TheOneBigWill
[This Space for Rent]
SURVIVING TRADITION: By TheOneBigWill
In honor of the 22nd annual Survivor Series coming up this Sunday, I decided to take a closer look at a Pay per view that was designed to be the second top show of the year for the World Wrestling Entertainment company.
The very first show was in 1987, and it was set around a unique build. Now, memory may be a bit fuzzy, but if I do recall this show was originally done on Thanksgiving. Which would've been on a Thursday. The tradition of staying on a Thursday went through for five years. In 1992 they switched the Pay per view to a Wednesday. Three years (1995) later they jumped to a Monday. Finally, in 1996 they went regular to what we know now, and landed (and stayed) on a Sunday. (These dates were taken from Wiki as well as an information site I keep. They DO seem a bit odd and honestly wrong, but I'm going from what 2 sites claim. Another theory is the event may have been live on those dates, but aired on another.)
Now, dispite the oddness of what day the event would fall on. The regular tradition and uniqueness of this Pay per view that I've always been in love with, is the Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination matches.
The first two years of the event, they held 5 against 5. In 1989 it dropped to 4 against 4. In 1990 they introduced a new concept match, where the Survivors of each winning team would advance to the "Main Event" called "Ultimate Elimination"; it lasted only that year.
In 1991 they held their first World Heavyweight Championship contest on the event. The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the title, it wasn't the Main Event. In 1992 they didn't have a single Survivor Series match, as they tried using the Pay per view as just a regular event, without any special type of Survivor match. They had an 8 man Tag team match, however it was if a member of a Tag team was pinned, that team was eliminated, not just that individual. In 1993, they went back to the elimination series matches, as well as the Tag elimination matches. In 1994 they held a Casket match as their Main Event, over the World title match as well as the Survivor matches.
From 1995 through-out most of the following events, the World Heavyweight title match would always be the Main Event. Also in 1995 they tried a "Wild Card" Survivor match, it randomly put face and heel on the same team. It lasted only that year. In 1996 they held only 3 Survivor matches, one that was thrown out almost instantly, and they held 3 singles matches, all 3 viewed more importantly than any of the traditional Survivor matches. 1996 would mark the year they began to pull away from promoting the Pay per view as surrounding the traditional Survivor matches.
In 1997, it marked the first year that the Pay per view would find a new "tradition". That would be that almost each year to follow, something majorly controversial would happen. In 97 it was the ending, in which Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart, via the Sharpshooter in a match that Mr. McMahon had ended without Hart knowing the true finish.
In 1998, it marked only the 2nd time the Pay per view wouldn't see ANY traditional Survivor elimination matches, nor would it see any style of multi-man tag matches. It was the year the Heavyweight title was vacant, and they had a one-night tournament to crown a new Champion. The Rock won via controversy.
In 1999, they tried going back to the original Survivor Series matches, it received mixed views. The Main Event surrounded a Triple Threat match that would've seen Steve Austin v. The Rock v. Triple H., however due to controversy once again taking part; Steve Austin would be ran down via a car, and the Big Show would take his place, winning the Championship. One year later in 2000, Steve Austin would come full circle to discover Triple H. was behind the hit-and-run. Controvery surrounded mildly during this p.p.v. as Kurt Angle retained his title against the Undertaker, thanks in part to a semi-look-alike brother that interfered, helping Angle pick up the win. Austin also dropped Triple H., who was in a car at the time, off a crane.
2001 saw a unification of W.W.F/E. Championships and W.C.W. Championships, as well as the company being on the line in the Main Event. It was the stars of the W.W.F/E. taking on the stars of E.C.W. & W.C.W. collectively. The controversy surrounding that finish, was trying to figure out who the "mole" was within the W.C.W./E.C.W. camp. It was Kurt Angle.
In 2002 they once again pulled completely away from Survivor Series matches, only having one 6 man Tag team elimination Tables match. However it began a new match type.. the Elimination Chamber, which saw 6 men enter and only one surviving to become the World Heavyweight Champion, the returning Shawn Michaels.
