Sage Cortez
SummerSlam 1990 is one of my favorite shows from a nostalgic standpoint. I haven’t watched it in a while, but it was a great way to lead into the WWF period I liked most. So, in the past when I’ve watched this show, I know great things are ahead. And they were. We did have some repeats of matches on here. We also had things that built towards better things. We also got lucky enough to not have to watch Dino Bravo wrestle at all. Enjoy the small victories, and all of that. On to the show!
– August 27th, 1990, from the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The introduction features Vince McMahon screaming about the double main event. Pretty cool, that’s the way every show should open. Even the ones now. Vince is on commentary with Roddy Piper for this one, seeing as Jesse Ventura is gone. The crowd was chanting for Piper, and I guess it’s time for the first match!
Power & Glory (w/Slick) vs. The Rockers
Pre-Match Thoughts: Just in case you don’t notice it yourself, you can see that there was clearly something wrong with Shawn Michaels when he walked very gingerly to the ring. He couldn’t run down the aisle at all. As we know with the benefit of hindsight, Shane Douglas had been substituting for him on live shows. Can’t do that with PPV though.
Match Review: As soon as the Rockers reach ringside, it was time for Hercules to knock Michaels down and beat Michaels across the knee with his chain. Marty tries to save, but it was time for him to take double teams. They get in the ring, and Roma worky Marty over. Roma misses a charge to the corner, then Marty takes turns hip tossing each guy. He then causes Roma to fly into Hercules, and dropkicks the both of them. HOT crowd. Marty follows with a noggin-knocker, then falls victim to more double teaming. Marty kicks Hercules and cradles up Roma, but Slick was distracting the referee. Vince went crazy on commentary, and it’s weird because he never commentated on big shows like this. Marty clotheslines Hercules over the top, and Shawn is trying to climb up to the apron, only to get kicked off of it. Roma launches Marty into the corner, and we have a handicap match. Marty tries a sunset flip, but Hercules makes a blind tag in. Hercules gives Marty a gorilla press slam, and Marty tries to retreat to his corner for a tag, but there’s nobody there. Hercules takes Marty down with a slam, but Marty cradles him up for 2. Blind tag was made again. Roma gives Marty a backbreaker, and that gets 2. Marty powerslams Roma, but no tag can be made. He kicks Hercules, then runs up to the top for a fist drop that gets 2 thanks to another broken cover. Roma goes for a slam, but Marty leaps over him and goes for a cradle, only to run into a punch from Hercules. Roma gets in, and they drop the poor bastard with a double flapjack. Huge bump. Hercules then turns Marty inside out with a clothesline, and makes the tag because it’s time for…THE POWER-PLEX! Hercules takes Marty to the corner, AND THERE’S THE SUPERPLEX. THERE’S THE BIG SPLASH FROM THE TOP, AND THAT’S A WIN AT 6:00.
Even though it’s over, Power and Glory brings Michaels into the ring for the first time and stomps that knee out until officials come from the back to save him.
My Thoughts: That’s a hell of a tag team finisher. It’s funny to see the way people were talking about Roma at the time. It was thought that he would be good enough to carry the team, and that he was a lot better than Hercules. Well, he was, and he would have been good enough to carry the team if they had been pushed. I have no idea why this team wasn’t pushed. Hercules looked better in this match than he did in any other match. Marty also did a great job in this match, he took bumps like crazy for the whole six minutes. **3/4, fun stuff. Power and Glory was also a great name for a tag team.
The Texas Tornado vs. Mr. Perfect (w/Bobby Heenan) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Well, they certainly wasted no time making this match. Even when somebody (Brutus Beefcake) gets hurt and forces the plans to change some, plans are still plans. I’m somewhat surprised this match was so early on the card, but this was a stacked card. Heenan and Perfect were with Sean Mooney, and Perfect says that he doesn’t care about the short notice for this title match. Perfect champions have to take the challengers they can get. Heenan’s promo was absurd, I don’t know why Perfect was even paired with him. Heenan really aged a lot during his years with the company. Von Erich had a promo in the back too, and he was given some silly puns to say. That’s unfortunate. I think Vince LOVED his new acquisition judging by this commentary.
