Survivor Series 1996

Commentary Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross – Once again, it seemed as though Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler got on better together and did not really like Jim Ross as part of the commentary team
The show kicks off with a Traditional Survivor Series team match, which consists of 4 tag teams. Tag team champions British Bulldog & Owen Hart, managed by Clarence Mason, join the team of the New Rockers, Marty Janetty & Leif Cassidy. They square off against The Godwinns, Henry & Phineas managed by Hillbilly Jim siding with the new tag team of Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon in their WWE debut. Once the New Rockers and Godwinns are defeated, it is the British Bulldog & Owen Hart against Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon. Shockingly the British Bulldog is eliminated, and Owen Hart falls next, leaving Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon with the victory.
The next match is between the Undertaker against Mankind, managed by Paul Bearer. Paul Bearer is locked inside a shark cage and hanging above the ring. The Undertaker enters from the roof of the arena with a new outfit. This has batwings for the Undertaker’s entrance, along with a leather vest and trousers. The Undertaker also has his hair tied back and new Gothic makeup with a tear under his right eye. This is the debut of Undertaker’s Lord of Darkness gimmick where he has a more casual persona than before which enabled him to be quicker and aggressive in his new style. Undertaker follows the same strategy as Shawn Michaels where he attacks the hand of Mankind so he cannot use the mandible claw. Undertaker takes the victory with a tombstone, and along with his win, he has the opportunity to get his hands on Paul Bearer. However, as Paul Bearer is lowered in the cage, The Executioner arrives once again to make the save and allow Paul Bearer to escape.
For the next match, Sunny appears with her first new entrance theme to sit down on commentary replacing Jerry Lawler who is in the next match. Jerry Lawler joins Intercontinental champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Goldust, managed by Marlena and Crush who recently returned the WWF with his new gang look. They take on the team of Marc Mero, managed by Sable, The Stalker Barry Windham, and Rocky Maivia – in his WWF debut. Once in the ring, Marc Mero announces he has a fourth partner, and Jake the Snake Roberts enters to join them. Crush at the time is managed by Clarence Mason, but he does not appear in this match, although he was there with his tag team champions British Bulldog and Owen Hart and later with Faarooq in their match. Another noticeable point is that all the three women who began during the attitude era, Sunny, Marlena and Sable are present in this match. Rocky Maivia is also acknowledged as Dwayne Johnson by Vince McMahon who explains he chose the name Rocky Maivia as a tribute to his father Peter Maivia and grandfather Rocky Johnson. It is also good to see Rocky Maivia face Hunter Hearst Helmsley at this point in their career before they became the top three superstars along with Steve Austin. Jerry Lawler and The Stalker are the first to be eliminated. Despite being isolated for a while, Marc Mero managed to eliminate Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Crush then eliminates Marc Mero and Jake Roberts, before Rocky Maivia eliminates Crush and Goldust, thus being the sole survivor of the match.
The next match is the long-awaited matchup between Stone cold Steve Austin against the returning Bret Hit Man Hart. Whilst Bret was away from the WWF, Steve Austin was insulting Bret Hart. Even though this is not a classic like their Wrestlemania 13 match, ironically, Jim Ross does mention that none of these two will ever submit, hence, this may have sparked the idea of their submission match at Wrestlemania 13. Also ironically mentioned from the commentary by Vince McMahon is the idea of Bret submitting to his own sharpshooter, and this may have sparked off the idea of the Montreal Screwjob. Bret Hart takes the victory in this match against Steve Austin by pulling off the same finish as he did against Rowdy Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 8.
The next match is a traditional Survivor Series match with Faarooq in his new gimmick as the Nation of Domination, with Clarence Mason, along with his 2 entrance rappers and a couple of other officials to complete his entourage. Faarooq teams up with Fake Razor Ramon, Fake Diesel, and Vader, managed by Jim Cornette. They square off against the team of Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Jimmy Snuka, and Flash Funk in his WWE debut along with his dancing girl Funkettes (similar to the gimmick of Brodus Clay and his Funkalytes).
The main event is for the WWE championship as champion Shawn Michaels, managed by Jose Lothario takes on his ex-bodyguard, Psycho Sid. The match is a little back and forth. However, it is shocking to hear the loud crowd booing Shawn Michaels and cheering for Psycho Sid instead. At this PPV Shawn Michaels did seem at the peak of his physical fitness, as he easily bodyslams Sid. The same could possibly be said for Sid who performs a kip-up – Shawn Michaels style. Towards the end, Sid grabs the camera from the cameraman and attacks Jose Lothario with it. Shawn jumps outside the ring in concern and tries to grab medical attention for his manager, however, Sid brings him back into the ring. Subsequently, Shawn then knocks the referee out by accident and once again rolls out to go to Jose. Sid takes the opportunity to hit Shawn with the camera and roll him into the ring again. This time, as the referee begins to slowly recover, Sid hits his finishing move, the powerbomb and picks up the win.