Customer Reviews

WWE: Survivor Series Anthology, Vol. 2 - 1992-1996

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, after WWE has already released anthologies on their other 3 major events...it's time for the final one in their "Big Four" being the Survivor Series. This second volume is from the "New Generation" era of the event where WWE started to have a mix of regular matches as well combined with the traditional
elimination matches. Now keep in mind that I'm doing my reviews from either the VHS version with the unedited event or a replay I caught off WWE Classics On Demand.

1992 - This Survivor Series went away from the traditional format of having a heavy focus on elimination matches and came off as a normal PPV during this time. This was one of those events where the main events were the highlights & saved the show. 5 years before they would have their infamous title match in Montreal, Bret Hart defended the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels (who also happened to be the Intercontinental Champion) in a 30 min. lost classic while the other main event featured the inring return of Mr. Perfect teaming with Randy Savage against Ric Flair & Razor Ramon. The only elimination match on here was Jimmy Hart's former tag teams of Natural Disasters & Nasty Boys against Beverly Brothers & Hart's then-current team of Money Inc. however this was under the rules of "when one person is eliminated, his parter is eliminated too." The rest of the card featured the first ever Coffin/Casket Match with Undertaker vs. Kamala, the Nightstick Match between Big Boss Man & Nailz, an underrated match of Tatanaka vs. Rick Martel, Headshrinkers vs. High Energy, and Yokozuna squashing Virgil. This has a reputation of being one of the worst S. Series events as with the exception of the main events & the Tatanka/Martel match, the matches on here just weren't good in quality or were just a quick match (5 min. or less) to finish off the feud.

1993 - After the disaster reception the previous year's event had, WWE returned to the format they used in 1991 where the entire event, except for one match, was based around the traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match. The main event here featured Lex Luger's team of the "All-Americans" against Yokozuna's "Foreign Fanatics" team where the highlight was the first time controntation between Undertaker & Yokozuna and the attempt at heavily pushing Ludvig Borga as a top heel (which anyone who knows their history didn't last long). This Survivor Series is mostly remembered for the match between the Hart Brothers of Bret & Owen & Bruce & Keith against 3 masked Knights & Shawn Michaels (last minute replacement for Jerry Lawler) and how that began the long term feud between Bret & Owen. Randy Savage also made his PPV return to the first in almost a year (replacing Mr. Perfect) teaming with Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid against I.R.S. & Diesel & Rick Martel & Adam Bomb. The other elimination match featured Bam Bam Bigelow & Baston Booger & Headshrinkers in a quick match against Men On A Mission & Bushwhackers dressed up as Doink The Clown resulting in the crowd chanting "We Want Doink" during the match. The only non-elimination match on the card was a tag team match representing Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling promotion as their tag team champions of the Heavenly Bodies went against the Rock N' Roll Express but it should be noted that "Radio WWF's" commentary team of Jim Ross & Gorilla Monsoon did the commentary here & with this being Bobby Heenan's last WWE PPV until the end of WCW, his confrontation with Gorilla before the match was a highlight. In the end, this PPV was better than the previous year and did it's job for the most part in pushing & establishing the stories/feuds leading into not only the Royal Rumble but also WrestleMania.