Match Review: Kerry and Perfect lock up, and Kerry pushes Perfect hard into the corner, causing him to take a break. Perfect uses a perfect arm drag to take Kerry down, then a hip toss. Nice gloating on his part too. These guys lock up again, and this time Kerry gives Perfect a hip toss. He slams Perfect, then clotheslines him over the top. Kerry puts Perfect in a wristlock when he gets back in there, but Perfect clubs his way out. He takes Kerry down for a neck snap, which leads to Perfect putting a SLEEPER on him. Kerry reaches the ropes, then gets slapped around. Kerry meets Perfect after getting slapped, then catapults him into the corner. Now Kerry puts the CLAW on him, and follows that with a TORNADO PUNCH for the victory at 5:15! Huge pop for the new champion!
My Thoughts: This was quite the unremarkable title change. Quite strange, actually. Perhaps they promised him a win like this if he joined the company, odds are they did. Perfect’s title reign was also unremarkable. No gripes with the booking, not a special match either. *1/4.
The match is over, but Bobby Heenan and Mr. Perfect had a whole lot to say. Perfect was really angry about it and said he’d regain his title belt. We’ll see!
Queen Sherri vs. Sapphire
I bet people were just salivating over the prospect of watching this match. I used to think it was a surprise what happened here. Now I know that there were skits on WWF TV that showed Sapphire having more and more money, and things like mink coats. Gene Mean was supposed to talk to Sapphire, but she wasn’t there. Wonder why. Sherri was given a jobber entrance of sorts, that’s one way to cram everything onto the card. Her makeup was outrageous, she got a nice set of cheers though. The fans were up and ready for Sapphire’s entrance, many of them dancing…but she didn’t enter the arena. She has to be introduced for a second time, but once again, she wasn’t there. That’s a hell of a bait and switch. Rene Goulet walks down to the ring area and tells Howard Finkel that Sapphire has a 30 second count to come to the ring or she’ll forfeit the match. Sherri counts it down, and she wins the match! WHAT A VICTORY!
Dusty Rhodes had a few things to say about what’s just happened, and he said that he doesn’t know where Sapphire is. He said that Sapphire disappeared earlier in the day, then Hacksaw Duggan shows up and says he hasn’t seen her either. Haha. Dusty also said that Sapphire has all kinds of valuable things now, and he’s going to try to find her again. Okay.
The Warlord (w/Slick) vs. Tito Santana
Pre-Match Thoughts: The Warlord looks much differently than the last time I saw him. Completely bald, wearing trunks. I don’t think he made many gains talent wise, though. While I’m thinking about it, Santana would have been a great fit in the NWA. With their company being more focused on wrestling and all, he would have made a better Dude with Attitude than JYD for example. Job security probably mattered more, though.
Match Review: Santana puts a headlock on Warlord, who throws him off like he’s nothing. Santana dodges a big right hand, and puts a wristlock on Warlord for a bit. He then dropkicks him three times, which knocks Warlord to the outside. He gets back in and Santana goes back to the wristlock, until Warlord slams him. Warlord misses an elbow drop, then Santana knocks him down with some punches for 2. Vince is overselling this match as bad as he did in the mid-90’s. Warlord sends Santana out of the ring and rams him back-first into the post, then back in they go. Warlord hits him with the slowest of punching attacks, then misses a charge to the corner. Santana clotheslines the guy for 2, then nails him with the FLYING FOREARM for another 2 count. Santana then goes for a monkey flip, which gets blocked. Warlord picks Santana up, drops him with a running powerslam, and that’s the victory at 5:28.
My Thoughts: This match stunk, in large part because of Warlord. He could do nothing other than stand there, it seemed. Anyway, I had low expectations and don’t want to devote much thought to this right now, but at some point I’ll explain what I think makes him and others bad wrestlers. DUD.
The Hart Foundation vs. Demolition in a 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: They’ve excellently built up to this match. Actual effort being put in the tag team division is great to see. These guys had the capability of putting together a great match even though Crush wasn’t that good. Remember, Demolition has three members. All of them looked ready to wrestle, too. Their promo made it clear that they’re trying to confuse people as that’s their thing now. Demolition did say that the Legion of Doom would be the next challengers, that’s good to hear. Not that they actually were the next challengers. To start this match, we had Crush and Smash out there. The Hart Foundation’s promo was good. The Anvil said he didn’t care who he was going to be facing here.
