Rebooking Survivor Series 1993

[MMK]

SURVIVOR SERIES 1993 AKA Where it all went wrong. This is one of the worst pay per views in history. If any Survivor Seris needs to be rebooked this is it. They turned Doink face, they had Shawn Micheals teaming with 3 masked jobbers, way too many Hart family members when 2 was suffice, and of course Bushwackers and Rappers in clown suits in place of Doink, this event was riddled with problems. So let's sort them out and fixt this train wreck up.

BAND OF BROTHERS
Bret The Hitman Hart, The Rocket Owen Hart, The Steiner Brothers
VS
The KINGS COURT
Jerry The King Lawler, Doink The Clown, The Quebecers

(Bret and Lawler had feuded since the King Of The Ring and were scheduled to compete at this event but Lawler had to back out due to real life legal problems. But no matter, this match can still go forward because in my world Doink is still a heel and he still has his clown clones, meaning one of them could take Lawlers place. Doink was great in the role of a heel court jester alongside King Lawler. Their double teaming Bret led to the reemergence of Owen Hart onto the scene to help his brother. Speaking of brothers, the Stiners and The Quebecers were feuding for the tag team titles which the Quebecers would later defend at the Royal Rumble against The Hart Brothers. So pairing the Harts and Stieners, two pairs of real life brothers, all of whom wear singlets and are great technical wrestlers, makes for a great survivor series team.)

SOLE SURVIVOR: Bret Hart
(Bret still inadvertantly gets Owen eliminated resulting in a post match dispute between the two which plants the seeds for their eventual split. One of the few things this ppv got right in the original)


THE RAZORS EDGE
Razor Ramon, Marty Jannetty, The 123 Kid, The Rock N Roll Express
vs
THE HEARTBREAKERS
Shawn Michaels, Diesel, The Model, The Heavenly Bodies

(This match combines a whole bunch of feuds. First is Razor vs Shawn over who is the true IC champion, but also Razor vs Diesel as well as Razor vs Martel. Of course we also have the former tag partners and forever rivals Shawn and Marty on opposite sides with their new respective tag team partners Diesel and The Kid. The RocknRoll Express were always a dream opponent for The Rockers, so pairing them up with Marty to take on Shawn is as close as we'll get to having all 4 in the ring together. Meanwhile the Heavenly Bodies nicely round out the pretty boy theme of Shawns team.

SOLE SURVIVOR: Shawn Michales
(This was Shawn's return to the WWF after 2 months of, so we kickstart his big push with a win which further fuels his belief that he is the rightful IC champion and not Razor Ramon. Finish sees Diesel intentially get himself DQ'd by hitting Razor with the fake IC title so that Shawn can get the easy pinfall win.)

THE GUNNSLINGERS
The Undertaker, The Macho Man & The Smoking Gunns,
vs
THE BOMB SQUAD
Adam Bomb, Crush, Bam Bam Bigelow, Giant Gonzales

(Always thought Adam Bomb, Crush and Bigelow would have made for great Taker rivals but it never came to be. Crush had recently turned heel and began a feud with Macho. I originally had Macho and Crush included in the next match but that left this match as a six man tag (the roster was getting just a little thin by late 93). So I left Macho with Taker and the Gunns. I feel all four go well together as they all have long coats and brimmed hats, giving their team a real western cowboy feel. Plus pariing the deadman with the macho man just writes itself and its a pairing we never got to see.

SOUL Survivor: The Undertaker
Finish sees Crush and Savage brawl to the back to keep their feud going while Taker finishes Adam Bomb of with a tombstone for the win.

TEAM U.S.A
Lex Luger, Tatanka, Men on a Mission
vs
THE FOREIGN LEGION
Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, The Headshrinkers

This combines the Luger/Yoko and Luger/Borga feuds as well as Borga/Tatanka who both had undefeated streaks going at the time. The Headshrinkers are Yokozuna's real life relatives making them a logical choice as teammates while Men on A Mission provide some much needed size for the Lex side going up against the likes of Yokozuna and The Headshrinkers.

Sole Survivor: Yokozuna
(First of all, in my world that whole Hulk Hogan beating Yokozuna in a few seconds thing never happened, and Yoko has maintained his unbeatable status since his debut which he continues at the survivor series. Luger puts up a valiant effort in the end, but thanks to some interference from Crush, Yokozuna gets the win. Yoko and Crush beat down Luger post match but Macho Man returns with a chair to make the save and the heels hightail out of the ring.)

