SummerSlam ’89

(All screen captures are the property of World Wrestling Entertainment)

SummerSlam

August 28, 1989

Meadowlands Arena

East Rutherford, New Jersey

The WWF is back in New Jersey for the second annual SummerSlam! Wait a second. Why were both WrestleMania and SummerSlam in New Jersey? They should give some other places a chance. This is almost as bad as holding the event at the same place for years on end as they do now.

The primary storyline for this PPV was a rather strange one. Hogan’s new masterpiece of a movie, No Holds Barred, premiered in the summer and the WWF promoted the hell out of it. In an odd turn of events, Hogan’s co-star, Tiny “Zeus” Lister, appeared on WWF TV. The weird part was that he appeared as his character from the movie. They gave a weak explanation that Zeus was angry with Hogan for accidentally breaking his nose on set, but it didn’t bring any sense to this ridiculous storyline. Randy Savage quickly seized the opportunity to recruit Zeus to his side. Savage had also recruited Sensational Sherri as his new female manager. Savage and Zeus proceeded to challenge Hogan, and his new buddy Brutus Beefcake, to a tag team match at SummerSlam. I say new buddy, but honestly, Beefcake has been attached to Hogan’s coat-tails for years.

The show begins with a shot of the crowd, as a way too excited Tony Schiavone welcomes everyone. Tony has already progressed to doing commentary. They were trying to phase out Gorilla Monsoon. They would thankfully change their mind, but Tony did call a couple of PPVs first. He introduces Jesse Ventura, who begins yelling at him for supposedly running Bobby Heenan off the air. He tells Tony not to get out of line. Tony looks scared, but he still manages to talk about the matches. Then, they show a video montage of people doing summertime activities and clips of wrestling action. There’s a shot of a girl in a car. Strike Force would be so proud if they didn’t split.

The Brain Busters (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Hart Foundation

The Hart Foundation make their way to the ring and the Anvil mugs for the camera. Next, the Brain Busters jog to the ring, but they still don’t have any music. The first thing I notice is that the Busters are now the tag team champions. Tony tells everyone about them winning the belts with some help from Andre the Giant, but he also says that this is a non-title match. Jesse claims it’s because the Busters weren’t champs when the match was signed. I guess that makes sense. Bret reclines in the corner and Anvil takes off Bret’s sunglasses, but they still haven’t started giving them to fans.

Bret and Tully start the match. The Hart Foundation take control early with some arm work on both Tully and Arn. They maintain this control for a surprisingly long time and do a great job of cutting Arn off from making a tag. Arn almost makes a tag, but Tully was standing on the bottom rope and the ref didn’t allow it. The Hart Foundation use frequent tags and double teaming to keep control, but Arn eventually tags Tully. However, Blanchard finds himself in trouble. He tries pulling at Anvil’s beard, but it doesn’t work. He tries multiple chops, but they don’t work either. Arn almost gets a tag, but this time the ref waves it off because Arn tagged Tully’s foot. The Hart Foundation continue their tactic of frequent tags, until Tully finally reverses a hammerlock into a standing wristlock and bridges Bret down into a pin attempt. They fight back and forth, so Arn lures Anvil in for a ref distraction and tries to help Tully. Bret manages to arm drag both men out of the ring, so they lure Bret outside. Tully scurries back into the ring and makes a tag and Arn jumps Bret. They fight back and forth until Bret gets his knees up on a splash and sends the Busters outside to regroup. The Hart Foundation retake control and Anvil laughs maniacally at Heenan. Bret attempts some double teaming, but Arn pulls Tully out of the way of Anvil, who crashes into the corner. The Busters then use their own frequent tags to keep Anvil subdued until Bret knees Arn in the back. Bret finally tags in again and hits some clotheslines, his diving elbow, and a suplex, but Arn distracts him. All four men end up in the ring and Anvil fights Arn to the floor. Anvil sends Arn into the post and Bret slingshots Jim into a shoulder block. Neidhart then lefts Bret off the turnbuckles and powerslams him on top of Tully, but the ref is distracted by Heenan. Anvil goes to attack Heenan, so Arn dives off the top with an axehandle onto Bret. Anderson switches places with Tully and makes a cover. He doesn’t want the ref to see that it’s not Tully, so he uses Bret’s arm to cover his face as the ref counts the 3 count.

