That being said, 1998s Deadly Games event wasnt the first Survivor Series PPV to be themed around a tournament. Back in 1990the same event in which the aforementioned Undertaker made his debutwe saw a series of traditional 4v4 matches, the winners of which would advance to the grandiosely-named Grand Finale Match of Survival. It was a main event elimination match, with the participants being determined via prior elimination matches. Very Meta. The eventual winners were Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, who had teamed with Tito Santana to take on the villainous ensemble of Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord, Hercules and Paul Roma. Of course, their prize for winning wasnt anywhere near as significant as it would be in 1998. Ultimate Warrior was already the WWE Champion heading into the 1990 event, so the whole shebang merely cemented his superiority over the rest of the roster.
