wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF SummerSlam ’91
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-After that run of WCW shows, we are finally back to 1991 WWF. The gap between Mania and SummerSlam was long, but with no SNME it made it even longer. It’s no wonder they added King of The Ring. When we left Hulk Hogan had regained the WWF Title and everyone wept and celebrated with joy the reunion of Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Roddy Piper
-August 26, 1991
-Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY
-Attendance: 20,000
-PPV Buys: 405,000
-Vince’s voice-over for the show opening is one of the greatest he has ever done.
The Dragon, “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich, The British Bulldog vs. Warlord and Power and Glory (w/ Slick)
-Dragon starts with Roma and I am going to keep typing Roman, which is going to irritate me. Also this is peak Vince taking big stars and bringing them back or bringing them in as characters. I mean, just look at that babyface side! Roma gets a slam and then a standing dropkick. Roma then plays to the crowd and we may get a lot of that tonight because they all know they are working in front of a loud, capacity crowd. Roma backs Dragon into the corner and throws some right hands. He misses a charge in the corner and there’s Dragon’s famous arm-drags. He gets a standing dropkick, so Roma makes the tag to Hercules. He runs in and gets caught with a series of arm-drags and then a tag is made to Tornado. He runs Hercules into the top buckle and the crowd counts along. Then he gets the mounted punches in the corner which gets the crowd counting again. Hercules goes to the eyes to break and tags Warlord. Bulldog in as well so we can get some MEAT SLAPPING! Little Big E would approve. If he was born yet. I’m old and forget there are people out there younger than me. Quick check, and yes, Little Big E would have been about 5. Bulldog controls and brings Dragon back in. He tries a monkey flip in the corner, but no dice. Tag to Roma and he comes off the top with a shot to the ribs. Clothesline and now Dragon gets to take the shit kicking we all expected. He gets a roll-up but Hercules runs in to distract so Warlord can mow Dragon down with a clothesline. Roma with a snap suplex for two! Backbreaker next and then another. One more time and then he just drops Dragon on the mat. Power and Glory double team Dragon which brings Tornado into the match, but the ref forces him out. Gorilla Press Slam from Hercules! Warlord back in and he gets a slam. We all knew Dragon was going to be taking the beating in this match. He fights back with some chops and punches, but Hercules is back in. Dragon slides through his legs but gets caught with a sweet looking stun-gun that got a good reaction from the crowd. Warlord back in and he clubs Dragon on the back and gets a slam. All simple, but effective because Dragon is selling the shit out of everything. Warlord off the middle ropes, but Dragon gets his boots up to block. HOT TAG to Tornado and I love this crowd already! He runs wild but sets too early on a backdrop AND WARLORD GETS A SUNSET FLIP! Blind tag to Bulldog though and he comes off the top but Warlord catches him. Tornado hits the spinning punch which lets Bulldog gets a two count. Tag to Roma and Bulldog plants him with a power slam while Tornado has the Claw on Hercules. Things get wonky as Bulldog forgets what to do and goes towards Dragon, but then goes back for a cover. Warlord was supposed to break that up, but the timing is off. Now the tag to Dragon who comes off the top with a cross-body for the pin at 10:43.
