This Day In Wrestling History - November 17

Date: November 17, 1996 (17 years ago)

Feature: WWF's 1996 Survivor Series PPV featured the MSG crowd turning on Shawn Michaels in favor of Psycho Sid, who captured the WWF Title from HBK in the main event. Also on the PPV, The Rock made his WWF TV debut, Bret Hart beat "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a near-30-minute match, and The Undertaker beat Mankind (Mick Foley).

Torch Back-Issue: PWTorch Newsletter #416.

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WWF SURVIVOR SERIES PPV
NOVEMBER 17, 1996
NEW YORK, N.Y. AT MSG
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR

During the "Free For All," Bart Gunn & Bob Holly & Jesse James & Aldo Montoya beat Billy Gunn & Salvatore Sincere & The Sultan & Justin Hawk Bradshaw at 9:06. Order of elimination was as follows: Sultan beat Aldo via submission, Bart pinned Sincere, James pinned Bradshaw, James pinned Sultan, Billy pinned James, Bart pinned Billy. The pinfalls came too quickly to be believable. Bart was the lone survivor.

(1) Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon & The Godwinns beat Owen Hart & British Bulldog & The New Rockers at 20:40. Order of eliminations were as follows: Henry Godwinn pinned Marty Jannetty at 8:08, Owen Hart pinned Henry Godwinn at 8:20, Bulldog pinned Phineous Godwinn at 9:03, LaFon pinned Cassidy at 13:39, LaFon pinned Bulldog at 17:20, Furnas pinned Owen at 20:40. Furnas & LaFon were the only survivors. (**1/4)

(2) Undertaker pinned Mankind (w/Paul Bearer in a cage above the ring) at 14:09. Undertaker persevered and tombstoned Mankind for the clean win. (**3/4)

(3) Marc Mero & Stalker & Barry Windham & Rocky Maivia (his WWF debut) & Jake Roberts (replacing the injured Mark Henry) beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Goldust & Jerry Lawler & Crush at 23:40. The order of eliminations were as follows: Roberts pinned Lawler at 9:00, Goldust pinned Stalker at 12:37, Mero pinned Hunter at 19:16, Crush pinned Mero at 20:00, Crush pinned Roberts at 20:49, Rocky pinned Crush at 23:12, Rocky pinned Goldust at 23:40. Rocky was the lone survivor and the match was booked to make him look good. (**1/4)

(4) Bret Hart pinned Steve Austin at 28:34 to earn a WWF Title shot at the December In Your House. They jawed face to face at the start in a good tension-builder. Fans began a "Let's Go Bret" chant. McMahon acknowledged that Austin received a warm reception from many of the fans. For the finish, Bret walked up the turnbuckle with his feet while locked in a sleeper and pushed off. Austin fell back and was pinned. A super match, and phenomenal considering they've only been in the ring together a couple other times on overseas house shows. I have a feeling they will probably top this next time out. (****1/2)

(5) Faarooq (w/Clarence Mason and PG13) & Razor Ramon & Diesel & Vader fought Savio Vega & Flash Funk & Yokozuna & Jimmy Snuka (the mystery partner) to a DDQ at 9:40. Order of eliminations were as follows: Diesel pinned Vega at 8:24, Snuka pinned Ramon at 9:25, everyone else was eliminated after a brawl broke out at 9:40. Tons of missed spots and bad timing. Snuka looked okay for a guy around 55 years old. Yokozuna is much bigger than ever and was blown up after only 30 seconds in the ring. It's sad watching him. He is dangerous to himself and others. He appeared to hurt Vader on a uranage suplex. Funk was the highlight of the match. The DDQ finish came so early because they were short on time. (*)

(6) Sid pinned Shawn Michaels to capture the WWF Title at 20:02. Sid punched and chopped at Michaels at the start. Michaels popped up each time, only to bump to the mat again. At 2:10 they exchanged a series of blows. Sid pressed and slammed Michaels. At 3:26 Michaels ran out of the ring. Sid followed. When Michaels returned to the ring, Sid charged him and met his extended boot. A "Let's Go Shawn" chant was soon drowned out by a "Psy-co Sid" chant. Michaels began to work over Sid's knee to set up a figure-four. The crowd began to boo Michaels. Michaels stopped in his tracks and looked at the crowd, clearly bothered, if not hurt, by the reaction. He responded by mouthing "F-you." MSG had been "Michaels's house" for the last three years ever since he and Diesel became the "rebel favorites" in the building while both were teaming as heels.

At 7:00 Sid took over offense and there were few if any boos for him. Michaels skinned the cat back into the ring, but as soon as Michaels landed on his feet Sid nailed him with a hard clothesline, sending him back over the top rope. The crowd popped. They brawled down the aisle. Sid pressed Michaels and dropped him over the guard rail almost into the crowd. Back in the ring Michaels kicked out of a Sid cover and the fans booed. Sid gave Michaels a back-breaker and then started pummeling Michaels. Michaels "was on rubber leg street" as Sid punched him and Michaels refused to go down. Michaels began to fight back and the high-pitched cheers of girls in the crowd were about all that could be heard. The booing from the men soon overtook the cheers. Michaels jumped off the top rope but met Sid's extended boot. Sid applied the cobra clutch in mid-ring. Michaels kicked out of two pin attempts and then made a comeback. The crowd booed. Michaels eye-raked Sid and went for chin music, but Sid caught his boot in mid-course, which popped the crowd. Sid chokeslammed Michaels with one arm, but paused before going for the cover. When Michaels kicked out at 16:00, the fans booed. Sid powerslammed Michaels for another two count. Michaels rebounded with a flying clothesline at 16:35 and jumped to his feet, but was met by a Sid clothesline for another near fall. Sid grabbed a television camera from ringside (an extra one brought to ringside for the angle). As he held it in the air, Jim Ross said, "He's an idiot." Jose Lothario jumped on the apron to alert the ref to what Sid was doing. Sid saw Lothario on the apron and nailed him with the camera, knocking him to the floor. Lothario took a hard bump and looked like he could have been legitimately hurt. He lay on the floor clutching his chest and McMahon speculated he was having a heart attack. When Sid turned around, Michaels surprised him with a superkick. Sid landed flat on his back and didn't move. Rather than pin Sid, Michaels left the ring to tend to Lothario. As Michaels leaned over Lothario and called for medical help, Sid had time to recover. Sid grabbed Michaels and threw him back into the ring. Michaels leaped off the second rope, but when Sid moved, Michaels hit the ref. With the ref down, Sid grabbed the camera again and nailed Michaels with it. He then gave Michaels a powerbomb and a groggy ref made the three count.

After the match, McMahon said regarding Lothario, "I hope he's not having a heart attack." Michaels jumped to ringside, forgetting about the title loss, and tended to Lothario, shoving paramedics aside to check on his condition - probably not advisable in a real-life situation. Sid celebrated his win as the show went off the air.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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