Cook’s WWF SummerSlam 1991 Review

A year prior to SummerSlam 1991, the Ultimate Warrior was on top of the world. As you might recall, he defended the WWF Championship in a steel cage against “Ravishing” Rick Rude at SummerSlam 1990. He had received the torch from Hulk Hogan and was ready to carry the WWF into the future. That is, until plans changed.

WWF brass wasn’t happy with how Warrior’s time as Champion went. They decided there was a little more juice left in Hulk Hogan as the company’s top star, and went back in that direction. Sgt. Slaughter got a nice little transitional WWF Championship reign out of the deal, defeating Warrior at the 1991 Royal Rumble for the strap and losing it to the Hulkster at WrestleMania VII, which ended up not taking place at Los Angeles’s Memorial Coliseum in front of 100,000 people as we’d been promised.

Slaughter had appeared at SummerSlam 1990 as a frustrated military man that felt his country had become weak. He took things to another level shortly after, defecting to Iraq during the leadup to the first Gulf War. The WWF felt this would generate great interest & crowd heat for their programming. They got a lot of crowd heat, but the interest level didn’t exactly go up and new fans didn’t come in droves. Slaughter was joined in his endeavors by General Adnan & Colonel Mustafa, the latter of whom would be better known as the Iron Sheik. The Triangle of Terror ran amok during the first half of 1991, but was certainly losing steam by the time SummerSlam rolled around. After all, Iraq had surrendered in February. Hotter heels like Jake Roberts, The Undertaker and the incoming Ric Flair seemed to have more of a future on top of post-SummerSlam cards.

The Triangle’s last major match as a unit would take place at SummerSlam. It was a Match Made in Hell, as Hogan & Warrior would take them on in a 3 on 2 handicap match. If that wasn’t enough, the newly-signed Sid Justice would be participating as the special referee. Sid had achieved fame in WCW prior to signing with the WWF, and seemingly had all the tools WWF brass loved in their top stars. He was blond, was huge & had big muscles. Sid was on the way up, while the #2 babyface was on his way out sooner than anybody had expected.

The fourth edition of SummerSlam took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Here are some of the other main happenings heading into the event.

-There was also a Match Made in Heaven, as “Macho Man” Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth were set to get married. The Savage/Elizabeth story had been a favorite of WWF fans for a long time, and people were looking forward to seeing the characters finally get married. It also gave Savage something to do, as he had been retired as a result of his match with Warrior at WrestleMania VII. Announcing WWF Superstars and getting married fit that bill.

-Mr. Perfect had been conspicuous by his absence from most WWF cards since late June after having been advertised ahead of time. He was scheduled to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Bret Hart in a match hardcore fans were pretty excited about.

-Virgil finally saw the light and left the side of “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase after the Royal Rumble. He got a countout victory over DiBiase at WrestleMania VII, but wanted to take the thing that meant the most to his former boss: the Million Dollar Championship. DiBiase, for his part, replaced Virgil with Sensational Sherri.

-The Legion of Doom had dominated the tag team scene since arriving in the WWF, and it seemed like only a matter of time before they would gain the Tag Team Championship. The Nasty Boys had won the titles from the Hart Foundation at WrestleMania VII, and looked to be the next victims.

Cook’s WWF SummerSlam 1991 Review

Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to New York City & SummerSlam. He’s joined by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. Piper spends much of this show calling Heenan “Boobs”, which I’m sure was the highlight of Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn’s night given their maturity level.

