Mike Reviews Shows Considered To Be Stinkers – WWF Survivor Series 1991

Happy Stinky Friday Everyone!

We’re back with another Stinker Review today, as Survivor Series 1991 steps up to the docket to be judged on the dreaded Stinker Scale! In fairness, I’ve dragged Survivor Series 1991 into the discussion because I’ve personally never really enjoyed the event that much from memory and it has a few turgid ratings over on Cage Match. However, I’ve never sat down to review the whole event, so maybe it will have aged better than my memory recalls?

The big match here is Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Title against The Undertaker, with the secondary focus of Survivor Series 1991 being the WWF hyping up a pay per view the following Tuesday in Texas. This was an experiment that the WWF didn’t see much in the way of a return on, so they didn’t try it again in the pay per view era. Elsewhere we’ve got elimination tag team matches, one of which has potential to be quite good so long as they don’t get too cute with the booking.

You can view the full card for Survivor Series 1991 by clicking the link below;

WWF Survivor Series 1991 Card

Survivor Series 1991 is emanating from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on the 27th of November 1991

Calling the action are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan

We open up with footage of Jake Roberts attacking Randy Savage on a previous edition of WWF Superstars and then getting a cobra to viciously bite Savage on his arm. Apparently the snake bit Savage for longer than planned because Roberts couldn’t get it to de-latch at first. This was a an angle that terrified many children back in the day and escalated the Roberts Vs Savage feud to another level.

WWF President Jack Tunney states that Randy Savage can’t compete at the Survivor Series due to the snake bite and bans reptiles from ringside going forwards. Tunney then adds that Jake Roberts will face Randy Savage at This Tuesday in Texas, leading to lots of hype for that show throughout the rest of this one.

Opening Match
4 Vs 4 Survivor Series Elimination Tag Bout
“The Real World’s Champion” Ric Flair, The Mountie, The Warlord and “The Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase w/ Mr. Perfect, Jimmy Hart, Slick and Sensational Sherri
Vs
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Bret “Hitman” Hart, “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith and “Wrestling Superstar” Virgil

Flair had jumped over to the WWF in the summer after never actually losing the WCW World Title in the ring, so he brought the belt with him and declared himself to be the real Champion. This was supposed to set up a big pay per view showdown with Hulk Hogan, but Vince McMahon got cold feet on that one when House Show business for it wasn’t as thrilling as hoped. Mountie was chasing down Bret for his Intercontinental Title at the time, whilst Warlord and Smith were always feuding over who the premier strongman in the WWF was. DiBiase had formerly been Virgil’s tyranical boss, but Virgil finally stood up to him earlier in 1991 and the two had been feuding since. Flair wasn’t actually using the WCW “Big Gold Belt” at this stage due to a lawsuit from WCW, so instead he has a Tag Title belt that they’ve digitised out.

All four of the babyfaces are over with the fans, so this match has great crowd reactions from the opening bell. All the managers need to leave ringside for these matches, but Sherri doesn’t leave and tries to attack Piper, so he plants a smooch on her and she’s eventually led away. They used to cake Sherri in makeup and put her in wacky outfits during her time in the WWF in an effort to disguise the fact that she was actually quite foxy. DiBiase works with most of the babyfaces early on, and it’s good stuff, as DiBiase seems to be motivated tonight and is giving something closer to Mid-South effort as opposed to his usual lower energy WWF output from this timeframe.

Flair also comes in to get bumped around, with him doing that with his usual aplomb, and we get the big Flair Vs Piper battle for a bit, which is good fun and entertains the crowd. Warlord and Davey get a chance to do their usual power match at one stage, and that’s also decent, as battles between them tended to be. Davey ends up in the ring with all of the Heels at one stage, and actually fends them off rather well, however, he doesn’t realise that Flair is the legal man and tries to pin Mountie, which allows Flair to clock Davey with an axe handle off the top for the three count. That axe handle was unusually sloppy by Flair, as he kind of just fell off the top rope in Smith’s general direction and just about made contact.

