WWE Survivor Series 1993 (1993)

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

After SummerSlam '93, which showed promise for the future, Survivor Series 1993 hit rock bottom with an utterly embarrassing event from start to finish.Some examples of the ridiculousness: -Dumb characters like Adam Bomb, Ludvig Borga, & Bastion Booger (as embarrassing, if not worse, as Giant Gonzalez in terms of gimmick and wrestling skills). -A match of a bunch of wrestlers in Doink masks, as well as introducing the Hart family brothers into the mix (solely as a way to stoke a Bret/Owen feud...but no one cares about the other brothers). -Lex Luger's continuous ball-dropping in holding Hogan's mantle. -A sad return from Macho Man Randy Savage, a shell of his former self. -Tag Titles change hands (Heavenly Bodies beat Rock'N'Roll Express)...but no on cares because the teams and match are so lame.The only talent apparent on this program was The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, and Bret/Owen Hart. Not nearly enough to make this dreck entertaining. To say this one can be skipped is an understatement...it SHOULD be skipped.

Live from Boston, MAAttendance, 15, 509Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby HeenanI.R.S, Diesel, Adam Bomb, and Rick Martel Vs Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, The 123 Kid, and Marty JanettyHere are the eliminationsDiesel by Randy Savage (Flying elbow drop)Randy Savage by I.R.S (roll-up after a distraction by Crush)I.R.S by Razor Ramon (Razor's Edge)Razor Ramon by countout (I.R.S drilled him with his briefcase to knock him out of the ring)Rick Martel by The 123 Kid (victory roll)Adam Bomb by Marty Janetty (slingshot sunset flip)Sole Survivors: The 123 Kid & Marty JanettyMr. Perfect was originally supposed to be on Razor's team, but his back flared up and Savage became his replacement. This match was a really fun opener that was consistently exciting. I don't think anybody expected the big names like Razor and Savage to be eliminated. The big story here is The 123 Kid and Marty Janetty's upset. The 123 Kid and Janetty being the sole survivors told a nice underdog story.***1/2Shawn Michaels, The Black Knight, The Blue Knight, and The Red Knight Vs The Hart Family (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, and Keith Hart)The Black Knight by Owen Hart (Missile dropkick from the top)The Red Knight by Bret Hart (Sharpshooter)The Blue Knight by Owen Hart (Sharpshooter)Owen Hart by Shawn Michaels (roll-up)Shawn Michaels by countoutSole Survivors: Bret Hart, Keith Hart, and Bruce Hart.Jerry Lawler was originally supposed to be the captain of the Knights, but he was replaced by Shawn Michaels. Jeff Gaylord is the Black Knight, Greg Valentine is the Blue Knight, and Barry Horrowitz is the Red Knight. After the match, Owen is irate over his elimination and dissension commences between Owen and Bret. For some reason, Bruce and Keith Hart did a lot of the heavy lifting in the match. As a result, this was a tad boring at times. Bret and Owen's presence automatically mitigates things a bit, but they didn't wrestle enough. This match is memorable because it was the start of Owen's heel turn. **Gorilla Monsoon almost hits Bobby Heenan until Heenan starts cowering and pleading with Gorilla. Nothing really comes of it. Gorilla would eventually kick Heenan out of the WWE on an episode of Raw a few weeks later.Smoky Mountain Tag Team ChampionshipRock 'N' Roll Express (C) Vs The Heavenly Bodies (W/Jim Cornette)This is associated with Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The Heavenly Bodies win the titles after some cheating by using a tennis racket. This was thrown together without much fan fare, but it was still a a really good match! Both teams are pros, who know exactly what they are doing.***1/2Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & The Headshrinkers Vs The Bushwhackers & Men on a Mission. Oh, god! The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission are dressed up like Doink. The fans are into this, yet they are silent during a great tag match between The Heavenly Bodies and The Rock 'N' Roll Express? Okay then. This is one of the stupidest matches I've ever seen. It's nothing but an unfunny comedy match that made me roll my eyes. I checked my brain at the door and I still found it stupid. Poor, Bam Bam. Afterwards, Doink shows up on the titantron and makes fun of Bigelow. 1/2* Eliminations.Samu by a Bushwhacker (roll-up)Bastion Booger by Mabel (legdrop)Fatu by Butch (Fatu slips on a banana peel, then Butch rolls him up)Bam Bam Bigelow by Mabel (big splash)Sole Survivors: Men on a Mission & The Bushwhackers.The Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Crush, and Jacques) vs The All-Americans (Lex Luger, The Undertaker & The Steiner Brothers)*1/2Eliminations. Rick Steiner by Ludvig Borga (A botched powerslam in mid-air off the top. Borga tried to catch him and he couldn't hold on. Borga pins him anyway)Crush by countout (Randy Savage runs down and brawls with Crush)Jacques by Lex Luger (pointed elbow drop from the second turnbuckle)Scott Stiner by Yokozuna (legdrop)The Undertaker & Yokozuna (Both of them brawl on the floor to a double countout)Ludvig Borga by Lex Luger (running forearm)Sole Survivor: Lex LugerThis wasn't exactly terrible or anything, but it was a relatively mundane main event. The main problem with this match is the lack of talent. The Steiner's were eliminated early and The Undertaker was still in his zombie phase. I felt no-selling a Banzai drop from Yokozuna was a bit much. *1/2Final Thoughts: This is a pretty average event for the most part. It started the beginning of Owen Hart's heel turn, the opener was fun, and we got a really good tag team match from Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Aside from that, there is nothing special about this show at all. After Hogan left, Vince tried the Luger experiment. It failed miserably.

