WWF Summerslam 89′ Review

Hello Misfits! I watched Summerslam 89′ today on the WWE Network and I thought I’d quickly take the time to review the event. I remember previously mentioning that I would be reviewing shows from the WWE Network, but I never actually got to doing so until today. I first watched Summerslam 89′ when I was a kid. I remember owning it on VHS and watching it over and over. If you look at the card, its jammed pack with legends of wrestling from top to bottom. Its crazy because when I watched it as a kid, I wasnt fully aware about the careers of a lot of these guys and their achievements before coming to the WWE at this point. What I know now about Tully, Arn, Dusty, Perfect and so on isn’t what I knew when I first use to watch this event of VHS. The really funny part is that the WWF completely ignored every single one of these guys’ careers prior to joining the WWF. You know, back in those days, going to the WWF is even better than going into the Witness Protection Program. If you signed a contract with them, nobody will ever have any idea who you actually are. Anyway, lets get on with the review.

Image via. WWE.com

Summerslam 89′ took place at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, NJ in front of 20,000 people. This was the second annual Summerslam event, an event that is still going on today and one of the big four PPV’s of the year. It’s considered the WWE’s second biggest PPV of the year following Wrestlemania.

The commentators for the event were Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. Schiavone mainly known as the voice of WCW during the Monday Night Wars, did briefly work for the WWF in the late 80’s and early 90’s. That will come to a lot of younger fans as shocker who only recognize his voice from the WCW content they’ve seen. This commentating duo was reunited in WCW in the early and mid 90s as well. This Summerslam was mainly remembered as the event where Tiny Lister, better known for his “Friday” fame as Deebo, was featured in the main event. This was spawned off the 1988 “No Holds Barred” film that featured Hulk Hogan as the hero and Tiny Lister as his main antagonist in the movie. In the movie, Hogan defeated Zeus. The rivalry spanned in WWF, because Zeus wanted to take revenge from Hogan in real life.

The Brain Busters w/ Bobby Heenan def. The Hart Foundation
in 16:23 via pinfall.
The event opened up with a tag match featuring two of the best tag teams the WWF had to offer at the time and quite frankly, two of the best tag teams of all time. For those who don’t know the Brain Busters consisted of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Two men who were mainly known for their time in NWA and being founding members of the Four Horsemen. However, I have to admit a lot of Anderson’s and Blanchard’s best in ring work was done in the WWE and pairing them with Heenan was perfect. The Hart Foundation had been teaming for years now and really knew their own strengths and weaknesses at this point, which really made them a perfect team. Although, the Brain Busters were tag team champions this was a non title match since it was booked before Anderson and Blanchard won the titles on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Pretty stupid in my mind, but whatever. The match had mat wrestling, technical moves, tests of strengths hot tags, and was nearly a perfect tag team match. It was highly promoted on commentary that the Hart Foundation needed this win to get a future tag title shot. The crowd was popping for everything the Hart Foundation did while they had the offence. Neidhart slammed Bret onto Tully and it looked as if the match was over. Yet Hennan continued to distract referee Joey Marella as he was escorting Anvil out of the ring, which lead to Double A leaping off the top rope with a double axe handle to Bret. Anderson rolled Tully out of the ring and pinned Bret for the win, even though he was not the legal man. This was as flawless of a tag team match you could get in that era.
Rating – ****1/2

– Dusty Rhodes cuts a promo on the Honkey Tonk Man and his upcoming match. The American Dream is about to get funky like a monkey.

