Reviews

WWE Survivor Series 1994 Review

By John Canton • Published 22nd October 2021

wwe survivor series 1994 yokozuna undertaker casket match

The eighth edition of the Survivor Series saw WWE mix things up a bit with two featured singles matches along with three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches.

The mid-1990s period from 1993 to 1996 was rough a lot of the time. This show was an example of that. While 1994 had some highlights such as WrestleMania 10 with two five-star matches, the company was still a few years away from turning the corner.

There aren’t many notes for this show except to say that this was the last time Survivor Series took place on Thanksgiving Eve on a Wednesday. It became a Sunday night show starting in 1995.

WWE Survivor Series
Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas
November 23, 1994

The show began with a clip from “Earlier Today” with Shawn Michaels talking to his team. Then it featured Razor Ramon talking to his team. Another clip showed Lex Luger talking to his team and Ted Dibiase talking to his guys as well. There was also a shot of Doink talking to his team and Jerry Lawler talking to his team.

There was a shot of the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas. The announcers for the show are Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon wearing cowboy hats welcoming us to the show while talking about the big matches on the show.

Analysis: They were usually the play-by-play announcers. When they teamed up, which wasn’t that often, Vince handled play-by-play with Gorilla working as the color commentator.

The heel team of Shawn Michaels and Diesel entered first for the heel team. They’re joined by Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett. A big difference this year from other years is that there were no managers for the heels.

The face team led by Razor Ramon entered to a good ovation from the crowd.

The Teamsters (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett) vs. The Bad Guys (Razor Ramon, The 1-2-3 Kid, The British Bulldog, Fatu and Sione w/Afa and Lou Albano)

Pre-match notes: Michaels and Diesel were heel Tag Team Champions. Razor was the face Intercontinental Champion. Sione was better known as The Barbarian. He was teaming with (Rikishi) Fatu in these days. Bulldog just returned to WWE a few months before this.

There was a bit before the match where Fatu had trouble putting on his wrestling boots because he was used to being barefoot. Neidhart with a shoulder tackle no Kid and then they did another collision that didn’t look good. Jarrett tagged in – he was fairly new in WWE at the time. Kid nailed a spin kick that knocked Jarrett out of the ring. Sione with a Gorilla Press Slam on Jarrett. Owen tagged in and he wanted his brother-in-law Bulldog to get in there, so Sione brought him in. Bulldog caught him and gave him a slingshot into the face corner followed by a press slam by Bulldog much to the delight of the crowd. Owen nailed Bulldog earning a WHAT A MANEUVER~! (WAM~!) from Vince. Neidhart tagged in, but Bulldog took him and Owen down with a clothesline. Delayed suplex by Bulldog on Neidhart that looked impressive. Fatu nailed a headbutt on Neidhart, but then he had trouble with the boots again and Jarrett tagged in. Fatu with a powerslam on Jarrett. Razor tagged in. Jarrett did some taunting and stalling, which he did too often. Razor clothesline sent Jarrett over the top to the floor. Razor punched Diesel, so Michaels told Diesel to calm down. Razor did a fallaway slam on Jarrett. Razor tossed Kid fallaway slam-style into Jarrett to knock down Double J. Jarrett worked on Kid with an abdominal stretch. When Kid tried to fight out of it, Jarrett dumped Kid over the top to the floor. Spin kick by Kid followed by a kick with the other foot. Owen tagged in with a spinning heel kick to the head of Fatu. Fatu no sold being tossed headfirst into the turnbuckle. Owen DDT on Fatu led to no sell by Fatu. Diesel tagged in with a huge clothesline on Fatu. Diesel with a Powerbomb on Fatu eliminated him.

Fatu eliminated by Diesel

Kid nailed a dropkick on Diesel. He went for a sunset flip, but Diesel picked him up with two hands and did a two-handed chokeslam. Diesel hit a Powerbomb on Kid and pinned him with his foot on Kid’s chest.

