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Post by randomone on Oct 13, 2015 21:15:19 GMT -6
Thanks man. This seemed like an impossible task looking at all the teams, but taking it piece by piece, it came together nicely. The final 20 or so got really difficult (which you'll see). I fully expect this years Survivor Series to be lackluster, so I needed to do something to keep me interested.
I've never written for a site, but would absolutely love to though.
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Post by November KS on Oct 13, 2015 21:18:06 GMT -6
You definitely have a gift, my friend.
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Post by randomone on Oct 13, 2015 21:26:51 GMT -6
I really appreciate it.
Now if only I could make money off my useless knowledge of pro wrestling.
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Optimisn
Moderator
The Voice of Reason
Posts: 33,705 
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Post by Optimisn on Oct 13, 2015 21:33:12 GMT -6
I really appreciate it. Now if only I could make money off my useless knowledge of pro wrestling. I've struggled with this for years. If I had the knowledge of finance I have of pro wrestling, I'd at least be a VP of Goldman like everyone else. |
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Post by randomone on Oct 16, 2015 12:38:28 GMT -6
Figure I'd post this today, because I usually do these on Saturday & there is no way in hell I'm doing anything other than watching the Cubs tomorrow. So here we go, next 5. From here on, it'll be 5 each post.
26. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, John Cena, Hardcore Holly, Bradshaw (2003)
Again, this is a 3 person team, but it holds pretty historical significance because this was really the show where John Cena became a face. Prior to the show he was still Doctor of Thuganomics, so this was a huge step up & a needed change for him, because at that time, the heel Cena was growing a little stale, but the fans were getting behind him. Hardcore Holly got DQ’d before the match started (make sense? Of course not) & started his dumb feud with Brock. Also in this match, Lesnar pinned Angle & essentially ended their feud for good. Angle was good in the match, but this was a match showcasing Benoit & Cena, both of who would move on to huge pushes. Bradshaw was there to fill a spot & was eliminated quickly, he'd be months away from his mega push. In the end, Benoit & Cena were the most over faces on Smackdown and this win would put them over even more. Solid duo, trio if you count Angle. Other two, eh not so much.
25. Hart Foundation, Demolition, Islanders, Bolsheviks, Dream Team (1987)
Here we are, first ranking of the tag team super teams during the first 2 years of the Survivor Series. The reason they got bottom billing out of the four was due to the Bolsheviks, who were never a legit threat as Boris & Nikolai never had the same chemistry as Sheik & Nikolai (matching jackets were rad though). Dream Team were almost done teaming as Bravo & Valentine would move on to other things, despite teaming from time to time. The Islanders were tough as hell, but never got as over as they should’ve at this time. Heenan managing them was the only thing that didn't completely get them lost in the shuffle. They were a solid team, but just never broke through to that upper level of awesome teams. Demolition wasn’t the Demolition that were dominant yet, but they were still showing promise as a strong heel team. Then there’s the top heel team in the company, Bret & Anvil were fantastic heel champs with Jimmy Hart managing them, as they were very strong in this one. Certainly strong in terms of managers though, The Brain, Mouth of the South, Fuji, Johnny V & I believe Slick was managing The Bolsheviks at the time, could be wrong though.
24. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase, CM Punk, William Regal (2009)
Legacy was still kicking & teaming them with the awesome William Regal & the even more awesome just on the verge of becoming Straight Edge Society CM Punk. I liked Regal during this time, he took two dudes who weren’t doing much in Kozlov & Big Zeke and had the Ruthless Roundtable group who were decent on ECW. Regal had these two bruisers in front of him & his feud with Christian over the ECW title was good storytelling. Punk was I believe a week away from getting Luke Gallows by his side, so this was still a transition period for the heel Punk. Legacy was a strong group, I’ve talked about them before, but the feud between Orton & Kofi Kingston (who won the match) was absolutely short changed & they got screwed royally as it was Kofi’s highest profile feud, but it felt like they kicked the brakes on it just so they can break up Legacy. Dumb, stupid, call it whatever you want. It should’ve gone on, but it was fun while it lasted.
23. Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom (1990)
Put the reigning WWF Champion, reigning IC Champion & the newest badasses in the company on one team & you get a friggin strong ass team. My only objective was had it not been for the Ultimate Survival match at the end of the show, I’d like to think this team would’ve entirely survived. Texas Tornado was still an over face & wasn’t mailing it in like he did from about early 91 on. Warrior as champ was of course going over, but why was the World Champ in the opening match? Because Hulkster doesn’t curtain jerk brother! LOD was awesome in their first WWF run, but I feel their coming to the WWF kind of dicked over a few teams, primarily Rockers & Power and Glory, from potentially holding the tag team titles. That said though, Hawk & Animal absolutely steamrolled over the already falling apart Demolition at this time. The Ultimate Warrior, The Modern Day Warrior & The Road Warriors all on the same team was pretty cool to see too.
22. Lex Luger, The Undertaker, Steiner Brothers (1993)
Replacing Tatanka with the Undertaker was a fantastic move. Tatanka had lost a lot of his appeal once his undefeated streak ended (which was nearly 2 years, I can't believe that). Just seemed like they lost interest in his push after this. Even his heel run was forgettable. Anyways, yes it sort of made no sense having Taker on a team called The All Americans, but his addition to this team made it that much better. It was also the match where he’d start his feud with Yoko for the title, so a lot came from this match for him as well. The Steiner Brothers were continuing to be over in the tag division, but the addition of the Quebecers as tag champs sort of made Rick & Scott look like doofus’. They were completely outsmarted by Jacques, Pierre & Polo. Regardless of that though, they were a no brainer being on this team. Lex Luger was going to be Vince’s golden boy, but it never materialized. The Lex Express was still chugging along here, even having Luger celebrate with Santa to end the show. Even as a child I didn’t care for that, because I was never a Lex Luger good guy fan. Made in the USA Lex Luger was so “shove it down your throat babyface” that it was completely overkill. I also hated how they made him beating Yokozuna at Summerslam BY COUNTOUT into something successful. It wasn’t. Still liked this team though, despite everything I had just criticized.
