The Heenan Family consists of Arn Anderson, The
Colossal Connection and Bobby Heenan
The Ultimate Warriors: Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart
and The Rockers
Ultimate Warrior had been feuding with Bobby “The
Brain” Heenan at this time, with Heenan using Rick Rude and others
as proxies. The Rockers were feuding with The Brainbusters, but Tully
Blanchard failed a drug test coming into the show, so was replaced by
Heenan. Before the match, The Ultimate Warriors have an interview with
Mean Gene, Jim Neidhart considerately says he doesn't want to ruin
his opponents' Thanksgiving. The Rockers each throw in rocking
references before Ultimate Warrior cuts his usual promo. Claiming his
team has organ donor cards and he bonded them in Parts Unknown.
Well, they can't all be “Hard Times”
The Heenan Family are in the ring before the bell,
Andre the Giant is the sole captain. Gorilla Monsoon asks why Heenan
is in wrestling gear, Jesse Ventura comments that there's dissention
in the ranks of his clients. Neidhart and The Rockers enter, starting
without their captain. Neidhart goes after Heenan in the corner, with
The Rockers knocking Anderson to the floor with a double dropkick,
Neidhart and Andre are left alone in the ring, with Andre choking
Neidhart in the corner as Warrior sprints to the ring.
The
Heenan Family VS. The Ultimate Warriors
WWF
Survivor Series 1989 (23rd November 1989)
The bell rings as
Warrior slides in the ring, attacking Andre the Giant from behind. Andre sends
Neidhart through the ropes with a chop, so The Captains start us off.
The Ultimate Warrior hits Andre with a clothesline, the second
clothesline stumbles Andre back and he's sent through the ropes on
the third. Warrior celebrates on the middle rope as The Heenan Family
try to get Andre to his feet. Andre the Giant is counted out, and
poor Shane McMahon has to be the one to tell him. Warrior brings Haku
and Anderson in the ring the hard way, sending Arn Anderson into the
face corner. Right hands by everyone on the apron, Warrior big boots
Anderson down and tags in The Anvil. Anderson is sent off the ropes
into a back elbow, Neidhart sends him corner to corner and hits a
running shoulder tackle, Anderson slumps in the corner as Ultimate
Warrior shows his brand of excited coaching from every inch of the
apron. Arn Anderson fights back and is able to make the tag to Haku.
They shift focus to Andre getting up at
ringside, Warrior's team attack him as he leaves.
As we go back to
the ring, Neidhart jumps over a prone Haku and hits Arn on the apron,
Jim Neidhart takes a breather but Haku is right behind him with a
clubbing blow. They exchange strikes but Haku is able to tag in
Anderson. Haku holds Neidhart in place for a shot by Anderson, who
sends Neidhart into the turnbuckle. Anderson unloads the body shots,
drawing the referee's attention away from his corner. Heenan chokes
Neidhart with the tag rope. Haku gets the tag, continuing the attack
in the corner as the referee cuts Warrior off from helping his
partner. Neidhart is sent off the ropes, he goes over a prone Haku
and cuts off Anderson's attempt at interference. Haku kicks
Neidhart in the back of the head but we miss it, Neidhart is
eliminated. Evening the match up, and bringing in Shawn Michaels who jabs at Haku. Haku rakes the
eyes, he grabs a headlock but gets sent off the ropes and Michaels is
dropped with a shoulder block as Warrior paces the apron.
Haku runs over a
prone Michaels, Michaels leapfrogs then drops for a monkey flip, but
Haku tries to counter with a falling headbutt. Shawn Michaels moves
out of the way before tagging in his regular partner. Marty Jannetty
wrings at Haku's arm and tags Michaels back in. They begin to work on
Haku's shoulder with arm ringers and elbow drops, quickly tagging in
and out. They double-team Haku, but he ducks a double clothesline and
tries to knock them both down, only hitting Michaels. Haku catches
Jannetty's jumping crossbody, but Michaels dropkicks his partner,
giving him a nearfall. Jannetty goes straight back to the arm but
Haku gets to his feet, raking the eyes and tagging Anderson back in.
