Survivor Series
The Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event held in November by WWE. It is one of the "Big Four" events, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, as it is one of the original four pay-per-views produced by WWE.
Survivor Series is the 2nd longest running pay-per-view event in WWE history, behind WrestleMania. The first Survivor Series, held in 1987, came on the heels of the success of WrestleMania III, as the then-WWF began to see the lucrative potential of the pay-per-view market. On February 11, 2010, WWE announced that it would drop the Survivor Series name and rebrand the event. However, in June 2010, the event was added back onto WWE's pay-per-view schedule.[1]
Original concept
The original concept for the Survivor Series was to have an annual pay-per-view event that focused on tag team wrestling. Another contributing factor to the birth of the Survivor Series was to capitalize on the big time feud between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant, who wrestled each other at WrestleMania III. Additionally, the WWF had several "elimination" tag-team matches earlier in 1987, albeit with three-man teams and the feuds loosely related.
The Survivor Series was originally created to be a "Thanksgiving tradition" as the first four Survivor Series events took place on Thanksgiving Day in November. After four years of taking place on Thanksgiving Eve following that, Survivor Series moved to a more-traditional Sunday PPV date.
Survivor Series matches
The event is usually characterized by having tag-team elimination matches, usually featuring teams of four or five wrestlers. These matches are generally referred to simply as "Survivor Series matches".
In an early break from the norm, the 1992 event had only one tag team elimination match, and is notable for featuring the first Casket match. The 1997 edition featured the now-infamous Montreal Screwjob, while the 1998 edition is the only one to not feature any elimination tag team matches, instead focusing on an elimination tournament for the WWF Championship, not seen since WrestleMania IV. The 2002 Survivor Series is notable for the debut of the Elimination Chamber match.
Survivor Series dates and venues
| No | Event | Date | City | Venue | Main Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Survivor Series (1987) | November 26, 1987 | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed and Rick Rude vs. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match |
| 2 | Survivor Series (1988) | November 24, 1988 | The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage), Hercules, Koko B. Ware and Hillbilly Jim vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man), Ted DiBiase, Haku and The Red Rooster in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match | ||
| 3 | Survivor Series (1989) | November 23, 1989 | Rosemont, Illinois | Rosemont Horizon | The Ultimate Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) and Jim Neidhart) vs. The Heenan Family (Bobby Heenan, André the Giant, Haku and Arn Anderson) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match |
| 4 | Survivor Series (1990) | November 22, 1990 | Hartford, Connecticut | Hartford Civic Center | Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana vs. Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord and Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) in a 3-on-5 Grand Finale Survivor Series match |
| 5 | Survivor Series (1991) | November 27, 1991 | Detroit, Michigan | Joe Louis Arena | Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship |
| 6 | Survivor Series (1992) | November 25, 1992 | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | Ric Flair and Razor Ramon vs. Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect |
| 7 | Survivor Series (1993) | November 24, 1993 | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | The All-Americans (Lex Luger, The Undertaker, Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) vs. The Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Crush, Ludvig Borga and Quebecer Jacques) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match |
| 8 | Survivor Series (1994) | November 23, 1994 | San Antonio, Texas | Freeman Coliseum | Bret Hart (c) vs. Bob Backlund in a Throw in the Towel Submission match for the WWF Championship The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna in a Casket match with special guest enforcer Chuck Norris |
| 9 | Survivor Series (1995) | November 19, 1995 | Landover, Maryland | USAir Arena | Diesel (c) vs. Bret Hart in a No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship |
| 10 | Survivor Series (1996) | November 17, 1996 | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin to determine the #1 contender to the WWF Championship Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship |
| 11 | Survivor Series (1997) | November 9, 1997 | Montreal, Quebec | Molson Centre | Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship |
| 12 | Survivor Series (1998) | November 15, 1998 | St. Louis, Missouri | Kiel Center | The Rock vs. Mick Foley in the finals of the Deadly Games tournament for the vacant WWF Championship |
| 13 | Survivor Series (1999) | November 14, 1999 | Detroit, Michigan | Joe Louis Arena | Triple H (c) vs. The Big Show vs. The Rock for the WWF Championship |
| 14 | Survivor Series (2000) | November 19, 2000 | Tampa, Florida | Ice Palace | Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H in a No Disqualification match |
| 15 | Survivor Series (2001) | November 18, 2001 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Greensboro Coliseum | Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show) vs. Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match for the ownership of both companies |
| 16 | Survivor Series (2002) | November 17, 2002 | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | Edge and Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. in a Triple threat elimination match for the WWE Tag Team Championship Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T in the first ever Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship |
| 17 | Survivor Series (2003) | November 16, 2003 | Dallas, Texas | American Airlines Center | The Undertaker vs. Vince McMahon in a Buried Alive match Goldberg (c) vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship |
| 18 | Survivor Series (2004) | November 14, 2004 | Cleveland, Ohio | Gund Arena | Team Orton (Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Maven) vs. Team Triple H (Triple H, Edge, Batista and Snitsky) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match |
| 19 | Survivor Series (2005) | November 27, 2005 | Detroit, Michigan | Joe Louis Arena | Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters) vs. Team SmackDown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match Triple H vs. Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match<br/ >Kurt Angle vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship Theodore Long with (Palmer Cannon) vs. Eric Bischoff |
| 20 | Survivor Series (2006) | November 26, 2006 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wachovia Center | King Booker (c) vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship Mr Kennedy vs. The Undertaker in a First Blood match |
| 21 | Survivor Series (2007) | November 18, 2007 | Miami, Florida | American Airlines Arena | Batista (c) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship Randy Orton (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship |
| 22 | Survivor Series (2008) | November 23, 2008 | Boston, Massachusetts | TD Banknorth Garden | Chris Jericho (c) vs. John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship |
| 23 | Survivor Series (2009) | November 22, 2009 | Washington, D.C. | Verizon Center | John Cena (c) vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship |
| 24 | Survivor Series (2010) | November 21, 2010 | Miami, Florida | American Airlines Arena | Randy Orton (c) vs. Wade Barrett in a Pinfall-and-submissions-only match for the WWE Championship with special guest referee John Cena |
| 25 | Survivor Series (2011) | November 20, 2011 | New York City, New York | Madison Square Garden | Alberto del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship The Rock and John Cena vs. Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) |
| 26 | Survivor Series (2012) | November 18, 2012 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Bankers Life Fieldhouse | CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena vs. Ryback for the WWE Championship |
| 27 | Survivor Series (2013) | November 24, 2013 | Boston, Massachusetts | TD Garden | John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship Randy Orton (c) vs Big Show for the WWE Championship |
| 28 | Survivor Series (2014) | November 23, 2014 | Dallas, Texas | American Airlines Arena |
Video box set
- WWE Home Video released The Survivor Series Anthology 1987-91 & 1992-96 (Vol 1&2) on DVD on November 3, 2009.[2]
References
- ↑ http://www.wwe.com/schedules/events/rw/country/united%20states
- ↑ "Upcoming DVDs". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
External links
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