WWF Survivor Series 1996: Hart Attack Review By Aero
Live from Madison Square Garden, it's the 1996 WWF Survivor Series!
Commentators: Vince McMahon, JR, & The King
Opening Survivor Series Elimination Match- British Bulldog, Owen Hart, & The New Rockers vs. Doug Furnas, Philip LaFon, & The Godwinns
Bulldog & Owen are the Tag Team champions at this point. This match features the WWF's tag team divison at this time, as the Smoking Gunns are out of the picture after a breakup following In Your House: Buried Alive. We start out with Marty Jannetty and Philip LaFon. This is Furnas & LaFon's debut in the WWF. LaFon works Jannetty, and locks in an armbar. Jannetty counters it and hits a lariat. Tag to Leif Cassidy. Furnas hits a dropkick, and tags in Phineas Godwinn. Phineas tries a superplex, as JR starts yelling about how it's not a good idea for a guy his size to try a move like that. This is of course during JR's "bitter period". Phineas gets thrown into the heels corner and gets a massive
beatdown. Cassidy hits a clothesline and leg drop for two. Jannetty gets the tag and hits a diving elbow, followed by a facebuster. He goes up top, but misses a flying elbow. Phineas tags in Henry, who eliminates Jannetty with a Slop Drop, at 7:18. Owen Hart comes right in, nailing Henry with a spinning heel kick, to eliminate him, at 7:24. Henry comes in and throws Owen out. Henry cleans house of Cassidy & Bulldog. Bulldog comes back and hits the Running Powerslam, to eliminate Henry, at 8:09. Furnas comes in and controls. Bulldog tags in Cassidy. Criss cross sequence, and Furnas misses a dropkick. Cassidy hits an elbow and belly-to-belly for two. Furnas comes back, hitting a spinebuster for two. Cassidy tags in Owen. Owen hits a heel kick for two, and follows up with a Fisherman's Suplex for two. Bulldog gets the tag, and nails the hanging vertical suplex for two. Tag to Cassidy. Cassidy hits a corner clothesline and gut buster. Cassidy charges, but misses, and Furnas gets the hot tag to LaFon! LaFon & Cassidy go up top. LaFon hits a sweet T-Bone suplex from the top, with Cassidy landing on his face! That's all she wrote for Cassidy, at 12:47. Bulldog runs in and misses a clothesline, so LaFon hits a spinkick for two. Cradle gets two, and Bulldog comes back with an alleyoop. Tag to Owen, who hits a belly-to-belly for two. Neckbreaker. Owen goes up top and nails an elbow for 
two. Enzuiguri for two. Bulldog gets the tag. LaFon hits a sunset flip on Bulldog right away to eliminate him, at 16:27! Owen's all alone against the new-comers. Before Bulldog hits the showers, he takes out LaFon's knee. Owen immediately works on the knee, ramming it against the ring post a few times. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter! Furnas comes in, so Owen breaks it to go after him. Suddenly, LaFon hits a heel kick and tags in Furnas. Furnas with a dropkick for two. Overhead belly-to-belly gets two. Furnas ducks a clothesline, and catches Owen with a German suplex, to get the win, at 19:45! The new guys are the survivors! Great opener. ***1/2. Furnas & LaFon are such a great team. It's too bad they never got the titles. They end up having a great match with Bulldog & Owen at Final Four in February.
In the boiler room, Kevin Kelly interviews Mankind & Paul Bearer about the match with the Undertaker. Paul Bearer is supposed to be held in a cage above the ring, but he refuses.
Undertaker vs. Mankind
Tonight is Undertaker's "rebirth" following his burial at Buried Alive in October. The cage is lowered into the ring, but Paul Bearer won't go in. Undertaker's music hits, and he comes down to the ring from the rafters. He's debuting the all-leather outfit tonight. Undertaker stalks Paul, so he takes refuge in the cage. How convenient. Mankind jumps him from behind, but Taker immediately takes control with some shots. Vince & JR are just as surprised as me when we see Taker hit Mankind with a drop toe hold, followed by a wristlock. He starts to work on the Mandible Claw hand. Taker misses an elbow, so Mankind clotheslines him out, and also falls out. Taker throws him into the crowd. Mankind hits him away and charges, but Taker backdrops him back ringside! Mankind hits a plancha outside, and brings it back in. He sits Taker in the corner and nails the running knee. Taker hits a back elbow and starts to bite the Claw Hand. Mankind gets a kick in and hits a piledriver for two. Mankind locks in the Mandible Claw, but Taker counters with a chokeslam set-up. Mankind gets out of that, so he goes for the Tombstone. Mankind goes over him and again locks in the Claw! Taker barely counters by tossing him outside! Back inside, Taker hits the ropewalk, but 
Mankind answers back with a neckbreaker. Mankind goes up top. He jumps with an axehandle, but Taker catches him for the chokeslam!
