Ultimate Warrior, Tito Santana & Hulk Hogan vs Ted DiBiase, Warlord, Power & Glory & Rick Martel (WWF, 11-22-1990)

WWF Survivor Series, Hartford, CT

A request! This is the one and only ever Grand Finale Match of Survival at Survivor Series, the first indication that Vince was losing interest in the original Survivor Series concept, as he was starting to tinker.

The concept is all the surviving good guys from good guy teams face all the surviving bad guys from bad guy teams. This is a clear thing that also plays a bit loose with logic in a way, so it’s sort of an iffy idea, but it’s neat that it was done once.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Royal Rumble Match (WWF, 1-15-1989)

WWF Royal Rumble, Houston, TX

A request! The first Royal Rumble match to air on PPV, as it became the last of the WWF’s original Big Four PPV shows following the debuts of WrestleMania (1985), Survivor Series (1987), and SummerSlam (1988). The first Rumble does pre-date the first SummerSlam, but aired on USA Network to take a further shit on Crockett’s Bunkhouse Stampede PPV.

It’s also the first 30-man Rumble, as the inaugural ’88 edition featured 20 men, and was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, featuring entirely midcard (however popular or whatever) wrestlers.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Jan. 1-7, 1996

A new year!

IN THIS SET:

• WWF Monday Night Raw (Jan. 1, 1996)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Jan. 1, 1996)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Jan. 2, 1996)
• ECW House Party (Jan. 5, 1996)
• WCW Worldwide (Jan. 6, 1996)
• WCW Pro (Jan. 6, 1996)
• WWF Superstars (Jan. 6, 1996)
• WCW Saturday Night (Jan. 6, 1996)
• WCW Main Event (Jan. 7, 1996)

Notes: I just don’t have the Jan. 6 Prime, but whatever, and I do not have any USWA until Jan. 20.

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Dec. 18-24, 1995

IN THIS SET:

• WCW Prime (Dec. 18, 1995)
• WWF Monday Night Raw (Dec. 18, 1995)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Dec. 18, 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Dec. 19, 1995)
• WCW Worldwide (Dec. 23, 1995)
• WWF Superstars (Dec. 23, 1995)
• USWA Championship Wrestling (Dec. 23, 1995)
• WCW Saturday Night (Dec. 23, 1995)
• WCW Main Event (Dec. 24, 1995)

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Dec. 11-17, 1995

IN THIS SET:

• WCW Prime (Dec. 11, 1995)
• WWF Monday Night Raw (Dec. 11, 1995)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Dec. 11, 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Dec. 12, 1995)
• WCW Worldwide (Dec. 16, 1995)
• WCW Pro (Dec. 16, 1995)
• WWF Superstars (Dec. 16, 1995)
• USWA Championship Wrestling (Dec. 16, 1995)
• WCW Saturday Night (Dec. 16, 1995)
• WWF In Your House (Dec. 17, 1995)

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Dec. 4-10, 1995

IN THIS SET:

• WCW Prime (Dec. 4, 1995)
• WWF Monday Night Raw (Dec. 4, 1995)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Dec. 4, 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Dec. 5, 1995)
• WCW Worldwide (Dec. 9, 1995)
• WCW Pro (Dec. 9, 1995)
• WWF Superstars (Dec. 9, 1995)
• USWA Championship Wrestling (Dec. 9, 1995)
• WCW Saturday Night (Dec. 9, 1995)
• WCW Main Event (Dec. 10, 1995)

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 1995

A new week! No pay-per-view extravaganzas or supercards! Just good, old fashioned televised professional wrestling — with a new show in the rotation!

IN THIS SET:

• WCW Prime (Nov. 27, 1995)
• WWF Monday Night Raw (Nov. 27, 1995)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Nov. 27, 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Nov. 28, 1995)
• WCW Worldwide (Dec. 2, 1995)
• WCW Pro (Dec. 2, 1995)
• WWF Superstars (Dec. 2, 1995)
• USWA Championship Wrestling (Dec. 2, 1995)
• WCW Saturday Night (Dec. 2, 1995)
• WCW Main Event (Dec. 3, 1995)

TAPE’s Time Travel: This Week in TV Wrestling, Nov. 20-26, 1995

Another new week, and another one with a pay-per-view extravaganza!

IN THIS SET:

• WCW Prime (Nov. 20, 1995)
• WWF Monday Night Raw (Nov. 20, 1995)
• WCW Monday Nitro (Nov. 20, 1995)
• ECW Hardcore TV (Nov. 21, 1995)
• WCW Worldwide (Nov. 25, 1995)
• WCW Pro (Nov. 25, 1995)
• WWF Superstars (Nov. 25, 1995)
• WCW Saturday Night (Nov. 25, 1995)
• WCW World War 3 (Nov. 26, 1995)

Royal Rumble (WWF, 1-19-1992)

WWF Royal Rumble, Albany, NY

Request via Ko-fi. There’s a chance I’ve watched this match more than any other match in history. When people say, “What wrestling match would you show friends who don’t like wrestling to get them into wrestling,” my answer is, obviously, “I would not show them wrestling. They have lived however long having made the correct choice to not let this ridiculous shit into their veins.” But sometimes people will suggest a long, epic match, one that we dorks largely agree is great, and people will say, “Ugh! Look at me, pay attention to me, I am extremely smart and I would not show them that match. All wrestling matches should be 18 seconds long and not have anything good, because when you think about it, that is good!” But this is a 62-minute match I might show someone if I were forced to try to get them to like wrestling, because in this one hour, you see 30 various personalities and one of the all-time great performances.

Demolition vs Powers of Pain (WWF, 2-3-1989)

WWF, Milwaukee, WI

This comes from a show in Milwaukee with the newly babyface Demolition defending their tag belts against the newly heel Powers of Pain, now managed by Mr. Fuji after the big switcheroo at Survivor Series ’88.