SUMMERSLAM 1991
August 26, 1991 Madison Square Garden
New York, New York
While the first three years of SummerSlam had thrown up some history worthy moments and the odd good match, it did nothing to really set the world on fire.
1991 changed all that.
This is PPV as how, we the fans, view PPV today and what it has to do to meet expectations. It fit the three-ring circus theory of putting on a wrestling inasmuch that if you didn’t like one particular match or angle, well just wait ten minutes and something completely different would be on your screen.
Headlining was the team of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior and we all know about the backstage politics (both real and imagined) that happened there and it ultimately was the last night in a WWF ring for Warrior for a while. The main event was underwhelming but high in camp that at least pleased the fans.
The undercard was one of the strongest ever as Bret Hart claimed his first major WWF singles title and thus continuing the curse of the Intercontinental Champion as this was the fourth straight year the IC title changed hands.
We had two storyline heavy match-ups (Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil and Big Bossman vs. The Mountie) that while short on great wrestling, offered high entertainment value. Ditto for the 6 Man Tag opener.
History was also made when The Legion of Doom become the first and only team to claim all three major tag team titles (NWA, AWA and WWF) cementing their position as about the most influential team of all time.
Outside of the matches themselves Vince really ramped up the soap opera element when Randy Savage married “girlfriend” Miss Elizabeth starting off the second great run for Randy Savage and the eventual seeds of The Undertaker becoming one of the most enduring wrestlers of all time.
To provide their own view of the historic event is…
Greg De Marco: Greg plies his trade doing The Wrestling 5 & 1 every Sunday and can also be found has a regular contributer to But & Sell and he also has his very own podcast. Greg is a very busy cat.
Larry Csonka: 411 webmaster and editor of just about everything around these parts. Often hated and always over opinionated, Larry offers his old school, southern thoughts to proceedings.
at all.
Scott Rutherford: Longtime 411 stalwart and jack of all trades for over 7 years. Has bounced between most zones as an editor or news columnist. Spends most of his time these days offering music reviews and a Top 5 Wrestling contributor.
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The British Bulldog, Rick Steamboat & The Texas Tornado vs. The Warlord and Power & Glory Winner: The British Bulldog, Rick Steamboat & The Texas Tornado via pinfall. Time: 10:43
Intercontinental Championship – Mr Perfect vs. Bret Hart Winner: Bret Hart via submission to win the IC Championship Time: 18:04
The Bushwackers vs. The Natural Disasters Winner: The Natural Disasters via pinfall. Time: 6:27
Million Dollar Championship – Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil Winner: Virgil Time: 13:11
Jailhouse Match – The Big Bossman vs. The Mountie Winner: The Big Bossman via pinfall. Time: 9:38
Tag Team Championship – The Nasty Boys vs. The Legion of Doom Winner: The Legion of Doom via pinfall to win the Tag Team Championship. Time: 7:45
Greg Valentine vs. Irwin R. Schyster Winner: Irwin R. Schyster via pinfall. Time: 7:07
Handicap Match – The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa & General Adan. Winner: The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan via pinfall. Time: 12:04
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Best Match: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart – Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart was quite simply a tremendous single match for this event. Both men very talented workers, Perfect was the man as the IC champion, and Bret was looking for his first singles gold. These guys always worked well together, and this was one of their best. Easily a ****½ match, and a great way for Bret to enter the singles ranks as far as being a champion goes. Worst Match: Irwin R. Schyster vs. Greg Valentine – The Disasters vs. Bushwhackers may have been a little worst, but I am going IRS vs. Valentine simply because they had seven-minutes, and workers of their caliber should have easily had a better match than they did. Highlight: VIRGIL WINS! – While many will pick the wedding of Randy and Liz, at the time I was way more excited for Virgil’s victory over The Million Dollar Man. The feud was well done, and even with Virgil’s limitations, they booked a masterpiece in that match and for at least one night, Virgil was a STAR. Hidden Highlight: The setting of the Savage vs. Roberts feud, which would lead to the face turn for the Undertaker. This is where it started. MVP: Bret Hart: While HBK and Randy Savage can argue for the title of Mr. WrestleMania, and there is some serious debate over that in some circles, it is widely accepted that Bret Hart is Mr. Summerslam. Bret Hart worked magic with Mr. Perfect in there, and also won his first singles title. Overall Rating: 8.0 – While the first three Summerslam offerings were not all that great overall (average, good, and then bad), I felt that 1991 really brought the goods. While there was still too much filler for my tastes, The wedding, Virgil finally geting the win, Bret and Perfect making magic in the ring, a decent opener and wackiness with the Mountie being sent to jail all provided the best Summerslam, in my opinion, to date