Winners: The Dragon, The Texas Tornado, and The British Bulldog via pin at 10:43
-This was fine and a perfectly acceptable opener as the crowd was going to be hot for pretty much anyone they put out there. The ending was kind of screwy, but the fans didn’t care. **3/4
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Mr. Perfect (c) (w/ Coach) vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart
-Perfect went from The Genius, to The Brain, to Coach. Sounds like the names of three sit-coms on ABC in the 80s. Yes, I know there was a show called Coach and I loved it as a kid. I was happy see it on Amazon Prime last week. Bret hooks a side headlock and ends up getting a crucifix for two. Back to the side headlock and Bret takes it to the mat as Heenan insults Piper’s parents. They were fun together and Gorilla having to play peacekeeper is great. Bret ducks a clothesline and gets a cross-body for two. He comes in from the apron with a sunset flip for two and goes back to the side headlock. Perfect keeps going to the hair to try to create some space. Perfect fires off a chop, but tries to land a kick and Bret catches the leg. He gets a trip and stomps Perfect in the abdomen. Perfect reverses a whip and gets a slam, but Bret kicks off and knocks Perfect down. He starts staggering around the ring and Bret sends him to the floor with a clothesline. Perfect and Coach decide to take a walk, but Bret follows and sends Perfect back into the ring. Lockup in the corner and Perfect lands a heavy right hand over the ref’s back. He lays in the boots which sends Bret to the floor. Perfect follows and fires off another chop! Bret gets up to the apron and knocked off into a photographer. He would repeat that spot with Diesel and have a table to crash into instead of a photographer. Back in the ring Bret gets a roll-up for two, but Perfect slugs him down again. Heavy whip to the corner gets two. You can see Perfect gingerly walking around the ring. He hits the snap neckbreaker and gets a jackknife cover for two. Bret reverses a whip but sets too early on a backdrop and eats a boot to the chest. Dropkick sends Bret to the floor. They start trading blows on the floor. Perfect heads up top, but Bret meeds him up there and they battle. Bret falls first but Perfect falls just after him. He gets a two count before arguing with the ref. Heenan yells for Perfect to avoid hitting the ref, but Gorilla notes it would be a DQ. Heenan changes his tune and tells Perfect to deck the ref. The crowd starts a very loud, “Lets Go Bret” chant. Perfect hooks a reverse chinlock, but Bret elbows his way out. He goes for another crucifix but Perfect drops him with basically a Samoan Drop for two. Whip to the corner and Bret takes his sternum first bump that always looks painful. Perfect-plex, but Bret is out at two. Heenan notes nobody has ever kicked out of that move, but I assume Hogan may have when they went around the horn. Bret starts to rally and hits an atomic drop. He fires off some elbows and throws Perfect across the ring where he slides balls first into the post. Cool! Snap suplex gets two! Small package gets two! Neckbreaker gets two! Backbreaker followed by the middle rope elbow and that gets two. This crowd is pissed! Bret argues with the ref and that lets Perfect get a roll-up for two. They head to the floor and Perfect bumps like a maniac after being sent into the post. Bret starts working on the legs as he throws kicks to the hamstrings. Bret goes for the sharpshooter, but Coach is on the apron and Bret decks him. Perfect back up and kicks the middle rope into Bret’s little hitmen. Another low blow from Perfect though he says it was in the abdomen. Loud “Let’s Go Bret,” chant! Perfect tries to drop a leg, but Bret catches it and turns it into the Sharpshooter and Perfect taps immediately at 18:02.
Winner and New WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart via pin at 18:02
-Classic match that isn’t as good as I remember but Perfect was out there with a back being held together by tape. Props to him for going out and putting Bret over. This cemented Bret as someone on the rise and no longer just a tag team guy. Just a classic match that is fondly remembered. ****
-Sore winner Bret Hart rips Perfect’s singlet off. Well, that seemed uncalled for.
-Lord Alfred is with Stu and Helen and basically blows them off because he has to sell the idea that they are emotional and can’t talk.
-We go back and see Earthquake taking out the knee of Andre The Giant.
-Gene is backstage with Andre and The Bushwhackers. Andre looks rough which just makes me sad.
The Natural Disasters (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Bushwhackers (w/ Andre The Giant)
-Andre hobbles down with two canes to help him get around. He has a huge smile on his face though as I assume even this many years past his prime, he just loved being out there. Counting the teams and managers, we have 6 Hall of Famers here. The Whackers go to the eyes of both Disasters on the floor before the bell rings. Heenan: “If I was managing The Bushwhackers I would commit suicide.” I assume that joke wouldn’t fly today. The Whackers start strong as they cause Quake to squash his own partner. Battering Ram to Typhoon and a double clothesline to Earthquake. Play time is over as Quake is back in and flattens Butch. He runs Butch into the corner, but misses an elbow. Butch crawls for the tag, but Quake cuts him off and drops an elbow. Tag to Typhoon and he squashes Butch into the corner. Heenan informs us that Hogan is here and he is leaving for a few minutes to go embarrass him as it is put up or shut up time. Intrigue! Piper and Monsoon are just happy to see him leave. Not much happening in the match, so this was as good as a time for Brian to go confront Hogan. Luke finally gets the tag and hits a shoulder tackle. All four men in the ring and Quaker gets caught with a Battering Ram. One for Typhoon as well. Quake hits the floor and Andre is there waiting. Quake ignores that and slams Butch on the floor. Back in the ring Quake hits The Earthquake Splash for the pin at 6:27.
