WWF Survivor Series
November 19, 1995
Landover, MD
USAir Arena

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Diesel (11/26/1994)
Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon (10/22/1995)
World Tag Team Champions: The Smokin’ Gunns (9/25/1995)
Women’s Champion: Alundra Blayze (10/23/1995)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and the surprise return of Mr. Perfect.

• Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, “Spark Plugg” Bob Holly & Barry Horowitz vs. Rad Radford, Tom Pritchard, 1-2-3 Kid & Skip (w/Ted DiBiase & Sunny) – 4-on-4 Survivor Series Elimination Match
  

You may find it odd that Tom Pritchard is doing the Heavenly Bodies gimmick without Jimmy Del Ray, but the team disbanded with the recent closure of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Pritchard would soon drop the Heavenly Bodies gimmick, buzz and blond his hair, and become Skip’s tag team partner Zip to complete the Bodydonnas tag team. “Bodydonna in training” Rad Radford is Louie Spicolli in his one and only WWF PPV match. Since he turned heel, the 1-2-3 Kid has joined up with Ted DiBiase and his Million Dollar Corporation. He’s subbing here for Jean Pierre Lafitte. Not to mention Bob Holly who is subbing for Avatar who we all know better as Al Snow. Razor Ramon tries to storm the ring to get at the Kid, but the WWF security people escort him to the back. Why is he trying to beat up Kid? Most recently on Raw, Kid was the special referee in a match where Razor took on Sid and fast-counted Razor. Teddy Long would have even been impressed with how fast it was. Jannetty and Pritchard start the match. Pritchard tries to put Jannetty in his corner, but NOBODY PUTS MARTY IN THE CORNER! He fights out and cleans house on the whole team. Holly and Radford have their turn. Holly delivers one hurracanrana and blocks Radford’s attempt with a powerbomb. Here comes Hakushi. He runs the ropes until Radford stops him with a spinebuster and tags in the Kid who nails Hakushi with a flying splash for two. Kid gives him the three kick combo in the corner and tags Skip. Hakushi counters a back superplex by landing on top of Skip. Tag to Holly, we see some leapfrogs that lead to a backdrop for Skip. Holly takes a thumb to the eye to allow a tag to Pritchard for a Doctorbomb. He misses a moonsault right after as Holly comes off the top with a flying bodypress for our first three-count at 5:41. Skip sneaks in with a schoolboy on Holly to send him to the showers at 5:47. Nice. Hakushi takes over and kicks Skip around. Pump splash hits knees though. Skip delivers a hurracanrana out of the corner, but then takes the Greg Valentine dive. 1-2-3 Kid tags and prevents Hakushi from doing the same. Hakushi is so incredibly over in this match. He comes back with his Handspring Elbow in the corner and hits Kid with a leaping forearm. Flying shoulderblock connects for 1-2-NO! Springboard Splash misses and Kid tags in Radford. Before Kid goes on the apron, he kicks Hakushi in the back of the head. Cover, 1-2-3. Hakushi is gone at 8:34. It’s now 3-on-2 as we see Barry Horowitz in the match for the first time. Radford and Kid control Horowitz for a few minutes together. Nothing really to note other than Skip staying out of the match for the time being. When Radford tries to show off to Skip and Sunny that he can do push-ups, Horowitz goes over and “shoots the half nelson cradle” on him for elimination at 11:49. That evens the teams up at two a piece. Skip yells at Radford for sucking and then turns around for a face off with Horowitz. He proceeds to kick Skip’s tail until Kid gets a blind tag and knocks Horowitz into the ropes. Kid gives him a sliding legdrop and gets three at 12:48. Now it’s a handicap match with Marty Jannetty having the disadvantage. Skip corners Jannetty, but then misses a charge and takes the Bobby Eaton corner bump. Jannetty ducks low off a whip, but then surprises Skip by countering a powerbomb into a neat rollup for 1-2-NO! ROCKER DROPPER to Skip! Jannetty heads to the top, but Sunny shakes the ropes to crotch Jannetty. It looks like Skip is going to bring Jannetty down to the canvas, but Jannetty decides to POWERBOMB SKIP OFF THE TOP ROPE! You’ve never seen that on PPV before. That kills Skip dead at 15:26. Kid tries to put Jannetty away quickly with a spin kick and a Flying Legdrop for 1-2-NO! He levels Jannetty with a running dropkick in the corner and then wants to polish him off with another top-rope move, but Jannetty moves out of the way. Jannetty makes an angst-filled comeback as Sid walks down to ringside. Of course Jannetty can’t help but be distracted by Sid. ROCKER DROPPER to Kid! Cover, 1-2-NO! Kid got his foot on the bottom rope. While DiBiase grabs the ref’s attention, Sid snaps Jannetty’s throat on the top rope to help Kid get that 1-2-3. (19:09) They have always delivered with the opening elimination matches before and this one was no different. Great story told to put over Kid’s heel turn. Razor throws a tantrum back in the locker room and destroys a monitor. Survivor: 1-2-3 Kid ***¾

• Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa & Chaparita Asari vs. Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, Lioness Asuka & Bertha Faye (w/Harvey Wippleman) – 4-on-4 Survivor Series Elimination Match
  

If you’re looking for a ***** workrate classic which all eight of these ladies are capable of putting together, you won’t find it here because its so short. Basically, everybody hits a few of their big spots and goes home. Asari misses a crossbody on Lioness Asuka and pays DEARLY for it with a nasty spin kick that nearly takes her head off. Big Swing by Asuka. Asari’s not even 100 pounds soaking wet, so multiple repetitions aren’t a problem for Asuka. Blayze gets a tag and slams Asuka so Asari can hit her with the SKY TWISTER PRESS! First ever on US PPV. Blayze tags back in and puts Lioness Asuka away with the BRIDGING GERMAN SUPLEX at 1:43. Watanabe bull rushes Blayze and then completely misses a flying moonsault. She rolls out to the floor and takes a dive from Blayze. Back in, Hasegawa gets a tag and delivers FIVE rolling butterfly suplexes to the AJW Champion Watanabe. She comes back with a jumping seated senton on Hasegawa, followed by a flying seated senton. That gets two. In comes Aja Kong, she slaps Hasegawa around a little bit. Hasegawa fights back with a spin kick and a Uranage for two. Hasegawa flies down into a roundhouse kick of sorts from Aja Kong. BACK DROP DRIVER! That puts them all down for the three-count and Hasegawa is no different at 3:57. Asari runs in and makes a HUGE mistake by stepping into the ring with Aja Kong as she takes a flying splash for 1-2-3 at 4:26. Blayze comes in and puts Kong down with an enziguri before tagging in Kyoko Inoue for the first time in the match. She’s looking like a Joshi Marty Jannetty. Kong sits down on a sunset flip attempt and gets a three-count at 5:03. It’s now come down to 3-on-1 with Alundra Blayze left to take on Tomoko Watanabe, Bertha Faye, and Aja Kong. All three try to attack at once as they back her into a corner. Blayze kicks Kong back, but there’s still two women left to beat her down. As the ref restores order, Blayze grabs hold of Watanabe for a snap suplex for 1-2-NO? Looked like three to me. Blayze has to battle with Watanabe to get a piledriver, but she gives it to her all the same. That gets three at 6:32. Bertha Faye runs in and squashes Blayze. Heel miscommunication occurs as the big girls collide. Blayze comes up behind Bertha and gives her the BRIDGING GERMAN SUPLEX for the 1-2-3 at 7:13. It’s now just Blayze vs. Kong. JR mentions their AJW feud from years ago. Good for you, JR. You did some homework. Kong hits a superplex for two. She goes for the URAKEN, but Blayze ducks and tries the deadly Bridging German Suplex. Kong backs Blayze into the corner and then backs that booty up into Blayze’s midsection. Blayze kicks her off and hits a hurracanrana for 1-2-NO! She follows up with a Missile Dropkick and then a standing moonsault gets two. Kong pulls Blayze down from going to the top again and delivers a pair of body attacks as she beats on her chest. You see, she’s a GORILLA! URAKEN! It’s over. (10:03). That’s right. You play that Orient Express music! We have come to the end of the Alundra Blayze era. She mixed it up with a freaky Japanese lady named Bull Nakano once before, and now another freaky Japanese lady comes on the scene to take her belt in the form of Aja Kong. The thing is that this feud never really went anywhere after this because Blayze’s contract came to an end in matter of weeks and she would then show up on WCW Monday Nitro and threw away the WWF women’s championship in a trash can. Now can you say BLACKBALL’D? Survivor: Aja Kong. **½

