20 Years Later, '96 WWE Survivor Series PPV Is Still Most Significant in History

There are pay-per-views over the course of WWE history that are more historically significant than others for a variety of reasons, but few were as important to the livelihood of every one of Vince McMahon's employees than the 1996 Survivor Series.

Emanating from Madison Square Garden in New York, the event was designed to pay off some of the most intense rivalries in Vince McMahon's wrestling empire. With a marquee bout pitting Shawn Michaels against former friend Sycho Sid, the show was fitting of the fall classic that had become a staple of the pay-per-view schedule for nine years.

Few could have fathomed the historical significance of the event, both to the company itself and the industry as a whole.

An Attitude Adjustment

Much like the In Your House: Mind Games and Buried Alive events that preceded it, Survivor Series was a spectacular event that ushered in a darker tone for WWE programming. WWE dimmed the lighting and ramped up the attitude, and as a result, the fans were more rabid and unwilling to accept the norm.

Fans booed Michaels, the beloved and pretty-boy babyface champion, in favor of the unpredictable and edgier alternative in Sid. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin received one of the bigger pops of the night as he battled the established Bret Hart.

The greatest arena in professional wrestling, home to iconic bouts that featured Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund, was now the house of a rebellious crew of WWE Superstars who openly bucked tradition and fans who no longer accepted the tired tropes McMahon and Company had been shilling for a decade.

It was a major turning point from that perspective.

On that night in New York City, fans and wrestlers alike got a look at the direction the industry was heading and seemingly embraced it, even if the boss man himself was still months away from realizing the revolution that was underway.

Birth of The Great One

Rocky Maivia made his WWE debut at the event, a young, fresh-faced third-generation star looking to replicate the success of his father and grandfather. He had been heavily hyped, overly praised and was in desperate need of a performance that would repay the faith his employer had in him.

Though his performance between the ropes was fairly generic, he executed maneuvers with an energy that captivated the audience. Though he may have been an undefined babyface, the same type of smiling good guy who has been rejected by audiences in recent years, Maivia did just enough to endear himself to the audience and his peers.

Though the response would turn hostile in the weeks that followed, his promise between the ropes and his pure charisma would ultimately guide him to stardom as The Rock, wrestling's most electrifying performer.

Without that performance, the wrestling industry would not only have been robbed of one of its most enduring stars, but WWE would have been down a star who proved absolutely integral to its battle with WCW on Monday nights.

Evolution of a Rattlesnake

The most hotly anticipated match of the night was the showdown between Austin and Hart, a contest months in the making.

Hart was the respected veteran, an all-time great whose resume spoke for itself. He was a virtuoso wrestler, one of the finest technicians the industry had ever seen. He was also the prototypical hero, an honorable man in an indecent time.

Austin was the exact opposite, a brash and nasty competitor whose "no B.S." outlook and rattlesnake-like demeanor had endeared him to a rebellious audience desperate to cheer a competitor who reflected their views on authority and society.

As easily as his character caught on, he was still in need of that one defining match, a five-star classic that announced to the world he was capable of being "the guy" for the most recognizable promotion in the business.

He delivered one such performance, wowing fans with his ability to hang with the most skilled worker in the business. Together, him and Hart wrestled a beautiful, scientific bout that ended with Austin pulling the Million Dollar Dream out of his arsenal, only to have Hart reverse it into a pinfall.

After a monumental moment five months earlier where he introduced the wrestling world to "Austin 3:16," Stone Cold proved he could deliver a classic in crunch time.

Fallout and Historical Significance

Austin and Maivia became the biggest stars in the history of the industry, legitimate household names whose work beyond the wrestling ring is as recognizable as their work in it. Though it would be another year-and-a-half before they were anointed the faces of the organization, the seeds were planted at Survivor Series 1996.

Without their contributions to that show, WWE as fans know it may not exist.

World Championship Wrestling was dealing out a weekly ass-kicking in the ratings war and had McMahon's promotion on the brink of destruction. Those two Superstars would ride two very different waves to the top of the industry, helping WWE soldier past the competition before rightfully taking their place in the pantheon of great sports entertainers.

Michaels' loss to Sid at the show also gave McMahon the first hint that the edginess that had invaded the industry by way of Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling would intrude the peaceful little world of family-friendly wrestling he had created for himself.

The manner in which fans turned their backs on Michaels—booing the admirable, good-looking hero and cheering a vicious, vile psychopath in Sid—provided those in power with evidence of the changing landscape, one that McMahon and writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara ultimately recognized and capitalized on.

For that reason, for the arrival of two Attitude Era staples, Survivor Series 1996 remains one of the most historically significant shows in the storied history of WWE and one of the company's finest achievements.