Survivor Series 1987

Survivor Series (1987) was the first Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26 1987 at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio.

The main event was a Survivor Series match where André the Giant's team defeated Hulk Hogan's team when André eliminated Hogan's team member Bam Bam Bigelow. The entire undercard featured Survivor Series matches which included Randy Savage's team defeating The Honky Tonk Man's team, The Fabulous Moolah's team defeating Sensational Sherri's team and Strike Force with 4 other tag teams defeating The Hart Foundation and 4 other tag teams.

Development
The event was added after WrestleMania III, to market the success from Hulk Hogan and André the Giant's rivalry. Vince McMahon threatened cable companies who aired the NWA's Starrcade (which going head-to-head with Survivor Series on Thanksgiving night, 1987) instead of Survivor Series would not be allowed to broadcast WrestleMania IV. Most cable providers gave into McMahon's threat and only a handful aired Starrcade.

Background
The main feud heading into Survivor Series included André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed and Rick Rude against Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow. In January 1987, Hogan was awarded a trophy for his third year as WWF Champion while Hogan's best friend André was awarded a smaller trophy than Hogan's, for being undefeated in WWF for 15 years. Hogan congratulated his friend and said that André was the real champion of superstars all around the world. André surprisingly left the place before Hogan could even finish. In February, he came with a new manager Bobby Heenan. When Hogan came to know about that, he begged to André that not to keep Heenan as his manager because Heenan was Hogan's longtime enemy. André said that he had come to challenge Hogan for the WWF title at WrestleMania. He ripped off Hogan's Hulkamania shirt and attacked him with a golden chain, turning heel. This culminated in their historic match at WrestleMania III, where Hogan defeated André to retain the title. During the match, he set a record by scoop slamming the 540-pound Frenchman. On August 22, 1987 edition of Prime Time Wrestling, Paul Orndorff fired Bobby Heenan as his manager when he came to know that Heenan had brought a new wrestler Rick Rude to replace Orndorff. Orndorff appointed Oliver Humperdink as his manager to feud with Rude. Billy Graham got involved in a feud with Butch Reed, culminating in a match between the duo. One Man Gang interfered in a match where he hit Graham with a big splash on the concrete floor. Don Muraco came to the rescue of Graham and Graham who was scheduled to participate in the main event of the first-ever Survivor Series retired due to an attack by OMG. Muraco replaced him. Ken Patera got involved in a feud with Bobby Heenan and The Heenan Family and turned babyface, and was chosen to be the fourth member on Hogan's team. Many heel managers wanted to manage Bam Bam Bigelow, but Bigelow chose Oliver Humperdink as his manager thus making his WWF debut as a babyface. He also became a part of Hogan's team.

Randy Savage was a heel since his WWF debut in November 1985. He turned babyface in late 1987 after WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man claimed to be the greatest Intercontinental Champion. This lead to a feud between Savage and Honky, leading to Savage's face turn. On October 3, 1987 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Savage challenged Honky for the title winning by disqualification. The title remained with Honky because a title cannot change hands by a DQ. Harley Race won the 1986 King of the Ring tournament and was so proud about this. Jim Duggan did not agree with the fact and this placed Duggan and Race into a feud, with Duggan winning most of the matches. Jake Roberts also feuded with Honky Tonk Man after Honky hit a guitar on Roberts on an edition of Snake Pit, completing Roberts' babyface turn. A match was booked for Survivor Series featuring Savage, Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake and Duggan against Honky, Hercules, Danny Davis, Ron Bass and Race.

Event
The first match of the first-ever Survivor Series was the first-ever Survivor Series elimination match. Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan faced WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Danny Davis, Ron Bass and Harley Race. Savage's team was seconded by his wife Miss Elizabeth while Honky's team was seconded by Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart. Duggan and Race brawled to the outside where both men were counted out and both of them were eliminated, leaving 4 men on each team. Beefcake hit a knee lift on Bass, and went on to eliminate him as Savage's team had 4 men while Honky's team had 3 men. Team captain Honky himself joined the match and hit a Shake, Rattle and Roll on Beefcake and eliminated him. 3 men were on each sides. Roberts hit a DDT on Davis and only 2 men remained in Honky's team, Honky and Hercules while Savage's team was still having 3 men. Savage hit a Savage Elbow on Hercules and pinned him with Honky remaining the only member in his team. After he found out, that he was the only team member, he left the ring and got counted-out, thus eliminating himself in the process. Savage, Roberts and Steamboat became the sole survivors of the match.

