Too much of everything

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Late 1991 to early 1992 saw some popular names in circulation in the WWE. Amongst them were Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Legion of Doom, The British Bulldog, Sid Justice, The Nasty Boys, The Mountie, Sgt. Slaughter, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, Virgil, Bret "Hitman" Hart amongst others. The 5th Annual Survivor Series featured some of the above names in some thrilling matches. The only negative thing, is that the heels dominated this PPV. My favourite match from the card, is the 3 on 3 match with Legion of Doom and the Big Boss Man vs. IRS and The Natural Disasters. L.O.D truly were afraid of no one and they show this when they squared up to a tag team of a combined weight of 852 pounds. The match was meant to include Sid Justice on the baby face team and Jake Roberts on the heel team. For reasons I don't know, they had to withdraw which was a pity. Hulk Hogan defending his title against The Undertaker was building quite a bit of heat, especially with Ric Flair claiming to be the real champion. The resulting match was very good from this Survivor Series card. The other 3 matches are great. Roddy Piper and Ric Flair were Captains of their own teams, they were having a story angle at the time. We get such a difference in Wrestling styles and it makes for very good viewing. Bret Hart was enjoying his early success as a singles wrestler. At the time in November 1991, he was the holder of the Intercontinental title. The match concludes with an ending I knew all too well would happen! The Rockers and The Bushwhackers teamed up against The Nasty Boys and The Beverly Brothers in a thrilling encounter that was a bit one- sided. There is one incident which would lead to The Rockers breaking up soon after..... Hacksaw Jim Duggan captained his team against the Viking character, The Berzerker. I enjoyed it, although it would have been better if Ricky Steamboat had been involved as he was originally meant to be. A most satisfying PPV and a darn sight better than the previous years Survivor Series.

In terms of the overall event, the 1991 Survivor Series is middling at best. The tag matches the event features are hit-or-miss, and the WWF is still figuring out what the future may hold. Plus, this event seems like more of a push towards the "This Tuesday In Texas" event coming up soon after this one. Time after time, that event was referenced and promoted, making this one seem like a place-holder.What makes this a rather iconic event, though, was the momentous decision to (spoiler alert!) have Hulk Hogan drop the WWF title to Undertaker. Besides the obvious "odd feel" of this move (happening so suddenly), it was actually a big step forward for the WWF to take. In finally pushing a new, popular character (which Undertaker indeed was at the time), they finally showed the capability to react to change.Overall, Survivor Series '91 was about as up-and-down of an event as you can find. A lot of average performances surrounding the huge Hogan/Taker match.

Well, thank goodness we're finished with that Iraq nonsense that'd been going on all year long. The big story coming int this was that NWA legend Ric Flair had just come to the WWE, and he'd bought the WCW Title with him, claiming to be the real World Champion. In the meantime, The Ultimate Warrior had left and Sgt Slaughter had rediscovered his patriotic streak, shedding himself of Iraqi sympathizer Col Mustafa. Hogan, in the meantime, had moved on to a huge WWE Title match with the undefeated Undertaker.This was not a great PPV, but had some moments, including the Undertaker's World Title victory and Ric Flair's PPV debut for the WWE.The night started with Ric Flair teaming up with Ted DiBiase, The Mountie and The Warlord to defeat Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Virgil and The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. This one took forever before the first elimination, Smith, who was pinned by Flair after an axe handle. Things were squared up a while later as Hart interfered, costing the Warlord a pin at the hands of Roddy Piper. Things would end rather suddenly though with everyone except Ric Flair being counted out after a brawl erupted. Your winner and sole survivor Ric Flair.Next up saw Team Slaughter: Sgt Slaughter, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Texas Tornado and Tito Santana pick up a shut out victory over Col Mustafa, The Bezerker, Skinner and Hercules. Consider yourself emancipated from your unpatriotic friends Slaughter.Next up came the big match of the night as The undefeated Undertaker, capitalising on interference from his manager Paul Bearer, Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan pinned Hulk Hogan to win the title. This was not a great spectacle as a match, but it did the job. Taker winning to stunned silence. This match set up a rematch 9 days later at the Tuesday in Texas PPV.This was followed by The Nasty Boys: BRian Knobbs and Jerry Sags and the Beverley Brothers Blake and Beau defeating The Rockers: Shawn Micheals and Marty Janetty and THe Bushwakers Butch and Luke. Bea Beverly was the only casualty in a decisive victory.Last match of the night saw The Legion of Doom: Hawk and Animal and the Big Bossman defeat The Natural Disasters: Earthquake and Typhoon and Irwin R Shyster. This was the first three on three match in Survivor Series history. Bossman was eliminated earlier, but the Legion took care of all three on their own, pinning IRS after a flying clothesline.Well, not much to really say here. The Undertaker title win was meaningless as he lost it back to Hogan at Tuesday in Texas. Hogan and Flair never happened (in the WWE) on PPV so there was no build there either. So all we really did was close out the Slaughter/ Mustafa rivalry and kickstart a later rivalry, based around the Intercontinental Championship with Piper, The Mountie and Hart.

*SPOILERS* This one was highly entertaining, if not pointless. It's as though nothing was settled and the fans weren't satisfied, so they tacked "Tuesday in Texas" on to make us happy.The opening match had its moments, like Rowdy Roddy Piper getting a great push by eliminating the Warlord. Once again, the British Bulldog got the Survivor Series shaft. And I was thoroughly dissatisfied with the ending. Imagine if they had let the match run its course and we got treated to a 45-minute marathon, like in the past? Ric Flair and Bret Hart could have put on a real show at the end of it.Hacksaw's team vs. Mustafa's team: I liked watching good, popular wrestlers who had mediocre careers (Duggan, Slaughter, Tito Santana and Kerry von Erich) dominate a group of washed-up jobbers. This was Skinner's first pay-per-view, and I think he will one day get cult status for his Brooklyn Brawler-like WWF career. In one vignet, he actually said "I've won more than fifty percent of my WWF matches."The Hogan-Undertaker match was just about the most boring main event ever.As for the last match, the Big Bossman got the shaft, but I liked watching Earthquake stand up for Typhoon and walk out of the match. Bossman stopping IRS from fleeing was great. Giving the Legion of Doom and Big Bossman a post-match celebration was a fine ending to an entertaining, adequate pay-per-view.