Fall #1: Bret and Smash will start things off, and all four guys wind up in there before any punches are thrown. Neidhart knocks Crush out of the ring, and the Foundation hits Smash with a double back elbow. Bret cradles Smash up for 2, then arm drags him. Neidhart tags in legally, as Vince pushes the narrative that Demolition looks alike. They really don’t. Smash misses a charge to the corner, and in comes the Hitman. Bret takes Smash down and leg drops the arm, continuing to work on it. Smash slams Bret to get out, and in comes Crush. Crush slams Bret, and misses a knee drop. Bret goes for a cross body, but Crush catches and slams him again. Crush then misses a charge to the corner as well, and Bret rolls him up for 2. Smash tags in, as does Neidhart, and Neidhart gets kicked from behind by Crush as he runs the ropes. Crush tags in now, and gets clotheslined during a charge to the corner. Both guys make tags, and Bret clotheslines Smash. He dropkicks Crush, then leaps onto Crush for some punches. Bret gives Smash an inverted aotmic drop, then throws Demolition into each other. Bret takes Smash down with a Russian leg sweep that gets a very near fall, the crowd thought it was over. Bret follows that with a backbreaker, and an elbow from the second rope. Crush breaks the cover with a leg drop, then legally tags in there. Demolition sets Bret up, and there’s Demolition Decapitation for a fall at 6:09.
Fall #2: Demolition beats up Bret behind the back of the referee, which I’m pretty sure is an illegal way to start a fall. Crush takes Bret down with a chokeslam, and Smash tags in for a back suplex that gets 2. Crush gets back in there, and puts Bret in a neck vice. Bret elbows his way out, but gets hit in the throat and Demolition tags again. Smash rams Bret into the buckle, but Bret takes him down with a clothesline. Neidhart makes the tag in, and takes both guys out with forearm shots. Those are followed with a big elbow to Smash for 2, and a powerslam that also gets 2. Bret tags back in there, and throws Neidhart shoulder-first into Smash. Smash then gets set up for the HART ATTACK, and Bret covers only for Crush to stop HEbner from counting the fall. What a dick. Of course, Crush gets disqualified at 10:06. It’s all evened up!
Fall #3: Crush knocks Bret out of the ring with a clothesline to start the next fall, so it’s kind of 2 on 1. Time for shenanigans, and here comes Ax! Ax went to hide under the ring, never spotted by the official. Bret flies back in with a sunset from the apron on Smash that gets 2, then follows with an inverted atomic drop. Neidhart comes in without a tag, and they do a complicated spot where Neidhart takes Smash down with a shoulderblock, then slams Bret on top of Smash for a 2 count. Smash gets dumped to the outside and finally Ax makes his way in. Look, them not being able to tell these guys apart makes no sense. Ax nails Bret with a clothesline, and follows that with a bodyslam for a 2 count. Ax follows that with a Russian leg sweep for 2, and launches Bret into the corner for another 2 count. Crush heads in and gives Bret a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for 2, the cover was broken again. Now Bret winds up on the outside and Crush makes sure that Smash and Ax can double team him, then Ax gets under the ring. After a Smash hotshot, HERE COMES THE LEGION OF DOOM. They take Ax and pull him out from under the ring, then Hawk trips Crush to knock him off the ropes. Smash calls LOD sons of bitches and leaves the ringside area for a bit, as Neidhart flies in with a slingshot shoulderblock from the apron! Bret covers Crush, and the Hart Foundation wins the belts at 14:24!
My Thoughts: Despite the narrative of not being able to tell Demolition apart not making a lot of sense, I thought this was pretty good. The work was crisp and the guys busted out some different spots that they didn’t often use. One thing in particular being that double team slam/splash thing. LOD interfering helped make the match. Without their participation, the whole thing would have been pretty flat. I don’t think this was a classic or anything like that, in large part because of the awful narrative. The more I think about it, the worse it sounds actually. You mean to tell me somebody can’t tell apart Ax and Smash? They don’t look alike at all! Smash has a tattoo! I almost feel guilty about giving this ***. LOD showing up and the Hart Foundation winning the belts makes this a great moment.
