WWE has held a ton of PPVs over the last few decades, but one of their oldest-running PPVs is titled the Survivor Series. It has been held once a year since 1987, and it is still going to this very day. There have been quite a few fascinating facts that have occurred on this show, and since the Survivor Series is almost here, let’s go over 10 of them.
Well, let’s get this out of the way immediately. I am going to be brief, as The Montreal Screwjob has been done to death. This was the moment where Vince Mcmahon screwed Bret Hart in his match against Shawn Michaels. It was not a storyline, but something Vince did in Real Life.
Hart didn’t want to drop the championship to his real-life rival, Shawn Michaels. The card occurred in his home country of Canada, which was equally important in his refusal to take the loss. A big issue was that Hart’s contract was about to expire while he was the champion. So, this put Vince in a bad spot. As a result Vince decided to screw him out of the championship win.
A big reason why this was controversial, is because Hart had complete creative control over his character in the final days of his deal. McMahon went back on that deal after “The Hitman” refused to drop the belt. This was Survivor Series 1997.
Survivor Series is often known for the traditional tag matches or matches with War Games stipulations. Did you know that there are three other match stipulations that debuted on this show? That’s right. They are The Casket Match, Elimination Chamber, and Ambulance Match.
The Casket Match first took place in WWE on Survivor Series 1992, where The Undertaker faced off against Kamala. Technically it was called a coffin match, but the casket match sounds better.
The Elimination Chamber took place on Survivor Series 2002, and it was won by the heartbreak kid, Shawn Michaels. Eventually, Elimination Chamber would go on separate shows, and get its own PPV, but it was Survivor Series where the Chamber first appeared in WWE.
As for the Ambulance match, that debuted on Survivor Series 2003. That was when Shane McMahon took on Kane, in a feud that has aged well. Especially when Kane decided to electrocute Shane’s “marble pouch” on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Whenever WWE does the best moments of the Undertaker list, they always start from the beginning, when he made his debut at the Survivor Series 1990 PPV. However, it’s technically not true that his first debut in WWE was at the Survivor Series. Before the show occurred, The Undertaker already had two matches, that were taped against two jobbers, and that aired in the month of December. That’s why Gorilla Monsoon knew the name of Undertaker’s finishing move at the PPV when it was not in the script. Fun Fact, The Undertaker was originally named Cain The Undertaker, but Vince decided to drop the Cain part of his name before the Survivor Series began.
Ahh, Survivor Series 2016 is one of the most stunning and shocking shows in WWE History. A big reason why, is how the main event of the show occurred. It was when Goldberg made his return to pro wrestling and faced Brock Lesnar. It was a rematch from that terrible Wrestlemania XX match they had. When it happened, Goldberg won in a 90-second squash match, which was unbelievable.
A big reason why, was because this match was originally going to be a one-off match for Goldberg. It was going to be the lone match at Survivor Series, and it was crazy to see him beat a main event star like Brock Lesnar, for a guy on a one-match deal. Well due to the ratings going up with Goldberg’s appearance in WWE, Vince McMahon saw the money he could make with Goldberg and signed the wrestler to a part-time deal. Thank goodness that happened, because if it didn’t then, it would have been a bizarre booking decision.
There have been many cases where other promotion belts have been defended on a competitor’s brand. WWE actually did this previously with the NWA and ECW. However, the first time that a Non-WWE Title was defended, was on Survivor Series 1993. This was when the Heavenly Bodies faced The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express for the Smokey Mountain Wrestling promotion. This was the promotion that was owned by Jim Cornette, who partnered with WWE after his deal with WCW fell through. The match in general was clearly a bathroom match, as no WWE fan cared, and the crowd was noticeably silent. It was cool to see a non-WWE title being defended, especially in the early to mid-90s.
Survivor Series 1992 had many fun matches that were hyped up. One of those matches was when the Ultimate Maniacs (Macho Man Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior) were going to face Razor Ramon and Ric Flair on the show. However, that match did not happen, as The Ultimate Warrior was fired from the show, due to failing a steroid test and dealing with contract negotiations.
The match then had to find a replacement, and it became Mr Perfect Curt Henning. The match was still going to happen, but there was yet another problem. Ric Flair was injured heading into the match. Flair had a serious case of vertigo, which affected his balance. There were many days when WWE held Flair out of competition, and he only had one house show match before the PPV, out of fear he wouldn’t make it. Well, Flair did, and the match took place.
Honestly, it’s a real miracle that he even had a match to begin with, and the tag match was pretty enjoyable. Imagine how the match would have looked with a healthier Flair and the Ultimate Warrior in the planned match.
One of the worst parts of the entire Survivor series PPVs was The Gobbledy Gooker disaster. In the 1990 Survivor Series show, a giant egg was at ringside for most of the event, and it got a lot of hype. When that egg hatched, the Gobbledy Gooker came out, and the fans were not happy. The Gooker got out, spoke in a bird language, and did this stupid dance with Mean Gene Okerland in the ring. Well, did you know who was in that Gooker suit? It was Hector Guerrero, who was the son of Gory, brother of Eddie, and the Uncle to Chavo Guererro Jr. What a complete waste of talent putting Hector as the Gooker, and he barely did anything else after this PPV.
Vince McMahon was aggressively expanding, and he had one big competitor in Jim Crockett Promotions (NWA), which later turned into WCW. Around Thanksgiving, Crockett would hold a PPV called Starrcade, and it was one of their flagship shows.
Well, Vince wanted to be on top of everything. He decided to make his own Thanksgiving Day PPV called Survivor Series and do the first show on the same day as Starrcade. To make it even more scummy, Vince told the cable companies, that if they aired Starrcade then they wouldn’t get WrestleMania 4. This was a big deal, as WrestleMania 3 was a tremendous success, for not only WWE but the cable companies. So a majority of the cable companies aired Survivor Series instead of Wrestlemania. Starrcade was crushed in the ratings as a result.
Gosh Survivor Series 2015 was an absolutely horrendous show. So many bad matches, and it has a predictable WWE Championship Tournament that Roman Reigns wins. It was proved meaningless by a bad cash-in from Sheamus.
However, this show is also known for another controversy. ISIS is one of the most notable terroristic groups in the world, and in 2015 they sent a terroristic threat on the Survivor Series PPV in Atlanta, Georgia. The FBI responded with this statement below.
The FBI is aware of reports of an alleged threat that includes an Atlanta, Georgia venue and event. While we take all threats seriously, we do not have specific or credible information of an attack at this time. We have, however, made the proper notifications as we continue to work closely with our law enforcement and private sector partners to keep our community safe.
Thankfully no attack happened, and the show went on as planned, but it was a super scary moment.
That’s right, the Survivor Series was almost canceled forever in 2010. In an investor’s call, Vince was planning to rebrand it, saying, “We think that Survivor Series is obsolete as far as the title is concerned.”
Wow, that’s a sad thing to say about the 2nd oldest PPV in WWE history. When that comment came out, the fans were not happy, and the company got a ton of backlash. There were even multiple petitions started by WWE fans for the company to keep the PPV. Well, it worked, as not 4 months later, tickets went on sale for the 2010 Survivor Series, and it’s still going on to this very day.
So those are the most fascinating facts about the Survivor Series PPV. Do you agree? What did we miss? What are some other fascinating facts? Let us know in the comment section and don’t forget to give the article a like as well. Also, Stadium Rant has a pro wrestling podcast called Ring Side Rant, live every Thursday at 8:30 PM EST on our youtube channel. The Ring Side Rant Boys will also be live-reacting to the PPV, so don’t forget to check that out.
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