This Friday’s edition of Rewind-A-Wai will cover the WWF Survivor Series 1996 card from Madison Square Garden.
This show is presented by Espresso Executive Producer: @Sageinc1024
Leave us your feedback, memories, and any questions surrounding this event and tune in Friday on the POST Wrestling Cafe.
**Shawn Michaels vs. Sid for the WWF title
**Bret Hart returns to face Steve Austin
**The debut of Rocky Maivia & more
Whenever I come across this show, the promos from Austin & Bret immediately stick out. I feel I can quote them and Bret’s especially is great in my view, it just added to the match that was simply fantastic. Overall this show is enjoyable to me, only real negative is the elimination match featuring Jimmy Snuka but it didn’t bring the show down to me that much. The main event is worth watching just because it sums up Shawn Michaels at that time perfectly and was probably a high point for Sid. Mankind & Taker have had better matches but it was still good and the other elimination matches were pretty fun.
Jesse from the 6
Looking forward to hearing Wai’s thoughts on this show since the old review with Arda Ocal was one of my favourites.
I absolutely love the Bret-Austin match, especially the finish, never mind that Bret recycled it from WrestleMania VIII. Every time I watch it I think it might be better than their WrestleMania 13 match. In the end, the “I Quit” match just about edges this one, but it’s still brilliant.
(If you haven’t already covered this:) Wai, were you watching at this time? I know you said you dropped out after WrestleMania XII and came back (bizarrely) after the Finger Poke of Doom, but was it a complete wrestling blackout for you or were you aware that Bret was back?
John, back in 2011 you contrasted Shawn’s unprofessional behaviour at being booed in the main event to how Cena handles being booed. How would you compare the two to Roman Reigns right now? I wouldn’t call Reigns unprofessional, but the way he receives boos has definitely become a different dynamic to the way Cena did/does.
Furthermore, do you consider this Survivor Series reaction a blip? A smarky New York crowd turning against the babyface champ? Or was it the sign to Vince to turn Shawn, which he did less than a year later? If the latter, why do you think was Vince willing to turn Shawn in '97 (after he had only decided to make Shawn “the guy” in late '95) but has stuck so stubbornly with Reigns?
Take Care
Brandon from Oshawa
One of my favorite rivalries as a 9 & 10 year old kid was always Sid & Shawn. They provided 2 of my favorite and most remembered childhood memories, the first when Sid turned on Shawn after Wrestlemania 11 and during this show, Sid using the camera to win the championship. I thought Sid was so awesome when he knocked out Jose Lothario with the camera, I never liked that guy as a kid and then I remember celebrating when he got the win. I always thought these 2 had great chemistry together.
I have 2 questions…
What are your thoughts on Sid? Do you think he was under utilized throughout his career or do you think he was given too much? He wasnt a great wrestler, but his promos I thought were always fantastic and crazy and I think he could have been used even better as a monster heel.
What do you think about the MSG sets that they always use? I’m assuming its because of the layout of the arena, they are always fairly small, but they always stand out to me. I’m a fan of the big, grand set designs, but these smaller ones at MSG I always thought were really cool. The entrances always stand out to me during these shows.
SS96 is an often forgotten yet underrated show. The debut of The Rock, Austin/Bret 1, and Sids best WWE match ever were all highlights of the show. My personal favorite moments of the show were JR desperately trying to get the fake Razor and Diesel over, women screaming NOOOOOO when Sid beat Shawn, and Sid celebrating with Vlad the Super Fan. The only real weak match was Mankind vs Taker, which Foley called the most disappointing PPV match of his career. Regardless SS96 is a very underrated gem and gets 8 hugs from Vlad the Superfan out of 10.
Question: Do you guys know much about the legendary Vlad the Superfan and his entourage of fellow fans?