Survivor Series (1987 TV Special) User Reviews

One of the best

[wwfhistoryguy · 8/10 · 1 April 2004]

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

This one is a classic.

Brutus Beefcake and Jake Roberts started their tradition of good Survivor Series performances here. It would have been nice to see Rick Steamboat make an elimination, though. And I love the angle they played with the Honky Tonk Man. This match summed up his career perfectly: he got lucky and cheated his way to the longest I-C title reign ever.

This event had the best women's match I have ever seen. Not bad for a SS match.

Strangely, the VHS release of this event has the British Bulldogs' elimination from the 20-man match edited out. Does anyone know how they were eliminated? If you know the specifics, that would be great. I thought it was weird to have the mediocre team of the Young Stallions survive, but I did like seeing the only highlight of the Killer Bees' pay-per-view career. They were a very talented tag team.

The main event featured many examples of what I call the "15 Minutes of Survivor Series Fame" in which mediocre wrestlers do quite well(which includes the aforementioned young Stallions), as well as the weird turnaround in which top wrestlers get mediocre attention (i.e. the British Bulldogs). Hulk Hogan's only elimination was Butch Reed, who was pretty good - but nowhere near the status of his four teammates. Don Muraco got his 15 mins by dominating Rick Rude, while former WrestleMania main-eventer King Kong Bundy accomplished nothing. The real story here was Bam Bam Bigelow, who dominated Bundy and overcame One Man Gang (who had just gotten rid of Ken Patera and Don Muraco). This was his greatest WWF accomplishment, even counting his second WWF stint.

Overall, great nostalgia and surprisingly well-performed.

Following in "WrestleMania III" footsteps!

[markovd111 · 8/10 · 8 December 2019]

While heavily edited today, this event is a real treat considering the action and quality of fighting in it. It really marks the point where wrestling entertainment understood the right recipe for success! It's fun and tense, all three matches, while woman wrestlers do a really good job in their part, being completely equal to their male counterparts. I enjoyed watching this and give it 8.5/10 and recommend it for relaxation and fun, as it should be with wrestling entertainment!

Survival begins here

[paudieconnolly · 7/10 · 8 October 2020]

A new event that is a survivor still to this day . Beginning with commentary team of the great Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse the body Ventura. Starts a who's who of wrestling 🤼‍♀️ names. Cameras 🎥 blocked by the large number of athletes in the ring. Didn't take away from the fact that this was an event, And felt like it could and did have longevity . can still been in it's near original format on tagged classics 📀 instead of the network. The imperfections of the event is part of the charm of what would lead to arguably the greatest few years of Wrestling's near unscripted best characters.

QUALITY AND NOT QUANTITY

[Big Movie Fan · 26 April 2002]

Unlike some wrestling cards shown today the 1987 Survivor Series had only four matches. However they were four fantastic matches and it was quality over quantity.

There were no mediocre time fillers. Every match meant something. There was an awesome ladies match (those ladies were both beautiful and talented). We saw an awesome tag team survival match when the WWF still had a top tag team division. And who can forget the awesome main event where Hulk Hogan's team faced Andre the Giant's colossal team. (SPOILER AHEAD). In a shocker, the bad guys won this match but Hulk Hogan ran back to the ring and ensured the glory was his.

This is one of many classic events which I urge current wrestling fans to rent or even buy.

Survivor Series Legacy Begins Here!!

[morantjavonte · 7/10 · 12 April 2023]

Survivor Series 1987 Thoughts

Survivor Series 1987 was the first ever Survivor Series PPV event ever produced by the WWF (now known as the WWE). It took place on Thanksgiving Evening, November 26, 1987 at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Ohio. Survivor Series is the 2nd ever annual PPV created by the WWF/E which would be part of the big 4 produced every year in the fall. WWF Chairman Vince McMahon threatened cable companies who aired the National Wrestling Alliance's Starrcade (which was going head-to-head with Survivor Series on Thanksgiving night, 1987) instead of Survivor Series would not be allowed to broadcast WrestleMania IV. In return a lot of cable providers saw McMahon's threat and only a handful aired Starrcade.

4 matches were on the card. Every match would be the inclusion of the concept of this traditional PPV being an Elimination Tag match being build that put the teams into feud against each other heading up into the match. The main feud featured Hulk Hogan continuing the rivalry against Andre the Giant.

