WWF Survivor Series 1989 – November 1989

WWF Survivor Series 1989 – November 23rd 1989 – Rosemont, Illinois

Matches
Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana, The Red Rooster defeated Big Bossman, Bad News Brown, Rick Martel and Honky Tonk Man (5/10)
Randy Savage, Canadian Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Greg Valentine defeated Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, Ronnie Garvin and Hercules (7/10)
Hulk Hogan, Demolition and Jake Roberts defeated Ted Dibiase, Powers of Pain and Zeus (7/10)
Rick Rude, Mr Perfect and Fabolous Rougeaus defeated Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and the Bushwhackers (6/10)
The Ultimate Warrior and the Rockers defeated Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant, Haku and Arn Anderson (8/10)


Moments – Positives
Actually this was an enjoyable Survivor Series with a couple of stand-out moments. Warrior getting his hands on Bobby Heenan after the rest of his team was eliminated, a great performance from the Rockers which really showed off the talents of Shawn Michaels, a great feud between Roddy Piper and Rick Rude as well as a good match between Hogan’s team and the Million Dollar Man.

Moments – Negatives
The opening match was certainly the worst of the whole show and as typical with the Survivor Series PPV matches all the bouts seemed to be that little bit too long which meant that it was difficult to give every match full attention.

Overall Summary
As with any Survivor Series, I cannot give it a large score. The score below is on par with the Summerslam 1989 which I probably enjoyed just as much as this PPV. The matches itself were not amazing but the feuds and some of the teams made the event a little bit more fun.

SCORE = 7.0

WWF Summerslam 1989 – August 1989

WWF Summerslam 1989 – August 28th 1989 – Rutherford, New Jersey

Matches
The Brain Busters defeated the Hart Foundation (6/10)
Dusty Rhodes defeated Honky Tonk Man (7/10)
Mr Perfect defeated the Red Rooster (5/10)
Rick Martel and the Faboulous Rougeaus defeated Tito Santana and The Rockers (6/10)
The Ultimate Warrior defeated Rick Rude {WWF Intercontinental Title} (8/10)
Jim Duggan and Demolition defeated Andre the Gian and The Twin Towers (6/10)
Hercules defeated Greg Valentine (5/10)
Ted Dibiase defeated Jimmy Snuka (5/10)
Hulk Hugan and Brutus Beefcake defeated Randy Savage and Zeus (8/10)


Moments – Positives
Although the main event was built up using a Hogan movie it actually turned out to be very good. Firstly it was nice to see Beefcake in the main event who was always a great charismatic worker. It was also good to see Sherri with Savage as they worked very well together as well as the return of Miss Elizabeth. Some great moments in the main event. Also Warrior beating Rude for the Intercontinental title was a great Summerslam moment.

Moments – Negatives
The Red Rooster gimmick was awful – honestly just watch this event. Also the whole concept of Zeus at the PPV, in the main event, given he was Hogan’s nemesis in the movie “No Holds Barred” was just a shocking idea that I think discredited wrestling and wrestlers themselves. This always seems to be the case when hollywood is involved. Though the main event ended up being very good, this was not in any part thanks to Zeus. Also a few poor matches such as the Hercules/Valentine contest and the Dibiase/Snuka work.

Overall Summary
By no means an amazing event, especially following a great Wrestlemania but this was still pretty solid. Again, the main event made the PPV!!

SCORE = 7.0

WWF Wrestlemania V – April 1989

WWF Wrestlemania V – April 2nd 1989 – Atlantic City, New Jersey

Matches
Hercules defeated King Haku (5/10)
The Twin Towers defeated The Rockers (6/10)
Brutus Beefcake drew with Ted DiBiase (6/10)
The Bushwhackers defeated the Faboulous Rougeaus (5/10)
Mr Perfect defeated the Blue Blazer (7/10)
Demolition defeated The Powers of Pain and Mr Fujii {Handicap Match for WWF Tag Team Titles} (6/10)
Dino Bravo defeated Ronnie Garvin (4/10)
The Brain Busters defeated Strike Force (5/10)
Jake Roberts defeated Andre the Giant (7/10)
The Hart Foundation defeated Greg Valentine & Honky Tonk Man (6/10)
Rick Rude defeated Ultimate Warrior (8/10)
Jim Duggan drew with Bad News Brown (4/10)
The Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan (3/10)
Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage {WWF World Heavyweight Title} (10/10)


Moments – Positives
This is the first pay per view to have a 10/10 match. I will probably collect all the 10/10 matches at the end of this project and we can have a vote for the best one. The Hogan/Savage match was truly classic and had everything. Savage turned fully heel at this stage and Hogan was the clear babyface. The whole build up and the match itself was just brilliant. Savage lost the WWF Title and Elizabeth walked out on him. It was the end of an era. Other notable moments were the Warrior/Rude match which was excellent, Jake vs Andre was also well done with the snake freaking Andre out and forcing a DQ.