This was a great opener. I expected nothing less from these two teams and now I want to see more from them. The finish was inventive. I liked it. My only gripe is I wish this were a title match. It seems odd that they would put the titles on the Brain Busters before the PPV and then not have them defend the belts.

Winners: The Brain Busters (16:23)

Dusty Rhodes has arrived in the WWF and he’s backstage with Mean Gene. He’s wearing a police cap and holding a nightstick because he’s feuding with the Big Boss Man on the side. This was a time period where everyone seemed to have two feuds going on at once. Dusty isn’t facing Boss Man at this event. He’s facing the Honky Tonk Man, which is his other feud. Dusty is also dressed in black with yellow polka dots. The dots were Vince’s idea because everyone loves polka dots, pal! Gene asks Dusty for his last minute thoughts. Dusty replies that he hasn’t been this excited since his first date with Sally Goodman. He talks about Honky being the proprietor of the Heartbreak Hotel and the man who wears blue suede shoes. Honky said Dusty couldn’t sing. Dusty proved him wrong. Honky said Dusty couldn’t dance. Dusty says he can dance circles around him. He tells Honky to come and get it if you will!! Honky has the chance to prove that Dusty can’t wrestle, but Dusty tells him to mark it down that he will kick his BOOTY!! Gene looks highly amused by this promo.

Dusty Rhodes vs. The Honky Tonk Man (w/ Jimmy Hart)

Honky makes his way to the ring and gives the camera a wink. He dances for a little bit before Dusty makes his entrance. Tony Schiavone loses his mind when Dusty enters the arena and Jesse complains that Dusty has a nightstick. However, they don’t talk about how he got it. Dusty had stolen it from Slick after becoming fed up with Boss Man using it on jobbers. Before the match, Honky dances for Dusty, so Rhodes answers by strutting around the ring and shaking his booty.

They grapple into the corner for a clean break, so Honky charges at him instead. Dusty back drops him and threatens him with the elbow, so Honky rolls to the floor. He tries again and Dusty grabs an arm wringer. He threatens to elbow Honky’s arm but decides to mess up his hair instead. Honky swings wildly and misses, so Dusty hits an atomic drop and an elbow drop. He then hits 10 punches in the corner and Honky flops to the mat. He isn’t as graceful as Flair. Dusty makes a show out of grabbing a heel hold and the cameraman decides to give us a 10 second shot of Dusty’s butt, for some reason. Honky rakes the eyes and the two men trade headlocks and punches. Dusty then tries to hit the ropes, but Jimmy Hart grabs his foot, so Dusty chases him. Hart passes the megaphone to Honky, who proceeds to nail Dusty in the gut, but he only gets a 2 count. Honky then distracts the ref so that Jimmy can attack before grabbing a long chinlock. Hart blathers away on his megaphone, while the ref checks Dusty’s arm. Dusty wags his finger around and fights back, “Polka dots and all,” as Tony says. However, Honky knees him in the gut and goes back to the chinlock. Dusty fights back and slams him, but he misses an elbow drop and Honky grabs another chinlock. Then, Dusty backs him into a corner and shoulder blocks him, but they end up in a slug-fest. Dusty sticks and moves. He mocks Honky and hits the flip, flop, and fly, but he misses a corner charge. Honky then sidesteps him and sends Dusty into the ref. Honky sees an opening, so he calls for his guitar. Jimmy climbs onto the apron and swings the guitar, but Dusty moves and Hart hits Honky by mistake. Dusty hits an elbow drop and covers him for the win.

This was a fun match, but it dragged when Honky was in charge. If they had cut the long chinlocks from the match, it would have been much better. The crowd was pretty hot for it because they love Dusty, so it wasn’t too bad.

Winner: Dusty Rhodes (9:36)

Sean Mooney tries to get a word with the Honky Tonk Man, but he’s too concussed to make any sense. Honky thinks he’s actually Elvis and calls Jimmy, “Priscilla.” He asks for someone to lead him to the stage. Concussion jokes don’t age very well, but this was slightly amusing.

Mean Gene is with Demolition and Jim Duggan. Duggan is wearing a cape and crown. I’ll explain that when I get to the match. He’s also wearing one of Demolition’s gimp masks, which makes for an amusing visual. Gene talks about their six-man tag match against The Twin Towers and Andre the Giant. Ax says it will be a brawl because they’ve gone back to basics and back to the dungeon. What dungeon? Stu Hart’s dungeon? The Dungeon of Doom? Be specific, man! Ax then says there will be some new wrinkles and asks Smash if that’s right. Smash shows how little he was paying attention by talking about going to basic training. Then, he claims they were in the parking lot, throwing cars around. Gene turns to talk to Duggan and asks if it’s really him behind the mask. Jim says he’s not King Hacksaw. He’s King Demolition and he’s been taught how to destroy, attack, and destroy. He tells the other team that they’re going down and yells, “HO!!!!”

Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster

Rooster is still around, but now that his feud with Heenan is over, he’s just the odd chicken guy. It’s a shame because Terry Taylor is actually a great wrestler. Mr. Perfect is already in the ring because he still doesn’t have his theme music. The Rooster comes out next to his ridiculous theme song. These two men apparently got their gimmicks on the same day, yet Rooster was the first to get music?? Tony claims that the crowd is going crazy for Rooster, but that’s demonstrably not true.

Perfect gets in Rooster’s face and they shove each other before fighting into the corner. Perfect hits an arm drag and a hip toss and starts mocking Rooster’s chicken strut. He then hits a fireman’s carry takeover and mocks him again, so Rooster slaps him. They do a couple of drop down/leapfrog spots in rapid succession and apparently, Rooster blows out his knee during this exchange. He doesn’t immediately show the signs, but it becomes apparent something is wrong pretty quickly. Rooster attempts a slam, but Perfect shifts his weight for a 2 count. He then dropkicks Rooster out of the ring, but Rooster rolls back inside. They fight to a corner and Rooster rakes the eyes before tossing Perfect to the floor. They brawl for a moment and Perfect re-enters the ring. He catches Rooster at the ropes and hits the Perfect Plex for the win.

This wasn’t much of a match. It was supposed to go longer, but Rooster’s injury cut that short. What we saw wasn’t too bad and I imagine a longer match would have been pretty good, but that was not meant to be.

Winner: Mr. Perfect (3:21)

They show a quick ad for Survivor Series before going to Mean Gene. He’s with Ravishing Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan. Sadly, the famous blooper has been edited off the network version. During the live broadcast, they accidentally showed an earlier take of the promo where the SummerSlam sign fell and a startled Mean Gene yelled, “F**K IT!!!” Jesse Ventura had to scramble to cover for the mistake. All of that has been removed from this version. Instead, we get the regular promo. Gene says that the Ultimate Warrior has promised to win the Intercontinental Title and he asks Rude for his comments. Rude calls him “little man” and says that promises are made to be broken along with arms, legs, necks, and hearts. He says he will prove Warrior to be the ultimate liar and himself to be the ultimate champion. Heenan then says that rules are also meant to be broken and they will do so if they have to. He says that Warrior lied to all the “humanoids” and after tonight, Warrior won’t have to paint his face. He will have one black eye and one blue eye. Rude then makes a duck face at the camera as the promo comes to a close.

The Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel (w/ Jimmy Hart & Slick) vs. The Rockers & Tito Santana

The Rockers and Tito run to the ring and high five each other. Tito is wearing his own t-shirt because the Rockers didn’t get him any Rockers gear. Demolition at least gave Duggan a gimp mask. Step up your game, Rockers! The Rougeaus and Martel enter next. Martel isn’t quite the model yet, but he does have Slick as a manager. It doesn’t last long because it’s a terrible fit for him. The camera then shows a fan sign that says, “The Ragu Sisters”. That’s cute. Jesse claims that the Rougeau team will have an advantage because they all speak French.

Martel almost starts the match, until he sees Tito. He lets Jacques start, instead. Jacques offers Tito a handshake, but he ignores it. It doesn’t take long for the Rockers to start double teaming, so all six men end up in the ring. The Rougeaus decide to take a breather on the outside and Jacques eventually re-enters the match. Jacques tries to fake out Marty on a cross body, but Marty doesn’t fall for it. He punches Jacques in the gut when he dives. Raymond distracts Marty, so the Rougeaus start double teaming. Martel finally tags in, once he’s sure Marty is down. The heels use a ref distraction to triple team Marty in their corner. Martel celebrates by doing a cartwheel, but this allows Marty to tag Tito. Martel sees him and dives for a tag. Tito and Raymond then fight back and forth, until Jacques grabs Tito’s foot, and the double teaming begins again. Martel decides it’s time for him to re-enter the match and finally gets his hands on Tito. He attacks and celebrates, but he makes sure to tag out before Tito can stage a comeback. Tito desperately tries to fight back, but the other team keeps getting the better of him. Tito tries a slow sunset flip, but it only gets 2. The Rougeaus continue using ref distractions to keep Tito down and take turns locking him into holds. Tito gets a small comeback, with a quick cross body, but it’s still not enough. He finally gets his opening when Jacques accidentally hits Raymond with a high knee. He tags Shawn Michaels, who comes in with a flurry of dropkicks and a suplex. He then hits a flying fist drop and press slams Marty onto Raymond for a cover. Jacques tries to break it up, but he accidentally hits Ray. All six men end up in the ring and Tito nails Martel with the flying forearm. However, the ref is distracted, so Jimmy Hart tries to interfere. He hits Marty and Jacques rolls him up, but Marty reverses it. Just when it looks like it’s going to work, Martel re-enters the ring and hits Marty. He’s the legal man, so he covers Marty for the 3 count.