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Optimisn
Moderator
The Voice of Reason
Posts: 33,705
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Post by Optimisn on Oct 16, 2015 18:03:20 GMT -6
Warrior, Kerry, and the Road Warriors coming in at 23 has me really anticipating the rest!
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Post by randomone on Oct 16, 2015 20:18:54 GMT -6
Oddly enough you mention that team. I had kept pushing them up more & more, but I watched the Survivor Series 1990 recently and aside from being super popular, they didn't team all that great together. By this point Demolition already was looking weak as hell, so for LOD to get counted out with them was mainly to keep them strong & to put the odds against Perfect in 2 on 1. Then Perfect beat Tornado & of course had to lose to Warrior.
Some of these teams coming up, I had a really hard time ranking. Even I thought at first a few were too low, but the caliber of teams coming up, man, there's some great ones.
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Post by randomone on Oct 24, 2015 11:08:33 GMT -6
21. Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Butch Reed, Rick Rude (1987)
Here we are, the very first heel team in Survivor Series history & it was pretty damn awesome. Rick Rude just started to become Ravishing, The Natural Butch Reed was entertaining due to Slick by his side, One Man Gang was a beast, King Kong Bundy was an even bigger beast & Andre was the biggest beast of all time. Despite a poor showing from Reed, we then would see the Gang & Rude get pins leaving them against Bam Bam & the momentum killer Hogan. With a 3 on 1 situation, it was great to see Bam Bam, who wasn’t small at all, look like a cruiserweight compared to the 3 he had to go up against in Andre, Bundy & the Gang. Visually awesome, this was what the 80s was all about, big dudes & these were the biggest dudes of them all. Such a great heel team. And, regardless of the spotlight hog posing for everyone at the end, despite already being eliminated, brother, it was cool seeing Andre being the sole survivor. A rare moment that a heel got to stand tall on a PPV main event.
20. Marty Jannetty, Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, 123 Kid (1993)
There’s a couple more face teams ranked ahead of this one, but as much as I wanted to rank this team even higher, I couldn’t. And that should tell you how awesome the remaining face teams are. 123 Kid was still riding the upset wave after he beat Razor in the spring, something I remember leaving the room for as a kid. I saw that Razor was in action, left the room & my dad yelled to me that he lost & I couldn’t believe it. It’s a moment that’s haunted me as a wrestling fan for missing such a memorable moment. I was 6 at the time, yet I'm still bummed. Marty milked his feud with Shawn for all it was worth & finally after it was over he could get to facing new guys. He was fine in this role & feel that Shawn’s rise made anything Marty accomplished in comparison look worthless. Which is sad, because Marty was a great wrestler, he just had his demons. Razor was newly face & ready to become IC champ, he looked like a stud. Then there was supposed to be Mr. Perfect, but he left the company & it was Savage who filled the role great. Anytime Savage got to wrestle at that point was great, because, like I’ve said before, he was my guy, I was a Macho Man fan growing up. He looked like a lunatic chasing after Crush & bailing on his team, but oddly, it fit. He left to attack someone, not like Bad News Brown, who’d bail for the hell of it.
19. Demolition, Conquistadors, Brainbusters, Fabulous Rougeaus, Bolsheviks (1988)
Combo tag team #2 & this one wasn’t as awesome as their counterparts, but still awesome for 4 out of the 5 teams. I’ve stated my thoughts on the Bolsheviks a few teams ago, so I’ll save that. The Conquistadors weren’t a bad team at all, they could wrestle well & had such a generic gimmick, it worked. Uno & Dos, I mean it doesn’t get more simpler than that. They were the underdog team on their side & ultimately made it to the end, something that shocked Gorilla Monsoon & delighted Jesse Ventura. The Rougeaus were in the middle of their heel run where they pretended to love the USA, it was fantastic, just like their entrance music (still my all time favorite). Brainbusters, c’mon, Tully & Arn were one of the best teams of all time, so I don’t need to cover them at all. I know they’re great & you know they’re great. Demolition was in a weird spot, I’ll address the finish in a bit, but heel tag team champs heading into this & left as face tag champs. It was incredibly awkward for the time & confuses the fuck out of me even to this day. They were in the middle of their, at that time, historic tag title reigns & had improved immensely since the prior year.
18. Ted Dibiase, Greg Valentine, Honky Tonk Man, The Undertaker (1990)
I mean, do I really need to explain why? When the mystery partner becomes one of the most widely decorated WWE champions of all time, I mean it’s a no brainer, so I’ll spare you on explaining why the Undertaker is awesome. Despite that, Dibiase during this time was a total asshole, which was fantastic. He beat up Dusty’s son & left him laying, what a scumbag! On the other end of this, the Rhythm & Blues team were on their last legs & ol’ Honky was on his way out in the beginning of the year & Greg Valentine got to stop spending money on hair dye, something I’m sure he was thankful for. Although seeing someone like the Hammer try to act like Elvis was a sight to see, hysterical. You know why this team is awesome, so I’ll just stop right now.
17. Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry, Scott Steiner, Randy Orton (2003)
I was a big fan of Raw in 2003, everything except for the main event picture that is. Never cared for Goldberg/Trips, but everything else on the brand over the year I thought was entertaining. This was the perfect night for Austin & Bischoff to finally end their feud as both guys loaded up with their studs & we had a fantastic Survivor Series match, arguably one of my all time favorites, as both teams were amazing. I’ll get to Team Austin momentarily, but Team Bischoff had young guns, muscle dudes, talented Canadians…..and Scott Steiner. The good thing about Steiner during this period was he was heel & was able to be himself, a psychopath. So granted his start to his return wasn’t good at all, towards the end it wasn’t as bad as one thinks. Mark Henry was still thuggin & buggin with Teddy Long by his side & was as dominant as ever, so he fit perfectly. Christian & Y2J were your prototypical Bischoff henchmen, so they filled their roles perfectly in this one. Talented as hell, cocky & smug as well, they were fantastic. Then you have the young gun in Randy Orton, who was in the middle of his Legend Killer tour, really starting to get a character in Evolution, because up to this point, he was just Trips lackey. This match especially made Orton look like a star he would become. I think this match was the eye opener WWE officials had in realizing Orton could really be something & sooner rather than later.
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Post by randomone on Oct 25, 2015 21:47:35 GMT -6
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Post by Positivity Peeps on Oct 25, 2015 21:49:26 GMT -6
Ha.
Poor randomone...
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Optimisn
Moderator
The Voice of Reason
Posts: 33,705
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Post by Optimisn on Oct 25, 2015 22:07:33 GMT -6
I did throw your shit out to a bunch of websites. I'm not saying WWE is fighting you, but......... |
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Post by randomone on Oct 25, 2015 22:23:30 GMT -6
I went through all the pictures to see if there were good ones for the teams I haven't listed yet. There are a lot of pics I've used that they used on their site.
Just sayin, Joey Styles might be a fan of the board!
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Post by randomone on Oct 31, 2015 10:44:27 GMT -6
16. Strike Force, Young Stallions, Fabulous Rougeaus, Killer Bees, British Bulldogs (1987)
3rd of the 4 super tag teams goes to the face team of 1987 & a pretty damn good one at that. The Rougeaus hadn’t really found themselves yet & were just two faces with no direction. The Killer Bees, while established, really weren’t considered a top team in the division, neither were the Young Stallions, who were two young dudes who could wrestle. That’s why the finish surprised me & having the Bees & Stallions survive really set the tone for anyone could win these kinds of matches, so I really liked that. The Bulldogs were looking as strong as ever, despite not being tag champs heading into this show. That honor went to Rick Martel & Tito Santana, as Strike Force & their Girls in Cars theme were such a good team & I really liked them, I think they get overlooked greatly as a tag team, but that was because they were so good as singles wrestlers in their own right. This was a really good team from top to bottom.
15. Shawn Michaels, The Dudley Boyz, RVD, Booker T (2003)
Despite losing the match, Team Austin I thought was slightly better than Team Bischoff for one big reason though, Shawn Michaels. HBK bled, he bled a fucking LOT during this match. Granted Vince, for no reason, bled buckets in THE VERY NEXT MATCH against Undertaker, but that’s beside the point. His was pointless, Shawn’s was brilliant storytelling. He busted his ass to save Stone Cold’s job, more so than the rest of his team, who actually busted their asses as well, just Shawn took it up a notch. Bubba & D-Von, RVD & Booker T were all being really held back by Bischoff and his reign around this time, so all of them were no brainers in being members of this team. This match really seemed like gang warfare, despite being on the same brand. That just shows you how great the storytelling was. This was really Shawn’s match, as he found himself in a 3 on 1 disadvantage against Y2J, Christian & Orton. HBK, wearing the crimson mask if you will, hit a superkick on Christian, then nailed a rollup on Jericho & just as you thought he was going to pull this off…….he comes up short. Now he has to live with the loss & having Stone Cold lose his job because of it. Fantastic, amazing, saying anything else you want to call it. It was brilliant. This was a one man team overall, which is why I ranked it only #15.
14. Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, RVD, John Cena (2004)
Aside from RVD biting a pin by Angle, who I can only assume they gave a pin to in order to not make him look weak, this team was great. Had they all survived, I think I might’ve ranked them higher, but they didn’t, so I couldn’t. Also they didn’t take on a full team, as Cena chased Carlito from the arena before the match officially started. So it was a glorified handicap match against Team Angle. While Big Show & Eddie were the only ones to get pins, Cena & those guys looked like studs and all of them looked like legit contenders for JBL’s title. I wasn’t a fan of Big Show during this run, but in this match alone, he was great. Eddie didn’t lose a ton of steam after losing the title to JBL, he was still one of the most over guys, as was RVD, but honestly, Cena was the guy to watch for. He had been for months prior, but you could see he was the guy who was going to take the next step into the main event picture. A place where he’s been ever since.
13. Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Young Stallions, Rockers (1988)
The final super tag team Survivor Series team goes to the 1988 face team, as look at this group of guys, the young rookies in Shawn & Marty, who were really fresh on the scene & hadn’t really gotten noticed yet, but looking back at this match, they didn’t tweak that much. Bulldogs were in their final match I think together as Dynamite was history after this one, but still, they were one of the best teams in the WWF. Still going strong for a little bit longer was Roma & Powers, as the Young Stallions, like I said before, never really broke out like the other teams, but they could definitely wrestle. Bret & Anvil, now faces, only add to the greatness of this team. Then you have the Powers of Pain, who, I liked as big bruisers, but the finish to this match & the double switch that happened that night confuses me so much. Mr. Fuji was managing the tag champs in Demolition, he beats them up with his cane, Powers of Pain save him & he leaves with Warlord & Barbarian. Enter with the champs, leave with the challengers. I don’t know if they were planning on putting the titles on them, but it just made Fuji look like a boob. Why leave the champs? Regardless, they both could work well & this team was hands down the best tag team survivor team of the 4. Both matches in 87 & 88 went about 40 minutes, but that’s because they wanted to highlight everyone. I’m totally fine with that. Something they definitely couldn’t do today.
12. Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart (1994)
The Teamsters were the best team in the mid 90s hands down. This team had everything essentially wrapped up in 3 members as Shawn & Diesel were on fire; Owen was in the main event picture & had Anvil, who didn’t do much, by his side. Jarrett was about to become a player in the IC title picture as well. Add to that, one of the best runs in Survivor Series history, when Diesel single handedly Jackknife powerbombed his way through 3 of the 5 opponents & in like a minute too! Why it couldn't have been 4 & why Bulldog couldn't have taken the powerbomb & instead got counted out, completely baffles me. It's not like he was losing to a scrub & later in the night he looked like a complete idiot knocking himself out in the Bret/Backlund match. Never before & never since has there been as dominant 60 seconds as that. Sure Big Show ran through a team in 1999, but they were 3 job guys & Big Bossman, so it’s not like it’s a contest. Diesel, that week, would become WWF Champion & despite actually losing this match under ridiculous reasoning, The Teamsters won this match, I don’t give a shit what the results say. All the members got counted out for trying to calm down Diesel from going after Shawn up the aisle? Stupid finish, amazing run during the match. Bravo Teamsters, bravo indeed.
11. The Shield & The Real Americans (2013)
Call it favoritism for Rollins being my hometown boy or call it that this team was fucking awesome. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 2 years since this group was a team. The Shield had been running roughshod over everyone & add to it the very formidable team of Swagger & Cesaro, there really isn’t a weak link in this team. Swagger maybe? But even that’s pushing it, because Swagger was/is a hoss, he fills the roll well. Might not get a chance to show it these days, but when he teamed with Cesaro, he did. Of course do I need to explain why Cesaro, Ambrose & Rollins are awesome? Don’t think so, but Roman, as a member of The Shield, was fantastic as the powerhouse. All the Shield’s bases were covered. The psycho in Ambrose, the workhorse in Rollins & the power guy in Reigns. They were fresh, new, badasses, something that probably won’t be seen by a trio in a very long time. Hands down the best overall WRESTLING Survivor Series team in the last close to 10 years. I say almost because 1 team is better, but it was in 2006, I’ll get to that in the next installment.
Here we are, down to the Top 10! I seriously can't believe I've made it this far. Has your all time favorite team been listed yet? Or is it still in the running? Or do you fear I'm going to dick that team over & give it a lower ranking than it should get? Why am I asking so many questions? Find out next time when I post teams 10-6.
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Post by randomone on Nov 7, 2015 10:02:32 GMT -6
Let's do it, Top 10 All Time Greatest Survivor Series Teams starts right now! At least 10-6.
10. The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show (2001)
Here we go, the Top 10 Survivor Series teams in history and we start with Team WWF from the 2001 show. Look at the star power on this team & you’d think that I should’ve had them ranked even higher, but I simply couldn’t. Reason being was, regardless of how WWF fucked up the usage of WCW, this was the culmination of everything. I know practically everyone remained hired, but still, it was a huge match. However, when you have Big Show, a former WCW World Champion & a focal point essentially for 4 years with that company, was doing absolutely nothing during this entire invasion (except maybe main eventing…….Sunday Night Heat), looking totally out of place (Vince himself was supposed to be in this match, but I think he was hurt, whether that was kayfabe or not, I'm not sure, but even an injured Vince would've been better than Show). Then you have The Undertaker, who is a legend, but this was during his husky days you could call it. Not really in shape during 2000-2001, although his intensity was fucking incredible, he’d pull it all together next month when he turned into the awesome Red Devil character he did for a few months. Kane was Kane, he always delivered, but he was obviously 4th wheel on this team. The top two guys were the ones who, heading into this had a history with each other as Jericho & Rock hated one another, but you’d think they would get along for what was at stake, but it was that bitterness that made it intriguing. Jericho turned on The Rock during this match, something that NO ONE talked about following this show (if they did it was very briefly), instead they just acted like it was Jericho angry, but it was what it was, he nearly cost the WWF the match & never really got punished for it, if anything he got rewarded. Vince essentially helped Jericho win the WWF title the following month, yet on this night, Jericho almost cost the WWF the entire thing! That always bugged me. Made zero sense whatsoever, then again, that was par for the course with the entire invasion angle. Guess Jericho didn’t care about losing his job since he had Fozzy? I’m trying to make what little sense I can out of that. Overall this team on paper could be one of, if not, the strongest team ever, but at this point & time I simply can’t rank them any higher. Top 10 though ain’t bad.
9. Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Virgil, British Bulldog (1991)
Congratulations Virgil, you made the Top 10, thanks to your partners, thanks ENTIRELY to your partners. We’ll start at the top with reigning Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart, who after Summerslam was absolutely on fire & getting super over with the fans. He was finally able to shake off the Anvil & break out on his own and at this point, he was right in the thick of things as being one of the best in the company. Putting on amazing matches, improving in his promos, fans loved him, he was the total package (a total package who could wrestle incredibly well, unlike the other Total Package). Then you had Hot Rod, who was beloved by all. I always was shocked as a kid, because I started watching in 1990 & couldn’t believe that Piper was not just a heel prior to me watching, but one of the best heels of all time. It was mind blowing; I was amazed that one of my favorites was as hated as he once was. Then as you get older, you start to respect his ability to draw the crowd in no matter what he did. Whether he’s feuding with Hogan or at this point, feuding with Flair, Piper could make you interested in anything he did & the crowd exploded when he got in the ring. I’m still incredibly bummed we lost him this year. The British Bulldog, just about a year into his singles run, was getting huge pops & proving he could get over on his own and that this run wouldn’t be a bust. Granted it seemed like he feuded with Warlord for 2 years, he’d finally break out a year from now, but on this night, teaming with Piper & Bret, he fit right in. Then we get to Virgil, who, despite being a huge asshole in real life (and is now I quote “all about that fuck money”), around this time, I’d say he was the most over he had ever been. 1991 you could absolutely say was his best year, thanks to Ted Dibiase. That should go to show you how great Dibiase is, he made Virgil look like (I hate myself for this pun) a million bucks. Something no one could do prior, or after. Regardless, with it being his best year, he didn’t look out of place in this team at the time, looking back at it now, of course he did, but you have to figure in 1991, it was an incredibly solid & strong team.
8. Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect, Harley Race, Rick Rude (1988)
This team for some reason always holds a special place with me, because if you ask me to name my Top 10 favorite wrestlers of all time (I have a list), Rick Rude & Mr. Perfect would be on that list. So add to that one of the best champions in history in Harley Race, the best big man in the business in Andre & then pretty solid worker in Dino Bravo, this team is amazing. The most heartbreaking part about this team is that Harley Race, the oldest guy on this team, is the only one still with us. It’s tragic, because you can’t help but think how much more Perfect, Rude, even Bravo would’ve accomplished in the wrestling business had it not been for their unfortunate deaths. Andre at this time was bigger than ever & you could see it was hard for him to move around, but just the visual of seeing Andre was the most impressive part. He grabbed you, headbutt the shit out of you, maybe sit on you in the corner, forget about it, you’re done. There was also something about the pre-match promo with these guys where Andre would get bug eyed motioning that he was going to squeeze the life out of Jake Roberts that scared the piss out of me when I finally watched this show on video as a kid. He was scary as shit, but damn he was awesome. This could arguably be The Heenan Family’s finest hour if you think about it. Granted Perfect wasn’t managed by him at the time, but Rude, Race & Andre, looked great. I know Race got eliminated by a Flying Jalapeno by Chico Santana, but in the end, Andre took one for the team & got DQ’d after he, in fact, choked the life out of Jake, resulting in Perfect to get the pin. One of my all time favorites no doubt. It almost crushes me that I have to rank them this low.
7. Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Duggan (1987)
This is the current Hall of Fame right here in terms of Survivor Series teams (sorry Brutus). Which is taking nothing away from Brutus, he was a solid worker, could always deliver entertaining matches & although he was dressed like a stripper, he was good in the ring. He never really accomplished as much as I think he was suppose to, because his parasailing accident I think really messed up his push. Beefer was a strong Survivor Series teammate like I had said a while back; he’d bust his ass & get eliminated. Duggan was a lunatic & of course got counted out quickly, but that’s what you want from Duggan at this point. He really wasn’t Mr. USA yet, but instead he was just, dude who liked to brawl Jim Duggan. Ricky Steamboat could be the best babyface in the history of the business, you simply couldn’t hate him, even if you tried, you’d feel bad about yourself for hating him. You couldn’t shit on his matches, because they were amazing, you couldn’t shit on promos, because they were fantastic. Everything Ricky Steamboat did, he had you interested. Despite not having as big of run as I wish he would’ve had in the WWF (his mid-card Dragon run was pretty bad, he deserved better), he was amazing in this match & in this run. Jake Roberts was another one, except you could hate him when he turned heel, I hated him so damn much because he went after Savage & Elizabeth, but on this show, he was a face & was super over, he was great. Then you had Macho Man, the captain of the team, who transitioned nicely out of the IC title picture after his epic with Steamboat at Mania. Trying to protect Elizabeth from the Honky Tonk Man was admirable & it showed Savage had a heart, especially after he was just finishing a great heel run. There’s not enough great things I can say about this team, one of the best face teams ever. Actually it’s almost the greatest face team ever, but that distinction goes to……..
6. HHH, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Matt & Jeff Hardy (2006)
I said that The Shield & Real Americans could be the best overall WRESTLING Survivor Series team in the past 10 years, well, that’s almost true, give it another year & it will be, because in 2006, this was & still is the BEST Survivor Series face team we’ve ever seen. At this point DX were running in high gear and crowds were going crazy for them, mainly because they beat up Vince, Shane & the Spirit Squad for about 8 months, but they were still on fire. Granted I didn’t care for the 2008-09 reunion, but this one was by far the better one. The crowd though, chanted louder than ever for one young gun, that being CM Punk. When you get cheered for louder than DX, you know you’re over. Yes it was in Philly, but damn, the ovation for him was insane. It’s hard to believe that The Hardys were the least popular ones of the bunch in this one, which you couldn’t say that often. The match itself was a great blend of comedy (HBK with the superkick to Knox & the Melina spot), great overall teamwork & absolute dominance by all of them. I liked how they all got their stuff in too. Punk had a pin by his finish, the Hardys had a pin by their finish, Michaels hit a couple Sweet Chin Musics & Trips hit a pedigree. Any & everything you wanted from a face team, they did on this night. Everyone survived & in this instance, they fought to do just that, no countouts or DQ’s, no shenanigans, just pure dominance. No other babyface team has rivaled them, except for the 1st babyface team I just listed, but that was nearly 20 years ago even back then. Hard to imagine a team of good guys ever being as dominant and for that reason, Team DX, although ranked #6 overall, is my all time favorite babyface Survivor Series team.