Moments – Negatives
A couple of really poor matches such as the Red Rooster match or the Jim Duggan match but overall the card was still very good. A part from the quality of matches, the build up was well done and overall there is very little to comment on as far as negatives are concerned. I think by this time Wrestlemania was viewed as something quite special to all involved.

Overall Summary
We have our first 10/10 contest and truly deserved. This was the best PPV match out of the first five years – everything from the build up to the brilliance of the ending. I think the PPV showed that Randy Savage was truly a great, he was a showman and a hell of an athlete and was far more versatile than Hogan. Savage could have been the biggest thing in WWF history but he was there at the height of Hulkamania and always overshadowed. Still, if you ever wanted to see Hogan and Savage at his best then watch Wrestlemania V.

SCORE = 9.0

WWF Royal Rumble 1989 – January 1989

WWF Royal Rumble 1989 – January 15th 1988 – Houston, Texas

Matches
Jim Dugan and the Hart Foundation defeated Dino Bravo and the Faboulous Rougeaus {2 out of 3 falls} (6/10)
Rockin Robin defeated Judy Martin {WWF Women’s Title} (4/10)
King Haku defeated Harley Race (6/10)
Big John Studd defeated 29 other men in the Royal Rumble Match (8/10)


Moments – Positives
This was actually a pretty solid pay-per-view with a few good moments. Eliminating Andre the Giant from the Royal Rumble was a great moment, a solid opening match, a great build up to the Randy Savage/Hogan feud which was really picking up by this stage and a classic match between Haku and Harley Race over the right for the “king” trophy (or King of The Ring as it later became known).

Moments – Negatives
A few poor spots in the Rumble match itself, a really weak Women’s title match (this seemed like a trend of the time). Also a really painful showdown between Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude which actually had a good ending to it and built up Wrestlemania quite well but wasted a lot of air time and was pretty poor.

Overall Summary
It was a very good card with a couple of negatives and a Rumble match up with some really classic moments. It was certainly a much better Rumble than the previous years and it was the first Rumble to feature 30 men. This improved the actual rumble match greatley although I would point out that at this stage the winner of the Rumble did not go onto Wrestlemania to face the champion (thank God!). John Studd was a solid wrestler but he certainly did not deserve the main event spot at ‘Mania 5!

SCORE = 8.0

WWF Survivor Series 1988 – November 1988

WWF Survivor Series 1988 – November 24th 1988 – Richfield, Ohio

Matches
Powers of Pain, The Rockers, British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation and The Young Stallions defeated Demoliton, Brain Busters, The Bolsheviks, The Fabolous Rougeaus and The Conquistadors, (4/10)
Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Sam Houston, Blue Blazer defeated Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Greg Valentine and Bad News Brown (5/10)
Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Mr Perfect, Harley Race and Rick Rude defeated Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Scott Casey, Ken Patera and Tito Santana (6/10)
The Megapowers, Koko B Ware, Hillbilly Jim and Hercules defeated The Twin Towers, Ted Dibiase, Haku and the Red Rooster (7/10)


Moments – Positives
This truly had very few positive stand-out moments as far as a classic event is concerned. The main event was “solid” mainly due to the popularity of the Mega Powers and a nice story during the match where by Hogan was handcuffed and saved by Miss Elizabeth. Hogan was then celebratin with Miss Elizabeth on his arms which made Randy Savage very jealous and thus would set up the Wrestlemania V main event. The other notable moments are the debuts of Mr Perfect as well as the Rockers (HBK included).

Moments – Negatives
The card had four matches which told very little story. As with most of these surivor matches, they were slow, at times painful to watch and I have to say I was pretty bored during a number of different moments. Clearly the main event made this PPV and to be perfectly honest that was not so great either. It did the right job at building up a feud between Hogan and Savage but that is about it.

Overall Summary
It was not a solid card, it was not a great event. The PPV showcased the majority of WWF talent, which at times was impressive and included great young wrestlers such as HBK, Mr Perfect, Bret Hart amongst others but the matches themselves told very little story, had very little hype and just were not well done. The only positive was the Randy Savage / Hogan and Megapower showdown / begining of the break up! Overall, a pretty big dissapointment.

