WWF Primetime Wrestling 1/18/1990 Survivor Series Showdown 1990

WWF Primetime Wrestling 1/18/1990 Survivor Series Showdown 1990

I covered Survivor Series 1990 here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/05/wwf-survivor-series-1990-11221990.html

This show features some wrestlers from opposing Survivor Series teams facing each other as a way to hype up Survivor Series. It's a simple concept but a cool one especially by 1990's standards.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are our commentators. Heenan asks if there's any protection here and if Gorilla will protect him from The Big Boss Man. Gorilla says he's not promising that.

Sgt. Slaughter vs Tito Santana

Heenan asks if Tito will be the one doing the thinking for The Bushwhackers and Nikolai Volkoff at Survivor Series. He says it won't take long to think for that team. Sarge stalls to start. Tito wristlocks him and Sarge claims he pulled his hair. He then demonstrates this to the ref.

Sarge hits boots to the gut and knees him. Sarge elbows Tito in the gut and says "you can always find another wife, there's more out there". Sarge double stomps Tito and hits shots to the gut. Sarge eye rakes him and bangs Tito's head off the buckle. Sarge puts Tito on the buckle and pounds on him. Tito boots Sarge in the gut and hits a punch combo. Tito bends over and is kicked.

Tito is dropped gut first on the top rope then Sarge boots him in the gut. Tito sunset flips Sarge for 2. Sarge hits punches then Tito fires back. Sarge is sent into the buckles chest first and goes over the top to the floor. Tito goes after Adnan outside.

Tito first drops Sarge off the buckles then knee drops him. Tito sleepers Sarge then Sarge backbreakers him. Sarge suplexes him then misses a rare top rope splash. Tito misses a dropkick then throws Sarge off the top. Tito flying forearms Sarge and Sarge takes a nice bump into the ropes and outside. Tito grabs Sarge and Adnan then bangs their heads together. Tito goes for a slam, Adnan grabs Tito's feet and Sarge picks up the win. Heenan says, "In Iraq, you can do that".

Tito goes after Sarge in the aisle after and hits some shots.

Thoughts: It wasn't that good early on but it picked up by the end. This was Sarge's best performance yet and he really bumped here for being a 300lb guy. He got thrown off the top, he bumped through the ropes and took a bump over the top to the outside. It was a weird one here though with Tito working a sleeper on Sarge instead of the heel traditionally doing it. They piped in crowd noise here as you could see the fans not moving an inch yet we heard big cheers.

The Mercenaries are interviewed by Sean Mooney. Sarge tells him to call him "sir" and said he doesn't care what he thinks. He says he's the captain of The Mercenaries. He said he went out and showed his team how to win. Tanaka said he can't wait to get his hands on The Bushwhackers. Zhukov says he promised he would eliminate Volkoff and said they must survive. Sarge says they will win and destroy and that's an order.

Mean Gene interviews The Alliance. Tito says he found out about the no good Slaughter. He said he's a traitor and disgrace who can't get the job done on his own. He says Sarge will find out what the odds are when it's 4v1. Butch says they are going into The Series heart and soul and said they will go in with old glory even though they aren't American. Volkoff says they are ready and tells Sarge to get out of the US if he doesn't like it.

"The Model" Rick Martel vs Marty Jannetty

MJ = Marty Jannetty

Heenan says Marty's Survivor Series team has 7 eyes total.

They lock up and Gorilla calls the ref "Freddie The Freeloader". Rick armdrags MJ and does exercises. Heenan says Jake has got himself a blind date at Survivor Series. Rick side headlocks MJ. Rick slides out after MJ's leapfrog and stalls. Heenan says Jake won't make it to the grand finale of SS unless there's seeing eye dogs. Rick bangs MJ's head off the buckles then chokes him in the corner.

Rick catapults MJ's throat into the bottom rope and bangs his head off the buckles. Rick knees him in the gut then misses a knee in the corner. MJ works Rick's leg and pulls Rick off the ropes. Rick upkicks him off and MJ cartwheels. MJ goes back to his toe lock on Rick. 

MJ blocks a hiptoss and hits his own. MJ spinebusters Rick and ties up his leg again. MJ kneebreakers Ric and goes back to the toe hold. MJ is pushed out to the floor then his back is sent into the apron. Rick slams MJ then elbow drops MJ's spine. Rick hits him in the gut then is hit in the gut off the 2nd rope. MJ flying back elbows him and diving facebusters him.

MJ is thrown out. MJ goes for a slingshot sunset flip but Rick ducks it. Rick then picks up the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't that interesting of a match and definitely disappointed. MJ worked on Rick's leg but it never ended up going anywhere.