The imposter Bill Clinton is in the house. He’s enjoyed watching Bam Bam since he was little and playing with Pebbles. When Bigelow’s pyro goes off, the “secret service” guys swarm the “president”. Pretty funny stuff. But then again I’m easily amused.

• Goldust vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
  

Goldust gets more and more into his character every time I see him here. Not really sure why this match is happening though. During the match though, Bigelow is so weirded out by Goldust that he can’t put two moves together. Goldust controls the pace of the match. He keeps Bam Bam on the floor for a lot of the match as Goldust takes his liberties with Bigelow by slamming his face into the steel steps. Inside the ring, Bigelow stands up out of a chinlock and gives Goldie an electric chair drop. They trade blows on their knees ending with Goldust nailing Bigelow with a Lariat. Jumping knee drop gets two. Bigelow escapes a headlock this time with a back suplex. He mounts a comeback, but then misses a corner charge and takes a Bulldog for the 1-2-3. (8:20) Not a very impressive way for Bam Bam Bigelow to leave the WWF. He would go on to have a great run in ECW and an interesting time in WCW, but this would prove to be the last WWF match of his life. *½

More presidential shenanigans. Mr. Backlund is sitting down with “Mr. President”. Since Colin Powell has dropped out of the ’96 race, he’d love to run against Backlund in the next presidential election. Backlund responds with craziness.

• Jerry Lawler, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Isaac Yankem & King Mabel (w/Sir Mo) vs. Savio Vega, Fatu, Henry O. Godwinn & The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) – 4-on-4 Survivor Series Elimination Match
  

So Undertaker makes his return from having his face crushed a month earlier by King Mabel’s fat legdrops. He doesn’t want that to happen again, so he wears a mask which looks like something a superhero would wear to hide their identity. It’s supposed to make him look even creepier, but now it just looks kind of silly. Fatu and the GAME-UH start the match. Fatu makes a difference all over Hunter with a series of clotheslines and a BAAAAAACK body drop. That is until Fatu ducks low and a PEDIGREE looks to be in his future, but H looks over into Undertaker’s eyes and backs away. A turnbuckle smash to Fatu has no effect because Samoans have coconut-like heads. Tag to Godwinn, as business just picked up. H doesn’t want any of the nasty pig farmer and tags Lawler. He doesn’t want any of Godwinn either, so he tags his dentist/henchman Isaac Yankem. He shoves off a bulldog and delivers a back suplex. Now Helmsley wants a piece of Godwinn. He beats Godwinn down into the ropes so Sir Mo can get in some shots on him. High Knee by H gets two. Godwinn comes back with a press and teases to throw Hunter over the top rope and then throws him down in the ring. Next up, Lawler gets beat up by the babyfaces. Lawler runs Fatu into Yankem’s knee from the apron. Mabel tags in for the first time in the match and misses an avalanche. Vega tags and fires away, but runs into a Blackman Slam. The heels work over Savio Vega some more. “Burger King” chants cause Lawler to give Vega a PILEDRIVER. He stops to pose before he covers and only gets two. Vega comes back with a Rock Bottom on Hunter? Lawler cuts off the tag and gives Vega another PILEDRIVER. He NO-SELLS! HOT TAG TO UNDERTAKER! Nobody wants to tag in, so Lawler takes a choke-lift. TOMBSTONE! See ya, Jerry (12:19) Now we get UT vs. Kane. TOMBSTONE to Yankem! That gets three at 12:50. Hunter is next. He tries to leave, but Godwinn scares him back to ringside with his slop bucket. UT grabs him by his golden locks and Chokeslams him from the apron to the other side of the ring! Cover, 1-2-3. (13:35) Mabel is the only one who can stop Undertaker, as he levels him with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex. LEGDROP to UT! When all seems lost, Undertaker sits up! That freaks Mabel the F out as he gets the heck outta there and takes the Honky Tonk Man route. (14:25) Sir Mo tries to attack from behind, but UT’s team stops him before he can run so he can take a Chokeslam. Survivors: Undertaker, Savio Vega, Henry O. Godwinn & Fatu. **

