The first ever Survivor Series pay-per-view kicks off with a 5-on-5 match as Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts, and Jim Duggan take on The Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Hercules, and Harley Race. That's no less than six Hall of Famers in that line-up. Since WrestleMania III, Savage had turned face and Steamboat had dropped the Intercontinental Championship to the Honky Tonk Man, who was the company's number 2 heel behind Andre the Giant. Race and Duggan get eliminated early on and then out goes Ron Bass not too long after and the match does get progressively better as it whittles down and they build to the inevitable showdown between Savage and Honky, whose feud revolved around not only the IC title but also Honky shoving Miss Elizabeth to the mat. Honky Tonk Man is the last man standing for his team and gets stuck having to deal with Roberts, Savage, and Steamboat. They all get to put the boots to him for a little bit but none are able to dish out their finishing move to their mutual rival (Roberts and Honky feuded in the build-up to WrestleMania III), but the Honky Tonk Man runs off and takes the count-out loss. This was a good Survivors match and, being the first one ever, a fine "proof of concept" because the crowd was into it and they were able to weave in a bunch of stories. Solid opener and a great performance out of Honky Tonk Man. (2.5/5)
After a word from Bobby Heenan and Andre's team backstage, its time for the Women's Elimination Match: Velvet McIntyre, The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno), Fabulous Moolah, and Rockin' Robin vs. Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin & Leilani Kai), and The Sensational Sherri. I was expecting this match to be considerably shorter, but they got plenty of time (nearly as long as the opener), which would certainly not be the case a decade or two later. Unfortunately, aside from the high-impact, lightning-fast work of the Jumping Bomb Angels and the spirited offense of their heel counterparts, the Glamour Girls, the rest of the action is nothing special. Its hard to watch and enjoy Fabulous Moolah knowing what a terrible person she was, but this isn't a Chris Benoit situation either - with the Crippler, one has to at least admit that he was a very technically-skilled, sharp, and intense performer. Moolah, on the other hand, was 64 years old and looked every bit of it with her opponents slowing down to take her stiff (poorly executed) offense. I'm a Sensational Sherri fan and respect her as a wrestler, but she proved to be much more captivating and charismatic as a manager in the years that followed. Ultimately, if one considers that even the men's division in the WWE in the 1980s was generally more about exaggerated pantomime histrionics and not necessarily technicality, workrate, and "movez," its no surprise that the wrestling featured in the women's division was even less inspired and varied. This match, mostly snapmares and stomps and dropkicks, was boring for stretches and the crowd, patient in the beginning, seemed tired of it by minute 15 or so, booing when one clear three-count was waved off by the ref. (1/5)
The next match is a fun one as we get a 10-man Survivors Series matches featuring basically every tag team on the roster at the time: The British Bulldogs, The Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel), The Killer Bees, The Young Stallions (Jim Powers and Paul Roma), and The Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Islanders, The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo), and The Hart Foundation. This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you're like me and don't necessarily love Survivors matches. However, for the time, this was considered a very good match (as made evident by Dave Meltzer rewarding it 4 stars in the Observer and even some of the praise you might find for it on Cagematch today). In 2023, this match - which goes 40 minutes - would feature at least one huge table spot, at least one cheap finish, and at least one sequence involving multiple teams hitting their signature finishes in rapid succession, but because this is 1987, what you get is a much more grueling war between two evenly-matched sides. There are some good individual performances worth noting: Rick Martel's fiery hot tag, Bret Hart throwing himself forcefully into the post and turnbuckles, and Haku being Haku. Unfortunately, it seemed like Paul Roma was in the ring for 40% of the match and while Roma was a competent grappler and I understand that the match seemed designed to get over the toughness of the two young, handsome babyface teams - the Stallions and the Bees - I would've liked to see more action from the Rougeaus, for example, whose offense was terrific and ahead-of-its-time. It also didn't seem to make sense that Roma, who was constantly being worked over, would keep getting tagged in when there were fresher guys on the outside. I didn't care for the cheap finish either as one of the Bees put on a mask to sneak in and make the pin, which is too cartoonish of an ending for me. Hard to recommend and certainly not essential viewing, but there's good stuff in here and would've been a better match with a bit of editing and less Young Stallions. (2/5)
This match is followed by a lengthy video package all about "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, who had debuted the gimmick some 3 months earlier. This is terrific stuff and worth seeking out. It is no wonder that, within a year or so, DiBiase would be the company's top heel, surpassing even The Honky Tonk Man in terms of heat. (+1)
Main event time - Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don "The Rock" Muraco, Ken Patera, and Paul Orndorff vs. Andre the Giant, Butch Reed, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, and The One Man Gang. Kinda like the opening contest, this match is wisely built around getting Hogan and Andre into the ring together, but there's enough talent spread between the two teams that the whole match works. Hogan is massively over with the Richfield crowd and his entrance alone is worth seeing if you're curious how over the Hulkster was in the 80s. Rick Rude is the best bumper on the heel side, but was not yet as over as an act as he would be a year or two later. Bam Bam Bigelow had debuted earlier in 1987 and was popular with the crowd, but I always found him to be a better heel than babyface. This match, while fun, ends up not delivering on the promise of seeing Hogan and Andre clash again, which is disappointing. Hogan doesn't end up surviving, which surprised me as nearly every other PPV of this era ended with the Hulkster coming out on top (he still gets do his posedown at the end, it just happens for no apparent reason). Speaking of matches of this era, it can't be undersold how much having Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura on commentary added to the presentation as they were able to elevate some really poor wrestling into at least being watchable (I'm not sure that can be said about anyone that has commented for the past 25 years). Another match that came up a bit short to me though I can see the argument that, aside from the opener, it was the best paced and most bell-to-bell entertaining match on the card. (2.5/5)
Earning a Kwang Score of just 2.25-out-of-5 (which is actually lower than WrestleMania III despite WrestleMania III being a much, much, much better sow), Survivor Series 87' is a below-average show that peaks early (the opening match being the best on the show) and then often falls into deep wells of boring "action" from there. The main event isn't quite as good as the opener, but the atmosphere bumps it up a bit and the heat for Andre and Hogan squaring off is monstrous. The middle of the card is where the problem lies as both the women's match and the 10-man overstay their welcome by at least 10 minutes each.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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