1994 - This Survivor Series was built around the appearence of actor Chuck Norris as he was set to be the ringside enforcer for Casket Match with Undertaker vs. Yokozuna to ensure nobody else gets involved unlike how they did at the Royal Rumble earlier in the year. The other main event on here was a submission match between WWE Champion Bret Hart w/Davey Boy Smith in his corner vs. Mr. Bob Backlund w/Owen Hart in his corner with the twist in his match being that the only way to win is for the cornerman to throw in the towel for his representative and this was the best match Bob Backlund had during this run in WWE as Bret brought out the wrestling style Bob Backlund's remembered for back in the '70s & '80s with a very dramatic ending for that time. Speaking of Owen & Davey, they were also involved in the opening elimination match between the Shawn Michaels' "Teamsters" with vs. Razor Ramon's "Bad Guys" that was highlighted by the dominance of Diesel and the superkick that would begin the setup to a WrestleMania XI main event. Another elimination match on here (strickly for comedic purposes) was Jerry Lawler's "Royal Family" vs. Doink's "Clowns R' Us" which was each man teaming with 3 different midgets with the rules being it must be midget vs. midget/wrestler vs. wrestler at all times but if Lawler eliminated Doink then how could the match end if all of Lawler's midget teammates were eliminated since Lawler wasn't allowed to wrestle the midgets? The other elimination match on here was Lex Luger's "Guts & Glory" team of Mabel & Smokin' Gunns & Adam Bomb vs. the "Million $ Team" of Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka & King Kong Bundy & Heavenly Bodies.

1995 - Eventhough this was one of the worst years in WWE history as far as wrestling quality, storylines, and characters...this event started to pickup the pieces as the main event here was WWE Champion Diesel vs. Bret Hart in a No Holds Barred "Must Be A Winner" match that saw Bret Hart delivering one of Kevin Nash's best matches in his career as it was real physical & aggressive and also saw the beginning of a PPV tradition with Bret Hart going through the spanish announce table. This PPV also resulted in the first ever "Wild Card" match with the top faces & heels in the company were teamed together at random as Shawn Michaels & Sid & British Bulldog & newcomer Ahmed Johnson vs. Yokozuna & Owen Hart & Dean Douglas & Razor Ramon that resulted in things you wouldn't normally see at that time such as Razor helping Owen with a double team in the corner on Shawn along with British Bulldog saving HBK from a pinfall. The opening match featured the "Underdogs" of Marty Jannetty & Hakushi & Barry Horowitz & Bob Holly against the "Body Donnas" of Skip & Rad Radford & Tom Prichard & 1-2-3 Kid who recently turned heel on Razor Ramon & alligned with Sid....which did come into play during this match. Other matches on here featured Goldust vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, and 8 woman elimination match highlighted for it being the final WWE appearence of Alundra Blayze before she went to WCW & threw the WWE Womens Championship in a trash can a month later, and the return of the Undertaker in a dominant performance as part of the "Darkside" with Savio Vega & Fatu & Henry Godwinn vs. King Mabel's "Royals" of Jerry Lawler & Isaac Yankem & Hunter Hearst-Helmsley.

1996 - The first Survivor Series in WWE's "home" of Madison Square Garden that featured various returns & debuts...some more memorable than others. The WWE Championship saw Shawn Michaels defend the title against Sycho Sid in a match that's more memorable for how the MSG crowd completely turned against Shawn & cheered Sid. The other main event saw the return of Bret Hart against the man who called him out for months in "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a 30 min. lost classic that's always been overshadowed by their later WrestleMania 13 match. Another elimination match on the card saw Crush & Jerry Lawler & Hunter Hearst-Helmsley & Goldust vs. Marc Mero & Jake Roberts & Barry Windham as "The Stalker" & the WWE debut of a young kid named Rocky Maivia...who would later become more famously known as The Rock. Other matches include the Undertaker debuting a new look vs. Mankind, another elimination match between Faarooq (debuting the Nation Of Domination) & Vader & the non-Scott Hall/Kevin Nash versions of Razor Ramon & Diesel vs. the debuting Flash Funk & Yokozuna & Savio Vega & the MSG return of "Superly" Jimmy Snuka that's only noteworthy for it being the final WWE PPV appearence of Yokozuna, and the WWE debuts of a new tag team in Doug Furnas & Phil Lafond teaming with the Godwinns against Owen Hart & British Bulldog & The New Rockers.