Best Match: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect – This match officially kicks off Bret Hart’s career making run of Summer Slam matches. If Shawn Michaels is Mr. WrestleMania, then Hart was Mr. SummerSlam. This match was everything you’d expect out of Hart & Perfect. Worst Match: Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter, Col Mustafa & Gen. Adnan – This match was all about the story and not at all about the wrestling. But regardless of what TNA tries to tell you, wrestling matters. Highlight: Virgil hands Dibiase his ass. Virgil wasn’t the best wrestler, but these guys drew in the fans and did exactly what they were supposed to do here. We had a DQ finish that lead to a restart, we had the dramatic ending and the huge pop when Virgil won. Great example of storytelling in the ring. Hidden Highlight: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper ‘s commentary. We was on point all night, especially going bonkers over Virgil’s win. Seriously, he went cuckoo and Virgil was Cocoa Puffs. MVP: Miss Elizabeth – Randy Savage’s beautiful bride was always out of her element doing anything but standing there. But she delivered the “Ohhhhhhh Yeah!” line to put the punctuation mark on a wrestling wedding that is memorable for the fact that nothing happened. Overall Rating: 8 – Outside of a few nit-picks and the main event, this was a great card and the in-ring action delivered. A fun, eventful and historical event.
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Best Match: No brainer here. You can’t not pick this match. It simply is one of the greatest matches in WWF history and to say any other match on Summerslam 1991 is better is just a fucking lie. History oozes from every poor as this signified Bret Harts arrival as a major singles star in wrestling and finally breaking the shackles of being in one of the greatest tag teams of all time. We also know about the behind the scenes story where a near crippled Curt Hennig limped into the match determined to put on a classic so Bret could go over clean in strong as a sign of respect between the two. Just brilliant. Worst Match: Valentine/Shyster. Valentine was WAY past his usefulness here and Irwin was a character and nothing else. The match was judiciously placed after the big Road Warriors victory as a way to cool the crowd before the main event. Highlight: The Million Dollar Championship Match. Anyone who remembers anything I’ve written in the past will remember me banging on about the difference between a good wrestler and a great worker and I would prefer to watch an expertly worked match that entertains me that hovers around the *** mark than some ****1/2 technical clinic that has little emotion behind it. This match sits somewhere around t he *** mark and I find it one of the most entertaining matches you will find and a definite lost gem in the WWF cannon. It has drama, emotion, suspense and a crowd-pleasing moment. The cherry was the FANTASSTIC commentary from Roddy Piper who unashamedly was rooting for Virgil to kick his ex-bosses ass. Hidden Highlight: Anything from The Mountie after he lost. Just the way he sold going to prison and that over the top manner in the way he did it sold it perfectly. Special mention to Ricky Steamboat who worked his ass off in the opener. MVP: Some many too choose…I think I will settle on Curt Hennig who put the business before his physical well being to make sure Bret got off on the right foot as IC Champion. Overall Rating: A- . The card was the perfect blend of great wrestling, hot angles and send the crowd home happy booking and was probably the best WWF PPV up until that point. Think about it, you had the major title win for Bret Hart, the Road Warriors becoming the only team to win the Triple Crown of world tag team titles, Virgil overcoming the odds to hand his boss a crushing defeat, The Mountie giving us plenty of laughs, a decent opening and a card closing tag team matches that is famous in its own right for the politics that went on behind the curtain. Just a great PPV.
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