• Razor Ramon, Dean Douglas, Owen Hart & Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Davey Boy Smith & Psycho Sid (w/Jim Cornette & Ted DiBiase) – 4-on-4 Survivor Series Elimination Match
  

This is the first ever ‘wild card’ match with mixed teams who can’t get along. Sounds like a Russo idea, I know. Razor Ramon is the only babyface on his team while on the other side, Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson are the only good guys on their team. Since everything is weird, everybody has a hard time figuring out who is going to start the match. Finally, we get Shawn vs. Owen. Works for me. Owen tosses out Shawn to skin-the-cat only for Owen to charge into a headscissors to take us to the floor. Cornette takes a swing at Shawn with his tennis racket, but gets spanked with it instead. Back in, Owen delivers a belly-to-belly suplex. Tag to Douglas for his one and only pairing with HBK. Douglas hits a suplex and works over Shawn in the corner, but he fires back with a jumping forearm. Shawn runs into a knee in the corner, but avoids a pump splash and hits a Moonsault Press for 1-2-NO! Ahmed Johnson gets a tag and cleans house. He’s slammed Yokozuna before, but can’t do it here. Not just yet anyways. They work Ahmed over in their corner and even Razor joins on the unfair attack. Johnson comes back with a powerslam on Douglas, but there’s no count. Huh? Shawn tags in and gets pressed on top of Douglas for 1-2-NO! Douglas slides underneath the bottom rope to avoid SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Razor makes sure he goes back inside only to be rolled up for 1-2-3 at 7:21. We get a Davey Boy Smith/Owen Hart faceoff. They shake hands, but then they cheapshot each other at the same time. Of course, business picks up. DBS launches Owen with a monkey flip, but then Owen nails DBS with a spinning heel kick for two. Shawn and Razor tag in as JR wonders if they can even wrestle against each other without a ladder. Vince assures him they can. They finally lock up. Razor gets tossed, but he lands on his feet and slides back in to blast Shawn with a clothesline. Shawn hits Ramon with a flying forearm and the kip-up. He telegraphs a backdrop and gets caught for the RAZORS EDGE! Cover, 1-2-NO! Ahmed makes the save. They fight up into a double-KO. Sid gets tagged with his back turned to Shawn and comes in to hammer and choke Ramon. And just as things were getting pretty good too. After a double knockdown, Sid gets slammed off the top for 1-2-NO! What was he going to the top rope for? Sid delivers a Chokeslam and calls for the POWERBOMB. Instead, he tags Shawn and holds Razor for SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Razor ducks and Sid gets nailed. Shawn react by shrugging his shoulders. Razor covers Sid and gets the 1-2-3 at 16:19. Looks like somebody didn’t tell Davey Boy not to break up the pin as he ran in and gave Razor a legdrop. Before Sid returns to the back, he gives Shawn a POWERBOMB. That’ll teach him. Anyways, Davey Boy stomps Razor into an oblivion. Apparently he’s not the legal man though. Razor crawls over and covers a KO’ed Shawn for 1-2-NO! Owen tags and works over Shawn’s hurt midsection. Tag to Yoko, he destroys Shawn down into the corner and then grabs the nerve hold. Owen’s back in and goes for it all with a Swandive Headbutt, but Shawn moves. Hot tag to Ahmed, he puts Owen away with the (yet to be named) PEARL RIVER PLUNGE at 21:50. Shawn’s team is ahead with a 3-on-2 advantage. Razor starts unloading on everybody, but then gets caught with a Spinebuster from Ahmed. As Johnson poses up on the first rope, Razor takes him down with the RAZORS EDGE. Before Ahmed hits the mat, Davey Boy tags him so Ahmed can’t be pinned. Here comes Psycho Sid, the 1-2-3 Kid and Ted DiBiase to distract Razor to set him up for the RUNNING POWERSLAM to finish Razor off at 24:09. Now it’s come down to Yokozuna versus THE WORLD! Yoko beats Shawn down again and goes for the BANZAI DROP, but there’s nobody there. Tag to Ahmed, he SLAMS Yokozuna! Cover, 1-2-NO! Davey Boy breaks up the pin. It comes down to his alliance with Yokozuna more so than winning the match. Shawn and Ahmed aren’t cool with that though and together they clothesline Davey Boy out to the floor. SWEET CHIN MUSIC to Yokozuna! Ahmed jumps on top of Yoko for the 1-2-3 to win the whole thing. (26:36) This was just fine with everybody working hard. Survivors: Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and Davey Boy Smith. ***¼

