The WWE aired its 27th Survivor Series pay-per-view event live from the TD Garden in Boston this past Sunday night keeping up a tradition of airing their November Classic on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. However, when the event started back in 1987, it was annually held on Thanksgiving for the first four years of its tenure between 1987-1990 and then was held on Thanksgiving Eve from 1991-94 until it was moved to a Sunday night for good in 1995. Below is the Top 5 moments from when the event was a Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Eve fixture in its first eight years.
5) Survivor Series 1994-Shawn Michaels and Diesel Split Up:
During Thanksgiving Eve of 1994 in the final year that the WWE held the Survivor Series on either Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Eve, Razor Ramon led his team "The Bad Guys" against "The Teamsters," a team that was led by Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Razor paired up with the 1-2-3 Kid, the British Bulldog and the Headshrinkers to take on Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett in a five-on-five elimination match, and when Razor was left in a 5-on-1 deficit, Shawn Michaels accidentally Super Kicked Diesel, leading to the breakup of the WWE Tag Team Champions while the entire Teamsters team was simultaneously counted out after the three other members tried to stop Diesel from attacking Michaels on the outside, leading to Ramon becoming the unlikely sole-survivor and setting up the main event between Michaels and Diesel at WrestleMania XI.
4) Survivor Series 1988-The Explosion Of The Mega Powers Begins:
On Thanksgiving night 1988, the Macho Man and Hulk Hogan, collectively known as The Mega Powers, with Miss Elizabeth in their corner formed a team with Hercules, Koko B. Ware and Hillbilly Jim for a traditional five-on-five elimination tag match against The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Bossman) and their teammates Ted Dibiase, Haku and the Red Rooster. After Elizabeth helped free Hogan from being handcuffed by the Big Bossman, he and Savage were able to eliminate Haku en route to becoming the only two survivors, however their powerful foundation received the tiniest crack when Randy Savage peered on with jealousy in his eyes as Hogan posed with Miss Elizabeth. This event, while subtle and not mentioned on camera, became the genesis of a storyline that ended with Macho Man and Hogan breaking up and competing against one another in the WrestleMania V main event in 1989.
3) Survivor Series 1991-The Undertaker Makes Hulkamania Rest In Peace:
On Thanksgiving Eve 1991, the Undertaker went up against unstoppable WWE Champion Hulk Hogan on the one year anniversary of his debut with the company at the Survivor Series in 1990, With some outside help from Ric Flair and a distraction by Paul Bearer on the referee, the Undertaker tombstoned Hulk Hogan onto a steel chair and surprisingly won the WWE Championship in the first ever singles match in Survivor Series history in a match known as "The Gravest Challenge." Hogan won the title back six days later at the This Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view, but the title win was still historic for kick-starting the Undertaker's career and eventually led to the title being vacated and contested at the 1992 Royal Rumble.
2) Survivor Series 1993-The Hart Family Breaks Up:
On Thanksgiving Eve 1993, Bret Hart and his family members were supposed to take on Jerry "The King" Lawler and his three knights in an elimination match, but with Lawler dealing with real-life legal issues that took him out of the event, Shawn Michaels teamed up with the red, blue and black knights to take on Bret Hart and his brothers Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, and Keith Hart in a four-on-four Survivor Series match. Bret had already had a WWE Championship under his belt and was one of the most popular superstars while his brother Owen was in the midcard in the WWE and not doing much as a babyface and Bruce and Keith made a one-time appearance to wrestle. Owen was the only Hart brother eliminated during the match after he was distracted by Bret Hart getting knocked off of the ring apron and was rolled up and pinned. After the three remaining Hart brothers survived, Owen came back out and confronted his family to spark what would eventual culminate in a heel turn for Owen and opened up a sibling rivalry that would last for years and led to one of the greatest opening matches in history at WrestleMania X.
1) Survivor Series 1987-Andre The Giant Survives, A New Concept Is Born:
All of these Thanksgiving moments that eventually led to every other Survivor Series moment wouldn't have been possible without the inaugural event on Thanksgiving night in 1987. The main event of that evening pitted WrestleMania III opponents against each other as each captained a team in the first ever Survivor Series main event in what would become known as a traditional elimination tag match. On team Hogan was Paul Orndorf, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco and Ken Patera while Andre bolstered the team of "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "The Natural" Butch Reed, King Kong Bundy and The One Man Gang. In a shocking twist, Hogan was eliminated when One Man Gang and King Kong Bundy held him out of the ring for the referee's 10-count, leaving Bam Bam alone 3-on-1 with Gang, Bundy and Andre. Bam Bam survived Bundy and Gang, but Andre The Giant was able to finish him off and become the sole survivor in an unpredictable main event that really made the elimination concept a hit for the WWE that has carried over in one form or another into 2013.
The WWE Survivor Series is no longer held on Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Eve, but the traditions of holiday's past have led to some great memories for fans of the product that have lasted for years.
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