The Good - I think I liked all the Survivor Series matches. The main event delivered spot on. Andre being protected as the sole survivor among his heel team made him look like a strong monster. While his shape at the time put limits on him for the match, he still did enough. The first match showed Savage so over with the crowd that it was the right call to push him months later at the top. The 10 Team Tag Team Elimination Tag was also quite memorable and enjoyable.

The Meh - The Women's Match was enjoyable but I wish I could have cared about it a little more than I did. It's mostly because the Women's roster at the time was thin and not focused enough for fans to love. I recall the Jumping Bomb Angels and Fabulous Moolah getting all the love from the crowd as the face team.

The Bad - Nothing really to heavily criticize.

Overall - A great concept that today started a legacy. As for this show, a recommended rewatch to old school fans and an enjoyable show at the end.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass, Danny Davis and Honky Tonk Man vs. Ricky Steamboat, Randy Savage, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts and Brutus Beefcake (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

2. Kai, Judy Martin, Dawn Marie, Donna Christanello and Sherri Martel vs. Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin and The Jumping Bomb Angels (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

3. The Hart Foundation, The Islanders, The Bolsheviks,The Dream Team and Demolition vs. Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers and The Young Stallions (Elimination Tag) - 3.5/5

4. Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Butch Reed and Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow (Elimination Tag) - 4/5

Best Match - Team Hogan vs. Team Andre

Worst Match - Women's Survivor Series Match

Most Memorable Moment - Ending of the main event. Pretty much set up to continue the feud.

Top 5 Performers

1. Randy Savage - Great Performance

2. Jake Roberts - Great Performance

3. Bam Bam Bigelow - Great Performance

4. Hulk Hogan - Good Performance

5. Andre the Giant - Good Performance.

Cashing in on the Hogan/ Andre Rivalry

[bh_tafe3 · 8/10 · 12 February 2009]

Vince McMahon certainly was a brutal businessman. When this show originally happened on thanksgiving 1987 it was going on the same night as NWA's Starrcade PPV. Survivor Series was on earlier, so they weren't in direct competition necessarily, but Vinnce McMahon came in and threatened PPV stations that anyone who showed Starrcade would not only not be allowed to show Survivor Series, but also Wrestlemania IV. Most buckled, with only a small amount of stations opting to show Starrcade. For the record, none of the stations who showed Starrcade were denied

The big story going into this was the continuing rivalry between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan and our main event is built around their story.

Another big story going into Survivor Series 1987 was the feud between Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man and Randy Savage. And so in the first Survivor Series match ever Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) Rick Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan defeated The Honk Tonk Man, Hercules, Danny Davies and Ron Bass. It came down to Savage, Roberts and Steamboat left against the Honky Tonk Man, so HTM smartly got himself counted out, losing the match, but keeping his life.

Next two matches had no story going on, it was just good girls taking on bad girls and the good girls won. Fabulous Moolah, Rockin Robin, Velvet McIntyre (who had fought Moolah for the Women's Title at Wrestlemania 3) and the Jumping Bomb Angels Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno defeated Sensational Sherri, Donna Christanelli, Dawn Marie and The Glamour Girls Leilani Kai and Judy Martin. It came down to The Bomb Angels and Judy Martin and the Angels won to be the two survivors.

No real story in the next match which involved twenty men and was all about good and evil tag teams. Play by plays would be far too long so I'll just write the result for this one. Strike Force Tito Santana and Rick Martel, The Young Stallions Paul Roma and Jim Powers, The Fabulous Rougeaus Jacques and Raymond, The Killer Bees Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair and the British Bulldogs Davey Boy SMith and The Dynamite Kid defeated The Hart Foundation Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, The Islanders Haku and Tama, Demolition Axe and Smash, The Bolsheviks Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov and the New Dream Team Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo. The Young Stallions and the Killer Bees were the Survivors, last eliminating the Islanders. This was a pretty good match, but way too much to go through.

