Survivor Series Flashback - November 23

- Date: November 23, 1994 (20 years ago)

- Significance: The infamous throw-in-the-towel angle where Owen Hart tricked his mother, Helen Hart, to cost Bret Hart the WWF Title against Bob Backlund. Backlund was the ultimate transitional champion, as he dropped the title to Kevin Nash (Diesel) just a few days later at a house show in New York City.

The actual main event of the 1994 Survivor Series was The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna in a casket match with referee Chuck Norris.

- READ MORE: Back-story on the title change and change in plans for VIP members HERE.

WWF SURVIVOR SERIES PPV
November 23, 1994
San Antonio, Tex. at Freeman Coliseum
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

The pay–per–view opened with locker room pep talks among each of the teams. Gorilla Monsoon & Vince McMahon then opened the program with a full-fledged Southwestern theme.

(1) Razor Ramon & 1–2–3 Kid & British Bulldog & The Head Shrinkers (Fatu & Sionne) defeated Diesel & Shawn Michaels & Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart & Jeff Jarrett at 21:38 when the entire heel team was counted out of the ring.

Michaels's sported a pony tail half way down his back. Michaels was the vocal captain of his team while Ramon was for his. Kid began against Owen with a loud "1–2–3" chant from the crowd at the start. Owen tagged out to Neidhart before locking up with Kid. Kid tagged out to Sionne. When Jarrett faced off against Owen, Owen demanded Jarrett tag out to Bulldog. Bulldog took early offense. After Owen tagged out to Neidhart, Bulldog eventually tagged to Fatu, who hit Neidhart with a top rope headbutt. Samu then tried to take off his boots, which according to the storyline he's not used to wrestling with. After slamming Jarrett, Fatu tagged out to Ramon which received a pop

As Ramon came in at 7:00, McMahon wondered aloud why Michaels had not entered the ring yet. After a few minutes of Jarrett vs. Ramon, Ramon tagged in Kid and threw him onto Jarrett at 10:35 for a near fall. Jarrett locked an abdominal stretch on Kid. At 12:20, Owen and Fatu tagged in and Michaels and Diesel had yet to tag in. At 13:12, Diesel tagged in for the first time and blindsided Fatu with a clothesline and a jackknife for a three count at 13:26.

Kid entered for his team and hit Diesel with a top rope sunset flip, but Diesel grabbed him by the neck and dropped him with another jackknife for a three count at 14:05. At 14:37, Diesel put Sionne away with a somewhat sloppy jackknife for the third elimination.

Bulldog then entered the ring. Diesel sent Bulldog to the ringside floor with a boot to the face. Bulldog lay next to Kid, who was still lying motionless on the mat. Jarrett and Owen beat on Bulldog at ringside, who was counted out, as Ramon snuck in the ring and rolled up Diesel for a surprise near fall at 15:45. Ramon hit Diesel with at top rope bulldog at 16:15 for a false finish near fall. Michaels cheerleaded from the apron, telling Diesel to jackknife Ramon. Diesel continued to beat on Ramon, but at 18:08 Ramon made his comeback and signalled for the Razor's Edge, but Diesel backdropped out of it. Michaels walked half way across the ring apron and told Diesel to hit Ramon with the jackknife. Diesel finally jackknifed Ramon, at which point Michaels demanded a tag to Diesel, who left the ring with a disgusted look. Michaels then talked Diesel back into the ring and told him to hold up Ramon as he sidekicked him. Michaels, though, hit Diesel when Ramon ducked. Ten seconds later, Diesel rose to his feet and backed Michaels into the corner. Diesel threw Owen and Jarrett to the side as he backed Michaels toward the dressing room. Diesel hit Owen and Jarrett again on his way down the aisle. Finally Michaels broke into a run as he returned to the locker room. Ramon, meanwhile, lay in the ring as the referee counted out the heels for victory at 21:38. The bell didn't ring, which hurt the drama and crowd pop for the countout victory.

A good storyline and okay wrestling action, but no exchanges worth watching twice. (**1/4)

Michaels walked out of the building to his car telling Todd Pettengill that Diesel was an ungrateful turncoat. He threw his tag belt on the ground and said he was through with tag team wrestling. As the introductions to the next match were taking place, McMahon plugged the 900 line effectively by showing Diesel telling Stan Lane for the 900 feed his thoughts on what just happened.

