From the Bowery: SummerSlam 89

SummerSlam 89
August 28, 1989
East Rutherford, NJ

Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura

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

-The Busters are the reigning tag champs, but the titles are not on the line here. Jesse mentions that the Harts are in a no win because a win doesn’t get them the titles, but a loss means they may not see a title shot for a year. The match was signed before the Brain Busters won the title and thus that’s why this is non-title. Bret and Tully start out with a wrestling sequence, and Tully backs to his corner to make the tag to Arn. Bret uses some Anderson moves as he slams Arn with his arm pinned behind his back. Nice! The Anvil gets the tag and he continues to work on the arm, and then makes a quick tag to Bret. Arn gets trapped in the corner, and takes a beating before the tag is made back to the Anvil. He goes back to the arm wringer, and a tag seems to be made to Tully, but the ref won’t allow it as Tully used the bottom ropes to get a greater reach. You just don’t see stuff like this in today’s wrestling world. Finally Arn does get the tag, and Tully has no better luck against the Anvil. Tully tries a hiptoss, but the Anvil powers out and makes the tag to Bret. The beautiful thing here is that even though the Harts are the faces in this match they still switch without tagging, and use other heel tactics and they crowd loves them for it. Bret hooks an arm bar on Tully and switches to a hammer lock. Tully is able to switch out and gets a top wrist lock, but Bret bridges in fine form. Tully casually headbutts him back to the mat, and gets a one count before Bret bridges out again. Arn comes in to help, and Bret flips out and hits both Brain Busters with a hiptoss. The champs bail to the floor to regroup, and once back inside all four men start brawling. The Busters get the worst of that, and head to the floor once again. Heenan gives instructions and the crowd gets on his case with “Weasel” chants. Bret breaks up the huddle and pulls Tully back into the ring. He sends Tully into the Anvil’s boot and then makes the tag. Tully gets sent to the corner, and tries to leap off the middle rope, but gets caught in a bear hug. Bret tries to fire the Anvil into Tully, but Arn pulls him out of harm’s way. That finally gets the advantage for the champs, and they go to work on the back of Neidhart. Tully comes off the top with an elbow and then grounds the Anvil with a camel clutch. The Anvil powers to his feet, but Tully is close enough to make the tag to Anderson. He cuts the Anvil off, and buries a shoulder into the ribs. He looks for a pin, but the Anvil kicks out with a lot of power behind it, and that’s enough for Arn to tag back out to Blanchard. The Anvil gets caught in the corner and gets pounded. Anderson comes back and after a criss cross spot, both men collide, and it’s a race to their corner. Anderson opts to just stop the Anvil from making the tag. Anderson looks to bounce off the ropes, but Bret buries a knee from the apron. The tag is made to both partners, and Bret takes on both Busters by himself. Tully eats the middle rope elbow, and a snap suplex follows. Anderson makes the save, and once again we have all four men in the ring. Arn gets knocked to the floor and the Anvil follows. Back inside the ring Bret hits a reverse atomic drop, and on the floor Arn gets sent into the ring post. Bret slingshots the Anvil back into the ring and he creams Tully with a shoulder. Bret heads up and the Anvil power slams him onto Blanchard. The ref is too busy with Heenan to make the count, and that gives Arn a chance to come off the middle rope with a double axe to the back of Bret’s head. Arn makes the cover while Neidhart heads back to the apron, and that’s enough to get the pin at 15:57.

Winners: The Brain Busters via Arn pin on Bret at 15:57
-These teams were made for each other, and while not a blow away match, this was still pretty good. I still think they could have kicked this into another gear if they were given the opportunity. ***3/4

-Dusty Rhodes gives an interview backstage hyping his match with the Honky Tonk Man.

