Survivor Series 1987 Survivor Series 1987 was the first Survivor Series pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It took place on Thanksgiving Day , November 26 , 1987 and was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield , Ohio . The main event was a Survivor Series match where André the Giant ' s team defeated Hulk Hogan ' s team when André eliminated Hogan ' s last team member Bam Bam Bigelow to become the first sole survivor in the history of Survivor Series . The entire undercard featured Survivor Series matches which included Randy Savage ' s team defeating The Honky Tonk Man ' s team and The Fabulous Moolah ' s team defeating Sensational Sherri ' s team . The event also featured a 10 tag team elimination match in which Strike Force and their teammates defeated The Hart Foundation ' s team . Background . The main feud heading into Survivor Series included André the Giant , One Man Gang , King Kong Bundy , Butch Reed and Rick Rude against Hulk Hogan , Paul Orndorff , Don Muraco , Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow . In January 1987 , Hogan was awarded a trophy for his third year as WWF Champion while Hogan ' s best friend André was awarded a smaller trophy than Hogan ' s , for being undefeated in WWF for 15 years . Hogan congratulated his friend and said that André was the real champion of superstars all around the world . André surprisingly left the place before Hogan could even finish . In February , he came with a new manager Bobby Heenan . When Hogan came to know about that , he begged André not to keep Heenan as his manager because Heenan was Hogan ' s longtime enemy . André said that he had come to challenge Hogan for the WWF title at WrestleMania . He ripped off Hogan ' s Hulkamania shirt and golden chain , turning heel . This culminated in their historic match at WrestleMania III , where Hogan defeated André to retain the title . During the match , he set a record by scoop slamming the 520 - pound Frenchman . On August 22 , 1987 edition of Prime Time Wrestling , Paul Orndorff fired Bobby Heenan as his manager when he came to know that Heenan had brought in a new wrestler Rick Rude to replace Orndorff . Orndorff appointed Oliver Humperdink as his manager to feud with Rude . Billy Graham got involved in a feud with Butch Reed , culminating in a match between the duo . One Man Gang interfered in a match where he hit Graham with a big splash on the concrete floor . Don Muraco came to the rescue of Graham and Graham who was scheduled to participate in the main event of the first - ever Survivor Series retired due to an attack by One Man Gang . Muraco replaced him . Ken Patera got involved in a feud with Bobby Heenan and The Heenan Family and turned babyface , and was chosen to be the fourth member on Hogan ' s team . Many heel managers wanted to manage Bam Bam Bigelow , but Bigelow chose Oliver Humperdink as his manager thus making his WWF debut as a babyface . He also became a part of Hogan ' s team . Randy Savage had been a heel since his WWF debut in the summer of 1985 . He turned babyface in late 1987 , after WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man claimed to be the greatest Intercontinental Champion . This led to a feud between Savage and Honky , leading to Savage ' s face turn . On October 3 , 1987 edition of Saturday Night ' s Main Event , Savage challenged Honky for the title winning by disqualification . The title remained with Honky because a title cannot change hands by a DQ . Harley Race had won the 1986 King of the Ring tournament and was so proud about this that he called himself King Harley Race and wore a crown and cape to the ring . Jim Duggan did not agree with the fact and this placed Duggan and Race into a feud , with Duggan winning most of the matches . Jake Roberts also feuded with Honky Tonk Man after Honky hit a guitar on Roberts on an edition of Snake Pit , completing Roberts ' babyface turn . A match was booked for Survivor Series featuring Savage , Roberts , Ricky Steamboat , Brutus Beefcake and Duggan against Honky , Hercules , Danny Davis , Ron Bass and Race . The major ongoing tag team feud pitted the face Strike Force and the villainous Hart Foundation . Tito Santana and Rick Martel formed Strike Force in the summer of 1987 after Santana rescued Martel from a beating by The Islanders . Strike Force quickly became a top contender for the WWF Tag Team Championship , held by the Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) , and on October 28 , 1987 , Strike Force won the titles when Neidhart was trapped in Martel ' s Boston crab Event . The first match of the first - ever Survivor Series was the first - ever Survivor Series elimination match . Randy Savage , Jake Roberts , Ricky Steamboat , Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan faced WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man , Hercules , Danny Davis , Ron Bass and Harley Race . Savage ' s team was seconded by his wife Miss Elizabeth while Honky ' s team was seconded by Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart . Duggan and Race brawled to the outside where both men were counted out and both of them were eliminated , leaving 4 men on each team . Beefcake hit a knee lift on Bass , and went on to eliminate him as Savage ' s team had 4 men while Honky ' s team had 3 men . Team captain Honky himself joined the match and hit a Shake , Rattle and Roll on Beefcake and eliminated him . 