It’s time for intermission, so let’s see what they put on here. First we have a commercial for WrestleMania VII at the Coliseum in LA! Some of the wrestlers they have in the commercial weren’t even there.
Now we have the Legion of Doom with Mean Gene. Typical Road Warriors promo with Animal screaming at the camera. Tell ’em Hawk. They’re gonna get rid of the imposters. The Hart Foundation crashed that promo, and it looked weird to see the Road Warriors playing secondary right there. I’m sorry. Legion of Doom.
Demolition seemed awfully angry in the dressing room, and they didn’t want to talk to Sean Mooney about it.
Mean Gene is with Queen Sherri, who was talking herself up for scaring Sapphire away from her match. Sherri talks about a rumor regarding Sapphire, and it will be revealed later. Okay.
The PPV broadcast then took a 5 minute intermission that I don’t have to sit through, and ran down the rest of the matches on the card. Imagine how viewers would react to having to take an intermission now.
The makeshift team of Nikolai Volkoff and Jim Duggan is with Sean Mooney, and let me tell you what. I’m glad this team didn’t stick around long. They were facing the Orient Express.
Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and Jimmy Hart have their own interview. Finally Quake has a logo on his attire. No more generic crap! His promo was hilarious. Bravo’s promo stunk. This is a big joke, really.
Bad News Brown vs. Jake Roberts with THE BIG BOSS MAN as SPECIAL REFEREE
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the definition of unimportant, I hate to say. They basically buried this thing, by the way. Bad News was supposed to have 200 pounds of sewer rats, but when the cage of them was revealed…there was one rat in the cage. Singular. Uno. One. The video of Damien with his mouth hanging open was creepy shit for me. Boss Man said he wasn’t scared of anything at all, and that he’d deal with these guys fairly and correctly. Roberts had a promo of his own, and that snake of his was GIGANTIC. They’ve upgraded on that thing, it looks like. Damien appeared to be measuring Roberts up.
Match Review: Boss Man had to run into the ring to do his job, and Jake dodged a charge to the corner. Bad News left the ring to avoid the DDT, and things settled down quickly. Bad News hip tosses Roberts, then goes for the Ghetto Blaster only for Roberts to fall down on him. Bad News drops a leg on Roberts, and wants a count that only gets 2. Roberts goes for the DDT again only for Bad News to duck out again, which wasn’t too surprising. Roberts goes out to the floor, and Bad News nails him with a chair. Why no DQ? Back in they go, and there isn’t shit going on here. Bad News clotheslines Roberts, then heads up to the second rope for a fist drop that misses. Roberts hit him with a knee lift, and follows with his short clothesline. The crowd wants to see the DDT, but Bad News backdrops him. Bad News grabs the chair again, and this time Boss Man disqualifies him after 4:44 of non-action. Bad News tries to drop a leg on Damien, but Boss Man pulls the bag out of the way. He wants a fight too, which starts after Bad News attacks him from behind. Jake pulls out Damien, drapes him all over Bad News, and Bad News leaves the arena.
My Thoughts: This really stunk, not as bad as the Warlord match though. 1/2* seems proper, but I was thoroughly bored. They just didn’t capture my attention. I’m glad that this show in many respects marks the end of the era in which many guys didn’t do jobs on PPV. In addition to that, Bad News left the company. No idea how he stuck around so long while not doing jobs.
Demolition is finally ready for an interview, and they didn’t like being called former tag team champions. They said before they go after the Hart Foundation again, they’re going to face off against the Legion of Doom. Alright!
It’s also time for a heat killing Brother Love Show. His guest here is…SGT. SLAUGHTER! Clearly they were bringing him in as a heel. He was going to present a “Great American Award” and gave it to Brother Love. That was funny. No Iraq stuff at this point though. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF IS A PINKO COMMIE MAGGOT SCUM PUKE THAT HAS HAD WAR DECLARED ON HIM. GREAT PROMO. Oh, there’s the Iraq stuff. He said Saddam would beat our troops down. NOT COOL.
