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Survivor Series 2009

The Survivor Series logo since 2008.

The Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event held in November by WWE for Extreme. It is one of the "Big Four" events, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, as it is one of the original four pay-per-views produced by WWE.

Survivor Series is the number two longest running pay-per-view event in WWE history, behind WrestleMania. The first Survivor Series, held in 1987, came on the heels of the incredible success of WrestleMania III, as the then-WWF began to see the lucrative potential of the pay-per-view market. During a press conference held on February 11, 2010, WWE announced that it would drop the Survivor Series name and rebrand the event. However, in June 2010, the event was added back onto WWE's pay-per-view schedule.

Original concept[]

SurvivorSeries05Stage

The Survivor Series 2005 stage setup

The original concept for the Survivor Series was to have an annual pay-per-view event that focused on tag team wrestling. Another contributing factor to the birth of the Survivor Series was to capitalize on the big time feud between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant, who wrestled each other at WrestleMania III. Additionally, the WWF had several "elimination" tag-team matches earlier in 1987, albeit with three-man teams and the feuds loosely related.

The Survivor Series was originally created to be a "Thanksgiving tradition" as the first four Survivor Series events took place on Thanksgiving Day in November. After four years of taking place on Thanksgiving Eve following that, Survivor Series moved to a more-traditional Sunday PPV date.

Survivor Series matches[]

The event is usually characterized by having five on five (or sometimes four on four or six man) tag-team elimination matches. These matches are generally referred to simply as "Survivor Series matches". The 1987-1991 and 1993-1997 Survivor Series events featured multiple Survivor Series style matches. The 1992 event had only one 4 on 4 tag team elimination match, but featured the first WWF Casket match, referred to at that time as a Coffin match, with slightly different rules from what is now employed, as a wrestler had to first pin their opponent and then place them inside a coffin and nail it shut in order to win. The Casket Match, by that point under the Casket match name, would return to the Survivor Series in its now standard format in 1994, intended as a means of bringing an end to a long-standing feud between Yokozuna and The Undertaker that had begun the previous year at the self-same event. The 1998 edition featured an elimination tournament for the WWF Championship, not seen since WrestleMania IV. The 2002 Survivor Series featured the debut of the Elimination Chamber match. The 2007 Survivor Series featured a Hell in a Cell match for the first time in the history of the event.

Survivor Series dates and venues[]

Event Date City Venue Main Event
Survivor Series (1987) November 26, 1987 Richfield, Ohio Richfield Coliseum André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed and Rick Rude vs. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (1988) November 24, 1988 The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage), Hercules, Koko B. Ware and Hillbilly Jim vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man), Ted DiBiase, Haku and The Red Rooster in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (1989) November 23, 1989 Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont Horizon The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Demolition (Ax and Smash) and Jake Roberts) vs. The Million $ Team (Ted DiBiase, Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) and Zeus) (with Virgil and Mr. Fuji) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match
The Ultimate Warriors (The Ultimate Warrior, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) and Jim Neidhart) vs. The Heenan Family (Bobby Heenan, André the Giant, Haku and Arn Anderson) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (1990) November 22, 1990 Hartford, Connecticut Hartford Civic Center Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and Tito Santana vs. Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord and Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) in a 3-on-5 Grand Finale Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (1991) November 27, 1991 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (1992) November 25, 1992 Richfield, Ohio Richfield Coliseum Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (1993) November 24, 1993 Boston, Massachusetts Boston Garden The All-Americans (Lex Luger, The Undertaker, Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) vs. The Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Crush, Ludvig Borga and Quebecer Jacques) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (1994) November 23, 1994 San Antonio, Texas Freeman Coliseum Bret Hart (c) vs. Bob Backlund in a Submission match for the WWF Championship
The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna in a Casket match (with Chuck Norris as the Special Guest Enforcer)
Survivor Series (1995) November 19, 1995 Landover, Maryland USAir Arena Diesel (c) vs. Bret Hart in a No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (1996) November 17, 1996 New York, New York Madison Square Garden Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin to become #1 contender for the WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (1997) November 9, 1997 Montreal, Quebec Molson Centre Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (1998) November 15, 1998 St. Louis, Missouri Kiel Center The Rock vs. Mankind in The grand finale of the "Deadly Games" tournament
Survivor Series (1999) November 14, 1999 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena Triple H (c) vs. The Big Show vs. The Rock in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship
Survivor Series (2000) November 19, 2000 Tampa, Florida Ice Palace Kurt Angle (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship
Steve Austin vs. Triple H in a No Disqualification match
Survivor Series (2001) November 18, 2001 Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show) vs. Team Alliance (Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match for control of the WWF
Survivor Series (2002) November 17, 2002 New York, New York Madison Square Garden Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T in the first ever Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Survivor Series (2003) November 16, 2003 Dallas, Texas American Airlines Center Team Bischoff (Chris Jericho, Christian, Randy Orton, Scott Steiner and Mark Henry) vs. Team Austin (Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, and D-Von Dudley)in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match
Vince McMahon vs. The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match
Goldberg (c) vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship
Survivor Series (2004) November 14, 2004 Cleveland, Ohio Gund Arena Team Guerrero (Eddie Guerrero, The Big Show, Rob Van Dam, and John Cena) vs. Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Carlito, Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match
John Bradshaw Layfield (c) vs. Booker T for the WWE Championship
Team Orton (Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Maven) vs. Team Triple H (Triple H, Edge, Batista and Snitsky) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (2005) November 27, 2005 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena Team RAW (Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters) vs. Team SmackDown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John Bradshaw Layfield, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match
Survivor Series (2006) November 26, 2006 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wachovia Center Team WWEFE (Triple H, UnlimitedExtreme, Eddie Guerrero, Bobby Lashley and The Punisher) vs. Team Alliance (Refugee Mike, Refugee Matt, Rhyno, Ashley Massaro and Ryan Striker) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge for the WWE Championship
Dana Shadows (c) vs. Raven for the ECW Championship
Jeff Jarrett(c) vs. Chris Hunter for the TNA Championship
Survivor Series (2007) November 18, 2007 Miami, Florida American Airlines Arena Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Jazz Powers for the WWE Championship
Team Kutter (Kris Kutter, Misery, Seamus Flynn, X-Pac and Reaper) vs. Team Jacobs (Refugee Mike, Seraphina, Ashley Massaro, The Manhunter and The Prince)
Survivor Series (2008) November 23, 2008 Boston, Massachusetts TD Banknorth Garden Sold1er (c) vs. Damien Holster for the WWE Championship
Team Robertson (Chris Robertson, Nero, Adam Adonis, Chris Hunter, Jr. and The Manhunter) vs. Team Viper (Viper, Kelly Oliver, Jazz Powers, iRob and Daniel Lansing)
Andy Brookes (c) vs. Rejinaldo for the World Heavyweight Championship

Video box set[]

  • WWE Home Video released The Survivor Series Anthology 1987-91 & 1992-96 (Vol 1&2) on DVD on November 3, 2009.
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