11 Minutes – Davey Boy Smith is eliminated by Ric Flair (1) – Axe Handle Smash

So the Heels have a 4 Vs 3 advantage now and start working some heat on Piper, with Piper selling it well and the Heels looking good on offence, notably DiBiase and Flair. The fans stick with Piper, as this one continues to have strong crowd reactions, and eventually he’s able to drag himself to the corner whilst in a Mountie Boston Crab in order to tag Virgil. We get to see Flair Vs Virgil for a bit, with it being passable because it’s Flair, but it’s a notable stepdown from Flair’s exchanges with the other members of the Face team. DiBiase and Virgil of course do a bit together, and that’s very good as they’d been wrestling one another for most of 1991 by this stage. The babyfaces end up cheating to eliminate Warlord, as Bret comes off the ropes with an axe handle onto Warlord whilst Warlord has Virgil in a Full Nelson and then Piper sneaks in for the three count even though he’s not the legal man. I think that’s supposed to be turnabout is fair play because the Heels did similar for their first fall, but I’m thinking Flair was actually the legal man wasn’t he?

17 Minutes – The Warlord is eliminated by Roddy Piper (1) – Axe Handle Smash from Bret Hart

The Heels work over Virgil for a bit following that, with Virgil selling it okay and the Heels doing a good job beating him up. Mountie draws some good Heel heat from the crowd for doing his “Iiiiiiiiiiiii am the Mountieeeeeeeeee” yell at one stage, which was always a guaranteed boo getter. The Heels keep whipping Virgil to the ropes near his corner for some reason, which means Piper and Bret have to look dumb by not trying to tag him when he’s arguably in range. Eventually Virgil is able to catch DiBiase with a neck breaker and then tags in Piper so we can get some more Flair Vs Piper, and it’s still good fun. This leads into all six wrestlers going at it in the ring, with Flair getting thrown to the floor. The other five stay in there though, so the referee disqualifies them all, save for Flair who was outside of the ring, meaning Flair wins.

23 Minutes – Ted DiBiase, Virgil, Mountie, Bret Hart and Roddy Piper are all counted out

SOLE SURVIVOR: RIC FLAIR
MOST ELIMINATIONS: FLAIR & PIPER (1)
RATING: ***1/4

Thoughts: A good match with an all-time terrible finish that did nothing for Flair and only served to annoy the crowd. This was a problem with these matches by the time 1991 rolled around though, as the WWF was afraid to actually pin/submit some of the wrestlers in them, so they came up with dumb outcomes like this in order to get around it. Stupid finish aside, this was an enjoyable match that was fought at a quick clip and featured some good wrestling. Virgil aside, everyone in there ranged from competent to excellent, and the frequent tags kept it fresh and gave us some fun combinations of guys working together

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Randy Savage on the interview podium, which is something WWE should do more today actually, as it’s a fun different way of doing interviews that still allows the live crowd to get involved with them. Savage is now officially reinstated to the WWF after losing a match back to Ultimate Warrior back at WrestleMania VII courtesy of a fan vote. Savage wants revenge on Jake Roberts for the cobra attack on Superstars, more because it upset Miss. Elizabeth so much rather than any pain it caused Savage. I really like that actually, as it highlighted how Savage had evolved as a character where he was more worried about her and her wellbeing rather than his own, when he’d previously been more of a selfish jerk. Speaking of Elizabeth, she’s here as well. Elizabeth thanks the fans for voting for Savage to return and says she’ll be there in Texas this Tuesday to see Savage go for revenge. And apparently the WWF will be thinking about televising it somehow. Fancy that!

