Scott
Random question on the wild card match of Survivor Series in 1995...
What was the deal with that match? Was there a shortage of faces? Not the first or last time that foes had to co-exist but just seems a weird mix?
Were there plans after this match that didn't happen? As far as I know the heels in this match stayed heels and the same goes for the faces...
Thanks as always!
It was just a thing they were doing to try something different, based off similar deals in lucha libre. Nothing more to it than that.
I always thought that match was a cool concept, and should have been tried again. Goes against the whole Survivor Series concept to a degree, but it was different.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was brilliant. They should have continue with that type of match since it was something different.
ReplyDeleteThey should absolutely do another wild card match at some stage.
ReplyDeleteFun match. Only Michaels/Douglas interaction of any real note. Will always look back on that and wonder what might have been with Ahmed Johnson.
ReplyDeleteBest part of the match, Razor gets ready for his middle rope bulldog... An inexperienced Ahmed gets up and walks to the other side of the ring... Razor just shrugs and steps down from the ropes.
ReplyDeleteI imagine after Shawn's Playgirl shoot he was ready to tackle the big Johnson.
ReplyDeleteIt was bill watts' concept. He was let go before the show though
ReplyDeleteThey explained it that new fan-friendly president Gorilla Monsoon thought it would be "neat". The guys had cool moments in it too, like face HBK accidentally superkicking his heel partners Sid, and then just sort of shrugging it off like he didn't care (without Michael Cole pointing it out to the audience like we're a bunch of morons that can't see for ourselves). Or Bulldog sort of wanting to celebrate with AJ and HBK as the survivors, but them turning on him.
ReplyDeleteKnow what would have been cool at Survivor Series 1995?
ReplyDeleteBret Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, & Jim Neidhart vs.
Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, & 1-2-3 Kid
another one-off survivor series concept that was great was the 1990 finals match where all the survivors moved on to another match. It was a cool idea.
ReplyDeleteThat match rocked. Still holds up well today
ReplyDeleteSo many of these "random questions" make me think, "Are we to believe it's some sort of MAGIC xylophone?"
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the reference.
ReplyDeleteI was at that one live. It was awesome!
ReplyDeleteNo real point to my post, but that's ok.
It's from TV.
ReplyDeleteI understand where it comes from. I don't understand how it applies.
ReplyDeleteSemi-TJ but speaking of matches that hold up well, I watched Royal Rumble '93 last night. Well, just Shawn/Marty for the IC title and Razor/Bret for the WWF title. Loved both of those matches.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be the perfect thing to do today - there are about a million midcarders just floating around doing nothing, may as well give them a fun little match like this.
ReplyDeleteZiggler, Sheamus, Rose, Swagger, Bo, Cesaro, Miz, Fandango, Kofi, Ryder. There, ten guys of varying "importance" and different personalities. Maybe throw in, like, Show and Hornswoggle to really mix things up.
These type questions remind me of that line. How much more specific and descriptive can I be?
ReplyDeleteWell the original line was a nerdy nitpick that even though we're accepting as given that a cat's skeleton can be played like a xylophone, the idea that the same rib struck twice in succession would create 2 separate tones is a bit hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteSo I don't see how that really applies to this question about the Survivor Series.
Is it just nerdy nitpicking in general?
that was a pretty decent show overall, the opening jobber SS match was cool with Marty hitting a top rope powerbomb on Candido I think and of course the Bret vs Diesel match was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome actually
ReplyDeleteThey added the Wild Card match because the previous month, MLB had it's first Wild Card teams.
ReplyDeleteThe closest we got to a Lethal Lottery in WWF; always wanted to see them do it again. Maybe next year for the 20th anniversary. Probably not, but like people are saying, it was something different, and we could use some of that now.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it would have played well in 2013, based on feuds of the time.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Goldust, & The Big Show vs.
Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Dean Ambrose
CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, & Big E Langston vs.
Ryback, Curtis Axel, Antonio Cesaro, & Jack Swagger
Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, & Kane vs.
The Miz, R-Truth, & The Usos
Have Wyatt, Harper, & Kane advance and face Bryan & Punk (survivors of their respective teams).
Yes, just nerdy nitpicking in general about hyper-specific stuff.
ReplyDeleteHey, I do it, too.
Bret vs Razor is underrated. I like that year's Rumble match too. Lots of fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteI saw that match when I was 12. I remember feeling really bad for Razor having to team with all the bad guys. I was a dork.
ReplyDeleteRumble itself was duuuullll
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised WWF never redid the Wild Card gimmick again because I thought there was a lot of buzz for the gimmick match to return. I had a wrestling site around that time and one of the questions that was e-mailed to me a lot was asking if I knew what the Wild Card match would be for the '96 Survivor Series.
ReplyDeleteIt would have gone like this, "Shawn Michaelsbeats the big guy with a super kick that wouldn't earn a green belt at the YMCA."
ReplyDeleteThe "oh, well," shrug Shawn gives is utterly hysterical.
ReplyDeleteThey do realize they could just put the belt on Dean Ambrose right now and business wouldn't really change at all don't they?
ReplyDeleteHonestly just put it on him next Monday.
From what I heard, the Wild Card was an idea of Bill Watts', who set the match but then left before he could really explain what he planned to accomplish with it. And this was the days when PPVs wouldn't just get re-booked on the fly, they were set weeks in advance.
ReplyDeleteIt was neat, but I can see why the idea was dropped. Even as a kid, the idea that all the babyfaces and all the heels would just magically gravitate to one side or the other sort of stretched credibility. Also, it's not a match you can really hype in advance because you're not "supposed" to know who's going to be involved. It doesn't add anything to business the same way that most tournaments don't draw either. You can't sell a show on hypotheticals.
ReplyDeleteTeam Raw vs. Team Smackdown kind of did it, with heels and faces teaming.
ReplyDeleteI don't care.. I like that match. Actually, I like most of the Survivor Series elimination style matches. They are looked down upon by pretentious douche bag wrestling elitists but I like the concept and there are only a few stinkers that I can think of off the top of my head. Yeah, the quick eliminations do not make much sense from a realistic standpoint, but who cares? It's fucking professional wrestling.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
ReplyDeleteNever really understood that, though - seems like a Heel GM would want an all-heel team, and a Face GM would want an all-face team. Talent aside, in kayfabe, wouldn't the GMs want people they could "trust"?
As a Taekwondo coach who runs a school I don't think too many martial arts schools have "a superkick" as part of their curriculum haha
ReplyDeleteSurSer 95 is a really great show, thanks in no small part to the elimination matches. If they're done well, they're great - if they're done poorly, they're not so great. Simple.
ReplyDelete