Winners: The Natural Disasters via pin at 6:27
-Nothing to this one as it started fun, but was a drag to the end. The Disasters probably should have SQUASHED the Whackers a bit more in this one. *
-The Disasters go after Andre, but The Legon of Doom are here to a massive pop. That sends the Disasters into retreat mode. Andre throws some cane shots for good measure. In a cool touch you can see the respect Hawk and Animal have for Andre as they keep checking on him as he starts walking towards the back. That’s pretty awesome!
-Gorilla throws to the back where The Brain has a cameraman at Hogan’s dressing room door. Heenan is carrying around The Big Gold Belt and challenges Hogan to a match on behalf of the Real World Champion, Ric Flair. Hogan (who was never shown) slams the door in his face and Heenan swears as he yells for the camera to be turned off. This was heavy stuff watching as a kid. Wild as I just reviewed the Great American Bash show where this belt was missing and they had to scramble to find a belt to use for Luger’s win.
-Mooney is backstage with Ted Dibiase and Sherri. They show video of all the awful things Virgil had to do for Dibiase.
Million Dollar Title: “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase (c) (w/ Sherri) vs. Virgil
-Virgil attacks Dibiase before the bell and this crowd is going crazy. He runs Dibiase down with a series of clotheslines and then a third one sends Dibiase to the floor. For some reason Piper calls her a “rag doll.” The cat or the toy? Virgil follows and rams Ted off the stairs and shoves him back into the ring. He starts using his boxing background as Ted is making him look great here as he bumps all over the place. Atomic Drop and Ted flips over the top and to the floor. Bobby Heenan is back to join the announce table and Piper wants to know how it went. Virgil tries a slingshot plancha, but Ted moves and Virgil crashes to the floor. Now Ted sends Virgil into the stairs and only fair since Virgil started it. Back in the ring Dibiase hits a clothesline and talks some trash to Piper. He drops a fist and then stomps the face. Dibiase off the middle ropes with a double ax and this crowd is pissed. He takes too long to go for the cover and Virgil is out at two. Whip to the corner and then a backdrop on the way out gets another two count for Ted. Clothesline is ducked and Virgil hooks The Million Dollar Dream. Sherri in and she decks Virgil for the DQ at 6:14. Just kidding as they announce that the ref is restarting the match and Sherri is barred from ringside.
-They start again and each man struggles to their feet. Virgil blocks getting sent into the corner and starts ramming Ted off the top buckle. Virgil goes back to the boxing skills and then gets a hard whip to the corner. Mounted punches in the corner as the crowd counts along. Reversal of a whip and the ref gets bumped. Dibiase talks more trash to Piper who is screaming for Virgil to get to his feet. Suplex from Dibiase. He calls for another and hits that one as well. A third suplex and Ted tells Piper he has another one for him. Piper is turning purple he is screaming so much. Piledriver, but the ref is still out so no count. Man, Ted’s kind of getting screwed in this one. Ted removes the buckle pad and talks some trash, but Virgil sends him into the exposed steel and both men are down. The crowd is roaring now and Piper is selling this for everything he’s worth. Virgil crawls over with the crowd begging him on and he gets the pin to a big pop at 11:27.
Winner and New Million Dollar Champion: Virgil via pin at 11:27
-This was a super simple match in front of a hot crowd and really they didn’t need to do anything more than what they did. Fun stuff! ***1/4
-Gene is outside with The Mountie and he is with New York’s finest. He lets them know not to go easy on the loser of the Jailhouse Match tonight. He calls them local hicks and you know how this is going to end and it’s glorious!
