Original
Airdate: August 28, 1989
From East
Rutherford, New Jersey; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura
Opening Match: The Brain Busters v The Hart
Foundation:
The Busters are the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions here, but this is non-title
since the match was 'signed before they won the title.' Tully Blanchard starts
with Bret Hart, and walks into a pair of armdrags out of the initial lockup,
and the Hitman holds him in a wristlock. Tully desperately scrambles to tag out
to Arn Anderson, but Hart manages to avoid him during the switch off, and
counter a headlock attempt into a mat-based hammerlock. Bret with a bodyslam
before he tags out to Jim Neidhart, and the Hart's take turns working Arn's
arm. Anderson
manages a headscissors on the mat to get away from Bret and tag out, but Tully
walks into the wrong corner, and gets smacked down. The Hart's cut the ring in
half while working Blanchard's arm, leading to a hilarious bit where Tully
tries to escape a wristlock by hammering Neidhart, with the Anvil blatantly
no-selling every shot. Tully manages to counter a hammerlock from Bret into an
overhead wristlock, but Hart starts to reverse, so Tully suckers him into a
chase, and Arn's able to clobber him with a cheap shot. Anderson with a
bodyslam to setup a 2nd rope pump-splash, but Bret lifts the knees
to block. That draws Tully in to try a cheap shot of his own, but the Anvil
cuts him off, and the Foundation clean house! Dust settles on Blanchard and
Hart, and the Hitman sweeps him down for a stomp to the groin, then tags out to
Neidhart to unload on him with forearms in the corner. Bret comes back in to
cross corner whip Neidhart into Blanchard, but Arn moves him out of the way,
and that's enough to turn the tide. The Busters cut the ring in half on
Neidhart, but Arn loses a criss cross in dramatic fashion when Bret takes a cheap
shot, and that's enough to give the Hitman the hot tag! He's a hoose of fire,
and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Bodyslam and a 2nd
rope pointed elbowdrop setup a snap suplex on Blanchard for two, but Bret falls
prey to a cheap shot from Arn in the form of a 2nd rope axehandle, and
the Busters add in an illegal switch as a cherry on top at 16:23. Really well
paced, and a great way to kick the show off. *** (Original rating: *** ¼)
Honky Tonk Man v Dusty Rhodes: Man, Dusty sure
wasted no time getting over with the Northeastern crowd, did he? He sends Honky
bailing to the outside following a backdrop, and back in, Rhodes
unloads a ten-punch to flop Honky down for a spinning-toehold. Jimmy Hart
throws in some interference to help out, allowing Honky to get the megaphone,
and blast Dusty in the gut with it for two. Well, in all fairness, the gut of
Dusty Rhodes might not be the best place to hit him. I mean, he's got the
padding built in, clearly. Honky with a sleeper, but Rhodes fights out, so
Honky drops a pair of axehandles, then reapplies it. Like the old saying goes,
'if at first you don't succeed, choke Dusty Rhodes.' The sleeper spot goes on
forever until Dusty finally escapes in the corner, and starts building a
comeback. Honky bumps the referee to try and make a go of using the guitar, but
it backfires, and Dusty scores the pinfall off of it at 9:36. Pretty terrible.
Both guys can be watchable against better workers, but not so much otherwise.