This was a pretty fun match. I think Tito’s comeback might have taken a bit too long to happen, but it didn’t detract too much from the quality. The ending was a good way to continue the Tito/Martel feud, so I liked it.

Winners: The Rougeaus & Martel (14:58)

Next, Tony narrates a recap video for the Rude/Warrior feud. They show clips of the posedown at the Rumble and the match at WrestleMania. They also show clips of Rude attacking the Warrior on Prime Time Wrestling. Rude gave him a piledriver and Andre the Giant watched his back. Andre was too busy jawing with the fans, so he didn’t notice that Warrior fought back against Rude. Warrior then press slammed Rick onto Andre. Then, they show a clip from Superstars, where Rude tries to give a female fan a kiss. Rick closes his eyes and puckers his lips, but Warrior runs in and attacks him while his eyes are closed. I thought they were going to have Rude mistakenly kiss Warrior first. Now, that would have been hilarious. They finish by showing another Superstars clip of Heenan distracting the Warrior so Andre can attack and choke him.

Mean Gene tries to ask Warrior a question, but Warrior begins yelling. I can hardly understand a word he says. I think he said something about spring chickens and rubber rooms. He talks about Andre and says that his power will become the 8^th wonder of the world. Then, I think he threatens to eat Andre. Finally, he talks about Rude and says that Rick will have to surrender to the gods above when he pins him for the 1-2-3. That was—interesting.

Intercontinental Title Match: The Ultimate Warrior vs. Ravishing Rick Rude (c) (w/ Bobby Heenan)

Rude is out first and I normally would complain about the challenger coming out second, but Rude has to do his spiel. He gets a mic and tells all the fat, out of shape, SummerSlam sweat hogs to keep the noise down while he takes off his robe and shows the ladies what a real sexy man looks like. He takes off his robe to reveal airbrushed tights with Warrior’s face on the front and “Feel the heat” on the back. Jesse claims that the picture of Warrior is crying, but I didn’t see that detail. Warrior then runs to the ring. He shakes the ropes and the fans go crazy.

The Warrior stalks Rude around the ring, but Rick ducks and hits an ineffective kick. He tries some equally ineffective punches and misses a couple of clotheslines, so Warrior knocks him out of the ring. Rude attempts a sunset flip back inside, but it doesn’t work. Warrior press slams him over the ropes and then rams him into the timekeeper’s table. Then, he hits Rude with the belt. Jesse points out that it should be a DQ, but Tony tries to argue that it doesn’t count because they were outside. Jesse rips Tony a new one for such a dumb comment. Warrior then throws Rude in and out of the ring again before hitting a flying axehandle for a 2 count. He gets a couple more off of a slam and a suplex before hitting an inverted atomic drop and mocking Rude’s hip swivel. He tries to go to the top rope, but Rude crotches him. Rick then focuses his attack on Warrior’s lower back for a while. Rude tries for the Rude Awakening, but Warrior powers out of it. He tries for a sleeper hold, but Warrior hits a jawbreaker. Then, they end up colliding and the ref gets taken out in the process. Warrior fights back and hits some clotheslines and a powerslam, but there’s no ref. Warrior then hits a piledriver. Rude is awfully brave to let him do that. Rude gets a foot on the ropes, so Warrior tries a running powerslam and goes for his splash. Rude gets his knees into Warrior’s gut and goes for a piledriver of his own. Warrior apparently thinks it’s a powerbomb and Rude awkwardly drops him on the back of his neck. Warrior barely kicks out of the pin attempt, so Rude does an awkward flying fist drop. He covers, but the fans go crazy because someone has approached ringside. It’s Rowdy Roddy Piper! Rude hits another piledriver, but he notices Piper and begins taunting him. Piper answers back by lifting his kilt and mooning Rude. Rick decides to climb up on the turnbuckles to better yell at Piper, so Warrior suplexes him and hits a flying shoulder tackle. He then hits his running splash for the win and the title.