Mean Gene finally found Sapphire, but she slammed a door on him. Alright.
The Orient Express (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Jim Duggan & Nikolai Volkoff
Pre-Match Thoughts: One thing I’ve realized while watching this is that the era of the heel manager was nearly over in the WWF. They just didn’t need managers who cut promos for the entirety of the heel side of their roster. On this show in particular, Slick and Mr. Fuji were completely marginalized and you could see they were being phased out. Demolition did not have a manager. Earthquake did, but he still did his own talking. It just wasn’t necessary to have these guys around and so prominent anymore. The company was changing. The Orient Express were interviewed before the match, and Fuji did all the talking. Duggan and Volkoff wanted to sing “God Bless America.” Oh boy.
Match Review: The Express attacks, but Hacksaw and Volkoff dish out atomic drops to send them into each other. The match normalizes to Volkoff in there with Tanaka, and Tanaka just runs into the big guy. Volkoff then picks Tanaka up, and Sato comes off the top with a big right. Volkoff eats a cane shot from Fuji, then Sato hits Volkoff with a kick to the face. Tanaka tags back in and misses a splash, and Hacksaw makes his way in. Sato does as well, and Hacksaw hits them with a double clothesline. He follows that with a noggin knocker, then lands a few more clotheslines. Volkoff sends Sato over the top, and Hacksaw hits Tanaka with a clothesline that causes a somersault sell for the victory at 3:22.
My Thoughts: This match was no good at all, it ended quickly though. As such, I can’t complain that much about it. I think the worst thing about this were the gimmicks involved. Vince McMahon just loves his pro-USA and anti-USA gimmicks. At least in this case, it wasn’t too prominent. Unfortunately, they did become far more prominent not long after this show was over. 1/4*.
The Macho King (w/Queen Sherri) vs. Dusty Rhodes
Pre-Match Thoughts: Glad this is the end of this particular program. I really could not take anymore. Total waste of one of their best talents to have him programmed with Dusty for this long, this far past Dusty’s prime. Dusty was trying to get into the dressing room Sapphire was in, but she wouldn’t let him in. He said he needed her in his corner. In the back, Savage was on a podium when he had his interview. He said something was going on with Sapphire, and said Dusty Rhodes wasn’t what anyone had in mind when mentioning the American Dream. That’s messed up. Oh shit, Ted DiBiase is at the interview podium. He had no match here, so this was his big thing I suppose. He said his money bought SAPPHIRE. Great way to start a new feud and take Sapphire off TV.
Match Review: Dusty headed up the aisle after that, only to be attacked from behind by Savage. Savage sends him back in and gives him a double axehandle from the top, then chokes away. Sherri hits Dusty with a big forearm, then chokes him as well. Dusty comes back with some elbows to Savage, then dropkicks him out of the ring. Savage pulls Sherri in between him and Dusty, which also allows Sherri to hand Savage something. Sherri then gets in the ring to distract Dusty, and Savage nails Dusty with the LOADED PURSE. He covers, and wins the match at 2:15.
My Thoughts: I have no idea why this match was so short. Doesn’t quite make too much sense, but I have no complaints. That was close to a clean job for Dusty, which as we know was rare. Otherwise, there’s not much to say about this. It could hardly even be called a match. DUD, I suppose. Lots of bad matches on this show.
After the match is over, it is made clear that DiBiase has a limo in the driveway. Sean Mooney tries to ask him some questions, but DiBiase dresses him down in response. Dusty is on his way to the back as he’s talking, and the limo drives away from him before he could do anything. If only we had seen a fat guy wearing polka dots walking the streets of Philly trying to find Sapphire.
Earthquake (w/Dino Bravo & Jimmy Hart) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Big Boss Man)
Pre-Match Thoughts: They built up to this match very well. Hogan in the triumphant returning babyface role is a good PPV seller. One funny thing about this show is that I’ve never paid good attention to either of the main events on it. They just aren’t particularly inspiring matches in the context of watching them 20-25 years later.