Jailhouse Match: The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Big Boss Man
-Loser goes to jail for the night and as mentioned, there is only one way this can end. Mountie runs his mouth so Boss Man just punches him right in the face. Effective! Mountie back with some of his own, but Boss Man gets in one punch to regain control. Splash gets a two count! Heenan is going to give Boss Man some cigarettes so he can bribe the screws. Heenan is awesome! It goes without saying, but I feel I need to say it every PPV. Mountie gets a thumb to the eye and tries to come off the middle ropes, but Boss Man catches him. Sweet spinebuster! Boss Man goes to a neck crank, but releases to chase after Jimmy Hart and pays for it as Mountie comes from behind and runs him into the steps. Leaping back elbow from The Mountie followed by a fist drop. Another one! Hard whip to the corner as Heenan starts on the Boss Man mom jokes. Slam gets a two count. This crowd is a little burned out after that last match. Boss Man reverses a whip, but misses an elbow in the corner. Mountie drops a series of elbows for another two count. Dropkick and a good one gets two! Strong kick out from The Boss Man as Mountie ends up on the floor. He can’t follow up though as Mountie drops an elbow on the apron and Boss Man falls to the floor. They start trading bombs so Mountie goes to a bite. Whatever you need to day to stay out of jail I guess. Sweet piledriver that gets a good reaction from the crowd. Jimmy distracts the ref so Mountie can use the stun-gun, but he misses and Boss Man lands an uppercut from his back. Another one lands and then The Boss Man Slam gets two? Huh? You didn’t get a lot of false finishes off finishing moves back then. Even the crowd seems confused. Mountie gets a trip from the mat and goes for another piledriver, but Boss Man counters into an Alabama Slam for the pin at 9:37. That looked great!
Winner: The Big Boss Man via pin at 9:37
-The crowd was still recovering from the previous match so this didn’t have much heat, but it was an okay match. What happens after is the memorable stuff. **
-Two officers heads down and immediately cuff Mountie and Boss Man helps lead him back to the garage area where he gets tossed into a police wagon and Mountie is on his way to jail. This is genius!
-Intermission time so we get a run of interviews. First a pissed of Dibiase and Sherri rant to Gene.
-Next Mooney is with Bret Hart and he is beaming holding the IC Title.
-Back to Gene with The Natural Disaster and Jimmy Hart, who is having a nervous breakdown over Mountie going to jail. The Disasters have words for The LOD.
-Mooney is with The Big Boss Man and he calls Mountie a jailbird. He proved he is the law and order in the WWF.
-Over to Gene who walks in to visit Randy Savage who is talking to fans on the phone. He notes he is petrified for tonight, but stops Gene from going to Elizabeth’s room. He makes Gene stay and turn things into a party line call. Macho is the best!
-After a break we catch up with Mountie being taken into the local jail. He is reading the rights to the cops and calls them hicks while yelling, “I am The Mountie.”
-Mooney is with The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart, who is still having a nervous breakdown. The Nasty Boys scream a lot about Nastyville.
-We go back to the jail where Mountie gets his picture taken. This is all great!
-Back to Jimmy Hart who is blowing a gasket.
-Gene is with The Legion of Doom and they cut a LOD promo. They will deal with The Disasters, but first is the Nasty Boys. Hawk: “There are boys, there are men, and then there are Monsters.”
-Back to the jail as Mountie gets his finger prints taken and flips off the cops while going over the top cartoon crazy.
-Back to Mooney with Slaughter and crew. Sarge notes Warrior and Hogan are both compromised coming into the match. Sarge notes he may have one more surprise.
-Gene is with special ref, Sid Justice and he says he is a man that stands alone. Gene throws to footage from earlier in the day of Sarge and crew trying to recruit Sid. He notes he did not promise them anything, just like he didn’t promise anything to Hogan or The Warrior.
