We have our first double main event in Summerslam history which means Hogan isn’t in the title match. Is there anything better than Vince McMahon screaming at you that you are watching Summerslam? I love his commentary I know some people make fun of it however it brings me back to my early childhood. If you haven’t read my Summerslam ’89 or ’90 RawViews go check them out as well as my weekly Monday Night and Tuesday Night RawViews. Also my weekly series Re-Writing the book as I go back and Re-Write some of the biggest what ifs in wrestling history. It looks like we are going to be opening the show with…. You’ll never guess…. No seriously you won’t…. A TAG MATCH!
The Rockers vs. Power and Glory – We have a pre match attack on Shawn Michaels as they attack his knee. Piper makes a comment that the Rockers look like they have been dating to many young ladies. Jannetty starts this match on fire against both members of Power and Glory before the numbers game overcomes him. This match is worked primarily as a handicap match and Janetty just can’t overcome both members of power and glory and you get some great Piper heel commentary counting as if he’s about to rush the passer in a game of front yard football. We get a pretty cool finisher with Hercules and Paul Roma and I must say I really like this tag team combination of these two. They do a post-match beat down of bother members of the Rockers. Power and Glory win.
Mr. Perfect vs. Texas Tornado – Before this match we get a couple of promo’s from both men and Texas Tornado says there are tornado warnings in the area. Yep good ole fashioned old school promos where you have to use your name in your promo. Texas Tornado looks like a million bucks and a star I must say. These two men are working very well together and this match ends quicker than I thought. Mr. Perfect gets caught off guard and loses his IC title against the Texas Tornado with the discus punch as a finish.
Sherri Martel vs. Saphire – Doesn’t happen and Sherri Martel grabs the mic and she’s declared the winner. We get a promo backstage from Dusty Rhodes who is concerned about his sweet Saphire.
Tito Santana vs. Warlord – This match is kind of sloppy and goes way longer than I anticipated it going. They play into how powerful the Warlord is and Tito Santana just couldn’t overcome his strength. Warlord wins with the running powerslam that we would much rather be seeing Davey Boy Smith doing.
Demolition vs. Hart Foundation – We get a promo before the match where Anvil says he doesn’t think and in the ring he doesn’t care. This will be a two out of three falls match. We sort of get a rematch from Summerslam ’88 that almost won my match of the night and I’m sure most people consider match of the night. We don’t get Ax and Smash as the members of Demolition though its Smash and Crush. Anvil wears a pink version of HHH headwear circa the year 2000. I’m again surprised at the size of the Demolition team as they both make Anvil look quite small. Bret Hart throws some fantastic punches doesn’t he? We get some nice back and forth between the two teams and a great false finish where the crowd believed the Hart Foundation had won. Demolition sets up for their finisher and hits it on Bret Hart to win the first fall of the match after both teams go at it for some time. The match goes for a bit until Crush accidently hits the ref trying to break-up the pin-fall and is disqualified. These four men are certainly tearing the house down and to add to it we get the Legion of Doom out to ensure that Demolition can’t cheat to win and they get a massive pop. The Hart Foundation takes advantage of the craziness that’s ensuing and they take the titles from Demolition! This was an absolute clinic of a match and it also setup Demolition and their next feud. Post match we get a great promo from the legion of doom and Sean Mooney is unable to get a word from Demolition.
We then get a series of promos from Sensational Sherri, the Bossman, Duggan/Volkoff, Earthquake/Dino Bravo, and Jake Roberts Next.
Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown – This should be a very good match as Brown is a very good heel and Jake Roberts has great psychology. I should probably add that Bossman is the special referee. We get the early DDT tease from Jake Roberts and as I watch this I bet Randy Orton watched some old Jake Roberts before starting to tease the RKO early in his matches. As I continue to side note the RKO is the closest thing to what the DDT was in this era. They go back and forth in this match and Piper has some questionable commentary during this match. Roberts is so great with the DDT tease and Brown gets disqualified as he hits Roberts with a chair… RIGHT IN FRONT OF BOSSMAN. After the match Brown tries to attack Bossman however Bossman gets the upper hand, the crowd gets to see the snake and the faces leave happy.
Brother Love segment with Sergeant Slaughter – We get a fantastic anti American promo from Sergeant Slaughter. He gives Brother Love a medal for being a great American and Brother Love puts on his biggest cheeseball smile.
Orient Express vs. Duggan/Volkoff – I have come to the realization that I like nothing about Jim Duggan. I don’t know why typically I love a fantastic all American over the top gimmick. The crowd seems to love him however I just can’t get behind anything he does. They sing god bless America together and we get a pretty quick match with Duggan receiving the hot tag and cleaning house and delivering a big splash for the pin fall victory.
Randy Savage vs. Dusty Rhodes – On paper this is certainly main event worthy as you have arguably the biggest baby face in NWA history and Randy Savage in a match together with a great buildup. Dibiase reveals just before the match that he had purchased the services of sapphire which is why she isn’t accompanying Dusty in his match. This allows Savage to get the upper hand early in this match and Dusty is playing the baby face that has his mind on other things during the match. Dusty chases Sheri into the ring and Savage hit Rhodes with a foreign object a picks up the win. This fell flat for what I and most people who watched was expecting and hoping for. After the match we get Dibiase and Sapphire leaving the building together as Rhodes is out to find Sapphire.
Earthquake vs. Hulk Hogan – I remember being a kid and thinking Earthquake was an awesome looking superstar. I’m not sure how popular this will be but this will be the third Summerslam that Hogan is pairing with someone that the WWF wants to push. They are certainly trying to sprinkle some Hogan dust on these guys at a big time PPV. Before this match we get a traditional Hogan promo that ends in Whatcha gonna do brother. This is very much your traditional Hogan match as the big guys get the upper hand on Hogan and then Hogan overcomes the odds and uses his twenty four inch pythons dude. We get a pretty good back and forth match with some big guys. Earthquake hits the big squash there time before Hogan begins to Hulk up. We get a table spot that doesn’t work the way they hoped it would as Hogan slams Earthquake on the table but it doesn’t break. Hogan Wins via countout brother and then we get the big posdown with Bossman and Hogan.
Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude – A rematch from Summerslam ’89 and as this match begins I take a look at the time of the match and they look to have about ten minutes to work with as the main event of Summerslam inside a steel cage for the title. The year before they worked over fifteen minutes however now with the spotlight on them solely they are getting maybe ten minutes. Warrior and Rude work the cage well curing the match and the crowd seems like they have already seen what they came for with Hogan and are now staying for a bonus main event. I feel bad for these two guys honestly. It appears Rick Rude would certainly be able to win after Heenan closes Warriors head in the door of the cage. Warrior hits the press slam then climbs the cage and picks up the win in a good match that just needed more time. This match suffered a bit from having to follow a lengthy Hogan match and it not having a ton of time.
Summerslam 1988 Review
Summerslam 1989 Review
This was overall a fun PPV and you feel that they are starting to push some guys in the right direction. However they had some clear misses with Dusty vs. Savage and the main event that if done right would have made this the best to date. Certainly not as good as Summerslam ’88 as it still sits at number one for me all time at this point. The match of the night is not even in question it’s the Hart Foundation against Demolition in a two out of three falls match. I hope you have enjoyed the 1990 Summerslam RawView and until next time be awesome.