Second Match
4 Vs 4 Survivor Series Elimination Tag Bout
Col. Mustafa, “The Mighty” Hercules, “The Gator Man” Skinner and The Berzerker w/ General Adnan and Mr. Fuji
Vs
“El Matador” Tito Santana, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter and “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich

The story here is that Slaughter had previously been a Heel and an Iraqi sympathiser during the 1991 Gulf War, which was a disaster of a gimmick that didn’t draw, so he ended up reverting back to being a standard Pro-USA character with help from ol’ Hacksaw. Mustafa, Slaughter’s former running buddy, was displeased by Slaughter turning his back on the pursuit of evil, so that reignited a feud between the two. Jim Neidhart was going to be on Team Duggan originally but he got injured in storyline by Ric Flair, so Slaughter has stepped in to tag with the babyfaces instead. This is an incredible collection of lower card acts by the way, with Duggan being the only one of these eight who enjoyed anything approaching overness from the fans heading into 1992.

Santana actually looks decent in there at least, as he was banking on this matador repackaging leading to him getting a renewed push up the card, which didn’t really happen for him, although supposedly he was in line to possibly win the WWF Title in 1992. Hercules and Duggan have a Mid-South reunion at one stage as they go at it, and it’s an okay big man slugfest to be honest. I’m not sure I’d want to see them wrestle for 12 minutes in the second match on a House Show or anything, but for a brief exchange in a multi-person tag match it’s totally fine. Kerry is so far away from his corner on the apron at one stage that Duggan almost gets Irish whipped straight into him. Bloody hell Kerry, keep your eyes on the ball mate.

Mustafa, formerly The Iron Sheik, is barely able to move in there and can’t really do anything, as I still wonder why they had to pick him of all people for this run? It’s not even like they benefited from his name value because they gave him a different name. We do eventually get the Mustafa Vs Slaughter battle, and that ends pretty abrubtly with Slaughter just pinning Mustafa with a clothesline. To be honest, Mustafa was so awful in the ring that a quick clothesline elimination was probably the best they could have hoped for there, so it was better just to get it over with as quickly as possible, which they did.

8 Minutes – Col. Mustafa is eliminated by Sgt. Slaughter (1) – Clothesline

Slaughter gets worked over a bit by Berzerker after that, and Slaughter actually looks decent in there as well. He’s moving well, taking decent bumps and looks to be reasonably trim. The fans don’t seem to care about Slaughter that much outside of cheering when he pinned Mustafa, but Duggan does his job on the apron by chanting “U-S-A” in order to keep the fans invested. Speaking of Duggan, he gets a mini-hot tag and runs wild on the Heels, with Berzerker taking a couple of good bumps for him, including getting back body dropped over the top rope down to the floor. Kerry comes in after that, flailing around and looking like he’s not entirely aware of where he is or what he’s doing. He takes a terrible tumble over Hercules and tags in Santana, who gives Hercules a running forearm attack to the back for the three count.

12 Minutes – Hercules is eliminated by Tito Santana (1) – Running Forearm Attack

Despite the wrestling largely being okay whenever Mustafa and Kerry haven’t been involved, the crowd hasn’t really been that enthused by this one and you get the impression that someone gives a message for them to just get the heck out of there, as Skinner only gets to do a brief bit with Santana before Slaughter blind tags himself in and catches Skinner with a roll-up for the three count. Skinner did basically nothing in that match, despite Steve Keirn being an acceptable wrestler. Skinner would somehow end up challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Title at This Tuesday in Texas, despite this match doing absolutely nothing to establish him as a credible threat.

13 Minutes – Skinner is eliminated by Sgt. Slaughter (2) –

This leaves Berzerker in there all by himself against the babyfaces, and he lasts all of about 40 seconds until they put him, and the viewers, out of our collective miseries by bringing in Duggan for a clothesline and the three count. Good money if you can get it eh? It gives Slaughter a chance to wave the USA flag after the bout though, as his babyface turn continues to trundle along.

