Classic Review: WWF Survivor Series 1988

We’re back! What a turnaround. Just a few days ago, it was Survivor Series 1987, and now here we are in 1988.

The November Classic Review blowout (10 reviews coming!) will not be all Survivor Series, for what it’s worth. There will be four total Survivor Series reviews, and they will be the 1987-90 events, and after that we move on to other fare. The first four are the pure, uncut, unfucked with Survivor Series vision, where teams of five (and then four) strive to survive (and then survour). I thought about going through ‘91 or adding a later Survivor Series, but four is enough.

Anyway! This show comes from the same place as the first one and they’d also go back to this venue for the ‘92 event, where my good friend Bret Hart was joined by his good friend Santa Claus, which in turn means I’m good friends with Santa Claus. But this is not about Santa Claus. This is about the 1988 Survivor Series.

WWF Survivor Series
November 24, 1988
Richfield Coliseum - Richfield Township, OH

We’re once again hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Pilgrim” Ventura. At the end of the ‘87 show, Ventura bemoaned having to be in Cleveland and said he couldn’t wait to get out of the city (almost). Now, to be fair, he was very mad at a very annoying Hulk Hogan at that moment, but this year he starts off by saying there’s nowhere he’d rather be than “scenic Cleveland.”

Right to the ring!

Honky Tonk Manᶜ, Ron Bassᶜ, Bad News Brown, Greg Valentine & Danny Davis vs Ultimate Warriorᶜ, Brutus Beefcakeᶜ, Jim Brunzell, Sam Houston & Blue Blazer

This year we have co-captains. We also have borderline job guys flanking Warrior and Beefcake. Brunzell was a survivor in ‘87 in the big tag match, but the Killer Bees quietly broke up in the summer of ‘88 and B. Brian Blair was gone from the company a few weeks before this show.¹

Is being a Survivor Series co-captain the peak of Bass’ WWF run? I like Ron Bass, for what it’s worth. Good, solid wrestler. Better in places that weren’t the WWF.

Valentine and Beefcake, former tag champs, kick it off. Honky’s got two members of his ‘87 team — Bass and Davis — back on his side again. They didn’t do well in the original. Beefcake sleepholds Dangerous Danny and puts him out in 78 seconds.

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