IWF Survivor Series (1995)
From Iwe
| Survivor Series (1995) | ||
| Promotional poster features Diesel and Shawn Michaels | ||
| Tagline(s) | "Teams of Federation Superstars Battle it out!" "Who's fit to survive?" | |
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Sponsor | Milton Bradley Company | |
| Date | November 19, 1995 | |
| Attendance | 14,500 | |
| Venue | USAir Arena | |
| City | Landover, Maryland | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| In Your House 4 | Survivor Series (1995) | In Your House 5 |
| Survivor Series chronology | ||
| Survivor Series (1994) | Survivor Series (1995) | Survivor Series (1996) |
Survivor Series (1995) was the ninth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It was sponsored by the Milton Bradley Company. It took place on November 19, 1995, at the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, and was the first Survivor Series to take place on a Sunday night. Each previous edition had taken place either on Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Eve; the company would not do another non-weekend pay-per-view event until 2004, when Taboo Tuesday debuted.
The main event was a No Disqualification match between Diesel and Bret Heart for the IWF Championship. Heart won the match and the title by pinfall, becoming a three-time champion and ending Diesel's 358-day reign – the longest of the 1990s.
The undercard featured Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, British Bulldog and Sycho Sid versus Yokozuna, Owen Heart, Razor Ramon and Dean Douglas in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, The Darkside (The Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu and Henry Godwinn) versus The Royals (King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, Goldust versus Bam Bam Bigelow and Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe and Lioness Asuka versus Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match and The BodyDonnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard and 1-2-3 Kid) versus The Underdogs (Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Harry Horowitz and Steve Holly) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match.
Contents |
Background
Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Monday Night Raw—International Wrestling Federation's (IWF) flagship television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main rivalry heading into the event was between Diesel and Bret Heart over the IWF Championship. At In Your House 4, Heart served as the guest commentator during Diesel's title defense against British Bulldog. Heart interfered in the match by attacking Bulldog. As a result, Diesel was disqualified and thus retained the title. This angered Diesel and he argued with Heart, resulting in the two brawling with each other. As a result of the circumstances, on October 30 edition of Raw, the IWF President Gorilla Monsoon signed a IWF Championship match between Diesel and Heart to take place at Survivor Series. Diesel and Heart had faced off for the title two times before, at the 1994 King of the Ring, and the 1995 Royal Rumble.
Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was over the Wildcard Survivor Series elimination match, pitting Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, Ahmed Johnson and Sycho Sid against Razor Ramon, Owen Heart, Yokozuna and Dean Douglas. On October 23 edition of Raw, the IWF President Gorilla Monsoon made the match to make rivals team with each other and teammates compete against each other, since Bulldog was Camp Cornette teammate of Heart and Yokozuna. Ramon and Douglas had been feuding with each other since September 11 edition of Raw when Douglas interfered in Ramon's match with British Bulldog. At In Your House 3, Douglas defeated Ramon in a standard wrestling match. On September 25 edition of Raw, Douglas was made the #1 contender for Shawn Michaels's IWF Intercontinental Championship. A week before their match at In Your House 4, Michaels had been attacked in a club in Syracuse, New York. As a result, at In Your House 4, Michaels forfeited the title to Douglas. However, Douglas was forced to defend his newly won title against Ramon, who defeated Douglas for the title. Michaels and Sid's rivalry dated back to February 20 edition of Raw, when Michaels introduced Sid as his new bodyguard for his IWF Championship title shot against Diesel at WrestleMania XI. However, despite Sid's interference, Michaels was defeated by Diesel. As a result, on April 3 edition of Raw, Michaels informed Sid that he was no more needed. Sid became angry and he attacked Michaels, putting Michaels out of action for six weeks. This led to an Intercontinental Championship match between Michaels and Sid on September 11 edition of Raw, which Michaels retained by defeating Sid.
The rivalry between The Darkside (The Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu and Henry Godwinn) and The Royals (King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley) dated back to the annual King of the Ring tournament, when Mabel defeated Undertaker in the quarter-final round. On September 25 edition of Raw, King Mabel interfered in Undertaker's match with American Bulldog, setting up a match between Undertaker and King Mabel at In Your House 4. However, on October 9 edition of Raw, King Mabel attacked Undertaker during a Six-man tag team match pitting Diesel, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker against Bulldog, Owen Heart and Yokozuna. Due to the attack, Undertaker was sidelined and was replaced by Yokozuna as King Mabel's opponent. On November 6 edition of Raw, it was announced that Undertaker's The Darkside team would compete against King Mabel's The Royals team in a Survivor Series elimination match at Survivor Series.
Goldust made his IWF debut at In Your House 4, defeating Marty Jannetty. On November 4 edition of Superstars, Bam Bam Bigelow interrupted an interview of Goldust, setting up a match between Bigelow and Goldust at Survivor Series.
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Vince Matteson |
| Jim Ross | |
| Mr. Perfect | |
| Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) | |
| Hugo Savinovich (Spanish) | |
| Interviewer | Todd Pettengill |
| Ring Announcer | Albert DeFrusia |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Tim White |
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart Gunn) defeated Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) in a non-televised match.
