From the Bowery: SummerSlam 90

From the Bowery: SummerSlam ‘90
-August 27, 1990
-The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

Personal Note: I broke my finger 2 weeks ago playing softball and had surgery Monday to place two pins. It will be a few months before I can do any more reviews (SummerSlam 91 still on the way). Thanks to Larry for understanding. I will still be involved in WOTW and the like as I can hen peck with my left hand.

-The opening video package is only note worthy because we finally get the classic SummerSlam theme (you know the one) instead of the Royal Rumble theme they had used the last two years.

Announce Team: Vince McMahon and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

The Rockers vs. Power and Glory

-Power and Glory are already in the ring as the Rockers get introduced. Hercules uses the chain and clips Shawn in the knee to leave him out on the floor. Marty is left alone and does well as he goes hiptoss crazy on both members of Power and Glory. He hits a dropkick on both men, and manages a small package on Roma, but Slick keeps the ref from making the count. Roma takes over on Jannetty, and Shawn attempts to get back on the apron, but Hercules kicks him in the knee to send him back to the floor. Marty attempts a sunset flip, but Roma is close enough to his corner to get the tag. Once again Shawn gets to the apron and again he gets clipped and ends up back on the floor. Jannetty continues to take a shit kicking as Hercules press slams him in the ring. Marty keeps getting a fluke roll-up here and there to give the crowd hope, but the numbers are just too great. Roma returns and gets a two count off a back breaker, but can’t keep the advantage as Marty hits a powerslam. He heads up top and drops a fist, but Hercules is in to make the save. Jannetty tries another roll-up, but he ends up running into a clothesline from Hercules on the apron. P&G double team Jannetty by throwing him as high in the air as they can and letting him crash to the mat. Effective! Marty works in his somersault sell of a clothesline from Hercules. The massacre ends with Hercules hitting a superplex and Roma following with a splash from the top rope to get the pin at 6:00. The crowd was pretty solidly behind Power and Glory here as the Philly fans loved seeing the pretty boys getting slaughtered. I must admit it was pretty fun as well. Shawn gets stretchered out after the match, and the crowd cheers.

Winners: Power and Glory via Roma pin on Jannetty
-Shawn was legit hurt coming into the match, and thus they had to create a reason for him to do nothing in the match. This was pretty effective, and it would have been more fun if Shawn had to go at it alone instead of Marty, but I kind of enjoyed seeing this shit kicking. SQUASH

-Perfect and Heenan give an interview hyping the IC title match with The Texas Tornado. This was supposed to be Beefcake getting the strap, but his face was destroyed in a parasailing accident. At least Perfect knows who he is facing. The Honky Tonk man wasn’t as fortunate 2 years ago when Beefcake couldn’t make that IC Match either.

-Gene interviews Von Erich, and he keeps things rather short.

WWF Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect © (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich

-Heenan gets booed out of the building upon being introduced, and it really makes me miss classic heel managers. The crowd jumps all over Heenan with the weasel chant, and his reaction always brings a smile to my face. They lockup to start and Tornado overpowers Perfect to the shock of none. Perfect heads to the floor and comes back with a better game plan: wrestling. He controls with a hiptoss, and goes back to consult with Heenan. It apparently wasn’t sound advice as the Tornado opens up after reversing a whip into the corner. Perfect eats a hiptoss, a slam, and then gets clotheslined over the top to the floor in epic fashion. Heenan tells Perfect that the Tornado has gotten lucky so far. Perfect heads back in the ring and starts to work the arm, but is open for a clothesline. Perfect goes through his offense including the neck snap, and locks in a sleeper. Piper loves seeing that hold being used. I always liked little things like that (see also Lawler beaming when anyone would use a piledriver in a match he called). Perfect gets a little too cocky and starts talking shit. He turns his back on the Tornado, and that doesn’t go well as the Tornado catches him and catapults him into the post. A claw hold follows, and that leaves Perfect dazed enough for the Discus Punch. That’s enough to crown a new Intercontinental Champion at 5:15.

Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich via pin at 5:15
-Not what you would call an epic match. Perfect bumped like crazy and made Tornado look good though. *1/4

-Heenan and Perfect bitch after the match. I always love a pissed off/distraught Heenan after a loss.

”Sensational Queen” Sherri vs. Sapphire

-This is a result of the Rhodes/Savage feud with their respective managers getting involved. All 4 had a mixed tag match at WrestleMania, and now we get the 1 on 1 match in each case. Sapphire gets announced quite a few times, but she’s nowhere to be found. The music even kicks off and then starts again, but still no dice. A WWF suit heads down to the ring and talks to Finkel and the ref. Sapphire has 30 seconds to make it to the ring or she forfeits. Even Vince wonders if she could even make it to the ring in 30 seconds. Sherri counts down the final 10 seconds and then she is declared the winner.

