WWE Survivor Series 2025 Discussion

[wandshogun09]

4 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

This thread has made me realize that I have never seen the full Bret vs Austin 96 match since I also taped it off Sky with the ad breaks. 

It was years until I saw the full unedited version as well. I remember buying the VHS tape off Silvervision in about 99 just for that match. 

[Lenin]

12 minutes ago, mim731 said:

Now now, I'm sure he could understand the rules to some degree. He must have got his cycling proficiency so you'd imagine he's not completely useless

Popped for "cycling proficiency" - a true blast from the past.

[Chili]

All this talk of Survivors '96 and look at what the Vault just threw out. Yes, please and thank you.

 

 

[wandshogun09]

Uploaded one hour ago. They definitely read this forum. 

[DavidB6937]

I miss old school MSG. I would've loved to go to a show there.

Also - Bret. Absolute master. He did so much for Austin early on. Absolute pro.

[The Gaffer]

Can't wait to watch this again for the millionth time tonight. 

My favourite no gimmicks, straight up grudge match ever. 

[wandshogun09]

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

Also - Bret. Absolute master. He did so much for Austin early on. Absolute pro.

Absolutely legitimised him as a top guy. The narrative that Austin skyrocketed after the ‘Austin 3:16’ promo at KOTR 96 is one they like to push but he was still messing around with Mero and Savio after that and his match with Yokozuna at SummerSlam was a three minute throwaway or something on the Free For All. Bret coming back and them feuding was what really kickstarted Austin’s rise. 

[WyattSheepMask]

2 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I miss old school MSG. I would've loved to go to a show there.

Also - Bret. Absolute master. He did so much for Austin early on. Absolute pro.

I had a bit of a moment when I went to MSG earlier this year.

I was stood right underneath the scoreboard/screen block (or whatever it’s called) in the centre, and even though the place has been renovated I just got to thinking of the history that building holds, and not just for pro wrestling.

As Bret said in his promo, “it’s not a Church, but it is holy ground”

Edited November 14, 2025 by WyattSheepMask

[The Dart]

8 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I miss old school MSG. I would've loved to go to a show there.

I went to a couple of shows there - during one of WWE's poorest critical eras and long after MSG had been renovated, but it was still a magical experience.

Edited November 14, 2025 by The Dart

[Supremo]

Never truly recovered from the orange trim in Bret’s Survivor Series 96 gear. Looks so weird. Did he ever wear it again? Did he get an angry fax from Tazz telling him he’d knock his block off?

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

6 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said:

I had a bit of a moment when I went to MSG earlier this year.

I was stood right underneath the scoreboard/screen block (or whatever it’s called) in the centre, and even though the place has been renovated I just got to thinking of the history that building holds, and not just for pro wrestling.

As Bret said in his promo, “it’s not a Church, but it is holy ground”

Same way I felt when I did the tour in 2007, the tour guide was giving us all this information about it and all I could think of was all the wrestling history, was even boring my dad with going on about which side was for which shows

[mim731]

11 hours ago, Supremo said:

Never truly recovered from the orange trim in Bret’s Survivor Series 96 gear. Looks so weird. Did he ever wear it again? Did he get an angry fax from Tazz telling him he’d knock his block off?

I dont *think* he ever wore it again, but I imagine @IANdrewDiceClay will be the best person to answer that question with true certainty. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I don’t think he did. Ian will know. It just looked wrong to me. The ‘pink, black and orange attack’ just doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same, does it?

I just watched that Bret vs Austin match again. An absolute classic for me. Crazy that a match that great isn’t even their best against each other. I honestly think it’s not far behind the WrestleMania 13 epic though.

Here’s another bit of that match which Sky Sports took away from us.

What a bastard. Also forgot about Vince saying on commentary near the start “How ironic would it be if Stone Cold Steve Austin placed the Sharpshooter on Bret Hart and won by submission? Anything can happen.” Which is an odd bit of foreshadowing for the following year’s Survivor Series shenanigans.

Beautiful match. And as much as we say Bret elevated Austin and gave him that ‘top guy’ credibility, which he did, this was also really the first time Austin had been put in a position to really prove he was at that level on a big stage since he’d came into the WWF almost a year earlier. Had some quality dark matches with Shawn early on but he’d been mostly doing midcard stuff with the Savios and Meros of the world on TV and PPV throughout 96. This was the first real opportunity he was given to shine and he knocked it out of the park. As much as Bret elevated Austin, I think Austin was also the perfect first opponent back for Bret after his hiatus. They were the perfect match for each other at the perfect time and the chemistry was off the charts.

Christ, this is the 2025 Survivor Series thread and we’ve completely hijacked it with Bret vs Austin from 96. 

Edited November 15, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Chico Torres]

That match and then later on the greatest entrance of all time, no one has ever had this much aura coming out of that classic claustrophobic MSG entrance

 

[The Gaffer]

15 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

no one has ever had this much aura coming out of that classic claustrophobic MSG entrance