And now comes the big match, the Main Event. Hogan had assembled a formidable team, including Bam Bam Bigelow who Andre and Bobby Heenan had tried very hard to get on their team, but he eventually decided to help Hogan. Bigelow fought bravely but in the end Andre the Giant and his team of One Man Gang, King Kong Bumndy, Butch Reed and Rick Rude defeated Hogan's Heroes Bam Bam Bigelow, Paul Orndorf (who a year earlier was a hated bad guy trying to get the WWE Title off Hogan and into the Heenan camp) Don Maruco and Ken Patera.

It came down to Hulk and Bigelow vs Andre, One Man Gang and Bundy. Hogan was counted out through devious circumstances, and Bigelow was able to take down OMG and Bundy, but Andre was too much for him. The big giant the sole survivor to end an entertaining match.

This was a nice event and a successful experiment which has become an annual tradition. This was the beginning of the end for Hulkamania, but he would be back.

First PPV ever with high ratings from me

[amanwhorocks · 8/10 · 2 June 2013]

1. Harley Race/Danny Davis/Out Ron Bass/Hercules/Honky Tonk Man Vs. Brutus Beefcake/Ricky Steamboat/Macho Man/Jim Duggan/Jake Roberts - Now, that was a one fine match! 9/10

2. The Glamour Girls/Donna Christianello/Dawn Marie Vs. Sensational Sherri/Velvet McIntyre/Rockin' Robin/Jumping Bomb Angels/The Fabulous Moolah - That was UNBELIEVABLE! Can't get that it's 1987. Those Japanese chicks are crazy! :) I give credit, when it deserves: 10/10

3. Demolition/The Dream Team/The Hart Foundation Vs. / The British Bulldogs/ The Rougeaus/ The Killer Bees/Strike Force/The Young Stallions 8.5/10

4. Andre the Giant/One man Gang/Rick Rude/King Kong Bundy/Butch Reed Vs. Hulk Hogan/Paul Orndorff/Bam Bam Bigelow/Ken Patera/Don Muraco - Nice direction too. I never saw Bam Bam Springboarded and it's give him great push 7/10

Novel Concept, But Tag Format Stagnates

[zkonedog · 5/10 · 26 February 2017]

The concept behind the Survivor Series (this 1987 edition being the first of its kind) is an interesting one. Squash together a bunch of WWF superstars into large tag teams and let them battle it out!

The problem, however, is that all four of the matches in this event are essentially the same. This is a limitation of all tag matches (especially those without partners that work together all the time)...they all seem to follow the same pattern: One guy gets beat up for awhile, then tags in the fresh man who clears house (Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart made his career on this!).

Thus, the fact that this is essentially all tag-team work makes me give it no more than a middling three-star rating. Fortunately, the WWF had a ridiculous surplus of superstars at this particular point in time, so at least the personalities were fun to watch, but it just seemed to grow stale as it went along.

If you like tag-team action more than I, you'll love the '87 Survivor Series. I, for one, am hoping that the next edition throws a few more wrinkles into the proceedings.

The first PPV of its kind and a classic!

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 10/10 · 25 July 2017]

The First Annual Survivor Series from 1987 marked a major development in American wrestling. After the success of Wrestlemania 3 earlier in the same year, WWE created a new event that would take the company's popularity to a whole new level - the Survivor Series. The concept, was that teams of 4 or 5 would compete in a match up until all members of a team had been defeated. All ways of being eliminated applied, be it via a count out, pinfall, disqualication, submission or at the referee's discretion. It was a simple but very effective concept. This first event, is one of the very best of its kind. It is vintage American wrestling where you have many stars and great workers involved. Included are: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Don Muraco, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Honky Tonk Man, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Killer Bees, The Islanders and others. Hogan and Andre were right in the middle of their story angle during 1987 and they are Captains of their respectable teams. Andre the Giant had put together a team which totalled an excess of 2,000 pounds!! I remember as a kid, feeling slightly awe-struck when I first found out. There are 4 matches altogether - including a women's elimination match - and they don't disappoint at all. The version that was released on video by "Silvervision" is heavily edited as it was stipulated that the Survivor Series event had to be within a running time of 120 minutes. As a result, some of the footage of the wrestling action is paused and the footage moves on by about 3 or 4 minutes. There is is a longer version available, which includes about an additional 40 minutes. The commentary by Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura is excellent and Ventura even manages to remain a bit more neutral than he usually was. The two of them commentated together on many PPV events in the 1980s and very early 1990s. The action in the First Survivor Series comes thick and fast, the choreography is impeccable. I won't give away any of the match results but you won't want to miss this.