This was a better match than their one at Mania. I liked that one, but this one had a lot less rest holds. Other than a couple of awkward moves, it was pretty good. These two have surprisingly good chemistry together.

Winner: The Ultimate Warrior (New champion) (16:02)

Sean Mooney is in the crowd, as the fans celebrate. He says they have experienced the ultimate exhilaration.

Gene is backstage for a series of rapid-fire promos. He begins with Mr. Perfect. Gene brings up Perfect’s win earlier and Perfect says there has never been anything like himself before and never will be again. He calls Rooster a perfect example of everyone in the WWF. Rooster was a stepping stone. Perfect then claims that he does what he says he’s going to do. Gene shows him a clip of the finish of his match and Perfect reminds everyone that nobody beats Mr. Perfect.

Next, Gene brings in Roddy Piper. Is everyone waiting off screen for their promo time? Piper has a quick drink and judging by his promo, I don’t think it was water. He rambles on about Pete Rose and driving Voyager 3 before asking Gene what a Scotsman wears under his kilt. Piper tells him that it’s his shoes. He then calls Heenan the eunuch of the WWF and mocks Rude for not having his title anymore. He admits that he’s to blame for Rude’s loss and says he wasn’t going to let Rude get away with it. Piper says he has a reputation to uphold. Then, he makes the weird comment that he’s going to eat a garage. What’s that supposed to mean!? He’s also going to watch some more matches and get Rude.

Then, Gene welcomes Rugged Ronnie Garvin. Garvin is wearing a tux and Gene asks him why. Garvin says he has a special assignment and Gene worries that he’s going to take his job. Ronnie tells him not to worry and starts to say more, but Bobby Heenan storms onto the set. Garvin graciously leaves, as Heenan demands that Gene interview him. Bobby asks how they could allow Piper out there. He had no reason to be there. Gene tells Bobby to settle down, but Heenan ignores him. He brings in Rude and Gene calls him a former champion, which pisses off Rick. He says he had Warrior beat until Piper distracted him. He thought Piper was supposed to be at home. Gene claims that Rude asked for it and Heenan takes offense. Rude says that Piper came out there and showed him his—ask Bobby what happened! Rude then says that he will get his title back no matter who he has to go through to get it. Heenan says that the match should be restarted, but he is so upset that he stumbles over his words. Gene tells him to take it to Jack Tunney.

After a short intermission, Gene is back to recap the main event feud. They show Zeus confronting Hogan at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Then, they show Savage and Sherri bringing Zeus to the Brother Love Show. Savage says that Zeus has the madness in his eye. Oh, is that what’s wrong with it? Savage challenges Hogan and Beefcake to a tag match. He tells them to make a date and don’t be late. Zeus then tells “Hulk Hogan and Beefcake Barber” that they are going to destroy them. Next, they show Hogan and Beefcake accepting the challenge and clips of a Savage/Beefcake match from Saturday Night’s Main Event. Zeus attacks Beefcake and Hogan tries to stop him, but it has no effect. Zeus and Savage attack Hogan and all four men get into a brawl. Hogan and Beefcake use chairs, but none of it fazes Zeus.

Demolition & King Duggan vs. The Twin Towers & Andre the Giant (w/ Bobby Heenan & Slick)

“Jive Soul Bro” brings out the Twin Towers & Andre. For some reason, Boss Man is already drenched in sweat. Fink introduces the team and tells everyone that they have a combined weight that’s over 1000 pounds. Demolition & Duggan come out next. Duggan had recently won the King of the Ring title from Haku, hence the reason he’s wearing a cape and crown. Even his 2×4 has a crown on it. Duggan is still wearing the gimp mask, so Jesse accuses him of being Jason from Friday the 13^th. The cameraman then finds the most unfortunate fan sign. It says, “Demolition will topple the Twin Towers,” and it has a drawing of the World Trade Center falling over. I’m halfway surprised they didn’t edit that out of the network version. Demolition’s team enter the ring and take off their masks to reveal that Duggan has American flag face paint. Jesse says it’s disrespectful to put the American flag on such an ugly face.