The Dragon, The Texas Tornado & The British Bulldog vs. The Warlord, Power & Glory (w/Slick) : Two interesting teams here. For one thing, I’m amazed that Slick was able to keep his stable intact for a full year. Then there’s Ricky Steamboat, Kerry Von Erich & Davey Boy Smith all on one team, quite the collection of popular talent. You better believe seven year old me would have been all about that trio. Dragon starts against Paul Roma, since every Horseman had to beat up Ricky Steamboat at some point. It was one of the requirements for getting in, I’m pretty sure. Roma slams Dragon and hits a dropkick before stopping to pose to the crowd on the turnbuckle. That backfires though, Roma dives into an armdrag and a wristlock. Roma misses in the corner and gets arm drug again. Hercules tags in and gets the same treatment from Dragon. Tornado tags in and he & Hercules exchange arm wringers. Tornado rams Hercules’ head into the corner 10 times, then punches him in the corner 10 times. Hercules rakes the eyes and tags the Warlord. Bulldog tags in and eventually sends him down with a clothesline after a few shoulderblocks. Vertical suplex gets two for Davey Boy. Dragon tags in, hits a karate chop off the top. Dragon evades Warlord in the corner, but the attempted monkey flip doesn’t work out. Roma tags in and Dragon goes on the defensive. The referee can’t tell what’s going on while Dragon gets worked over. Roma hits a suplex for two. Repeated backbreakers by Roma. Hercules tags in and works Steamboat’s back. Gorilla press wedgie into a slam. Warlord tags in and slams Dragon down. Frequent tags from Slick’s trio while Dragon intermittently tries to fight back. Hercules with a hot shot on Dragon! Warlord tags in and slams Dragon down before going to the second rope. Seems ill-advised, and sure enough Dragon blocks whatever Warlord was going for there. Tag to the Tornado, who goes ham on Warlord, Hercules & Roma. Warlord tries a sunset flip (!) but Tornado blocks and tags in Bulldog. Bulldog gets caught by Warlord, but Tornado knocks them over into a two count for Bulldog. Bulldog hits the running powerslam on Roma while Tornado & Hercules face off in the corner. Referee counts two because he has no idea who the legal men are. What is he, an AEW referee? Dragon hits a crossbody and gets the three count! I know he wasn’t legal!

Winners: The Dragon, The Texas Tornado & The British Bulldog (10:43 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/4

Nah, we aren’t going to penalize the match because basic tag team rules were ignored. It’s 2022, for heaven’s sake. Slick definitely isn’t happy, but what can ya do? Dragon hit a pretty crossbody, the crowd popped, shut it down & let’s go home!

Sean Mooney is backstage with the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, Mr. Perfect. Perfect tells us that history will be made tonight. The belt says “wrestling champion” on it, and in order to be champion, you have to be perfect.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (c) (w/Coach): Stu & Helen Hart are shown in the crowd, pretty high up in the rafters in fact. You’d think they would have gotten better seats. Coach is John Tolos, who was signed mainly because he was doing color commentary for Herb Abrams’ UWF. No, I have no idea why the WWF bothered raiding the talent pool of Herb Abrams’ UWF. They thought it could be a thing, I suppose. Tieup goes nowhere. Bret with a headlock and Perfect has a hold of Bret’s hair. Bret hits a shoulderblock, then a hip toss with Perfect taking a wild bump and rolling out of the ring. Back into the ring and back to the headlock, Bret gets a crucifix for two, then a headlock takeover. They trade hairpulls as Bret goes back to the headlock. Bret hits a crossbody for two, gets kicked out of the ring but comes back in with a sunset flip for two. Another headlock takeover by Hart. Referee Hebner seems more than fine with all the hair pulling going on here. Perfect gets out of the headlock and chops Hart. Bret catches the leg, sweeps Perfect down and stomps him in the abs. Perfect fights back with a slam, but Bret kicks him right after. They exchange similar moves before Bret sends Perfect over the top rope with a clothesline. Perfect teases waling out, but Hart yanks him back towards the ring, tearing Perfect’s singlet in the process. Perfect waffles Hart while the referee tries to separate them in the corner. Perfect kicks Hart outside the ring so Coach can blow his whistle. Bret eventually gets on the apron, Perfect punches him off. Then Perfect sends Hart into a photographer on the outside. Back in the ring and Bret fights back. Up & over into a rollup for two, then Perfect with another shot. Hard Irish whip moves the ring according to Roddy, I’ll take his word for it and it gets a two count. Perfect hits the neck snap and rolls through for a two count. Perfect dropkicks Hart back out of the ring. They fire away on each other outside, then they meet on the turnbuckle. Perfect knocks Hart into the ring, then falls on top of him for two. Perfect gets into it with Hebner before returning to Hart with some slaps in the corner. Hair mare sends Bret to the other side of the ring. Sleeper! Hart fights out of it, goes for another crucifix but Perfect drops him for the two count. Chops in the corner by Perfect, then Bret takes the Irish whip sternum first for two. Perfectplex time? It is! Only two! I’m pretty sure other people have kicked out of it, but not very many. Bret fights back. Inverted and regular atomic drops have Perfect in some pain. Hair mare sends Perfect into the ringpost! Vertical suplex gets two for the Hitman. Small package gets two. Canadian leg sweep gets two. Side backbreaker, then the forearm drop gets two. Perfect gets an O’Connor Roll for two, gets kicked out of the ring. Perfect gets sent into the ringpost! Bret kicks at Perfect’s knee back in the ring. Hart goes for the Sharpshooter, but Coach jumps on the apron to get knocked off. Perfect kicks the rope while Bret’s standing over it. Then there’s a stomp below the breadbasket by Perfect, followed by a legdrop. Bret blocks another one, then turns Perfect over into the Sharpshooter! We got a new champion!