1-2-3 Kid eliminated by Diesel

Sione was in there against Diesel. He ran the ropes and nailed a couple of punches. Diesel fought back with another Jackknife Powerbomb to eliminate Sione.

Sione eliminated by Diesel

Bulldog went after Diesel with some punches, but Diesel came back with a boot to the face “right in the kisser” as Monsoon liked to say. Owen and Jarrett attacked Bulldog outside the ring. Bulldog was counted out. Razor did a rollup on Diesel for two.

British Bulldog eliminated by countout

That means that Razor is alone against five guys. Razor with a boot to the face of Diesel followed by a bulldog off the middle ropes. That earned a two count with Vince thinking that was it. Hard clothesline from Diesel. Diesel was in control with the snake eyes move where he dropped his opponent face first onto the top turnbuckle. Michaels encouraged Diesel to finish him. Razor with a body slam on Diesel. Razor went for the Razor’s Edge, but Diesel powered out of it. Big boot to the face by Diesel knocked Razor down. Diesel nailed a Jackknife Powerbomb on Razor. Michaels tagged in for the first time in the match. He told Diesel to get in the ring. Diesel held Razor, then Razor moved and Michaels accidentally hit Diesel with a superkick! Uh oh! Vince noted it was the third time that’s happened on television. Diesel was mad about it. He shoved his teammates away. Michaels left the ring. Diesel left the ring after him. Diesel knocked Jarrett, Neidhart and Owen down in the aisle. Michaels ran all the way to the back with Diesel chasing after him. The referee Jack Doan was still counting in the ring as the three other heels went to the back. Owen said let’s get back to the ring or we’re going to lose. They never made it back in.

It was announced that all members of The Teamsters were counted out at the 21:45 mark. The crowd cheered.

Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, Jim Neidhart & Owen Hart eliminated by countout

Survivor: Razor Ramon

Analysis: **3/4 It was a pretty good match that was storyline heavy that was used to further the rift between Diesel and Michaels. There were no eliminations in the first 13 minutes. Then it went fast with the eliminations. Diesel was booked like a huge star with the three eliminations back to back to back. The finish could have been better because it’s pretty ridiculous for five people to be eliminated at the same time just because of an argument. The big story is that Ramon won the match after he was the only man left against five guys.

Shawn Michaels was shown in the parking garage saying he can’t believe what Diesel did to him as Todd Pettengill tried to interview him. He said nobody had heard of Diesel before. Michaels said he should have known better than to do this tag team stuff. Michaels tossed down the tag team title and took off in his car while still in his wrestling gear.

Analysis: This was a big angle that was done to turn Diesel face. Diesel ended up winning the WWE World Title shortly after this and he was given a huge push as the face champion for the next year. It was a bad business move, but something Vince McMahon chose to do because he loves big man wrestlers like Diesel, who was a legit 7-foot-tall wrestler. All of this led to Diesel defeating Michaels to retain the WWE Title at WrestleMania 11 a few months after this.

Jerry Lawler entered with his team as Diesel was shown talking on the WWF Hotline. Doink entered with his team. Can you hear me groaning? I am doing plenty of that at this moment. Trust me.

The Royal Family (Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy) vs. Clowns R’ Us (Doink the Clown, Dink the Clown, Pink and Wink)

Pre-match notes: Lawler was the heel leading the three little people while Doink was the face leading three little people as well. The rules were that Lawler and Doink had to face eachother – they couldn’t face off with a midget. I’m going to cut back on play-by-play because this is a ridiculous match, so giving it full PBP treatment doesn’t seem necessary.

