In the nearly 40-year history of the Survivor Series, the event has seen a series of changes. Whether it be from team match-ups to one-on-one confrontations to the inclusion of an all-women’s only Survivor Series match-up to the embracing of the famed War Games concept, Survivor Series provided a series of memorable moments.
In 1987, the World Wrestling Federation held its first-ever Survivor Series event. The inaugural event was initially presented in conjunction with the U.S Thanksgiving holiday.
Since this time, the events airing and presentation has varied throughout the year, but consistently took place in the month of November.
However, several facts about the event have proven to be either quietly kept secret or remain lesser known to the WWF/E audience.
Several items are explored, from the initial creation to the planned finishes of infamous matches and the morale of talent after certain years. Here are 12 lesser known facts WWE Survivor Series facts.
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12 Lesser Known WWE Survivor Series Facts
12. The Original Concept Was a Power Play Against Starrcade
Vince McMahon launched the first Survivor Series in 1987 to directly compete with NWA’s Starrcade, which aired the same night. What happened was that McMahon had threatened cable providers:
If they aired Starrcade, they wouldn’t be allowed to air WrestleMania IV, which was set to take place the following Spring in 1988. This strategy was, for the most part, successful.
While some cable companies did carry Starrcade, most opted to air Survivor Series to secure the rights to WrestleMania IV, which significantly impacted Starrcade’s viewership and success.
It would also mark the first and last time that the two companies would air either Starrcade or Survivor Series on the same evening.
Source: “The Rise & Fall of WCW” (WWE DVD), Wrestling Observer Newsletter (1987).
11. Survivor Series Was Almost a One-Time Event
Following the inaugural Survivor Series in 1987, as documented, it went head-to-head with the NWA’s Starrcade event.
The belief was that the 1987 event was seen internally as a test. Had it failed to outperform Starrcade in buyrates, it would not have become a yearly staple.
There was apprehension even prior to the event taking place, that there was skepticism of it taking place during what is arguably one of the biggest wrestling weekends of the year at the time.
WWE executive Bruce Prichard conveyed how wrestling was a hotbed of activity all over the United States, except for one place.
“This was typically one of the biggest wrestling weekends of the year in everywhere but…New York.
For some reason, they never ran Thanksgiving or Christmas, and traditionally, as you just said, everywhere else in country Thanksgiving night, Christmas Day, those were the only one you ran. The only one you didn’t run was on New Year’s Eve.
But Christmas night and Thanksgiving night were huge business; those were the big weekends for almost every other territory in the country.
I think because of family, and there was a feeling that people in New York, and this was where they were based, and the family gets together and stays together all night long and all day long.
Vince (McMahon) didn’t feel that people would want to leave their homes to go out and do something else and see a live event, and obviously, there were live events then.
Vince’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. So he liked to stay at home, and he liked to have his Thanksgiving at home and be there with the family and chill out, so it was something that he didn’t want to be out working.”
Source: Bruce Prichard, Something to Wrestle With podcast.
10. The Montreal Screwjob Was Supposed to Be a DQ Finish
The 1997 Survivor Series ‘Montreal Screwjob’ had a very different finish planned than what materialized. Bret had stated on a number of occasions that he would have dropped the title to anyone but Shawn Michaels.
Michaels was someone who Bret felt was professionally being disrespectful towards him. Therefore, the in-ring tension bled to outside the ring.
After the discussion of how the match would have ended, in Bret’s Wrestling with Shadows documentary and autobiography, he said that both McMahon and he had agreed that the match would end in a disqualification, preserving his title on the way out of the WWF.
The plan was for a battle to take place outside the ring with both Hart’s and Michaels respective factions during the match ultimately leading to a no contest.
While the title would not have changed hands on a disqualification, but rather have Hart relinquish the title to Vince to do with it what he pleased, what transpired was that Vince McMahon changed it without informing Hart.
Source: Wrestling With Shadows (documentary),
9. The Gobbledy Gooker Was Supposed to Be a Kid-Friendly Mascot
In the earlier years of the Survivor Series, the focus had been that the event was set to take place during the U.S Thanksgiving weekend.