The next match was a women's match featuring the team of The Fabulous Moolah, Rockin' Robin, Velvet McIntyre and The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno) against WWF Women's Champion Sensational Sherri, WWF Women's Tag Team Champions The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin), Donna Christanello and Dawn Marie. McIntyre did the first elimination by pinning Christanello with a victory roll. Robin hit a running crossbody on Marie and pinned her with the crossbody, leading to three wrestlers on Sherri's team while none of Moolah's team members had been eliminated. Team captain Sherri came into the match and hit Robin with a vertical suplex to eliminate her. Glamour Girls hit a double clothesline on Moolah and Judy Martin, one half of Glamour Girls pinned Moolah to eliminate her. McIntyre pinned Sherri with a victory roll pin, with Moolah's team having 3 members and Sherri's team having Glamour Girls, only 2 members. Leilani Kai joined the match and then pinned McIntyre after an electric chair drop. Yamazaki hit a diving crossbody from the top rope on Kai and pinned her to eliminate her. Tateno hit a flying clothesline on Martin and pinned her to win the match. Jumping Bomb Angels became the sole survivors for Moolah's team.

The third match was a tag team variation of the Survivor Series match with 10 tag teams. If a person from a tag team was eliminated, their partner was also eliminated. The match featured WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel), The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers), The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond), The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair) and British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) against The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), The Islanders (Haku and Tama), Demolition (Ax and Smash), The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) and The New Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo). Santana hit a flying forearm smash on Zhukov and pinned him to eliminate Bolsheviks for the first elimination of the match. Jacques hit a diving crossbody on Ax but missed the move and was pinned by Ax, eliminating Fabulous Rougeaus. Ax's partner Smash was disqualified, eliminating Demolition. Neidhart pinned Santana to eliminate Strike Force and Haku pinned Dynamite Kid to eliminate British Bulldogs. Next came Roma and Valentine. Roma hit a diving sunset flip on Valentine to eliminate The New Dream Team. Bret Hart and Jim Brunzell were next. Tama dropkicked Hart and then Brunzell rolled over Hart to eliminate Hart Foundation. The referee gave his attention to the Harts, who had been eliminated. Brian Blair put on his Killer Bees mask and pinned Tama with a sunset flip to eliminate Islanders. As a results, Young Stallions and Killer Bees won the match and became survivors for their team.

The main event was a Survivor Series match where André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed and Rick Rude faced WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow. Muraco was not scheduled to compete in the match but replaced "Superstar" Billy Graham, who was originally scheduled to be Hogan's teammate but retired because of his hip injury suffered during a match against Reed. Hogan did the first elimination after he hit a leg drop on Reed and pinned him to eliminate him. Patera and OMG were next. OMG hit a 747 Splash on Patera to eliminate him. Rude and Orndorff were next, who were having their personal problems due to who Bobby Heenan would manage. Orndorff had got the better of Rude until Bundy distracted him and Rude rolled up Orndorff to eliminate him. Muraco joined the match and powerslammed Rude to eliminate him. OMG entered and then hit Muraco with a 747 Splash to eliminate him. André's team was having 3 members while Hogan's team had 2. Hogan and André brawled with each other until the action went to the outside where Bundy and OMG prevented Hogan from reentering the ring. Hogan, the team captain himself was eliminated and Bam Bam Bigelow remained the only member in Hogan's team. He managed to fend himself after he hit a Slingshot on Bundy to eliminate him and OMG missed a 747 Splash as Bigelow pinned him. He however fell victim to the captain of opponent's team André who hit a butterfly suplex to win the match.

Aftermath
André the Giant and Hulk Hogan continued to battle over the WWF Championship in the fall of the year and early 1988. At the first Royal Rumble supercard on January 24, 1988, Hogan and André signed a contract for a WrestleMania III rematch. Their WWF title rematch took place on the first-ever edition of The Main Event on February 5, 1988 where André controversially defeated Hogan for the WWF Championship. However, his reign was short lived. In fact, he was the shortest reigning WWF Champion in history as his reign lasted even less than a minute as he sold the title to Ted DiBiase. WWF President Jack Tunney immediately vacated the title and it was defended in a 14-man tournament at WrestleMania IV, with the winner winning the vacant title. With help from former champion Hogan, Randy Savage defeated DiBiase in the finals of the tournament to win the vacant WWF Championship.