In 2003-2004 each brand promoted one Survivor Series, 5 on 5 elimination match. In 2005 Raw went head-to-head with Smackdown, in the only Survivor match on the card. Finally in 2006-2007, as well as 2008 they've held 2-3 Survivor Series matches per show, allowing stars from Raw, Smackdown & E.C.W. to all join together in 5 on 5 elimination action.
Now, coming full circle the reason for this column is to take a closer look at whether or not the Pay per view has lost any of it's respect. In my personal opinion I believe it has. You see, when it started it was built as a unique style show, that had Tag team elimination matches as it's only main source of promoting. Now you almost don't even see a Survivor Series match being promoted, so much as any random and normal Heavyweight title match, or even random grudge match.
I think the W.W.E. "raped" what the Survivor Series name stood for, and turned it into a form of a bastard child as it were. They took something that was unique and one of a kind, and slowly switched it to being just any other regular and normal Pay per view, without a unique reason for being.
Sure they allow Survivor matches to remain on the card, but as you can clearly see from the past 3 years, if not longer, they don't put any effort into forming these teams any longer. And in a ways, it's almost as if they just literally will randomly take the bigger names and just mix them together without a purpose, other than to claim they're still going through with regular tradition.
While some may not be as concerned with this, or see it as any type of an issue, I do. The W.W.E. has or has had anywhere from 14-15 Pay per views a year. Usually 2-3 of those come within 3 weeks apart, which gives no length of time for any meaningful build-up. In my opinion, if you're going to run more than 6 Pay per views a year, you'd at least think they'd take a handful of them and keep them as the higher, more meaningful events of the year.
Once upon a time, it was the Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Survivor Series and Wrestlemania. They had King of the Ring for 10 years, before pulling it as well. In 1995 they added In Your House p.p.v.'s that would happen once every month a "big name" Pay per view wasn't. In 2004 they began adding even more, causing some monthes to see 2-3 p.p.v.'s throughout.
So once again, I stand firmly behind my belief that the company has raped and bastardized what was once a top 2 Pay per view, and turned it into a meaningless and randomly filled show that takes up another month.
In honor of the 22nd annual Survivor Series coming up this Sunday, I decided to take a closer look at a Pay per view that was designed to be the second top show of the year for the World Wrestling Entertainment company.
The very first show was in 1987, and it was set around a unique build. Now, memory may be a bit fuzzy, but if I do recall this show was originally done on Thanksgiving. Which would've been on a Thursday. The tradition of staying on a Thursday went through for five years. In 1992 they switched the Pay per view to a Wednesday. Three years (1995) later they jumped to a Monday. Finally, in 1996 they went regular to what we know now, and landed (and stayed) on a Sunday. (These dates were taken from Wiki as well as an information site I keep. They DO seem a bit odd and honestly wrong, but I'm going from what 2 sites claim. Another theory is the event may have been live on those dates, but aired on another.)
Now, dispite the oddness of what day the event would fall on. The regular tradition and uniqueness of this Pay per view that I've always been in love with, is the Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination matches.
The first two years of the event, they held 5 against 5. In 1989 it dropped to 4 against 4. In 1990 they introduced a new concept match, where the Survivors of each winning team would advance to the "Main Event" called "Ultimate Elimination"; it lasted only that year.
In 1991 they held their first World Heavyweight Championship contest on the event. The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the title, it wasn't the Main Event. In 1992 they didn't have a single Survivor Series match, as they tried using the Pay per view as just a regular event, without any special type of Survivor match. They had an 8 man Tag team match, however it was if a member of a Tag team was pinned, that team was eliminated, not just that individual. In 1993, they went back to the elimination series matches, as well as the Tag elimination matches. In 1994 they held a Casket match as their Main Event, over the World title match as well as the Survivor matches.
From 1995 through-out most of the following events, the World Heavyweight title match would always be the Main Event. Also in 1995 they tried a "Wild Card" Survivor match, it randomly put face and heel on the same team. It lasted only that year. In 1996 they held only 3 Survivor matches, one that was thrown out almost instantly, and they held 3 singles matches, all 3 viewed more importantly than any of the traditional Survivor matches. 1996 would mark the year they began to pull away from promoting the Pay per view as surrounding the traditional Survivor matches.