Duggan and Akeem start the match. They argue with each other before Duggan punches Akeem into a corner. Duggan and Demolition then take turns working Akeem’s arm and making quick tags. Demolition double team him, but he eventually fights back and tags Boss Man. Smash ends up in trouble in the heels’ corner, but he fights out with an eye rake and tags Duggan. They try more quick tags, but Boss Man fights back and tags Andre, who begins sitting on Ax. He puts a nerve hold on Ax and chokes him before tagging Boss Man again. Ax tries to roll out of the ring, but Andre sends him back inside. Akeem soon comes in and misses a corner charge, so Smash tags into the match. The Towers attempt some double teaming, but Smash impressively slams both of them. Andre has enough of that and chops Smash down to the mat. All six men end up brawling and Ax and Boss Man head to the floor. The ref becomes distracted by trying to get Andre out of the ring, so Duggan grabs his 2×4 and hits Akeem. Andre tries to warn the ref, but he makes the 3 count anyway.

This wasn’t a very good match. There was some good stuff here and there, but it ended with the usual for Duggan. Why do people cheer this guy? He’s supposed to be a babyface, but he constantly cheats and hardly ever loses clean. In the 80s, you could get away with that by being incredibly patriotic, but I feel like fans would see through it nowadays.

Winners: Demolition & Duggan (7:23)

Mean Gene is with Ted DiBiase and Virgil. Gene talks about Ted’s upcoming match with Jimmy Snuka. DiBiase says that the time of waiting is over and SummerSlam is upon us. He’s going to prove that he’s not only the wealthiest and classiest man, but also the greatest athlete in the WWF. He talks about Snuka making his triumphant return but says he’s just a primitive native eating coconuts and bananas. Wow, so racist! He tells Snuka that he will be just like Jake Roberts, another statistic and victim of the Million Dollar Man.

Greg the Hammer Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Hercules

Valentine had been feuding with Rugged Ronnie Garvin. Greg beat him in a retirement match, so Jack Tunney had been giving Garvin jobs to do around the WWF. Garvin kept finding ways to get under Valentine’s skin, so Greg asked for him to be reinstated. Garvin still had a special assignment for this event and that was to be the special ring announcer for this match. The Fink introduces him and Ronnie introduces Hercules fairly normally. However, he wasn’t so kind to Valentine. He calls Valentine the “so-called opponent” and calls Jimmy Hart a “pip-squeak”. He then questions Valentine’s hometown and weight. He says that Valentine is overweight and his wimpy manager can’t give him any advice. Valentine makes his way to the ring with a sour look on his face and complains about Garvin. Ronnie doesn’t care. He continues on and says that Greg wears a cheap robe and can’t tell whether he’s coming or going. He says that Valentine made the biggest mistake in requesting for him to be reinstated. Garvin starts to leave the ring, but Valentine gets in his face. Hercules decides to seize the opportunity and attacks him.

Herc hammers Valentine into the ropes and hits a back elbow for a 2 count. He then slams him for another one, so Greg rolls to the outside. He stares down Garvin before heading back into the ring. He’s still distracted, so Herc rolls him up for another pin attempt. Valentine goes after Garvin again and Herc follows him. He grabs Valentine and rolls him back into the ring, but Greg catches him at the ropes and drops some elbows. Valentine then turns around his shin guard, which he calls the Heartbreaker, and goes for the Figure Four, but Herc shoves him. Valentine then tries a flying axehandle, but Herc punches him. However, Hercules ducks for a back drop and Valentine hits a forearm. Herc reverses a suplex, so Valentine begs off into the corner. He lures Hercules in and hits a double-leg takedown before pinning him with his feet on the ropes for the win.

This wasn’t much of a match. It was mostly a storyline and I’m okay with that. I found the stuff with Garvin amusing. Hercules is pretty much Mr. Collecting a Paycheck, so it doesn’t do much harm to use him in this way.

Winner: Greg Valentine (…or is he?) (3:08)

Garvin gets the mic and declares that Hercules is the winner. Valentine is furious, so the ref corrects Ronnie. Garvin apologizes and says he was mistaken. Instead, he says that Hercules is the winner by DQ. Hercules’ music plays, despite him not winning. Valentine knocks Ronnie out of the ring, so Garvin takes off his coat and punches him. Greg bails out of the ring and heads to the back with Jimmy Hart, as Hercules music continues playing.

