WWE Survivor Series is the second-oldest premium live event behind WrestleMania, with the inaugural edition taking place in 1987. However, there were no singles matches on the card until 1991, and that was for the prestigious WWE Championship.
The traditional Survivor Series elimination match is the event’s unique selling point, but the WWE Championship is the industry’s biggest prize. Survivor Series in the 1990s featured memorable moments, with traditional elimination matches dominating the event.
Eight WWE Championship matches featured at Survivor Series in the 1990s, and it wasn’t a happy hunting ground for defending champions. Only one reigning WWE Champion managed to walk in and walk out with the WWE Championship.
The WWE Championship changed hands six times in a row from 1994 to 1999. For sure, there were some controversial moments in these WWE Championship matches at Survivor Series in the ’90s. Some lived up to the billing, whereas some were duds and boring affairs not worthy of being WWE Championship bouts at Survivor Series.
8 – Hulk Hogan Vs. The Undertaker – Survivor Series 1991
The 1991 iteration of Survivor Series was historic for two things: it was the first Survivor Series to feature a singles match, and it was the first time that the WWE Championship was defended at the event. Hulk Hogan entered as the reigning WWE Champion, and his WWE Championship was on the line against The Undertaker. The Deadman was aiming to mark his first year in WWE with a WWE Championship reign to boot.
The match was dubbed as “The Gravest Challenge,” and there was nothing special about the bout. The match was slow and methodical. Undertaker nailed Hogan with the Tombstone Piledriver, but the Hulkster no-sold it by getting up instantly. Unsurprisingly, there were several instances of outside interference from Undertaker’s manager, Paul Bearer, and Ric Flair.
The Nature Boy placed a steel chair in the ring, and Undertaker planted Hogan with his patented Tombstone Piledriver onto the chair, becoming the WWE Champion for the first time, and becoming the youngest WWE Champion at 26, a record he’d hold for close to two years.