WWF Tag Team Championship: Street Fight: The Nasty Boys (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Legion of Doom
-The brawl is on immediately and all four men end up on the floor. MSG really likes MSG as “LOD” rings out. Animal hits a powerbomb back in the ring on Knobbs for two as Saggs makes the save. Hawk with an enziguiri on Saggs and then a flying shoulder for two as now, Knobbs makes the save. Saggs uses mace on Hawk as the ref puts Animal on the apron as I guess this is a Street Fight with tags. The announcers completely miss Hawk being maced so can’t explain why he is stumbling around blind on the floor. Saggs finds a container full on beers and throws them at Hawk. So weird that this is no DQ, but the ref is forcing people to the apron. Just go punch somebody and yes, I know this was in the early days of WWF doing matches like this. Hawk gets run into the stairs and Saggs pulls Animal back into the ring so they can cheat behind the ref’s back…in a no DQ match. Great Heenan moment as he talks about The Mountie and Monsoon tells Heenan to go bail him out. Heenan: “I don’t care if Mountie’s in jail. It’s none of my business.” Then we get stupid things like Piper saying the ref is there to make sure things don’t go too far. My head hurts! Saggs drops his elbow off the top for two count as Animal makes the save. Knobbs off the top, but Hawk gets his boot up and makes the hot tag to Animal. Clothesline and another! Mounted punched to Knobbs in the corner and then Saggs gets decked. Powerslam to Knobbs for two as we get another save. All four men finally back in the ring again. Hawk get dumped to the floor and Jimmy throws in the helmet. The tease accidentally hitting each other, but Saggs holds up and then decks Animal. That was pretty great as the crowd bit on that. Hawk decks Jimmy and gets the helmet. Knobbs gets blasted and Saggs takes a shot as well. Doomsday Device finishes Saggs at 7:45.
Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Legion of Doom via pin at 7:45
-A few years later this would have been a wild, weapons filled brawl, but instead what we got was a standard tag match with relaxed rules. The crowd was into it and popped for the Title Change. Not much else to this one. **1/2
-The Mountie tries to run away, but doesn’t get more than two steps before they toss him into a cell with some friends.
-Survivor Series commercial! Nov 27! I grew up with the big four PPV but just seems wild now to go that long between big shows like this. Not having SNME during this time didn’t help either.
IRS vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
-Heenan: “Figure-four vs. The W-4,” I love Heenan! This would be your cool down match after the tag title change. IRS complains about Hammer using an illegal closed fist. Clothesline by Hammer and Irwin bails to the floor. Monsoon notes Jake Roberts and Undertaker have been seen and Heenan thinks they may object to the wedding. He’s the Brain! Sunset flip gets two for Hammer and he gets a slam. Irwin bails again and the crowd is booing him for it. Now we get a very low “boring” chant. Irwin hooks an abdominal stretch to wake them up. He at least makes sure to use the ropes to tick off some kids in the front row. The ref catches him which lets Hammer hip-toss his way out. Irwin regains control and hooks a chinlock. More boring chants! Irwin heads up top but Hammer meets him and slams him down. Hammer shakes his fist like a mad old man yelling at clouds for some reason. Irwin misses a knee in the corner which gives Hammer his opening. He starts firing off kicks to the leg and drops an elbow. Figure-four but way too close to the ropes and IRS easily reaches out for them to break. Hammer pulls Irwin back to the middle and drops an elbow, but misses. He gets a knee-breaker though and looks for the Figure-four again, but drops a head-butt instead. A third time and Irwin gets a small package for the pin at 7:08.
Winner: IRS via pin at 7:08
-Ugh! Just slow and plodding with a crowd that was turning on the match. Not a fan! 1/2*
-Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. They try to our crazy each other and we ate all this up as kids because it was never boring and it sounded important.
