WWE Survivor Series 2013: Worst Traditional Elimination Matches in PPV History

Alas, entertainment isn’t always guaranteed at WWE’s annual Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Indeed, the poor, unsuspecting fans have been subjected to some truly wretched elimination matches over the years.

The first bout that springs to mind is the 1993 debacle that was The Four Doinks vs. Team Bam Bam Bigelow.

Yes, this bout was every bit as terrible as it sounds, with The Bushwackers and Men on a Mission dressing up as Doink the Clown to take on Bigelow, The Headshrinkers and Bastion Booger.  

(Yes, four Doinks wrestled that night, and the real Doink—Matt Bourne—wasn’t involved in any capacity whatsoever.)

Oh, and as if things weren’t wacky enough, crazy managers Oscar, Luna Vachon and Afa were all ringside, too.

This bout didn’t even go into so-bad-it’s-good territory—it was so bad it was, well, bad.  

Case in point: One of the Headshrinkers actually got pinned after literally slipping on a banana peel!  This has to be seen to be believed.

And people thought Vince Russo’s booking was nonsensical and awful. 

What Vince McMahon and his writing crew were thinking when they scripted this mess, I have no idea. Maybe it was meant to be funny (note: it really wasn’t).

This bout even managed to snag the not-so-prestigious "Worst Worked Match of The Year" in that year’s Wrestling Observer Awards. It was a very deserving winner.

Oh, and to make matters worse, there were more Doink-related antics the following year when The Royal Family (Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy) took on Clowns ‘R’ Us (Doink the Clown, Dink, Wink and Pink) in a total disaster.  

Unsurprisingly, this also picked up 1995’s “Worst Worked Match of the Year” trophy in the Wrestling Observer Awards.

There have been other dreadful elimination bouts, too. Anyone remember The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana and The Bushwackers) vs. The Mercenaries (Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, Sato and Tanaka) at Survivor Series 1990? No? Well, that’s probably for the best, because that was a mess.  

Not that these abysmal elimination matches are a thing of the distant past, either.

In 1999, the British Bulldog teamed with the Mean Street Posse to take on Val Venis, Gangrel, Mark Henry and Steve Blackman in a truly wretched bout that was an embarrassment to all involved.

(For all the talk about the greatness of the Attitude Era, there was some pretty awful wrestling throughout this period.)

Survivor Series, folks. You have to take to the bad with the good, sometimes. And, as history shows, the bad can be really bad.