Todd Pettingell checks on “Slick Willy”. He’s got Sunny sitting on his lap now. Sunny gets some popcorn on her boobies. He offers her a spot on his cabinet and invites her to the White House to show her some of those positions. Well isn’t that adorable.

• WWF World Champion Diesel vs. Bret Hart – No DQ Match
  

This is part THREE in the Bret/Diesel saga. At King of the Ring 1994, Diesel beat Bret by DQ. At the Royal Rumble 1995, there was no winner. With all that behind them, a match with no limits is in perfect order to finally determine a true pinfall or submission clear cut winner. So here we are. Right after the bell, both guys untie a top turnbuckle. Bret sticks with what works and immediately goes for the leg, but Diesel wards him off and starts pounding. In a rare moment for Bret, he has to distance himself from his opponent and heads to the floor. Diesel follows him out and drops Bret throat-first on the guardrail. Diesel follows Bret back into the ring. Bret kicks at the knee, so Diesel fires back with forearms. Back to the floor, Diesel throws Bret into the steps and slams Bret’s back into the ringpost. To play off Bret’s actions at the Royal Rumble, Diesel grabs a chair and takes a shot at Bret. Back inside, Diesel whips Bret from corner to corner and calls for the JACKKNIFE. Bret hooks Diesel’s leg to prevent being hoisted up in the air and then BITES his way out of that predicament. He finally gets Diesel off his feet and goes to work on the knee. Bret uses a hold that worked at the Royal Rumble – the figure-four. Diesel makes the ropes, but it’s no DQ. Bret releases the hold whenever he wants to. Diesel claws the face to avoid the SHARPSHOOTER. Bret tries again, but Diesel kicks him off into the exposed corner. Bret rolls out and trips up Diesel to post the knee. While he’s out on the floor, Bret finds a cord and ties Diesel’s ankle up. Diesel has about five feet of cord to move around with, but he’s stuck in that corner. Bret runs at Diesel with the chair, but Diesel kicks him back. Diesel crawls for the chair, but Bret steps on his hand and takes it for himself. Now Bret slams the chair across Diesel’s back and then jabs the chair onto his knees. With Diesel’s ankle still tied up, Bret gives him a backbreaker. He wants to come off the top with the chair in hand, but Diesel gets to his feet and slams Bret down to buy himself enough time to untie his ankle. Diesel’s knee is hurting, but he still manages the Side Slam. Diesel whips Bret into the exposed corner for his chest-first bump. Similar to his match with Davey Boy last month, Diesel limps over to deliver the Bossman straddle. He follows up with the Snake Eyes, but Bret shoves Diesel off a second one and smashes his head into the exposed turnbuckle. Bret pounds away and then puts all his weight into a clothesline for 1-2-NO! Flying bulldog gets 1-2-NO! Russian Legsweep gets two. He takes Diesel to the floor with a clothesline and goes for his pescado, but Diesel moves and lets Bret crash on the floor. As Bret makes it up to the apron, Diesel runs him off the apron through the Spanish Announce Table. It’s the first of many SAT spots we would see on PPV over the next bunch of years. Diesel actually appears to show Bret some mercy for taking such a nasty bump. He rolls Bret back in the ring and calls for the JACKKNIFE, but Bret slumps back down on the mat like he’s out of it. He’s considering what he should do next. Should he just cover him or finish him off for sure with the Jackknife? He picks Bret up off the mat again, but Bret sneaks an inside cradle on Diesel for 1-2-3. (24:54) Bret becomes second only to Hogan as far as racking up WWF titles, as he became the WWF champion for the third time. This match is a perfect example of continuity and storytelling. It’s one of my personal all-time favorite matches and one I’ve watched probably a dozen times. After the bell, Diesel goes ballistic and gives Bret not one, but TWO Jackknife Powerbombs. He proceeds to beat down referees and then tells the hard camera, “I’m BACK!” before heading to the back on his own terms. Yes, the Diesel who ran everybody over in 1994 to win the WWF title in the first place is back. ****½