So in the end, this was a real "mixed bag" as these series had some bad matches in quality, others more focused to "putting over a storyline" or showcasing/putting over one person as a dominate performer, and you did have some lost classics & memorable performances so this is still a set I would recommend overall. However if your more of a fan of the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches (similar to a fan of the Royal Rumble PPV's are fans of the battle royal match) then I would recommend getting Volume 1 first.

Since other reviewers have already gone into great detail on the matches I think I'll just talk about what makes this set good for me. I'm a former wrestling fan who watched from approximately 1998-2003 who grew to love the Pre-Attitude WWF matches from 1985-1997 and now only buys the occasional DVD to have a complete set of the Big Four PPVs or career sets for specific wrestlers or events. This is good for the classic fan because the whole events have never been released on DVD before. 1992 is most well known for a clash between old WWF and the new generation as in one match Mr. Perfect and Macho Man Randy Savage battle Ric Flair and Razor Ramon, while in the other main event New Champion Bret Hart battled Shawn Michaels in a preview of what was to come over the next few years. 1993 for me comes down to the opening tag match and the Family Feud Match that laid the stones for the feud of 1994 between Bret Hart and Owen Hart. 1994 was once again fronted by a good opening match, a casket match between Undertaker and Yokozuna, and a thirty-forty minute submission match for the title between Bret Hart and Bob Backlund, which would never take place on today's WWE. 1995 is best known for the no DQ championship match between Bret Hart and Diesel that began to turn Diesel heel and laid groundwork towards Hart- Michaels at Wrestlemania XII. 1996 featured the first match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin that had this really cool old veteran vs. new star feel to it. The Undertaker battles Mankind in a match that had crazy action for 1996 and Shawn Michaels does battle with Psyco Sid and the crazy NY fans cheer for Sid.

Great throwback of my all time favorite wrestlers throwing it down in the squared circle. Went down memory lane watching this DVD, brought it as a christmas gift for a big wrestling fan and he loved every minute if it, so much he shares it with other family members.
Even the new generation WWE fans can appreciate this DVD volume 1 & 2.

I got this and the Volume 1 for my brother for Christmas. Brought back a lot of good memories for him. He loved it.

I have a tendency to ramble, so here's the short version:
Volume 2 of the "Survivor Series" Anthology is a very solid package. Even though it doesn't keep up the classic style seen in previous "SS" events, it shows a wave of innovation being brought into the annual November event.

...Still reading?...Alright then, hopefully this long review will help you out, or at least give you some debate ammunition.

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*****1992*****
---This event isn't mentioned very often, mainly because of what people don't like about it, rather than what's good about it. To be sure, there are a lot of stranges aspects to it. Reverend Slick opens the broadcast with a very cheesy sermon about celebration (I think). The Nightstick Match with Big Bossman and Nailz is equally corny, with those two guys staying in character way too much. Undertaker and Kamala had a pretty boring Coffin Match. And an excellent match with Tatanka and Rick Martel was slightly overshadowed by Doink The Clown's ringside antics.

But this event has two very good matches that I feel are often forgotten. One of the semi main events featured Ric Flair and Razor Ramon (led by Bobby Heenan) against Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect. In a quick but solid booking recovery move, Mr. Perfect was a last minute replacement for Ultimate Warrior. I thought Heenan and Curt Henning did a great job of making Perfect a good guy. Besides, the two-on-two match was exciting stuff, and surely much better than what Warrior would've brought to the table.

The main event pits IC champion Shawn Michaels against WWF champion Bret Hart in another great showing between these two. Both guys made each other look like a million bucks, and I believe this match further solidified Bret Hart as a "fighting champion" rather than an "entertainer".

I enjoyed this 1992 event more than most have. At the very least, the two semi main events are well worth your time.
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*****1993*****
---If you can believe it, I actually enjoyed the 1993 event too. The opening Elimination Match includes Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, IRS, Diesel, Rick Martel, 1-2-3 Kid, Marty Jannetty, and Adam Bomb... and all put on a good show. Surprisingly, Adam Bomb is one of the better-portrayed athletes in the contest.

