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(More customer reviews)Well, after WWE has already released anthologies on their other 3 major events...it's time for the final one in their "Big Four" being the Survivor Series. This second volume is from the "New Generation" era of the event where WWE started to have a mix of regular matches as well combined with the traditional
elimination matches. Now keep in mind that I'm doing my reviews from either the VHS version with the unedited event or a replay I caught off WWE Classics On Demand.
1992 - This Survivor Series went away from the traditional format of having a heavy focus on elimination matches and came off as a normal PPV during this time. This was one of those events where the main events were the highlights & saved the show. 5 years before they would have their infamous title match in Montreal, Bret Hart defended the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels (who also happened to be the Intercontinental Champion) in a 30 min. lost classic while the other main event featured the inring return of Mr. Perfect teaming with Randy Savage against Ric Flair & Razor Ramon. The only elimination match on here was Jimmy Hart's former tag teams of Natural Disasters & Nasty Boys against Beverly Brothers & Hart's then-current team of Money Inc. however this was under the rules of "when one person is eliminated, his parter is eliminated too." The rest of the card featured the first ever Coffin/Casket Match with Undertaker vs. Kamala, the Nightstick Match between Big Boss Man & Nailz, an underrated match of Tatanaka vs. Rick Martel, Headshrinkers vs. High Energy, and Yokozuna squashing Virgil. This has a reputation of being one of the worst S. Series events as with the exception of the main events & the Tatanka/Martel match, the matches on here just weren't good in quality or were just a quick match (5 min. or less) to finish off the feud.
1993 - After the disaster reception the previous year's event had, WWE returned to the format they used in 1991 where the entire event, except for one match, was based around the traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match. The main event here featured Lex Luger's team of the "All-Americans" against Yokozuna's "Foreign Fanatics" team where the highlight was the first time controntation between Undertaker & Yokozuna and the attempt at heavily pushing Ludvig Borga as a top heel (which anyone who knows their history didn't last long). This Survivor Series is mostly remembered for the match between the Hart Brothers of Bret & Owen & Bruce & Keith against 3 masked Knights & Shawn Michaels (last minute replacement for Jerry Lawler) and how that began the long term feud between Bret & Owen. Randy Savage also made his PPV return to the first in almost a year (replacing Mr. Perfect) teaming with Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid against I.R.S. & Diesel & Rick Martel & Adam Bomb. The other elimination match featured Bam Bam Bigelow & Baston Booger & Headshrinkers in a quick match against Men On A Mission & Bushwhackers dressed up as Doink The Clown resulting in the crowd chanting "We Want Doink" during the match. The only non-elimination match on the card was a tag team match representing Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling promotion as their tag team champions of the Heavenly Bodies went against the Rock N' Roll Express but it should be noted that "Radio WWF's" commentary team of Jim Ross & Gorilla Monsoon did the commentary here & with this being Bobby Heenan's last WWE PPV until the end of WCW, his confrontation with Gorilla before the match was a highlight. In the end, this PPV was better than the previous year and did it's job for the most part in pushing & establishing the stories/feuds leading into not only the Royal Rumble but also WrestleMania.
1994 - This Survivor Series was built around the appearence of actor Chuck Norris as he was set to be the ringside enforcer for Casket Match with Undertaker vs. Yokozuna to ensure nobody else gets involved unlike how they did at the Royal Rumble earlier in the year. The other main event on here was a submission match between WWE Champion Bret Hart w/Davey Boy Smith in his corner vs. Mr. Bob Backlund w/Owen Hart in his corner with the twist in his match being that the only way to win is for the cornerman to throw in the towel for his representative and this was the best match Bob Backlund had during this run in WWE as Bret brought out the wrestling style Bob Backlund's remembered for back in the '70s & '80s with a very dramatic ending for that time. Speaking of Owen & Davey, they were also involved in the opening elimination match between the Shawn Michaels' "Teamsters" with vs. Razor Ramon's "Bad Guys" that was highlighted by the dominance of Diesel and the superkick that would begin the setup to a WrestleMania XI main event. Another elimination match on here (strickly for comedic purposes) was Jerry Lawler's "Royal Family" vs. Doink's "Clowns R' Us" which was each man teaming with 3 different midgets with the rules being it must be midget vs. midget/wrestler vs. wrestler at all times but if Lawler eliminated Doink then how could the match end if all of Lawler's midget teammates were eliminated since Lawler wasn't allowed to wrestle the midgets? The other elimination match on here was Lex Luger's "Guts & Glory" team of Mabel & Smokin' Gunns & Adam Bomb vs. the "Million $ Team" of Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka & King Kong Bundy & Heavenly Bodies.
