Survivor Series Elimination Match 1987

[8.0] "Great match for how long and too many teams and wrestlers on it, usually matches with too many guys are something you can't understand, but this one had great moves, a great technique, and a bad point I give it is that I felt it too long, but only that, then the match was great with a good rhythm for a 80s match of this kind, probably the best of this PPV, 8/10 [****1/2]"

[5.0] "I like huge multi-man elimination matches. What a tag roster depth they had. The crowd popped when Strike Force or Demolition or Hart Foundation or British Bulldogs were in, but that's it. Instead, they were obviously angling to push the Young Stallions, who just didn't have any kind of exciting movesets to pop the crowd. It feels like they were asked to stretch as the match just plodded for about 12 minutes."

[8.0] "Unlike the first Survivor Series match, there was nothing predictable about this match at all as it features the champions Strike Force, The British Bulldogs and The Hart Foundation and none of them ended up winning as this was a showcase mostly for the Young Stallions who take a beating all match, but nobody puts them away, The Killer Bees who was starting to get over with the twin magic mask trick they started doing to win matches and the Islanders who look kinda scary. Although the match does run a bit long and you kinda want the field to thin out when it starts with 20 men, it's never dull to watch as it's pretty much all action from start to finish and it's pretty exhausting once it gets to the last teams as there's lots of big momentum swings throughout the whole match."

[1.0] "20 wrestlers in a single match is a complete overkill, there's too many damn people. It's ridiculously long and becomes repetitive very quickly. It's boring, repetitive, long clusterfuck you forget you watched because nothing memorable happens."

[8.0] "It did went way too long than it should've, but this was a good tag match between both teams with really solid in ring work and psychology between everyone involved, and it was a good showcase of the WWF's up and comers."

[5.0] "Good match-up, although I was surprised to see the Bulldogs eliminated so quickly. This gave time to other teams like the Islanders, although no team really stood out. A decent match, but not incredible either. The team elimination rule is debatable btw. In-ring quality: 1/4. Stakes: 0.75/2. Justification: 0.5/1. Place on the map: 1/1. Suspense: 1/1. Bonus/Malus: none. Total: 5.25/10. Match seen on the WWE Network."

[6.0] "It had some structure to it and was not as chaotic as other matches of this kind, but I still was not completely hooked. It went on for a bit too long which is why I eventually zoned out at times and was not able to really get into it for some reason. Decent but nothing that made me jump out of my seat."

[3.0] "This match seems great on paper as there is a fair bit of star power and interesting potential match ups, but it suffers from being a cluster until it gets down to 6 on 6 with quick eliminations and, by which time the tag champs are already gone. While it would have been better to have just have the 6 on 6 rather than 10 on 10 team elimination this part of the match dragged in parts and the choice of the last 3 teams seemed a little odd especially as the faces who had a 4 on 2 advantage could only win by cheating. Not a match i'll rush back to."

[2.0] "I did not enjoy this. I don't know what it was about this match but I couldn't get into it. 37 minutes is ridiculous and having 10 people per team is way too much. It started fine with some serious energy but it slowed down and eventually it was so boring to me that I wanted to skip the match. I decided to tough it out and it never got better. I heavily dislike this match. It's a shame too because a lot of the teams here are great but for some reason the survivors are the fucking Killer Bees. Like why?"

[8.0] "EXCELLENT pacing for 1987. Excellent moves for 1987. Things like Bulldog's Running Powerslam and Bret Hart's jumping piledriver were nearfalls! This was tiers above the Team Hogan vs Team Andre main event match."

[6.0] "This is a nice piece of classic golden age WWF business. At 37 minutes it clocks in at too long for me, losing my interest about halfway through, before recapturing it a tad for the stretch run. The vibes of all the lads on the apron is fun, and they do a great job of keeping the tags coming quick to keep the action moving. That doesn't stop the "hot tags" so to speak from not feeling like momentum shifts, with Strike Force in particular getting a good one. Martel is great in this match. Unfortunately at about the halfway mark they begin to start padding and the lack of ideas shines through. The work is solid, but it's where you see the veterans of the match slow the pace, largely to fill out the runtime. Nonetheless, they pick things up for the finish and there's a nice story of the Bees and Stallions against the more veteran teams down the stretch. A decent time overall. ***1/4"

[7.0] "I had a good trip me with this. It was very long but it allowed most guys to showcase what they can do. I love Haku and he has a lot of room to show what he could do. I thought him Bret Hart and Greg Valentine were the stars of the show. On the Babyface side the Young Stallions got a lot of opportunity to sell and show their heart. The Babyface team lost a lot of good workers which was odd, especially Strike Force being eliminated early. A good showcase of the tag division at the time."