Jannetty jabs at Anderson, who quickly goes for a headlock. Jannetty
sends him off the ropes but ducks too early. Arn Anderson collides
into him with a clubbing blow. Marty Jannetty is able to block a
suplex but Anderson maneuvers it over to Heenan's corner, so Haku
can get the blind tag.
A double suplex
attempt is countered by Michaels who lifts Jannetty over to safety.
The Rockers hit stereo dropkicks on Anderson and Haku, leaving Haku
and Jannetty as the legal men in the ring. Marty Jannetty sends Haku
off the ropes into a jumping back elbow and covers, but Haku powers
out. The Ultimate Warrior tags in, which really wakes the crowd up. He chops repeatedly at
Haku's chest which wakes his opponent up, raking Warrior's eyes and
going on the attack. Ultimate Warrior reverses an irish whip and backdrops Haku, but misses the running elbow drop. Bobby Heenan tells
Haku to tag Anderson back in, Haku does so, keeping Warrior in place
with a front face lock. Ultimate Warrior targets Anderson's arm,
sending him to the mat with arm wrenches and tagging Jannetty in.
Anderson brings Jannetty down by his hair but Jannetty kips back up.
Arn Anderson is able to use his size advantage to bring Jannetty to
his corner and let Haku back in the match. Marty Jannetty quickly
rolls out of the corner.
Marty Jannetty and Haku lock up, Jannetty works a
headlock as the fans chant “weasel” at Heenan, who hasn't been in
the match yet. After a long headlock Haku backs Jannetty into the
corner to break it. Jannetty releases the headlock but Haku attacks
him in the corner. Marty Jannetty counters an irish whip, but charges
into the turnbuckles. Bobby Heenan gets the tag, getting in cheap
shots. Jannetty gets in one shot from the apron and he tags Anderson
straight back in. Arn Anderson holds Jannetty as Haku chops at his
chest. Haku's somehow the legal man as he sends Jannetty into the
ropes. Anderson drives his knee into Jannetty from the apron, Haku
kicks him and covers him for 2. Bobby Heenan tags in for the second
time, stomping Jannetty and hitting a knee drop for the elimination.
That's right, Brain eliminated Marty Jannetty. This brings in
Ultimate Warrior so Heenan tags out to Arn Anderson. He tries to tell
Warrior to calm down before they lock up/
Anderson takes Warrior against the ropes, short
shoulder barges and shots to the gut set Warrior up for an irish whip
but he reversed it. Ultimate Warrior ducks down, then catches Anderon
in a bearhug. He rakes Warrior's eyes to escape and tags in Haku.
Haku charges into a bearhug himself but doesn't give up, Warrior
drops him with an inverted atomic drop. Tagging Michaels in, who
covers Haku for 2. Haku is sent off the ropes into a dropkick,
Michaels covers and gets another 2 count. Monsoon still thinks it's 2
vs. 2, discounting Heenan from the match even though he got the
elimination in the record books. Haku rakes Michaels in the eyes and
dumps him to the floor. Ultimate Warrior brings Michaels away from
Heenan's corner but sends him back into the ring. Haku meets him with
a right hand. Haku tags in Anderson as Heenan assists in the corner,
bringing in Warrior. Arn Anderson sends Michaels into the corner but
he climbs the turnbuckles, flipping over Anderson!
Arn Anderson runs into a drop toehold, Michaels rubs
his face in the mat and brings him over to Warrior, who gets in a
cheap shot before tagging in. They both send Arn Anderson off the
ropes into double-team right hands. Anderson begs off but Warrior
sends him from corner to corner, tagging Michaels back in. He slams
Anderson and throws Michaels onto him for a nearfall. Anderson cuts
off the attack with a knee to the gut, tagging Haku and holding
Michaels in place for a chop. Haku sends Michaels into the corner.
