EOTR Tag Team Tuesdays: The 5 Greatest Survivor Series Teams

By @TrueGodImmortal

With Survivor Series on the way, and such an emphasis placed on Survivor Series teams, I figured what better way to celebrate this than to give you something different for the Tag Team Tuesdays article. Let's take a look at the 5 best teams that were assembled for Survivor Series.

5. Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, The Dudley Boyz, Booker T
(Survivor Series 2003)

-On paper, this might be the best collection of talent ever, unfortunately, this team came up a little short in their Survivor Series. This team wrestled for the honor of Stone Cold Steve Austin, as the stipulation for their match said that if Austin's team lost the match, then Austin would lose his job. Regardless, I still think this team was a solid one, with a ton of talent who normally would have easily won any elimination match they were in. I actually think this was a better assembled team than the one that actually beat them.

4. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, and The Hardy Boyz
(Survivor Series 2006)

-This is an actual team that won their match, and as a matter of fact, they absolutely dominated the contest they took part in. This collection of talent is absolutely ridiculous, and looking back, the Hardy Boyz ended up being the least important pieces of this team. Labeled Team DX, this team would take on Team Rated RKO, which consists of Edge, Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, Mike Knox, and Greogry Helms. Mike Knox was eliminated early, then Johnny Nitro, followed by Gregory Helms, and then of course near back to back final eliminations of Edge and Orton, sweeping the competition for this group of extremely talented wrestlers. This team is an All Time great Survivor Series team.

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon, Kurt Angle, and Booker T
(Survivor Series 2001)

-It's a bit strange having teams on here that didn't win their respective matches, but look at this team and tell me that there is another team not on this list that possesses this type of star power, draw power, and legacy. Booker T? Legend. Kurt Angle? Legend. Stone Cold? Legend. Shane and RVD at the time provided a different element to this team and as a result, I thought they were a well oiled machine. They would take part in the greatest Survivor Series match ever, but of course, they fell short. Still, this is another dream team in Survivor Series history that would have garnered a win against any other team.

2. Hulk Hogan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Demolition
(Survivor Series 1989)

-This is my bias: The fact that Hogan and Jake teamed up makes this no. 2 on my list. Hogan was on top of the world honestly, as the champion and face of the company and this team would end up being a bigger deal than expected. Being backed by Hogan helped, but the thing that makes this team so special to me is how well they actually worked together. Facing off against Ted Dibiase, Zeus, and the Powers of Pain, the Hulkamanicas would emerge victorious and I still can't believe that Hogan teaming with Jake didn't lead to a big feud between the two over the WWF Championship. What a waste.

1. The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show, The Undertaker
(Survivor Series 2001)

-There is no other team in Survivor Series history with this collection of talent in it. Not even close. The Rock, an all time legend. Chris Jericho, an all time legend. The Undertaker, an all time legend. Kane, another legend. Big Show, a legend in his own regard. This was one of the most stacked teams of all time and they would face off against my third pick on this list in the greatest Survivor Series main event in the history of the event. I loved watching the battle back and forth between those two teams, but more importantly, seeing all of those legends on one team is now a moment in time. This is without a doubt, the greatest Survivor Series team of all time.

-True 

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Eyes on the Ring 11:23 AM  No comment

EOTR Rewind: WWF Summerslam 1996

By @TrueGodImmortal

When the WWF was in a very dark period, we watched them lean on Shawn Michaels to lead the charge. After losing Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to WCW, and the start of the NWO with Hulk Hogan back in prominence and the hiatus of Bret Hart, the WWF turned to Shawn Michaels to be the star and the guy. Going into the 2nd biggest event of the year, Shawn needed a challenger. Enter Vader. A former WCW main eventer, Vader was on a rampage and this would lead to a huge clash against HBK on the biggest stage of the summer. In addition to HBK vs Vader, Summerslam featured a plethora of interesting matchups, kicking off with a hilarious 2 minute contest between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Yokozuna on the Free For All. Today, we wanted to take a rewind back to Summerslam 1996, and reflect on the PPV. Was it solid? Was it a good event? That's what I'm here to find out. Let's get into it.

