[1996-11-17-WWF-Survivor Series] Shawn Michaels vs Sid

[Loss]

[Loss]

This is honestly a little sad. For any faults you want to throw at him, Shawn did work really hard in 1996, and this match has a crowd that hates him to a point where it's throwing him off for most of the match. This is a guy who seemed destined for big things earlier in the year whose stock had fallen pretty far by this point. I'm not sure what caused that except for maybe him being overpushed as champion, to a point where it was a turn-off. But Sid gets an epic crowd reaction here. I get the irony of liking Sid, but this match is pretty bad because Sid can't do anything at all.

[flyonthewall2983]

I would definitely say that it was because of the lovefest for Shawn Vince turned WWF into at this time. And it is sad, because Shawn did hold up his end of the bargain by having some of the best matches of his career that year. Back then, I thought he would have been champion for a bit longer so it was a legit surprise to me to see Sid win the belt.

[Strummer]

the girl in the front row who puts her head in her hands in disgust as Shawn is pinned is the demon girl of 96. Great great reaction

[Dooley]

I remember watching this as a 16 year old with my friends and we were all going nuts for Sid and loving it that the MSG crowd saw things our way. We'd all had more than enough of the "boy toy" at that point and it was hard not to root for a guy with the look, attitude and charisma of Sid.

[Tim Evans]

It's kinda funny that HBK got the reaction Cena gets now in places like Chicago/NYC. The difference is Cena can take it in stride while HBK looks like he was going to cry. And that finish was just awful. Why did Sid take so long hitting Jose with the Camera?

[flyonthewall2983]

Jim Ross is really weird on commentary here, hinting that Jose may have had a heart attack and pimping the UK dates as the show comes to a close. I love that Sid just straight up hugs Vladimir as he walks out.

[Zenjo]

They were both acting like faces. It can't be a huge surprise that the Alpha Male went down a hell of a lot better than the Pretty Boy. It was actually a quite reasonable match before the HSF. Now that's a rating killer. This night was the undoubted highlight of Sid's career. The mutant farmboy does make me mark out sometimes.

[TravJ1979]

I actually liked this match as I feel it is the best way Sid's matches can be digested. Destroy and occasionally sell for some hope spots.

[JaymeFuture]

One of Sid's very best (not saying much, I know), Shawn was working so damn hard here.

 

I was furious with the outcome at the time. I was at one those post Survivor Series UK shows in Birmingham, was looking so forward to seeing Shawn Michaels live for weeks, and the main event was Sid Vs. Faarooq. For 90 seconds.

 

At least we got Bret Vs. Mankind.

[PeteF3]

We've now about hit the point where American wrestling audiences have turned heel.

 

Still probably the best Sid match ever, as this is all in all pretty good, as Shawn essentially wrestles a brick wall and Sid doesn't really fuck anything up. That said, IT'S BIZARRO WORLD MAGGLE! this crowd simply won't buy what HBK is selling, and if you lived through his uberpush in '96 you'd understand why, no matter how many times he brought it on PPV. I'm not even a Shawn fan at all, but he really did bust his ass in '96 to put on a bunch of memorable main events, and he busts his ass here--but he simply comes off as damaged goods and you do kind of have to shake your head at it. This was a smarky crowd by 1996 standards, and it's really difficult to imagine something like a smarky modern-day audience turning on a Dolph Ziggler in favor of Ryback or something.

 

I'll point out something really minor that I really liked: Sid accidentally brushing the cameraman mid-way through the match. I thought that was a rare WWF production gaffe but once Sid decked the cameraman a second time at the finish, I realized that it was a very subtle planned spot.

[skipps04]

Wow, i guess im in the minority, but i thought this was a pretty god matc, maybe one of Sid's best matches. I feel like Sid came back motivated for this late 96 run and was actually decent. MSG turned on Shawn because he turned into that white meat baby face that was really not cool at the time. Plus he had Jose Lothario with him who he had no chemistry with, it just held him back and made him even more unbearable to me. Overall though I think this is one of Sid's best performances and Michaels takes a great shit kicking

[El-P]

Wow, i guess im in the minority, but i thought this was a pretty god matc, maybe one of Sid's best matches.

 

Agreed. To me it's Sid's hour of glory. He never look more like an actual star than on this night. I love the asshole NYC crowd too here.

[skipps04]

Absolutely loved the crowd here, and Sid doing the fist bumps. This was definitely his career high I think it terms of putting it all together

[zep81]

 

FFS, Earl. Although Sid took his sweet time.