Shawn Michaels reverses an irish whip but Haku jumps onto the middle
rope, Shawn Michaels is able to duck the crossbody, Warrior assists
Michaels with a crossbody from the top rope and that eliminates Haku.
This leaves Arn Anderson and Bobby Heenan against Ultimate Warrior
(who's the current Intercontinental Champion) and Shawn Michaels,
which is a strange mix 30 years later.
Anderson is in,
sending Michaels into Heenan's knee in the corner before tagging The
Brain in. Bobby gets some cheaps shots on Michaels, but Warrior tries
to get his hands on Heenan. The referee brings Warrior back to his
corner before he can really get to Bobby as Anderson sends Michaels
through the ropes. Heenan teases jumping on to Michaels from the top
rope and it looks like Anderson got the tag at some point. Michaels
gets a sunset flip from the apron but Anderson kicks out at 2. Arn
Anderson has stern words for Heenan, tagging him back in for some
cheap shots. As soon as Heenan is touched he tags Anderson back in,
Michaels cuts Anderson off on his way into the ring. Shawn Michaels
gets a headlock and is sent off the ropes. They knock heads for a
double-down and get to their feet, exchanging rights. Shawn Michaels
gets a string of jabs together but Anderson knees him in the gut.
Anderson takes Michaels to a neutral corner, working him over.
Shawn Michaels is sent from corner to corner but leaps
over Anderson and softens him with a right hand. He sends Anderson
into the opposite corner but Anderson blocks a monkey flip, carrying
Michaels to the center of the ring. Shawn Michaels counters the
inverted atomic drop but runs into a Spinebuster, leaving The
Ultimate Warrior alone. The Ultimate Warrior knocks Anderson down
with running shoulder tackles but gets sent out to the floor. Bobby
Heenan teases attacking Warrior from the top rope as Earl Hebner
starts counting and commentary question the decision. Arn Anderson
sends Warrior back into the ring and tags in Heenan, who's back in
the apron. Heenan gets in some right hands but as it begins to Power
Warrior up he tags Anderson back in. Anderson brings Warrior to his
feet and is grabbed by the throat. Ventura calls that a
disqualification based on it happening to Zeus earlier in the night.
Anderson gets out of it with a shot to the
leg/midsection.definitelymaybe not groin area.
Arn Anderson sends Warrior into the turnbuckle,
calling Heenan over for the tag. Heenan pulls Warrior's hair from the
corner, but Warrior turns around to choke him. Anderson kicks Warrior
in the knee but Warrior reverses an irish whip sending him into
Heenan on the apron. Ultimate Warrior hits the Gorilla Press Slam on
Anderson, followed by the running splash, leaving himself and The
Brain in the match. Bobby Heenan reluctantly gets in the ring,
Warrior sneaks around ringside, getting back in behind The Brain.
Bobby Heenan shouts for Anderson to get back to the ring, then
realises he's alone with The Ultimate Warrior. Bobby Heenan is sent
into the corner, hitting it upside down. Warrior sends Heenan's head
into the top turnbuckle then sends him across the ring with enough
force to send him over the top rope to the floor. Bobby Heenan tries
to walk out of the match but is brought back to the ring by Warrior.
The Ultimate Warrior hits the flying shoulder tackle and the Big
Splash for the win.
WINNERS: THE
ULTIMATE WARRIORS (The
Ultimate Warrior Sole Survivor)
The formula made sense, Heenan only getting in cheap
shots and that beginning to cumulatively wear his team down, in the
end costing him as Anderson wasn't getting enough rest. Besides the
“suspend disbelief moment when Warrior could clearly get his hands
on Heenan but it was too soon, I really enjoyed the match. The
Rockers got time to shine as a tag team early and you could tell the
Heenan Family was slightly on edge with the last minute change and
instant advantage trying to isolate the smaller members of Warrior's
team/– As a match it's *** stars, but personally, I'd rate it 6.5/10
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