[7.0] "I would actually say the opening match is better than this one but it's still good. There are a lot of talented wrestlers involved but it's overly long and lacks any real in ring story except for both captions being eliminated. The ending was cool and brought it up a bit. 7/10."

[3.0] "This match just felt WAY TOO LONG. I appreciate the experimentation at this time with the Survivor Series format. This match just had way too many participants, which led to people eating pins for nothing at the beginning, but somehow the match still almost went 40 minutes."

[7.0] "Wrestling comfort food equivalent of eating THE WHOLE PIZZA. I know you know that feeling of regret when you eat the last two slices instead of saving them for tomorrow. That's the best analogy for this because everything seems great until the very end. You're still eating, but why? You're full (maybe to the point of being in pain), the dough seems thicker and drier as your tongue and jaw begin to tire. But there they are, The Young Stallions AND The Killer Bees taking on The Islanders. Those last two slices aren't exactly appetizing and you're even getting a bit nauseas... but *chomp chomp* anyway right? Things would improve next year across the board and I still REALLY like this. But don't eat the whole pizza in one sitting, it's a bad idea. The Young Stallions and The Killer Bees, as much as I like their pepperoni, bacon and dropkicks - best to serve them by the slice and not a whole damn pie. Everyone did GREAT work here, there is some smart booking at times, it's comfort food for sure but... yah you know I'm just gonna make another food analogy right? 7.25 PS: "Efron the Body" always gets a pop from me."

[2.0] "This match just felt way too long, and had way too many participants in it. At the beginning of the match they couldn't even use the hard cam with how many people blocked the view. Match started out okay but just slowed down to a slog in the latter half. I got tired of the match around halfway in. It just kept going and going because they wouldn't want to eliminate a tag team without both members having some sort of participation in the match. There weren't any stand out moments of the match that I can remember either."

[8.0] "I used to watch this event and, especially this match, over and over again when I was a kid. This match was really long at 37 minutes, but it was great during the time it was on. It doesn't hold up as well these days, but it was fantastic back then."

[6.0] "Liked majority of the match. A lot of talent was in the ring, and they used a quick pace to their advantage. Good psychology early on in the match. Part that ruined the match for me was the finish where the faces cheat to beat heels that had been wrestling pretty cleanly. Also, the surviving teams to me were far from the best teams on the face side as Bulldogs and Strike Force were the best teams on that side but were eliminated too soon"

[6.0] "This match started out excellent, hot, and logical. The action was consistently fast paced for a long time because there were so many guys to tag and get involved. A ton of quick tags are made, so someone is always fresh to keep things rolling. As teams got eliminated, though, things started to quickly get sluggish. Part of me thinks this match went on 5-10 minutes too long, but on the flip side, if they cut time off, would it have started to get ridiculous the rate teams would have needed to get eliminated? Having this many participants in the match certainly made it a tall task to make feel natural but also entertaining. The match seemed made to get the new, young, rising tag teams at the time over, but with the benefit of hindsight, it makes it funny because in the grand scheme of company history, The Young Stallions are probably the least enduring and relevant team in this match. I also can't say I cared for the final pin. The Killer Bees with a TOTAL heel move for the pin. Weird to see babyfaces do that. And it's not even like they were fighting fire with fire or anything. The Islanders were working a clean match and they just pulled a mask switch out of desperation. Left me scratching my head a bit. All in all, a very good match, but the volume of people involved might have gotten to it a little bit."

[7.0] "I always thought it was strange the WWF lined up a bunch of great tag teams for this match, made it clear that jobber teams like the Bolsheviks would not do well, and then spent 37 minutes turning the first tag Survivor match into a way to get the Young Stallions over. The Young Stallions! It's not the WWF way. Sadly they picked a team that never went anywhere but I guess hindsight is 20-20. They also gave a huge rub to the Islanders, who made it right to the end. They lasted even less long than the Young Stallions as a tag team. That all said, it is a good match with strong pacing and good performances, some from surprise teams."

