WWF Survivor Series Showdown – November 12th, 1989

November 12, 1989

From the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita, KS

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Roddy Piper

The matches here were all filmed at the 11/1 Wrestling Challenge TV tapings and feature Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on commentary. The story was that everyone’s name from their Survivor Series team was drawn from a hat to go up against someone of the opposing team.

Big Bossman w/ Akeem & Slick vs. Tito Santana w/ Dusty Rhodes

Bossman tries to lure Tito in for an attack but fails. Tito then connects with a pair of dropkicks that sends Bossman outside. Bossman heads inside where Tito grabs a headlock. Bossman escapes but gets dropkicked again as Bossman’s nose is now busted open. He catches Tito with a back suplex then slowly beats him down as the crowd chants for Tito. Bossman then hits a sitout powerbomb as Akeem & Slick are laughing outside while we head to break. The action returns with Bossman targeting the back. He misses an elbow drop as both men are down. Tito gets shoved outside after a pin attempt then gets punched as he entered the ring as Slick looks into the camera and yells “no more tacos for a month” before hysterically laughing. Jesse also laughs as Vince does not find this funny. Bossman continues to attack Tito then works the neck. Akeem & Slick taunt Tito some more as Bossman throws him into the corner. Tito avoids a corner splash as both men are down. Tito is up first and stomps away. He then targets the leg and signals for the figure-four but Slick gets on the apron so Dusty runs up as the ref is distracted. Akeem slips Bossman his nightstick and Bossman whacks Tito. Akeem goes over to Slick but Dusty sneaks back in and whacks Bossman with the nightstick he stole from him and drapes Tito’s arm across Bossman and that gets the win (11:35) **1/2.

Thoughts: Solid match. The ending was fun as the crowd popped huge for that, which goes to show how the Dusty/Bossman feud is over with the crowds.

Back in the studio, Piper calls Heenan a liar for saying Dusty cheated in the match we just saw then accuses him of calling late night dating lines.

WWF Update on the Tag Title change.

Mr. Perfect w/ The Genius vs. Bushwhacker Butch w/ Bushwhacker Luke

After playing to the crowd, Butch bites Mr. Perfect’s leg. Perfect bails as Butch hammers away then stares down Luke on the outside. Back inside, Perfect beats on Butch until he is whipped into the corner. Butch knocks Perfect down after biting his ass as Perfect heads outside for a breather. Perfect heads back inside and beats down Butch for a bit. Butch fights back then The Genius distracts Butch as Perfect attacks from behind and gets the win with a Perfect Plex (6:55) *. After the match, The Bushwhackers attack Perfect and knock him over the top rope with a battering ram.

Thoughts: Not much of a match. Perfect sold a lot for Butch’s comedy spots and biting but got the win as he is being kept and push as undefeated as he is being built up as a possible opponent for Hulk Hogan.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center as we hear from Rick Rude then Roddy Piper to hype up their match at the Survivor Series.

Macho King Randy Savage w/ Queen Sherri vs. Hercules

Hercules shoves Savage down after a lockup. Savage taunts the fans on the top rope as Sherri is quite pleased on the outside. Savage lures Hercules into the corner but Hercules holds on to the ropes on an Irish whip attempt and clotheslines Savage. Hercules wins a tug-of-war with Sherri over Savage then hits a press slam. Savage bails then Hercules heads out and picks up Sherri and puts her out of the way as that allows Savage to attack from behind. Sherri kicks Hercules a few times as Jesse goes on about Hercules brutalizing Sherri as we head to break. The action returns with Savage beating on Hercules on the outside and flying out with the double axe handle. Back inside, Savage hits another double axe handle for a two count. He clotheslines Hercules’ neck off of the top rope as Sherri is going mental on the outside then sets up for the flying elbow drop but Hercules rolls away as both men are down. Savage misses a charge as Hercules clotheslines him off of the rebound then fires away. Hercules hits a few more clotheslines then Sherri jumps up on the apron and ducks an attack as Savage flies over the top rope as Sherri moves away at the last second. Hercules tries to suplex Savage back in from the apron but Sherri trips him up as that gets two. Hercules is distracted by Sherri as Savage attacks but Hercules catches a flying body press and slams him but Sherri puts Savage’s foot on the ropes. Hercules hits a few more clotheslines then Sherri low-bridges him as Savage boots him from the apron. Hercules then snapmares Savage over the top rope but Sherri slips him the loaded purse then runs around to distract the ref as Savage whacks Hercules and gets the pin (10:54) ***.