The WWE decided to go back to the traditional format for Survivor Series in 1993, having mainly Survivor Series matches, and no title matches.The night started with a four on four Survivor Series match which combined several feuds going on at the time. In the end the team of Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Mr Perfect and Marty Janetty defeating the team of Diesel, Irwin R Shyster, Rick Martel and Adam Bomb. The match came down to 1-2-3 Kid and Janetty vs Rick Martel and Adam Bomb. The Kid pinned Martel with a sunset flip and Janetty then super kicked Adam Bom to win the match for his team with he and the Kid the Survivors.The next match was originally scheduled to be a continuation in the Bret Hart/ Jerry Lawler rivalry, but Lawler was arrested on rape charges and so Shawn Michaels took his spot in the match. And it was the Hart Brothers (Bret, Owen, Bruce and Keith) who defeated Shawn Micheals and his knights with Owen the only Hart eliminated. Owen was very unhappy with Bret at the end of the match, blaming him for his elimination. He had a bit of a point as Bret had left the match for a period after getting thrown out of the ring. He returned only for Owen to run into him, allowing Michaels to pin him.Next up in a strange match, the Heavenly Bodies (Bruce Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) defeated the Rock n Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) to win the Smokey Valley Wrestling Tag Team Titles.This was followed by the team of four Doinks, which was actually The Bushwackers (Butch and Luke) and Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) defeating the team of Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The doinks used mischief to win the comedy match, including a water fulled balloon and lots of other water gags. None of the Doinks were eliminated and all four of them pinned Bigelow to end the match. Doink then cuts a wacky promo on the titan tron taunting Bigelow. Can't even describe this. Kind of fun, very silly.This brings us to the main event as the All-Americans Lex Luger, The Undertaker and the Steiner Brothers defeated The Foreign Fanatics (WWE Champion Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Quebecer Jacques and Crush). Borga screwed up something really badly in pinning Rick Steiner. Crush was tagged in and then distracted by: RANDY SAVAGE!!!! The Macho Man is here!!! He followed Savage out if the ring and was counted out. Luger took care of Jacques. Yokozuna then pinned Scott Steiner leaving us two on two. The Undertaker sat up after a Banzai drop and he and Yokozuna brawled out of the ring, both men were counted out. So it came down to Borga and Luger. They go back and forth briefly, but Luger gets on top, hits the running fore arm smash and wins the match for his team. USA wins. Then for some reason Santa Claus comes out to the ring to help Luger celebrate. Not a bad match really.Well, this was just a filler event really. It set up some big matches down the road, but didn't resolve any of the issues going in. The in ring action was so-so and some of the gimmicks were farcical. Not a good PPV and one of the weaker ones the WWE had put on to that point.

*SPOILERS*The year before, there was only one survival match, pitting two teams no one cared about against each other. And one great match, as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels took their house feud into the pay per view realm. Otherwise, it was mediocre or less, with a tag team main event that should have been much better than it was.This one had the same recipe that the previous years provided: lots of exciting, unpredictable matches that you could enjoy and forget about tomorrow. The opening match was vintage Survivor Series: a mixture of big names and second-tier stars, with the big names leaving early and the second-tier stars (Jannetty and the Kid) surviving. For the first time, every member of one team made an elimination.The Harts-Knights match was pretty good, as Owen Hart finally got his chance to rise to the occasion as one of the WWF's best all-around wrestlers. He was dominant, even if he was the only Hart brother who didn't survive. From this point on, he became one of the premiere WWF stars.The Smoky Mountain match was a little slow, but the Doinks match was genius.How they came to the conclusion that the Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission should be the 4 Doinks is beyond me, but it resulted in the most entertaining Survivor Series match since the 20-man tag team matches from the first two years. Plus, the Bushwhackers finally got to have their first moment to shine in a Survivor Series.The main event was OK, although the Steiners could have done better.Not the best, but again, better than '92.