Taker misses a diving clothesline and rolls outside. Mankind dives off the apron but misses. Inside, Taker hits a sideslam. Mankind gets to his feet, but grabs a metal object. He tries to nail him with it, but Taker hoists him up and hits the Tombstone, to get the win, at 14:55. Decent enough. **1/2. Mankind is layed out, as Paul Bearer's cage is lowered. Taker opens the door and clutches him. Suddenly, The Executioner runs out and makes the save. Paul Bearer, Mankind, & Executioner all escape. Well, that was pointless, although it did set-up the dreadful match between Taker & Executioner at In Your House: It's Time, in December.
Jerry Lawler heads to the locker room for his match, so Sunny comes out to do commentary for the next match. Sunny & JR immediately start arguing!
Backstage, Dok Hendrix interviews the team of the Intercontinental Champion, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry Lawler, Crush, & Goldust.
Survivor Series Elimination Match- Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry "the King" Lawler, Goldust, & Crush vs. "Wildman" Marc Mero, Rocky Maivia, "The Stalker" Barry Windham, & Jake "the Snake" Roberts
The main issue here is between HHH & Marc Mero. When Mero won the IC Title, he gained the guidance of Mr. Perfect. During a title match with HHH, Perfect turned his back on Mero, giving HHH the win. Perfect & HHH revealed an alliance, but HHH quickly turned on Perfect, who headed over to WCW. Then, Mark Henry was supposed to be on Mero's team, as he & Lawler were in that terrible feud. But, Henry got injured, leaving Mero's team without a fourth partner. Mero gets on the mic before the match and brings out his new partner... the returning Jake Roberts! Meaning, Lawler has his other rival from another bad feud. Meanwhile, Rocky Maivia is making his wrestling debut. I now notice that every diva the WWF had at this time is ringside. Sunny's on commentary, Marlena is with Goldust, & Sable is with Mero. With all that said, let's get started.
We start out with Mero & Goldust. Goldust charges, but gets backdropped. Mero targets Goldust's arm, and tags in the Stalker. What a terrible gimmick Windham got stuck with, although his next one as one of the New Blackjacks wouldn't be much better. Stalker hits a clothesline, and HHH gets the tag. Stalker then tags in Mero, since HHH is in. HHH doesn't want a piece of him, so he tags out to Crush. Tags galore, as Rocky Maivia gets in. He dodges Crush's moves, and Lawler gets the tag in. Lawler goes off the ropes, and Maivia jumps for two leapfrogs, and hits a dropkick for two. HHH gets the tag, and we have a main event caliber match on out hands, or at least in 2000-present. HHH easily takes care of Maivia, hitting a suplex for two. Maivia hits some right hands, and a backdrop. He tags out to Jake Roberts, who takes HHH down and hits all the other heels off the apron. Backdrop to HHH, and he goes for the DDT, but HHH spears him to the corner, where the heels beat-down on him. Goldust gets the tag and works Jake for a minute. Goldust tags in Lawler, as Jake is down. Sunny says, "Jake wanted to be a lawyer, but he just couldn't pass the bar!" Funny stuff. Jake swings but misses, and Lawler yells, "He's drunk!" Lawler starts to pretend to be drinking. Hilarious! Suddenly, Jake catches him with a DDT, to eliminate him, at 9:15. Goldust comes in and works Jake down. Jake manages to tag in Stalker. Stalker nails Goldust with a clothesline in the corner. A float-over suplex gets two. Stalker goes off the ropes, but Crush nails him from behind. Goldust hits the Curtain Call, to finish him, at 11:58. Marc Mero runs in with a knee lift. Goldust is able to take control, so he tags in HHH, who is now more than happy to face Mero. HHH hits a knee drop, followed by a backbreaker for two. Crush tags in, hitting more backbreakers. Legdrop gets two. HHH tags back in, and has his way with Mero. Suddenly, Mero hits a headscissors and backdrop. He goes up top and hits the Merosault, to put HHH out, at 18:33.