It did manage to be perversely entertaining in its own way, though. ½*
(Original rating: ¼*)
Mr. Perfect v Red Rooster: Perfect smacks the
cock around a bit at the bell, and then takes him down with a well executed
deep armdrag. Perfect with a hiptoss and a fireman's carry between mocking
Rooster's strut, and a criss cross ends in Perfect toppling him for two during
a bodyslam. Perfect with a nice standing dropkick to send Rooster to the
outside, and Perfect follows for a quick brawl on the floor. Back in, the
Perfect-Plex finishes at 3:21. They did a great job covering it up, but this
actually was forced to go home much earlier than planned, as Rooster blew out
his knee. Shame too, since it was going along really well. * ½ (Original
rating: ½*)
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Rick Martel and The
Fabulous Rougeau Brothers v Tito Santana and The Rockers: Lots of posturing to
start, until they settle on Jacques Rougeau to start with Tito Santana. Tito
wants Martel, of course, and Jacques has a ball teasing him about it. That
leads to the Rockers coming in, and we get an awesome triple leapfrog spot,
followed by them whipping Tito into a bodypress on both Raymond Rougeau and
Martel! That's enough to clean house for the babyfaces, and all three French
Canadians on the outside are absolutely hilarious as they moan about it. Dust
settles on Jacques and Marty Jannetty, and Marty blocks a 2nd rope
forearm with a gut-punch, but gets clobbered in the wrong corner. Tag to
Raymond with a savate kick, and they trap Jannetty in the heel corner for some
triple-team abuse. Rick is giddy gloating about it and walks into a dropkick,
however, and Tito tags! He comes in hot, but Martel manages to scurry away into
tagging Raymond to avoid getting caught. Criss cross goes Santana's way with a
clothesline for two, and he traps Raymond in a standing side-headlock, so
Jacques takes a cheap shot from the floor, and Raymond high knees Tito down for
two. The Rougeau's work Santana over with some tandem stuff, and NOW Martel is
game to tag in - you know, with Tito down and beaten. Rick stomps him with glee
for a bit as they cut the ring in half on Santana, but he gets cocky, and
caught with a sunset cradle for two in the corner. Oooh, he don't like that,
and Tito pays for it via a backbreaker. Raymond slaps on a Boston crab to finish things off, and Santana
is openly tapping out, but since this is 1989, that doesn't mean the same
thing. I think, along with remembering to say 'WWE' instead of 'WWF,' that must
have been one of the hardest changes for the veteran guys to deal with once
'tapping' became an accepted form of submission in the late 90s due to UFC. The
heels continue to pound the salsa out of Tito, but a Rougeau double-team blows
up in their faces, and Santana gets the hot tag off to Shawn Michaels! He's a crack
house of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on, boy! Martel
takes the bulk of the abuse, including eating a Diving Forearm from Tito, but
Jannetty ends up getting clobbered during the brawl while trying a rollup on
Jacques, and Rick pins him at 14:58. Another peppy match here. ** ½ (Original
rating: **)
WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Rick Rude v
Ultimate Warrior:
Rude makes Warrior chase him around for a bit in an effort to blow him up -
which ain't bad strategy. Unfortunately for him, Warrior is in full 1984 Road
Warriors no-sell mode, and he press-slams Rude over the top to the floor!
That'd be a pretty wild spot even today, forget 1989! Warrior follows him for a
beating on the floor, which includes hitting him with the title belt -
triggering the classic exchange between Schiavone and Ventura about what is and isn't legal outside
of the ring. Warrior with a vertical suplex and a fistdrop on the floor, then
back in - only for Warrior to throw Rude right back over the top for a bodyslam
on the outside! Man, he's mean tonight! Warrior with a flying axehandle on the
way back in for two, and a pair of cross corner whips shake the whole ring.