Next Saturday I'll post teams 5-3. We've almost made it to the end!
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Post by randomone on Nov 14, 2015 15:23:26 GMT -6
5. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn (2000)
Here we are, the Top 5, they’re all heels & we start with one of the best groups in the Attitude Era, as WCW’s loss was the WWF’s gain in the form of The Radicalz. We’ll start with Perry Saturn, who I honestly wasn’t a big fan of when I first saw him in WCW. He was a solid wrestler, but I never really was into his character. I’m not sure what it was though, but when he came to the WWF, I started to like his work more. Maybe it’s because of the talent he was working with, can’t quite pin point it, but I liked Saturn’s WWF run. The dude made talking to a mop entertaining! (You’re welcome!). Dean Malenko was one of my favorites in WCW & I think in terms of Radicalz, his WWF run didn’t pan out in ring as well as it should. Maybe it could’ve been due to injuries, but it felt like he was relegated to Light Heavyweight Guy almost immediately. Aside from an entertaining feud with Lita, his run in WWF was forgettable, which sucks. He retired from the ring right before the Invasion, so we never got to see him wrestle guys like Shane Helms or Lance Storm. I wish he’d been wrestling in 2002, because a rematch with Rey Mysterio would’ve been amazing. Alas it wasn’t meant to be, but in 2000, Malenko was the guy who would go unnoticed in this group I feel. Eddie immediately found his groove in the WWF, pairing him with Chyna & creating Latino Heat was fantastic, then having him go back to being a weasel heel worked great as well. Amazing worker & incredible performer. This Survivor Series team was pretty much captained by Benoit, who was in the main event picture just a few months prior. He was the guy you could always get a main event match out of on Raw or Smackdown, but at this point they hadn’t fully committed to him yet. He was the (and I realize this is a terrible choice of words to describe him) assassin of the group, the guy who would strike at any time. He was ruthless & having the Radicalz come back together around this time after separating briefly worked great. They steamrolled their opponents as Chyna, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg & K-Kwik didn’t stand a chance. There’s nothing more I can say, I loved this faction.
4. Rick Martel, Warlord, Paul Roma, Hercules (1990)
This & the next team you could honestly flip a coin on, because I enjoyed them that much. The Warlord was lucky to be on some snazzy teams over the course of his tenure, look at his history, it could arguably be the best resume of teams during his tenure, he was the muscle (in this case one of them anyway) who was there to beat the living shit out of you. He was so juiced up during this time it’s amazing he could even move. I remember in the Kevin Nash KayfabeCommentaries shoot, he told a story about how Warlord was walking around backstage & asked Shawn Michaels if he could stick the needle with steroids in his ass. Shawn couldn’t push down on the syringe & finally said “Dude, I think you’re full.” which goes to show how much these dudes were on roids. That being said, I always questioned the validity of that story, because Diesel & Shawn weren’t together when Warlord was there. Anyways, the story is funny, but I digress. He’s a huge dude & filled the role well. Then you had, what I think was the most underrated heel team in the WWF in the early 90s (Beverlys are close 2nd) in Power & Glory. I think they should’ve had a run with the titles during the fall of 90, but it never happened sadly. Maybe it was because the Nasty Boys showed up? Roma & Herc had amazing chemistry & they teamed well with Warlord too. Slick had quite the stable during this time. Then you had one of my personal favorite heels, someone who doesn’t get nearly as much recognition & should be in the Hall of Fame by now, Rick Martel. He was so easy to hate as The Model, he played this ridiculous character well & not to mention during this time, his feud with Jake Roberts was fantastic as well. This was the FIRST entire team to survive & that just shows how great they were as a team. Roberts, Snuka & The Rockers were a decent team, but compared to the Visionaries? No chance. Plus we got to see the Powerplex, one of the best tag team finishes EVER. Visionaries were an amazing team.
3. Ric Flair, Warlord, Ted Dibiase, Mountie (1991)
I sort of wish 1991 they still did team names, but regardless, this team was hands down the best team to come out of that PPV. I won’t cover Warlord much, because actually he didn’t truly accomplish much from the year prior, he was STILL feuding with the British Bulldog & despite coming out on the losing end most times (I think every time), he remained an impressive mid carder. My only complaint during this time was that Slick wasn’t managing him any longer; instead we get Dr. Harvey Wippleman, who was a great manager. I hated mid 90s manager of jobbers Harvey, but this time, I liked him. The Mountie had just got out of the slammer from the last PPV match, so Jailbird was still being chanted at him, despite his feud with the Bossman being over. Instead he’d transition into the upper mid card & find himself fighting for the IC title. With his excellent in ring skills & ability to make this silly gimmick work, I always was entertained by The Mountie, underrated if anything for this gimmick alone. Ted DIbiase should be praised, like I said earlier about Virgil, I think Dibiase should get an award for making Virgil look as good as he did in their feud, which was still going along at this show. The Million Dollar Man could never shake off his former bodyguard until he formed Money Inc it seemed. Another part I loved was Dibiase was with Sherri, who was one of my all time favorites. Anyone Sherri was with was great & despite not really needing her due to being one of the best talkers in the business, he needed someone to freshen him up, so I loved the pairing. Then you have the Team Captain, finally Ric Flair is on a WWF PPV & Mr. Perfect is his Executive Consultant, along with Bobby Heenan on commentary. This would be my favorite pairing for the next year as I loved everything about it. Flair was the talent, Perfect was the scumbag on the outside & The Brain put them all over on commentary. Everything clicked, so when they combined everyone on this team, it was fantastic. Only complaint on the actual match was the ending. Everyone was disqualified for brawling on the floor, whether they were legal or not, but Ric Flair, who won the match. Was it that necessary for people not to take pins at a big show like this? Why couldn’t Virgil take a pin? Why couldn’t Mountie get rolled up by Bret? Have Piper get counted out for going after Perfect, something different than what they did. It was a weird choice, but the better team won hands down & it gave Naitch a big win in his PPV debut for the WWF.