But at the 1990 Survivor Series event, it featured two of the most notable debuts in the promotion’s history. One being the arrival and debut of The Undertaker, and the second being the emergence of a character still talked about today, the Gobbledy Gooker. While many have called the character a flop, its intention was to resonate with a certain part of the WWF’s audience.
“Gobbledy Gooker was never meant to be a wrestler…ever. The Gobbledy Gooker was going to be a mascot, and the Gobbledy Gooker would be the WWE mascot that you could go to every WWF live event, and there would be a Gobbledy Gooker there.
It would be out in the crowd, and take pictures with kids, and at times it would go in the ring and do a certain routine in the ring with people.
The Hector Guerrero (who was in the costume) would work the live events as El Bandito. The costume was a little preventative of some movements.”
The infamous debut at Survivor Series 1990 was an attempt to appeal to younger audiences. It flopped so hard that it was believed Vince almost scrapped all future mascot gimmicks.
Source: Bruce Prichard podcast, 2017 episode.
8. Lex Luger Was Not Originally Booked to Win Survivor Series 1993
In 1993, as the WWF was attempting to build new stars, including what was intended to be the incumbent to Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger.
However, at the time of the slated match-up between Luger and Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1993, it was reported that Luger was planned to win the match.
However, the match finish was leaked by Summerslam 1993, and speculation that the finish was changed accordingly.
Luger has stated that there was never any promise made by Vince McMahon to him that he would capture the WWF Championship. Plans changed at the last minute in favor of Yokozuna’s push at the Royal Rumble 1994 event.
“That’s what I love about wrestling. A rumor starts and it takes on a life of its own. I’ve heard that story, and I go, absolutely not.
Absolute fake news. There was never any finish involving me going over at WrestleMania X, so that was fake news.”
7. The Undertaker Wrestled with a Broken Orbital Bone at Survivor Series 1995
During the Undertaker’s early career, his greatest challenges were those in which he faced foes of equal or even greater size than himself. One of those opponents was King Mabel of the Men on a Mission team.
Weeks before the Survivor Series 1995 event, Mabel would unintentionally break the orbital bone of the Deadman during a house show.
How it was presented to the public was that it was a storyline injury when in fact The Undertaker needed surgery to fix the injury ahead of the upcoming event. Below is the account of how the incident occurred between the Undertaker and Mabel.
“I mean I’ve lost both eye sockets, but one was because the guy was completely out of shape.
He was 6-foot-8, 500 pounds and I ran straight into what was supposed to be a clothesline, but he was so gassed and behind on his spot that instead of catching the meat of his forearm I ran dead into his fist with his momentum coming off of the ropes.
Just blew my eye socket completely apart. Dumba** me, I didn’t know it for three days.”
– The Undertaker on how Mabel broke his orbital bone.
At the 1995 Survivor Series, The Undertaker wore a Phantom of the Opera-style mask to protect his face during the match vs. Mabel.
Source: WWE.com feature: “The Undertaker’s Most Painful Matches”
6. Survivor Series 1997 Had Record-Low Morale Backstage
At the 1997 Survivor Series, the infamous Montreal Screwjob took place in a match that pitted Bret Hart against Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship.
As the story has been told several times. While the match resulted in Michaels capturing the title, it was what ensued after the match that told the story.
From an unscripted finish to the outrage and damage to the equipment and those involved. The response backstage was certainly one where the locker room’s morale was low.
Many top talents (including Mick Foley and The British Bulldog) considered walking out after the Montreal Screwjob. In fact, the likes of the British Bulldog and Ravishing Rick Rude would depart the company.
Source: Foley Is Good by Mick Foley.
5. WWE Nearly Canceled Survivor Series 2002
After poor King of the Ring and Unforgiven numbers, WWE debated canceling all secondary PPVs. Despite the success of the WCW/Alliance vs. WWE match-up, the following years presented events that lacked in terms of believed match quality.
While an event would have taken place at the time, the actual title ‘Survivor Series’ would have disbanded. Below was a quote from former WWF/E chairman Vince McMahon sharing his thoughts.
“We think that Survivor Series is obsolete, as far as that title is concerned. It was something that worked many, many years ago, in terms of a creative standpoint, various teams competing.
That really is not advantageous as the consumer now looks as what actually they are buying.”