Bodyslam only gets two, however, so Warrior adds a vertical suplex, still only
for two! Inverted atomic drop triggers Rude's usual awesome selling of that
spot, but Warrior offers no mercy - slamming him down on his ass again! Back to
the top again, but this time Rick manages to knock him off before Warrior can
dive, and the champion goes to work on the lower back. Vertical suplex is worth
two, and Rude grounds his challenger in a reverse chinlock. That wears Warrior
down for another two count, but not enough to execute the Rude Awakening -
Warrior countering with a short-clothesline, but getting countered back into a
sleeper by the champion! Warrior uses a stunner to break, and a big criss cross
results in a triple knockout spot - Rude, Warrior, and the referee! Rude
hammers him, but Warrior starts no-selling again, and he backdrops the
Ravishing one! Series of running clotheslines and a powerslam have Rude finished,
but there's no referee! Warrior keeps on him with a piledriver as the official
finally comes to, but Rick gets a foot onto the bottom rope for a dramatic two
count! Warrior is frustrated, but stays on him with a running powerslam to
setup a splash – only for Rick to lift his knees to block! Man, they're pulling
out all the stops here, aren't they? Rude with a nasty kneeling powerbomb for
two (looked like he was going for a piledriver, then kinda just decided to
change it up midway), and a flying fistdrop gets two. That draws Roddy Piper
out, as Rude executes a piledriver for two. He gets distracted when Piper
decides to moon him, however, allowing Warrior to recover with a German suplex
out of the corner! Jumping shoulderblock and a press-slam setup the Ultimate
Splash, and we have a new Intercontinental Champion at 16:02! Could have done
without the distraction finish, but this was hard work from both, and easily
(easily!) Warrior's best match ever to that point, and still one of his top
five overall career best. Damn shame they couldn't replicate this level of work
when they main evented the following year. *** ¾ (Original rating: *** ¼)
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Jim Duggan and
Demolition v Andre the Giant and The Twin
Towers: Duggan paints his face
in an American flag motif as a show of unity with the Demos. He starts with
Akeem, and wins a slugfest - the (painted) faces taking turns pounding the
African Dream down, until he manages to rake Ax's eyes. That's right! Fight the
power, Akeem! Tag to Big Boss Man, but he loses control to Ax in a slugfest,
and they take turns working him over. Boss Man manages to knock Ax into the
heel corner for Akeem to take a cheap shot, and Andre tags in for some abuse as
they cut the ring in half on Ax. Bobby Heenan being in such a sour mood on the
floor due to Rude losing the title is a great touch, something you'll almost
never see today, in a world where they condition guys not to bother selling on
their way up the aisle after the match, let alone. Ax fights them off to tag
Smash, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Duggan whacks Akeem
with the 2x4 in the chaos, and Smash pins him at 7:26. Not a whole lot to this
one, but six-man's have always been a great way to mask individual weaknesses,
and this certainly didn't overstay its welcome. * (Original rating: ½*)
Greg Valentine v Hercules: Ronnie Garvin acts
as the guest ring announcer, in another effort to get under Valentine's skin.
What a nuisance that guy was! Hercules jumps him as he shouts at Ronnie, and a
bodyslam gets two, sending Greg bailing to the outside. More arguing with
Garvin allows Hercules to schoolboy him for two, but Valentine manages to catch
him with a knee to setup a pair of elbowdrops. Figure Four, but Hercules
blocks, so Greg snapmares him over instead. Flying axehandle follows, but
Hercules blocks with a gut-punch, then reverses a vertical suplex. Greg begs
off, but Hercules makes the mistake of going after him, and Valentine cradles
him with two feet on the ropes at 3:06. Garvin, of course, declares Hercules
the winner anyway, since I guess no one schooled him on the finer points of
what a ring announcer does. You'd think for a guy who wrestled Ric Flair a
bunch of times, Garvin of all people would know that finish very much counts if
the referee didn't see it. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)
Ted DiBiase v Jimmy Snuka: Ted tries to jump
him before the bell, but that backfires badly, and a headbutt sends DiBiase to
the outside. Virgil tries to lend a hand with a cheap shot, but that backfires
as well, and Snuka sends DiBiase over the top with an atomic drop! Things are
not going well for the Million Dollar Man here! They (well, Snuka) botch a
criss cross spot, and Ted takes over in the corner, pounding Jimmy down for
some turnbuckle smashes. Cross corner whip gets reversed, however, and Snuka
backdrops him, but eats a stungun during another criss cross. DiBiase with a
vertical suplex for two, and a forward-backbreaker gets two. Bodyslam sets up a
2nd rope back-elbowdrop, but Snuka rolls out of the way, and he
starts making his comeback with a series of headbutts. Bodyslam sets up a 2nd
rope flying headbutt, and the Superfly Splash looks to finish, but Virgil
distracts him, and Snuka gets counted out while brawling with him at 6:26.