Crush comes back in, but Mero dropkicks him outside. Mero goes up top and dives, but misses, hitting the floor. Crush goes back in, as Mero gets counted out. Jake Roberts comes back in. Crush dominates, and finishes him off with a Heart Punch, at 20:06. The rookie, the Blue-Chipper... Rocky Maivia is all alone against Crush & Goldust. Crush suplexes him, and Maivia cradles him for two. Powerslam, and Goldust runs in. Goldust holds him, but Crush misses a Heart Punch, hitting Goldust instead. Maivia comes off the ropes with a crossbody on Crush, to eliminate him, at 22:25! Goldust misses a clothesline, so Maivia hits him with a shoulderbreaker, to get the win and become sole-survivor, at 22:56! Match was very bad. *1/2 Although, it is fun to watch for historical reasons.
Video package for Bret Hart-Steve Austin. After Wrestlemania XII, Bret Hart took some time off from the WWF. During this time, there was a new star rising... Steve Austin. After Wrestlemania XII, Austin was still Million Dollar Champion and managed by Ted DiBiase. The two were feuding with Savio Vega. At In Your House: Beware of Dog II, Austin & Vega fought in a great strap match, where Ted DiBiase would be forced to leave the WWF if Austin lost. As it turned out, Austin lost on purpose, in order to get rid of DiBiase and basically move onto better things. Then came the King of the Ring. With Hunter Hearst Helmsley being punished for the MSG Incident, the WWF was looking for someone else to push. They looked no further than Steve Austin. Austin went on to beat Marc Mero & Jake Roberts in the Tournament. He even coined the "Austin 3:16" phrase at the event. In October, Bret Hart was ready to return. In the weeks leading up to it and after, Austin constantly mocked Bret, saying that if you put the letter "s" in front of Hitman, you have his exact opinion of Bret. He challenged him week after week. So, when Bret returned the night after Buried Alive, he officially accepted Austin's challenge.
Backstage, Todd Pettengill interviews Steve Austin. Austin leaves for his entrance, where he actually gets a decent pop despite being the heel. Todd interviews Bret Hart, afterwards.
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
Vince & JR announce that the winner of this match will face the WWF Champion next month at In Your House: It's Time! What happened to Vader? Oh right, Shawn Michaels. Austin & Bret both get in the ring and engage in an epic staredown. Grapple, and Bret immediately goes to the wrestling techniques. Austin counters the headlock and pushes him away. Bret & Austin both try and lock in armbars. Bret locks it in, and finally, Austin just kicks away, showing his brawling side. Austin hits him with a shortarm clothesline. He goes for the camel clutch, but Bret counters with a snapmare. Bret continues to target his arm. Austin comes back with punches, and starts to choke Bret on the ropes. Austin drops an elbow and tosses Bret outside. Bret comes back, locking in a chinlock. He covers for two. Slugfest, won by Austin, who throws Bret to the corner. He stomps a mudhole. Bret ducks a clothesline and hits an atomic drop, followed by a clothesline of his own. Bret is able to roll him up for two. Russian Legsweep gets two. Bret goes for a bulldog, but Austin shoves sternum first into the turnbuckle! Austin attempts a suplex, but Bret blocks it. Austin can't get him over for the suplex, so he places him on the top rope. Austin climbs up and attempts a superplex, but Bret lifts him up and drops him face first to the mat! Bret stays up there and hits an elbow drop for two. Backbreaker attempt, countered as Austin rakes the face. Austin tosses Bret out again, and he follows. He picks Bret up and rams his back into the ringpost! Bret quickly comes back, tossing Austin right into the guardrail, which gets knocked over! Bret decides to quit trying to outwrestle him for now and brawl, as he stomps away! Austin catches his foot and drops him down. He then proceeds to slingshot Bret over the Spanish announce table! Austin goes right to work on Bret, who's still on the table. They fight right under it, too. Austin slams Bret onto the table, and goes to the apron. He drops the elbow outside! They head back inside, where Austin hits a suplex. Austin heads to the second rope, and nails the elbow, just like
Bret's! It gets two, so Austin hits another, for two. Austin whips Bret into the opposite corner, and he starts choking him on the ropes again. Abdominal stretch applied, as Austin uses the ropes for extra leverage. The referee catches him and breaks it, but Austin gets in his face and shoves him out of the way. Bret makes a comeback, winning a slugfest. Bret with a stun gun, and cradle for two. A piledriver gets two. Backbreaker, and Bret goes upstairs. Austin gets up and chops away at him while he's up there. Austin weakens Bret enough to finally hit the superplex! Austin cradles him into the pin for two, but Bret reverses for two! Bret attempts a German suplex, but Austin hits the Stunner out of nowhere! Austin waits a second before covering him, but only for two! Austin continues to cover, but only gets two! Austin locks in a Texas Cloverleaf! Bret finally makes it to the ropes. Austin whips him into the corner, and Bret tries to slide out, but hits the post. Austin brings him back into the center of the ring, locking in a surfboard stretch! Bret escapes, grabs his legs, and is able to lock in the Sharpshooter! Austin quickly makes it to the ropes. Bret maintains control, locking in a sleeper. Austin gets out of it with a chin crusher. Bret stumbles toward the corner, and Austin starts stalking him from behind. Hey that's Barry Windham's job! Austin locks in the Million Dollar Dream! Bret tries to fight it in every way, but can't escape. Bret finally climbs the ropes in the corner, and pushes back to roll over and cover him while still in the hold, and he gets the win, at 28:57! I love that finish! Austin is totally shocked. Austin just walks away, as Bret celebrates probably his last big win in the ring as a face. What a match! *****
Backstage, Dok Hendrix interviews the challenger for the WWF Championship later, Sid, who claims he'll do anything to become champ.
