WWE SummerSlam '89

WWE SummerSlam ‘89
August 28, 1989
The Meadowlands
East Rutherford, New Jersey

This would be another transitional show, as new feuds and storylines came after WrestleMania V and into the summer of 1989. Demolition had recently dropped the tag team titles to Bobby Heenan’s Brainbusters with help from Andre the Giant. Jake the Snake was injured at the hands of Ted Dibiase and he wouldn’t let anyone forget about it as their feud escalated. Dusty Rhodes had recently made his debut and he was as over as he ever was adding another top baby face to an already stacked roster. That of course leaves Hulk Hogan. He won his title back from Randy Savage who was at his absolute best of his career as a heel. He had filmed “No Holds Barred” with co-star Tommy Lister who portrayed the heel in the movie came to the WWE to portray himself as Zeus, the man of destruction and feud with Hogan. Now I don’t know if this is true or not, but apparently, the original plan was for Hogan to beat Zeus at WrestleMania VI. Whether it was true or not I think we can all be thankful that it didn’t happen. Even still, for entertainment value, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world as the WWE was trying to transition itself to the 90’s as the golden years were almost over.

Commentators: Tony Schiavonie and Jesse “The Body” Ventura

Hart Foundation (Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) vs. Brainbusters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
Jesse and Tony immediately discuss the fact that this is a non-title match and how goofy that is. I would agree with Tony here, as it does take a little bit off the match itself… but it doesn’t take that much off. This match is pure tag team gold as two of the greatest teams ever go toe to toe. The Brainbusters were only in WWE for a year, but man did they have some fantastic matches. They got to work with the Rockers, the Harts, Demolition, all of the top teams, and all were outstanding. This match is really unheralded (probably because it was a non-title) but should be checked out. Jesse points out that even though it is non-title, that if the Harts don’t win they may not see another shot for another year. He would prove to be right as the Busters win and the Harts in fact did not see another title shot for another year. This was great tag team action. ****

“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart
As mentioned before, Rhodes just came into the WWE. He mentioned in his DVD how it was a nice little reprieve to just go out and perform, whereas he was kind of running things in the NWA. Rhodes is insanely over, as the crowd just loves everything he does. Say what you want about Dusty Rhodes, there aren’t many guys in history that know how to work a crowd. Honky Tonk is also still tremendous at getting the cheap heel heat, but he was pretty much stuck in midcard hell at this point. The match was predictably going towards a guitar shot to Honky, and Jimmy accidentally nails him with the guitar. Rhodes drops the big elbow, and gets the win. Match wasn’t great, but both guys had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands. *1/4

Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster
Perfect is on fire so this match is a formality. It would’ve been a match of the night contender, but Roosters messes up his knee early in the match so it gets cut short. Perfect hits Rooster with the Perfect-plex and finishes it with the usual. ¾*

6 Man Tag Team Match
Rick Martel and Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) w/ Slick and Jimmy Hart vs. Tito Santana and Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)
The show continues with its nice flow and another gem here. You can’t go wrong when you put 6 talented guys like this out there and say “go have fun”. This is just non-stop action from beginning to end, with Santana playing “face in peril”. He gets the hot tag to Michaels, and more insanity ensues until finally Martel gets the pin on Jannetty to win the match. Excellent match! ***1/2

WWE IC Championship
“Ravishing” Rick Rude (champion) w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Ultimate Warrior
I think this is the match that Vince decided he would pull the trigger on the Warrior as getting the big prize in the future. One of my favorite matches ever here, as Rude was on fire as a worker, and the ability to get a good match out of the Warrior. And a good match this was, one of the best of both guys’ career, certainly the Warrior. They go back and forth, even exchanging piledrivers and several false finishes. The match winds down as Rowdy Piper comes out to distract Rude, and Warrior finishes him off with a gorilla press and a splash. Sensational match and as I said, one of my personal favorites. ****

6 Man Tag Team Match
Andre the Giant and Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Bossman) w/ Bobby Heenan and Slick vs. King Duggan and Demolition (Ax and Smash)
Another 6 man here as the feud between Demolition and Twin Towers and Andre continues. Andre of course cost Demolition the tag titles. This is a feud that would actually culminate at WrestleMania the next year, but here it’s just a typical 6 man tag. Short and inoffensive, but certainly nothing great. Duggan hits Akeem with the 2x4 and Smash gets the pin. ¼*

Hercules vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart
“Rugged” Ronnie Garvin is the special guest ring announcer here, basically to put the bad mouth on Valentine to continue their feud, and that was pretty much the only reason for this match. Valentine wins the match with the cheap foot on the rope, but Garvin comes in and claims that Hercules won. Kind of stupid, but the point comes across as Garvin and Valentine progress their storyline which would actually end in a pretty good match at the Royal Rumble in 1990. This match was garbage though. ¼*

“The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase w/ Virgil vs. “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka
Dibiase comes out and brags once again about being the man who ended Jake Roberts wrestling career. Snuka had just returned after being out of the WWE for a few years. He wasn’t yet JTTS quite yet which is why Dibiase only wins by a cheap count out, as I guess they still felt it necessary to protect Snuka. Match was ok, but pretty much just an excuse to give these two something to do. Dibiase was the king of these cheap count out wins during this time period. ½*

Main Event
“Macho Man” Randy Savage and Zeus w/ Sensational Sherri vs. Hulk Hogan and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake w/ Miss Elizabeth
Savage joined up with Sensational Sherri after WrestleMania to really turn up the heat on his heel character. He was pretty much can’t miss at this point in his career. Zeus might be the worst wrestler of all time, so thank god this is a tag match and his role is pretty much limited. Seriously all he does as yell and choke. Beefcake and Savage really carry this match and make it fun as Savage is great, and Beefcake was really coming into his own as a work. Very under-appreciated. They had a very underrated Saturday Nights Main Event match before this that helped hype up this show too. The match ends when Sherri tries to interfere in the match but Elizabeth stops her and the loaded purse is available for Hogan to nail Zeus, slam him and finish it with the usual. Fun match worthy of main event status, and the Zeus stuff was kept to a minimum. ***

Final Analysis: What a great show! The wrestling was good, the crowd was hot and the main event sent fans home happy. Problem is, other than Warrior getting his title back, nothing really historic happened. Savage would go onto beat Duggan for the King of the Ring crown and then feud with Rhodes. Demolition would regain their titles from the Brainbusters a few weeks later, and then the Busters would leave the WWE again after Survivor Series. Still, it’s a fun show with some really good matches.