Winner: “Sensational Queen” Sherri via forfeit
-No Rating

-Gene interviews Dusty Rhodes and he has no clue where Sapphire has disappeared to. He feels the mysterious benefactor who has been sending her extravagant gifts is the one behind all this. Duggan interrupts to let Dusty know he is still searching for her. That would ease my nerves knowing Hacksaw was on the case.

The Warlord (w/ Slick) vs. Tito Santana

-Always amazed me how Warlord looks like Steve Austin on a good cycle of steroids here. Tito uses his speed early to fluster the Warlord, so he does what all heels do when they get in trouble, bail to the floor. He heads back in and gets caught in an arm wringer. Warlord breaks with a slam, but misses an elbow. Tito shows show good fire with some right hands, but gets tossed to the floor. Slick distracts the ref, and the Warlord rams Santana back first into the ring post. Now the Warlord distracts the ref and Slick looks to use a shoe, but the ref catches him. Seriously, who uses a freakin shoe? I mean besides Flair and Anderson circa 1996 Nitro. Tito gets worked over in the corner as the match has kind of grinded to a halt here. Thankfully Tito comes out of the corner with a clothesline to get the crowd back into things, but Warlord powers out of the pin easily. The Flying Jalapeno (tm Bobby Heenan) follows, but the Warlord is able to get his foot on the bottom rope. Tito tries a monkey flip out of the corner, but the Warlord holds onto the ropes. The powerslam finishes things at 5:28.

Winner: The Warlord via pin at 5:28
-Tito did what he could here, and that meant putting Warlord over strong. *1/4

-Mooney interviews Demolition. This is the 3 Man version of Demolition with Crush as he was taking some of the load of an injured Ax. They were using the Freebird rule in that any 2 of the 3 could defend the titles.

WWF Tag Title: 2 out of 3 Falls: Demolition © vs. The Hart Foundation

-1st Fall: In this case Crush and Smash will be defending, and the psychology is that the Foundation just found which two they would be facing. Bret mentions in a pre-match interview he thought it would be the two original members of Demolition. Things start off slowly with Smash and Bret. Crush and Anvil don’t like the idea of a slow start as they hit the ring. Crush gets put out by the ref and that gives the Hart Foundation a chance to double team Smash. Neidhart gets the tag and he starts working the arm. He even goes as far as to bite the arm. Nice! Bret comes back in and he continues to work over the arm. Bret drops a leg on the bicep, and hooks an armbar, but Smash breaks with a slam. He makes the tag to Crush, and future n.W.o members collide. Bret actually wins a slugging match with Crush, but gets stupid as he tries a cross body. Crush catches easily and slams Bret to the mat. A blind charge backfires though as he runs right into a boot from Bret that nets a two count. Each man makes a tag, and Neidhart hits a shoulder block. He makes a mistake though of hitting the ropes near Crush and takes a boot for his trouble. Crush gets the tag, but Anvil boots him and makes the tag to Bret. Smash also gets the tag, so Bret just takes on both members. He does pretty well as he hits Smash with a nice atomic drop, and then sends Crush to the floor. Smash and Anvil do battle on the floor while Bret gets a hot near fall off a side Russian legsweep. Bret gets another two of the middle rope elbow drop, but Crush breaks things up. With the Anvil still down on the outside, Demolition win the first fall by hitting Bret with the Demolition Decapitation at 6:20.

-2nd Fall: The Anvil fights to get in and while the ref puts him out Demolition start clubberin. Crush hits a sort of chokeslam, before tagging out to Smash. The champs keep the pressure on Bret and continue to make quick tags. Crush starts cranking on Bret’s neck and that gives the crowd a chance to get back into the match. Bret rallies to his feet, but he gets pounded back down, and the tag is made to Smash. Bret ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own. The crowd urges him to crawl to Neidhart, and after pulling away from Smash, the tag is finally made. Neidhart hits a double sledge for two, and then gets another two count of a powerslam. Piper calls shenanigans on the count. Bret gets tagged back in, and gets whipped into Smash. Crush gets decked off the apron and the Hart Attack follows. Crush dives on the ref to break the count, but that earns a DQ at 3:47 (10:07 total time). We are tied at 1 fall each.