Dusty Rhodes def. The Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart
in 9:36 via pinfall
Dusty Rhodes had only recently debuted in the WWE, therefore putting him up against Honky was the WWE’s way to get to fans behind him as a babyface. This was during Rhodes polka dot gimmick where he was way more over the top than he had ever been during his career. They had Rhodes dancing and jiggling his ass for the camera. Remember, this was during the era in the WWF, where everyone was just a little over the top with their characters and gimmicks. Rhodes was in control of this match until Jimmy Hart made a distraction which allowed Honky to get hold of the megaphone and hit Dream in the midsection. Im not sure how much that would hurt someone with a belly the size of the Dream. The match concludes when Jimmy Hart tries hitting Rhodes with the guitar but misses and catches Honky with the guitar shot instead. It was always cool seeing Honky get hit with the guitar, since he was always smashing other skulls with it. A Bionic Elbow followed the guitar shot and Dusty Rhodes picked up the win. Following the match Dusty Rhodes dances and jiggles while Sean Mooney tries to interview a clearly dazed Honky Tonk Man, who thinks he’s Elvis Presley. Fun match featuring a couple of legends, but nothing too special. 
Rating – *1/2

– Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Demolition cut a promo on their upcoming match. Normal 80s promo stuff.

Mr. Perfect def. The Red Rooster
in 3:21 via pinfall
This was during Curt Hennig’s early days in the WWE. Red Rooster was clearly over with the fans but they were building Mr. Perfect up as a star. If I’m correct, Perfect was on a perfect winning streak thus far. The Red Rooster was a horrible gimmick and it sucks that Terry Taylor got stuck with it. Regardless, Taylor made the best out of it.It’s actually an odd dynamic because Perfect, the heel, does all the wrestling while Rooster, the babyface, uses the brawling/dirty tactics. This doesn’t escape Ventura either; he brings this to our attention in order to put Mr Perfect over, which is the entire purpose of the match anyway. Mr. Perfect hits a drop-kick and the perfect-plex for the victory.
Rating – *3/4

– This promo was infamous for Mean Gene dropping the F bomb when he says “fuck it”, because the Summerslam logo behind them falls off the wall on the live broadcast. It originally cuts to Schiavone and Ventura, where Ventura covers the mishap by saying its about time that troublemaker Gene Okerlund gets in trouble. On the Network version and other edited version, the corrected pre taped interview is aired and Rude cuts his normal duck face arrogant interview while Heenan openly states they’ll break the rules if they have too.

Six-Man Tag 
Rick Martel & The Fabulous Rougeaus w/ Jimmy Hart & Slick def. Tito Santana & The Rockers
in 14:58 via pinfall
I remember being a kid and hating the Fabulous Rougeaus because I just thought they were so boring and meh. I tried liking them because they were Canadian but it was really hard for me too. Growing up and understanding wrestling better, they were actually two really good wrestlers. The storyline behind this match was the continuation in rivalry between former Strike Force team mates Rick Martel and Tito Santana. Martel was using the “model” gimmick while Chico Santana was still just Chico Santana. Also, for anyone who has been living under a rock or just started watching wrestling, the Rockers consisted of Marty Janetty and a pre Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. This match was fast paced and hard hitting. The match was chaotic at the beginning in terms of 80s wrestling standards. When Schiavone makes point that having Slick and Hart outside the ring puts the odds against the babyface team, Ventura says that most of the Rockers offence are double team moves, and that those are illegal. The heels were in charge for the most part of this six man tag, butSantana tagged Michaels into the match, who quickly regained the advantage. Near the end of the match, Jimmy Hart, who had accompanied The Rougeaus and Martel to the ring, distracted Jannetty, who was hit from behind by Jacques. As a result, Martel was able to pin Jannetty, even though Michaels never tagged out of the match and was still the legal man. This was a fun and entertaining match. It really picked up the pace after the last two squash matches.
Rating – ***1/2

– There was flashback video package of the entire Warrior/Rude feud over the past year starting from the Royal Rumble. This was followed by Mean Gene interviewing Ultimate Warrior. Warrior cuts another one of his incoherent and wild promo about the gods above. That is something I didn’t notice as a kid though. It didn’t ever matter what the Warrior was saying, he was so energetic and intriguing, that as a kid he appealed to me. Let’s be real, who as a kid really sat there and tried to feel a promo, we were just ready to amped with the Warrior.

