WWF Survivor Series 1991 Review feat. Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker

Image Source: WWE
CompanyWWF/WWE
EventSurvivor Series 1991
SeriesSurvivor Series
Edition5
FormatPay-Per-View
DateWednesday November 27 1991
VenueJoe Louis Arena
LocationDetroit, Michigan, USA
Attendance17,500

WWF Survivor Series 1991

WWF Survivor Series 1991 marked the first such occasion that the event featured a regular singles match, albeit one for the WWF Championship, amongst the elimination contests. Strangely for such a major card in this era, though, it is remembered less fondly than an angle which aired on television the prior week, and the show itself was used as a set-up for a one-off PPV held the following week, making this an anomaly in Survivor Series history.

The angle in question was tremendous, mind you. Jake Roberts had taunted the retired Randy Savage for several months and had tried to set his pet king cobra snake on him and his wife Miss Elizabeth during their wedding reception after SummerSlam 1991. The Macho Man had campaigned to be reinstated, though WWF President Jack Tunney held firm. That was until the November 23 1991 episode of Superstars, where Jake convinced Savage to enter the ring where Roberts did a number on him, before he set his pet on Savage again, and this time, the reptile actually chewed flesh! Yes, the snake bit Savage’s arm in a shocking angle, and a very brutal one for the era. Randy sold it fantastically well, while Jake reacted as only a psychotic heel would.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF SUPERSTARS & WRESTLING CHALLENGE!

Now, originally Jake was set to captain a heel Survivors squad opposite a face team led by Sid Justice, but Sid was injured check injury a few weeks prior. Common sense suggested that Savage would replace Sid and get some revenge, making his comeback in the process. Instead, as revealed by the increasingly-prominent and increasingly-disliked Tunney, the decision was made to make the aforementioned clash a six-man affair, with Jake taken out and barred from competing. He would, however, be permitted to appear anyway to cut a promo, as would Savage ahead of an officially announced battle at This Tuesday In Texas.

Personally, I think that they could have stretched Randy’s recovery out all the way to WrestleMania VIII or at least Royal Rumble. To pull this bait and switch, though, was an odd choice because it lessened the importance of this traditionally-major extravaganza in favour of promoting a suddenly-announced mini-PPV. It was an experiment if nothing else, but it didn’t seem to be worthwhile when you analyse the bigger picture. That doesn’t take anything from the angle itself, mind you, nor their subsequent feud, which was incredibly intense by WWF 1991 standards.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1990 REVIEW!

Survivor Series Elimination Match

Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, British Bulldog & Virgil vs. Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, The Mountie & The Warlord

Let’s get onto the show itself, and what an opener on paper. At least four of the participants are amongst the greatest of all-time, and Bulldog was a true legend as well. This brought together four ongoing rivalries: Piper vs. Flair (they never did have a major televised clash in the WWF, weirdly), Bret vs. Mountie (which was to set up an Intercontinental Title match at Royal Rumble that didn’t end up happening), Virgil vs. DiBiase (Ted had just recaptured the Million Dollar Title from his former bodyguard in a SummerSlam rematch on the Survivor Series Spectacular special show, what a tongue twister that was) and Bulldog vs. Warlord (Davey Boy Smith would defeat the unusually-presented muscleman at This Tuesday In Texas, following a separate win over Warlord which Smith had earned back at WrestleMania VII).

This had the potential to be a classic for the era, and it started off well enough with everybody getting their chance to shine as each of the four rivalries was spotlighted at some stage. Bulldog was first to go, being pinned by Flair (making his PPV debut for the WWF, incidentally), and Warlord was next to go courtesy of Piper (which made it obvious which rivalry was deemed least important to those booking the show). But then, as it looked like it would escalate further, we ended up with a somewhat implausible situation that led to everybody being counted out (even though only two participants could be legally involved at any one time), except for the Nature Boy. All of a sudden, this highly enjoyable battle was over. Sure, it made Flair look strong, but five countouts at once for a PPV match is a bit much to take. It’s a shame that the ending sullied this because, as noted, this could have been one of the truly great Survivors bouts otherwise.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWF SUMMERSLAM 1991 REVIEW!

Before the second bout, Mean Gene Okerlund conducted a live interview with Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth to discuss This Tuesday In Texas. A big mistake here was having Savage appear so soon after the angle, even if he was still selling the effects. In TV time, the guy had been snake-bitten only 96 hours earlier; surely he should have been recuperating at home, or at least in the locker room. This was an effective segment, but it felt so unnecessary, kind of like the PPV that Randy and Liz were here to chat about.