-3rd Fall: Smash gets backed into the corner, but Crush comes in to save. That only serves to distract the ref, and the Anvil slams Bret onto Smash. Smash rolls to the floor and switches places with Ax hiding under the ring. The fact that the ref doesn’t realize that a guy with completely different face paint is in the ring is one thing because we are lead to belief refs are stupid, but Piper feeding into this is kind of stupid. Bret gets dominated by the fresh man as one would expect, and the Anvil has to keep making the save. Crush returns and he continues the ass kicking of Bret, and the Anvil keeps making the save. Bret gets dumped to the floor and the Smash comes back to beat on him. Neidhart gets dumped to the floor, and the Legion of Doom head down to the ring. They pull Ax out from under the ring and that distracts Smash. He heads after the LOD and that leaves Crush alone with the Foundation. Neidhart slingshots from the apron and delivers a shoulder that sends Crush falling over a kneeling Bret. That gets the second fall and the titles for the Hart Foundation at 4:17 (14:24 total time).

Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Hart Foundation via Bret pin on Crush at 14:24
-Good, not great match, but definitely a lot of fun to watch. The crowd popped huge for the Foundation and for the Legion of Doom. ***1/4

-Gene interviews the LOD and the Hart Foundation. Obviously both teams are quite happy with what just happened.

-Mooney stands outside the door of the former tag champs, and they are less than thrilled.

-Gene interviews Sherri, and she thinks Sapphire was too scared.

-Gene recaps what matches are left still to come as I take it this has been intermission time.

-The Boss Man gets the next interview and he mentions he will be in Hogan’s corner.

-Mooney interviews Nikolai and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. This was then time when Nikolai loved the USA.

-Back to Gene with Earthquake, Hart, and Bravo. Video is shown of Quake crushing Hogan and then Tug Boat.

-Back to Mooney with Jake and Damian and he threatens Bad News Brown.

Bad News Brown vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

-This was a feud that was between not only the two men, but their respective pets: In this case Jake’s snake and Brown’s Harlem Sewer Rat. The Big Boss Man is the special ref for this match. Jake goes for the DDT early, but Brown hits the floor. Smart man! Once back inside Brown controls Jake and looks for the Ghetto Blaster, but Jake falls to the mat. Brown opts to drop an elbow and tries to pin Jake with one foot. Obviously that only gets a one count, and Brown argues with the Boss Man. They start brawling on the floor and Brown uses a steel chair. The Boss Man lets it go, and Roberts gets tossed back into the ring. Jake gets tossed into the corner, and Brown fires off punches to the ribs. Another toss to the corner and Jake gets beaten to the mat. Brown hits a clothesline, and heads up to the middle rope, but misses a punch. Jake fights to his feet, and hits his patented knee lift. He starts jabbing, and delivers the short arm clothesline. The crowd immediately starts chanting for the DDT, and Jake signals for it. Brown counters with a backdrop, and kicks Jake to the floor. He grabs the chair again, and finally the Boss Man has had enough and calls for the bell at 4:44. Brown tries to leg drop Damian after the match, but the Boss Man makes the save. Brown attacks the Boss Man, and Jake makes the save with Damian. Bad News high tails it away from the ring.

Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts via DQ at 4:44
-This was pretty horrible and seemed a lot longer than 5 minutes. No DDT makes things even worse. 1/4*

-Demolition finally gives an interview and yes, they are quite pissed.

-To waste even more time we get an edition of the Brother Love Show with Sgt. Slaughter. He tells everyone that America has become weak and soft. He presents Brother Love with an award for being a great American. Slaughter declares war on Nikolai Volkoff.

-Mooney interviews the Orient Express.

-Gene tries to interview Sapphire, but she’s not answering her door.

The Orient Express (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff

-I don’t see these two teams meshing very well. Volkoff and Duggan sing God Bless America, and the heels don’t jump them during the song. They are evil foreigners, so what’s up with that? The Express finally get things started after the bell rings, but they get tossed into each other and sent to the floor. A massive USA chant starts as that’s the one thing Duggan can bring to the table no matter what he has left in the tank. Volkoff catches Tanaka in a backbreaker, but Saito comes in to save. The Express double team Volkoff and Fuji even gets in a shot with the cane. Volkoff is your ex commie in peril, but that doesn’t last long as he makes the hot tag to Duggan. He blows right through both members of the Express, and rams them head first into each other. Clotheslines are delivered and all four men do battle in the ring. Duggan delivers the running clothesline that Tanaka sells with a 360. That should piss Jannetty off I would think. The pin is academic at 3:22.

Winners: Duggan and Volkoff via Duggan pin on Tanaka at 3:22
-Thankfully this was short, and it was energetic. That’s all I ask. 1/2*

-Dusty tries to get Sapphire out of her dressing room, but has to head to the ring for his match.