In 1997, it marked the first year that the Pay per view would find a new "tradition". That would be that almost each year to follow, something majorly controversial would happen. In 97 it was the ending, in which Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart, via the Sharpshooter in a match that Mr. McMahon had ended without Hart knowing the true finish.
In 1998, it marked only the 2nd time the Pay per view wouldn't see ANY traditional Survivor elimination matches, nor would it see any style of multi-man tag matches. It was the year the Heavyweight title was vacant, and they had a one-night tournament to crown a new Champion. The Rock won via controversy.
In 1999, they tried going back to the original Survivor Series matches, it received mixed views. The Main Event surrounded a Triple Threat match that would've seen Steve Austin v. The Rock v. Triple H., however due to controversy once again taking part; Steve Austin would be ran down via a car, and the Big Show would take his place, winning the Championship. One year later in 2000, Steve Austin would come full circle to discover Triple H. was behind the hit-and-run. Controvery surrounded mildly during this p.p.v. as Kurt Angle retained his title against the Undertaker, thanks in part to a semi-look-alike brother that interfered, helping Angle pick up the win. Austin also dropped Triple H., who was in a car at the time, off a crane.
2001 saw a unification of W.W.F/E. Championships and W.C.W. Championships, as well as the company being on the line in the Main Event. It was the stars of the W.W.F/E. taking on the stars of E.C.W. & W.C.W. collectively. The controversy surrounding that finish, was trying to figure out who the "mole" was within the W.C.W./E.C.W. camp. It was Kurt Angle.
In 2002 they once again pulled completely away from Survivor Series matches, only having one 6 man Tag team elimination Tables match. However it began a new match type.. the Elimination Chamber, which saw 6 men enter and only one surviving to become the World Heavyweight Champion, the returning Shawn Michaels.
In 2003-2004 each brand promoted one Survivor Series, 5 on 5 elimination match. In 2005 Raw went head-to-head with Smackdown, in the only Survivor match on the card. Finally in 2006-2007, as well as 2008 they've held 2-3 Survivor Series matches per show, allowing stars from Raw, Smackdown & E.C.W. to all join together in 5 on 5 elimination action.
Now, coming full circle the reason for this column is to take a closer look at whether or not the Pay per view has lost any of it's respect. In my personal opinion I believe it has. You see, when it started it was built as a unique style show, that had Tag team elimination matches as it's only main source of promoting. Now you almost don't even see a Survivor Series match being promoted, so much as any random and normal Heavyweight title match, or even random grudge match.
I think the W.W.E. "raped" what the Survivor Series name stood for, and turned it into a form of a bastard child as it were. They took something that was unique and one of a kind, and slowly switched it to being just any other regular and normal Pay per view, without a unique reason for being.
Sure they allow Survivor matches to remain on the card, but as you can clearly see from the past 3 years, if not longer, they don't put any effort into forming these teams any longer. And in a ways, it's almost as if they just literally will randomly take the bigger names and just mix them together without a purpose, other than to claim they're still going through with regular tradition.
While some may not be as concerned with this, or see it as any type of an issue, I do. The W.W.E. has or has had anywhere from 14-15 Pay per views a year. Usually 2-3 of those come within 3 weeks apart, which gives no length of time for any meaningful build-up. In my opinion, if you're going to run more than 6 Pay per views a year, you'd at least think they'd take a handful of them and keep them as the higher, more meaningful events of the year.
Once upon a time, it was the Royal Rumble, Summerslam, Survivor Series and Wrestlemania. They had King of the Ring for 10 years, before pulling it as well. In 1995 they added In Your House p.p.v.'s that would happen once every month a "big name" Pay per view wasn't. In 2004 they began adding even more, causing some monthes to see 2-3 p.p.v.'s throughout.
So once again, I stand firmly behind my belief that the company has raped and bastardized what was once a top 2 Pay per view, and turned it into a meaningless and randomly filled show that takes up another month.