THE GRANDE FINALE
TEAM HART & SOUL vs BEAUTY & THE BEAST
Bret Hart and The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels & YOKOZUNA
(Seeing as how the roster was getting so thin in 93 I could only muster 4 survivor series matches, this seems like a good event to bring back the grande finale. Bret and Shawn carry most of the match, putting on a technical showcase while the two larger superstars come in for the hot tag. This match also gives us a preview of Yoko's nesxt two opponents in Undertaker and Bret Hart who he would meet at The Rumble and Mania respectively. A tired, and possibly scared, Yoko gets himself intentionally counted out not wanting to risk injury competing in multiple matchups seeing as how he is the champion and can't risk anything even if it's non-title. A furious Shawn is left all alone and taps out to the sharpshooter.
Post Match: Diesel arrives to even the odds and we get a glimpse at the future of the new generation all in the ring together for the first time as Diesel and Taker battle in one corner while Shawn and Bret fight it out in the other. The faces clear the ring of the heels and celebrate to close out the show. The Hitman and The Deadman are your sole survivors.

SOUL Survivors: The Undertaker and Bret Hart

 

[No Count Pup]

My opinion diametrically opposes yours. This was my favorite Survivor Series event. The opening was oodles of fun. The sequence when the 1-2-3 Kid and Jannetty scored the two sudden falls was awesome. The Harts vs. the Knights was booked perfectly. The Bret and Owen exchange was flawless. Okay, the Clowns vs. the Bam Bams was filler. But every show has filler. The tag match with the Heavenly Bodies vs. The Rockin Roll Express was quite good actually. And the main event delivered. Fans got what they wanted to see: Lex pinned Ludvig. Mr. red, white, and blue sent the fans home happy and the pay-per-view audience got a better pay off for Survivor Series than they got for SummerSlam.

The only thing I would change is the opener. Jannetty and the 1-2-3 would have scored their falls early on. Diesel and IRS would then mount a comeback. The final two would be Razor and IRS. Razor would win the fall, with Schyster's foot on the ropes. IRS would be furious. Backstage IRS would hit 1-2-3 Kid with a briefcase as a way of angering Razor and building the IC Title feud.

 

[Saeros]

I agree with No Count Pup. This event was quite well booked. It also did something which doesnt happen anymore. It set up long term booking for so many feuds and many which culminated in Wrestlemania matches.

Bret and Owen
Undertaker and Yoko
Doink and Bam Bam
Macho Man and Crush
123 Kid and Marty Jannetty formed a decent tag team after this and won the titles in January 94.

While not happening on the SS card the Razor - HBK Feud started around this time aswell due to the IC Title battle royal happening just before.

Nowdays WM feuds dont start until after January. Many of which dont culminate at WM and carry on after.

I always found SS to be a good start to build up to a big WM match. Not for the World title that can start around RR but for many other big matches SS was/is the perfect time to start.

For the booking decisions i rate this card highly and dont feel it needs to be altered much. Just change HBK's "Knights" to actual wrestlers without masks.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

As already noted, WWE was actually trying to use this ppv to build for the future; unfortunately the card ultimately looks bad, historically, due to extenuating circumstances.

• Savage was a replacement for Mr Perfect, who suffered a relapse of his back injury just before the ppv; Savage was originally not booked to perform
• Shawn Michaels had been suspended and as such also was not originally booked to compete
• Jerry Lawler, as mentioned by the OP, WAS booked to compete - in a match advertised on tv as co-main event, no less - but serious legal issues prevented him from appearing; thus Michaels was a last-minute replacement
• WWE had booked themselves into a bit of a corner with the Summerslam stipulation that Lex Luger would not get another title match if he didn't win the title at SSlam, hence there was no single-match main event, unlike the previous two years
• it was clear, by the finish of the ppv and the storylines on tv, that WWE was planning for Luger v Borga - I believe this would have taken place at Wrestlemania, and Bret Hart would therefore have been the sole winner of the Royal Rumble; unfortunately, Borga got injured just prior to the Royal Rumble and never appeared in WWE again.
• Doink's turn was a surprise, but was almost definitely done because he constantly got positive reactions on tv (the biggest surprise to me (I'm watching Raw from the start on the network) is how good a wrestler Doink was, as I'd only seen him in shitty ppv appearances)

Also based on how tv was progressing, I believe (though I'm merely speculating here) that Mr Perfect was about to turn heel; after Summerslam, he was noticeably more aggressive and heelish in his mannerisms when he appeared on Raw; I do think that he would have turned at Survivor Series, leading to an Intercontinental Title feud with Razor Ramon, where he would have taken IRS' spot at Royal Rumble; as aforementioned, he got injured and wouldn't wrestle in WWE again until 2002.