Winner: Bret “Hitman” Hart (18:04 via submission)
Match Rating: ****1/2

The crowd goes banana and Bret yanks Perfect’s singlet all the way off! Thank goodness he had an undergarment on. Lord Alfred Hayes attempts to talk to Stu while Bret comes up to embrace the family. Of course Alfred cuts Stu off before he can actually say anything.

I have yet to see a WWF match pitting Bret Hart against Mr. Perfect that wasn’t absolutely outstanding. There was one in WCW, but we don’t count that period of their careers. Taking into mind the fact that Curt Hennig’s back was terribly injured and he wouldn’t wrestle again until November 1992, it’s pretty amazing to see the bumps he takes to make sure that Bret Hart gets his proper championship victory. One of my favorite matches that I’ve seen way too many times.

“Mean” Gene Okerlund is backstage with the Bushwhackers & Andre the Giant. We see a clip of Earthquake breaking Andre’s leg, thus explaining the crutches here. Luke & Butch are gonna lick the Natural Disasters all over the place, and Andre will get his chance to get even.

The Natural Disasters (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Bushwhackers (w/Andre the Giant): Luke & Butch sneak up on Earthquake & Typhoon on the outside with some eye pokes, then run away to the side of Andre. Typhoon misses a shot in the corner, then gets bit on the ol’ behind. Earthquake misses a shot, and the Bushwhackers actually get some offense here. They ram Earthquake’s head into Typhoon’s tummy and double clothesline Earthquake. They’ve already done more than I would have expected here. Earthquake attacks from behind though. Snap mare! Earthquake drops the elbow and misses. He prevents the tag though, and drops the elbow. Tag to Typhoon, who hits a backbreaker and a drive into the corner. Typhoon with a backbreaker, and a tag to Earthquake, who locks in the bearhug. Bobby Heenan leaves the announce position for some reason while Butch fights out of the bearhug. He gets backbroken and the Disasters change men behind the referee’s back. Reverse elbow gets two as Luke breaks things up. Earthquake misses on the doubleteam attempt and Luke gets the tag. A driving headbutt sends Typhoon down and the other two men come in. Battering ram into both Disasters. Typhoon gets covered for two. Earthquake does a backbreaker on the outside, then squashes Luke back in the ring. Tag to Earthquake, and it’s time for the sit-down splash.

Winners: The Natural Disasters (6:27 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *

The Disasters head towards Andre, but the Legion of Doom come out to back them away. Play that Bushwhacker music! Sadly, this would be Andre’s last televised appearance with the WWF. You wish he had gone out a better way…I like to think that WrestleMania VI was his last real appearance, and he went out throttling Bobby Heenan before riding the ring cart into the sunset.

Backstage, Bobby Heenan walks up to Hulk Hogan’s dressing room. The door cracks open, and Heenan issues a challenge on behalf of the Real World’s Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair. The door slams in Heenan’s face, and the Brain throws a fit. Gorilla & Roddy are highly entertained.

Meanwhile, Randy Savage is wearing his best tyedye shirt for his wedding day and talking to the unwashed masses on the telephone. Remember when people talked on phones?

Sean Mooney is backstage with Ted DiBiase & Sensational Sherri. They recap the relationship between DiBiase & Virgil over the years. DiBiase promises to leave Virgil lying in the gutter.

