WWE Survivor Series 1996 (1996)

1st Match: The Godwinns, Doug Furnas, and Phil Lafon vs Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and The New Rockers, 4-on-4 Elimination match. A pretty entertaining match to start the show, what I'm most surprised by is how good Furnas and Lafon are here. I was expecting the heels to win, but they actually let two newbies dominate them for the most part. Rating: 3.5/52nd Match: Undertaker vs Mankind. The special stipulation for this is that Paul Bearer is in a cage above the ring, to stop interference. So with Paul Bearer out of the way, the two guys can have a knockdown, drag-out fight. It's a normal match, but it feels like a No DQ match, because it goes all over the place. The feud these two have going is actually still hot, because they keep adding different matches so they keep from getting stale. Very good match here. Rating: 4/53rd Match: Crush, Goldust, HHH, and Jerry Lawler vs Barry Windham, Marc Mero, Jake Roberts, and The Rock, 4-on-4 Elimination match. This is The Rock's debut PPV match, and even though he's greener than grass, he does a good job here. All the good guys get some time to shine, even if Windham is lackluster. Also thank you for eliminating Lawler first. Another solid match, the only real negative is that Sunny is on commentary for some reason. Rating: 3.5/54th Match: Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is Bret's first match in 8 months, and he and Austin have been having this feud since King of the Ring. the crowd is pretty split here, Austin uses his usual mannerisms, and Bret does a great job for not having a match in so long. A 25 minute brawl, that has Austin actually have to use wrestling moves in an attempt to beat Bret. Even with Bret winning, it's not decisive. He runs up the turnbuckle and reverses a sleeper into a pin, so even though he technically wins, Austin's still able to walk away. Just wait till Wrestlemania 13, when these two have the match of the year. Rating: 4.5/55th Match: Jimmy Snuka, Yokozuna, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Savio Vega vs "Diesel", "Razor Ramon", Vader, and Ron Simmons, 4-on-4 Elimination match. If you're wondering why Diesel and Razor's names are in quotation marks, it's because these are the fake versions of them. Kind of infamous, but they don't last long, so it's not that big of a deal. Even Scorpio's appearance is just a huge jab at Hogan. The match only really exists to lampoon Hall, Nash, and Hogan, with the addition of Jimmy Snuka. The match ends in a no contest, but it's pretty entertaining up to that point, so it's not a big deal. Rating: 3/56th Match: Shawn Michaels vs Sid Vicious, WWF Championship. This is the best Sid match I can think of, he dominates most of the match, but Michaels does a great job on defense. An interesting face vs face match, because the crowd is split like with Austin and Bret. Sid hits José Lothario with a camera, and then hits Shawn with it, and then powerbombs him. It's been awhile since there's been a heel champ, so Sid's win here is refreshing. I know who he loses the belt to, but hopefully he can leave a good impression in the few months he has the title. Rating: 4/5Final Rating: 8 out of 10. This is up there with Survivor Series 2002 for me. WWF again decided to use quality over quantity here, and it paid off. Each match on here is watchable, and all of them are entertaining. Definitely give this a watch.