If I had to change anything, the booking of the 4 Doinks match was attrocious; why not have Doink, Men on a Mission and another wrestler against Bigelow, Booger and the Headshrinkers? Indeed, since Tatanka was switched out of the main event, why not have him as the fourth Doink? The Bushwackers were beyond useless in WWE, especially by now

Also I'd have kept Pierre in the main event instead of Crush; I'd have had Crush's return just before Survivor Series (or even just after), which would have given more of a legit reason to not have either him or Savage initially booked to wrestle on the card

And presuming Shawn Michaels took Lawler's spot, I would have scrapped the family feud part of the storyline as it ended up making no sense

Nb - to the OP, the reason it made sense to include Bruce and Keith was that the basis of Lawler's feud with Bret involved a lot of verbal cheap shots and insults towards the Hart family, but particularly the parents. So it stands to reason that Bret would invite his brothers, acknowledged wrestlers, to gain revenge against the King

 

[King Patrick Star]

I love your thread and I love your card, MMK. Here's my version.

The Four Doinks – The Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch) and Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) (with Oscar)
vs.
The Beasts – Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger, and the Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) (with Luna Vachon and Afa)

The Hart Family – Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, and Keith Hart) (with Stu Hart)
vs.
The King and His Kinights – Jerry the King Lawler, and the Knights (the Red Knight, the Blue Knight, and the Black Knight)

The Madness – Macho Man, Randy Savage, the Undertaker, and the Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (with Paul Bearer)
vs.
The Sexy Boys – Shawn Michaels, Crush, and the Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard) (with Jim Cornette)

The Bad Guys – Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, Marty Jannetty, and the 1–2–3 Kid
vs.
The Million Dollar Team – Irwin R. Schyster, Diesel, Rick Martel, and Adam Bomb (with Harvey Wippleman)

The All-Americans – Lex Luger, Tatanka and the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott)
vs.
The Foreign Fanatics – Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and the Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) (with Jim Cornette, Johnny Polo, and Mr. Fuji)

I tried to keep everyone that was on the original card on my version. Instead of four 4-on-4 traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match, and the SMW World Tag Team Championship Title match, I made it five 4-on-4 matches. I took the 4 SuperStars who were “injured” and kept them in their respective matches. I took the 4 “replacements” and added them to the SMW World Tag Team Championship Title match and changed it to a traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match.

 

[Cub McCallister]

This was an average event, I would like to do one better if I could:

1) Ramon, Kidd, & The Rock 'n' Roll Express Vs IRS, Adam Bomb & Heavenly Bodies
8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match. Nice little opener here with Razor and the Kidd getting the win and surviving the match.

2) The Smoking Gunns Vs The Nasty Boys Vs The Natural Disasters Vs Beverly Brothers
Four Corner Tag Team Elimination Number 1 Contenders Tag Team Title Match. I would add this to the card with the Gunns getting the victory and moving on to the tag titles.

3) Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Plugg & Jannetty Vs Michaels, Diesel, Repo Man & Rick Martel
8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match. I would have this play out with it coming down to Hart and Diesel with Diesel getting the win and being the sole survivor.

4) Doink, MOM & Virgil Vs Bam Bam Bigelow, The Headshrinkers & Kwang
8 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match. This could of been better than what we originally had with Bigelow and the headshrinkers being the survivors.

5) Luger, Undertaker, Tatanka & The Steiner Vs Yokozuna, Crush Borga & Quebecers.
10 Man Survivor Series Elimination Match. This should of been 10 men in my opinion with Crush being counted out due to fighting with Savage, Taker being knocked outand counted out of the ring and Luger being the sole survivor of the match by beating the odds.

That I feel would be a better card.