They did a spot where Doink had Lawler on the ground and Lawler’s three teammates all ran over him. They did the spot again with Lawler holding Doink in the armbar and then Lawler’s teammates tripped over. Oh, the hilarity. Doink with thee body slams to Lawler leading to the three clown midgets to do some comedy. The heels did the same spot, but Lawler bumped after his heavy midget landed on him. One of the midgets put on a Burger King hat on Lawler and Vince was freaking out on commentary: “That does it!” More Burger King chants. Doink put Dink on his shoulders, so Lawler went on Queasy’s shoulders and fell face first as everybody laughed. This is terrible. The midgets ran the ropes leading to the little Doinks hitting Lawler’s guys. Lawler hit Doink in the head with some object, which was nothing. Doink tossed Lawler into Lawler’s three teammates that were up against the ropes. Back elbow by Doink on Lawler as the six midgets fought on the apron. Doink with a flying cross body block off the middle ropes, Lawler rolled through and hooked the tights for the cover. Vince on commentary: “The unthinkable has happened.” He said it because Lawler can’t face one of the little people – he could only wrestle Doink.

Doink eliminated by Jerry Lawler

Analysis: Actually Vince, the unthinkable is that you thought this would be a good idea.

The faces were in control. Lawler held onto the strap of one of his guys and then his guy eliminated one of the little people.

Wink eliminated by Cheesy

The most entertaining part of the match is Vince trying to get the names of the little people right while messing up all the time. One of the heels distracted the ref, so Lawler picked up Cheesy and dropped him on top of Pink to eliminate him.

Pink eliminated by Cheesy

Dink was cleaning house against the heels. He nailed a suplex. Dink went up top with a splash. Lawler tried to break up the pin, the ref blocked it and the other heel midget put his guy on top. The match went 16:05.

Dink eliminated by Sleazy

Survivors: Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Cheesy and Queasy

Analysis: -** If you want an example of what was wrong with WWE in the mid-1990s, this match will explain it for you. My favorite part was when it was over. I should have hit fast forward. I hate myself for not doing that. The “story” if you want to call it that is that Lawler cheated for every elimination.

After the match was over, Lawler yelled at his three teammates saying he won it for his team. Lawler’s music played and the little guys celebrated outside the ring. Lawler chased them out of the ring. The three little Doink guys re-emerged. The six little guys chased after Lawler, so they ran up the aisle with Lawler stopping in the aisle. Doink showed up with a pie, so that when Lawler turned around, Doink threw the pie in his face. It looked like pumpkin pie. Doink’s music played while Vince did his over-the-top laugh.

Analysis: That was brutal. If you think wrestling today is bad, just remember stuff like this existed in the mid-1990s. This was way worse than anything we see today.

There was a highlight of Bull Nakano beating Alundra Blayze for the WWE Women’s Title in Japan on the previous Sunday. Nakano was interviewed by Todd Pettengill and she spoke Japanese, but she didn’t speak English.

Bob Backlund was the challenger for the WWE World Championship. He had no entrance music. Owen Hart was with him. There was a shot of Owen and Bret’s parents Stu & Helen at ringside.

The WWE World Champion Bret Hart made his entrance to a huge ovation. That was an awesome pop for the Hitman. He had his brother in law the British Bulldog in his corner.

Analysis: I remember going into this match thinking there was no way Hart was going to lose the title to Backlund. Boy was I wrong!

Submission Match for the WWE World Championship: Bret Hart (w/British Bulldog) vs. Bob Backlund (w/Owen Hart)

Pre-match notes: Backlund lost the WWE Title 11 years earlier, so he was trying to win it back here. He was the heel while Hart was the face. The rules were that the man in the corner of each wrestler were responsible for throwing in the towel to end the match for their wrestler. That was the only way to end the match. That’s what we were told prior to the match. Also of note is that Owen was to receive no more title shots from brother Bret.