The Vipers are interviewed. Gene says Jake is coming back too soon. Jake says everyone has something to say. Jake says if you want to find out about his health, talk to his psychiatrist not his doctor. Shawn said this team has gotten past every obstacle put in their way. Marty said they are coming after Power and Glory and leaving Martel to Jake. Snuka tells Warlord to pay attention and tells him to get himself ready. Jake says believe in yourself. He says you can take one thing away from a man but it makes the others stronger. He says it's always too late when you look evil in the eye and shows his injured eye. Shawn says they are ready and coming at them.

The Visionaries are interviewed by Sean Mooney. Rick talks about his win over MJ. He says everyone will see them beat The Vipers at the PPV and he calls them a bunch of worms. Rick said he planned his attack on Jake and says he may need another patch. Roma says The Vipers can't see or walk nor do they have trees to pick coconuts from, so what are they gonna do? 

Herc said they better open up their eyes and understand that only the strong survive. Warlord said they are all survivors and have a vision. He said he can't wait to be left alone with Superfly. The Vipers then walk in and go after The Visionaries. They fight and we quickly go to break.

The Hulkamaniacs are interviewed. Hulk says anything goes at Survivor Series. He said his crew has been hanging out at Venice Beach. He says he doesn't see any way Quake's team can get past them with a 2x4 on their side. Duggan says the plan is to attack, attack, attack and said they are coming to beat people up. The Big Boss Man says its personal. He says Haku is part of The Heenan Family and at the top of his list. He says there will be no survivors. Hulk says their team has vowed to take care of all the bad guys in the WWF.

The Big Boss Man vs Earthquake

Gorilla tries to get Heenan to go down there and settle things with Boss. Quake pushes Boss back into the buckles. Boss side headlocks him then hits a nice uppercut. The spit goes flying off of it. Quake slams Boss then misses an elbow drop. Boss goes after Jimmy Hart and Hart runs.

Quake misses a corner splash and is tripped. Boss crossbodies Quake off the top and is caught and powerslammed. Heenan says he's going to take a little stroll and heads down to ringside.  Quake sits on Boss' chest in the corner. Heenan slaps Boss around when he's in the corner.

Quake stomps on Boss then elbow drops him. Quake then walks on Boss. Quake headbutts and bearhugs Boss. Boss hits headbutts and bites Quake on the nose to get out. Quake bearhugs him and drives him into the corner. Heenan grabs Hart's megaphone and shouts instructions.

Boss hits some shots then Quake knees him in the gut. Boss hits a step up enzugiri for 2. Boss hits lariats and gets Quake tied up in the ropes. Boss splashes Quake against the ropes then decks Hart on the apron. Boss takes a back body drop over the top. Heenan then stomps on Boss outside. Boss goes after Heenan and they run to the back. Boss is then counted out.

Thoughts: The match was a little longer and slower than it needed to be. It should have been a good one as both are agile super heavyweights but it was just hard to get excited about it.

The Natural Disasters are interviewed by Sean Mooney. Quake says he won't end up 1v4. He says he has the strongest and meanest team in the WWF. He says there is no way The Hulkamaniacs advance to the grand finale against them. Barbarian says Boss has to go through him or Haku to put his hands on Heenan. He says Survivor Series is coming closer and they are coming to get The Hulkamaniacs. Haku said he doesn't care about Jim Duggan and says they will walk out victorious. Sean says anything can happen. Dino says Tugboat, Duggan, Bossman and then Hogan will be eliminated. He says this will be Hulk's last match and Hulkamania will die. Quake says all 4 of them will be in the grand finale.  

Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs The Honky Tonk Man

Bret backs Honky up and Honky stalls. They lock up. Bret pounds on the arm. Bret armlocks him and they trade hammerlocks. Honky is grounded with a hammerlock. Bret armdrags and armlocks him. Honky charges at Bret and runs into the buckles. Bret euros him then atomic drops him.

We go to break and return. Honky hits corner punches then takes a big atomic drop. Bret misses an elbow drop and Honky chinlocks him. Bret shoulders him over then takes a knee to the gut. Honky chinlocks him then knees him in the gut.

Honky comes off the buckles and is hit in the gut. Bret hits punches then bangs Honky's head off the buckles. Bret snapmares him and legdrops him. Bret suplexes him then backbreakers him. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron then gets in the ring. Bret stops him and pushes Honky into him. Hart then rolls up Honky and wins it.

Thoughts: Like the other matches on this show, it was longer and slower and not that interesting with a lame finish. Honky bumped well here and this was definitely part of a longer term push to get Bret going as a singles guy.

