlord) w/ Slick vs. Vipers (Jake “The Snake” Roberts (captain), Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) and “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka)

This match featured the most emotional feud of the night. Not a surprise when one of participants of that feud is Jake Roberts. Rick Martel sprayed Roberts in the eyes with his “cologne” called “arrogance”. So for this match, Jake could only see out of one eye. Shawn Michaels, bless his heart, does his best to carry this thing, but it just wasn’t going to happen. The match gets down to 4 on 1. Jake scares Martel away with Damian, but gets counted out and for the first time ever, an entire team survives. *3/4

8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match
Natural Disasters (Earthquake (captain), Dino Bravo, Barbarian, and Haku) w/ Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan vs. Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan (captain), Tugboat, Big Bossman, and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan)

Hogan and Earthquake were still in their feud. Piper does a nice job illustrating that these two teams are the two most evenly matched teams of the card. Match is ok. Bossman gets a small bit of revenge on the Heenan family by pinning Haku. Earthquake goes over strong by pinning Bossman clean. Then the match spills out of control, Duggan gets disqualified by using his 2x4, and Tugboat and Earthquake brawl to a double count out. That leaves Hogan and Barbarian, and that outcome is about as easy to predict as anything. **1/4

8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match
Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff (captain), Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch), and Tito Santana) vs. Mercenaries (Sgt. Slaughter (captain), Orient Express (Sato and Tanaka), and Boris Zhukov) w/ Gen. Adnan and Mr. Fuji
This is one of the worst survivor series elimination matches you’ll ever see. Everyone but Slaughter gets eliminated on the Mercenaries and everyone but Tito on the Alliance gets eliminated before you can blink, leaving Tito getting a disqualification win over Slaughter. Good for Tito, but the match is putrid. DUD

Main Event
Grand Finale Match of Survival
Ted Dibiase, Rick Martel, Warlord, Paul Roma, and Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, and Tito Santana

For the first and thankfully only time in WWE history, all of the survivors come back and meet in a grand finale match. Same concept as a normal Survivor Series contest, except obviously this is 5 on 3. Tito eliminates Warlord right away with the flying jalapeño, but Dibiase eliminates Santana shortly after. The rest is predictable. Hogan pins Roma, Warrior chases Martel away, Hogan pins Dibiase, and finally Warrior finishes Hercules. No surprise here as the two biggest baby faces survive. *

Final Analysis: This is really a bad show. I mean really bad. The debut of the Undertaker is cool and has some historical value, but really, this show is bad and the decline has begun. Things would really begin to change in 1991. Some for the better, some for the worse. One thing was certain here though. The Ultimate Warrior experiment was not working, and it wouldn’t be long before they turn back to Hogan.