Bret was aggressive early with body slams and basic stuff with Backlund bailing to the floor repeatedly. Backlund turned a headlock into a suplex. Long headlock by Bret. Shoulder tackle by Bret, Backlund tripped him up, Hart avoided a chickenwing attempt and then turned it into another headlock. There were shots of Bret’s family in the crowd – they were not at ringside. After another long headlock by Bret, Backlund went for the chickenwing again, but Bret fought out with a belly to belly suplex. Another long headbutt by Bret after Backlund avoided the Sharpshooter. Backlund with a hiptoss to counter a submission. Bret landed on top to counter a body slam and wanted a count, but there’s no count in this match. Bret missed an elbow drop off the middle turnbuckle. Backlund whipped Hart hard into the turnbuckle. Backlund applied an armbar to keep Hart on the ground. Backlund nailed a headbutt to the chest of Hart followed by a yanking of the left arm of Bret. Another long armbar by Backlund. This took several minutes. Bret came back with an atomic drop. Backlund avoided a Figure Four Leglock attempt by kicking Bret away, but then Bret locked in the Figure Four Leglock. The crowd, which was quiet for much of the match, came alive a bit. Owen said he wasn’t going to throw in the towel. Backlund managed to turn it over for a bit, then Bret had control of it and Backlund got to the ropes.

Bret worked on the legs of Backlund. Backlund was able to regain control with a hard punch to the head. Backlund nailed a piledriver. Both guys were down as Vince claimed Bret was knocked, then Bret moved and Vince was like “no he’s not.” Nice job, Vince. The fans were chanting for Bret has Backlund hit a swinging neckbreaker. Backlund missed a corner charge and hit the ring post with his shoulder. Hart with a back body drop. Backlund applied the sleeper hold. Hart broke it by sending Backlund face first into the top turnbuckle. They did a collision spot that knocked down both guys. Hart nailed a piledriver of his own. Bulldog by Bret followed by a Russian legsweep that Vince called a neckbreaker. Backbreaker by Bret followed by the elbow off the middle ropes. Those were his signature moves. Bret applied the Sharpshooter. Owen ran into the ring, so Bulldog chased after him, the referee Earl Hebner stopped Bulldog and Owen hit a bulldog on Bret to break the hold. Bulldog chased after Owen outside the ring, Owen moved and Bulldog went head first into the ring steps. That was a great bump.

Backlund applied his finishing move, the Crossface Chickenwing. Backlund tripped him up and applied the body scissors version of the hold on the mat. Bulldog was out on the mat. Bret got back to his feet and nearly got to the ropes, but Backlund pulled him down. Owen acted all sad about this with Vince saying “this is the true Owen Hart” noting that Owen was concerned with his brother’s welfare. The Bret towel was shown on the floor with Bulldog out and the camera on Stu & Helen at ringside. After Bret had been in the hold for about five minutes, Owen pleaded with his mom and dad Helen & Stu to do something. After seven minutes of Backlund holding Bret in the Chickenwing, Owen got on his knees in front of his parents to beg them to do something. Owen moved the guard rail, so his parents could closer to the ring. He gave the towel to Helen. She grabbed the towel, but Stu took it from her. Owen kept pleading with his mom to throw in the towel. Meanwhile, Bret wouldn’t quit. He kept fighting it off as the crowd chanted “Let’s go Bret” for him. The chants died down. Helen grabbed the towel and threw it into the ring. Backlund’s hand was raised as the winner. The match time was 35:11. It felt even longer.

Winner by submission and New WWE World Champion: Bob Backlund

Owen grabbed the towel and ran to the back. It was announced officially that Bob Backlund is the new World Wrestling Federation Champion.

Analysis: ** It was okay with a lot of drama in the last ten minutes, but not what you would expect from workers of this caliber. I think it was because they worked that old 1970s/early 1980s style that Backlund was used to. The match didn’t work. It’s rare to see Bret Hart in a 30+ minute match that isn’t great, but that’s what happened here. I can remember him complaining about it in his book and he was right to complain because this match failed in terms of delivering a memorable bout that they should have had. It was just too slow. The stipulation of the match played a part in that, but it was also the style of match they worked. I had forgotten that the submission was on for nearly ten minutes at the end the match, but that’s how long it was.

Post match, Bret was helped to the back by officials including Pat Patterson. Backlund was handed the WWE World Title and had this crazy yet excited look on his face.