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

-Two matches in, and this is already like bizzaro world as we have Schiavone commentating a WWF PPV that featured two of the IV Horsemen in the opening match, and now Dusty Rhodes. I mean it may not seem weird 21 years later, but as an eight year old kid it was very weird to me. The HTM stalls to start, and Rhodes just stares at him. Dusty starts strutting after Honky does his little dance. The crowd is pretty rabid for Dusty here. Honky charges into a backdrop, and scurries to the floor as Dusty prepares to deliver an elbow. He heads back into the ring, and Dusty grabs an arm. He takes a minute to mess up the hair of the HTM and hits an atomic drop. Honky gets backed into a corner, and the crowd counts along as Dusty punches away to the count of ten. Dusty grounds Honky and goes to work on the leg. Jimmy Hart distracts Rhodes and he chases Jimmy on the floor. Hart rolls into the ring and makes sure to leave the megaphone behind for the HTM. He blasts Dusty in the ribs, and that finally gets him the advantage. Hart makes sure to get a few licks in before HTM hits the reverse chinlock. The crowd comes alive to rally Dusty, but no comeback yet. A second try from the fans and Dusty responds as he breaks. Rhodes charges off the ropes, but Honky buries a knee in the midsection. He goes right back to the reverse chinlock, and this time it grounds Rhodes. The hand won’t drop a third time however, and Rhodes is able to break again once he gets to his feet. He slams Honky to the mat, but the elbow misses as Honky rolls out of the way. We go right back to the chinlock, but Rhodes is an expert at breaking the hold at this point. He back Honky into the corner, but a thumb to the eye stops Dusty in his tracks. They start exchanging right hands, and that goes the way of Dusty as one would expect. Honky gets sent into the corner, but a splash misses, and in the chaos the ref gets bumped. Honky prepares Dusty for a guitar shot from Hart, but it backfires as Honky gets creamed. That was kind of nasty as the guitar did not break. The elbow drop follows and the ref recovers to count the pin at 9:41. Sean Mooney interviews the HTM as he stumbles to the back and he gives a glassy eyed promo about Priscilla and Lisa Marie. Kind of funny actually!

Winner: Dusty Rhodes via pin at 9:41
-The middle portion with the endless chinlock sucked all the fun out of this match. Thankfully the crowd was into the match enough that it at least stayed watchable. The opening few minutes and the closing minutes were fun though. *3/4

-Gene interviews Demolition and Hacksaw Jim Duggan about their 6 Man Tag Match.

Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster

-I’m sure everyone has heard the story that these were the two men in mind for the Mr. Perfect gimmick, and Hennig won out in the end. Good call there as I don’t think anyone else could have pulled off the character as well as Curt did. Perfect was still undefeated at this point in his WWF run. Kind of weird seeing Perfect without Heenan in his corner, but he did spend a better part of his run without the Brain. Perfect controls early with a hiptoss and then mocks the Rooster’s strut. Awesome! They do a sequence running the ropes and it ends with Rooster getting a two count as he shifts his weight as Perfect tries a slam. Perfect is pissed now and hits a beautiful standing dropkick that sends Rooster to the floor. Once back inside Perfect backs him into a corner, but Rooster gets in a shot to the eyes to the horror of Ventura. They brawl on the floor, and Perfect gets the better of that situation. Perfect is the first one back in the ring and he hits the Perfect-plex to a nice pop for the win at 3:21.

Winner: Mr. Perfect via pin at 3:21
-Apparently Taylor was battling a knee injury and that explains why this match was so short. This basically a squash as the only thing the Rooster really got in was a thumb to the eye. SQUASH

-Rude and Heenan threaten the Warrior and promise to keep the IC Title.

