Interesting facts gathered from 31 years of Survivor Series history. Liz’s favorites are here as well!

Survivor Series has long been my favorite of the top four PPV’s. I remember as a child eagerly looking forward to it, hoping my family left early enough that we would be allowed to watch it. See, for the first eight years, it aired on Thanksgiving Day (1987-1990) or Thanksgiving Eve (1991-1994). Beginning in 1995, it moved to the current format of the Sunday before Thanksgiving (other than 2005 and 2006 when it was held after). The 2019 edition marks the 32nd airing

The  “facts”  I present below, barely touch the tip of the iceberg that is the rich history of the Survivor Series pay-per-views. This article could easily been much, much longer. Every year had multiple items, different moments that mark an important piece of history. After combing thru endless websites, I originally had a list of 32. I could not decide if I should do one per year or not, but ultimately decided to just list the ones that I found most interesting slash entertaining. Without any more fuss, I present:

Fifteen (To Me) Fun Facts from Survivor Series:

(in no particular order)

1. Brawling to a double count out Jim Duggan and Harley Race were the first wrestlers to ever be eliminated in a traditional Survivor Series match in the first match of the inaugural 1987 event.

2. In 1992 The Ultimate Warrior did not show up work, having suddenly left the company. The writers decided that Mr. Perfect would take his place, teaming him up with Randy Savage.

3. One year later in 1993, it was Curt “Mr. Perfect” Henning’s turn to no show Survivor Series. Randy Savage took his place in the opening match. It has never been revealed (that I could find) why he did not show up.

4. A 20 Man Tag Team Match was one of the highlights from 1988. Powers of Pain were the survivors of this match. This match featured tag teams such as The Rockers, Brain Busters, Young Stallions and the British Bulldogs. The Powers of Pain gained a win and a new manager. Mr. Fuji turned on Demolition to be with Powers of Pain. This added more heat to their already existing feud. The feud between these two teams ended at the fifth “Wrestlemania“.  The Conquistadors were the final team standing.

5. In his 2016-17 run Goldberg wrestled four matches but spent less than ten minutes wrestling in the ring. This included his 1 minute 26 second main event against Brock Lesnar at the 2016 Survivor Series.

6. The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, The Rock and Flash Funk all had their in ring debut matches at Survivor Series.

7. After much hype that this writer vividly remembers, the now infamous Egg was finally hatched at the 1990 event to reveal: The Gobbledy Gooker. Who was under the mask? Hector Guerero had that honor.

8. 2001 brought us the unification of WCW and WWF championships. Edge, the WCW U.S. Champion faced off against Test, the WWF Intercontinental Champion. Edge defeated Test with a spear to become the unified champion.

9. The first Survivor Series not to have a tag team match as the main event was in 1992.   Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship took that honor.

10. The only time all three Knights (seriously, gooogle them) competed at a WWE event was at the 1993 ppv.  The Red Knight (Barry Horowitz), the Black Knight (Jeff Gaylord) and the Blue Knight (Greg Valentine) teamed up with Shawn Michaels.

11. The first ever casket match occurred on the 1992 show when The Undertaker took on Kamala.   The rules differed then from the more recent matches, as you has to pin the opponent and then place him into the casket.  

12. 1993 had another replacement at the show: Jerry Lawler was replaced by Shawn Michaels, after Jerry was falsely accused of committing certain crimes against an under-aged female. She admitted to making up the story before it went to court. 

13. For some very odd reason, the 1995 show had a Bill Clinton impersonator in the crowd. “Bill” was interviewed several times during the show.

14. Richfield, Ohio holds the esteemed honor of being the first city to host two Survivor Series (1987 and 1988). They also returned in 1992.

15. At the World Wrestling Entertainment’s 1987 “Survivor Series” event, the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase appeared in a vignette discussing his love of money on Thanksgiving. Soon after the World Wrestling Entertainment’s 1987 “Survivor Series” event, Ted DiBiase began his quest to purchase the the World Wrestling Entertainment World Heavyweight Championship. 

The information available to choose from ranged from behind the scenes, match wins and losses, debuts, just about any topic you can think of. Narrowing it down was difficult, but is something I will visit again. I am not sure if I will look into “facts” for ALL the PPV’s or just the “big ones” but history is rich and we must remember it (as accurately as possible)!