Thoughts: Good match. Sherri was just fantastic here and Savage worked hard as this was a lot of fun. The Sherri/Savage act was just tremendous at this point.

In the studio, Heenan does not look happy as Piper makes fun of him and asks if he lost his motivational tapes.

Brother Love Show with Andre the Giant & Haku from the 11/11/89 episode of “Superstars of Wrestling.”

Survivor Series Report with Gene Okerlund.

In the studio, Gorilla asks Heenan if Tully Blanchard is still part of the Heenan Family as Heenan says things are fine.

Tully Blanchard w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Ultimate Warrior

Warrior overpowers Blanchard, who then offers a handshake but Warrior squeezes his hand. Blanchard goes out on the apron but Warrior drags him back inside. Tully hammers away after thumbing Warrior in the eye but they have no effect as Warrior sends Tully up and over the turnbuckle and out to the floor. Tully tries to boot Warrior as he came back inside but Warrior pulls him out. Warrior then tosses Tully over the ropes as Tully and Heenan retreat up the aisle. Warrior follows and press slams Tully back into the ring. Warrior hits a flying double axe handle and hammers away. Tully runs Warrior into the turnbuckle then lands some kicks. Warrior catches Tully with a clothesline but Tully got his knees up on the splash. Warrior comes back and reverses a suplex but Tully catches him with a knee in the corner. Tully comes off the top but Warrior turns that into a powerslam. Heenan motions for someone to come from the back as Arn runs down and attacks Warrior, who had Tully up for a press slam for the DQ (6:00) **. Tully & Arn stomp away but Warrior takes them down with a double clothesline then Haku runs down but The Rockers & Jim Neidhart come out for the save. Andre comes down as the Heenan Family stares down the Ultimate Warriors.

Thoughts: Tully made this a lot of fun but he also got fired at these tapings or a day or two later when he failed a drug test. The goal of this, besides hyping up the Survivor Series, was to push the Andre/Warrior feud.

We hear from the Hulkamaniacs team as they run down their opponents, The Million Dollar Team, to hype up the Survivor Series.

“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil vs. Smash

DiBiase taunts Smash with money but Smash beats him and sends DiBiase outside with an atomic drop as Smash takes the money and puts it in his tights. DiBiase charges but gets hit with a backdrop and bails as Smash is still in control. DiBiase suckers Smash after getting chased around and hammers away back inside of the ring. Smash dumps DiBiase again and heads out to ram him into the post. DiBiase is able to duck a clothesline as Smash hits the post then DiBiase takes over. He works a chinlock on the mat for a bit as we go to break. We return as Smash tries to escape from the chinlock. DiBiase cuts him off with a knee smash then drops an elbow for a two count and goes back to the chinlock. Smash escapes and fires away briefly until running into a clothesline then DiBiase goes back to the chinlock. He tries for the Million Dollar Dream but Smash runs him into the corner as both men are hurting. Smash manages to punch DiBiase coming off of the top then fires away. However, we see Zeus making his way towards the ring as Smash is now distracted. DiBiase knocks Smash outside and distracts the ref as Zeus wrenches Smash’s neck then rolls him inside as DiBiase covers for the win (10:11) *3/4. After the match, DiBiase locks on the Million Dollar Dream until Ax runs out for the save. DiBiase & Zeus yell at Demolition then leave as the fans boo.

Thoughts: This was a mediocre match. DiBiase had a great streak of excellent matches on “Prime Time” broken here. Personally, I never found Smash to be a good wrestler and this was a subpar performance from him as well.

Back in the studio, Piper mocks Heenan for being cheap and having no money or champions left in his family. Gorilla taunts Heenan over being upset about his phone call from earlier.

The show closes with more Survivor Series hype then we see Piper pop balloons with his Survivor Series opponents names written on them.

Final Thoughts: This show had a couple of decent matches but when it ended, I was not all that excited about the PPV. Hogan and Zeus fighting again as not that exciting, especially since we saw Hogan win at SummerSlam. There are some decent feuds right now in the company but nothing big enough to warrant a PPV main event spot.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 11/18/89

Wednesday: EVOLVE 81 3/31/17

Thursday: Highspots Shoot Interview with Curtis Hughes

Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 11/19/89

Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 8/19/82

Sunday: WWF 1989 Survivor Series

Monday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 11/25/89