Million Dollar Championship Match: “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase (c) (w/Sensational Sherri) vs. Virgil: People were ready for Virgil to get his revenge on DiBiase here. He attacks Ted right at the bell. Backdrop, some clotheslines including one to send him over the top rope. Virgil stops the referee from counting since he wants to win the title here. Virgil sends DiBiase face first into the steps and back into the ring. Some punches send Dibiase down. Atomic drop and Ted’s back on the floor. Bobby Heenan walks back to the ring so Gorilla & Roddy can mock him. Virgil misses a crossbody attempt on the floor. DiBiase grabs Virgil and sends him over the steps like he’s Cactus Jack or something. Virgil’s head gets bounced off the steps before he’s rolled back into the ring. Big clothesline by DiBiase, who seems in no rush to end this thing. Fistdrop, a stomp and a double axehandle off the second rope. Cover gets two. Some shots in the corner, then a backdrop by DiBiase. Cover gets two. Virgil goes for the Million Dollar Dream! Sherri rolls into the ring and hits Virgil from behind with her purse! The referee calls for the bell, then has a conversation with Howard Finkel. The Fink announces that the referee has ordered Sherri back to the locker room, and the match will continue. Rene Goulet & Tony Garea order Sherri backstage. Both men slowly return to their feet. Virgil blocks in the corner and sends DiBiase’s head into the corner 10 times. There’s the 11 punches in the corner. DiBiase reverses the whip and sends Virgil into the referee. DiBiase yells at Piper about his protege, and Piper yells back at Virgil. DiBiase hits three vertical suplexes, and then a piledriver. The referee’s still slowly stirring though, so he can’t make the count when Ted wants him to. Now DiBiase’s removing a turnbuckle pad just to make sure he can put Virgil out for good. Virgil reverses, and DiBiase’s head bounces off the steel! The referee puts a ten count on both men, Virgil crawls over to cover and gets the three count!

Winner: Virgil (13:11 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2

The fans come unglued for this one, as everybody wanted to see Virgil get his revenge after years of serving as DiBiase’s lackey. It’s the feud that made Virgil the wrestling superstar he still is today. Granted, Virgil’s WWF run after this match was largely uneventful, but it still holds up as one of those classic WWF moments. Best wishes to Virgil as he deals with medical difficulties. We’ll always have SummerSlam 1991.

Mean Gene is backstage with The Mountie and some NYPD folks. We see a clip of Mountie using his shock stick on the Big Bossman. Mountie says that the local hick cops are going to handcuff the Bossman and take him to jail. He wants them to do it the Mountie way and not show any mercy! I’m sure these words won’t come back to haunt the Mountie at all, no sir.

Meanwhile, Sean Mooney is with the Big Bossman, who informs us that Mountie will spend a long, hard night in jail.

Jailhouse Match: The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Big Bossman: Loser gets to spend the night in jail! Bossman slaps the taste out of Mountie’s mouth to start things, and lands some punches. Mountie fires back, gets whipped off the ropes, elbowed down and splashed for two. Bossman hits the running charge on the ropes, then the uppercut on the floor. Eye poke from Mountie. Mountie comes off the turnbuckle and gets caught for some spine on the pine. Bossman hits the neck vice while Jimmy yells on the mehaphone. This is enough to draw Bossman out of the ring so Mountie can hit him into the steel steps from behind. Mountie takes control and hits a spinning elbow off the ropes. Mountie slams Bossman for a two count. Bossman misses in the corner while Heenan makes Andy Griffith Show references. I mean, it was on before a lot of WCW shows during this time period, so wrestling fans were hip to it. Mountie knocks Bossman to the floor, back in the ring the Bossman fights back for a second before Mountie takes a bite out of crime & Bossman’s face. Mountie hits a piledriver, then gets the shock stick. Bossman avoids the shock stick, and fights back in spite of the Mountie’s leapfrogs. Bossman slam gets a 2.65 count. Bossman gets tripped by the Mountie and both men work towards their feet. Bossman blocks a piledriver and hits an Alabama Slam for the three count!

Winner: The Big Bossman (9:38 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *1/2

This one kinda drug. Fans were asleep, but now comes awake for the post-match. Bossman calls the popo down and they handcuff Mountie & drag him out of the Garden. Mountie gets put in the paddywagon!

Mean Gene is backstage, and Ted DiBiase is outraged about losing the Million Dollar Championship. Virgil ripped him off!

Sean Mooney is with Bret Hart, who says he’s waited a long time to prove to Mr. Perfect that there’s no such thing as Perfect.

Mean Gene is with the Natural Disasters & Jimmy Hart, who isn’t happy about the Mountie going to jail. Earthquake & Typhoon put the Legion of Doom on notice.

Sean Mooney is with the Big Bossman, who has jailbird jokes for us all. He is the law & order in the World Wrestling Federation.

Mean Gene is with Randy Savage, who’s still on the phone talking to the humanoids. Randy cuts Gene off before he can go to Elizabeth’s dressing room.

After a brief intermission, Gorilla, Roddy & Bobby discuss what’s happened and what Sid Justice is up to. We cut to the paddywagon arriving at jail with the Mountie, who still says they can’t do this to him. Apparently they can!