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

-Martel and Santana were former Tag Champions as Strike Force, but Martel walked out on Santana at WrestleMania V. The Rockers and Rougeaus just didn’t get along either so both feuds are combined here. Sounds like a plan to me. Cool fact that Shawn would go on to induct Tito into the WWE Hall of Fame. Santana wants to start with Martel, but Rick bails and tags to Jacques. He wants Tito to shake hands, but Tito is having none of that. They lockup and a blind tag is made to Marty. He and Shawn double hiptoss Jacques and then turn their attentions to Martel and Raymond. The faces clear the ring of the heels and Jesse is already irate at the illegal behavior of the Rockers. Marty and Jacques start once things settle back down in the ring, and Jannetty buries a fist in the midsection. He makes the tag to Raymond however, and he hits a sweet crescent kick. The tag is made to Martel and he puts Marty in his corner where all three men beat on him. Marty gets bounced off the buckle, but gets out of the way of a whip to the corner. Marty drops Martel and makes the tag to Tito to pop the crowd. Martel immediately bails to the floor and makes the tag to Raymond. Tito fires away and gets a two count off a clothesline. He control Raymond with a side headlock, but Jacques is able to break for his partner by grabbing Tito’s leg. Tito is your future bullfighter in peril. Martel is more than happy to get the tag now and stomps away. The crowd tries to rally Tito to kick Martel’s ass, but the tag is made to Jacques. He catches Tito flush with a dropkick, and powers Santana back to the heel corner. Martel returns and gets caught with a right hand from Tito, but Jacques is close enough to grab a handful of hair to keep the advantage. Santana counters in the corner to a sunset flip for two, but that only pisses Martel off as he chokes away. The tag is made to Raymond and he locks Tito in a Boston Crab. Jacques comes in as the ref is distracted by Marty and delivers a leaping knee to the back. The tag is made to Jacques and he continues the work in the back with an abdominal stretch. Martel offers a hand for extra leverage and Ventura is fawning all over the cheating. Schiavone calls him out on bitching about how the Rockers cheated early, but Jesse calmly ignores him. Martel comes back, and Tito starts to fire back again, but again, he gets cut off by one of the Rougeaus on the apron. Jacques baits the Rockers into coming into the ring, and that gives the heels a chance to double Tito while the ref is dealing with Marty and Shaw. Tito continues to snap off a move her and there to pop the crowd, but he can never do enough to catch enough of a break to make a tag. Raymond hooks in a chinlock, and the crowd goes nuts as they cheer on Tito. Jacques returns and gets a two count before tagging back to Raymond. Santana ducks a knee, and Raymond ends up getting caught with it. That leaves both men down and it’s a race to their corners. Martel gets the tag first, but the hot tag is made to Shawn. He dominates Martel and delivers a nice suplex after Martel set too early. Shawn heads up and drops a first. He tags in Marty, and Shawn press slams him onto Martel for a two count. All hell breaks loose as everyone jumps in the ring. Tito sends Martel to the floor with the flying jalapeno (tm Bobby Heenan). In the chaos Hart distracts Marty leading to Raymond hitting a dropkick. Jannetty counters a roll-up for one of his own, but he is left wide open for a clothesline from Martel. Tito and Shawn are busy fighting and don’t see Marty getting pinned by Martel at 14:58.

Winners: Rick Martel and The Fabulous Rougeaus via Martel pin on Jannetty at 14:58
-Basic tag formula here, and that’s not a bad thing. Lots of cheating by the heels and Tito plays the face in peril role as well as anyone. Good work by all involved and the heels cheat to win. Good stuff here! ***1/2

-Video recap of the epic Warrior/Rude feud. Short version is Rude attacked Warrior after a pose down at the Rumble, and then won the IC Title with Heenan cheating at WrestleMania V. This is Warrior’s return match for the title, and he had to deal with members of Heenan’s Family to get to this point including Andre. Yes, this feud started in Jan and was still hot 7 months later in August. The good old days of only 4 PPV a year!

-Warrior gives his normal, awesome, drugged out promo that makes no sense, but just works for reasons I can’t understand.

WWF Intercontinental Title: “Ravishing” Rick Rude © (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. The Ultimate Warrior