[Exposer]

I really liked this match. My biggest complaint is they copied the slugfest spots from Austin-Bret which is a no no in my book (even though the spots themselves got good reactions). Watch the matches before yours fellas. I liked Sid countering all of Shawn's stuff & him embracing the cheers is a treat to watch. Shawn doing a nip up only get clotheslined to smithereens is amazing. They kept with the story of Sid saying he'd do anything to win the title & he does by attacking Lothario which takes Shawn out of the match. This allows Sid to take the advantage & win the title to a massive pop. I don't really feel bad for Shawn because he's a scumbag but he does work his ass off. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels vs SID - WWF Survivor Series 1996

 

I think I am the biggest fan of this match in history. As I have always absolutely loved this match. SID looked fantastic throughout this. He was a force of nature. There is nothing self-aware about him. He is raw. Organic. Unadulterated. He is the Master & Ruler of the World. HE IS SID!

 

The MSG crowd turning on HBK and going all in on Sid is so glorious and I say this as a pretty huge Shawn Michaels fan because it is still so strange for a bunch of smart marks to turn on Shawn in favor of Sid. That would be sacrilege now. As much as I was praising Sid, Shawn killed it in this match and really made this something special. I loved the symmetry of the headlock-headscissors-nip ups. Shawn's trying to go toe-to-toe with Sid is totally in line with his heart is bigger than his stomach attitude. He ends up getting pummeled and almost taking a powerbomb so this freaks him out, rightfully so. So he goes after the leg. Smart strategy of course this only leads to the Sid fans becoming more vocal as you essentially have a SID FIP segment. Shawn hits the buckles hard and Sid is just relentless kicking his bad arm. Shawn dropkicks the bad leg, awesome. Sid smokes him on the skin the cat and then snake eyes on the railing. Sid DESTROYS Shawn in the FIP segment. Glorious. Shawn works his ass off to make Sid look like a million bucks. This night and day from the Vader match as Shawn is working so much harder for Sid.

 

I think if Shawn never threw that shitty left jab and only threw his right that he would not nearly get half the hate. I really thought the hope spots were down well. The bodyslam out of nowhere was great, but the cutoffs were great too. Like the crossbody into the backbreaker. Or SID DECAPITATING HIM with a clothesline after the flying burrito. Eyepoke from a desperate Michaels->Sweet Chin Music->Blocked->CHOKE-FUCKING-SLAM!!! GOD BLESS SID!!!!

 

The finish sucks out loud. It is really too bad because the match was totally bitchin before. If you pay attention you will see before that when Sid is in the corner, he takes a swipe at the cameraman for being in his way. It happens again and he blasts the cameraman, takes the camera and hits Jose Lothario. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! But Lothario is having a "heart attack". Cripes sake. Eye-roll. Sid smashes the camera into Michaels while he is checking on Lothario. SID POWERBOMBS HIM TO HELL AND WINS THE TITLE TO A MASSIVE POP!

 

Shitty finish aside does not stop this unabashed Sid mark from celebrating this awesome moment in Sid history. Seriously, awesome match up until the shit finish. Great opening segment establishing Sid as the Man and Shawn needs to go for the leg, but eventually Michaels gets caught and SID unleashes. Hope spots and cutoffs were great. Just a great David vs Goliath match with great build and both men oozing charisma. ****1/4

[soup23]

This was a great match and the only time SID reached his true potential. A lot of that can be attributed to Shawn who does work here to put him over huge even though he was getting boo'd out of the building. For a selfish worker at times, this is one of his most selfless performances. I thought they did good in the time of this match in making it feel like a main even match that was stretched out but not too long. Sid using the camera was a good enough way to give Shawn an out for trying to check on Jose and the powerbomb pop at the end is one of my favorite match ending pops in wrestling history. For one night, SID reigned supreme and was the ruler of the world. ****

[tim]

I thought this was a very good, close to great match. Like Austin/Bret it has a big match feel and the crowd being all about Sid gives it a really cool atmosphere. This was laid out exceptionally well and Shawn was really on. When the match gave Sid more leeway to spend some time working over Shawn he was none too impressive, but the match was pretty meticulously laid out to keep things moving along and it never got bogged down. The ending was sort of lame as the Jose Lothario stuff took away from the flow of the match when it was really starting to get hot, but the crowd still popped huge for Sid's win. Cool moment. The two big matches on this show really felt significant.

[flyonthewall2983]

Sid could have bashed Joe Torre with that camera and the crowd still would have cheered him on. 

[Alex]

LOL, total north eastern crowd.  Sid is just so bad, his movements are so slow and so awkward, it's pretty amazing that Shawn was able to get this kind of match of Sid and most likely Sid's best singles match.