DiBiase is always great, but Snuka was a chore to watch during this period, and
this was no exception. ½* (Original rating: DUD)
Main Event: Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake v
Randy Savage and Zeus:
Hogan and Beefcake bring Miss Elizabeth with them to stand in their corner,
which I'm sure the Macho Man is going to appreciate. Big brawl to start, with
Zeus no-selling Hogan, and blocking a bodyslam to put the Hulkster down for a
choke. Beefcake tries saving with a 2nd rope axehandle, but Zeus
catches him in a bearhug, so Hogan comes back with some rights to save. That
only serves to get HIM trapped in a bearhug, with Savage adding a flying
axehandle for good measure. The dust finally settles on Hogan and Savage, and Randy
bodyslams him to setup another flying axehandle. High knee into the corner sets
up a hangman’s clothesline for two, and Savage grounds him with a chinlock.
Hulk powers out and shoulderblocks Macho down a couple of times, but runs into
a cheap shot from Zeus, and Macho whips him into the corner. Tag to Zeus, and
he whips Hulk into the corner to setup a bearhug, as Beefcake goes a hilarious
job of playing cheerleader on the apron. Zeus wrenches Hogan down for a few near
falls in the hold, but Hulk won't quit, so he passes back to Savage. Randy
snaps Hogan's throat across the top rope and side suplexes him for two, but a
straddling ropechoke misses, and Beefcake gets the tag! He comes in hot with a
shoulderblock and a high knee for two, and the Sleeper looks to finish, but
Savage manages to drop him into the corner to break. Tag back to Zeus, so
Beefcake goes to the eyes and tries a Sleeper on him, but Randy quickly breaks
it up for two. Savage tags in and covers, but Hogan keeps coming in illegally
to break up the count (like three times in a row!), and Jesse's right! He
should be disqualified! Hogan got away with murder for the supposed 'hero' of
the 80s. The heels cut the ring in half on Beefcake, but a double-knockout spot
with Savage allows the tag to Hulk! He's a tanning salon of fire, and a big
boot puts Macho on the floor. Vertical suplex back in, but Sensational Sherri
sweeps Hulk's feet, and Randy topples him for two. She forgot to hold the feet
down like Bobby Heenan did at WrestleMania V. That's why they call him the
'Brain.' Savage capitalizes with the Flying Elbowdrop, but Hogan no-sells -
popping right up! Poor Randy. Atomic drop sends Savage back to the outside, so
Zeus comes in and tells Hulk to try that shit with him. Hulk manages to stagger
him with a barrage of shots, so Savage grabs Sherri's loaded purse, but
Beefcake knocks him off the top rope before he can use it! Hogan gets hold of
it and blasts Zeus to setup a bodyslam, and the Legdrop finishes things at
15:04. Afterwards, Hulk, hero to millions, threatens to outright punch Sherri
in the face as well (choking her against the ropes!), and ends up giving her an
atomic drop before cutting off a bunch of her hair with garden sheers! I love
the guy as much as anyone else, but DEAR LORD! This wasn't a great match from a
workrate perspective, but it was a great main event in that it delivered
everything it promised, and was entertaining. They also did a fantastic job of
Zeus making sure Zeus didn't get exposed, with Savage doing so much of the work
that he even called his spots for him. ** (Original rating: DUD)
BUExperience:
While the first SummerSlam was little more than a glorified house show, this
actually felt like the full-on pay per view efforts that we’d come to know and
love from the summer time classic. While not a must see show, the Rude/Warrior
Intercontinental Title match is fantastic, and (along with a molten hot crowd
throughout) there’s enough solid stuff to support it to certainly make this
worth checking out
***
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