-Warrior is quite pissed, and Rude is a little intimidated to say the least. Rude stalls to keep the Warrior off base, and quite possibly to let him regain his wind after sprinting to the ring. Rude sticks and moves, but Warrior doesn’t sell anything. Warrior ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own that sends Rude to the floor. Warrior puts Rude up in a gorilla press slam, and tosses him over the ropes and to the floor. Damn, that was one hell of a bump from Rude, and I can’t believe he trusted that the Warrior wouldn’t kill him with that. They brawl on the floor, and Warrior actually cheats by using the belt, but the ref doesn’t disqualify him, and Jesse is absolutely heated about that. They head back in the ring, and the Warrior sends Rude to the floor again as Jesse begs Rude to take the count out and save the title. Warrior won’t let that happen though and tosses Rude back into the ring. Warrior heads up top and deliver a double axe for a two count. Rude gets tossed from corner to corner and starts selling the hell out of his injured back. The Warrior continues to dominate and gets a suplex for two. Rude just keeps kicking out to the shock of the crowd. A reverse atomic drop kills Rude’s balls, and Warrior swivels his hips to mock the Ravishing One. Warrior heads back up top again, but this time he takes too long and Rude buries a right hand into the abs. That causes Warrior to land on his little Warrior’s and now Rude finally has an opening. Rude goes to work on the Warrior’s back and gets a suplex of his own for a two count. The work on the back continues as Rude sits on his back and locks in a reverse chinlock. Rude keeps driving his body into the back of the Warrior, and gets another two count. The Warrior gets back to his feet, so Rude looks for the Rude Awakening, but Warrior is still too strong and powers out of the hold. Rude ducks a clothesline and jumps on the Warrior’s back to hook in a sleeper. The Warrior fights as long as he can with Rude on his back, but eventually falls down to one knee. He breaks the hold with a jawbreaker, and after hitting the ropes both men collide with the referee. Heenan is the only man left standing, and he lets Rude know that the Warrior is out. Rude gets to his feet first, but he makes the mistake of letting Warrior get to his knees. The Warrior starts to Warrior-up, and starts firing back on Rude. A high back drop leaves Rude down, and the Warrior starts shaking the ropes. He kills Rude with several clotheslines and hits a sweet powerslam, but there’s no ref to count. The Warrior tries to wake the ref, but no dice. Warrior goes back to Rude and hits a pretty swank piledriver. The crowd is losing their minds as the ref crawls to make the count, but Rude has enough to get his foot on the bottom rope. The crowd doesn’t like that at all. Warrior hits another powerslam, and goes for the splash, but Rude lifts his knees. Rude sets Warrior for a piledriver, but it ends up being an ugly looking Ganso Bomb, that could have killed the Warrior if Rude didn’t protect him. The Warrior is out at two so Rude heads up top and comes off with a right hand. The crowd is going bat shit crazy as Roddy Piper strolls down to the ring. Back in the ring Rude hits a much better looking piledriver this time, but again the Warrior is out at two. Rude turns his attention to Piper and swivels his hips at him. Piper tells him to kiss his ass, and that distracts Rude enough for Warrior to hit a bell to belly suplex. A shoulder tackle follows, and Rude gets pressed slammed to the heavens. The big splash gets the pin and reclaims the title for the Warrior at 16:02.

Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 16:02
-This really had an epic feud, and most definitely was the Warrior’s best match up to this point. For some reason I kept having thinking of Cena vs. Batista at SummerSlam while watching this match. Good stuff here, and definitely the best match between these two. ****

-Gene does a series of interviews as I assume we have hit intermission. Perfect, Piper, Garvin, Rude, and Heenan all give their thoughts on what has happened. The best is Heenan losing his mind after Rude lost the title. I love Bobby Heenan.

-Jesse and Tony kill some more time as I assume they are welcoming everyone back following the intermission.

The Twin Towers (w/ Slick) and Andre the Giant (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. Demolition and “King Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

-The combined weight of the heels in this match: 1,334 pounds. Damn! Jive Soul Bro! FTW! Duggan comes to the ring with wearing a Demolition mask, and his face painted with the American Flag. That pisses Jesse off to no end. Duggan goes eye to eye with Akeem to start and they start throwing heavy blows. Duggan gets the best of the exchange and drops the big man. He makes the tag to Ax and he just pounds the ever loving crap out of Akeem. Smash gets the tag and we have double clubberin to quote the Dream. Akeem continues to get mauled as he charges into an elbow from Ax. Finally Akeem is able to make a tag after catching Ax in the throat. The Boss Man has no better luck as he gets blitzed by Ax, and then by Duggan. Smash gets the tag and he responds to a USA chant with some rights, but Boss Man goes to the eyes. Smash returns the favor and makes the tag to Duggan. He works the arm of the Boss Man and makes the tag to Ax. He gets caught in the heel corner and the tag is made to Andre. I always love when the crowd groans as Andre makes his way into the right. That’s called ring presence, and the fans knowing someone is fucked when the Giant gets in the ring. Andre gets the advantage for his team and tags the Boss Man. He works on Ax and makes the tag to Akeem who misses a corner splash. The tag is made to Smash and he takes on both Twin Towers and even slams both of them to a good pop. Andre comes in from behind and Smash gets murdered. Chaos ensues as everyone gets involved in the ring. Smash gets isolated, but Duggan uses the 2×4 on Akeem as the ref chases Andre out of the ring. Smash covers for the pin at 7:23. You can all guess how Ventura feels about the ending to that match. I really miss Jesse on commentary.

Winners: Demolition and “King Hacksaw” Jim Duggan via Smash pin on Akeem at 7:23
-I enjoyed that way more than I thought it would be. Sure it was all brawling, but sometimes that’s not a bad thing. They filled they time they were given nicely and thankfully everything was energetic and the crowd was with them the entire way. **

-Gene interviews Dibiase and he threatens Snuka.