Almost there, we're down to the FINAL 2 TEAMS!! I'll warn you in advance, the write ups on them are LONG, so be prepared. Just wanted to really dive into why exactly I chose the all time greatest team.
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Post by randomone on Nov 22, 2015 8:58:52 GMT -6
Honestly, when I started this list, it looked like an impossible task, but I chipped away here & there until it finally all started to come together. The first I’d say 60 were tough as hell to hammer through, but alas, here we are, we’ve made it to the FINAL 2 teams. I always had a Top 5 Survivor Series teams list, so the final 5 wasn’t that much of a pain; I just never put them in an order. So when it came down to it, the Final 5 were tough, but then I went back & forth on these final 2 over & over again.
2. The Rude Brood: "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect & The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (1989)
I decided to give the #2 spot to the swankiest team out of the bunch. The cockiness, arrogance, confidence that this teams exudes alone puts them high on the list, but you add to that the amazing in ring ability, it’s damn near flawless. Actually they are flawless, as like I said, it was a tossup. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, as stated previously, were one of the most underrated & underappreciated heel teams, who, despite being fantastic workers, I think sort of got lost in the shuffle because the tag division was so stacked, something you haven’t been able to say much (if at all) ever since. While they were a very good team, you never really bought them as guys who could be atop the division, which is a bummer. They were heels who could push the champions to good matches on TV or house shows, but aside from a 6 man tag, they never really got their shot on PPV. Sadly over time they were stuck feuding with the biggest doofs in the division in The Bushwhackers & more often than not, losing. Luckily, despite being eliminated first, they weren’t eliminated by Butch or Luke, instead by Piper & Snuka. That also goes to show you how great, scratch that, perfect; the other two men were on this team. But let's start with the tights of the captain. Ravishing Rick Rude had some of the best wrestling gear over the course of his career & this one could be in the Top 2 as well, winners on the front, losers on the back. I loved it.
 
I should point out that Rick Rude & Mr. Perfect are in my Top 10 all time favorite wrestlers list, so it’s no surprise why I ranked them this high. It’s a bummer that Rude & Perfect were in their heyday during the Hogan/Warrior time, but if you think about it, they did their jobs perfectly (no pun intended on that one), because the heels job is to make the face look like a million bucks. Rude made Warrior look legit IMO & Perfect was a fantastic heel, who I think should’ve won the 1990 Rumble to make him look like a stronger contender when feuding with Hogan, but he didn’t, thanks Terry. Luckily they didn’t get smothered by the colorful tassels & red and yellow in this match, therefore, they DOMINATED, until Piper & Rude got counted out. Even after then, you have Mr. Perfect vs Jimmy Snuka, c’mon, was there ever any doubt? Perfect-Plex, good night. Only thing I never really understood was the pairing of Perfect & The Genius. The vignettes were creepy, yet hilarious, how fascinated Genius was with Perfect, gave me the creeps. Amazing team, almost the best, but that distinction goes to…..
Drumroll.......and THE GREATEST SURVIVOR SERIES TEAM IN HISTORY goes to........
1. The Alliance: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T & Shane McMahon (2001)
While the Invasion was a total bust, it did give the WWF probably a handful of stars from ECW & WCW that would go on to be main eventers. I think had the Invasion happened 1 year later, things would’ve been totally different, but they sadly rushed into this thing. So instead of Hollywood Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair & others, we got Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire, Mike Awesome & Hugh Morrus. While the ECW guys were mostly floundering in the mid card, or worse, main eventing Heat, Jakked or Metal (remember those last two shows? I loved them! Fuck yeah Justin Credible vs Funaki main events!). So you pretty much had WWF guys feuding with WWF guys wearing WCW/ECW t-shirts. It was a stinker of an angle, but the intensity of this match on this night, it actually felt like a big fight feel. Was the WWF going to go out of business? Absolutely not, but you knew shenanigans wouldn’t allow that either, so you thought it might be possible. Looking at the 10 men involved, only RVD & Booker were newer faces, so this is less about the WCW/ECW Invasion, but more so the overall awesomeness of this team.
Let’s start with Booker T, the face of WCW up until the very end, came in to the WWF & immediately was put into a feud with The Rock, who sadly he didn’t win against, but he looked like a legit threat & could hang with the big boys. If there was anyone who represented WCW, it was Booker T, so he fit in perfectly on this team. Rob Van Dam, the same could be said for him with ECW. On the ship until it died (hell Heyman bailed before he did!), I was the most excited for him to come to the WWF, because I knew he’d absolutely kill it. His Hardcore match with Jeff Hardy at Invasion was amazing & over the next few months, Van Dam would become THE most over guy in the Alliance! He should’ve gotten a month or two title run during this time I believe, but I think they went with Kurt Angle having a brief title run because this was 2001, sadly the events that had happened in September really thrusted Angle into the American Hero role & even though Stone Cold wasn’t an anti-American, anyone BUT Angle winning the title during that time, however briefly it was, he was the only way to go. However, with 2 World titles at this time, give RVD a brief run with the WCW title, but it never happened. Regardless of all that, Van Dam was still super over & a no brainer for representing ECW.