Survivor Series Elimination Match

Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt Slaughter, El Matador & The Texas Tornado vs. Colonel Mustafa, Hercules, Skinner & The Berzerker

This was the “get everyone else that we’re pushing right now onto the show” bout, since the star power in this contest greatly contrasted to that of the opener. The babyface squad was fairly strong, with El Matador being Tito Santana’s brand new gimmick, and with him being a replacement for Ricky Steamboat, who had recently left the WWF to return to WCW following a short-lived return (Slaughter was also a replacement for Jim Neidhart). On the other side, though, the heel ranks were greatly lacking in credibility, with two pretty weak personas teaming up alongside a past-his-prime Iron Sheik and one half of Power & Glory in Hercules (he replaced Big Bully Busick, who left the WWF right before what would have been his only PPV appearance). Yes, this was a card-filler, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing by the way, but it was glaringly obvious here.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1987 REVIEW!

As for the action itself, it wasn’t up to much. If you’re an old-school WWF fan, then you’ll have gotten a kick out of the likes of Hacksaw doing their thing, but newer devotees watching this event for the first time would consider this to be very weak indeed. In terms of the eliminations, it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that we had a clean sweep for the good guys, as the heels all fell like dominos: Slaughter eliminated Mustafa first (which was unexpected, given that their feud was the main sub-plot to this match), then Matador dispatched of Herc. Slaughter was responsible for Skinner hitting the showers (for once), and finally Duggan polished off Berzerker. So, while this was the least important bout on the card, at least the babyfaces all triumphed, in particular Slaughter who had only recently completed his face turn after he wanted his “country back”, in an act of desperation which may have tarnished his status as an American hero even more than the whole Iraqi sympathiser thing.

We then had another live promo, this time with Jake Roberts. This could have been one of the all-time great heel interviews to follow up that classic snake-biting angle, but instead Roberts (albeit with tremendously cold delivery) simply vowed to destroy The Macho Man at This Tuesday In Texas. We did, though, get this great exchange: Mean Gene Okerlund said “You’re a sick man, Jake Roberts”, and Jake replied, “Thank you very much!” I don’t know why that tickled me, but it did.

WWF Championship Match

Hulk Hogan (C) vs. The Undertaker

We then had what was the true main event of the show, as Hulk Hogan defended his WWF Title against The Undertaker on the first anniversary of Taker’s WWF debut. The WWF had done a great job of making Taker seem like a truly ominous threat, hence the show’s tagline of The Gravest Challenge. Considering that Taker is often cast as a loner in the minds of fans, he made a couple of devilish alliances during his first year, one of which was a loose friendship with Ric Flair, who seemed to be slowly building towards a showdown with Hogan, based on him calling himself the “Real World’s Champion” as he still had possession of the NWA/WCW Championship following his firing from the company. All of this suggested beforehand that Hogan would struggle to overcome Taker, but that he would find a way – he’s Hulk Hogan, after all – before properly entering a conflict with Slic Ric.

Which made this the setting for an upset. After Hogan had sold Taker as an unstoppable force, to quote Gorilla Monsoon, he found himself on the defensive throughout the battle, before taking a Tombstone Piledriver. But of course he Hulked Up and planned to win with the Legdrop … that was, until Ric Flair came to ringside. Between his presence and a distraction from Paul Bearer, Taker regained control and hit Hogan with a Tombstone Piledriver onto a steel chair that Flair had thrown into the ring. The referee counted three, and Undertaker had become WWF Champion for the first time. I should point out that while Taker was clearly a heel at this point, fans cheered loudly at the outcome (while Bobby Heenan shouted “Hulkamania is dead!” with great delight), which must have been jarring to Hogan, who may have realised that his days as the untouchable number one babyface were waning. Still, there was one guy on the front row dressed as Hogan, so Hulkamania was still alive for now (that poor guy had bad luck, because he was also on the front row when Hogan lost the belt to Yokozuna at King Of The Ring 1993).

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2019 REVIEW!

