Live from Landover, MarylandAttendance 14,500Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect & Jim RossMr. Perfect makes his return to the WWE just before the broadcast starts to a standing ovation.The Underdogs (Marty Janetty, Hakushi, Bob Holly, and Barry Horrowitz) Vs The Bodydonnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard, and The 123 Kid) Eliminations.Tom Prichard by Bob Holly (Flying crossbody from the top)Bob Holly by Skip (school boy from behind)Hakushi by Rad Radford (a karate kick from the 123 Kid, all Radford did was pick up the bones)Rad Radford by Barry Horrowitz (inside cradle)Barry Horrowitz by The 123 Kid (legdrop)Skip by Marty Janetty (powerbomb off the top)Marty Janetty by The 123 Kid (interference from Sycho Sid)Sole Survivor: The 123 KidThis was a good choice for the opener. It gave the mid-card wrestlers a chance to shine and they certainly did that. Barry Horrowitz was way over with the crowd, chanting his name every chance they had. The Kid being the sole survivor was the right choice, considering he was fresh off a heel turn.***Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari Vs Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, and Lioness Asuka. Eliminations.Lioness Asuka by Alundra Blayze (german suplex with a bridge)Sakie Hasegawa by Aja Kong (backdrop driver)Chaparita Asari by Aja Kong (big splash from the second rope)Kyoko Inoue by Aja Kong (sit-down splash)Tomoko Watanabe by Alundra Blayze (piledriver)Bertha Faye by Alundra Blayze (german suplex with a bridge)Alundra Blayze by Aja Kong (spinning back fist)Sole Survivor: Aja KongThis was pretty decent stuff! The women could really wrestle back then and it wasn't always about being a "diva" The only thing that puzzles me is Aja Kong's push. She's another "big" wrestler that Vince fawned over. **1/2Bam Bam Bigelow Vs GoldustGoldust wins with a running bulldog. A pretty uneventful match! The only point of this match was to elevate Goldust. I dislike Goldust's methodical style because it's very slow. Bigelow was on his way out of the WWF soon after this. *1/4King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Issac Yankem, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs The Undertaker, Fatu, Savio Vega, and Henry Godwin. Eliminations.Jerry Lawler by The Undertaker (tombstone)Issac Yankem by The Undertaker (tombstone)Hunter Hearst Helmsley by The Undertaker (chokeslam)Mabel by countout Sole Survivors: The Undertaker, Fatu, Henry Godwin, and Savio VegaThe Undertaker is selling the damage done to his face from Mabel by wearing a protective shield on his face. Everything felt unimportant in this match until The Undertaker tagged in. Once he tagged in, it was nothing but utter dominance on his part. There wasn't much talent in this match, but we do get to see a tiny bit of Taker vs Kane here (Yankem is Kane, for those who don't know)*1/2Razor Ramon, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, and Dean Douglas Vs Shawn Michaels, Sycho Sid, The British Bulldog, and Ahmed Johnson. Eliminations. Dean Douglas by Shawn Michaels (schoolboy from behind after Razor nails Dean with a right hand after an argument)Sycho Sid by Razor Ramon (Shawn accidentally superkicks Sid)Owen Hart by Ahmed Johnson (Pearl River Plunge)Razor Ramon by The British Bulldog (running powerslam)Yokozuna by Ahmed Johnson (sweet chin music and a big splash from Ahmed(Sole Survivors: Shawn Michaels, The British Bulldog, and Ahmed JohnsonThis match was interesting right from the outset because of all the factors in this match. With the heel vs heel and face vs face matches, you weren't sure what was gonna happen. It made things far more unpredictable. You get Razor squaring off against Shawn, Owen against Shawn, etc. Great stuff overall! My only complaint is the over length. ***1/2WWF ChampionshipDiesel (C) Vs Bret HartBret Hart wins the title by countering a jackknife powerbomb into a small package. Afterwards, Diesel attacks officials and jackknife's Bret a couple of times. Bret and Diesel have had a couple of excellent matches, but this is their best one. This is filled with great psychology, good technical wrestling, fun brawling, and even some hardcore stuff. This match has a bit of everything! Both got big pops on their way out, but the crowd liked Bret more. Diesel attacking Bret and officials after the match was the start of a tweener turn for him, and eventually a full-fledged heel turn. ****1/2Final Thoughts.This is a great pay per view overall. 1995 is filled with a lot of terrible stuff, but this is one of the few bright moments from that year. There is a couple of mediocre matches, but nothing truly horrible. It features two really fun Survivor Series matches and a fantastic main event. The WWF was slowly but surely getting out of their funk at this juncture, even if they didn't realize it. Vince went back to reliability in Bret Hart, Diesel would finally get some character development and give us some of the best work in his career with his tweener/heel turn, and Shawn Michaels was beginning to emerge as a legitimate top face. This is an underrated pay per view that I consider to be a must see.