14 Minutes – Berzerker is eliminated by Jim Duggan (1) – Clothesline

SURVIVORS: ALL OF TEAM DUGGAN
MOST ELIMINATIONS: SLAUGHTER (2)
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: Mustafa and Kerry were both TERRIBLE here, and most of the wrestlers in the match had awful gimmicks that weren’t going to get them any higher than the match straight after intermission on a House Show, but the actual wrestling wasn’t bad so long as the two worst members of each team weren’t actually in the ring. Mustafa was physically knackered by this point in his career, but he at least seemed to known what he was supposed to be doing in there whilst Kerry was wrestling like his mind was on a different planet. Slaughter looked decent in there, and was moving quite well, whilst Santana was clearly the best wrestler in the ring whenever he got in there. Duggan was over at least, so the fans cared when he was in there, but aside from that they mostly saw this as lower card filler, which it essentially was

Mean Gene Okerlund brings Jake Roberts out to the interview podium, as they continue to use this pay per view to primarily hype a different upcoming pay per view. Roberts has a wacky sweater on and is rocking some swanky looking cowboy boots. Roberts says that Savage getting bitten by the cobra as an accident. In a great line, Gene says that Roberts is a sick man and Jake replies “thank you very much” like it’s a compliment. Roberts was doing a great job as a Heel here, with it arguably being some of his best work, although he was gone from the WWF by the spring of 1992 and they never really achieved anything with it outside of this feud with Savage. Roberts cuts a great promo hyping up the match with Savage and makes sure to address Elizabeth directly, setting up him actually punching her on the Tuesday in Texas pay per view.

Gorilla Monsoon lets us know that Tuesday in Texas will be on pay per view. Well, fancy that!

Third Match
WWF Title
Challenger: The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Vs
Champion: “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan

Undertaker had debuted back at Survivor Series 1990 and had gotten immediately over as a dominant undead zombie, leading to him finding his way towards Hogan here a year later. Undertaker and Ric Flair jumped Hogan on Paul Bearer’s interview show in order to heat things up ahead of the Title match here at Survivor Series. The director does their best to ensure they can find scared looking kids when Undertaker enters, although some of the kids start cheering when they realise they’re on television.

Both men absolutely nail the character and storytelling aspect of this one, with Undertaker coldly staring Hogan down during his entire entrance whilst Hogan is fired up but quickly realises that he’s got a fight on his hands against this scary undead monster that’s opposing him. The actual wrestling isn’t terrible, especially when they’re working a quicker clip in the early stages, but once the heat segment kicks in the match becomes Undertaker slowly choking Hogan and working him over, which just becomes dull after a certain point, even it all makes sense considering Undertaker’s character at the time.

I suppose that’s the difficulty when it comes to character based wrestling, you sometimes have to sacrifice in-ring excitement in order to make the storyline work. It was an issue that plagued Goldust in 1995-96, as he had to wrestle these slow laborious matches because his character demanded that he do so, meaning that his matches made thematic sense but they were usually achingly dull to actually sit down and watch. As far as putting a match together that makes Undertaker look like a genuine Main Event threat and not just a monster of the month for Hogan to slay, they do an effective job here.

Undertaker takes the vast majority of the bout, with Hogan having to fight from underneath. Despite being a huge muscular man, Hogan’s effective selling means he actually works well in that role, so they never really lose the crowd here, even though most of the match features Hogan getting whomped without really being able to do much in reply. Hogan was so good at this of course that every top WWF babyface from this point onwards had to work like this, with the exception perhaps of Stone Cold Steve Austin, and that had mixed results. Rock and Kurt Angle for instance were good at that doing that, whilst guys like Goldberg and Batista were less so and would have benefitted from less traditional babyface booking.

After lying around on the mat in some kind of claw hold for something bordering the length of the Cretaceous Period, Hogan does finally fight his way back to his feet, only to get met with a leaping clothesline from Undertaker, which actually garners a few cheers from some of the more rebellious fans in the crowd who were starting to tire of Hogan’s act and thought Undertaker was cool. Hogan no sells the Tombstone Piledriver following that though and makes the full comeback. Normally at this point we’d get the Boot, Slam and Leg Drop to send Taker down to the mid-card as another Hogan scalp, but the WWF had different plans.