-Savage gives an interview from atop his throne carried by jobbers. Awesome!

Dusty Rhodes vs. “The Macho King” Randy Savage (w/ “Sensational Queen” Sherri)

-I am looking to see if we have a DDP or CM Punk moment with the jobbers carrying Savage to the ring, but I don’t see anyone I recognize. Before the match starts Ted Dibiase interrupts from the interview stage and announces that he has bought off Sapphire. Bless his heart, Dusty sells the hell out of the moment with his over the top anguish. Rhodes heads to the floor to give chase, but Savage hits him from behind. Savage heads up top and drops the double axe. Sherri makes sure to get a shot in and Savage chokes with his boot. Savage drapes Dusty over the apron and drops an elbow on his throat. The ref pulls Savage off Rhodes and that gives Dusty a chance to unload with flip, flop, and fly. He starts raining down elbows and one sends Savage to the floor. Macho puts Sherri in the way, and she doesn’t cower like Liz used to. Sherri sneaks her purse to Savage and then distracts Rhodes. The loaded purse gets used and Savage gets the pin at 2:15.

Winner: “Macho King” Randy Savage via pin at 2:15
-No flying elbow in a Savage win makes me a sad panda. The match was nothing more than an afterthought to the Dibiase/Rhodes/Sapphire angle. 1/2*

-Mooney interviews Dibiase as he heads to a limo with Virgil and Sapphire. Rhodes shows up, but the limo pulls out in time.

-Hogan and Boss Man give an interview with Gene. Hogan uses the founding fathers and the constitution in the interview. Only Hogan, and only Awesome!

Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart and Dino Bravo) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/ The Big Boss Man)

-Hogan passed the torch to Warrior at WM VI and then got put out of action by Earthquake on an edition of the Brother Love Show. In his absence Tugboat rallied Hogan’s fans, and that got him put in the hospital as well. As far as the torch passing thing goes, it doesn’t show here as the crowd goes absolutely nuts for Hogan. Clearly he is who the fans want to see tonight. Slow start, but the crowd could care less. Hogan tries to power Quake in a lockup, but no dice as Quake shoves him to the mat twice. Hogan tries a side headlock, but Quake shoves off easy and mows Hogan down with a shoulder. Hogan has no clue what to do with the big man and heads to the floor to break. Hogan comes back and hits a few punches before he tries a slam. That doesn’t go very well for him as you would expect. Quake tries a splash in the corner, but Hogan gets a boot up. He hits a few clotheslines and some punches to finally drop Quake to his ass at least. Bravo gets punched in the mouth for his trouble, and that gives Quake a chance to head to the floor. Hogan gives chase and everyone gets involved. All four men get in the ring, and Bravo eats a double boot, and Quake receives the same treatment. Piper wonders why the ref hasn’t disqualified Hogan. Bravo and Quake double slam Hogan as the ref puts the Boss Man out of the ring. Quake drops an elbow, but it only gets a two count. Earthquake actually heads to the top and comes off with a forearm to Hogan. Damn, I’m tempted to give this match * just for that alone. A Boston Crab gets locked in and that won’t help the damaged ribs and back. Hogan is able to get to the ropes and crawls to the floor. The bad thing is that it is right by Bravo, and he slams Hogan on the floor before firing him back in the ring. Quake tosses Hogan around rather easily, but misses the elbow this time. Hogan sells the back, and tries the slam again, and while a little closer, Quake still falls back on him for a two count. Smartly Quake goes to a bear hug, and again, while this would kill any normal match, the crowd is right with them because this is Hulk Hogan. The ref gets his shirt ripped as Hogan uses him to help break the hold. Hogan starts firing away again, but makes the mistake of trying a crossbody. Quake catches him and drops him with a falling slam for two. The Quake Splash follows, but that’s not good enough. Vince calls Hogan’s career over, and all seems lost for our hero after the second butt splash, but this is Hulk Hogan. He kicks out at two and starts to Hulk-up to a massive reaction. He points the finger, shakes the head, and after 3 right hands we get the big boot. Quake stays on his feet though, so Hogan finally hits the body slam. Bravo distracts the ref though and thus no count after the leg drop. Hogan tosses Jimmy Hart onto Earthquake, and then the two men brawl on the floor. The Boss Man tosses Bravo from the ring and they brawl on the other side of the floor. Hart accidentally hits Quake with the megaphone, and Hogan slams the big man onto a nearby table. Hogan is able to get back into the ring to beat the count, and Quake is counter out at 13:16. Quake is might pissed now and starts choking Hogan. The Boss Man uses a chair to leave some serious welts all over the back of Earthquake. That was your standard wrestling chair, and it looked kind of painful. Quake is even more pissed now and goes after the Boss Man, but the night stick proves to be more effective of clearing the ring.