... View MoreThe WWE Championship scene came full circle in 1995 with Bret Hart and Diesel, the same men who contested the title at the Royal Rumble, meeting for the title at Survivor Series. This night returned to the traditional Survivor Series format with 4 four on four elimination matches and only two singles matches.The night started off with the Body Donnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Ton Prichard and the recently heel turned 1-2-3 Kid accompanied by Sunny and Ted DiBiase) defeated the UNderdogs (Marty Janetty, Bob Holly, Barry Horowitz and the recently face turned Hakushi). Prichard was the first man eliminated following a flying cross body from Bob Holly, who was himself eliminated seconds later when he was rolled up by Skip. Hakushi was pinned by Rad Radford following a spinning heel kick from The Kid. Radford was eliminated a fair while later, rolled up by Horowitz. Horowitz then fell to a a snap leg drop from The Kid. Leaving Janetty against the Kid and Skip. Janetty was able to superbomb Skip form the top rope to even the match up, and looked the likely winner until a returning Psycho Sid interfered, taking out Janetty and leaving The 1-2-3 Kid as the sole survivor of a good opening match.The next match was the first all women's match at Survivor Series since 1987 and was not a great spectacle. The heel team of Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, and Lioness Asuka (with Harvey Wippleman) defeated the Face team of Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, and Chaparita Asari. It came down to Blayze and Aja Kong, with Kong proving too strong and getting the win.The next match saw Goldust defeat Bam Bam Bigelow. A face turn earlier in the year really hadn't done much to help the career of Bigelow and was beaten by the usual homo erotic tricks from "The Bizarre one." Not a very good match.Well the next match proved to be very one sided as The Darkside (The Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu and Henry Godwinn) defeated The Royals (Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mabel) without losing single man. Mabel was the last man left for his team, and he had the good sense to run to the back and get counted out instead of getting slaughtered by four men. Bad match.The next match wasn't much less decisive as Team Michaels (Shawn Micheals, Psycho Sid, the British Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson {in his first WWE PPV}) defeated Team Razor (Dean Douglas, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon and Yokozuna) with Sid their only casualty. Johnson took care of Yokozuna who was the last man standing for Team Razor. Strange mix of faces and heels here, with Cornette actually in both team's corner as he managed the British Bulldog and Owen Hart/ Yokozuna. Average match.Finally it was time for the Main Event where rank under dog Bret Hart had agreed to a no DQ match to try and win WWE the title from Diesel who'd been champion for almost a full year. The match was a classic, following the template of a big man vs little man match. Hart was thrown through announce tables and all over the place. Diesel was tied to the ring post at one stage as Hart dished out some punishment. Eventually Hart won it, playing possum and then beating Diesel with an inside cradle to win the WWE Title for a third time. It was now that Diesel, never far from the dark side in the later months of his reign, finally snapped and destroyed Hart, officially turning heel.So there you have Survivor Series 1995 an event with a lot of filler, but an outstanding main event.
... View MoreSkip, Tom Prichard, 1-2-3 Kid and Rad Radford vs. Bob Holly, Hakushi, Barry Horowitz and Marty Jannetty Survivor: 1-2-3 KidBertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe and Lioness Asuka vs. Alundra Blayze, Sakie Hasegawa, Kyoko Inoue and Chapparita Asari Survivor: Aja KongGoldust defeated Bam Bam Bigelow via pinfallThe Undertaker, Fatu, Savio Vega and Henry Godwinn vs. Jerry Lawler, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Dr. Isaac Yankeem and Mabel Survivors: Undertaker, Fatu, Savio Vega and Henry GodwinnSycho Sid, British Bulldog, Ahmed Johnson and Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna and Dean Douglas Survivors: Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and British BulldogBret "Hitman" Hart defeated Diesel for the WWE ChampionshipOverall Mark: B-
... View MoreThis was a rather average Survivor Series card; none of the matches really stood out and there was nothing, at least in my opinion, that could be remembered for years to come.It seemed to me that the WWF probably booked this event in a rush. Usually, the Survivor Series consisted of sworn enemies facing each other in teams of four. Most of the elimination matches were sub standard.There was one match of interest-the wild card match in which friends teamed up with foes. Good guys Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson teamed up with bad guys Psycho Sid and the late Davey Boy Smith to face good guy Razor Ramon and bad guys the late Owen Hart, Yokosuna and Dean Douglas. This made for an intriguing match and was the only real good thing about this card.
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