Gene is in a dark room with Randy Savage, Sherri, and Zeus. They are all standing around a bubbling and smoking cauldron of witch’s brew. Gene asks Sherri what’s in the cauldron and she tells him it’s the cauldron of madness. She says it will help them destroy Hogan and Beefcake. She looks into the water and says she sees Hogan flat on his back. Then, she squeals something about Beefcake having his finish? Fetish? I don’t know. She tries to see what will happen to Elizabeth, so Gene asks Savage what he sees. Randy says he sees the same thing, but Hogan is in tiny pieces. He calls Beefcake the weak link and says he sees Hogan at the bottom of the cauldron because of the human wrecking machine, Zeus. Savage then says he’s looking at the end of the road. He sees Sherri with Elizabeth and the possibilities are unbelievable. Whoa, what exactly are you implying there, Savage? Everyone screams to end the promo and Tony calls them all “bonkers”. I agree with him. That was delightfully absurd.

Ted DiBiase (w/ Virgil) vs. Jimmy Superfly Snuka

Ted DiBiase is already in the ring. He still doesn’t have his iconic music. He grabs a mic and claims that he ended Jake the Snake’s career. This is another example of a wrestler having more than one feud. Snuka comes out next to a pretty weak reaction, but Tony tries to act like the fans are going crazy. I don’t think the fans care that Snuka is back. Were the accusations against Snuka well known at this point?

DiBiase tries to jump Jimmy, but he fights back and sends Ted to the outside. Virgil backs away when Snuka comes after him, but he gets back onto the apron to distract him. Ted tries to attack, but he accidentally hits Virgil and Snuka hits an atomic drop. DiBiase stumbles over the ropes and Virgil comes to help him. Ted gets back into the ring and grabs a side headlock, but Snuka pushes him to the ropes and leapfrogs him. Jimmy tries a blind leapfrog next, but he ends up landing on DiBiase’s head. Jesse tries to cover for the botch by saying Snuka is going off animal instincts. DiBiase attacks Snuka in the corner, while some fan keeps making this sharp whistling noise that gets annoying. Snuka back drops and shoulder blocks DiBiase, but Ted turns a charge into a hotshot. He then hits a suplex and a backbreaker for a couple of 2 counts. Then, he slams him, but he misses a falling elbow. Snuka answers back with some headbutts, including a diving one, but he doesn’t cover him. He goes to the top and attempts the Superfly Splash, but Virgil distracts him. Snuka chases Virgil and they brawl, so DiBiase sneaks over and sends Snuka into the post. He then rolls inside and the ref administers the fastest 10 count I’ve ever seen to give Ted the win.

This was another nothing match. It was a way to keep DiBiase looking strong, while his feud with Jake Roberts continues. As far as Snuka, he would get his heat back after the match.

Winner: Ted DiBiase (6:27)

DiBiase celebrates with Virgil, so Snuka runs in and clotheslines both of them. He then continues the attack on Virgil and hits a backbreaker before doing the Superfly Splash. Then, they show Sean Mooney in the crowd again. He quickly talks about the drama and the tension but says we haven’t seen nothing yet. That’s a double negative, Sean!

Next, Gene is with Hogan and Beefcake. He introduces them, while Hogan makes motorcycle noises. Hulk says that ever since he and Beefcake got together, they’ve been hangin’ and bangin’. Oh my! I’ve always heard rumors about these two, but I didn’t think they were true! Oh, that’s not what he meant. He says they were riding their Harley Davidsons through some heavy traffic and decided to head towards the river. He claims that he parted traffic like Moses parted the Red Sea and the Hulkamaniacs were staring in disbelief. Hogan asks Brutus if he knows why. Beefcake doesn’t answer that question. Instead, he proclaims his love for his titanium shears. He says the blades are part of him and he’s going to make them part of Savage. Oh, don’t worry Brutus. You will have plenty of metal in you soon enough. Hogan then says that the thing the Hulkamaniacs couldn’t believe was the package on the back of his motorcycle. He says she had sexy legs and a set of headlights. Whoa, this is a family show! He says that the woman was their “secret weapon”. Wait, does that mean it’s Elizabeth? Is Hogan implying that he’s sleeping with Elizabeth!? Savage was right about him! Hogan then ends by saying they will wipe out the Macho Man, destroy Zeus, and put Sherri in her place.

