WWF SummerSlam 1990
WWF SummerSlam 1990 was the first Federation PPV to feature a true double main event. The Ultimate Warrior defended his WWF Championship against Ravishing Rick Rude inside a Steel Cage, while Hulk Hogan returned from a few months off to try and take down the mighty Earthquake. The WWF was showing cracks in its once-invincible aura by this time, but there was plenty of life left in the Golden Era product to make this a memorable, if at times bizarre, event.
Power & Glory vs. The Rockers
I should mention that Jesse The Body Ventura had now left the WWF for good, meaning that it was Vince McMahon and Rowdy Roddy Piper on the call for this show. It started off with what could have been a great tag team match, but a torn ACL injury for Shawn Michaels meant that he was taken out just before the bell. This left Marty Jannetty outnumbered by Hercules and Paul Roma, and though he tried valiantly, he succumbed to P&G after their impressive suplex/crossbody combination finisher, the Powerplex. Shawn’s injury wouldn’t keep him out of the ring for too long, though it was from this point on that he would have knee issues that hampered him, on and off, for the rest of his career.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Mr. Perfect (C) vs. The Texas Tornado
Originally, Brutus Beefcake was meant to face Perfect for the IC crown, coming off his previous win over Curt Hennig at WrestleMania VI. But an infamous parasailing accident shattered his face and came worryingly close to ending his life. Fortunately, Bruti’ eventually recovered, but he did need to be substituted here (Beefcake was also removed from an IC Title match for kayfabe reasons at SummerSlam 1988). His replacement was Kerry Von Erich, and The Texas Tornado was new to the WWF scene here, though he did have a strong reputation coming in from his days at World Class Championship Wrestling. The two meshed well, but it didn’t last very long, coming in at little more than five minutes. It did have a momentous ending, though, as Tornado shockingly pinned Perfect in a pretty big upset to win the Intercontinental Title. Tornado’s WWF career peaked here, as he would lose the belt back to Perfect a few months later.
Sensational Queen Sherri vs. Sapphire
This marked the first of the two weird bouts, though as I’ll explain, they were interlinked. Sherri and Sapphire had engaged in a confrontation back at Royal Rumble on The Brother Love Show, and this was set to be the big blow-off. However, strangely, Sapphire did not show up. After numerous attempts to introduce her came to nothing, the match was thrown out, and Sherri instead took the win via forfeit. What could have possibly happened? Hmm …
The Warlord vs. Tito Santana
If SummerSlam had felt a bit weak up to this point, then this probably didn’t help. Warlord was no longer teaming with The Barbarian as part of The Powers Of Pain, and was trying to establish himself as a singles heel. Santana, meanwhile, had started to settle into the role of putting over anyone deemed suitable for a push, and so while he had the credibility to justify him putting up a decent fight, he was ultimately set to fail. Warlord won with a Running Powerslam, though his career never advanced particularly far, with his main highlight being a never-ending feud with The British Bulldog. As for Tito, he would more or less play this position for the next year before being transformed into El Matador, at which point he … had the exact same win/loss record (as in, not a very good one).
WWF World Tag Team Championship Two Out Of Three Falls Match
Demolition (C) vs. The Hart Foundation
At last, a match worthy of the occasion that is SummerSlam 1990. Ax and Smash had reclaimed the Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania VI, but turned heel shortly thereafter, as well as introducing Crush as a third member to substitute on occasion for Ax, whose in-ring days were on borrowed time. Meanwhile, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart had continuously built up fan support to make them viable contenders in this three-fall match, a first for a WWF PPV event. And the action was very good, making this one of the best doubles encounters of this time period in the company. Demolition took the first fall, which of course meant that the babyfaces claimed the second one. It was down to the third and decisive fall, at which point Ax tried to make his presence felt. However, this was the cue for the recently-debuting Legion Of Doom to show up at ringside, and Hawk and Animal made sure that Ax would no longer be a factor. This led to Smash taking the Hart Attack, which resulted in the Harts winning 2-1 and becoming two-time WWF World Tag Team Champions to a huge cheer. Not only were Bret and Anvil holding gold again, but we had the trigger for an LOD-Demolition rivalry, though the latter never resulted in a proper match on a major stage, presumably due to Ax’s failing health and Crush’s inexperience.
Big Boss Man Is Special Guest Referee
Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown
What’s more dangerous: a snake (as in Damien) or a rat (as in Brown’s pet of choice)? This was our chance to find out, though BNB actually brought a whole cage of the creepy creatures with him to the ring. Strangely, Big Boss Man was refereeing this one, since he was also going to play a role later on, and neither of his appearances on the card consisted of him actually wrestling. Confused? Join the club, mate. If you know anything about Bad News Brown, you’ll know that the guy was rarely pinned or submitted on television, so it should come as no surprise that he got himself disqualified here after using a steel chair, and Boss Man prevented Brown from trying to harm the snake as well (good thing he did, otherwise the animal rights groups would have been furious). Jake would move past this fairly dull conflict to engage in a more memorable feud against The Model Rick Martel.