Survivor Series Elimination Match- Vader, Faarooq, Fake Razor, & Fake Diesel vs. Yokozuna, Flash Funk, Savio Vega, & Mystery Partner
JR, says, "Red & Yellow have never looked so good in the Garden!" JR is just on a roll tonight, knocking everyone. Come to think of it, during the Bret-Austin match, he talks about Bret's MSG accomplishments. "Bret Hart won the WWF Title here in MSG at Wrestlemania X, which I watched on PPV!" But, JR disappoints me during Fake Razor's entrance, saying, "Why is everyone booing this kid? He's better, bigger, & stronger than the other guy who played the character." Right, I don't think so. Enough about JR, let me talk about the match. Faarooq is debuting in his Nation of Domination look here. It's no longer Faarooq Asad! (Isn't that what it was?)
The Mystery partner turns out to be MSG legend, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka! I believe this is Flash Funk's debut here. Flash Funk & Vader start off. Vader takes control with bodyshot after bodyshot. Funk comes back, hitting a spinkick, hitting Vader outside. Funk then goes to the top and dives outside with a moonsault onto Vader! They go inside, and Vader hits a powerbomb. Yokozuna comes in and attacks Vader, but there was no tag, so he's sent back. Savio & Razor come in. Savio chops away, but Razor comes back
hitting the fallaway slam. Diesel gets the tag, as does Flash Funk. Funk runs into a clothesline. Savio comes back in. Diesel goes for a press slam, but Funk sunset flips out of it for two. Diesel chokeslams him, and tags in Faarooq. Faarooq hits a spinebuster. Vader gets the tag, as does Savio. Savio gets caught in the heels' corner, and a massive beatdown follows, prompting for a huge brawl. We end up with Savio & Diesel in the ring. Diesel gets into a fight with all the faces, and Snuka tags in. Vader comes in, but Snuka takes him out with a flying clothesline. He manages to slam him, and follow up with a dropkick. Razor comes in for the save. Diesel comes in and Jackknifes Savio, to eliminate him, at 8:17. Snuka comes back in, going against Razor. Snuka slams, and goes up top, hitting the Superfly Splash to eliminate Razor, at 9:12!
Suddenly, Diesel comes in with a chair, attacking a few guys, and everyone comes in for a huge brawl. Finally, the ref calls it a Double DQ, at 9:31. Yuh-huh... that was extremely lame. The only assumption I can come to is that the WWF was low on time. 1/2*
Video package for Shawn Michaels & Sid. At Buried Alive, Sid beat Vader to become the no. 1 contender for Survivor Series. So, the match is set for Shawn & Sid. Only problem is, is that Shawn & Sid are allies. On Raw in early November, Shawn & Sid met in the ring for an interview. JR questioned their friendship, showing highlights from the Raw after Wrestlemania XI, where Sid repeatedly powerbombed Shawn. Shawn says he forgave Sid. The next week, Shawn & Sid challenge The British Bulldog & Owen Hart for the Tag Team titles. It ends when Shawn accidentally lays Sid out with a Superkick. As we head into the match, their friendship is now in great question.