[5.0] "Solid wrestling in this match and it has some entertaining moments from time to time, but it just goes on for way too long. 20 wrestlers and almost 40 minutes is just too much. Bulldogs and Bret were the best in the ring as expected. Not bad at all but it lost my attention"

[6.0] "A good Survivor Series match with a little bit of time wasting here and there, as these guys probably weren't used to the matches of this magnitude when it comes to the amount of guys being involved. The Stallions really impressed here and The Hart Foundation kept everything together. Clever little finish with Bees swapping each other in the ring, even though it's not really a babyface move."

[9.0] "I loved this match. This was tag team wrestling at its biggest, and maybe best. There were many phases in this match. First, there were so many tags in the first few minutes. Each team had a great strategy: get in, get out, take advantage. It worked really well. Then, we had the middle section, ending with Strike Force getting eliminated. This began the final stage of the match: The Young Stallions and Killer Bees fighting back against The Dream Team, The Hart Foundation, and The Islanders. The Young Stallions surprised me in this match. I thought these guys would be a filler member of the Team Strike Force, but they were the MVP's. There were so many times during this match where I was like, "How is Jim Powers alive right now? " In the end, The Killer Bees won the match along with the Young Stallions by using the bee masks to cheat and win the match. I love seeing babyfaces use smart heel tactics without being even close to heel. This was a really good match where everyone (except for the Bolsheviks, as expected) shined. Phenomenal match."

[7.0] "This is my favourite match of the show. It would be even better if it didn't go so long; but honestly all the matches go a little more. Considering the format it makes sense to give these matches time; but you also have to make them interesting. I like this clusterfuck of a tag team match; which is not a sentence I say all the time, but there was so much talent here."

[4.0] "Another slog, but again one with energy and intensity. Bret Hart is great as ever, but this was way too long and the lack of variation in the rules makes this dull, especially after the previous slog."

[7.0] "A bit too long, slow at times, and not everyone gets to shine, but this is still an exciting and well executed match that does well to show off the tag team talent in the promotion at the time."

[5.0] "I went through some interesting changes in attitude toward this match as it happened. As the match started out, I felt that it was okay, but the amount of wrestlers on the aprons along with the managers and referees at ringside made this very difficult to watch from a production standpoint. I was sitting at a 5/10 for about a third of the match. As the teams thinned out, I felt that the match was flowing better and better. The feel of the match was so good, that I was now willing to give the match a 7/10. Once the match was down to only Haku and Tama on the heel side though, the match slowed considerably and was now in a bit of a slope, so I changed my rating to a 6/10. The finish... I felt the finish was bad enough that I dropped the match down to where I originally began at a 5/10. The lessons? Don't overstay your welcome and end on a high note."

[4.0] "The idea of this match is interesting and there is some novelty value just in the sheer number of people involved, but this was just far too long and really struggled to hold my attention. It never really felt like it was building or going anywhere, it just stayed in the same gear all the way through. I can see why people would like this, but it felt pretty aimless to me, and I honestly preferred the opener. I feel kinda bad giving this a relatively low rating because there were a lot of talented competitors putting forth some good work here, but I'd struggle to justify going higher on something that I felt so bored during. I even debated going lower. I was ready for this to wrap up at around the halfway mark. At nearly 40 minutes total, it just felt like it was never going to end."

[2.0] "Way, way, way too fucking long and too many people to tell any kind of story. Totally aimless and meandering. Bret Hart rules and stands out in the match though."

[8.0] "Oh man! This is just heavenly! The golden age of WWFE tag team wrestling! Everybody gets time to do their thing and it's a long match, but it's pretty great all the way. Only holding back because the finish was kinda cheap with the Bees doing the mask thing to get the win. 2 on 1 in favor of the babyfaces and they have to cheat? Lame!"

