Let's Talk About... The 1993 Survivor Series

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

I saw in the Let's Talk About... The Natural Born Thrillers thread that it was on the table for someone to post a new one and after seeing no one do it for a little while, I decided to throw this one in.

 

Survivor Series 1993

 

I am not sure how popular this PPV is, probably not very much, but I've always had a soft spot for this show. I had watched wrestling a lot back then, but this was the time period I really became a die hard fan. I remember all the build up and this was one of the first PPVs I remember renting on VHS that was something I knew all the backstory to.

 

This event was interesting to me back then because the originally announced teams of Luger/Tatanka/Steiners vs. Yokozuna/Borga/Quebeccers got changed in the weeks leading up due to injury angles with Undertaker replacing Tatanka and Crush filling in for Pierre. For me, only watching WWF at the time, it was pretty intense to see guys being taken out in the build to this, especially considering it was the end of Tatanka impressive streak. He really was never the same after the loss to Borga.

 

This show will never really be known for its workrate. Along with the switches in the main event, a lot of the matches were different than originally advertised. Doink was recruiting three other Doinks to fight Bam Bam Bigelow's team and instead we ended up not gettng the regular Doink in that match at all, but the Bushwackers and Men on a Mission dressed in Doink masks with facepaint. Shawn Michaels stepped in for Lawler (which apparently was due to a trial that Lawler was in court for at the time) and I always remember Shawn's promo assigning nicknames to the Hart Brothers. While Bruce and Keith wouldn't be featured in WWF matches regularly, this was the start of Owen Hart's rise to fame, a storyline which I believe was revealed in Bret's book was originally intended for Bruce.

 

This was also the last PPV for Bobby Heenan until his return for the Gimmick Battle Royal at Wrestlemania X-7 in 2001.

 

So, I don't know if this topic is as popular as some of the others, but I figured this time period hasn't been discussed too much, so I would give it a try.

[geniusMoment 0]

Bobby Heenan's commentary on this show is just fantastic. Probably his best work ever, I like it better than his 92 Rumble work or his Mania 8 work.

[Papacita 0]

Haven't seen this in ages but I still have vivid memories of the build up. I've said before that Tatanka's loss was damn near traumatizing to me as a child.

[King Kamala 0]

This is another example of a show that I'm very nostalgiac for. Pretty much any Royal Rumble or Survivor Series up until '94, I have an unabashed love for. This show IMO is kind of underrated. Is the workrate great? No, but the card never really drags (the glaring exception being that stupid Doinks match) and as genius said- Bobby Heenan delivers his last truly great commentary performance. My personal MOTN would probably be the opener. As a mark, The 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty were my favorites so I went crazy when they ended up being the sole survivors. Runner up would be The random ass SMW Tag Team titles match. The main event was one of those matches where the build up to the match was a lot better than the match itself. Though the match was about as good as you can expect for that group.

[Slayer 0]

Mostly I just remember this show for the screwy wrestler switches that remained unexplained to me until I found the internet a couple years later, with the biggest head scratcher for 13 y/o me being the Lawler/Michaels switch while still playing up the Lawler storyline.

 

 

[Diamonddust 0]

I remember as a kid thinking the angle where they introduced the Undertaker as part of the team was pretty awesome.

[RonL21 0]

Adding 'Taker was worth it just for him Opening his coat on SuperStars and showing he had an American flag on the inside and Lex Luger going apeshit when he saw it

[RonL21 0]

Undertaker Joins

[strummer 0]

Yeah the first thing that comes to mind about this show is how awesome Bobby Heenan was on commentary.

 

The peak obviously coming during the Harts v HBK/Knights match where he gets some unbelievable lines off on Stu and Helen.

 

His last great performance

[Darth Pipes 0]

Yeah the first thing that comes to mind about this show is how awesome Bobby Heenan was on commentary.

 

The peak obviously coming during the Harts v HBK/Knights match where he gets some unbelievable lines off on Stu and Helen.

 

His last great performance

 

Watching this again, I couldn't believe how bad the Harts vs HBK/Knights match was. Even Shawn Michaels couldn't save it. This is the only time I would have wanted to see Lawler in a match instead of HBK. Lawler at least would have contributed to the story, which HBK simply doesn't. Obviously, we know the real reason Lawler wasn't in there. But without Lawler to cap off a red-hot, months-long feud, the match fizzles. It's clear that Bruce and Keith Hart hadn't been in the ring for years. The Knights are either washed-up (like Valentine) or nobodies. Even Michaels is off his game in the ring. Worth it only for the Owen Hart blow-up at the end.

 

I think this PPV was the only one ever to take place in the old Boston Garden. Agreed about Heenan's classic performance and it was cool seeing the Smokey Mountain tag team titles being defended.

[Guest JuanJoseNYC]

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were probably the best commentary tandem in that era. From their days running Prime Time Wrestling to the end of Wrestling Challenge on Sunday afternoons, they were the ones to watch as Monsoon played the stereotypical huge babyface to the quick-witted antics and one-liners from the Weasel, I mean, Brain. I couldn't stand Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura, no matter how hard they tried to be the A-Team (no pun intended) on Superstars of Wrestling. I had to bring down the volume all the way down just so I can enjoy and sometimes call the action by myself.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, Vince and Jesse were two guys who were both way too serious and argued with each other a lot. Gorilla would take Jesse's antics more in stride and you could tell they actually respected each other.

 

I don't recall Heenan's brilliance on this show and I just saw it on 24/7 not too long ago, but I'll take everyone at their word that he was awesome. This was a decent show, nothing ultra memorable. I did like the SMW tag title match on the show, though I wondered why they would run that particular match in the Northeast where no one knew anything about SMW. WCW did a better job with that in 1993, when they put RNR vs. Heavenly Bodies on the SuperBrawl PPV from Asheville, which was right in the heart of that redneck fanbase.

[JJMc 0]

I think this PPV was the only one ever to take place in the old Boston Garden.

 

It was. My dad waited in line for tickets and got the last 4 together in the building. They were WAY up in the second balcony, and anyone that remembers the Garden knows that the acoustics aren't the greatest. You couldn't hear anything on the mic, including Razor's intro of Savage or the Ray Combs thing, which DRAGGED for what seemed like forever.

 

During the SMW match, you could hear a pin drop, from those seats at least.

 

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Yeah, this was the first PPV I ever went to and the only one from the old Garden. A disappointing show since Lawler got busted. Plugging someone into somebody else's angle can never work so it was weak. Plus, I had been enjoying the Bret/Lawler program and his not being there pretty much fucked it.

[Jericholic82 0]

I didn't get to see the show live (cuz our "black box" stopped working ) so I was so upset. A few days after xmas that year my cousin rented it and we watched it. Never saw it again untill 24/7 had it on last year. I actually quite enjoyed the show. Nothing really sucked too bad outside of the doink nonsense, and the faces went over to boot (outside of the smw match that no one cared about anyhow)

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Team USA Vs. The Foreign Fanatics is still one of my favorite old school fun main event matches.