SCORE = 3.5

WWF Summerslam 1988 – August 1988

WWF Summerslam 1988 – August 29th 1988 – NY City, New York

Matches
The British Bulldogs drew with The Fabolous Rougeaus (5/10)
Bad News Brown defeated Ken Patera (4/10)
Rick Rude defeated Junkyard Dog (6/10)
The Powers of Pain defeated The Bolsheviks (5/10)
Ultimate Warrior defeated Honky Tong Man {WWF Intercontinental Title} (8/10)
Dino Bravo defeated Dan Muraco (5/10)
Demolition defeated Hart Foundation {WWF Tag Team Titles} (7/10)
Big Bossman defeated Koko B Ware (5/10)
Jake Roberts defeated Hercules (6/10)
The Mega Powers (Hogan & Savage) defeated The Mega Bucks (Andre & DiBiase) (8/10)

Moments – Positives
The first Summerslam came in 1988 at the height of the Mega Powers. Two matches really stood out on this PPV, firstly the main event – and there was something truly special about seeing Savage and Hogan together, I guess it would be comparable to an Austin/Rock tag team or a Hart/HBK (when both face). The match was great and the build up was top notch. The other match that stood out was Warrior vs Honky Tonk Man where Warrior won the IC title. The crowd reaction showed that Warrior was going to be huge in the WWF and it was a defining moment in Warrior’s career.

Moments – Negatives
A few of the matches were quite poor (eg. Bolshaviks match). Also the opening match ended after 20 minutes after a time limit expiration which I thought was awful. This meant that a few of the other matches were quite rushed which did not give the build up enough time. Some of the matches were also quickly thrown together and it truly showed.

Overall Summary
Overall a solid PPV made by two big matches. The overall event suffered due to a lack of quality in the ring and the fact that some of the matches seemed randomly thrown together. I thought the event also lacked something from the hype camp. The first Survivor Series, Rumble or Mania were pretty special whilst the first Summerslam seemed to be just a PPV thrown together and not made special in any sense of the word.

SCORE = 6.5

WWF Wrestlemania IV – March 1988

WWF Wrestlemania IV – March 27th 1988 – Atlantic City, New Jersey

Matches
Bad News Brown won the 20-man Battle Royal (7/10)
Ted DiBiase defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan (5/10)
Don Muraco defeated Dino Bravo (5/10)
Greg Valentine defeated Ricky Steamboat (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Butch Reed (6/10)
One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (4/10)
Rick Rude defeated Jake Roberts (7/10)
Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules (5/10)
Hulk Hogan drew with Andre The Giant (9/10)
Ted Dibiase defeated Don Muraco (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Greg Valentine (8/10)
Brutus Beefcake defeated the Honky Tonk Man {WWF Intercontinental Title} (8/10)
The Islanders and Bobby Heenan defeated The British Bulldogs and Koko B Ware (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated One Man Gang (6/10)
Demolition defeated Strike Force {WWF Tag Team Titles} (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Ted Dibiase {WWF World Heavyweight Title} (8/10)

Moments – Positives
Another great Wrestlemania. This once centres around the World Heavyweight title tournament which is vacant as a result of the Million Dollar Man purchasing the title off Andre The Giant. The moments that stand out are; Randy Savage finally making it to the top and winning the World Title, a rematch between Hogan and Andre The Giant which ends in a double DQ, Hogan helping Savage and effecting forming the Mega Powers. Also some great matches including the IC title match and a great build up to the Andre / Hogan rematch. Also a great moment was Bret Hart destroying Bad News’ trophy after the Battle Royal.

Moments – Negatives
The Wrestlemania was overshadowed by the World Title tournament which made it feel a bit less than a Wrestlemania. Some great matches but some average ones too. Also each match was kept relatively short given the fact that they needed to fit in the whole tournament to the PPV. Overall though I think the positives outweigh any negatives in this Mania.

Overall Summary
A few classic moments and some great matches but what really stole the show was Savage defying the odds and winning the World Title with the help of Hulk Hogan. After years of Hogan as the World Champion this was the dawn of the new era. Also it was good to see wrestlers such as British Bulldog, Bret Hart, Brutus Beefcake and Ultimate Warrior receiving TV time before they became the corner stone of the WWF. I would probably say this was the best Wrestlemania to date.

SCORE = 8.5

WWF Royal Rumble – January 1988

WWF Royal Rumble – January 24th 1988 – Hamilton, Ontario

Matches
Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Rude (5/10)
Jumping Bomb Angels defeated The Glamour Girls (6/10)
Jim Duggan defeated 19 other men to win the WWF Royal Rumble 1988 (8/10)
The Islanders defeated The Young Stallions {2 out of 3 falls match} 6/10)

Moments – Positives
The first Royal Rumble was a mixed bag to say the least. The main positive of the whole event was the Royal Rumble match up itself, the first of its kind, where 20 men battled to win the Royal Rumble (though at this time it did not carry a title shot at Wrestlemania). The Rumble included the debut of the Ultimate Warrior on PPV, Bret Hart shining through and Hacksaw Jim Duggan winning the Rumble. The other great moment of the PPV was the contract signing between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan for a rematch of the WWF Title.

