It was in the deep, dark distant days of September 1989 when I say my first Summerslam. Back then Sky were about two weeks behind on the WWF programming, so Summerslam was actually broadcast here in the autumn. It was also back in the days when there were only four PPVs a year, and a long five month wait between Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
The whole event was used as publicity for Hulk Hogan's film, No Holds Barred. In the film Hogan played -yep- a wrestler, who was feuding with a big mother called Zeus, the "Human Wrecking Machine", played by Tiny Lister. Vince McMahon had the bright idea of carrying over Lister's character into the WWF. He was paired with longtime Hogan nemesis Randy Savage, while Hogan teamed with his cousin, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, one of my favourites at the time. The match itself was nothing special. Lister showed he wasn't up to much as a wrestler (probably why he was no. 500 in the PWI top 500 the following year). He only had two more WWF matches after this. True to form, Hogan and Beefcake won.
The whole event was used as publicity for Hulk Hogan's film, No Holds Barred. In the film Hogan played -yep- a wrestler, who was feuding with a big mother called Zeus, the "Human Wrecking Machine", played by Tiny Lister. Vince McMahon had the bright idea of carrying over Lister's character into the WWF. He was paired with longtime Hogan nemesis Randy Savage, while Hogan teamed with his cousin, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, one of my favourites at the time. The match itself was nothing special. Lister showed he wasn't up to much as a wrestler (probably why he was no. 500 in the PWI top 500 the following year). He only had two more WWF matches after this. True to form, Hogan and Beefcake won.
Some of the other matches were quite forgettable. Dusty Rhodes made his first WWF PPV appearance, Mr. Perfect's unbeaten streak (well, unbeaten on TV) continued, and Ted DiBiase bragged about how he had ended Jake Robert's wrestling career (in hindsight, a pity this statement wasn't true, given Jake's sorry state today). The real disappointment was the six man tag pitting King Duggan and Demolition against Andre The Giant and The Twin Towers. These six monsters promised much, but failed to deliver.
What Summerslam '89 did show was great tag-team wrestling. The six man pitting Tito Santana and The Rockers against Rick Martel and The Rougeous was great, with high flying and technical wizardry throughout, Martel getting the pin for his team. Also, then newly crowned tag champions The Brain Busters went up against The Hart Foundation in another great match, only spoiled by the fact that it was a non-title affair, won by the Busters. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard looked like they could dominate the tag division in the WWF for years to come. Sadly, backstage politics meant that they left the WWF just three months later.
The match of the night pitted Intercontinental Champion Ravishing Rick Rude against longtime foe The Ultimate Warrior. Five months earlier, Rude had stolen the title from the Warrior at Wrestlemania, with a little help from Bobby Heenan. Finally, the Warrior was able to get revenge. This match had everything, tension, drama, the ref getting knocked cold, and Rowdy Roddy Piper shocking Rude by showing his ass on world-wide television. Rude stood no chance and lost the match and the title shortly afterwards. It was during this match that The Warrior became my favourite, but then again, The Undertaker was still over a year away, and Stone Cold was nothing more tha a twinkle in Vinny Mac's eye. Summerslam has provided some great matches since it began back in 1988. Here's hoping they keep up the tradition!
The match of the night pitted Intercontinental Champion Ravishing Rick Rude against longtime foe The Ultimate Warrior. Five months earlier, Rude had stolen the title from the Warrior at Wrestlemania, with a little help from Bobby Heenan. Finally, the Warrior was able to get revenge. This match had everything, tension, drama, the ref getting knocked cold, and Rowdy Roddy Piper shocking Rude by showing his ass on world-wide television. Rude stood no chance and lost the match and the title shortly afterwards. It was during this match that The Warrior became my favourite, but then again, The Undertaker was still over a year away, and Stone Cold was nothing more tha a twinkle in Vinny Mac's eye. Summerslam has provided some great matches since it began back in 1988. Here's hoping they keep up the tradition!
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