Those different plans end up being Ric Flair, as he heads down to the ring to cause a distraction, which means that Hogan isn’t able to finish Undertaker off. Bearer also gets involved by grabbing Hogan’s leg. As referee Earl Hebner is distracted by Paul Bearer, Flair lays a chair into the ring so that Undertaker can give Hogan a second Tombstone onto said chair for the three count. Hogan apparently pretended that the Tombstone really hurt his neck, even though the picture above this recap clearly shows that Undertaker took care of The Hulkster. This led to years of heat between Taker and Hogan.

13 Minutes

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: THE UNDERTAKER
RATING: **

Thoughts: This is a tough match to rate really because from a purely in-ring perspective it was quite dull. However, from a storytelling perspective it delivered what it needed to and the crowd was into it throughout, so you’d have to argue that they filled the brief that was laid out for them. I didn’t think it the most exciting bout either, but I thought Hogan’s selling was really good and Undertaker nailed the character work, so it was watchable for me, if not especially entertaining

Hogan walks to the back under his own power, seemingly drawing some boos from the crowd, which makes the booing for him at Royal Rumble 1992 feel less random.

We get the pre-intermission interviews. Roddy Piper is angry (when isn’t he?) about how Undertaker won the belt. Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect are happy that Hogan has lost the belt. All of those interviews were great fun, with both Piper and Flair being suitably energised.

Back from intermission, Mean Gene Okerlund lets us know that Jack Tunney is discussing the previous match with Hulk Hogan. Earthquake, Typhoon and IRS are here to talk about their match with Hawk, Animal and Boss Man. Quake and Typhoon yell whilst IRS promises to audit Jack Tunney for banning Jake Roberts from this match. This was basic promo stuff and it did the job.

Sean Mooney is interviewing Legion of DOOM and Big Boss Man. More yelling happens, but it’s intense focused yelling at least. Mooney cuts off Hawk’s go-home line though, the cheek of it!

Jack Tunney tells Mean Gene that the referees decision is final and Undertaker is the new Champ, but he will book a rematch between Undertaker and Hulk Hogan at Tuesday in Texas. Tunney says he will be at ringside to ensure a fair and just outcome. Maybe he’ll tell someone to ring the freaking bell?

Fourth Match
4 Vs 4 Survivor Series Elimination Tag Bout
The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake) and The Nasty Boys (Knobbs & Sags) w/ The Genius and Jimmy Hart
Vs
The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) and The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)

The Rockers had begun teasing their eventual split by this point. The Beverly’s had previously been destruction men in the AWA (which felt suitably gimmicky enough for them to still use in the WWF) but the WWF had decided to make them prissy spoilt brats instead. The Nasty’s had been the Tag Champs back in the summer of 1991, but they wouldn’t really get close to holding the belts again outside of when they turned babyface at the end of 1992 and chased down Money Inc for a bit. The Bushwhackers actually get given a bit of a shine to start where they bump all four of the Heels around, which I wasn’t really expecting seeing as you’d think The Rockers were there to do the wrestling on their team whilst the Whackers were just fodder.

Once The Rockers get in there they wrestle well, although neither seems to really have it in high gear for this one. The Heel team is actually working quite hard here, moving at a decent clip and bumping around for the Faces. Eventually the Heels are the ones to get the first elimination, against the run of play, as Luke gets distracted by Sags and that allows Knobbs to head up to the second rope for a sloppy looking clothesline, which nets him a three count.

5 Minutes – Bushwhacker Luke is eliminated by Nasty Boy Knobbs (1) – Second Rope Clothesline

There is barely any reaction for Luke getting pinned, as it feels like the crowd has been flattened out by Hogan losing the belt and the intermission that followed it, meaning that the folks in this one have a task on their hands in order to get the crowd invested again. Shawn and Marty turn up the volume a little bit at least, which does manage to garner some reaction from the crowd, but not as much as you’d like this deep into a major pay per view. Butch gets tagged in and runs wild on The Beverly’s, but they get a wacky kind of spiked flapjack on Butch and that’s enough for three.