Intercontinental Championship
The Ultimate Warrior def. Rick Rude (C) w/ Bobby Heenan
in 16:02 via pinfall
Rude cuts an in-ring promo about being sexier than your average man in order to attract some cheap heat, which he duly receives. The not quite so sexy Warrior makes his entrance, shaking the ropes and generally acting like a complete maniac. The Ultimate Warrior and Ravishing Rick Rude feud was a thing of magic during 89 and the 1990. I personally believe it was the first feud that made Warrior stand out. I also believe Rude along with Heenan were hated enough to make the crowd get super behind Warrior, which I think Vince wanted as he must of already had the Wrestlemania 6 main event in mind. As perusal, there was a lot of no selling from Warrior to Rude’s offence and over selling from Rude to make Warrior look strong as hell.  At one point outside the ring Warrior hits Rude with the title in plain sight of the referee and it baffles me why he wasn’t disqualified. Ventura and Schiavone also begin to argue about this and like 95% of the time, I’m with Ventura on this. It just absolutely no sense, and it honestly seemed like the babyface wrestlers always got away with their heel tactics with a imaginary stay out jail free card with the referee. Rude regains control of the match after knocking Warrior off the top rope. There were a couple of nasty piledrivers on Warrior following this but it didnt keep the Warrior down for the three. Rude is still firmly in control as we head towards the end of the match, which comes in the form of Rowdy Roddy Piper. Rude and Piper had began getting under each others skin on WWF television shows such as Prime Time Wrestling. Rude spots him standing at ring side and decides to start swaying his hips, either as an attempt to warn him off or appeal to him, that much is not made clear. It seemed like a pretty ridiculous choice to make in a big match. Either way the Scotsman responds by lifting his kilt and mooning the shocked and appalled Rude. Rude is then thrown about by the revitalized Warrior who hits his signature finishing sequence for the win and the Intercontinental Title. The crowd went beyond wild for Warriors final comeback and victory. Its incredible how over Warrior was at the time. Rude would go on to feud with Piper and eventually would meet Warrior again the following year at Summerslam in a cage for the WWE Championship.
Rating – ***1/2

– Following the IC Title match, Mean Gene really earned his nights wages when he had four back to back interviews. First off with Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig about his victory and his perfect streak.
Next, Roddy Piper strolls into the interview area, just completely hyped, proud of what he did and drinking something that clearly makes you wonder if he’s messed up on something. Rowdy is a god damn icon.
Garvin in a tuxedo which we find out more about later.
Then finally, Rude & Heenan complaining about the loss to Warrior and voicing their rage with Roddy Piper’s interference. Interestingly enough, they did not bump into each other since Roddy was just there literally seconds before.

Six-Man Tag 
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Demoliton def. Andre the Giant & The Twin Towers w/ Bobby Heenan & Slick
in 7:23 via pinfall
In the second of the six man tags we have Hacksaw Jim Duggan, full in Demolition inspired face paint, with Demolition taking on the 8th Wonder of the World Andre the Giant, Akeem and Big Bossman, better known as the Twin Towers. The heels also were joined by their respective managers in Heenan and Slick. This match and next couple of matches following it really felt like filler. As star studded as he roster was and the regardless how legendary a lot of these stars were or became, a lot of the matches didnt have much depth to them and the cards during the time seemed to be filled with matches just to get certain stars on to the show. As a kid and even now, Hacksaw just never did it for me. Demolition was great. Andre the Giant was Andre the freakin’ Giant and I loved to hate the Twin Towers as a tag team. Demolition are only a few weeks removed from their record Tag Title reign and The Big Bossman had been serving as Hulk Hogan’s TV feud leading into the event. It’s a relatively short, linear match with the good guys starting well until Andre tags in and dominates Axe. Soon after this the action breaks down and Duggan clobbers Akeem with his 2×4, allowing Smash to make the cover for the good guys. That’s right, another case of the good guys cheating to victory, Ventura is not happy and once again right about his argument.
Rating – *1/4

– Once again, we head backstage to Mean Gene who’s really getting his TV time tonight as he interviews Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. Dibiase cuts a pretty racist promo on Superbly Jimmy Snuka. This type of stuff totally wouldn’t fly today. I can just imagine the hashtags and memes that would be produced all over social media about WWE and Dibiase.

