| Company | WWF/WWE |
| Event | Survivor Series 1989 |
| Series | Survivor Series |
| Edition | 3 |
| Format | Pay-Per-View |
| Date | Thursday November 23 1989 |
| Venue | Rosemont Horizon |
| Location | Rosemont, Illinois, USA |
| Attendance | 15,294 |
WWF Survivor Series 1989
“Teams of five strive to survive!” became, erm, “Teams of four roar to war!” Okay, that may not be true, but for WWF Survivor Series 1989, we were presented with five matches consisting of four competitors on each team as opposed to four ten-man tag team bouts (confused yet?). It was a positive change because it allowed members of an incredibly star-studded roster to shine more often, though it did mean discarding the terrific 20-man tag match concept that covered the huge tag team division of this era. Nevertheless, this is one of my favourite Survivor Series cards, and I will shortly explain why.
Actually, let’s get right to it before a single bell rings: to open this event, we had various messages from the WWF performers explaining why they were thankful (bear in mind the show was being held on Thanksgiving Night). A simple but very effective idea, this led to some fantastic one-liners, ranging from typical of someone’s character to being just plain hilarious. Examples include “I’m thankful because I’m rich and you’re not, ha ha ha!” (Ted DiBiase of course), “I’m thankful for having the most ravishing body in the WWF!” (Ravishing Rick Rude), “I’m thankful cause I ain’t Ricky Rude!” (Rowdy Roddy Piper, who added a kiss for good measure), “I’m thankful for being absolutely perfect” (Mr. Perfect, obviously) and the one which cracked me up the most, The Genius’ ludicrous statement of “I am thankful for being the world’s smartest man!” Pure cheese, and I love it.
Then, we had Vince McMahon delivering a vintage voiceover as he ran through all of the matches and the participants involved, including the team names (a first for the event). Just look at the team captains on this show: Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, The Ultimate Warrior, Andre The Giant, Roddy Piper, Rick Rude, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Macho King Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes and Big Boss Man. What a line-up, and that doesn’t include everyone else on the show. There’s a reason they call this the Golden Age of WWF/WWE.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF SUPERSTARS & WRESTLING CHALLENGE!
Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Dream Team vs. The Enforcers
The Dream Team had already been used by the tag team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine a few years earlier, but it was being recycled here (and it would be again the following year), presumably because the creative bods couldn’t be arsed thinking of anything else. The Dream Team saw Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake (how cute), Tito Santana and The Red Rooster head to battle against The Enforcers’ squad of Big Boss Man, Honky Tonk Man, Rick Martel and Bad News Brown (replacing Akeem I believe). Aside from everything else, I appreciate the days when each team would walk to the ring together to their captain’s entrance theme tune. It’s such a small element of the show, yet it worked perfectly. It also greatly reduced the time required for intros.
This was a really enjoyable opener, more because of how much the Rosemont Horizon crowd were into almost everything that the performers did (the WWF product was super-over in 1989). The Santana vs. Martel rivalry, which never received a true pay-off, continued here and culminated with The Model pinning Tito to secure elimination number one of the night. BNB ended up walking out on his team after some miscommunication in the latest unnecessary attempt to protect Brown from being pinned or submitted (check out Brown swearing his head off as he walked backstage). As the match progressed, Beefcake managed to pin both Martel and Honky Tonk (Bruti’ was damn over himself during this period), leaving Boss Man alone with three babyfaces. Boss Man did pin Red Rooster, the very embodiment of an expendable good guy, but he was then beaten by Rhodes, allowing Dusty and Brutus to survive. Post-match, Boss Man pummelled Dusty with his nightstick, though Dusty would get revenge by beating BBM on Saturday Night’s Main Event later that same week. Good stuff here.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1988 REVIEW!
