WWE Flashback: Best and Worst of Survivor Series 1989

The WWE held it’s third Survivor Series in 1989. All the big names that were in the WWE at the time were present including Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Andre the Giant and the Ultimate Warrior. But big names don’t always equal great matches or great moments. These were the best and worst moments of Survivor Series 1989.

Best Match of Survivor Series 1989
The Rude Brood vs. Roddy’s Rowdies – Up until this match most Survivor Series matches go a while before anybody gets eliminated. For once though they trimmed the useless wrestlers immediately by getting rid of the Rougeau Brothers. The Rude Brood were left with two of the best wrestlers of the era, Mr. Perfect and Rick Rude. Mr. Perfect eliminated both Bushwhackers to essentially make it a tag match against Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. After Rick Rude and Roddy Piper got a double countout, Mr. Perfect won the Survivor Series match by pinning Snuka.

Worst Matches of Survivor Series 1989
The King’s Court vs. The 4x4s – Two of my favorite wrestlers, Randy Savage and Bret Hart, were on opposite sides of this Survivor Series match but that wasn’t enough to keep it interesting.

The Hulkamaniacs vs. The Million Dollar Team – What a horribly booked Survivor Series match. I can understand having Zeus attack Hulk Hogan until he gets disqualified that way Zeus gets eliminated without getting pinned but later in the match the Powers of Pain both get disqualified too? The Hulkmaniacs only pinned one person to win the Survivor Series match. This is a team with Hulk Hogan for crying out loud, he should be able to pin anybody.

Best Performers at Survivor Series 1989
Mr. Perfect – Mr. Perfect was easily the star of the 1989 Survivor Series. After going down two men to four Mr. Perfect defeated one of the Bushwhackers and when it came down to a one-on-one match with Jimmy Snuka, Mr. Perfect was victorious.

Zeus – I still get a kick out of Zeus. Out of all the monsters that Hulk Hogan had to face Zeus is my favorite other than the Undertaker. Zeus was pretty much invulnerable at Survivor Series 1989 and just to add insult to injury Zeus attacked Hulk Hogan backstage.

Bobby Heenan – Bobby Heenan filled in for a missing wrestler in the main event and was classic as usual. At one point in the match Bobby Heenan was tagged in, he punched somebody, they punched him back, then he immediately tagged back out. Of course it just happens that Bobby Heenan was the last person eliminated on his Survivor Series team, which left him one-on-on with the Ultimate Warrior and Heenan bumped around before taking the pin.

Worst Performers at Survivor Series 1989
Hulk Hogan – This was an unusual performance for Hulk Hogan because he was actually pretty much dominated at Survivor Series 1989 by Zeus, then the Powers of Pain and then by Zeus and Macho Man in the locker room.

Andre the Giant – It’s unusual for Hulk and Andre to both have bad performances but Andre’s Survivor Series team started fighting with the other team before the bell. Ultimate Warrior came to the rescue and the bell rang just as Warrior attacked Andre. The Warrior immediately knocks Andre the Giant out of the ring and he is counted out. How does a 7’5″, 500 pound giant get eliminated in 27 seconds? And now for the rest of the main event the heel team is Arn Anderson, Bobby Heenan, and Haku? Pffhbtt.

Best Moments at Survivor Series 1989
Bad News Brown II – For the second straight year Bad News Brown gets accidentally punched by a teammate and he walks out on them. Classic.

Macho Man and Zeus attack Hogan and Brutus Beefcake – Survivor Series 1989 was right around when the No Holds Barred movie starring Hulk Hogan and Zeus came out. They also had a match coming up so Zeus and Macho Man attacked Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake backstage. All the wrestlers in the dressing room show up and try and save Hulk Hogan from Zeus. Meanwhile Randy Savage is beating down Brutus Beefcake and nobody seems to care.

Worst Moments at Survivor Series 1989
4 x 4 Shuffle – The Survivor Series team led by Hacksaw Jim Duggan all came to the ring carrying 4x4s. They got into the ring and chased off their Survivor Series opponents then did some 4×4 choreography that included throwing their 4x4s to each other.

The Genuis Poem – The Genuis showed up and read us a Thanksgiving poem. Great.