Final Thoughts: Even though the WWF was a sinking ship at the time, everybody on the card seemed to really be into what they were doing. The Goldust/Bigelow match was the only stinker of the show with everything around it ranging from solid to MOTYC. Thumbs up for Survivor Series 1995 as it’s the best one since the first Survivor Series in 1987.

And now for a special BONUS match!

– Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) – Monday Night Raw (11.20.95)

Quite an infamous match at the time. Owen tries to get a quick pin on Shawn early with shoulderblocks and a headlock takedown. That leads into a classic backslide sequence which earns a nearfall for Shawn. A pair of armdrags and a dropkick puts Owen out on the floor. Vince mentions how the night before at Survivor Series, HBK took a Razors Edge, a legdrop from Yokozuna, and a Powerbomb from Sid all in the same match. Back inside, Shawn twists on Owen’s arm. Shawn doesn’t go under a leapfrog and snaps off a hurracanrana into some punches. Owen ducks a clothesline and returns the favor which takes Shawn to the floor. Owen catches HBK with a sick baseball slide. I know what you’re thinking – how can a baseball slide be sick? He nailed Shawn REAL good right in the face. Shawn’s real slow getting up to his feet. Once he’s on the apron, he flips out of a suplex. Owen turns around on him for a bridging German suplex for 1-2-NO! He goes to work on Shawn’s back for a bit. He hits the chinlock. Shawn elbows out into a spinning heel kick as we go to commercial. Afterwards, Owen has Shawn in the chinlock again. Shawn escapes again, but Owen continues to do damage on Shawn’s concussed head. No thanks to those nine hoodlums! Shawn hits a desperation jumping forearm as Vince hypes UT vs. Kama for next week! Owen’s up first, but then Shawn kips up to his feet! He whips Owen hard into the corner and nails him with another jumping forearm. Flying elbow drop connects! Cover, 1-2-NO! Shawn gets Owen all wobbly with a chest-first corner bump for SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Owen doesn’t turn around and stays in the corner though. Shawn goes after him and grabs a leg only to take an enziguri kick to the head! Owen wants the SHARPSHOOTER, but a poke to the eyes kills that. Shawn flips out of a back suplex and goes for a rollup off the ropes, but Owen holds on. Shawn charges back at Owen and clotheslines him out. Skin that cat! Shawn acts like Shawn for a moment and then grabs his head before slowly collapsing to the mat. Everybody wonders what is wrong with Shawn. Even Owen backs off as ref Earl Hebner goes and gets some help. (10:00 shown) Vince leaves the commentary table to check on Shawn as this worked angle seemed very real. This was to allow Shawn some time off. They would go as far as to even beg the question of whether or not Shawn Michaels would ever return to the ring. Of course, he would be back just in time to win the Royal Rumble and go on to WrestleMania 12 for the Ironman match with Bret. Everyone did an excellent job to make this seem as real as possible. Not too surprising, the match was pretty good too. ***¼