Sean Mooney interviews The Million Dollar Team. Honky says Bret just cheated to win. He says there will be no cheating to win at Survivor Series. Ted says Hart will be the hart he was meant to be - hartbroken. Ted says he has an ace in the hole at Survivor Series. He says it's too bad Dusty doesn't have his punk kid in his corner as then they would have all the turkeys in the ring at the same time. He said Dusty is like that old mule that keeps butting his head against the wall. Ted says they will prove it once and for all at Survivor Series. Greg says Koko can bring his bird down and Greg says they will roast him as their Thanksgiving bird. Greg says they are The Dream Team as they are dreaming if they think they can get past them. Greg says they will put it out and pull them down. Ted says money is the motivation and says don't underestimate what he has in the mystery partner. He says Dusty will be the biggest stuffed turkey of them all.

The Dream Team are interviewed. Hart says Honky lost the battle and said they will win the war at Survivor Series. Koo sings. Neidhart says this is down his alley and asks if they have to hire a private investigator to find out who the mystery partner is. Neidhart says they just have to survive. Dusty says when you bring a force they know nothing about, they get meaner and better. Dusty says there's family involved. He says he's coming specifically for Ted Dibiase. Dusty said they don't care what the mystery partner looks like as they will kick butt.

The Ultimate Team are interviewed. Warrior isn't wearing face paint and clearly just got done wrestling despite not being in action here. Animal says The Perfect Team thinks they can do no wrong. Animal says they should eat their turkey early as they may have to eat it through a straw when they kick their teeth down their throat. Texas Tornado says he's tired of hearing about The Perfect Team. He says Perfect can't run because he has got The Warrior and The LOD helping him. Hawk says odds make no difference to them as they have fought them all their lives. Hawk ask what it's like to make someone who thinks they are perfect look unperfect in front of a lot of people. Warrior says even Gene can't escape now and must stay with them until Survivor Series. He says he will program his individuals to stay unstructured and unbalanced. Not a good one here from Warrior.

Texas Tornado vs Smash

Mr. Fuji is not with Smash here despite them coming out together a few days later. Smash is also wearing his mask here despite not wearing it at Survivor Series.

They lock up and shove each other. Kerry blocks punches and hits his own. Kerry goes for the iron claw and Smash slides out. Heenan says you can't hurt Demolition in the head area as long as the mask is on and tells Gorilla to figure it out. Smash and Kerry trade punches. Smash snapmares him and clubs on him. Heenan calls Kerry "The Texas Toilet".

Kerry hits a discus punch then throws Smash out to the floor. Kerry hits punches outside and slams him on the floor. Smash hits shots to the gut and head. Kerry hiptosses and armdrags him. Kerry armlocks him then spears the buckle when Smash moves. Smash wraps the arm around the buckle then backbreakers him.

Smash armlocks Kerry then Kerry gets the iron claw on. Kerry tries to pin him with it and Smash puts his foot on the ropes. Smash running clotheslines him and hits punches. Mr. Perfect comes out. He gets on the apron and tries to hit Kerry but is nailed. Perfect gets in the ring. Kerry hits Perfect and Smash then Kerry takes a 2v1. Smash is disqualified. The rest of Demolition then come down and beat up Kerry. Kerry takes a demolition decapitation. The Legion of Doom come down and get the edge then Ultimate Warrior comes out and sends Perfect out twice.

Thoughts: This was another slow paced match with a dirty finish and little of note happening. It wasn't that interesting.

The Perfect Team are interviewed by Sean Mooney. Perfect defends him being at ringside in the Kerry/Smash match. He said he can be at ringside anytime and said Kerry needs an adjustment for hitting him. Smash says he had Kerry down and Kerry knew it. Smash calls The LOD the "Legion of Dumb" and says Warrior is "The Ultimate Meatball". Crush said he hopes all of The Warrior's saw what happened to Kerry. Ax says they are going to show that they are the best wrestling machine there is today. Ax says Perfect wishes for Kerry's neck to twist for Thanksgiving and they will give it to him. Perfect says survival is the name of the game and says he sees a perfect victory at Survivor Series.

Gorilla and Heenan talk. Gorilla said we saw some good matches and Heenan said Boss Man got what he had coming. They run down the card for Survivor Series and talk about the hatching of the egg. Gorilla says it will be a happening and will be something else.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a fan of this show. Every match was long and slow and every match but one had a dirty finish of some sort. The concept of having Survivor Series opponents fight was cool and the promos from all of the teams were cool but the matches didn't deliver. Heenan was hilarious here on commentary. The crowd wasn't real interested in this show and was quiet for most of it. I wouldn't recommend this.