Before the match begins, Hogan and Boss Man have a promo. Hogan is in typical amusing form too. First chance Boss Man got to cut one of those main event babyface promos. Don’t know what was planned for him. He and Hogan entered separately for some reason.
Match Review: Hogan spit at Earthquake right before this started, that’s realism for you. When they lock up, Hogan tries his shoving routine but can’t move the guy. Quake shoves him down a few times, so Hogan grabs onto a headlock for a second. Quake shoulderblocks him, and he leaves the ring for a second. Boss Man motivates Hogan during that time, so Hogan gets back in and tries a bodyslam that Quake blocks. Quake clubs away, but misses a charge to the corner and Hogan clotheslines him a few times. Quake won’t go down to those, so Hogan goes to hit Bravo and Hart when they hop on the apron. Hogan finally knocks Quake down with a punch, and clears him from the ring. Hogan follows to the outside, and Boss Man starts beating up Earthquake. THAT’S CHEATING. Boss Man gets in the ring, and helps Hogan land a double big boot on Bravo. They follow with one to Earthquake, this is such cheating. WHY IS THIS ALLOWED? Bravo attacks Hogan from behind and they give Hogan a double bodyslam, then Quake drops a big elbow on him for 2. Quake heads up top for the first time, and comes down with a big right. Uneventful. Quake puts Hogan in a Boston crab, but Hogan reaches the ropes. When he falls out of the ring, Bravo slams him. Bravo sends Hogan back inside, and Quake slams Hogan as well. Quake misses an elbow drop, so Hogan goes for the bodyslam again only for Quake to fall on top for a 2 count. Quake follows that with a bear hug, which Hogan fights out of. That bear hug was funny in that Hogan tore the official’s shirt in an attempt to break it. Quake catches Hogan and powerslams him, and covers for 2. He signals for the BUTT SPLASH, which he hits Hogan with. Bravo got on the apron to celebrate that, then Quake hits Hogan with another BUTT SPLASH that gets 2. Remember this hurt Hogan before? EXPOSING THE BUSINESS. Hogan HULKS UP, hits Quake with the three punches, a big boot, and that doesn’t knock Quake down. Hogan goes for a bodyslam, and that puts Quake down. He DROPS THE LEG, but Bravo is on the apron. Hart runs in and hits Hogan to stop the cover, so Hogan grabs him and lifts him up. He throws him onto Earthquake, then Boss Man runs in to deal with Bravo. Hogan and Earthquake brawl on the floor, and Jimmy Hart misses a megaphone shot at Hogan, hitting Quake instead. Hogan then slams Quake onto a table, and wins the match via count-out at 13:16.
Quake gets up, and gets back in the ring…attacking Hogan from behind! He puts Hogan in a choke lift, but Boss Man cracks Quake across the back with a chair to the point of him getting welts on his back. Boss Man then whips out his nightstick, and Quake leaves the ring. For now. Hogan then does his posing thing for a real long time, which I couldn’t care less about.
My Thoughts: This was a weak finish, but it made sense in the context of Hogan taking whatever win over Quake that he could get. Also, this feud wasn’t supposed to be completely over as they needed it to do house show business. I think the match was good, yet flawed at the same time. The flawed aspect was in having Boss Man and Bravo liberally attack Earthquake and Hogan while the referee was looking. As for what was good, there was minimal resting. The action was consistently moving, and the thing after the match was good too. I also liked the slam on the table. I’d give this **1/2 taking everything into consideration. I would have liked this more without the Boss Man and Bravo stuff.
As the steel cage is constructed, it’s time for some interviews. Dusty Rhodes had some things to say about Ted DiBiase and Sapphire, he was awfully pissed.
Afer that, Lord Alfred Hayes talked about the construction of that cage. They were trying to do it as quickly as they could, but it’s going to take a while. It’s easy to see why they didn’t do another cage match on PPV for so long after this. Took too long.
Hulk Hogan was in the back talking about his match, and he went absolutely insane. This was hilarious. Hogan said that he wanted to be the #1 contender. That doesn’t sound like the right thing to say at this point. If Hogan faced Warrior at that point, no doubt he’d be more over.