Live from New York, New York (Madison Square Garden)Attendance: 18,647Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler & Jim RossThe British Bulldog, Owen Hart & The New Rockers Vs Phill Lafon & Doug Furnas and The GodwinnsOrder of elimination.Marty Janetty by Henry Godwinn (slop drop)Henry Godwin by Owen Hart (spinning heel kick)Phineas Godwinn by The British Bulldog (running powerslam)Leif Cassidy by Phill Lafon (reverse suplex from the top)The British Bulldog by Phill Lafon (sunset flip)Owen Hart by Doug Furnas (german suplex)Your survivors: Doug Furnas & Phill LafonI can't begin to tell you how surprised I am by how good this match was. I had very little expectations for it and they went out and produced a really good match. The crowd wasn't that into it, but it's not like they didn't try. I do question the decision to give the win to Furnas and Lafon. I didn't see the point other than to surprise people.***1/2The Undertaker Vs Mankind (W/Paul Bearer)Paul Bearer is suspended above the ring in a cage so he can't interfere. The Undertaker descends down the ring in epic fashion. Undertaker ends up winning with a tombstone. As a result, The Undertaker gets time alone with Paul Bearer. The Executioner comes down and saves Paul Bearer. This is another solid match between these two. They've had better, but it was still a good match. They did some pretty hardcore stuff with the limited options they had.***Marc Mero, Barry Windham, Rocky Maivia & Jake 'The Snake' Roberts Vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Goldust, Crush & Jerry LawlerOrder of elimination.Jerry Lawler by Jake Roberts (DDT)Barry Windham by Goldust (curtain call)Triple H by Marc Mero (moonsault)Marc Mero by CrushJake Roberts by Crush (heart punch)Crush by Rocky Maivia (flying cross-body)Goldust by Rocky Maivia (shoulderbreaker)Sole Survivor: Rocky Maivia"There's gonna be the man right there! That blue chipper" That's what Jim Ross said during Rocky's entrance. Boy was Ross ever right about that. You can't ask for a better debut than this one. He'd go through some rough times when the crowd would turn on him, but he looked good here. As far as the match goes, that's a different story. If it wasn't for The Rock's debut, this match would be utterly forgettable.**Bret Hart Vs 'Stone Cold' Steve AustinBoth get big reactions on their way out. Bret wins by countering Austin's Million Dollar Dream. Everyone talks about the amazing submission match between Bret and Austin at Wrestlemania 13, but nobody gives this match the praise it deserves. This is an exhilarating match that completely stole the show. They incorporated a little bit of everything in this one. Austin looked like a star as well. I was close to giving it 5 stars. ****3/4 Farooq, Fake Razor Ramon, Fake Diesel & Vader Vs Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Flash Funk, & Jimmy SnukaOrder of elimination.Savio Vega by Diesel (jackknife powerbomb)Razor Ramon by Jimmy Snuka (big splash from the top)Diesel comes in with a chair and attacks Snuka with it. All hell breaks loose when everybody starts brawling with each other and the referee rules it a double disqualification. This matched seemed a bit rushed. It wasn't horrible, but it was pretty mediocre. The finish just screams "time restraints"*1/2WWF ChampionshipShawn Michaels (C) (W/Jose Lothario) Vs Psycho SidSid drills Jose Lothario in the chest with a camera. Shawn gets distracted by tending to Lothario. Sid drills Shawn in the back of the head with a camera. Sid delivers a powerbomb to win the WWF Championship. I'm a big Psycho Sid fan. He's very charismatic and a real badass. That being said, his wrestling skills are not that good. That's not why we loved Sid. This is one of Sid's best matches. It featured good psychology and excitement. The atmosphere is electric. The crowd was hostile towards Shawn, and booed him loudly while the crowd adored Sid. A title change was needed at this juncture.***1/2This is a very good PPV. The main event is really good, it featured a couple of good undercard matches, and Bret and Austin is a near classic match. I recommend this PPV highly.7/10

Bart Gunn, Jesse James, Aldo Montoya and Bob Holly vs. Sultan, Billy Gunn, Sal Sincere and Bradshaw Survivor: Bart Gunn Doug Furnas, Phil Lafon, Henry Godwinn and Phineas Godwinn vs. Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Leif Cassidy and Marty Jannetty Survivors: Doug Furnas and Phil LafonWith Paul Bearer suspended in a cage above the ring, the Undertaker defeated MankindMarc Mero, the Stalker, Rocky Maivia, and Jake Roberts vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jerry "the King" Lawler, Crush and Goldust Survivor: Rocky MaiviaBret "Hitman" Hart defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin via pinfall.Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Yokozuna, Savio Vega and Flash Funk battled Vader, Faarooq, Razor Ramon and Diesel to a double disqualificationSycho Sid defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship Overall Mark: B+

The Survivor Series events from 1992-1995 were pretty average. When I watched Survivor Series 1996 I was pleased because it was a return to form for one of my favourite PPV events of the year.The card was so memorable for so many reasons. Jake "The Snake" Roberts made his first Survivor Series appearance since the 1991 event. The Rock (then known as Rocky Maivia) made his debut and overcome the odds in a heated match. And we also got to see the return of veteran wrestler Jimmy Superfly Snuka.In addition to the elimination matches we got to see Bret Hart battle Steve Austin in a brilliant match and Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels assembled an awesome encounter for the WWF Championship.