Backlund posed on the apron with McMahon putting over how big of a feat this was that a 45-year-old man like Backlund could win the WWE World Title similar to George Foreman in boxing. Vince: “This is the new generation…I shudder to think.” Oh, that’s some good work by Vince knowing what was to come.

Analysis: The Backlund title reign was brief. It lasted for three days. Diesel pinned him to win the World Title at Madison Square Garden in just eight seconds.

Owen Hart was interviewed by Pettengill backstage. Owen said it was the greatest Thanksgiving of his life. He said he could have beat Bret, but he cheated and Bret’s not a champion anymore – he’s a loser. Owen said he’ll never quit or surrender like Bret. Owen stole Bret’s line to say he was the best there is, best there was and best there ever will be.

Analysis: Awesome heel promo. Owen’s best year was 1994. His feud with Bret was the definite bright spot in what was a down year for WWE.

Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Million Dollar Team (King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Heavenly Bodies – Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard – w/Ted Dibiase & Jim Cornette) vs. Guts and Glory (Lex Luger, Mabel, Adam Bomb and The Smoking Gunns – Billy Gunn and Bart Gunn – w/Oscar)

Pre-match notes: The heels were managed by Ted Dibiase, who was in full retirement mode by this point. Lex Luger captained the face team.

My first thought is that Luger was definitely using too much baby oil that wrestlers use to shine up their muscles. The dude looks like he was bathing in it. Suplex by Tatanka, Luger gets right back to his feet and hits three clotheslines that sent Tatanka out of the ring. Luger tossed Del Rey onto Bigelow. Bundy went in the ring, but Mabel got in his face to prevent him from doing anything. Mabel shoved down Prichard. Mabel slammed Prichard and missed a splash. Mabel whip in followed by a back body drop and a Mabel cross body block off the middle ropes by Mabel eliminated Prichard.

Tom Prichard eliminated by Mabel

Del Rey was in the ring and was met with a Boss Man Slam from Mabel. Bundy tagged in to face off with Mabel for the superheavyweight showdown. Shoulder tackles by both of them, then Mabel bounced off the ropes with a running shoulder tackle to knock down Bundy. Mabel hit a spin kick to knock down Bigelow. Bigelow slammed Mabel down off the top rope. Bigelow tried a sunset flip, but Mabel just sat on him. No cover. Mabel clothesline sent both guys over the top to the floor. That looked like a nasty fall for both of them and the replay showed that it was. Mabel was counted out while Bigelow was back in the ring.

Mabel eliminated by countout

Analysis: Mabel got a big push in the summer of 1995 with a King of the Ring win as well as a SummerSlam 1995 main event. He wasn’t a great worker, but he was athletic for a super heavyweight.

Billy Gunn worked with Del Rey for a bit and then Bomb was in there with Bigelow. Bigelow ducked an attack that sent Bomb out of the ring. Slingshot clothesline by Bomb followed by two other clotheslines. Body slam by Bomb. Bundy hit Bomb in the back of the head and Bigelow hit a bulldog. Bigelow up top and hit a diving press off the top. It wasn’t exactly a moonsault, but that’s what Monsoon called it.

Adam Bomb eliminated by Bam Bam Bigelow

Del Rey nailed a kick to the head of Luger. Del Rey worked on Luger a bit more. Luger came back with the flying forearm smash to eliminate Del Rey.

Jimmy Del Rey eliminated by Lex Luger

Tatanka kneed Luger in the back and Bart tagged in for the faces with a dropkick. Double Russian legsweep by the Gunns got a two count for Billy on Tatanka. Billy and Bart made some quick tags as they worked over Tatanka. Monkey flip by Bart gets a two count. Smoking Gunns did their double team move where Bart held Tatanka while Billy hit a leaping leg drop for a two count. Bart went for a flipping move on the back of Tatanka, but Tatanka countered into his End of the Trail (Samoan Drop) finisher to pin Bart. That was a sloppy-looking move that could have hurt Bart.