10 Minutes – Bushwhacker Butch is eliminated by Beau Beverly (1) – Double Team Flapjack

Marty comes in with a couple of sloppy hurricanranas onto Beau following that, with Beau seemingly being unsure how he’s supposed to take the move. The Rockers continue to feel like they have this one in a lower gear, especially when you compare it to their performances at Royal Rumble 1991 and WrestleMania VII, where they had very good opening matches on both of those events. Shawn ends up catching Beau with a backslide OUTTA NOWHERE, and that’s enough to give the babyfaces their first elimination in this one.

14 Minutes – Beau Beverly is eliminated by Shawn Michaels (1) – Backslide

Gorilla Monsoon on commentary is pushing the idea now that The Rockers aren’t getting along or tagging efficiently. Shawn wakes the crowd up a bit with an impressive running clothesline off the apron onto Sags, but he gets caught by Sags when he tries to get back into the ring, leading to a brief heat segment so that Marty can do a bit of a hot tag. The match flattens out again after Marty has a bit of flurry though, as it really feels like they’re meandering through this one and the crowd isn’t really getting with it. Marty gets worked over for a bit but tags in Shawn again, leading to a brief moment where all five wrestlers get into the ring. Marty goes to slam Sags but accidentally swings Sags’ legs into Shawn’s face, which stuns Shawn long enough that Knobbs can roll him up for three, continuing the Rocker split.

20 Minutes – Shawn Michaels is eliminated by Nasty Boy Knobbs (2) – Roll-Up

The Rockers argue following that, with Marty being apologetic and trying to mend fences, which Shawn eventually seems to accept. If I were Marty I would be wary of visiting a barber shop anytime soon though. Marty is at a 1 on 3 disadvantage here now, although Monsoon is acting like Shawn walked out on his partner when he clearly got pinned. Marty ups the pace a little bit now that he’s got three opponents to face, including an impressive dive from the top rope down onto The Nasty’s, although it doesn’t get the pop you’d expect considering how big a move that was in 1991. Knobbs turns over a Marty inside cradle on Sags though, leaving Sags on top for the three count.

23 Minutes – Marty Jannetty is eliminated by Nasty Boy Sags (1) – Reversed Inside Cradle

SURVIVORS: KNOBBS, SAGS AND BLAKE
MOST ELIMINATIONS: NASTY BOY KNOBBS (2)
RATING: *3/4

Thoughts: This had some okay stuff in it at points, but the bout was flatter than a pancake and was probably too long at 23 Minutes considering how much it felt like it was dawdling towards the finish line at points. The only bonus was that it continued the storyline between The Rockers and had a couple of hot moves in it, although the crowd wasn’t even reacting to the moves much by the end

Main Event
3 Vs 3 Survivor Series Elimination Tag Bout
The Natural Disasters (Typhoon & Earthquake) and Irwin R. Schyster
Vs
Legion of DOOM (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal) and The Big Boss Man

Jake Roberts and Sid Justice were supposed to be in this match on the Heel and Face side respectively, but Jake then decided to have a cobra bite Savage and was taken out of the bout as a result. Of course most of the hype for this show was around Hulk Hogan taking on The Undertaker, but that happened in the middle of the show so they could stick something less depressing on at the end of the show to send people home happy, because the WWF used to care about doing that. IRS Vs Boss Man is the most “let’s beat the queues for hot dogs” feud from 1991 that I could possibly think of. TND Vs LOD is at least the clear top two teams on each side of the Heel/Face divide though, and you could feasibly Main Event with it if you built it up properly.

