So, just for the sake of full disclosure, this is largely a repost of an old PPV musings I did on this show back in 2018 and you can read that original post here. However, in light of the recent passing of “Sycho” Sid “Vicious” “Justice” Eudy, I’d figure that it’d be appropriate to revisit that one show where the Master and Ruler of the World became WWF World Champion for the very first time… and in Madison Square Garden, no less. There are plenty of Sid moments worthy of revisiting, but let’s give this show another spotlight and perhaps some updated thoughts and annotations for good measure.
Anyway, I had originally seen this show back in 2018 due to someone bringing it up due to it being the show that featured the first PPV encounter between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret “Hitman” Hart. At that point, I don’t recall ever actually seeing the match in full unless it’s on some DVD set somewhere that I don’t recall. However, the main event also saw reigning WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defend his title against challenger Sycho Sid, who was supposed to be the heel in this match and… well… let’s dive into this mostly-2018-written post and give this another whirl.
There was a pre-show match that I talked about in the old musings, but we’re not touching that here. I’m keeping the word count for stuff that actually matters.
Doug Furnas, Phillip Lafon, Henry Godwinn, Phineas Godwinn defeated Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Marty Jannetty, Leif Cassidy, with Furnas and Lafon being the survivors of this match.
Marty Janetty is the first one eliminated by Henry O. Godwinn, who shortly sees himself eliminated by Owen Hart. Sadly, Phineas I. Godwinn doesn’t fare better, being eliminated by the British Bulldog in short order, leaving us with the guys who have some semblance of wrestling acumen and ability that we can take seriously. Phil Lafon manages to eliminate Leif Cassidy (poor Al Snow) and the British Bulldog, while Furnas wins the match by eliminating Owen with a suplex.
Started off a bit slow, but once the Goddwinns were out of the picture, shit got good and for those who like hard-hitting action, that’s certainly what you got here. The team of Furnas and Lafon made their WWF debuts in this match and a little over a year later, they’d be out of the WWF for some reason I don’t recall. They seemed like good enough wrestlers, but I guess they couldn’t cut it personality-wise or something. Too bad; would’ve been cool to see them in action a little more beyond a couple times.
The Undertaker defeated Mankind while Paul Bearer was suspended in a cage above to prevent his interfering during the match. As per stipulations, Taker got five minutes with Paul Bearer, only to be assaulted by The Execution, who is former Freebird Terry Gordy under a mask. Apparently, Gordy wasn’t in the best of shape, but he did get a match with Taker at the next PPV that was less than stellar, to put it politely. This, on the other hand, was not less than stellar. This was two big guys beating the crap out of each other; nowhere near as intense as their previous encounters nor would it be as violent as their most famous encounter, but still a fun little brawl between the legendary figure and the rising legend in a making. I didn’t even mind the bait and switch here, though knowing what happens when Taker actually does get his hands on Bearer may have lessened the blow here. (In Your House: Revenge Of The Taker… musings can be found here.)
Speaking of which… it’s DWAYNE. Yes, our next elimination match – comprising the likes of Jerry Lawler, Jake The Snake, Barry “The Stalker” Windham, and others – is also the WWF debut of one Rocky Maivia; son of Rocky Johnson and grandson of High Chief Peter Maivia… but nowadays, you know him as THE ROCK. And yes, his blue and white outfit and chia pet haircut look ridiculously stupid. So much so that it’s a meme these days because society has gotten that much stupider, but there you go.
Anyway, the match plays out as follows: Jerry Lawler is eliminated by Jake The Snake. The Stalker (Barry Windham) is soon eliminated by Goldust. Triple H sees himself getting ditched by Marc Mero, only for Mero to be eliminated by Crush, who earns his pay by eliminating Jake. Rocky, being the only one left on his team, overcomes the odds and eliminated the other two jabronis himself.
For a match putting over a new guy, this was probably a good showing even if the match itself wasn’t all that great. What would’ve been a better showing is Rocky jobbing to a pair of scissors that would cut off whatever the fuck is on his head. Seriously, kid. Get a haircut and you’ll be electrifying.
Bret “Hitman” Hart defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a grueling match that saw Austin catch Bret in the Million Dollar Dream and Bret leveraging himself to the ground with Austin’s shoulders to the mat, thus scoring the pinfall win. There is nothing I can say about this match that hasn’t already been discussed ad nauseum by everyone else who has talked about this match, so I will simply say that when it comes to star-making performances, when it comes to two rivals giving their all, when it comes to the end result making both guys look good, I would point to this match as a masterclass in how to make a new star.
