Since 1987, the WWF’s Survivor Series has been a Thanksgiving tradition. For a few years, it took place on Thanksgiving night, then moved to Thanksgiving Eve for a while. After that, it bounced around to a Sunday night that was close to Thanksgiving.
But the yearly event has always been a highlight of the wrestling year with its unique concept where teams of four “strive to survive” in elimination tag team matches. The 1989 edition featured five of these matches filled with the biggest superstars of the day.
In this time capsule, look back at the big event through the pages of its official program, and try to remember what the anticipation was for big wrestling events like this.