The 2nd Elimination Match --- with The Hart Family versus Shawn Michaels & his Three Knights --- is quite strange. First off, I could've sworn that when I was a kid, this was advertised to be Jerry Lawler against The Hart Family. After all, "The King" and his "Knights" made more sense. Secondly, the host from "Family Feud" puts us through an excruciating 5-minute intro where he cracks lame jokes. As for the match itself, I liked it, but the crowd seemed very bored. Thankfully, it gave birth to one of my favorite feuds (Bret & Owen).

The main event is decent, with Lex Luger's All-American team (Undertaker weeks earlier revealed his trench coat had an American flag inside - LOL!) against Yokozuna's team of Ludvig Borga, Jacques Rougeau, and Crush?! Crush is a "Foreign Fanatic"? Actually, Crush replaced Pierre, but come on! You know, let's just move on. There's also a very good contest between The Heavenly Bodies and The Rock N Roll Express for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Titles --- which I don't understand why they're on WWF anyway.

I think the 1993 "Survivor Series" is worth a watch, but I probably won't revisit it again.
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*****1994*****
---This event has a lot going on in it. The opening Elimination Match showcases the Razor/Diesel/HBK triangular feud that ultimately led to Diesel and HBK finally splitting up soon after this match. The finish is kinda cheap, but at least Owen Hart was funny enough to play off how stupidly his team lost.

From there, a dumb-funny Elimination Match has Doink and three midget clowns against Jerry Lawler and three midget "knights". The funniest moment has got to be when Doink lifts a smaller clown, while Lawler has a smaller knight lift HIM into the air for a piggyback duel of sorts. Anyway, I thought this was even funnier than the 1993 Doink-themed festivities.

But after that is a classic that I'm glad will get to be on DVD finally: Bob Backlund challenges Bret Hart to a Submission Match for the WWF Championship. The twist is that the match won't officially end until either corner man (Owen Hart and British Bulldog) will throw in a towel to surrender for their wrestler. I won't give away the dramatic finish, but I promise that this match is much better than their "WrestleMania XI" rematch. Backlund and Hart wrestled a sensible, patient 35-minute matstyle contest, and I'm glad that newcomers will get to see the unique challenge the two men tackled with their hold-for-hold showdown.

After a passable Elimination Match between The Million Dollar Man's team and Lex Luger's random combo of five good guys, the main event is another rematch. Yokozuna squares off against Undertaker in their second Casket Match of 1994, with Chuck Norris as a Special Enforcer. The main event isn't too bad, but I prefer the "Royal Rumble" encounter over this. I think Norris was a pointless addition, but at least he got to thrust kick Jeff Jarrett. Didn't Jarrett know not to mess with man so fast that he could run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head?
(Sorry, couldn't resist)

The 1994 "Survivor Series" ends softly, but at least it started entertaining enough to make you wanna check out the rest.
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*****1995*****
---Considering the WWF didn't have a decent PPV since the January "Royal Rumble", I guess we should be grateful that this one didn't suck. The opener features "Underdogs" versus "Body Donnas", which was a fun Elimination Match to start the show, and a nice way to see underrated wrestlers from both teams get to shine. The only downside is how the way-past-its-time Million Dollar Corporation still made its way into the PPV.

The second match is a promising-but-short 4-on-4 Women's Elimination Match; I wish WWE would dig deeper into its women's division history, showing the likes of Alundra Blayze or The Glamour Girls. There is an Elimination Match where Undertaker leads "The Dark Side" against the likes of King Mabel and Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a disappointing but tolerable display.

The last Elimination Match is a strange combination of good guys and bad guys mixed within teams. Even weirder is seeing one teammate help an opponent gang up on another opponent. I actually think it's my least favorite match on the card, because the "Wild Card" concept confused the crowd more than it entertained. Talented individuals like Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, and Razor Ramon can only do so much with a faulty concept.