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart def. Hercules
in 3:08 via pinfall
“Rugged” Ronnie Garvin is announced as the guest ring announcer, which explains why he was in Tuxedo earlier. Although, this was Hercules facing Greg Valentine, this really was a continuation of the feud between Valentine and Garvin. Garvin was forced to retire due to losing a match to The Hammer. Since then, Garvin had worked as a referee but after being shady at that, he was suspended from those duties. Thus, this time trying his hand a ring announcing. Hercules gets a good and normal introduction by Garvin. However, Garvin rips Hammer a new one with his introduction with just humiliating Valentine and Jimmy Hart, leaving Greg furious. The shot at Hammer’s weight was actually funny and I think the rest of the jokes would have been funny for 80s humour standards. The match itself was pretty quick and ended in a screwy finish. Valentine got the pinball with his feet on the ropes, but the referee didnt notice therefore counted the three. Technically, Valentine won, but Garvin refused to announce that and committed to announcing that Hercules was the real winner by DQ. Following this, Valentine clocks Garvin which leads to a brawl between Hercules and The Hammer. Garvin gets back into the ring and takes Valentine out. It was filler but at least it had a purpose in storyline progression.
Rating – *1/4

– Backstage we get a promo from “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Sensational Sherri and Zeus next to a cauldron. It was classic over the top stuff and the Madness was real. I used to find Sherri so annoying as a kid but she really played her part making Savage more unlikable during this heel run. The idea of Sherri just being there with Savage made fans want to boo them, because you know Miss Elizabeth was an “angel”. I was and always will be Team Savage when it comes to Hogan having lust in his eyes for Elizabeth. Certain, moments later in the show support that fact and that Savage was truly the baby face in that whole Mega Power exploding feud, but it was the 80s and people were supposed to love Hogan.

Ted Dibiase w/ Virgil def. Jimmy Snuka
in 6:27 via countout
In yet another filler match we get a promo before the actual encounter.Millionaire Ted cuts a promo in the ring and brags about ending Jake The Snake’s career, which of course he didn’t but without the internet we could have believed. When the action begins it is Superfly Jim who takes charge to the crowds enjoyment. The match is your pretty standard wrestling match. Dibiase gets some offence in, until Snuka starts coming back. Ultimately Virgil distracts Snuka who leaves the ring to chase him, only to get counted out. Damn, Snuka really should have realized that he’s been chasing Virgil for nearly 10 seconds. It’s a cheap finish, but don’t worry, we still get to see the move we all want to see. Snuka isolates Virgil in the ring and hits the Superfly Splash. Leaving the crowd happy regardless of the crappy finish.
Rating – *

– If you havent figured out what was going to happen next, then you really have not figured out the pattern of this PPV. Once again, we head to the back where Mean Gene is with the Immortal Hollywood Hogan and Brutus The Bootyman, Butcher, Clipmaster, Disciple, Zodiac with No Name Beefcake. I use the term Hollywood because this whole main event is based of Hogan’s “Hollywood” career and to be honest, it was hard for me not to think of Hogan as a heel in 1989 after having lust in his eyes for Elizabeth and getting away with it as the good guy. Plus, this promo sounds rather heelish as he brags about his python of arms, his motorcycle, having Miss Elizabeth on the back of said bike (LUSTER) and then claims to have parted the Hudson River, like Moses parting the Red Sea. This asshole was supposed to be everyone’s hero. Psh.
Following that backstage interview,  we’re brought back to the ring where “The Genius” reads a poem that he wrote which is favouring the Macho Man. Where at the time unless you were a super-fan who was tape trading, magazine collecting, travelling America to watch wrestling or a wrestling historian, you may not have known was Randy Savage’s real life brother.