1995 - Eventhough this was one of the worst years in WWE history as far as wrestling quality, storylines, and characters...this event started to pickup the pieces as the main event here was WWE Champion Diesel vs. Bret Hart in a No Holds Barred "Must Be A Winner" match that saw Bret Hart delivering one of Kevin Nash's best matches in his career as it was real physical & aggressive and also saw the beginning of a PPV tradition with Bret Hart going through the spanish announce table. This PPV also resulted in the first ever "Wild Card" match with the top faces & heels in the company were teamed together at random as Shawn Michaels & Sid & British Bulldog & newcomer Ahmed Johnson vs. Yokozuna & Owen Hart & Dean Douglas & Razor Ramon that resulted in things you wouldn't normally see at that time such as Razor helping Owen with a double team in the corner on Shawn along with British Bulldog saving HBK from a pinfall. The opening match featured the "Underdogs" of Marty Jannetty & Hakushi & Barry Horowitz & Bob Holly against the "Body Donnas" of Skip & Rad Radford & Tom Prichard & 1-2-3 Kid who recently turned heel on Razor Ramon & alligned with Sid....which did come into play during this match. Other matches on here featured Goldust vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, and 8 woman elimination match highlighted for it being the final WWE appearence of Alundra Blayze before she went to WCW & threw the WWE Womens Championship in a trash can a month later, and the return of the Undertaker in a dominant performance as part of the "Darkside" with Savio Vega & Fatu & Henry Godwinn vs. King Mabel's "Royals" of Jerry Lawler & Isaac Yankem & Hunter Hearst-Helmsley.
1996 - The first Survivor Series in WWE's "home" of Madison Square Garden that featured various returns & debuts...some more memorable than others. The WWE Championship saw Shawn Michaels defend the title against Sycho Sid in a match that's more memorable for how the MSG crowd completely turned against Shawn & cheered Sid. The other main event saw the return of Bret Hart against the man who called him out for months in "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a 30 min. lost classic that's always been overshadowed by their later WrestleMania 13 match. Another elimination match on the card saw Crush & Jerry Lawler & Hunter Hearst-Helmsley & Goldust vs. Marc Mero & Jake Roberts & Barry Windham as "The Stalker" & the WWE debut of a young kid named Rocky Maivia...who would later become more famously known as The Rock. Other matches include the Undertaker debuting a new look vs. Mankind, another elimination match between Faarooq (debuting the Nation Of Domination) & Vader & the non-Scott Hall/Kevin Nash versions of Razor Ramon & Diesel vs. the debuting Flash Funk & Yokozuna & Savio Vega & the MSG return of "Superly" Jimmy Snuka that's only noteworthy for it being the final WWE PPV appearence of Yokozuna, and the WWE debuts of a new tag team in Doug Furnas & Phil Lafond teaming with the Godwinns against Owen Hart & British Bulldog & The New Rockers.
So in the end, this was a real "mixed bag" as these series had some bad matches in quality, others more focused to "putting over a storyline" or showcasing/putting over one person as a dominate performer, and you did have some lost classics & memorable performances so this is still a set I would recommend overall. However if your more of a fan of the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches (similar to a fan of the Royal Rumble PPV's are fans of the battle royal match) then I would recommend getting Volume 1 first.
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WWE: Survivor Series Anthology, Vol. 2 - 1992-1996 (2009)
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