Back in the ring, Fink introduces The Genius to recite a poem for the crowd. The Genius is Lanny Poffo, who is Randy Savage’s real-life brother. He’s dressed in a graduation gown and cap and has a metal scroll. I won’t transcribe his entire poem. I will just paraphrase it. He says that he has some words of wisdom and claims that Hogan and Beefcake should run for their lives. The highest card they have is a deuce and they should run from the royal flush of Macho Man and Zeus. He then mocks Beefcake for insulting Sherri and getting his haircut in retaliation. Then, he calls Miss Elizabeth useless and less than a pretty face. He finishes by saying that the human wrecking machine will put Hogan in second place.

Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs. Randy Savage & Zeus (w/ Sensational Sherri)

Savage, Sherri, and Zeus enter first. Randy sticks his tongue out at the crowd and Zeus walks like he can’t put his arms down to his sides. Jesse calls Sherri a real woman, but Tony says she’s real weird. Beefcake enters by himself next and Jesse calls out the fact that Hogan is entering separately. He claims that Hogan decided not to show, but Hogan’s music starts playing. Jesse then claims that Elizabeth is a tramp and won’t make an appearance tonight. Hogan gets into the ring and Savage taunts him, but he backs away when Hogan points in his face. Hogan then tells something to Fink, who introduces Miss Elizabeth to the crowd. Liz comes out to Savage’s theme and Randy has a conflicted look on his face. Jesse calls Liz a gold digger for siding with Hogan.

Savage and Zeus jump Hogan and Beefcake and the four break into pairs. Savage and Beefcake fight to the floor, while Hogan and Zeus fight in the ring. Nothing that Hogan does works, so Zeus takes him down with a choke. Brutus tries to jump off the top, but Zeus catches him in a bear hug. Hogan breaks the hold and tries a shoulder block, but he bounces off him. Zeus then grabs Hogan in a bear hug and holds him in place for a Savage flying axehandle. Apparently, Savage tagged into the match, but I didn’t see it. Savage attacks and locks in a sleeper hold. Hogan fights back until Zeus knees him in the back and tags into the match. He grabs another bear hug on Hogan, who starts to fade. The ref checks the arm, but Hogan fights back. Zeus takes him down to the mat for some pin attempts before ramming him into the corner. Zeus and Savage then do some double teaming until Savage misses a knee attack on the ropes. Hogan tags out and Beefcake soon gets a sleeper on Savage, but Randy breaks it by sending Brutus into the top rope. Zeus tags in, but Beefcake rakes the eyes and puts him in a sleeper hold, as well. The ref gets distracted by Hogan, so Savage nails Brutus with Sherri’s purse. He tags in and makes a cover, but Hulk breaks it. Hogan chases Savage outside, where Randy tries to use Liz as a shield. Savage and Zeus take control until Savage and Brutus go down to a double clothesline. Hogan tags in and tries to suplex Savage into the ring, but Sherri trips him. Savage then tags Zeus and hits the flying elbow, but Hogan immediately pops up to his feet. He sends Savage out of the ring, but Zeus is the legal man. Hogan knocks Zeus to one knee, so Sherri gets on the apron. Liz pushes Sherri into the ring and Beefcake attacks Savage. Hogan discovers that Sherri’s purse is in the ring, so he hits Zeus with it, slams him, and hits the leg drop for the win, as Tony loses his mind on commentary.

I didn’t care much for this match. It was about as good as it could have been, considering Zeus is an actor, but it’s still not great. Hogan once again no-sold Savage’s elbow drop, which I also didn’t like. Sadly, this isn’t the last we will see of Zeus.

Winners: Hogan & Beefcake (15:04)

After the match, Sherri tries to attack, but Hogan catches her. He threatens to punch her but hits an atomic drop instead. That isn’t much better and Jesse rightfully calls him out for this behavior. Elizabeth also slaps Sherri and Beefcake uses his shears to cut off Sherri’s ponytail. Sherri retreats with Savage and Zeus, while Hogan and company pose in the ring. Hogan even puts some of Sherri’s hair on his bald spot. They continue posing for an eternity, while Elizabeth holds Hogan’s belt. They show highlights of the match, while Jesse continues complaining about Hogan attacking a woman. Tony then says goodnight to everyone.

Final thoughts:

This show was a very mixed bag. There was some good stuff, but I think it fell flat for me, overall. I didn’t care about the Zeus storyline. I don’t think it did much for Savage. The opener was a good match and the IC Title bout was good, but other than that, there wasn’t much.

My next review will be WCW’s Halloween Havoc ‘89.