Survivor Series Elimination Match
The 4×4’s vs. The King’s Court
Nope, Jerry Lawler wasn’t in the WWF in 1989. Instead, it was Randy Savage donning the crown, having become the King by beating Jim Duggan shortly after SummerSlam (the crown wasn’t an official title, but it kinda was, if that makes sense). By this stage, Savage had departed the main event scene and was settling in as an upper mid-carder, though he would of course headline again in the future. Savage tagged up with The Canadian Earthquake, Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine for this one, while Hacksaw recruited Hercules, Rugged Ronnie Garvin (who was involved in a lengthy conflict with The Hammer) and Bret Hart. In a strange twist to this show, both Hart Foundation members appeared in separate matches. Why? I have no idea.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWF SUMMERSLAM 1989 REVIEW!
This was a little less heated than our opener, but with a cast that included Savage, Duggan and Bret, this was still going to be of a strong standard. Earthquake (replacing The Widowmaker a.k.a. Barry Windham in what feels like a theme for this show) was a relative newcomer, albeit one who the WWF had major plans for, and he demonstrated this by eliminating Hercules, who Quake would beat again at WrestleMania VI. Although Valentine was feuding with Garvin, it was Duggan who actually eliminated Greg to even up the score. Garvin himself was next to go courtesy of Bravo, and then after an intriguing Savage vs. Bret showdown (Bret was more than ready to compete solo at this stage, over a year before his regular tandem would split up), the Macho Man pinned the Hitman to eliminate him. That left Duggan alone with three heels in a mirror image of how the opener transpired, but he was unable to take down any further heels as he was counted out (Hacksaw is another guy who was always protected despite never winning a major singles title in the company), giving the tag of sole Survivors to Savage, Quake and Bravo. Post-match, Hacksaw chased off everybody with his 2×4, which gave him a moral win, I guess.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1987 REVIEW!
Before the next match, we had a pointless Thanksgiving-themed poem from The Genius, who was wearing a different cap and gown to what he had sported at the start of the show. There isn’t much else to say here, so let’s move on.
Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Hulkamaniacs vs. The Million Dollar Team
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition and Jake The Snake Roberts formed one hell of an army here. Their opponents could not compare: Ted DiBiase, The Powers Of Pain and Zeus. Okay, so The Million Dollar Man provided a viable threat, but the other three were basically passengers in the mind of the average fan. That includes Zeus, competing here in only his second of what would be just three WWF matches. Though DiBiase was the captain and the namesake of the heel side, his beef was actually with Jake, which would eventually culminate in a WrestleMania match. Hogan’s actual enemy of the day was Zeus, and if we’re to believe the rumours, at one point Hogan vs. Zeus was seriously discussed to main event WM VI. Thank goodness that didn’t transpire for a variety of reasons.
Still, the booking team did their best to delay the presumed inevitable Hogan-Zeus battle as the Z Man (not Tom Zenk) was the first one to go, as he was disqualified for choking Hogan for an overly long amount of time (they would collide in a tag team Steel Cage clash at a No Holds Barred mini-PPV but that was it). At that point, Ted probably wished he’d recruited an actual wrestler to be his final team-mate as opposed to an actor in only his second ever bout. Demolition were next to go, as Warlord pinned Ax and Barbarian pinned Smash; why I’m not sure, since Demolition’s issue with The Powers Of Pain had been settled long beforehand. Since The POP were never the brightest tools in the box, they managed to both get disqualified for beating on Hogan for too long (meaning that three of the participants had now been DQ’d), though Hulk being down for the time being gave DiBiase and Jake the floor as they resumed their ongoing hostilities. Surprisingly, Ted pinned Roberts, albeit after interference from Virgil. This left DiBiase alone with Hogan, and you know the rest: Hulk Up, three punches, big boot, Legdrop, 1-2-3, Hogan wins! Hulkamania was running wild as per usual, but not to close the show; we’ll come back to that later.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2019 REVIEW!
Survivor Series Elimination Match
Roddy’s Rowdies vs. The Rude Brood
This match definitely had the most creative team names of the evening, and the contrast in personalities couldn’t have been greater. Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers had a cool, confident swagger, and though their tactics were often questionable, their states of mind were on the ball. Now look at Rowdy Roddy Piper, Superfly Jimmy Snuka and The Bushwhackers, all of whom acted like complete maniacs during their pre-match promo. It’s unintentionally hilarious. I should mention that Gorilla Monsoon speculated on why Bobby Heenan was not in Rude’s corner as per normal, for which there was a reason that I will explain shortly.