Hercules vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart)

-Ronnie Garvin is the special ref to continue his feud with Valentine, and he gives him a less than flattering introduction. Valentine gets in the face of Garvin and gets blindsided by Hercules. A scoop slam gets a two count for Hercules and Valentine hits the floor to get his bearings. Valentine keeps focusing on Garvin and gets rolled up for two. He heads to the floor after Garvin and Hercules hits him from behind. Once back inside the ring Valentine finally gains control and starts dropping some elbows. He heads up top, but gets caught with a right hand on the way down. Hercules sets too early on a backdrop, and gets pounded, but he blocks a suplex and hits one of his own. They brawl into the corner, and Valentine gets a takedown and puts his feet on the ropes for added leverage and the win at 3:08. Garvin announces Hercules as the winner, and eventually the ref relents and it is announced Hercules is the winner by DQ at 3:08. Garvin knocks Valentine out after the match with the Hands of Stone punch.

Winner: I have no clue at 3:08
-Wikipedia has Hercules as the winner, but Jesse and Tony keep claiming Valentine was the winner no matter what Garvin announced. The match was pretty bad no matter, and only served to continue the Garvin/Valentine feud. 1/4*

-Gene interviews Savage, Zeus, and Sherri in front of a smoking cauldron. Apparently it is the Cauldron of Madness, and that explains what all these men were tore up on during this period to give this awesomely crazed interviews.

”Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) vs. “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka

-Dibiase tries for the early advantage, but Snuka catches him. Dibiase immediately heads to the floor, and Virgil distracts Snuka. Dibiase tries to hit Snuka from behind, but he moves and Virgil gets nailed. An atomic drop sends Dibiase back to the floor and he is a little frustrated. They botch a leapfrog spot as Snuka jumps late and lands on top of Dibiase. Ventura and Schiavone cover by saying it worked out in the end for Snuka. Dibiase is able to fire in a boot to get the advantage and beats Snuka down in the corner. Dibiase gets a little stupid and goes to Snuka’s head and even Ventura questions that strategy. Dibiase gets nailed with a backdrop, but catches Snuka with a stun gun in rather impressive fashion. The crowd didn’t know what to make with that one. Snuka gets backed into the corner again, and Dibiase brings him out with a suplex that gets a count of two. A sweet backbreaker gets another two count, and for some reason the crowd seems a little burned out. Dibiase misses the back elbow from the middle rope, and Snuka starts to gain some momentum. Dibiase tries to beg off, but Snuka is having none of it and hits a slam. He heads up to the middle rope and delivers a flying headbutt. He heads to the top rope and looks for the splash, but Virgil distracts him. Snuka takes his attention off Dibiase and goes after Virgil. Dibiase meets him on the floor and sends Snuka into the ring post and Dibiase gets back into the ring to beat the count at 6:27. Snuka gets his heat back after the match by beating on Dibiase and hitting the splash on Virgil.

Winner: Ted Dibiase via count-out at 6:27
-Not sure why they just wouldn’t put Dibiase over clean here. It’s not like Snuka was in any high position on the card. The match was okay, but nothing I would brag about. *

-Okerlund interviews Hogan and Beefcake. Hate on these interviews by Beefcake, Hogan, and the Warrior all you want, but they were at least fun, and more refreshing than the scripted crap we get from today’s baby faces.

-We get a vide package for the Main Event, and I will point out Zeus confronted Hogan at Saturday Night’s Main Event on May 27, 1989 just before Hogan’s cage match with the Boss Man. I point that out because that was my 8th birthday.

Hulk Hogan (w/ Elizabeth) and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage (w/ Sherri) and Zeus