WWF Championship- Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Sycho Sid
Shawn has mentor, Jose Lothario with him of course. Both guys get pops. The match begins, and Sid throws Shawn around, but the champ keeps coming back. Sid keeps hitting him down. Irish whip sequence sees Michaels hit a flying body press for two. He locks in a headlock, but Sid breaks out, and a slugest ensues. Sid wins, of course. He then goes for the press slam, but Shawn escapes his clutches. Sid tries a Powerbomb early on, but Shawn gets out, heading outside. Sid goes after him. Shawn finally comes back in, and he takes out Sid's knee. Shawn continues to work his leg/knee, and it seems the crowd is fully behind Sid. Shawn locks in the figure-four! Sid is able to use his strength to reverse, but Shawn is able to get to the ropes. Shawn continues to try and beat him down. Shawn locks in the figure-four again, but Sid gets out of it, knocking Shawn into the post. Shawn keeps coming back, hitting a dropkick to the knee. He starts pounding away at his knee, but Sid kicks him away. Sid tries to hit him out, but Shawn skins the cat back in. Sid still clotheslines him out right after. They brawl outside. Sid press slams Shawn on the guard rail. He throws him inside, and covers for two. Shawn goes off the ropes, and Sid hits a backdrop. Whip to the corner, and Shawn Flair Flips out to the apron. Sid goes after him, but Shawn stuns him off the ropes. Shawn goes in with a flying body press, but Sid catches him and gives him a backbreaker for two. Sid continues to work on his back, whipping him to the turnbuckles. Shawn comes back with some punches, and he manages to slam him. He goes to the second rope. He goes for an elbow, but Sid puts his foot up. Sid takes a page out of Austin's book earlier, and locks in the Million Dollar Dream. Shawn escapes, and goes for Sweet Chin Music, which is caught. Sid chokeslams him, to the delight of the crowd! Odd. Sid sets up for the Powerbomb, but Shawn cradles him for two. Sid still hits the Powerbomb, but only gets two! Lariat also gets two. Frustrated, Sid goes outside, and steals one of the cameras. Shawn stumbles to his feet, as the referee attends to him. Meanwhile, behind Sid, Jose Lothario gets on the apron to yell at Sid. Sid looks about ready to nail Shawn, but he turns and hits Lothario off the apron! Sid turns around right into Sweet Chin Music!
Rather than just cover Sid, and maybe end the match, he heads outside to check on his mentor. Stupid move. Why not just go for the cover, which would take 3 seconds tops, and then head outside? Shawn calls for help. Sid gets to his feet and goes outside. He drags Michaels back in. Whip to the corner, but Shawn jumps on the second rope and goes for a body press. Sid ducks, and Shawn collides with the referee instead. Sid is down for a second, so Shawn again goes out to check on Jose. Sid comes from behind and nails Shawn, now, with the camera! 
He brings him back in and Powerbombs him, as the ref recovers to count three, at about 20: 00. Shawn's seven month reign as champion is finally over, as we have a new champion, in Sid. Match was actually very good. ***3/4. Shawn doesn't seem as upset about losing the title as he is about his mentor. Sid leave MSG as WWF Champion, and getting praised by the fans.
1996 was one of those "dark years" for the WWF, as WCW pulled away in ratings with their new and innovative nWo storyline. As a result, the WWF product suffered with mostly mediocre PPVs and stories. But, by the end of 1996, the WWF seemed to be developing new stars. Here at Survivor Series '96, you have Austin officially in a main event match which is classic, the debuts of Flash Funk, Faarooq (as Nation leader), Furnas & LaFon, & Rocky Maivia, and well, you know how the latter turns out. With these new guys, the WWF developed Austin & Maivia enough by the end of 1997 that they were both massively over as both faces and heels. Meanwhile, WCW just kept the nWo around for another few years, splitting it time after time and still pushing the same guys. For all these reasons, the WWF finally pulled ahead of WCW in the ratings wars in April 1998, while WCW went downhill. Starting around June 1994, the WWF started promoting it's "New Generation", and well, 1995 & most of 1996 went nowhere, but if you ask me, the 1996 Survivor Series is definitely the real start of the "New Generation".
As for wrestling and excitement, this show is great... probably the best of 1996. Bret Hart & Steve Austin engage in what would be the first in a series of classic battles. Sid & Shawn have a decent match, as do Undertaker & Mankind. Everything else is entertaining enough, even if it is sometimes bad, like for instance, the debut of the future Great One, The Rock. So, overall... I'll go with...
Recommended
Other Survivor Series Retro Reviews
WWF Survivor Series 1988 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1989 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1990 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1991 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1992 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1993 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1994 Review
WWF Survivor Series 1995 Review