Day 11 2024

 

WWF Survivor Series 1987

Ten Man Elimination Tag Team Match

Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff, and Ken Patera vs. Butch Reed, Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, One Man Gang, and King Kong Bundy

Watched Bam Bams Dark Side of the Ring episode and got curious about this match. I’ve only seen this through OSWs video on the show so this should be interesting. I don’t go into the ‘80s much in these. 

The heel team gets introduced in twos and Andre gets his own entrance. The four faces come down together and Orndorff gets a pop to rival Hogans. Speaking of, guess who gets his own introduction.  There is nothing fancy in this match so I won’t go into too much details. 

But nonetheless, Muraco and Rude start the match. Rude gets the shit kicked out of him by all the baby faces until he serendipitously gets knocked into his corner and tags in Butch. Things don’t turn around for the heels however, in fact things actually get worse. Reed not only suffers the same fate as Rude but he gets eliminated first following an Orndorff/Hogan Double Clothesline and a Leg Dorp from The Hulkster. 

Andre comes in next but the ref declares Hogans celebration a tag which brings in Patera so Andre just fucks off. The money is the Andre/Hogan story and this is fantastic booking. Things turn around for the heel but not fully as the baby faces constantly rally back until Patera gets singled out and eliminated. 

In quick succession, Orndorff, Rude, and Muraco all get sent packing. It’s three to two in the heels favor. Now I know what you’re expecting because I was expecting it too. Hulk doesn’t just run over Bundy and OMG.  Bam Bam takes a brunt of the punishment until it’s finally time to bring Hogan and Andre together. The crowd go mental. But it doesn’t last long because Hulk isn’t fucking jobbing clean in ‘87. Bundy and OMG single Hulkster out outside of the ring and the hotdog man gets counted out. Get fucked Terry. 

Bammys in alone against theee super heavyweights but he himself is a super heavyweight so it’s not too much of a difference. The heels are desperate to eliminate Bammers especially cause if the match went too much longer OMG might have actually passed out. He was spent by this point and was draped over the ropes like Andre in the end years. Bam survives and eliminates Bundy with a Springboard Splash after dodging the Avalanche. He contends with OMG and sends him packing. Andre dispenses Bigelow not long after to seal the match for this team. 

Well this was fun. The five just fight and it’s hard to duck that up even for someone like Bundy. The booking is really smart as well keeping Hogan and Andre at a distance until the crowd is fervent to see them. Everyone looked good and 24 plus minutes just sort of flew by…ok not quite but it didn’t drag like some other matches I’ve seen. It’s a historical match worth checking out if you’ve got some time to kill.