-I think most know the story as Hogan filmed a movie called No Holds Barred and the villain in the movie was Zeus. Well, Zeus has leapt from the big screen and has come to the WWF looking for revenge on Hulk Hogan. Sure, it sounds pretty ridiculous, but who knew at that time we would get worse things from the WWF. I think the execution was a little off as they seemingly wanted you to believe Zeus really existed outside the character in the movie instead of saying the actor went crazy and now thinks he is Zeus. Still, I found this perfectly acceptable as a kid, and even paid money to see No Holds Barred in the movie theater (well, my mom did, but I was 7 at the time). The crowd certainly buys Zeus as a bad ass monster and a threat to Hogan. Speaking of Hogan he gets an insane pop from the crowd as Hulk-A-Mania was still in full force here. Liz hasn’t show up yet for Hogan and Beefcake, but it’s just mind games on the part of team Hogan as she gets her own introduction with Macho’s music a few minutes later. My goodness Liz looks fantastic here! Jesse ain’t saying Liz is a gold digger, but she ain’t messing with….anyone who’s not the WWF Champion. Hogan starts with Zeus and can’t do anything with the monster. The crowd is just in awe as Zeus dominates both Hogan and Beefcake. This man seriously scared the piss out of me as a kid. Savage gets the tag and picks the bones that were left by Zeus. Savage delivers the double axe from the top rope to Hogan, and follows with a running clothesline. Hogan gets grounded with a sleeper, and that gives the fans a chance to loudly chant for their hero. He fights back to his feet, and starts elbowing out of the hold. Savage gets run over with a shoulder, but Hogan makes the mistake of trying to hit the ropes near Zeus and he gets a boot in the back for his stupidity. Zeus enters again, and the crowd is still shocked at how he is absolutely man handling Hogan. He locks in a bear hug, and while this would normally put most crowds to sleep, this crowd is electric as they try to rally Hogan. Again, you don’t need 600 variations of a suplex to get a crowd to eat out of the palm of your hand. The bear hug continues as Hogan continues to play the future figure head of TNA in peril. Savage comes back in to get things moving again and he clothesline’s Hogan over the top rope. Ever the awesome man, Savage spits on Beefcake to sucker him into the ring. A belly to back suplex nets Savage a two count. He argues with the ref and Hogan tries to pull himself up with the ropes. Savage misses squashing him on the middle rope, and then misses a few elbows. Hogan crawls and makes the tag to Beefcake who controls Savage to a massive pop. Seriously, that may have been the loudest pop you will ever see for Beefcake. He puts Savage in the sleeper, but Macho rams Beefcake into the buckle just before he passes out. The tag is made to Zeus and Beefcake is screwed except he finds a weakness as he goes to the eyes. Beefcake jumps on with the sleeper, but Savage breaks that up with Sherri’s loaded purse. Now Beefcake is your future disciple in peril. Savage keeps going for a pin, but Hogan keeps making the safe. Savage turns his attention to Liz, but Hogan makes the save on the floor. Savage tosses Beefcake into Zeus’ boot and makes the tag. He chokes Brutus over the top rope, and applies a choke. The ref actually pulls Zeus off in much the same manner later refs would try to pull the Undertaker off, and just like with Taker, the ref looks scared to death. Zeus press slam Beefcake throat first onto the top rope, and makes the tag back to Savage. A double clothesline spot leaves both men down, and the crowd starts losing their minds as they cheer Beefcake onto making the hot tag. The tag is made and the place comes unglued. Hogan beats on Savage and hits the running corner clothesline. The big foot sends Savage to the floor, and Hogan looks to bring him back in with a suplex, but Sherri grabs the leg much like Heenan did to Warrior at WM V. That gives Savage the chance to make the tag, but Savage drops an elbow before leaving. Hogan no sells the shit out of Savage’s finisher, and Macho is just having one of those days it seems. Zeus finally enters as the legal man, and we get the showdown everyone has been waiting for. Hogan unloads with rights, but Zeus just won’t do down. He finally staggers to one knee after a clothesline. Sherri tries to get involved, and Liz gets physical as she pushes Sherri into the ring. Hogan ends up with the loaded purse as the crowd is going nuts. Zeus gets nailed with purse and then gets slammed. The leg drop finishes at 15:04. Hogan threatens to punch Sherri and the crowd goes wild as Jesse wonders how they can cheer about a man abusing a woman. The man has a point. Liz ends up decking Sherri with the purse, and Brutus cuts off her ponytail.

Winners: Hulk Hogan and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake via Hogan pin on Zeus
-I’m sorry, but this match was a lot of fun. Zeus served his purpose well and provided Hogan with the proverbial monster that seemingly couldn’t be topped. Savage was there to keep things grounded and it all just worked when you throw in what the managers added. As match you will see better, but with the atmosphere of the white hot crowd and just the chaotic nature of this made for one hell of a good time. ***1/2

The 411: Lots of good tag action here coupled with an epic match with Warrior and Rude make this a pretty good show. Some crap on Zeus, but hate all you want, the man/character added a lot to the Main Event. The white hot crowd only added to the atmosphere of the show, and the crap was at least short. Good stuff all around here.
Final Score:  7.4   [ Good ]