Background: Hulk Hogan’s movie life had come back to haunt him in 1989 when his rival in the movie “No Holds Barred” decided he would come to the WWF to avenge his scripted loss in the movie (ironic, I know). Jake Roberts had problems with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase when DiBiase decided he wanted to steal Roberts’ snake Damian to save Andre The Giant from his fear of the reptile. DiBiase eventually put Roberts on the shelf with an injury. At the 1988 “Survivor Series”, Demolition’s manager Mr. Fuji turned on Demolition in favor of the Powers of Pain (Barbarian and Warlord).
“Survivor Series”
November 23, 1989
Chicago, IL
The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts, Demolition) vs. The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus, Powers of Pain)
The Million Dollar Team did a great job preventing Hogan’s team from entering the ring until Jake “The Snake” Roberts unleashed his snake, Damian.
The fans were going crazy as Zeus called for Hogan. Hogan confronted the future Deebo, taking a shoulder block that had Hogan actually walking backwards. Hogan’s punches, knees, and clotheslines didn’t stagger Zeus. Hogan went for the eyes before slamming the big man. Zeus got ahead of himself after he immediately jumped up following the slam by shoving the referee when he tried to stop Zeus from choking Hogan. After being shoved twice, the ref disqualified Zeus for our first elimination.
The remaining members of the Million Dollar Team had to pull Zeus off of Hogan. DiBiase had to motion that he’d pay Zeus for leaving to make the big man leave. DiBiase followed up where Zeus left off by choking Hogan on the ropes. The crowd rallied behind Hogan, giving him the wherewithal to kick his way to Jake Roberts. Roberts was a house of fire, taking “The Million Dollar Man” to the floor to shove him into the steel ring steps. Demolition wore out DiBiase with clubbing forearms to the enjoyment of the fans. Hogan joined Demolition with those clubbing forearms to DiBiase’s back. Using Demolition Ax’s momentum against him, DiBiase exploded off of the ropes with a flying back elbow before tagging in Warlord. The Powers of Pain isolated Ax, with Mr. Fuji tripping Ax into Warlord’s big elbow for another elimination.
Hogan and Demolition Smash grounded Warlord to set up Roberts’ right-handed assault. When Smash reentered as the legal man, Smash lost the advantage thanks to some ill-timed strikes. Fist drop by DiBiase after he tagged in almost gained him the three count on Smash. DiBiase made a big mistake by going for a back elbow off the middle rope, taking a hotshot for his trouble. Unfortunately for Smash, before the hotshot, Barbarian blind tagged himself in. After Smash couldn’t get a pin on DiBiase, he turned right into the flying clothesline of Barbarian. The big Samoan made the cover, pinning and eliminating Smash.
Roberts immediately entered, calling for the DDT. Barbarian muscled his way out of the finisher, tagging out after rushing Roberts into the wrong corner. Hogan tried to rally the fans behind Roberts as Barbarian continued an assault aimed at Roberts’ back. Using Hogan’s anger against him, DiBiase lured Hogan into the ring so Ted DiBiase and Barbarian could double tem him. Piledriver by DiBiase gained him a near fall thanks to poor ring positioning. Barbarian tagged in, missing the flying headbutt. Roberts made the crawl, tagging Hogan.
The WWF champion was wearing out everyone in his path. Suplex by Hogan almost pinned Barbarian. Warlord entered, only to take a double clothesline with Barbarian. And as quickly as Hogan had everything going in his favor, The PoP put “The Hulkster” in position for a spike piledriver that connected! The referee saw the seemingly illegal action, disqualifying both members of the PoP!
DiBiase grabbed Hogan in the Million Dream as the fans screamed for Hogan to make a comeback. Thankfully for Hogan, Roberts broke the submission. DiBiase tried to lock his patented submission in again, but Hogan broke it by rushing DiBiase into the corner. Roberts tagged in, wearing out the neck of “The Million Dollar Man”. Before DiBiase could be put away with the DDT, Virgil ran out to save his master. Roberts yanked Virgil into the ring, using the DDT on him. Before Roberts could get up, DiBiase rocked him with the fist drop. DiBiase threw his legs across the middle rope. The referee counted Roberts down, never seeing DiBiase’s illegal action for another elimination.
DiBiase rolled Virgil out of the ring so he could continue wear out Hogan some more. Hogan eventually elbowed his way out of a sleeper, causing a double clothesline that put both men down. Hogan started hulking up following a belly to back suplex. Big Boot-Leg Drop combination by Hogan put DiBiase down for the three count, and the final elimination.
Winner: Hulk Hogan (27:23)
Is It A Classic: Well, looking at the names involved, you’d expect it to be a big punch-kick-finisher affair featuring a white-hot crowd; and that’s exactly what it was. The fans were digging everything and made the match feel better than it really was. Everything worked to get the fans behind the fan favorites, but it was overly simple with some confusing eliminations like the spike piledriver. It’s nothing you have to go out of your way to see, that’s for sure.
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