WWF Survivor Series

The 1990 Survivor Series was truly a classic event. So much happened at the event which was memorable.

For starters, we had the debut of The Undertaker who is still tearing up wrestlers today. The Undertaker was a lot younger and faster than he is today. He was truly invincible. At this event he was the surprise member of The Million Dollar Team and the opposing team just couldn't put a dent in him.

The great things about this and other Survivor Series events is that the writers of these shows put enemies against each other in teams of four. Okay, I know wrestling is just another branch of showbiz but we can at least pretend that the guys all hate each other.

Hulk Hogan captained a team against the Earthquake who was one of the most despicable heels of the time. Earthquake and Hogan had a lot of history and the energy during this match was great. There were four other great Survival matches on the card and then we got to see a Grand Finale where the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan and Tito Santana faced the devastating Visionaries and the Million Dollar Man.

This video is perfect for wrestling fans who like to see such explosive battles in the ring!

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.

The 1990 Survivor Series is perhaps one of the best World Wrestling Entertainment (back then, the World Wrestling Federation) events of all time. The Man From the Dark Side, known as the Undertaker, who would later become the Phenom of WWE, made his spectacular introduction in this pay-per-view. And some other things had happened.

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.