You probably already know about the main event, where Bret Hart challenged Diesel for the WWF Championship in a No Holds Barred Match. But in case you don't, it's easily one my favorite Diesel matches, and is worth watching if you don't already own Bret Hart's 3-disc set from WWE. The ending is shocking in a good way, and the psychology and hype shown throughout the PPV made it more intriguing.

1995 was a long, painful road for the World Wrestling Federation. But this event bought the company just enough time for their solid 1996 year, which of course led to the Attitude Era in the years to come.

Oh, there's also some tongue-in-cheek humor with "Mr. President". I totally forgot about that Bill Clinton impersonator until revisiting this DVD. Just wait till Bam Bam Bigelow makes his entrace.
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*****1996*****
---This Madison Square Garden PPV was the first "Survivor Series" I ever saw. Undertaker and Mankind continued their legendary rivalry with Paul Bearer suspended in a cage above the ring; the match was good, as always. Steve Austin and Bret Hart finally squared off in a solid contest; I don't love this match as much as their Submission Match, but many have called this its equal.

Rocky Maivia made his "debut" in an entertaining 4-on-4 Elimination Match. Equally good was the opening Elimination Match that showcased Owen Hart, British Bulldog, and the forgotten Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon; easily the best of the traditional Elimination Matches on this card.

And of course, the main event was the first I remember where we cheered for bad guy Sycho Sid to dethrone good guy Shawn Michaels of his WWF Championship. I was still bitter over HBK winning the belt from Bret Hart that I just needed someone to shut this pretty boy up, and watching Sid using everything to hurt Michaels (and manager Jose Lothario) was awesome. The match itself holds up very well, eclipsing their "Royal Rumble '97" rematch by a longshot.

Oh one more thing...I dare you not to laugh when Jim Ross pushes "Diesel" and "Razor Ramon" when they enter the arena...I dare you!

The 1996 "Survivor Series" is probably my favorite on this set.
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1992 Survivor Series = 8.0 / 10 (very good)
1993 Survivor Series = 7.0 / 10 (decent from start to finish)
1994 Survivor Series = 7.0 / 10 (starts great, ends weak)
1995 Survivor Series = 6.5 / 10 (not bad, with a good main event)
1996 Survivor Series = 8.5 / 10 (excellent WWF presentation)

I'm sure most loyal WWE fans will prefer the classic, more traditional Volume 1 of the "Survivor Series" Anthology. And I don't blame them: That's an awesome set you grab too! But Volume 2 shows the WWF trying to put more spins on the Survivor Series concept. It didn't always work, but you get plenty of good action from the package. Complete your collection, and buy this one.

I've almost worn out my VHS taped copy of the 1994 Survivor Series. I routinely recorded the Pay Per Views to tape and watched them endlessly thereafter. Eventually though the tapes degrade, and you get tired of fast forwarding to certain matches. This DVD series is much needed!

First note if you're looking for a match-by-match breakdown, this isn't it. User D.P. has a great review here on Amazon, or you could hit any number of wrestling sites for specifics. I'm rating this one a full five stars based on quality of the discs, not necessarily quality of the matches. These matches are great for what they are, but remember this is right before the "Attitude" era. You'll get four Doinks versus Bastion Booger, the Headshrinkers, and Bam Bam. So yes, there is some filler but the filler is good if you enjoyed this era of wrestling.

Most important to me is the interview and backstage portions. EVERYTHING is intact from what I can tell. You get the introductions, recaps of feuds, interviews, you name it. This is great as I love seeing old episodes of RAW and looking at how far we've come. I like seeing recaps of feuds I've forgotten about, it really is awesome that everything is included here.

Bottom line is if you enjoyed this era of wrestling this is the treat you've been waiting for. Looks like the WWE guys are finally understanding the appeal of their older products! Not necessarily a fan of the old days? How about seeing wrestler Kane as some of his earlier gimmicks, like Isaac Yankem, DDS? Or "fake Diesel?" I never get tired of watching for wrestlers and saying things like "Hey, I didn't know Leif Cassidy was Al Snow!"