(2) The Royal Family (Jerry Lawler & Queasy & Sneezy & Cheesy) defeated Doink & Dink & Wink & Pink at 16:08. Doink had Lawler in an armbar and the mini clowns ran across Lawler's stomach. Lawler's mini knights then ran across his stomach to get to the mini clowns. At 4:20, as McMahon cackle–laughed, all three mini clowns got two counts on Lawler as he threw them off into Doink's arms at every two count. Dink put a Burger King crown on Lawler at 5:54 as Doink belly–laughed. In (gasp) an original comedy spot, Doink with a mini clown on his shoulder challenged Lawler's team to a chicken fight. Lawler, though, got on Queasy‘s shoulders and fell forward. At 9:07, Lawler hit Doink with a foreign object. At 10:33, Lawler reversed a roll–up on Doink and pulled his tights for a three count. Monsoon observed that it didn't matter who pinned who since the big wrestlers can only wrestle each other, so Lawler is essentially eliminated, also. Lawler pushed down on Queasy's back as he pinned Wink at 13:10. Lawler dropped Queasy onto little Pink for the three count at 14:28. Queasy rolled Sneezy onto Dink for the three count at 16:08 as the referee was talking to Lawler. Probably as good as a total comedy match can get. Lots of laughs for kids, lots of red faces on fans of more serious wrestling.

After the match, Lawler told the mini kings to put their arms down because he won the match for them. They refused to lower their hands. He said, "I don‘t even need you. I hate short people." As McMahon accused Lawler of hogging the spotlight, Lawler chased them around the ring. Finally the three mini clowns came out and all six midgets beat on Lawler. Doink caught Lawler from behind and threw a pie into his face. (*1/4)

Tod Pettengill showed footage of Bull Nakano pinning Alundra Blayze to capture the WWF Women's Title in Tokyo. Nakano responded in Japanese to Pettengill's congratulations.

(3) Bob Backlund defeated Bret Hart at 35:11 to capture the WWF Title. Bret slammed and hiptossed Backlund to open the match as Backlund rolled outside the ring. Backlund fled the ring again but Bulldog rolled him back in. After a slow paced first six minutes, Backlund attempted to reverse a side headlock into a crossface chicken wing, but Hart belly–to–belly suplexed out of it. Hart went for a sharpshooter, but Backlund rolled out. At 8:30, Backlund yanked on Hart's left arm. When Monsoon said Backlund tried to dislocate it, the "violence conscious" McMahon said, "I'm not so sure about that, but he did try to soften it up." Backlund applied a wrist lock for a minute, which Hart kipped out of. Backlund then uppercut Bret out of the ring. Bret went after Owen and Backlund caught Hart from behind.

At 14:25, after several more minutes of mat holds, Hart applied the figure–four leglock. The camera showed Owen at ringside with his arms crossed without the towel in his hand to show he wasn't going to throw in the towel. As Backlund writhed in pain, Owen contemplated picking up the towel. After nearly two minutes in the figure–four, Backlund rolled the figure–four over. At 17:00, Backlund reached the ropes.

At 19:22 Backlund piledrived Hart. Backlund then applied the crossface chicken wing but immediately Hart fell into the ropes. Hart broke out of a sleeper at 22:30 by ramming Backlund's head into the turnbuckle. Hart piledrived Backlund at 23:20 and then hit a bulldog seconds later. At 24:18 Hart hit Backlund with a second rope kneedrop and then went for the sharpshooter, but Backlund reached the ropes. Hart pulled him off of the ropes and locked on the sharpshooter. When Owen got in the ring to interfere, Bulldog chased him out of the ring. Owen, though, ran back into the ring and when the referee stopped Bulldog from getting into the ring, Owen rammed Hart off of Backlund facefirst into the mat. Bulldog then chased Owen at ringside, but Owen ducked and Bulldog flew head first into the steel stairs at ringside, which knocked him out.