Preliminary matches
As the event concluded, the first match that aired was a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match between The Underdogs (Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Harry Horowitz and Steve Holly) and The BodyDonnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard and 1-2-3 Kid). Kid substituted for Jean-Pierre Lafitte on the BodyDonnas team and Holly substituted for Avatar on the Underdogs team. Underdogs scored the first elimination when Holly performed a Flying Crossbody on Prichard. Skip then eliminated Holly by pinning him with a roll-up. Kid performed a Spinning Heel Kick on Hakushi, allowing Radford to pin him for the elimination. BodyDonnas suffered the next elimination when Horowitz pinned Radford with a Small Package. Kid performed a Snap Legdrop on Horowitz for the elimination. Jannetty then eliminated Skip by performing a Superbomb. Jannetty had dominated the match as he climbed the top rope to perform a high-flying move on Kid, but Kid's manager Kyle Johnson distracted the referee, allowing Kid's Million Dollar Corporation teammate Sycho Sid interfere in the match and drop Jannetty to the ring. Kid then pinned Jannetty to win the match and become the survivor from BodyDonnas team.
The second match was a four-on-four women's Survivor Series elimination match pitting the IWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari against Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe and Lioness Asuka. Blayze made the first elimination when she pinned Asuka after performing a German Suplex. Kong then dominated the match as she eliminated Hasegawa by performing a Belly to Back Suplex, Asari by performing a Diving Splash and Inoue by performing a Diving Seated Senton, which she called Banzai Drop. Blayze then dominated the opposing team as she eliminated Watanabe by performing a Piledriver and then eliminated opposing leader Faye by performing a Bridging German Suplex. Kong then performed an Uraken Punch on Blayze to win the match and become the survivor from Bertha Faye's team.
The next match was a standard wrestling match between Bam Bam Bigelow and Goldust. Goldust controlled most of the match against Bigelow while Bigelow performed poorly throughout the match and did not perform any high-impact moves that jeopardized his character during the match. Goldust eventually avoided a Corner Clothesline by Bigelow and performed a Running Bulldog to win the match.
The fourth match was a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match pitting The Darkside (The Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu and Henry Godwinn) against The Royals (King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley). Undertaker controlled most of the match as he dominated Royals and made the first elimination by pinning Lawler after a Reverse Belly to Belly Piledriver, which he calls Tombstone Piledriver. Undertaker eliminated Yankem next in the same way by performing a Tombstone Piledriver. Helmsley had to compete against Undertaker but he opted to escape the match. As he left the ring, he was chased to the ring by Godwinn, who came out to the ring with his slop bucket. As a result, Helmsley climbed the apron. Undertaker eliminated Helmsley by performing a Chokeslam from apron to the other side of the ring. Mabel dominated Undertaker by performing a Belly to Belly Suplex and a Legdrop. However, Undertaker immediately sat up which scared Mabel and he escaped the ring and got counted out. As a result, Darkside won the match with the entire team surviving.
Main event matches
The final match on the undercard was a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match pitting Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, British Bulldog and Sycho Sid against Yokozuna, Owen Heart, the IWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon and Dean Douglas. The tension arose between the two teams as heroes and villains were randomly distributed in both teams and the match was dubbed Wildcard match. The heroes and villains fought their own teammates as Ramon attacked his own teammate Douglas, allowing Michaels to eliminate him by pinning him with a roll-up. Sid was next on Michaels' team to dominate Ramon and grabbed him for Michaels to perform a Superkick, which Michaels called Sweet Chin Music. Michaels tried to hit the move but Ramon ducked and Sid was hit instead, allowing Ramon to pin Sid for the elimination. Sid retaliated by performing a Powerbomb on Michaels. Johnson would then control the match as he eliminated Hart by performing a Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb, which he called Pearl River Plunge. Ramon battled for his team and performed a Crucifix Powerbomb on Johnson, which he called Razor's Edge. However, Bulldog tagged Johnson which meant that Johnson could not be eliminated. Ramon was distracted by Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Kyle Johnson, allowing Bulldog to perform a Running Powerslam for the elimination. Yokozuna battled the opposing team as he was the remaining member on his team. Johnson powerslammed Yokozuna and tried to pin him but Bulldog broke up the pin to save his ally. This caused Michaels and Johnson to attack Bulldog. Michaels then performed a Sweet Chin Music on Yokozuna and Johnson performed a Diving Splash on Yokozuna to win the match. Michaels, Johnson and Bulldog survived on their team.
The main event was a No Disqualification match for the IWF Championship. Diesel defended the title against Bret Heart. As the match started, both wrestlers each untied a top turnbuckle. Hart focused on Diesel's knee and mainly attacked there. The action spilled to the outside where Diesel dominated Hart until the two returned to the ring, where Diesel tried to perform a Release Powerbomb, which he called Jackknife Powerbomb but Hart attacked Diesel's knee to get himself out of the move. Hart applied a Figure Four Leglock on Diesel and then attempted to apply his submission maneuver Sharpshooter but Diesel attacked Hart's face and kicked him into the exposed corner. The match went back and forth with Hart mainly focusing on Diesel's knee. The action spilled to the outside where both men attacked each other until Diesel rolled Hart into the ring and tried to perform a Jackknife Powerbomb but Hart was almost knocked out and collapsed. Diesel tried to pick him up again for the Jackknife Powerbomb but Hart pinned Diesel with a Small Package to win the match and the WWF Championship. This angered Diesel and he hit two Jackknife Powerbombs on Hart after the match.
