The 1991 Survivor Series was the fifth annual

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. It took place on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Eve on November 27, 1991, at the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. It was the first Survivor Series to feature a singles match of any kind, which served as the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

; in which

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

defeated

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

to win the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American profe ...

. The undercard featured four traditional Survivor Series elimination matches.

Production

Background

is an annual

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand out ...

(PPV), produced every November by the

(WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has become the second longest-running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania,

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

, and

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

, which were dubbed the "Big Four".Ian Hamilton. ''Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition'' (p. 160) The event is traditionally characterized by having

Survivor Series match The Survivor Series match is a professional wrestling tag team elimination match held in WWE. The match typically sees two teams pitted against each other and members of the teams are eliminated one-by-one until one entire team is eliminated. Memb ...

es, which are

tag team elimination match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

es. The 1991 event was the fifth event in the Survivor Series chronology and the first to not exclusively consist of Survivor Series matches. The only non-Survivor Series match on the card was for the

, which was the first time it was defended at a Survivor Series. The event was scheduled to be held on

Eve on November 27, 1991, at the

Storylines

The main event heading into the event was between World Wrestling Federation Champion

, and

for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. Hogan reclaimed the World Wrestling Federation Championship at WrestleMania 7. The Undertaker debuted in the World Wrestling Federation at the previous year’s Survivor Series. Since debuting, Undertaker had yet to be pinned in a televised match (although he did suffer several pinfall losses at untelevised arena shows). This earned him a shot at Hogan's championship, billing the match as Hogan’s “Gravest Challenge”.

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

arrived in the World Wrestling Federation on September 9, 1991, claiming to be the “Real World's Champion”. He debuted carrying the

WCW World Heavyweight Championship The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title of ...

with him, which he had not lost prior to his departure from the company. He immediately began feuding with

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

. Both men would captain their teams at Survivor Series. Piper's team would consist of

Bret Hart Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal U ...

, The British Bulldog, and

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, while Flair would team with

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (; born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator. He is signed to WWE as of 2024, where he works in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship succ ...

, The Mountie, and The Warlord. There were multiple storylines between the two teams as DiBiase and Virgil had been feuding since January's

, The Mountie had begun challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship, with the Warlord and The British Bulldog also involved in a lengthy program.

Sid Justice Sidney Raymond Eudy (December 16, 1960 – August 26, 2024) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenures in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling under the ring names Sid Jus ...

was originally scheduled to join the Big Bossman and the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Superfriends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

while

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955) better known by the ring name Jake "the Snake" Roberts, is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as the on-screen ma ...

was originally scheduled to join Irwin R. Schyster and

The Natural Disasters The Natural Disasters were a professional wrestling tag team composed of John Tenta, Earthquake (John Tenta) and Fred Ottman, Typhoon (Fred Ottman) who worked in the World Wrestling Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation between 1991 and 1993. ...

. After Justice was sidelined due to an elbow injury,

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

began campaigning to take Sid’s place due to Roberts and the Undertaker crashing Savage and

Miss Elizabeth Elizabeth Ann Hulette (November 19, 1960 – May 1, 2003), best known in professional wrestling circles as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, occasional professional wrestler and prof ...

's wedding reception at Summerslam and attacking Savage. Savage would have to be reinstated to take part in the event due to losing a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 7. However, at a television taping for

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada, was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced b ...

(which would air November 23), Roberts baited Savage into the ring where he would attack him, tying him in the ropes before allowing his

King Cobra The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', i ...

to bite Savage. Savage would not be reinstated for the match and Roberts would also not be allowed to compete in the match due to his actions. The Hogan-Undertaker and Savage-Roberts feuds would continue to build toward the WWF's next pay-per-view event,

This Tuesday in Texas This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This (Egypt), or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France * This, a country mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythrae ...

Jim Neidhart James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag ...

, The Dragon, and Big Bully Busick were originally scheduled for the second Survivor Series match on the show but were pulled from the event.

Aftermath

Due to

's involvement in the events leading to The Undertaker's WWF World Heavyweight Championship victory over Hulk Hogan, a rematch was immediately signed for the

pay-per-view event, contested December 3 at the

Freeman Coliseum Freeman Coliseum is a sports and concert venue located in San Antonio, Texas. It has been host to thousands of events including the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, concerts, trade shows, motor sports, circus, professional sports including profes ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. WWF president

Jack Tunney John Tunney Jr. (January 21, 1935 – January 24, 2004) was a Canadian professional wrestling promoter. He was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as Jack Tunney under the character of the promotion's pr ...

was present at ringside to make sure there was no outside interference. During the match, Flair once again attempted to interfere on The Undertaker's behalf, but – in a chaotic series of events that saw Tunney get knocked out – Hogan was able to pin The Undertaker after throwing ash from manager Paul Bearer's urn in his eyes. The following weekend, Jack Tunney vacated the WWF Championship due to the controversial finishes of the last two matches between Hogan and Undertaker and put the title up for grabs at the 1992 Royal Rumble. Meanwhile, Hogan and Flair began wrestling in a series of matches that had been highly anticipated since the late 1980s. Dissension had been brewing for weeks between

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

and

Marty Jannetty Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Champion ...

of the Rockers, and at their Survivor Series match the two argued after Jannetty caused Michaels to be eliminated by accidentally slamming one of

The Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and ...

into him. In a segment of Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake's "Barber Shop" talk show segment taped on December 2 and aired on January 12, the two aired their grievances before seemingly resolving to stick together and work through their difficulties. However, Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a plate-glass window that was part of Beefcake's set, cementing Michaels' heel turn. A feud was commissioned, but Jannetty was fired in January 1992, shortly before their first match was to take place; the two eventually met in a series of matches in 1993 when Jannetty returned. However, for Michaels, the "Barber Shop" segment and the superkick jumpstarted his career, which would continue to grow during the 1990s and 2000s.

Results

Survivor Series elimination matches

References

hoffco-inc.com – Survivor Series '91 review

External links

Official 1991 Survivor Series website
{{WWEPPV, Survivor Series 1991 in Detroit

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Professional wrestling shows in Detroit 1991 WWF pay-per-view events November 1991 in the United States