Boss Man is moving here to be fair, and shines well on IRS to try and get the people to care, but they want Quake and Animal in there. The two comply and actually have an okay little segment that the crowd digs. Everyone is working hard here actually, and the crowd is into the Faces doing moves and controlling things, but it’s not really pay per view Main Event heat, and the commentary team seems to care more about hyping the Tuesday in Texas pay per view than discussing the match taking place in the ring. Eventually the referee gets distracted by Quake and LOD arguing outside the ring, which allows Typhoon to sneak IRS his briefcase so he can hit Boss Man with it for three.

6 Minutes – Big Boss Man Eliminated by IRS (1) – Illegal Weapon Shot

Make sure to rush out and buy a ticket for the next house show so that you can see Boss Man get revenge on the fifth match of the card in a 15 minute snoozer. You like chin locks? Well then that match will see your dreams come true! The crowd does now chant for LOD seeing as they are at a disadvantage. The Heels work Animal over, with Typhoon stupidly sending him towards the ropes nearest to his own corner, meaning that Hawk has to look like an absolute plum for not tagging himself in when he clearly can. Hawk does get a tag soon after and the Heels try the briefcase trick again, but this time IRS accidentally clocks Typhoon and Hawk gets the pin.

10 Minutes – Typhoon Eliminated by Hawk (1) – Accidental Weapon Shot

Quake is angry at IRS for that and decides to take a walk, leaving IRS on his own. That’s just like a Voltorb using self-destruct because it can’t be arsed to keep fighting, and Quake is even wearing red!

11 Minutes – Earthquake Eliminated by Count Out

So IRS has no chance on his own against the Tag Champs and they finish him off after allowing him to work some token heat on Hawk. I honestly would have just taken it straight home as soon as Quake walked, as a lone Heel working heat in a handicap match situation is just weird. IRS and Hawk also have zero chemistry and botched things more than once. They at least don’t go with a lame count out finish and have IRS eat a pin, as he should in this scenario.

15 Minutes – IRS Eliminated by Animal (1) – Top Rope Clothesline

SURVIVORS: HAWK & ANIMAL
MOST ELIMINATIONS: IRS, HAWK & ANIMAL (1)
RATING: **

Thoughts: This wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t especially good either. Most of the wrestlers were trying at least, but this was a mid-card match in a Main Event slot, and it showed

Sean Mooney is in the locker room, where he says that Hulk Hogan has promised a victory at Tuesday in Texas. Hogan can’t be bothered to actually appear on screen to say that though.

Mean Gene Okerlund is in the catacombs of the building where he finds Undertaker and Paul Bearer, as you do. They are planning to bury Hulkamania at Tuesday in Texas. Well then, get your tickets folks!

Is It Really A Stinker?

I still didn’t enjoy Survivor Series 1991 that much, although I’m not sure I’d say it’s a full on Stinker. The opening match was good and the Flair/Undertaker/Hogan stuff was all done well and laid the foundations for the excellent Royal Rumble match at the start of 1992. Undertaker Vs Hogan was light on good wrestling, but everyone played their respective role well and I felt it was an effective bit of storytelling that set things up for later efficiently whilst giving the audience a major moment in Undertaker’s first WWF Title win.

The incessant hype for Tuesday in Texas left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, as a major pay per view event like Survivor Series should be able to stand on its own two feet as an enjoyable experience and not feel like a hype vehicle for yet another pay per view only a few days later on. Jake Roberts and Randy Savage both delivered good promos to hype up the show, but it felt a bit insulting that the WWF was delivering a subpar event here and were pushing fans so hard to pay for another one so soon.

So I won’t go for a full Stinker rating for Survivor Series, but I will go for the next rating up and I certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to watch this one. Heck, most of the Survivor Series events from 1990-1994 are pretty lame in my opinion, with 1995 representing a notable rise in quality thanks to the fun Wildcard bout and the excellent Main Event between Kevin Nash and Bret Hart, so watch that show instead and give 1991 the old skip-a-rooney.

Final Score – Stinky
(Scores done on a scale of Stinker/Stinky/Odourless/Pleasant/Fragrant)