Before the next match, Brother Love hosted his talk show, and he introduced Sgt. Slaughter as his guest. Slaughter decried the then-current state of the United, erm, States of America, and he awarded Love a facetious medal, before vowing to take out America-supporting babyfaces. Little did we know that this would lead to Slaughter eventually main eventing WrestleMania VII, and a storyline which some deem to be the biggest on-screen factor in the WWF’s popularity taking a major hit. Thanks for that, Sarge.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Nikolai Volkoff vs. The Orient Express
As an old-school WWF fan, I can remember virtually everything from this era, but I absolutely do not remember the moment when Nicholai Volkoff turned babyface and formed an America-loving alliance with true patriot Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Which means that I totally didn’t remember the duo facing Orient Express members Akio Sato and Pat Tanaka at SummerSlam 1990, and after reliving this short encounter, which ended with Duggan hitting Tanaka with a Three-Point Stance, I’m even less inclined to remember it in the future.
Macho King Randy Savage vs. Dusty Rhodes
This was part two of the Sherri-Sapphire craziness, as Savage and Dusty’s feud was the real backdrop for the squabbling between their female associates. This had the potential to be very entertaining, but instead, as it was beginning, Ted DiBiase showed up and revealed that he had bought Sapphire; yes, he bought the woman herself. This came after a few weeks of her receiving gifts from a presumed secret admirer, and as it turned out, it was DiBiase! Dusty was angry, but Savage cut off any rescue attempt (Sapphire was willing to be sold, it should be noted), and in the odd part about it all, the Macho King pinned the American Dream in little more than two minutes. Bonkers. Dusty did run backstage afterwards to chase DiBiase, though he left in a limousine with Sapphire, who was never seen again. Everybody has a price, but in Sapphire’s case, that meant apparently losing her WWF job. This would lead to Dusty recruiting his son Dustin Rhodes to feud with both DiBiase and Virgil, but while the story made sense and was fun (by 1990’s standards of taste anyway), the way that this and the women’s match were booked was just crazy.
Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake
Shortly after WrestleMania, and again on The Brother Love Show (that guy really was a magnet for trouble), Earthquake had destroyed Hulk Hogan, sidelining him for months. With the Hulkamaniacs writing in to offer support (aided by newcomer Tugboat), though, Hogan returned from Hollywood … erm, returned from injury to try and take down the mammoth Quake at SummerSlam 1990. Hogan had Big Boss Man in his corner, who made the aforementioned second non-wrestling appearance of the night, while Quake was backed up by Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart. The fans were ready for this big grudge match, and though it followed the usual Hogan formula, it was entertaining enough. Quake dominated for much of the bout, but of course Hogan made the typical comeback, and at one point, Hogan bodyslammed Quake (who had ripped apart referee Earl Hebner’s shirt) onto a ringside table, a rarity for the WWF of 1990, in another odd element to this show. Hulk made it into the ring for the countout win, and Boss Man warded off a post-match Quake attack with a steel chair. The Hogan-Quake feud would rumble on all the way to, erm, Royal Rumble, when Hulk exacted full revenge by eliminating Earth last that night.
WWF Championship Steel Cage Match
The Ultimate Warrior (C) vs. Ravishing Rick Rude
It’s surreal to watch a WWF PPV where Hogan didn’t go on last. Instead, at SummerSlam 1990, that honour went to the company’s new (painted) face The Ultimate Warrior, as he squared off against Rick Rude, who had trimmed his hair in preparation for this match (maybe because long hair makes it harder to climb a Steel Cage?). Having fought at WrestleMania V and SummerSlam 1989, this marked their third and final PPV bout, and it was fairly good for the standards of the time. Rude called the fans “piss-ants” beforehand; this was a kid-friendly time, remember, so again this was weird. This didn’t last too long, but it lived up to fan expectations as Warrior overcame Rude and his interfering manager Bobby Heenan to climb out and retain his WWF Championship. Rude was busted open during this match, and since blood was also used very occasionally at this time, it fittingly capped off a night of risks and unusual booking. Warrior had retained, mind you, so at least the new top babyface stood tall to close the show. As it turned out, Rude would leave the WWF a few months later, and though he returned briefly in 1997, it was as a bodyguard, making this his final PPV match for the WWF.
With only one really good match and some strange match lay-outs elsewhere, WWF SummerSlam 1990 is an odd event to say the least. But as stated at the start, while it may lack some quality and logic, it makes up for that with some memorable moments, from Hogan returning for his big showdown against Earthquake to The Hart Foundation’s second Tag Team Title win to the ludicrous purchase of Sapphire by the evil Million Dollar Man. As I mentioned earlier, it was around this time that we were starting to see the WWF product lose some steam, and this process would be accelerated in the months and years to come. As a one-off entertainment event, though, WWF SummerSlam 1990 was entertaining, even if it does provide a lot of room for head-scratching upon a retrospective viewing.