–Vince McMahon shares on the state of Survivor Series prior to 2002
What ultimately saved the event was the debut of the Elimination Chamber. The structure that was enclosed in steel and surrounded in steel would eventually become its own event with the same name in the years that followed
Source: Jim Ross, Under the Black Hat.
4. Shane McMahon Wanted to Buy WCW and Relaunch at Survivor Series 2001
Before World Championship Wrestling was bought out, Shane McMahon was in the midst of an on-screen feud with his father, Vince McMahon.
And as history will remind us, Shane McMahon was in Florida as part of the simulcast, in the final WCW Nitro, which was on camera and revealed as the kayfabe owner of the company.
Within reality—and also in storyline—WWF creative initially explored relaunching WCW as its own separate TV property.
Shane and Stephanie McMahon, as “co-owners,” were rumored to have considered continuing WCW programming—possibly reviving it as a brand parallel to WWF.
There were even website polls (WWF.com, WCW.com) letting fans vote on the new name for the continued brand, Shane pitched relaunching WCW as a separate brand with its own PPVs, with the “Winner Takes All” match concluding the storyline.
However, since TNT had no interest in wrestling, the idea was not pursued. The invasion storyline culminated with a winner-takes-all showdown at Survivor Series instead of launching then.
Source: Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast
3. Survivor Series 1994 was never originally titled “Thanksgiving Thunder.”
Survivor Series 1994 featured a casket match between Yokozuna and The Undertaker. It also held a match involving Jerry Lawler’s Royal Family.
It was also the final Survivor Series that was held on Thanksgiving, not under a different name, with no alternate listed under it. However, an urban legend had circulated that the working title for the name was “Thanksgiving Thunder.”
This was never actually the case, as the working title changed late in production due to marketing decisions aligning with the “Big Four” branding.
In fact, the actual name “Thanksgiving Thunder” was a Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) event titled “Thanksgiving Thunder” in November 1993 and 1994 as part of their Thanksgiving-themed events.
The possible likelihood for the confusion was due to any working relationship previously that had existed between SMW and the WWF.
Source: Conrad Thompson interview with Bruce Prichard
2. Survivor Series 2020 Was The Undertaker’s “Final Farewell” – But Vince McMahon Didn’t Want It Live
At Survivor Series 2020, The Undertaker delivered his definitive goodbye in a scene shaped by the realities of the pandemic. No live crowd—just a Thunderdome in Orlando, virtual fans, and an atmosphere heavy with spectacle but light on human presence.
Wrestlers from across eras entered one by one to honor his legacy. After a video tribute and Vince McMahon’s heartfelt speech, Undertaker descended from a raised platform and delivered the unforgettable line:
“My time has come to let The Undertaker rest in peace.”
He then struck his classic pose as a hologram of Paul Bearer appeared in the smoke-filled ring.
In an appearance on his Six Feet Under podcast, Undertaker (Mark Calaway) revealed that Vince McMahon had specifically prohibited him from saying “retirement” during the farewell.
“In November… Vince and I butt heads. My retirement. He wouldn’t let me say ‘retirement.’
‘It’s time for the Undertaker to rest in peace,’ in full character… I honestly don’t think he was completely convinced at that point that I was done.”
On social platform discussions, Undertaker shared why the empty arena actually served his character better:
“I didn’t want to cry…I would’ve been a wreck if there had been people there. All that kayfabe and protecting the character would’ve been destroyed in one promo.”
-via SEScoops
Also, Vince reportedly preferred a pre-recorded segment due to COVID, but was overruled for live presentation. Performing in front of an audience might have broken not just him—but the illusion of the Phenom.
This reluctance was likely rooted in the uncertainty: even then, nobody—including Vince—was entirely sure Undertaker’s career was truly over.
1. Survivor Series 1998 Featured No Traditional Elimination Matches
At the 1998 Survior Series it was the first time the event broke from the traditional team based elimination formate.
The event broke from tradition for the Deadly Game tournament, crowning The Rock as corporate champion. There reason being to address the vacant WWF Championship at the time.
The company decided to determine the new champion via a one-night, 14-man bracket tournament. That central narrative focus inherently excluded team-based elimination matches. Had the title not been left vacant, would the traditional team based eliminations format take place?
Source: WWF Magazine (Dec 1998)
