WWE SummerSlam '91

WWE SummerSlam ‘91
August 26, 1991
Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York

I’m back after a brief break, with one of my favorite shows! It’s a MSG crowd so you know the workers are gonna be at their best. I love New York crowds, because more often than not they are electric. These were interesting times in the WWE. Ric Flair had just left WCW… with the World Title belt. I couldn’t believe this at the time, and was so excited at the possibility of the mother of all dream matches at the time between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Flair had not yet arrived yet officially, but he had Bobby Heenan running around with the WCW World Title. With no internet at this time (unless you’re Al Gore) this was surreal. The lead up to SummerSlam was some of my favorite times as a young wrestling fan. Jake Roberts had just turned heel and joined forces with the Undertaker against the Ultimate Warrior. Hogan was still in his feud with Sgt. Slaughter, but that was winding down and pretty much lost all of its heat. Bret Hart was in the middle of his singles push and had already won the heart of me as he would become my favorite wrestler of all time. He was on his way to SummerSlam for an IC Title shot against Mr. Perfect. Perfect had taken some time off before SummerSlam due to a serious back injury.

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and Rowdy Roddy Piper

Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) and Warlord w/ Slick vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich, and “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith

Great choice for an opener here as 6 man matches are always a great way to get the crowd fired up. Steamboat was just known as “The Dragon” at this point. It was actually kind of ridiculous. They rarely made mention that he was Ricky Steamboat, though I do remember an article in WWE Magazine where they made mention of it and talked about his classic with Randy Savage at WrestleMania III. He was only back in WWE for less than a year and then it was back to WCW not long after this where he would have one final great run. The baby-faces go over here as you would expect. Good opener. ***

WWE IC Championship
Mr. Perfect (champion) w/ Coach vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart
This classic is must-see for any fan. Moreover, it is must-see for any prospective pro wrestler. It’s interesting listening to the way Bret talks about Curt Hennig with so much reverence. Not just because of his untimely death in 2003, but just as a guy he looked up to and admired in the sport of pro wrestling. He talks about how much it meant to him that Curt made him look like a million bucks in this match. Mr. Perfect had severe back problems going into this match, no doubt to his insane bumping style in the ring. This is such a great match. Heenan points out some of the psychology used by Hart early in the match, as he gets knocked out of the ring and pays no attention to Coach, and goes right back in the ring. Almost like there isn’t going to be anything stopping him on this night. The other thing I love about Bret Hart matches is that because he used to be a heel, so he has no problems doing heel tactics in response to tactics being done on him, for example the hair pulling early on in the match. It’s a back and forth thriller and Bret even gets to kick out of the Perfect-plex, something only Hogan and Warrior had done before that. Hart gets the sharpshooter on and Perfect gives up. Perfect would take a long time off after this and become Ric Flair’s “Executive Consultant.” Bret was on his way to stardom. I’ve debated over the years what rating to give this, but I don’t see how I can do anything other than give this what it deserves, especially given the physical condition of Hennig going into this match. *****

Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) w/ “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart vs. Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch) w/ Andre the Giant
This would be Andre the Giant’s last WWE PPV appearance. They ran an angle where Earthquake injured his knee. I have no idea if Vince and Andre had plans to wrestle again, but there just wasn’t any way. His body was almost completely deteriorated at this point, and he would pass away a year and a half later. At this point though he was just the corner man for whoever was against Earthquake. Typhoon is the recently turned Tugboat. Tugboat turned on the Bushwhackers during a 6 man tag team match before this and joined up with Jimmy Hart. This match was a squash match. Bushwhackers actually do a decent job wrestling the behemoths, much to my surprise. But the match is a formality and the Disasters win. ¾*

Million Dollar Championship
“Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase (champion) w/ Sensational Sherri vs. Virgil

One of my all-time favorite storylines culminates here. This is what pro-wrestling is about to me. A well-built storyline culminating with the baby-face going over the dastardly heel in an epic showdown. The MSG crowd is totally into this, and adds to the sheer emotion of the match. Sherri gets thrown out of the match early on to the absolute delight of the New York crowd, and the crowd pops HUGE hen Virgil rams Dibiase in the exposed (by Dibiase) turnbuckle and pins him. This one never gets old and should be an example for today’s creative department of WWE on how to make the product better. ***1/2

Jailhouse Match
Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Big Bossman
Loser of this match spends a night in jail. Once again we have a purely simple storyline that once again can be used as a template for storylines (or lacktherof) today. Who is the real law and order in the WWE? Simple, yet very effective and the payoff is in Madison Square Garden. The match? It isn’t Hart-Perfect, but once again, because of the effective build, the crowd is emotionally invested in seeing the Mountie get his at SummerSlam, and that is exactly what happens. The aftermath is comedic gold, as Mountie gets handcuffed, shackled, booked, finger-printed, and finally the allusion of some of an inmate taking advantage of him is there. So funny, and still cracks me up today. **

WWE Tag Team Championship – No Disqualification
Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs) (champions) w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal)
After being in the E for over a year, the Road Warriors finally got the big title win. Frankly I was surprised it took this long, but once again, thanks to an insanely hot MSG crowd, the payoff was worth the wait. The Nasty Boys were a perfect transitional team in retrospect, even though they held the titles for over 5 months. The match was pretty bad, and the no dq rules barely come into effect, aside from Hawk getting sprayed with mace. Match ends with the doomsday device and the pin. Crowd goes insane. *

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs. IRS
This is your classic come down match after so many matches in a row like that, the crowd was in need of a much needed breather to go to the bathroom and get some drinks. IRS is of course Mike Rotunda, recently coming into WWE after his long stint in WCW. Valentine was pretty much on his way out. He would head off to WCW shortly after this. Match is nothing more than a way to cool down the crowd and put IRS over. *3/4

Main Event
Handicap Match – Special Guest Referee Sid Justice
Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa vs. Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior
Weird match here, as this would be the end of Sgt. Slaughter as the Iraqi sympathizer. Col. Mustafa is the Iron Sheik. Vince is weird sometimes, as he actually thought we were going to forget that A. he is the Iron Sheik, but more importantly B. He was actually from Iran, not Iraq. Sid Justice (known as Sid Vicious in WCW not long before this) is the special referee, and it was clear that the WWE wasn’t quite sure what to do with Sid. He was a big heel in WCW, and all of the sudden he was being booked as a baby-face here. Finally, the Warrior apparently had a major contract dispute and legend has it that Warrior was getting his walking papers during the match by Vince. The match is about what you would expect. Hogan was going to go over Slaughter here and finally put that feud to rest. Hogan and Sid celebrate together after the match, which I guess is the rub Sid needed to get over as a baby face. Unfortunately he would suffer a bicep injury not long after this match, and never really take off as a baby-face. **

Finally, the wedding of the century takes place, as “Macho Man” Randy Savage marries his real life wife, Miss Elizabeth. During the reception, one of the gifts gets opened and out pops a cobra, and it sets off one of the hottest feuds ever between Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Savage as Roberts and Undertaker attack Savage. One of the most evil angles of all time.

Final Analysis: Hart-Perfect is required viewing, and what the rest of the show lacks in wrestling, it makes up for in a hot crowd, and brilliantly told storylines. In that respect, SummerSlam 1991 is one of the best shows ever, and a great example of how good pro wrestling can be, and certainly a shining example of why I’m personally such a big fan.