Winner: Hulk Hogan via count-out at 13:16
-Again, I’m a Hogan mark, and the man entertains me. I’ll never know why Hogan never went over unless they planned a Warrior/Earthquake feud where Warrior would pin him to get him over as the #1 guy. This was your standard Hogan vs. fat man match, but Quake brought a little more to the table, and thus we had a better match. **

-Rude and Heenan give their thoughts with Gene.

-Dusty cries to Mooney about Sapphire.

-Lord Alfred Hayes gives play by play as to how the cage is constructed. It’s kind of scary seeing how many people are heading to the exits while the cage is being erected. I hope they are only going to the bathroom or get some food.

-Hogan gets on last interview with Gene as he gloats about his win. He promises to beat on Quake until he gets put back into Title contention.

-Quake promises to take out Hogan and shows off the nasty effects of those chair shots. Sick!

-Warrior gives his normal interview and he even works the founding fathers into his promo. That only makes him look even more like a Hogan copy cat after he did the same thing earlier in the show.

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

-Warrior was now the #1 guy and needed someone to put him over to put the stamp of his run as Champion. Enter Rick Rude who was seen as an immediate threat because he had defeated Warrior at WM V for the IC strap. This is the classic blue bar steel cage and is by pin fall or escape rules. The steel cage is there to keep Heenan from getting involved like he did at WM V. Rude wants all the fat, out of shape, Pennsylvania Piss Ants to keep the noise down. Hey now, I from Pennsylvania. That hurts my feelings. Good pop from the crowd as the Warrior sprints to the ring, but definitely not the pop Hogan got a few minutes earlier. Warrior climbs the cage to enter, but Rude meet him and both men slug it out from the top of the cage. Rude falls and Warrior seemingly can just go right back down, but he opts to pound on Rude some more. Piper thinks Rude should tie Warrior’s armbands to the cage. Smart man there! Rude gets bounced around the cage as I continue to enjoy the commentary provided by Piper. Warrior misses a dive and eats steel cage. Rude takes that opening to start his climb. Warrior cuts him off though, but Rude sends him to the canvas. Rude jumps off the top rope to deliver a forearm. Rude is bleeding at this point, but remains in control. The two men slug it out, but Rude keeps things in his favor. Warrior has his face rubbed against the blue bars, but no blood yet. Rude goes for the Rude Awakening (great tease as Warrior struggles against it), but Warrior is able to power out. I enjoy when guys have to struggle to apply a move. It seems to give things a more realisitic feel. Rude eventually does hit the Rude Awakening, but doesn’t go for the cover or the escape. Instead he hits to the top of the cage and hits a forearm to the head of the Warrior. That was pretty damn impressive on the part of Rude. Sadly, he goes to the well one too many times and Warrior catches him in the midsection. Warrior crawls to the door, but Heenan slams the door on his head. We are barely over 7 minutes in, but both men are selling this like they have been in there for 20 minutes. Rude crawls and Heenan tries to pull him out the door. Warrior pulls on the tights and Rude shows some ass like a good heel. Heenan gets pulled in the ring and get abused. The distraction is enough for Rude to hammer the Warrior from behind. Warrior shakes the ropes and Warriors-Up. The crowd is rocking as Warrior hits the press slam. Rude is out at this point and Warrior climbs up and out of the cage. To rub things in, Warrior swivels his hips before hitting the floor to retain the title @ 10:03. We are desperately out of time, and Warrior doesn’t get near the time Hogan did to celebrate his win even though he is the WWF Champion.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: The Ultimate Warrior via cage escape @ 10:03
-That was pretty damn short for a Championship Main Event. It reminded me of the Nash/Booker T cage match from Fall Brawl in 2000. Both men sold things like they were completely exhausted only minutes into the match, and Rude busted out the blade only seconds into the match. Still, even though it was on the short side it accomplished what it needed to, and Rude bounced around enough to make this enjoyable. **3/4 (Note: I copied and pasted the review of this match from the Warrior DVD I reviewed. I know most hate on this match, but after watching it again, I still enjoy the match. **3/4 is probably too high however, but I’ll stand by the rating.)

The 411: This was a pretty bad show with a lot of crap, and ton of interviews. The tag title match was the lone high mark, and the only thing that helps is once again a hot crowd. The final two matches are ok, but that may just be me, and I have no problem saying most won't enjoy them as much as me.
Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]