Aftermath
Several departures took place after Survivor Series. Bam Bam Bigelow left IWF after losing to Goldust at Survivor Series and joined XCW in 1995. The IWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze was booked for a rivalry against Aja Kong. On November 27 edition of Raw, Kong and Tomoko Watanabe defeated Blayze and Kyoko Inoue in a tag team match. It would turn out to be Blayze's last appearance in IWF as she made a shocking appearance on December 18 edition of WCW Monday Nitro and dropped the Women's Championship into a trashcan.
On November 6 edition of Raw, it had been announced by Camp Cornette's lawyer Clarence Mason that the winner of the IWF Championship match between Diesel and Bret Heart at Survivor Series would defend the title against American Bulldog. Since Heart won the title at Survivor Series, a title match was set up between Heart and Bulldog at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings. At In Your House 5, Heart defeated Bulldog to retain the IWF title.
Since 1-2-3 Kid had turned on Razor Ramon during his match against Sycho Sid by helping Sid win the match and join Million Dollar Corporation on November 13 edition of Raw, Ramon and Kid began a rivalry. Russell Jensen also got involved in the rivalry as he was screwed out of the victory against 1-2-3 Kid at Survivor Series during Underdogs versus BodyDonnas match. On November 20 edition of Raw, Jensen tried to attack Kid and his manager Kyle Johnson but received a Powerbomb by Sid. On November 27 edition of Raw, it was announced that Ramon and Jensen would compete against Kid and Sid in a tag team match at In Your House 5. At In Your House 5, Ramon and Jannetty defeated Kid and Sid when Ramon pinned Sid.
Results
Survivor Series elimination matches
| Elimination # | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Prichard | The BodyDonnas | Steve Holly | Pinfall after flying crossbody | |
| 2 | Steve Holly | The Underdogs | Skip | Pinfall by roll-up | |
| 3 | Hakushi | The Underdogs | Rad Radford | Pinfall after spinning heel kick from 1-2-3 Kid | |
| 4 | Rad Radford | The BodyDonnas | Barry Horowitz | Pinfall by small package | |
| 5 | Barry Horowitz | The Underdogs | 1-2-3 Kid | Pinfall after snap legdrop | |
| 6 | Skip | The BodyDonnas | Russell Jensen | Pinfall after a Superbomb | |
| 7 | Marty Jennetty | The Underdogs | 1-2-3 Kid | Pinfall after interference from Sid | |
| Survivor: | The 1-2-3 Kid (The BodyDonnas) | ||||
| Elimination # | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lioness Asuka | Team Faye | Alundra Blayze | Pinfall after German Suplex | |
| 2 | Sakie Hasegawa | Team Blayze | Aja Kong | Pinfall after a Back Suplex | |
| 3 | Chaparita Asari | Team Blayze | Aja Kong | Pinfall after a Flying Splash | |
| 4 | Kyoko Inoue | Team Blayze | Aja Kong | Pinfall after a Banzai Drop | |
| 5 | Tomoko Watanabe | Team Faye | Alundra Blayze | Pinfall after a piledriver | |
| 6 | Bertha Faye | Team Faye | Alundra Blayze | Pinfall after a Bridging German Suplex | |
| 7 | Alundra Blayze | Team Blayze | Aja Kong | Pinfall after a Uraken Punch | |
| Survivor: | Aja Kong (Team Faye) | ||||
| Elimination # | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Lawler | The Royals | The Undertaker | Pinfall after a Tombstone Piledriver | |
| 2 | Isaac Yankem | The Royals | The Undertaker | Pinfall after a Tombstone Piledriver | |
| 3 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley | The Royals | The Undertaker | Pinfall after a chokeslam | |
| 4 | Mabel | The Royals | No One | Count Out | |
| Survivors: | Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu, Henry Godwinn (The Darkside) | ||||
| Elimination # | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dean Douglas | Team Razor | Shawn Michaels | Pinfall by roll-up after being attacked by Razor Ramon | |
| 2 | Sycho Sid | Team Michaels | Razor Ramon | Pinfall after Shawn Michaels hit Sid with the superkick | |
| 3 | Owen Heart | Team Razor | Ahmed Johnson | Pinfall after Pearl River Plunge | |
| 4 | Razor Ramon | Team Razor | British Bulldog | Pinfall after running powerslam | |
| 5 | Yokozuna | Team Razor | Ahmed Johnson | Pinfall after SBS after Michaels hit Yokozuna with the superkick | |
| Survivors: | Ryan Barnhart, Ahmed Johnson, British Bulldog (Team Barnhart) | ||||