Bart Gunn eliminated by Tatanka

Luger and Billy were left for the faces against three heels. The faces worked well together to isolate Tatanka from his teammates. Tatanka caught Billy off the ropes and hit a powerslam. Bundy tagged in with a big elbow drop that missed. Bundy hit a splash in the corner followed by an elbow drop to eliminate Gunn.

Billy Gunn eliminated by King Kong Bundy

Analysis: That was a weak elimination. Bundy didn’t have great offensive moves. It was just basic stuff. That’s all he needed as a big guy.

The next few minutes saw the heels working over Luger quite a bit. It took about four minutes with Luger selling basic moves. Fans chanted “USA” even though everybody in the match was American. I know they were cheering for Luger, but that chant is lame when everybody is American. Bundy nearly eliminated Luger after a hard whip into the corner. Tatanka tagged in with a powerslam for a two count. Vince did his “1…2…he got him…no he didn’t” routine for that one. After some elbow drops, Tatanka taunted for a while so Luger did a small package to pin him.

Tatanka eliminated by Lex Luger

As soon as Tatanka was eliminated, Bundy hit a big splash to pin Luger. Match over at 23:21.

Lex Luger eliminated by King Kong Bundy

Survivors: King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow

Analysis: *1/2 It was a standard elimination tag that was mostly boring. I had no memory of this match at all while most of the time when I write these reviews I remember the winners from memory. I recall that they were pushing Dibiase’s heel stable pretty hard, so I guess that’s why they put over Bigelow and Bundy in this match. Two months after this, Bigelow did the angle with Lawrence Taylor at the Royal Rumble leading to the WrestleMania 11 main event, so that’s why Bigelow went over as well.

After the match was over, the heels beat up Luger some more. Tatanka hit the End of the Trail, Bigelow with a headbutt and Bundy stomped away as well. The Smoking Gunns and Adam Bomb ran out to make the save. The crowd was cheering. They cleared the ring of the heels. Mabel also was there to hit a clothesline on both Heavenly Bodies.

Analysis: It was an easy way to pop the crowd after a dominant heel win. This was Luger’s last Survivor Series since he jumped to WCW famously in September 1995 on the first Nitro.

The new WWE World Champion Bob Backlund did a promo about how he never really lost the title all of those years ago. He said now your children have somebody to look up to.

The troubleshooting referee was introduced for the main event, it’s the star of Walker Texas Ranger. It’s Chuck Norris. He got a big ovation from the Texas crowd because he’s from the state.

Yokozuna made his entrance along with managers Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette, who was called a spokesperson for Yokozuna. There was a Paul Bearer lookalike contest winner in the crowd.

The Undertaker made his entrance with manager Paul Bearer. Massive ovation for him. It took about five minutes for him to get into the ring.

Analysis: This is a rematch from their 1994 Royal Rumble match. That match ended with Undertaker losing due to interference from ten other heels. Undertaker missed most of the year with injuries, so this was his big revenge. The reason Norris was there was to prevent interference.

Casket Match: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette)

Pre-match notes: Undertaker is the face of course. Yokozuna is the heel. The winner of the match has to put his opponent in the casket and close it shut.

Undertaker did the throat slash gesture and pointed to the casket, which led to Yoko bumping to his ass because he’s afraid. Yoko nailed a splash in the corner. Undertaker punched him to send him out of the ring with Yoko landing on top of the closed casket. Bearer had a massive urn in his hands. Undertaker did his rope walk clothesline. Yoko came back with a Samoan Drop. Clothesline by Yoko knocked down Undertaker, who kept sitting up after every move. Undertaker sent Yoko throat first into the top rope leading to Vince busting out his “what a maneuver” line. Undertaker missed an elbow drop. Yoko picked him up and hit a Rock Bottom like move followed by a leg drop. Undertaker did not sit up after that one. Norris was standing by the casket. Yoko rolled Taker over, but Taker prevented him from closing it. Undertaker threw punches and they were both standing in the casket as they exchanged punches. Fuji grabbed Taker’s hair, so both guys left the casket. Cornette went to attack, so Undertaker nailed him with an uppercut. Yoko recovered enough to hit a body slam. Yoko rammed Undertaker’s head into the steel steps.