SURVIVOR SERIES IS THE SECOND OLDEST RUNNING PPV IN WWE AFTER WRESTLEMANIA. IT HAS SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN WRESTLING HISTORY. FOR REAL WRESTLING FANS, IF U DONT HAV IT, THEN GET IT!

IN THIS ERA "1992-1996" IT WAS THE NEW GENERATION ERA. THERE WAS GREAT MATCHES SUCH AS:

*1992:
RIC FLAIR+RAZOR RAMON VS RANDY SAVAGE+MR PERFECT
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP:BRET HART VS SHAWN MICHEALS (THAT WAS A 27MIN MAT CLASSIC)


*1994:
SUBMITION MATCH-WWE CHAMPIONSHIP:BRET HART VS BOB BACKLUND (ALSO A GREAT 35MIN MAT WRESTLING BETWEEN 2 OF THE BEST EVER)
CASKET MATCH:UNDERTAKER VS YOKOZUNA (CHUCK NORRIS WAS THE SPECIAL ENFORCER)

*1995:
NO HOLDS BARRED-WWE CHAMPIONSHIP:BRET HART VS DIESEL (THAT WAS WWE 1995 MATCH OF THE YEAR.GREAT OLD SCHOOL NO HOLDS BARRED BETWEEN 2 OF THE GREATEST)
TRADITIONAL SURVIVORSERIES ELIMINATION MATCH-WILD CARD MATCH:SHAWN MICHELS+AHMED JOHNSON+BRITISH BULLDOG+SYCHO SID VS RAZOR RAMON+YOKOZUNA+OWEN HART+DEAN DOUGLAS

*1996: ONE OF THE BEST SURVIVOR SERIES CARDS EVER. THIS WAS HELD AT MSG:
UNDERTAKER VS MANKIND
STEVE AUSTIN VS BRET HART (THIS WAS THE FIRST EVER MATCH BETWEEN THE 2 HALL OF FAMERS AND 1 OF THE GREATEST MATCHES I HAV EVER SEEN).
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP:SHAWN MICHEALS VS SYCHO SID.

SO, U DONT WANNA MISS THIS COLLECTION. GREAT IDIA BY WWE TO RELEASE THIS DVD.

We leave the era of Hogan and get stuck in 92, a year of change was in the air. The first Survivor Series abandon elimination matches and have a straight foward PPV with some debut of superstars that would dominate the 90's. There was one elimination match and that one sucked. The only real highlight was the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels main event as it would be a pure classic. Survivor Series 93 would return to elimination style matches but the only worthwhile matches were the beginning and the end. I know some people hated the main event but I thought it was decent and it even had a count-out! How what more could you ask for a tribute?
The rest of the Survivor Series in this set (94, 95, and 96) are pretty good overall. They also included the classic yellow WWF logo rather then the newer WWE logo. A must own set for old wrestling fans.

Choose wisely if purchasing this anthology. It does have some great matches, as there was a move away from only elimination matches to singles matches.

The Bret Hart matches in 1995 against Nash, and his 1996 match against Austin are bright spots, but I lost interest by the 1994 Series and could barely manage to get through it. Midget clowns...Yokozuna at gradually more massive sizes...they were brutal.

Even for a diehard WWF fan, it was hard to focus on all of the mid-1990s Survivor Series. The storylines seem to be at their most cartoonish. Be sure that this is an anthology that you'll watch more than once. I found it challenging to get through this anthology, let alone watching the all the events again. I would equate the events to WrestleManias 8, 9, and 11. It represents a transitional period for the WWF, and I know that the challenges stemming from the steroid scandals among others strained the available talent pool.

This is the most cartoony, worst survivor series in the history of wwe, and i really hope they print the rest, because this is just sad.