As it turned out, Taker’s first reign as Champion didn’t last very long at all, because he would lose the gold to Hulk in a controversial match at – yes! – This Tuesday In Texas. Taker’s rising popularity would lead to a career-making babyface turn in early 1992, and the presumed Hogan vs. Flair showdown never happened on a major PPV in the WWF. One final note: the ending of this bout is infamous due to Hulk insisting at the time that he had suffered a neck injury from a seemingly-botched Tombstone. However, few believe it was genuine (that Hulk wrestled within days says it all), and once Taker realised that he had been “worked”, his opinion of The Hulkster greatly changed.

Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Bushwhackers & The Rockers vs. The Nasty Boys & The Beverly Brothers

After that eventful championship clash, we had a cool-down bout of sorts as four noteworthy tag teams took to the ring. Luke and Butch were arguably at their peak of popularity here as the face-licking, arm-lifting Bushwhackers, while Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags were still trying to rebound from losing the WWF Tag Team Titles to The Legion Of Doom at SummerSlam. Beau and Blake, meanwhile, were fairly new to the company, and were still trying to establish themselves as a credible combo amongst the still-packed WWF doubles ranks. As for Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty … well, I’ll come back to them shortly.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWF THIS TUESDAY IN TEXAS 1991 REVIEW!

This was a fun match, and a demonstration of why the tag team division was still in a good place in late 1991: every single squad was different, from their attire to their attitudes to their repertoires, and it also helped that there were several Hall Of Fame-worthy duos on the roster at that time (in this match alone, The Beverlys are arguably the only participants who aren’t likely to be inducted into the HOF one day, bearing in mind that Michaels and The Bushwhackers are already there). Luke and Butch were both eliminated a few minutes apart, before Shawn got rid of Beau. Then came the crucial moment, as Jannetty inadvertently (and indirectly) caused Shawn to be pinned by Knobbs, with Shawn fuming about this development. Marty hung on in there for a few minutes, but he was ultimately beaten by Sags, allowing all the heels bar Beau (aww) to survive. The miscommunications between The Rockers here was the first step towards their slow break-up, which of course happened in one of the most famous angles ever on The Barber Shop in January 1992.

Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Legion Of Doom & Big Boss Man vs. The Natural Disasters & Irwin R Schyster

Believe it or not, this bout went on last. Having a regular Survivors match happen after the WWF Title contest was bold enough, but to have a streamlined affair (as in a six-man tag rather than an eight-man tag) seemed bonkers then, and it still seems bonkers now. I could understand if any of the participants were about to be promoted to the main event scene (as The Ultimate Warrior was when he, as Intercontinental Champion, headlined Survivors 1989), but since that wasn’t the case, it all just seems very strange indeed. This did help to promote an LOD vs. Disasters clash for the Tag Team Titles at Royal Rumble, but that doesn’t really justify this match having the top spot either.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1992 REVIEW!

The action itself was okay, but it feels like a dark match at the end of a long television taping (a trademark of the era) rather than the last match of a major supershow. Big Boss Man was surprisingly first to go after taking a briefcase blow to the cranium. IRS (Mike Rotunda was fairly fresh into his second WWF run here, making it even more bizarre) tried to use the case again but instead clocked Typhoon to cause his elimination, and Earthquake was mad enough to get himself deliberately counted out (ah the good old days of heels walking out because their partner took an accidental blow). This left Irwin alone with Hawk and Animal, and he looked terrified (I don’t blame him). He did manage to last longer than expected, but he succumbed to The Road Warriors in the end, allowing The Legion Of Doom to be sole survivors. Supposedly, there were plans for another Grand Finale a la 1990 to close this card, but I’m not sure whether it would have been a better way to end the event or not.

A final message from The Undertaker and Paul Bearer to discuss This Tuesday In Texas closed the presentation, with Taker slamming a casket lid shut. Again, it was totally unlike the WWF to do something like this as a way to end a supercard. Was Vince McMahon in a haze when he and his team wrote up this show?

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF SUPERSTARS & WRESTLING CHALLENGE!

So, WWF Survivor Series 1991 was a rather odd night for the company. The matches themselves were hit-and-miss, with no true classics but no absolute stinkers either. And we had some major developments, not least The Undertaker winning his first WWF Title. But the way that this card felt secondary to the abruptly-announced This Tuesday In Texas, as well as the baffling match order, made this feel like the least significant of the five Survivors shows so far, even though it was the first in the series (no pun intended) to have a WWF Title match, as well as a title change to boot. Just crazy!

WANT TO RELIVE WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1991? WATCH IT RIGHT NOW ON WWE NETWORK!