Sean Mooney is with Jimmy Hart & the Nasty Boys. Jerry Sags says the LOD is going to Nastyville. Brian Knobbs says much the same. Jimmy’s a bit concerned with other issues, as we see Mountie posing for mugshots.

Mean Gene is with the Legion of Doom. Animal explains how he & Hawk evened up the odds against the Natural Disasters. Hawk says the Natural Disasters have bitten off more than they can chew, but first on their minds are the Nasty Boys and the tag team titles.

The police fingerprint Mountie, who flips them off during the process. That’s not very lawman-like.

Sgt. Slaughter calls Sean Mooney a piece of garbage and says he & his team won’t be out-numbered. Ultimate Warrior seems a bit snake-bit these days, and Hulk Hogan has lost a bit of blood lately.

Mean Gene is with Sid Justice. People have asked Sid where he stands, and he stands alone. We see footage from earlier of Slaughter, Mustafa & Adnan trying to recruit Sid into their corps. Sid promises that justice will be served.

WWF Tag Team Championship Street Fight: The Nasty Boys (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Legion of Doom: Hawk & Animal attack right away while wearing their spiked shoulderpads, take them off and start fighting with Knobbs & Sags on the floor. Animal powerbombs Knobbs inside the ring for two. Hawk & Sags fire away on each other. Hawk with an enziguri (!) on Sags, then a jumping shoulderblock for two. Referee orders Animal to the corner even though my notes tell me this is a street fight. Sags & Hawk remain in the ring, at least until Hawk rolls out of it. Sags empties a drink tray on Hawk’s back, which Heenan claims was the first bath Hawk took in a long time. Knobbs tags in and Animal runs back in, but again the referee ushers him out. Meanwhile Sags chokes Hawk with some tape, then sends Hawk into the steps. Knobbs hits a double axehandle on the floor. The Nastys keep on Hawk in the ring as an airhorn goes off. Frequent tags by Knobbs & Sags, Sags hits a top rope elbow for two. Knobbs jumps into Hawk’s boot, which leads to Animal finally making the tag and going bonkers on both men. Powerslam on Knobbs gets two. Hawk goes back after Sags and it’s a donnybrook. Hawk gets knocked out of the ring and Sags gets the motorcycle helmet from Jimmy Hart. Sags nearly whacks Knobbs with it, but hits Animal in the back instead for the two count. Animal kicks Knobbs out of the ring! Hawk gets the helmet from Jimmy and hits both Nasty Boys. Time for the Doomsday Device and some new champions!

Winners: The Legion of Doom
Match Rating: **

The whole “referee trying to enforce rules during a no-disqualification match” thing kinda took me out of it, but nothing wrong with LOD adding the WWF tag straps to their collection. NYC loves them some Legion of Doom.

Meanwhile, the Mountie complains about his arms being hurt and wanting his phone call. He gonna call Macho Man on the hotline? He tries to run away but that lasts about two seconds before he’s thrown into his jail cell. Looks like he’s got at least two cellmates.

Irwin R. Schyster vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine: IRS talks about how we’ve become a bunch of finger-pointers & crybabies when it comes to paying taxes. Some things never change. One thing that’s different from usual is the Hammer as a babyface. Valentine with a headlock, then a shoulderblock. Did Piper just call IRS “fast”? Where are these “fast” IRS matches? Hammer back to the headlock, off the ropes and another shoulderblock. Back to the headlock, off the ropes again, Valentine hip tosses & clotheslines IRS this time, who rolls outside the ring. Back in the ring, IRS with some punches. Valentine gets two with a sunset flip, then bodyslams IRC. Back outside, Hammer follows IRS outside and rolls him into the ring, where IRS gets the advantage. He locks in the abdominal stretch for a second before Hammer hip tosses out of it. IRS hits a clothesline though, and an elbowdrop gets two. IRS goes to the rear chinlock, Valentine fights out into a backbreaker by IRS. IRS goes up top to get thrown off by Valentine. IRS begs off and Valentine starts laying the chops in. IRS misses a knee in the corner and Greg starts kicking away at it. Setting up that figure four…Valentine locks it in, but IRS is too close to the ropes. Hammer goes for the elbowdrop, but misses. Valentine with a kneebreaker, and then headbutts IRS in the breadbasket. Hammer goes for the figure four, but IRS counters with a small package that gets three.

Winner: Irwin R. Schyster (7:07 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *

Pure filler here. I think Valentine would have had more of a chance if the match got to the 15 minute mark, as that’s when he always got warmed up. Crowd would have been passed out by that point though.