Moments – Negatives
Apart from the rumble match itself the card was below average. The main event was a relatively solid tag team match between the Islanders and Young Stallions but you would be gutted if you paid good money for the match. The Andre The Giant/Hogan showdown was great but you somehow think the match itself should have taken place at the PPV rather than the contract signing.

Overall Summary
Clearly the Rumble match made the PPV event which I guess should be the case given the name of the event. The Andre the Giant / Hogan showdown was great but should have been the match of the PPV. The rest of the card is forgettable and drags down the overall event quality in my opinion. Also worth noting this was the first PPV event dominated by Ted DiBiase (Million Dollar Man).

SCORE = 5.0

WWF Survivor Series 1987

WWF Survivor Series – November 27th 1987 – Richmond, Ohio

Matches
Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan defeated Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Danny Davies, Ron Bass and Harley Race (7/10)
The Fabolous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin Robin and Jumping Bob Angels defeated Sensational Sherri, The Glamour Girls, Donna Christanello and Dawn Marie (4/10)
Strike Force, Young Stallions, Fabolous Rougeaus, Killer Bees and British Bulldogs defeated Hart Foundation, The Islanders, Demolition, Bolsheviks and The New Dream Team (6/10)
Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Butch Reed and Rick Rude defeated Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow (8/10)

Moments – Positives
As with all the Survivor Series cards the matches were lengthy and very much centered around individual feuds in a tag related match. The best part of the PPV was by far the main event and its ending with Andre The Giant picking up a victory and extending his feud with Hulk Hogan. The opening match was also very good with the first PPV outing for Randy Savage as a face as he continued his feud with the Honky Tonk Man.

Moments – Negatives
As with all the Survivor Series matches, the matches can be quite repetitive and tiresome. This PPV was pretty solid overall with some good feuds but the matches were not great (apart from maybe the opener and the main event). The women’s match was better than say Wrestlemania III but still not up to the level of the men (or Women’s wrestling today).

Overall Summary
Given that this was the first Survivor Series, the card and the event was actually ok. I am not a fan of Survivor Series events (until the concept was dropped as a stipulation of the event) so I will not give any of these PPVs a high score but overall it is a pretty good event and continues many of the Wrestlemania feuds.

SCORE = 6.0

WWF Wrestlemania III – March 1987

WWF Wrestlemania 3 – March 29th 1987 – Michigan

Matches
Can-Am Connection defeated Bob Orton and Magnificent Muroco (5/10)
Billy Jack Haynes drew with Hercules (6/10)
Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid and Little Beaver defeated King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, Lord Littlebrook (1/10)
Harley Race defeated Junkyard Dog (6/10)
The Dream Team defeated The Faboulous Rougeaus (5/10)
Roddy Piper defeated Adrian Adonis (5/10)
Hart Foundation & Danny Davies defeated The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana (7/10)
Butch Reed defeated Koko B Ware (4/10)
Ricky Steamboat defeated Randy Savage (Intercontinental Title) (8/10)
Honky Tonk Man defeated Jake “the snake” Roberts (6/10)
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff defeated The Killer Bees (2/10)
Hulk Hogan defeated Andre The Giant (WWF Championship) (9.5/10)

Moments – Positives
The obvious moment of the whole PPV was the slam delivered on Andre The Giant by Hulk Hogan. The feud between Hogan and Andre, the build up, the hype, it was all perfectly executed. Every punch of the main event, every move carried out by Hogan was built up and made for a truly perfect PPV main event. It stole the show and is probably a prime candidate for the greatest main event of all time. Other stand out moments include Steamboat beating Randy Savage thanks to interference by George Steele. The opening contest was very well done and the fans enjoyed the win from the underdogs and a few of the matches including Roddy Piper’s, Hercules’ and Jake The Snake Roberts’ told a good story and built up the feuds very well. The sense of occassion was heightened by an incredible location and a cart driving each wrestler to the ring.

Moments – Negatives
Some awful moments which thankfully were overshadowed by a great main event. Midget wrestling was present in the King Kong Bundy encounter, the match before the main event was absolutley awful and a few of the matches were overhyped and did not deliver (eg. Junkyard dog vs Harley Race).

Overall Summary
The overall event was, I thought, average for a Wrestlemania card. A few matches were great and a few were awful. I would call it above average at best. However, the main event of Hogan v Andre is truly one for the ages and every wrestling fan should take the effort to watch this event and watch the build up and the delivery. If you ever wanted to see how to build up a perfect main event, watch this Pay-Per-View. It was a huge success for WWF and I am not surprised this was the case!

SCORE = 7.5