This was fairly good, though not as strong as other encounters on the show. Jacques Rougeau was first to go as he was pinned by Superfly, and then Piper eliminated Raymond Rougeau, giving his side a 4-on-2 advantage. Perfect bounced back by pinning Bushwhacker Butch, and then Rude dispatched of Bushwhacker Luke. Because we hadn’t had enough dodgy causes of elimination already (at least one in every bout so far), Rude and Piper brawled to a double countout as a way to keep their feud alive (which would be settled on house shows as 1989 came to a close, a common practice in those days). That left Snuka alone with Perfect, and Mr. P polished off Superfly with the Perfect Plex.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWF NO HOLDS BARRED 1989 REVIEW!
Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Ultimate Warriors vs. The Heenan Family
In our main event, we had the laziest team name ever on the babyface side, though the line-up is odd: reigning Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers and Jim Neidhart (on his own, remember, which is like when you’re told to sit in someone else’s class at school for a day) battled Andre The Giant, Arn Anderson, Haku and Bobby Heenan. Yes, rather than merely managing, The Brain actually competed here, though it wasn’t planned: Tully Blanchard was supposed to be the fourth man (and was even shown on the graphic at the start of the night), but he was fired shortly before the PPV (albeit after the pre-Survivors TV tapings were completed if I’m not mistaken). Considering the team name and the lack of suitable options for a headline spot, it was decided that Heenan would compete as the final replacement of the night. Though Gorilla and Jesse alluded to his whereabouts earlier on, this could have been presented as a bigger story than it actually was.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1990 REVIEW!
Andre was eliminated almost immediately after being counted out from Warrior clotheslining him to the floor. Andre’s matches with Warrior on house shows barely topped 30 seconds during this era because he was so broken down from acromegaly (the condition which caused his gargantuan size), and he would be done with the WWF altogether by WrestleMania. Hilariously, this meant the heel side now had a man down and a manager as one of their remaining participants, with not even half a minute gone. Still, Haku got rid of The Anvil to even the score (of course he was going out first for the babyfaces), and somehow The Brain actually secured an elimination by pinning Marty Jannetty (if that didn’t tell you that he would be left behind once The Rockers split up, nothing would). Shawn Michaels restored things to 2-on-2 by pinning Haku, but then he was taken out by Double-A, leaving Warrior alone with Anderson and Heenan (which sounds like something out of a videogame storyline). Warrior pinned Arn, leaving him with just The Brain. Heenan obviously had no chance, and didn’t he know it. Warrior took a bit of time to pummel the manager (since this was in some respects a case of Heenan finally getting his comeuppance for years of dastardly on-screen activities). The result was a formality, as Warrior got the pin.
It may seem strange that this would be the bout to close the show, especially since Hogan was still very much in his prime, but there was a method behind the madness. It was essentially a test to see how Warrior would be received as the main babyface headliner, and it’s safe to say that it worked stupendously. Therefore, at the next proper PPV event Royal Rumble, we had Hogan engaging in a confrontation with Warrior, and you know what came next. It makes you wonder how 1990 might have gone if fans had been lethargic to Warrior as the star main eventer.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF SUPERSTARS & WRESTLING CHALLENGE!
Considering the occasionally dodgy in-ring action and the plethora of countouts and disqualifications, why do I regard WWF Survivor Series 1989 as one of my favourites? Because it represents the Golden Age at its most colourful, star-studded and exciting, and the show provides tons of warm nostalgia. Plus, the Survivor Series concept was still fairly new as kinks were still being ironed out concerning the format in the previous two years, making this the first edition that would truly set the standard for Survivor Series cards to come (the famous orange and yellow SS logo made its first appearance with this event). So, if you want to take a snapshot of the WWF’s Golden Age, Survivor Series 1989 is as great an example as any.
WANT TO RELIVE WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1989? WATCH IT RIGHT NOW ON WWE NETWORK!