Results
Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * Five-on-Five Survivor Series Elimination Match: Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth), Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, & Jim Duggan defeated The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart), Hercules, Danny Davis, Ron Bass, & Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) (18:56)
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Elimination # !Wrestler !Eliminated by !Elimination move !Time !Survivors:
 * 1A
 * Jim Duggan
 * Harley Race
 * Countout
 * 4:11
 * 1B
 * Harley Race
 * Jim Duggan
 * Countout
 * 4:11
 * 2
 * Ron Bass
 * Brutus Beefcake
 * Pinfall after a high Knee Lift
 * 5:18
 * 3
 * Brutus Beefcake
 * The Honky Tonk Man
 * Pinfall after the Shake Rattle 'N' Roll
 * 6:53
 * 4
 * Danny Davis
 * Jake Roberts
 * Pinfall after a DDT
 * 11:12
 * 5
 * Hercules
 * Randy Savage
 * Pinfall after a Savage Elbow
 * 16:19
 * 6
 * The Honky Tonk Man
 * Himself
 * Countout
 * 18:56
 * 16:19
 * 6
 * The Honky Tonk Man
 * Himself
 * Countout
 * 18:56
 * 18:56
 * colspan="5" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"|Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, and Ricky Steamboat
 * }
 * Five-on-Five Survivor Series Elimination Match: The Fabulous Moolah, Rockin' Robin, Velvet McIntyre, and the Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno) defeated Sensational Sherri, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) (w/Jimmy Hart), Donna Christanello, and Dawn Marie (20:10)
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Elimination # !Wrestler !Eliminated by !Elimination move !Time !Survivors:
 * 1
 * Donna Christianello
 * Velvet McIntyre
 * Victory Roll Pin
 * 1:57
 * 2
 * Dawn Marie
 * Rockin' Robin
 * Running Crossbody Pin
 * 4:10
 * 3
 * Rockin' Robin
 * Sensational Sherri
 * Vertical Suplex
 * 6:50
 * 4
 * Fabulous Moolah
 * Judy Martin
 * Double Clothesline
 * 10:52
 * 5
 * Sensational Sherri
 * Velvet McIntyre
 * Victory Roll Pin
 * 14:54
 * 6
 * Velvet McIntyre
 * Leilani Kai
 * Electric Chair Drop
 * 17:20
 * 7
 * Leilani Kai
 * Itsuki Yamazaki
 * Flying Crossbody Pin
 * 18:31
 * 8
 * Judy Martin
 * Noriyo Tateno
 * Flying Sitout Clothesline
 * 20:10
 * Flying Crossbody Pin
 * 18:31
 * 8
 * Judy Martin
 * Noriyo Tateno
 * Flying Sitout Clothesline
 * 20:10
 * 20:10
 * colspan="5" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"|Jumping Bomb Angels
 * }
 * Tag-Team Survivor Series Elimination Match: Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel), The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers), The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond), The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair), and the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) (w/Jimmy Hart), The Islanders (Haku and Tama) (w/Bobby Heenan), Demolition (Ax and Smash) (w/Mr. Fuji), The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) (w/Slick), and The New Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo) (w/Johnny V.) (37:00)
 * This was a tag team variation of the Survivor Series match with 10 tag teams. If one person from a tag team was eliminated, their partner was too.
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Elimination # !Wrestler !Eliminated by !Elimination move !Time !Survivors:
 * 1
 * Boris Zhukov (Bolsheviks)
 * Tito Santana
 * Flying Forearm
 * 1:30
 * 2
 * Jacques Rougeau (Rougeau Bros.)
 * Ax
 * Missed Diving Crossbody, Pin
 * 6:00
 * 3
 * Smash (Demolition)
 * None
 * Disqualification
 * 9:00
 * 4
 * Tito Santana (Strike Force)
 * Jim Neidhart
 * Pinfall
 * 12:00
 * 5
 * Dynamite Kid (British Bulldogs)
 * Haku
 * Pinfall
 * 20:00
 * 6
 * Greg Valentine (New Dream Team)
 * Paul Roma
 * Diving Sunset Flip
 * 24:00
 * 7
 * Bret Hart (Hart Foundation)
 * Jim Brunzell
 * Roll over
 * 31:00
 * 8
 * Tama (The Islanders)
 * B. Brian Blair
 * Sunset Flip
 * 37:00
 * Roll over
 * 31:00
 * 8
 * Tama (The Islanders)
 * B. Brian Blair
 * Sunset Flip
 * 37:00
 * 37:00
 * colspan="5" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"|Killer Bees and Young Stallions
 * }


 * Five-on-Five Survivor Series Elimination Match: André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, and Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan and Slick) defeated Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, and Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) (22:00)
 * Following the match, Hulk Hogan came back in the ring and attacked André.
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Elimination # !Wrestler !Eliminated by !Elimination move !Time !Survivor:
 * 1
 * Butch Reed
 * Hulk Hogan
 * Pinfall following leg drop
 * 3:00
 * 2
 * Ken Patera
 * One Man Gang
 * Pinfall following 747 Splash
 * 8:00
 * 3
 * Paul Orndorff
 * Rick Rude
 * Pinfall with a rollup after interference from Bundy
 * 10:00
 * 4
 * Rick Rude
 * Don Muraco
 * Pinfall following powerslam
 * 11:00
 * 5
 * Don Muraco
 * One Man Gang
 * Pinfall following 747 Splash
 * 13:00
 * 6
 * Hulk Hogan
 * None
 * Countout after Bundy and the Gang prevented Hogan from reentering the ring
 * 16:00
 * 7
 * King Kong Bundy
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * Pinfall following Slingshot
 * 18:00
 * 8
 * One Man Gang
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * Pinfall following missed 747 Splash by One Man Gang
 * 21:00
 * 9
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * André the Giant
 * Pinfall following Butterfly Suplex
 * 22:00
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * Pinfall following missed 747 Splash by One Man Gang
 * 21:00
 * 9
 * Bam Bam Bigelow
 * André the Giant
 * Pinfall following Butterfly Suplex
 * 22:00
 * 22:00
 * colspan="5" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"|André The Giant
 * }