[7.0] "A great match with very exciting in-ring action, though one that missed its peak by a while, I would argue. Had it been just a bit shorter and featured stronger booking at some points (Strike Force and the Harts being eliminated earlier than expected was strange), I would rate this even higher. Still pretty great as it was already! [***3/4]"

[7.0] "A good and entertaining but somewhat disappointing match. I think the overall action was great, but there were just too many people to focus on at once. The booking of the elimination was all over the place here and the whole match was way too long. It dragged on forever by the 20 mins mark and never seemed to end, which is a shame cause the match was actually technically very good. I would call this a good match with a lot of flaws. [***1/2]"

[7.0] "About as chaotic as you'd expect a 20-man tag team match to be, but frankly, I think that worked a little bit in its favor. The match kind of spluttered towards the end for me, but that may be due in large part to the fact that I don't understand why the Killer Bees are so highly regarded at this point. I just don't get it. I also kind of wish the Harts had been in at the end, not the Islanders, but I do love Haku, so. No real argument there. There was a lot of good story set up here and a lot of segments continuing and being set forward, so realistically, the perfect kind of Survivor Series match, I just wish there'd been a few different choices in there."

[7.0] "This was a wild chaotic match with some good storytelling and good ring work. I think there were too many people involved and the match was too formulaic in its execution, but this was still a good match with an unexpected ending. ***1/4."

[7.0] "I feel like there were too many people in this match, but I suppose this is always going to be the case when it involves tag teams. With that being said it was still a good match, maybe a tad long, but I enjoyed it. Shave 10 minutes off of it and it could have been even better."

[5.0] "Honestly, too much going on when you have 20 people all surrounding the ring, I don't really understand anyone's motivations either. having the match go this long without any true consequences or progression makes me uninterested despite the quality of wrestling displayed."

[5.0] "These types of matches just aren't my thing. I don't know, I don't get how a match with 20 people is supposed to tell a story? There's nothing wrong with this match, technically and even the workrate is pretty good. It's just... pointless i guess. Like I don't care either way which team wins or anything. Nothing about these sorts of matches really stands out to me, it's just average, straightforward wrestling that goes on way too long, with too many people involved."

[4.0] "Not one I can vouch for. The line-up is incredible and it has its moments but I found it somewhat frustrating more than anything. Overlong and with some poor performances from the lesser workers that hurt the match. I also thought the way these Survivor Series' were structured favoured such an overcrowded match. If there are going to be 20 people in a match I'd rather have a car-wreck of a match."

[7.0] "This was a really good match that lost a lot of steam by going on for far too long, a mistake that would be repeated the following year."

[8.0] "Always a match that I was fond of whenever I watched it and this was no different. It could? ve been a massive clusterfuck but they booked the eliminations well and the paced the match perfectly. The Hart Foundation elimination was a huge shock and the Islanders did a great job at the end, putting a great performance only to be lose via cheating. ***Ÿ"

[7.0] "This match really shows how good the tag division in the WWE once was. So much great talent in the ring. Really good match."

[4.0] "Didn't enjoy this, too much clutter and really disliked the finish. The Killer Bees were... not good."

[9.0] "Almost too much of a good thing. Tag Team wrestling was a big deal at the time and the WWF was straight up loaded. Too many top teams ended up with just a bit part. Most of these teams had main event potential. The new Dream Team, Demolition on the rise, Strike Force near the end, the epic Hart Bulldog rivalry were all top tier. The Islanders, Rougeaus and Killer Bees were excellent second level teams. The Bolsheviks were fading and it appeared that the Young Stallions were here to stay (especially since they survived, finished The Dream Team and had an absolute ton of mat time). Nothing not too like here but is loses a point for simply being too crowded."

[6.0] "This was not good, every heard the expression too many chefs spoil the stew? This is exactly what happened. What could of been really good just was OK."

[8.0] "Ten Tag teams, 20 wrestlers and fantastic action for the entire match. There are combinations and psychology, sometimes it gets confusing because of the large number of wrestlers, but with clear one on one on the ring it's easy to enjoy it. It's different from any Survivor Series match. ***3/4"

[9.0] "For a match that's over 30 minutes, this just flies by! I love the pacing, they really make great use of how many guys are involved, and there's a lot of talent packed into the match. The finish is a bit odd but all in all this is excellent, I really love these types of matches and with they'd do more of them these days."

[5.0] "This match was a bit of a cluster with the amount of teams that were involved. There was a lot of guys who didn't even get involved in the match questioning what was the point of them being there. Once the teams thinned out the action got a bit more controlled but it was a little late by then."

[7.0] "This was a fun cluster of a match. I think the last 10-15 minutes really dragged, and it felt like there was no story, just teams doing movies at the end."

[7.0] "Dynamic, but very fussy match, number of interesting moves in which it wasn't so great as could be. Besides two persons from one team were disqualified. My rating: ***1/4."