At 25:44, Backlund locked on the crossface chickenwing, but Bulldog was knocked out and couldn't throw in the towel. Owen then began apologizing to Bret, showing concern that now Backlund wouldn't release the crossface causing serious injury to Bret. Owen tried to revive Bulldog and said aloud, "I'm sorry, Bret." At 27:50, with Bret on his knees, he appeared to barely be conscious. At 28:30, Hart rose to his feet and almost reached the ropes. The camera showed Stu and Helen Hart's concern as Owen began to panic at ringside. McMahon said, "This is the real Owen, concerned about his brother's welfare." At 30:30, Owen apologized to Helen and Stu in the front row. Owen pleaded with Helen to throw in the towel for Bret. Bret hit the mat a few times to show he was awake and to get some crowd heat going. A "Let's Go Bret" chant began. At 32:34, Owen begged Helen on his hands and knees to throw in the towel, telling her, "We were going to have Thanksgiving together." Owen separated the security rail and pulled Stu out of his chair.

Finally, Helen and Stu walked to ringside. Owen begged them to throw in the towel for Bret over and over again. At 34:45 a very loud, "Let's Go Bret" chant began. At 35:11, Helen threw in the towel and the referee called for the bell. Backlund actually broke the hold. Owen then grabbed the towel and ran to the dressing room gloating. As Stu, Helen, and several officials helped Bret from the ring, Backlund strapped on the WWF Title as Howard Finkle announced him as the "neeeewww WWF Champion." Backlund then celebrated in the ring with his gyrations and facial expressions. McMahon compared the 45 year old Backlund to George Foreman's feat weeks earlier. "This is the new WWF Generation?" said McMahon. "I shudder to think."

Pettengill interviewed Owen backstage who had a big smile on his face. "A set up?" said Owen. "You got it right, it was a set up. Mom and Dad, you fell right into my trap. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." Owen then called Bret a quitter. Owen concluded, "I am the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. Whooo!" McMahon and Monsoon talked about Owen's betrayal, with McMahon laying on the disgusted routine very heavy. (In a more humorous moment, a woman was shown with her head dropped, as if she was mourning Bret's loss and Owen's trickery, but when she discovered she was on camera, broke into a celebration, which sort of hurt the mood the director was looking to portray.)

The match gets an A for booking, a B for execution, and a D+ for actual wrestling. On a star scale, it has to be nearly four stars (although without the camera shots and television dialogue of Owen, it must have been less dramatic for the crowd in attendance in San Antonio). (***1/2)

As ring introductions took place for the next match, McMahon pushed the 900 number without an annoying Okerlund–like hard sell simply by casually saying that those listening on the 900 line "certainly know more about this situation than we do."

(4) Lex Luger & Mable & The Smoking Gunns defeated Tatanka & King Kong Bundy & The Heavenly Bodies at 23:21. Luger began against Tatanka. After Luger hit Tatanka out of the ring with three consecutive clotheslines he clotheslined a charging Tom Prichard, and press slammed Jimmy Del Rey into a Bigelow. When Bundy entered the ring, Mabel also entered to offset him. Prichard then battled with Mabel. At 3:57, Mable crushed one–half of SMW's top heel tandem with a second rope crossbody block for a three count. At 4:20, Mable one–arm powerslammed Del Rey, who quickly tagged out to Bundy. Bundy challenged Mable to charge him and on the second try, Mable knocked him down. A shocked Bundy tagged out to Bigelow. Mable knocked down Bigelow with a falling spin wheel kick. Mable then climbed to the top rope, but because it took him so long, Bigelow press slammed him off the top. Bigelow then tried a sunset flip off the top rope, but Mable sat on him during the attempt. Mable then clotheslined Bigelow and both flew over the top rope. Mable was counted out and Bigelow tagged out to Prichard.

Prichard then began to battle Billy Gunn. After two near falls, both tagged out to Adam Bomb and Bigelow. Bomb missed a flying clothesline over the top rope, but then knocked Bigelow down with a slingshot suplex back into the ring. Bundy clotheslined Bomb coming off the ropes. Bigelow then moonsaulted Bomb for a three count at 9:12. Luger rolled up Bigelow from behind for a near fall. At 10:54, Luger pinned Del Rey after a clothesline. Tatanka turned a crucifix on Bart into a back powerdrop for a three count at 14:25. This left Luger & Billy Gunn vs. Tatanka & Bundy & Bigelow. Bundy pinned Billy Gunn at 17:12, leaving Luger in a three-on–one battle.