It told a good story, it had two guys at their absolute best, it was compelling stuff, it had a satisfying ending no matter which side of the coin you were rooting for, with the additional bonus of providing a callback to a previous match Bret had in his storied career, and it didn’t need any additional gimmicks, enhancements, or whatever the case may be to accomplish that task. This ran short of a half hour and despite my admittedly short attention span, I was very well invested in this match and I was enjoying every little minute of it.
The match between the team of Vader, Faarooq (Ron Simmons, debuting the Nation), Fake Diesel (future Big Red Monster and Mayor of Knox County Glen “KANE” Jacobs), and Fake Razor Ramon and the team of Flash Funk, Yokozuna, Savio Vega and mystery partner Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka (for some reason) ended in a no contest. This was a waste of ten minutes that saw Savio Vega eliminated, then Fake Razor, and then everybody started brawling and the match was thrown out the window. Holy fuck, this was a bad match and probably one of the worst Survivor Series-style matches I’ve seen thus far.
And in our main event, Sycho Sid defeated WWF Champion Shawn Michaels via a camera shot to Shawn’s manager at the time Jose Lethario followed by a powerbomb to Shawn to win the title and drive one young fan to utter tears at the reign of the Heartbreak Kid comes to a wonderful end. Sid was supposed to be the vicious heel who used the attack on Lethario to distract Shawn and hit his power bomb. This way, we’d build sympathy for Shawn and prop him up for when he eventually wins back the title at the Royal Rumble, which took place in Texas. Funny thing is that this New York crowd… well, they refused to follow the script and decided that Sid was the hero in this story and Shawn was the miserable prick that they absolutely despised… so I guess this is an American audience that Bret Hart would approve of.
I didn’t touch on this match much in the original musings – shit, I put more words into the fucking PRE-SHOW match than the main event, which is an absolute travesty… and so let me rectify that here because this was a fantastic main event and perhaps one of Sid’s best showings. You don’t remember Sid having that many great matches, but every time he did, it was usually because he had a great foil who could take great bumps and make him look better than he was. And having someone as great as Shawn Michaels would do wonders in that department. But what also helped was the crowd. Simply put, New York loved them their Sid and when Sid won the title, they popped big for that one. Not a monster pop the likes of which you get today or even during the height of the Attitude Era, but enough for you to notice that… yeah, I’m supposed to boo this guy? But people actually like him… and I like Sid, too… and stuff.
You can never accuse Sid of being the slickest worker or the greatest technician, but what that man was a unique aura and charisma that VERY few men his size possessed. He was a character through and through – whether it was through his promos (which are always going to be memorable), his mannerisms, or just his intensity. He was the guy whom, despite being portrayed as a villain for most of his run as well as a “big, stupid dummy” for just as much of it, you couldn’t help but like the guy… maybe even feel sorry for the guy whenever he was wronged, such as his ’92 feud with Hulk Hogan… hell, ANY feud with Hulk Hogan where you’re supposed to be cheering for the heroic Hulkster over the evil Sid, but since Sid was the one getting fucked over by Hogan, it’s hard to not see Sid’s reasoning for hating Hogan.
Was that really the case here? I’m not sure. I know that in the few PPV appearances he made prior to this one, Sid was widely cheered. Whether he was booked as a babyface before then or he was always a heel who got cheered because fuck it, we like Sid”, it doesn’t really matter. New York liked Sid. They liked Sid and didn’t give two fucks about Shawn Michaels, the top star and reigning WWF Champion. When Sid pinned Shawn for the win and the title, the MSG crowd approved. And one had to wonder how things would’ve turned out had WWF given Sid an honest run with the title instead of having him keep it warm for Shawn to win it back. Hell, one has to wonder how things would’ve turned out had that just given Sid a run with the belt back in 92. Maybe the world we live in would have been a better place.
Survivor Series 1996 is a show where its backend more than made up for the rest of the show, which featured a lot of nothing elimination matches that you’ll forget about soon after. Sure, you recall the Rock’s chia pet haircut and dangly outfit, but beyond that, what else do you remember about his debut match? Exactly. So skip all of that up and just watch the Bret/Austin and Sid/Shawn matches because those are excellent in their own little ways. I can think of no better tribute than to revisit the coronation of the Master and Ruler of the World get the justice he finally deserved.
Thanks for the memories, Sid.
Your new world awaits to be mastered and ruled.
dtm666 