Earthquake had comments for Hogan, and said he wasn’t finished with him. Those welts on his back were BAD.
Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. The Ultimate Warrior in a STEEL CAGE MATCH for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: So, this is the end of their off and on very long-running program. I’m looking forward to this match precisely because of what I said about the last match. I have never paid attention to this match. I don’t know what to expect at all as a result. Rude and Heenan were interviewed before this started, and Rude’s promo was quite long. He said that a cage match was his kind of match, not Warrior’s. Warrior was finally interviewed, strange that the champion had such a lack of prominence on this card. How could anyone like a guy that routinely treated interviewers like garbage? This match was held under escape rules and pinfalls were also allowed.
Match Review: Warrior decided to shake the cage and did so to the point where I thought it would bust. Oh boy. Warrior then climbed the thing, and fought with Rude on his way in. He rams Rude into the top of the fence, and Rude falls down to the canvas. Warrior flies in with a double axehandle from the top rope, then throws Rude into the cage. Warrior does so again, and it looks like Rude has been busted open. After more cage shots given out by Warrior, Warrior charges at Rude, but misses and hits the cage as well. Looks like he bladed too. Rude tries to climb out of the thing, but Warrior gets up and grabs him. Rude then turns around and hits him with a right from the top rope, and throws Warrior into the fence again. Rude throws Warrior into the cage a few more times, then it’s time for some elbows. The guys then slug it out, until Rude rakes the eyes and grates Warrior’s face with the bars. Rude goes for the RUDE AWAKENING, but Warrior blocks it by breaking the arms apart. Warrior clotheslines Rude, goes for a splash, and Rude blocks it with his knees. Rude then hammers him with the RUDE AWAKENING, and climbs up to the top of the cage! Rude flies down with a big forearm, not such an impressive leap after all. Rude goes up to the top of the cage again, and Warrior hits him to stop that flying nothing that Rude came down with. Warrior goes for the cage door, and Heenan SLAMS the thing on him. His involvement has now been justified. Rude’s cover only gets 2, then the guys collide with each other. Rude goes for the door, and Heenan tries to pull him out, which leads to a tug-of-war. Warrior pulls Heenan into the cage, and levels him with some punches. Warrior then gives Heenan an atomic drop to send him out of the cage, and Rude hits Warrior with a clothesline. Warrior reaches the ropes and starts shaking them, so I guess this is going to be the end. Warrior hits Rude with some clotheslines in quick succession, then picks Rude up for a GORILLA PRESS SLAM. Warrior climbs up the cage, and I guess that’s it after 10:06, as he drops to the floor.
My Thoughts: This was a good PPV main event, as good as it could get with Warrior anyway. I thought the commentary by Piper was pretty bad though, when Warrior had triumphed, all he could do was put over Rude for continuing to fight. Probably not what Vince wanted. Nice use of the cage gimmick to immediately bring blood into the equation. I thought the finish was a little weak, but that’s the pattern of this show. It wasn’t really built up towards and I don’t think the crowd was clamoring or expecting that finish. The match was also fairly short for its status at the main event. I did like it better than Hogan/Earthquake, though! This wasn’t their best match but they did as well as they could and Warrior was put over strong. **3/4, it was good but not spectacular.
It was good but not spectacular is actually a nice way to sum this show up. The wrestling on this show was average at best, but the feuds were all paid off as anyone would want to see. The nostalgia factor was also really high. Who doesn’t want to see the Hart Foundation win the tag belts, right? One funny note about this show was that somebody stole Sapphire’s jewelry and mink coat. You know, I kind of expected that. Not many interesting news bits otherwise. I don’t really have much else to offer when it comes to this one, so next up for me is Clash of the Champions 12. As absurd as that show was…
Wrestling Time: 1:04:50. That’s not very much! There were lots of other things thrown in, plus that intermission and constructing the cage, all of them took up quite a bit of time.
Best: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition. It wasn’t a great match, but it was the best match.
Worst: The Warlord vs. Tito Santana. Dull and uninteresting.
Card Rating: 6.5/10. Despite what I said about there being a lot of bad matches, the show delivered on multiple levels and the matches people really cared about weren’t bad. Worth a watch.