We then get to Shane O’Mac, who, I know this isn’t saying much, but is the most talented in ring wise of the McMahon clan. His match with Angle at KOTR that year was fucking insane & I still can’t believe the bumps Shane took. He was a fantastic heel, who kind of looked out of place in this match with the caliber of talent involved, but then again, so did Big Show at this point & time. With everything riding on the line for the Alliance, I kind of dug Shane being in this match, of course he eliminated Show with an elbow drop (that’s how far Show had fallen), but any time Shane got punched or kicked or hit with someone’s finisher (no handed Tombstone by Taker was sick), people loved it. He was the crash test dummy of the team, who I always enjoyed.
Next is Kurt Angle, who had the most asinine heel turn I had ever seen towards the end of this Alliance storyline. He was Mr. WWF for months, only to lose the title……then quickly join The Alliance? It was so stupid for Angle to turn on the WWF right before this show, I know it made the WWF look vulnerable, but man, that heel turn still bugs me to this day. Putting that aside, Angle was at the top of his game here though. Had they lost him to injury during this time, it would’ve been a pretty huge blow, because The Rock was the guy fighting off WCW it seemed (Booker T/Shane) while Angle was the one fighting off the kingpin of the Alliance, Steve Austin. Without Angle, who was essentially Captain America during this time, there wouldn’t be a top guy to battle against this group, until he joined them, which again, fucking stupid. Angle was a key part of the Alliance vs WWF months & he was a huge part of this team, in true Angle faction, turned on The Alliance, costing Austin the match. Are we supposed to believe Angle was a double agent, never truly being an Alliance member, instead joining them only to cost them the match? I bet all those beat downs Taker, Rock, Jericho, Kane, whoever got at the hands of Angle & the Alliance were pissed. It just seemed dumb to me & it made The Alliance look like morons, believing the guy who Austin just had a war over the title with, would just join up with them.
Then we come finally to Mr. Alliance himself, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who, back at Invasion, I was legit shocked he turned on the WWF to join up with the WCW/ECW guys. At that time in 2001, I was not the mark asshole fan I am today; instead I was just a mark who enjoyed any & all wrestling. Austin turning heel at Wrestlemania that year was amazing, shaking hands with Vince, it’s still a sight that sticks with me. So when he turned on the entire company a few months later, I was welcome to it, because NOW the Alliance has a big name guy on their side. DDP, Booker, Rhyno, Dudleys, they were all fine, but Austin was the biggest star in the business & now he’s not just a heel, but a heel for the OTHER SIDE. The build up with Vince/Angle/Austin were fantastic & I remember Austin the bar watching the TV as the WWF guys got beat up & he finally stormed out, made his way to the arena & made the save. He was red hot as the WWF leader, only to turn his back on them. I really loved that. As the months went on, he became the cowardly heel, who could still beat the shit out of any & everyone, but it gave us a new character Austin could play & it also allowed someone else (Kurt Angle) to develop into a huge face in the process. So when the dust settled on this match, you had The Rock vs Stone Cold, the two biggest stars the WWF had during the Monday Night Wars (not even then, I’d say arguably of all time, you could throw Hogan in there too), were facing off, but it was WWF vs The Alliance. Again, that seemed stupid looking back, because if there was anyone who represented WCW who was in the WWF, it was Booker T and if there was anyone who represented ECW, it was RVD. Instead they had Austin/Rock, which was a fantastic moment though at that time. Austin was the most over heel in the business & Rock, c’mon, he’s The Rock. So in the culmination of this odd/underachieving months long storyline, it was almost fitting that Rock/Austin were the final two. In the end, Vince comes out & raises his arms awkwardly triumphant & that’s that, he’s back to being heel the next night, as if all this never happened.
The reason I gave this the #1 spot was, regardless of how silly the Alliance angle was looking back on it, during this time though, I’ll say it one final time there wasn’t a bigger ECW star than RVD, there wasn’t a bigger WCW star (under contract to WWF) than Booker T, Shane was one of the main faces of the Alliance, Angle was one of the most over guys in wrestling & Austin was THE most over heel in all wrestling. It was difficult to settle on this one, but its official The Alliance is my #1 Survivor Series team in history!
It's all over, I did it! If you read any of this, I appreciate it a whole bunch. I started this because Survivor Series was one of my favorites as a kid in the early 90s & it sadly has become incredibly boring to me over the years. This year could've been different, but it's just another show to the WWE now. Nothing really special about it anymore. Which made this list super fun to make, because it filled that nostalgic void.
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Post by Positivity Peeps on Nov 22, 2015 9:14:44 GMT -6
What a disappointment to finally get to the end and see...that...as the #1 team.  Great job on the list and write ups randomone. |
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Post by randomone on Nov 22, 2015 13:01:19 GMT -6
It was one of those things where they were originally in my Top 10, then my Top 5, Top 3 and I just kept thinking about it, there wasn't really a better overall team. In 2001, even though they lost, it was the best. Rude Brood will always be Top 3, there's no cooler team than that.
Thanks man, really appreciate it.
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Post by November KS on Apr 8, 2024 19:41:03 GMT -6
Greatest thread of all time. Have you ever wrote for any site, randomone. You are unreal. |
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