WWF Survivor Series 1988 - November 24th 1988 - Richfield, Ohio
Matches
Powers of Pain, The Rockers, British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation and The Young Stallions defeated Demoliton, Brain Busters, The Bolsheviks, The Fabolous Rougeaus and The Conquistadors, (4/10)
Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Sam Houston, Blue Blazer defeated Honky Tonk Man, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Greg Valentine and Bad News Brown (5/10)
Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Mr Perfect, Harley Race and Rick Rude defeated Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Scott Casey, Ken Patera and Tito Santana (6/10)
The Megapowers, Koko B Ware, Hillbilly Jim and Hercules defeated The Twin Towers, Ted Dibiase, Haku and the Red Rooster (7/10)
Moments - Positives
This truly had very few positive stand-out moments as far as a classic event is concerned. The main event was "solid" mainly due to the popularity of the Mega Powers and a nice story during the match where by Hogan was handcuffed and saved by Miss Elizabeth. Hogan was then celebratin with Miss Elizabeth on his arms which made Randy Savage very jealous and thus would set up the Wrestlemania V main event. The other notable moments are the debuts of Mr Perfect as well as the Rockers (HBK included).
Moments - Negatives
The card had four matches which told very little story. As with most of these surivor matches, they were slow, at times painful to watch and I have to say I was pretty bored during a number of different moments. Clearly the main event made this PPV and to be perfectly honest that was not so great either. It did the right job at building up a feud between Hogan and Savage but that is about it.
Overall Summary
It was not a solid card, it was not a great event. The PPV showcased the majority of WWF talent, which at times was impressive and included great young wrestlers such as HBK, Mr Perfect, Bret Hart amongst others but the matches themselves told very little story, had very little hype and just were not well done. The only positive was the Randy Savage / Hogan and Megapower showdown / begining of the break up! Overall, a pretty big dissapointment.
SCORE = 3.5
WWF Summerslam 1988 - August 29th 1988 - NY City, New York
Matches
The British Bulldogs drew with The Fabolous Rougeaus (5/10)
Bad News Brown defeated Ken Patera (4/10)
Rick Rude defeated Junkyard Dog (6/10)
The Powers of Pain defeated The Bolsheviks (5/10)
Ultimate Warrior defeated Honky Tong Man {WWF Intercontinental Title} (8/10)
Dino Bravo defeated Dan Muraco (5/10)
Demolition defeated Hart Foundation {WWF Tag Team Titles} (7/10)
Big Bossman defeated Koko B Ware (5/10)
Jake Roberts defeated Hercules (6/10)
The Mega Powers (Hogan & Savage) defeated The Mega Bucks (Andre & DiBiase) (8/10)
Moments - Positives
The first Summerslam came in 1988 at the height of the Mega Powers. Two matches really stood out on this PPV, firstly the main event - and there was something truly special about seeing Savage and Hogan together, I guess it would be comparable to an Austin/Rock tag team or a Hart/HBK (when both face). The match was great and the build up was top notch. The other match that stood out was Warrior vs Honky Tonk Man where Warrior won the IC title. The crowd reaction showed that Warrior was going to be huge in the WWF and it was a defining moment in Warrior's career.
Moments - Negatives
A few of the matches were quite poor (eg. Bolshaviks match). Also the opening match ended after 20 minutes after a time limit expiration which I thought was awful. This meant that a few of the other matches were quite rushed which did not give the build up enough time. Some of the matches were also quickly thrown together and it truly showed.
Overall Summary
Overall a solid PPV made by two big matches. The overall event suffered due to a lack of quality in the ring and the fact that some of the matches seemed randomly thrown together. I thought the event also lacked something from the hype camp. The first Survivor Series, Rumble or Mania were pretty special whilst the first Summerslam seemed to be just a PPV thrown together and not made special in any sense of the word.
SCORE = 6.5
WWF Wrestlemania IV - March 27th 1988 - Atlantic City, New Jersey
Matches
Bad News Brown won the 20-man Battle Royal (7/10)
Ted DiBiase defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan (5/10)
Don Muraco defeated Dino Bravo (5/10)
Greg Valentine defeated Ricky Steamboat (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Butch Reed (6/10)
One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (4/10)
Rick Rude defeated Jake Roberts (7/10)
Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules (5/10)
Hulk Hogan drew with Andre The Giant (9/10)
Ted Dibiase defeated Don Muraco (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Greg Valentine (8/10)
Brutus Beefcake defeated the Honky Tonk Man {WWF Intercontinental Title} (8/10)
The Islanders and Bobby Heenan defeated The British Bulldogs and Koko B Ware (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated One Man Gang (6/10)
Demolition defeated Strike Force {WWF Tag Team Titles} (6/10)
Randy Savage defeated Ted Dibiase {WWF World Heavyweight Title} (8/10)
Moments - Positives
Another great Wrestlemania. This once centres around the World Heavyweight title tournament which is vacant as a result of the Million Dollar Man purchasing the title off Andre The Giant. The moments that stand out are; Randy Savage finally making it to the top and winning the World Title, a rematch between Hogan and Andre The Giant which ends in a double DQ, Hogan helping Savage and effecting forming the Mega Powers. Also some great matches including the IC title match and a great build up to the Andre / Hogan rematch. Also a great moment was Bret Hart destroying Bad News' trophy after the Battle Royal.
Moments - Negatives
The Wrestlemania was overshadowed by the World Title tournament which made it feel a bit less than a Wrestlemania. Some great matches but some average ones too. Also each match was kept relatively short given the fact that they needed to fit in the whole tournament to the PPV. Overall though I think the positives outweigh any negatives in this Mania.
Overall Summary
A few classic moments and some great matches but what really stole the show was Savage defying the odds and winning the World Title with the help of Hulk Hogan. After years of Hogan as the World Champion this was the dawn of the new era. Also it was good to see wrestlers such as British Bulldog, Bret Hart, Brutus Beefcake and Ultimate Warrior receiving TV time before they became the corner stone of the WWF. I would probably say this was the best Wrestlemania to date.
SCORE = 8.5
WWF Royal Rumble - January 24th 1988 - Hamilton, Ontario
Matches
Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Rude (5/10)
Jumping Bomb Angels defeated The Glamour Girls (6/10)
Jim Duggan defeated 19 other men to win the WWF Royal Rumble 1988 (8/10)
The Islanders defeated The Young Stallions {2 out of 3 falls match} 6/10)
Moments - Positives
The first Royal Rumble was a mixed bag to say the least. The main positive of the whole event was the Royal Rumble match up itself, the first of its kind, where 20 men battled to win the Royal Rumble (though at this time it did not carry a title shot at Wrestlemania). The Rumble included the debut of the Ultimate Warrior on PPV, Bret Hart shining through and Hacksaw Jim Duggan winning the Rumble. The other great moment of the PPV was the contract signing between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan for a rematch of the WWF Title.
Moments - Negatives
Apart from the rumble match itself the card was below average. The main event was a relatively solid tag team match between the Islanders and Young Stallions but you would be gutted if you paid good money for the match. The Andre The Giant/Hogan showdown was great but you somehow think the match itself should have taken place at the PPV rather than the contract signing.
Overall Summary
Clearly the Rumble match made the PPV event which I guess should be the case given the name of the event. The Andre the Giant / Hogan showdown was great but should have been the match of the PPV. The rest of the card is forgettable and drags down the overall event quality in my opinion. Also worth noting this was the first PPV event dominated by Ted DiBiase (Million Dollar Man).
SCORE = 5.0