3 men were on each sides . Roberts hit a DDT on Davis and only 2 men remained in Honky ' s team , Honky and Hercules while Savage ' s team was still having 3 men . Savage hit a Savage Elbow on Hercules and pinned him with Honky remaining the only member in his team . After he found out that he was the only team member , he left the ring and got counted - out , thus eliminating himself in the process ; however , this did not come before Savage , Roberts and Steamboat each took turns beating on Honky . Savage , Roberts and Steamboat became the survivors of the match . The next match was a women ' s match featuring the team of The Fabulous Moolah , Rockin ' Robin , Velvet McIntyre and The Jumping Bomb Angels ( Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno ) against WWF Women ' s Champion Sensational Sherri , WWF Women ' s Tag Team Champions The Glamour Girls ( Leilani Kai and Judy Martin ) , Donna Christanello and Dawn Marie . McIntyre did the first elimination by pinning Christanello with a victory roll . Robin hit a running crossbody on Marie and pinned her with the crossbody , leading to three wrestlers on Sherri ' s team while none of Moolah ' s team members had been eliminated . Team captain Sherri came into the match and hit Robin with a vertical suplex to eliminate her . Glamour Girls hit a double clothesline on Moolah and Judy Martin , one half of Glamour Girls pinned Moolah to eliminate her . McIntyre pinned Sherri with a victory roll pin , with Moolah ' s team having 3 members and Sherri ' s team having Glamour Girls , only 2 members . Leilani Kai joined the match and then pinned McIntyre after an electric chair drop . Yamazaki hit a diving crossbody from the top rope on Kai and pinned her to eliminate her . Tateno hit a flying clothesline on Martin and pinned her to win the match . Jumping Bomb Angels became the sole survivors for Moolah ' s team . The third match was a tag team variation of the Survivor Series match with 10 tag teams . If a person from a tag team was eliminated , their partner was also eliminated . The match featured WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force ( Tito Santana and Rick Martel ) , The Young Stallions ( Paul Roma and Jim Powers ) , The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jacques and Raymond ) , The Killer Bees ( Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair ) and British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid ) against The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) , The Islanders ( Haku and Tama ) , Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) , The Bolsheviks ( Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov ) and The New Dream Team ( Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo ) . Santana hit a flying forearm smash on Zhukov and pinned him to eliminate Bolsheviks for the first elimination of the match . Jacques hit a diving crossbody on Ax but missed the move and was pinned by Ax , eliminating Fabulous Rougeaus . Ax ' s partner Smash was disqualified , eliminating Demolition . Neidhart pinned Santana to eliminate Strike Force and Haku pinned Dynamite Kid to eliminate British Bulldogs . Next came Roma and Valentine . Roma hit a diving sunset flip on Valentine to eliminate The New Dream Team . Bret Hart and Jim Brunzell were next . Tama dropkick ed Hart and then Brunzell rolled over Hart to eliminate Hart Foundation . The referee gave his attention to the Harts , who had been eliminated . Brian Blair put on his Killer Bees mask and pinned Tama with a sunset flip to eliminate Islanders . As a results , Young Stallions and Killer Bees won the match and became survivors for their team . The main event was a Survivor Series match where André the Giant , One Man Gang , King Kong Bundy , Butch Reed and Rick Rude faced WWF Champion Hulk Hogan , Paul Orndorff , Don Muraco , Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow . Muraco was not scheduled to compete in the match but replaced " Superstar " Billy Graham , who was originally scheduled to be Hogan ' s teammate but retired because of his hip injury suffered during a match against Reed . Hogan did the first elimination after he hit a leg drop on Reed and pinned him to eliminate him . At this point , André entered the ring to attempt to sneak attack Hogan while he was celebrating with his teammates ; Hogan was initially startled when he saw André , but then wanted to wrestle him . However , the referee said that as Hogan was high - fiving his teammates , he had made a legal tag to Patera and ordered Hogan out of the ring . André decided he didn ' t want to wrestle Patera and tagged in One Man Gang , who eventually hit a 747 Splash to eliminate Patera . Rude and Orndorff were next , who were having their personal problems due to who Bobby Heenan would manage . Orndorff had got the better of Rude until Bundy distracted him and Rude rolled up Orndorff to eliminate him . Muraco joined the match and powerslam med Rude to eliminate him . One Man Gang entered to take on Muraco , setting up his elimination by whipping him into an André headbutt before hitting the 747 Splash for the pin . That left André ' s team with a 3 - on - 2 advantage . Bigelow held his own against Bundy and Gang , but they eventually wore him down , and eventually , Gang tagged in André to finish off a beaten Bigelow , but Bigelow ducked André ' s punch and tagged in Hogan for the long - awaited confrontation . Hogan dominated André , blocking a headbutt and rattling him with chops , until Bundy tripped up Hogan ( as Hogan was preparing to clothesline André and knock him out of the ring ) ; Hogan dominated Bundy and One Man Gang outside the ring , but in the distraction he was counted out of the ring . Hogan was ordered to leave the ring immediately or Bigelow – the last remaining member of the face team – would be disqualified and the match awarded to André ' s team . Bigelow fended for himself , beating Bundy with relative ease by htting a Slingshot for the elimination , but began to get worn down by Gang ; however , Bigelow was able to move out of the way of Gang ' s 747 Splash and set him up for the pin . However , Bigelow ' s luck ran out , as André battered Bigelow before hitting a butterfly suplex to win the match . After the match , Hogan ran out to ringside and hit André with his title WWF World Heavyweight Championship belt , knocking him out of the ring . Hogan celebrated in the ring as André demanded a match for the title .