Yoko choked Undertaker throat first on the middle rope. Undertaker came back with some uppercut punches. Hard whip into the corner by Yoko, but Taker came back with a clothesline. Undertaker slammed Yoko down by the back of his head. Bearer was doing his routine talking about the power of The Undertaker. Taker went up top and nailed a leaping clothesline. No offense to Kane, but Undertaker always did that move way better. Undertaker tried to roll Yoko across the ring to put him in the casket. The crowd was rising as King Kong Bundy walked down the aisle. Norris stared at him. Bundy just stood in the aisle doing nothing. Bam Bam Bigelow walked down to ringside as well. Irwin R. Schyster showed up in the ring to attack Undertaker from behind. Schyster sent Undertaker into the turnbuckle and hit him with some punches. Schyster applied the sleeper to weaken Undertaker. Norris didn’t even turn his head because he was looking at the guys in the aisle. Schyster tossed Undertaker into the casket, but the refs were busy telling Bigelow and Bundy to leave. Yoko took a long time to get over to the casket to close the lid. When he went to close it, Undertaker got back up with his hand as he choked Yoko. Jeff Jarrett went to ringside, so Norris kicked him in the chest. Jarrett did an over-the-top bump to sell it while the crowd went wild and Gorilla busted out his famous line: “This place is going bananas!” Taker with a leaping clothesline and a leaping DDT. Boot to the face by Taker sent Yoko in the casket. Taker snapped the Japanese flag of Fuji, tossed it in the casket with Yoko and he slammed the lid. Undertaker wins at the 15:24 mark.

Winner: The Undertaker

Analysis: *1/4 It was a competitive match that went too long for my liking. Ten minutes would have been better. I get why they went a bit longer since it was the main event of the show. I was just bored by a lot of it. The crowd was into it due to Undertaker and Norris fighting off the heels, but it was still a boring match. It took a few more years for The Undertaker to start having some great matches – the quality of opponents certainly helped. This match was awful just like their Royal Rumble 1994 match.

Post match, Undertaker posed in the ring while Bearer held out the urn while light was shooting out of it. Undertaker stared into the camera to end the show.

The show had a run time of 2 hours and 42 minutes.

—

FINAL THOUGHTS

– The roster was thin in terms of talent and it showed with the roster they had for this show. It’s pretty surprising that they would have a guy like King Kong Bundy win in an elimination match when he was a main eventer about a decade before this match. Once again that just showed that they were lacking in talent.

– You could see some of the angles that took place to set things up for the future. Backlund was the definition of a transitional champion that was used to get the WWE Title off Hart so they could put it on Diesel, which happened a few days after this show.

– I thought Owen Hart’s performance in the WWE Title match was the best part of it. He acted all sad when Bulldog was down, but then he was a braggadocios jerk after he was the reason that Bret lost the title. That’s an example of a guy having a great performance without being in a match.

– Shawn Michaels didn’t even get to wrestle in his match with the way it was booked. That was disappointing because this show could have used a HBK performance to make it seem more important.

– Yokozuna’s run as a main eventer ended around this show. He was a tag wrestler in most of 1995 and not that relevant in 1996. They got about two years out of him at the top. For a guy as big as him, that was probably as much as they hoped for.

Show rating (out of 10): 3

Worst Survivor Series ever up to this point. I rated the previous year the same score. I remember this was a bad show, but after sitting through it again I found it painful to sit through. It was awful.

OPINIONS

Best Match: The Bad Guys vs. The Teamsters

Worst Match: The Royal Family vs. Clowns R Us

Most Memorable Moment: Owen Hart costs Bret Hart the WWE World Title.

FIVE STARS