Survivor Series (1988) was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on November 24, 1988 (Thanksgiving night in the United States) and was held at the Richfield Coliseum, in Richfield, Ohio. The main event was a ten-man Survivor Series match between a team captained by The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy Savage) and a team captained by The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man). Hogan and Savage were the sole "survivors" of the match. The undercard featured three Survivor Series matches between mid-card wrestlers.
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After watching/reviewing the first edition of the Survivor Series recently, I gave it a rather average rating with the caveat that it needed to add something to the simple tag-team format. Unfortunately, the 2nd Annual Survivor Series (1988) stagnates instead, adding absolutely nothing to the proceedings.If you like tag-team action, you'll like this event more than I. The tag format just isn't may favorite, and may prevent me from watching subsequent installments of this event.What drags this '88 edition down even further is that I didn't really even get the feeling that too many character arcs were being advanced or created here. It just seemed like place-holding. The WWF still had some great personalities at this time in history, so it isn't a completely train wreck, but this is coasting in its highest form.Thus, overall I was disappointed in the second installment of Survivor Series. If the event doesn't throw a few new things into the mix or find a fresher overall formula, I may not be tuning into subsequent installments.
Live from Richfield, OHAttendance: 13,500Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jessie VenturaThe Ultimate Warrior, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Jim Brunzell & Sam Houston Vs The Honky Tonk Man, Greg "The Hammer Valentine, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, Bad News Brown, and "The Outlaw" Ron BassOrder of EliminationDanny Davis by Brutus Beefcake (sleeper hold)Jim Brunzell by Bad News Brown (Ghetto Blaster)Bad News Brown by himself. (He walked out on his teammates after Greg Valentine accidentally hits him)Sam Houston by Ron Bass (powerslam)The Blue Blazer by Greg Valentine (Figure Four)The Honky Tonk Man and Brutus Beefcake (double countout)Ron Bass by The Ultimate Warrior (double axe handle)Greg Valentine by The Ultimate Warrior (double axe handle)Your sole survivor: The Ultimate WarriorThis was a decent way to start the show, but this one kinda suffers from a lack of talent. There aren't any memorable moments at all. I also felt the ending was anti-climatic. It's certainly watchable and above average, though. It's notable for an early appearance by Owen Hart (The Blue Blazer) Of course, nobody knew who he was at the time. **1/2Demolition, The Brainbusters, The Conquistadors, The Fabulous Rogeaus & The Bolsheviks Vs The Powers of Pain, The Young Stallions, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, and The British BulldogsOrder of EliminationThe Fabulous Rogeaus by The Hart FoundationThe Young Stallions by The BolsheviksThe Bolsheviks by The RockersThe Hart Foundation by The BrainbustersThe Brainbusters and The Rockers eliminate each other by disqualification after a huge brawl breaks out between them. The British Bulldogs by DemolitionDemolition by countout. (Mr. Fuji turns on Demolition and gets Smash counted out) The Conquistadors by Powers of PainYour sole survivors: The Powers of PainThe Powers of Pain celebrate with Mr. Fuji after the match, solidifying the double turn. This was quite the match! It was fast and furious, full of quick tags, and it rarely lets up. It's action packed from the outset. The double turn between Demolition and The Powers of Pain is awesome. Demolition was starting to get a lot of cheers, and it was the right move. I felt the turn was brilliantly executed. Overall, I rank this as one of the greatest Survivor Series matches ever.****Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey Vs Andre The Giant, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect, Harley Race, and "Ravishing" Rick Rude.Order of Elimination.Ken Patera by Rick Rude (Rude Awakening)Scott Casey by Dino Bravo (side suplex)Harley Race by Tito Santana (flying forearm)Tito Santana by Andre The Giant (sit-down splash)Jim Duggan by disqualification (Since Duggan is a moron, he decides to waffle Bravo with a 2 x 4, leaving Jake Roberts in a 1 on 4 situation.)Rick Rude by Jake Roberts (DDT)Andre The Giant by disqualification (Choking out Roberts)Jake Roberts by Mr. Perfect (Perfect takes advantage of the damage done by Andre)Your sole survivors: Mr. Perfect & Dino BravoThis was a solid little match. Roberts played the perfect underdog here. He's easy to root for and I felt it was a much better choice than Duggan. For the life of me, I can't understand Duggan's popularity. His character is a foolish buffoon. I also didn't like that Dino Bravo survived. Rick Rude would have been a much better decision than Bravo. This PPV has been pretty good so far!***1/4Akeem, The Big Bossman, Ted Dibiase, The Red Rooster & King Haku Vs Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B. WareThe Red Rooster by Randy Savage (flying elbow from the top)Hillbilly Jim by Akeem (big splash)Koko B. Ware by The Big Bossman (Bossman slam)Hercules by Ted Dibiase (roll-up, thanks to a distraction from Virgil)Ted Dibiase by Randy Savage (roll-up)The Big Bossman (countout)Akeem by disqualificationHaku by Hulk Hogan (legdrop)Sole Survivors: Hulk Hogan & Randy SavageThe main event was totally overbooked. It was storyline progression in the long run for Hogan and Savage, but overbooked is still overbooked. At one point, Hogan is handcuffed to the apron, and The Big Bossman starts using his night stick. As far as the match itself is concerned, it was average. When you have talent like Akeem in there, you shouldn't expect quality wrestling. Overall, this match is all about the build of the Megapowers. **6.5/10 overall.
Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, the Blue Blazer, Sam Houston, Ultimate Warrior and Jim Brunzell vs. Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Greg "the Hammer" Valentine, Ron Bass and Danny Davis Survivor: Ultimate WarriorThe Rockers, Powers of Pain, Young Stallions, Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs vs. The Rougeau Brothers, Demolition, Los Conquistadores, the Bolsheviks and the Brainbusters Survivors: Powers of PainAndre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Rick Rude, Harley Race and Mr. Perfect vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Scott Casey, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Ken Patera and Tito Santana Survivors: Mr. Perfect and Dino BravoHulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hercules and Hillbilly Jim vs. Haku, Ted DiBiase, Akeem, Big Boss Man and the Red Rooster Survivors: Hulk Hogan and Randy SavageOverall Mark: C (A bit better)
This event took place in 1988. Back in 1988 the WWF employed a huge amount of wrestlers most of which were charismatic and good at what they did. This was an era when the WWF had enough quality wrestlers that it could promote an event featuring teams of five against teams of five and even a twenty man tag team elimination match. The tag team elimination match was awesome. Back in 1988 the WWF had no shortage of exceptional tag teams. It was a hard hitting affair and at the end it boiled down to the two strongest teams at the time-Demolition and The Powers Of Pain!We also got to see The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan (two of the top wrestlers at the time) lead their teams to victory against the forces of evil!The really great thing about these events was that there were clear cut good guys such as Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior-and clear cut bad guys such as The Million Dollar Man and Bad News Brown. Today, it's hard to figure out if a wrestler is good or bad.All in all, a phenomenal event!