Main Event
Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake w/ Elizabeth def. “Macho Man” Randy Savage & Zeus w/ Sensational Sherri
in 15:04 via pinfall
It’s main event time, well almost anyway. The introductions take ages, and then Miss Elizabeth gets her own introduction to drag things out yet further. If I was Savage I would be completely full of Madness too if my girl continued hanging around the guy you claimed had lust of her even after he said he didn’t and you went to war with to him anyway because you didn’t believe his egotistical ass. When the match finally starts Zeus no-sells Hogan’s offense, probably because he’s an actor by trade and can’t sell. The Human Wrecking Machine takes control by unleashing his deadly arsenal of moves. Well, not really. You know how Dean Malenko was ‘The Man of a Thousand Holds’? Well in comparison, Zeus was the man of one hold, namely the bear hug. The match filled with no selling and rest holds for most it and it didn’t change much getting to the finish. The match finally gains a little bit of drama when Sherri hits Beefcake with her purse which is clearly loaded with something like a brick to make it a deadly weapon of mass destruction.Macho Man attempts a cover on Beefcake but Hogan heelishly yanks him out of the ring. This wasn’t the normal interrupting the count type of save, but Hogan actually yanked Savage out of the ring. That Hollywood Hogan, I tell ya. Zeus evolves from bear hugs to choke holds as his next big move. Damn, I wish I could go to the wrestling school he went too. He learnt two moves and got shot straight to the main event of Summerslam. Hogan totally no sells a Macho Man Flying Elbow during this match and would not even stay down for a two count. This really got under my skin. I know Savage was all business and doing whatever was best for business and the match, but this was just flat out stupid. I’d love to see someone do that after one of Hogan’s stupid ass leg drops. Anyway, Hogan finally shakes up and has an effect on Zeus taking him down to one knee. Sherri tries getting on the apron but Liz tips her into falling into the ring. I’m starting to think Liz was out to ruin Savage’s career or something after he found out Hogan had lust in his eyes for her.Hogan, like a true heel, then grabs her purse and gives Zeus a smack with it, before hitting his big boot and leg drop for the three count.
Rating – **3/4

– Following the match, Hogan threatens to hit Sherri, clenched fist and all, before opting to deliver an abdominal drop. Babyface Hogan was popular enough to abuse women and get away with you see. He then grabs The Barber’s sheers and threatens to stab Zeus and Savage because Babyface Hogan was popular enough to threaten to stab people on live television and get away with it. All this is happening as Liz and Beefcake chop off Sherri’s pony tail because Liz is an Angel and is totally not jealous of the fact that her man was being managed by another women after she couldn’t decide if she wanted to walk down the aisle with her man or her friend at Wrestlemania 5. I’m all for the heels getting their comeuppance, but I’ve always thought that Hogan and co. overstepped the mark here. Of course Ventura kicks off about Hogan’s actions on commentary, by which time Schiavone has given up trying to present an alternate view. The show ends with the babyfaces..or should I say heels posing in the ring for ages. Hollywood Hogan reigns supreme brother.

Final Thoughts
I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this event but if you’re chilling on a Sunday afternoon and got nothing to do, I would totally recommend it as something to watch on the WWE Network to enjoy some classic wrestling. The 80s WWF was filled with matches that had heel, cont-out, DQ, interference and dusty finishes and we got a lot of that during this event. The card was stacked with legends of wrestling and it’s pretty cool to see how everyone was being used during this period of the Hogan era knowing their successful accolades outside of the WWF before and after. It is interesting to where they were being put on a roster where the focus was mainly on Hulk Hogan. There were a few matches such as the opening tag match, the one six man and Warrior/Rude  bout which are really worth watching. I remember watching this event as a kid so many times, and therefore it’s more nostalgic for me watching it again. For a lot of older fans out there, I’m sure you can agree, However, for younger or new fans, I suggest you check it out when you’re just taking it easy and in the mood for some classic 80s wrestling. Dig It?!
Final Rating – 6.5/10