The beginning of a Tradition

[Playa9978 · 18 November 2002]

It's Thanksgiving night, November 26, 1987 as the Survivor Series erupts from the Richfield Coliesum in Cleveland Ohio.

Spoilers ahead***

The rules to the Survivor Series are simple and yet complicated because things can go awry in a second

Elimination goes as follows: Pinfalls, countouts, disqualifications, submissions and elimination due to referees' discretion to injury.

Opening bout pits the team of Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs. the team of the "Honky Tonk Man". This match is special because Savage was trying in vain to capture the intercontinental title from the reigning champion the Honky Tonk Man and the two men also have a feud dating back to summer of 1987. The feud really heated up when Honky Tonk Man hit Savage with the guitar on a Main Event feature and later pushed Savage's girlfriend "Elizabeth" to the canvas. This in all set up a five-on-five survival match and a chance for these two men to grapple once more. In the beginning, the oppositions which included: Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Jim Duggan and Brutus Beefcake against Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Hercules, Harley Race and Danny Davis. After these men battle out to the wire we're left with Savage, Roberts and Steamboat taking on Honky Tonk Man. The three men all try to "Kill" Honky but the champion manages to escape serious injury by getting himself counted out of the ring. This leaves Savage and his remaining team members as winners and Savage as a possible contender for a future title match.

Next match features the ladies of wrestling survival match, which is the first and only time this event has had this encounter, Making it a classic. Captains "Sensational Sherri" take on "Fabolous Moolah" where there are other women involved. In the climax, the "Jumping Bomb Angels" survive after whipping the "Glamour Girls" giving the Angels a possible title shot from the Girls who hold the tag titles. Interesting.

Tag Team elimination bout features: "Strike Force" team vs. "Hart Foundation". heavyweights include: Demolition, British Bulldogs, Killer Bees, Islanders, Bolshiveks, Rouqeaz Brothers, Young Stallions, and the Dream Team. In the finale, the Killer Bees take out the Islanders and become along with the Stallions the survivors. A real powerhouse match.

Main Event: "Hulk Hogan's" team vs. "Andre the Giant's" team. these men were former friends, now foes going back to January 1987. They first got it on at Wrestlemania 3 when Hogan beat the Giant to defend his world title. Eight months later, they meet again but with other men involved in the five-man showdown. In the climax, Hogan is eliminated via count out because of grappling with King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang on the outside. Twist is, Bundy and Gang were not the legal men in the ring, it was Andre. That was a strategy to bounce Hogan from the match. This leaves us with Bam Bam Bigelow up against the Giant, Bundy and Gang in a 3-on-1 confrontation. Bigelow takes out Bundy and Gang with extra effort and doomly runs into a fresh Andre who cuts the ring off and puts Bigelow in a awkward suplex taking Bigelow out of the match. Andre the Giant is the "Sole Survivor", a classic ending with a villain winning the bout. Hogan ran back to the ring to spoil it but too bad, its over and done with. This put Andre in line for a title shot with Hogan in the months to come.

The Survivor Series was a great classic event and lasted merely 3 hours long. I own the original pay-per-view version with every detail and no cut-outs unlike Coliseum Video.

Recap (Not Good as the first Survivor Series)

[Spawn Devil · 1 July 2002]

Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake and Jake "the Snake" Roberts vs. Harley Race, Hercules, Honky Tonk Man, Danny Davis and Ron Bass Survivors: Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts and Randy Savage The Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Jumping Bomb Angels and Rockin' Robin vs. Sherri Martel, Lelani Kai, Judy Martin, Dawn Marie and Donna Christanello Survivors: Jumping Bomb Angels The Rougeau Brothers, British Bulldogs, Strike Force, Killer Bees, Jim Powers and Paul Roma vs. Greg "the Hammer" Valentine, Dino Bravo, Hart Foundation, Demolition, the Islanders and the Bolsheviks Survivors: Killer Bees and Young Stallions King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, One Man Gang, Butch Reed and Rick Rude vs. Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff and Ken Patera Survivor: Andre the Giant

Overall Mark: C- (Minimum Pass)