A loud "USA, USA" chant began. At 18:26, after a clothesline, Luger scored a near fall false finish on Tatanka. Luger took a beating for several minutes, kicking out at the last moment on several pin attempts. At 23:10, Luger surprise rolled–up Tatanka for a three count, but Bundy responded with a sudden splash at 23:21 for a three count to end the match. After the match, the three heels beat on Luger until Bomb and the Gunns made the save

Continuing with the trend on this card, a very well booked match. The early departures made sense and the early action helped establish the undercard and mid–card wrestlers in their roles. Then, at the end, the final minutes built sympathy and respect for Luger, while also getting Bundy over. The wrestling wasn't spectacular, but almost everything that happened helped tell a story or forward feuds and characters. (**1/2)

The camera zoomed in on Backlund as Todd Pettengill congratulated him for winning the WWF Title. Backlund quickly corrected Pettengill by claiming he never lost the championship, he just regained the belt. "I beat the man who represents your society," Backlund said. "I beat him so I could save you (the fans). I'm gonna scrutinize you to the fullest, pasteurize you, homogenize you, and synchronize you back into morality." He fell into a whisper and then burst out saying he is the champion and he "feels like God!"

(5) Undertaker defeated Yokozuna at 15:03 in a casket match. In the opening seconds, Undertaker pointed toward the open casket and Yokozuna fell back onto his butt with a thump in the corner. Yokozuna tried to leave the ring, but Undertaker stopped him. Yokozuna reversed a whip and splashed Undertaker into the corner. Undertaker walked out of the corner as if nothing happened. At 32:00, Undertaker walked the ropes and came off with a forearm. Yokozuna, seconds later, caught a charging Undertaker with a fireman's carry backslam. He then took Undertaker off his feet with a clothesline. Yokozuna rolled Undertaker toward the casket, but Undertaker fought his way back, knocking Yokozuna off his feet. At 3:40, Undertaker missed a flying elbow, but he did his upper–body rise. Yokozuna, though, returned with a one–armed chokeslam. At 4:07, Yokozuna landed a legdrop on Undertaker. At 4:46, Yokozuna flopped a lifeless Undertaker into the casket, but Undertaker made a sudden comeback with a barrage of punches. Both men exchanged punches in the casket. When Fuji tried to interfere, Undertaker grabbed him by the neck. Cornette came up from behind, so Undertaker turned and hit him in the throat.

When Undertaker returned to the ring, Yokozuna slammed him and continued on offense. Undertaker made a comeback at 8:30, throwing Yokozuna to the mat and then hitting him with a high flying clothesline at 9:17. As Undertaker recovered from the move and began to roll Yokozuna toward the casket, all of the fans rose to their feet as King Kong Bundy walked toward the casket. Bam Bam Bigelow then joined Bundy. Chuck Norris stared them down, keeping them from interfering. I.R.S. then snuck in the ring and kicked Undertaker from behind, then rammed him into the corner turnbuckle. Undertaker swung and missed with a punch. I.R.S. then locked on a sleeper hold. I.R.S. then threw Undertaker into the casket at 12:20. I.R.S. then left through the crowd. At this point, the referees were still trying to keep Bundy and Bigelow away, although all they needed to do was close the casket lid. Yokozuna reached to close the lid and Undertaker extended his arm and grabbed Yokozuna. Jeff Jarrett then walked toward the casket, but Norris sidekicked him in the chest. Jarrett, Bigelow, and Bundy then fled as Undertaker began to work over Yokozuna again.

Undertaker hit Yokozuna with a clothesline and a DDT at 14:38. Undertaker then gave Yokozuna a big boot to the face and Yokozuna took a perfect bump into the casket. At 15:03, the lid was closed as Undertaker broke Fuji's Japanese flag over his knee.

A much better match than they've been having. Norris was used effectively, more than anything because his role was limited. Some good moves, good drama, believable false finishes, and a satisfying ending. (**3/4)

McMahon promised updates on Bret Hart over the weekend as they went off the air.

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com, art credit Joe Borzotta (c) PWTorch.com]

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