Mean Gene is with the Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan. Hogan says MSG is the only appropriate battleground for the Match Made in Hell. He won his first title there and has the same feeling then that he does now. Warrior says that the bite of a cobra won’t be enough to hold them back. Hogan says the toxins from the cobra just put more gas on the Warrior’s fire. WHATCHA GONNA DO?

Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa & Gen. Adnan vs. The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan: Sid Justice gets the first entrance as the special referee, with his special refereeing tank top. Hogan & Slaughter start things off eventually. Slaughter wants to use a strap, but Sid takes it out of his hands and tosses it to the floor. Slaughter punches away on Hogan in the corner, Hogan whips him into the opposite side and punches him down. Warrior joins in the punching party as well, then Hogan knocks down Slaughter’s partners. Double clothesline after Warrior tags in. Warrior drops Slaughter with an inverted atomic drop and tags Hogan back in. Double big boot, then Hogan sends Slaughter into the top turnbuckle for a two count. Running elbow, then a tag to Warrior. Warrior sends Slaughter into Hogan’s boot, then holds him for a double axehandle that gets two. Mustafa & Adnan just here to break up counts so far. Justice breaks up Hogan & Slaughter in the corner a couple of times and gives Hogan some lip. Slaughter goes to the eyes, then the throat. Adnan tags in to club a downed Hogan. Back rakes! A young El Phantasmo might have picked something up here. Eye gouge in the corner and a tag to Mustafa. Gutwrench suplex from Mustafa, then he locks in the camel clutch! Time to make Hogan humble! Warrior breaks it up and Slaughter gets the tag, Backbreaker gets a two count. Slaughter whips Hogan into Justice, but neither man budges. Slaughter gets Hogan from behind and tags Adnan in for some more back raking and eye gouging. Some biting too! Tag back to Slaughter, who gets launched off the top rope by Warrior. Warrior tags in and has some clotheslines for Slaughter. Warrior inadvertently runs into Sid, who doesn’t budge. This gives Slaughter a chance to attack Warrior from behind and take him into the corner. Adnan tags in so he can do some more back rakes, then Mustafa tags in to go for a suplex. Warrior reverses it, but Slaughter prevents the tag from happening. Slaughter & Adnan doubleteam for a second while Sid’s back is turned. Warrior hits a flying clothesline, and finally makes the tag to Hogan after some pause. Hogan hits the punches and the big boot. Adnan & Mustafa come in, Warrior ejects them and chases them to the locker room with a chair. Meanwhile, Hogan uses some powder on Slaughter and hits a legdrop for the three count.

Winners: The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan (12:40 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *1/2

Hogan does some posing. Justice eventually comes out and joins him. Warrior might have come out to join him, but he was too busy getting fired. Yes, that actually happened. Warrior felt he was owed some money by the company and threatened not to wrestle unless he got it. He got the money, but he also got fired. These things happen.

The Mountie wants out of his cell pretty badly. Things look to be getting even worse for him, as his cellmates seem interested in some action.

We wrap up the event with the Match Made in Heaven, the wedding between Randy Savage & Elizabeth. Some brief thoughts on this segment:

-Definitely one of those things that seems “lesser than” in hindsight. The fact they were already married in real life doesn’t hurt things as much as the fact they got divorced a little less than a year later. I know, one should be able to turn their brain off and enjoy these things just the same, but it’s tough.

-The live fans seemed to give up on it once they realized it wasn’t going to lead to an angle. At least, not until later. Jake Roberts & Undertaker’s appearance at the reception was later shown on television.

-It was worth trying to put a wedding on PPV. We found out that weddings are better TV rating draws than PPV buyrate draws.

Anyway, Savage & Elizabeth do the deal, get married, and that’s SummerSlam 1991!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Talk about a show that went out of its way to send the fans home happy! We saw three titles change hands from evil ne'er-do-wells to fan favorites. Hogan & Warrior sent the evil Iraqis packing. The Mountie got sent to jail. We had a wedding go off without a hitch (at least that we knew of). You can see why this would be a top-shelf favorite of wrestling fans that fondly remember 1991. Some of it doesn't age wonderfully, but there's more than enough on the show that does, such as that Bret/Perfect match. It's also interesting to watch while taking into context other things that were going on at the time, like Warrior's departure, Ric Flair's arrival & Slaughter's upcoming face turn. SummerSlam 1991 served as a pretty good Season Finale, tying up some loose ends before moving onto other things.