*Owen Hart vs Savio Vega 

-This opening match was actually pretty good. Going a solid 14 minutes, Owen was a ring general to the fullest, helping to lead Savio to one of his best matches in the WWF. Owen was wearing the cast for his injury, and would utilize it to help him get the victory over Savio. The finish was Owen locking Savio in the sharpshooter after hitting him with the cast, and though Owen was the heel in this match, he would receive a number of cheers for walking out with the win. A solid opening match.

*WWF Tag Team Championship 
The Smoking Gunns vs The New Rockers vs The Godwinns vs The Bodydonnas 

-This was an interesting match. It was a fatal four way elimination match for the tag titles, but for some reason, it just felt extremely rushed. There was a weird element in this match, as Sunny had left the Bodydonnas and ended up turning heel by managing the Smoking Gunns, who came into this match as the defending champions. The Bodydonnas replaced Sunny with.... with.... a man in woman's attire named Cloudy. While today's society might enjoy this angle, it was disturbing and still is regardless. The Smoking Gunns would retain in this match and hold onto their titles however, leaving these three teams in the dust.

*Sycho Sid vs British Bulldog 

-Despite what Phranchize wants you to believe, Sycho Sid sucks. He always has. He was never a good wrestler to watch, and this match was short and sweet because he wasn't a great worker. Bulldog was a solid worker, but what more can be done to help Sid? Nothing. He picks the win in a slightly glorified squash that saw Sid look pretty dominant in the match. Bulldog deserved better than this to be honest.

*Goldust vs Marc Mero 

-This match was pretty standard, but was still fun. I think Goldust was on a role of sorts in 1996, and Marc Mero was still trying to find his footing. Both men were solid workers, and this match doesn't necessarily disappoint, especially with Marlena and Sable at ringside. Goldust picks up the win in a 12 minute contest, which I personally think Mero should have won.

*Jerry Lawler vs Jake Roberts

-I hated this feud. I hated this match. Lawler wins, when he shouldn't have, and this was essentially the beginning of the end of the 2nd run for Jake Roberts. I really didn't like how the WWF exploited his return from his demons, because I feel like this should have ended with him beating Lawler.... instead Lawler wins in 4 minutes. The less said about this the better.

*Boiler Room Brawl 
The Undertaker vs Mankind

-This match is one of a kind. It was interesting because the Mankind vs Undertaker feud was one of the best that I witnessed during the 90's. These two odd personalities kept clashing for months and after everything they had been through in 1996, this seemed to be the culmination of it. The first ever Boiler Room Brawl saw Taker and Mankind bring their best before the crazy ending that saw Paul Bearer turn on Undertaker at the end of the match leading to Mankind getting a victory. The 5 year partnership between Bearer and Taker came to an end, and Mankind seemingly got even stronger as a result. This is the best match of the night IMO, as it had enough drama and fun in it to make it work.

*WWF Championship 
Shawn Michaels vs Vader 

-This match was weird. One, it was far too long. Two, it had a bunch of finishes and restarts that didn't make much sense. First, Vader wins by countout. Cornette asks for the match to be restarted. Then Vader wins by DQ. Then they restart it again. It was really odd to watch and at the end of the match, HBK stood tall. I think the restarts and finishes were just to stretch out the match and try to make Vader look slightly strong, but it killed his entire credibility afterwards. Vader was a monster and to lose cleanly to HBK just felt as if his whole push was gone, and basically that was the case. He never got another big time shot at the WWF Title and after HBK won this match, he just sort of jumped from random feud to feud until Vader eventually became a glorified monster jobber until his departure.

Truthfully, Summerslam 1996 is a fairly weak event by WWF standards. Sure, there were a few decent matches, but overall, this PPV shows exactly why the WWF was losing the ratings war. Where does Summerslam 1996 rank on a scale of 1 to 10? I'd give it a 5 overall, meaning it's not horrible, but it definitely falls short of being a good event.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 1:13 AM  No comment

Speed on the Beat Reviews: The Infamous Heroes of Wrestling

Hello and welcome to what may be a new feature on Eyes of the Ring, the "Was It Really That Bad?" Review. I am your master of clusterf***, Speed on the Beat. Today, we'll take a look at a PPV considered by many to be the worst of all-time. Yes, worse than December to Dismember. I'm talking about 1999's Heroes of Wrestling.

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Eyes on the Ring 12:00 PM  No comment