Match Made in Hell: Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs. The Triangle of Terror (Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Col. Mustafa)
-Even having the advantage Team Slaughter had no chance here. Hogan just beat Slaughter and adding old Iron Sheik and a manager wasn’t going to help. Especially when Hogan added Warrior to his team. Sid Justice is the special ref in his WWF PPV debut. For those keeping track Hogan’s music got a bigger reaction than Warrior’s. Hogan tosses the WWF Title to Sid and funny enough he wins that same Title in the same building when he ended Shawn’s boyhood dream a little over 5 years later and while Hogan was a heel Champion in WCW. Wrestling man! MSG is way into this one with USA chants. We are over a minute in and nothing has happened yet. Hogan opts to start the match and Slaughter starts for his team. Slaughter has a belt in his hands, but Sid rips it away from him and gets in Slaughter’s face. Over two minutes and no contact. Finally a lock-up at 2:09 and Slaughter backs Hogan into the corner. He fires off forearms but Hogan reverses a whip and Slaughter starts bumping like a madman. Slaughter gets pinballed between Hogan and Warrior. Tag to Warrior and double clothesline. Inverted atomic drop and then a double boot. Again, this is such a mismatch. Slaughter gets tossed into the post and Hogan gets a two as Mustafa makes the save. Running elbow from Hogan and Warrior is back in. He decks Slaughter in the gut and then sends him into Hogan’s boot. LUCHA HULK as he comes off the middle ropes with a double ax. Hogan probably should have told Sid to make sure he doesn’t try something like that about a decade later. Sid pulls Hogan off Slaughter in the corner which lets Slaughter turn things around. Adnan gets the tag and he goes to the eyes. Hogan selling for Adnan is kind of wild! He rakes Hogan’s back as the crowd starts a Hogan chant. Mustafa in and it’s Sheik vs. Hogan on PPV. Camel Clutch and Piper is all over it as he says he remembers this back in 83. Warrior breaks it up though and Sarge is back in to do the heavy lifting. Slaughter chokes Hogan in the corner and Sid pulls him away. A whip accidentally sends Hogan into Sid and they just stare at each other. Adnan back in for more back rakes and eyes rakes. Slaughter back in and he heads up top, but Warrior shoves him off. Tag to Warrior and he starts firing off right hands and clotheslines. He is so all over the place he runs into Sid, who just stares him down. Adnan in and hey, it’s more back racks. I understand Slaughter was a man who turned on the country so he didn’t have any allies other than these two, but man give me anyone else to team with him. Weak clothesline from Slaughter as he and Warrior both look gassed. Warrior ducks another clothesline and hits a leaping one to leave both men down. The crowd is now into this as they are waiting for the hot tag to Hogan. He makes the tag and there’s the pop and we get put this one to bed. Hogan with right hands and then a big boot. Warrior in to take out Adnan and Mustafa. He finds a chair and chases Adnan and Mustafa to the back where he gets fired by Vince. Hogan with powder to Sarge’s face and then the leg drop gets the pin at 12:39 with a really fast count from Sid.
Winners: Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 12:39
-This was not good as Adnan and Mustafa had nothing so Sarge had to carry his side against HOGAN AND WARRIOR. Add in the Warrior holding up Vince issue which probably caused some problems and I assume why they had Warrior chase the heels to the back so he couldn’t be there to get the win and celebrate. This headlining a MSG house show maybe makes sense, but not here. Though I guess the wedding was the real Main Event. 1/2*
-Hogan poses and waves someone in the back to come out and it’s Sid and not Warrior. Hogan and Sid pose to give the fans something to cheer from this Main Event. See, Warrior was fucked and no chance Vince was letting him get back out there. I could only imagine who badly he was waiting for Warrior to come back through the curtain.
-Back to the Mountie in the jail cell and a man in leather hits on him while he loses his mind.
-Recap of Macho proposing to Liz on Superstars and it still makes me still. Just a tremendous moment with Piper and Vince cheering him on while on commentary. Piper: “Get down on your knee.” The old ladies in the front row smiling makes me smile as well. The crowd is also yelling for Macho to get on his knees. Oh, and it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, Liz is gorgeous! Liz responding “oh yeah,” is the only way she could have answered. I love this so much!
-Next we get a video package and I think the song is different as perhaps they lost the rights to using it. No clue, but definitely not the song I remember. I thought they used “Forever,” which was also sung at the Steph/Test wedding.
-We close with the wedding ceremony in the middle of the ring and it’s done in less than 10 minutes. Way quicker than my ceremony as it went for a good time. My pastor was awesome! Piper being a softie for weddings and threatening Heenan at every turn is great. Again, Liz is just beautiful! We get Randy and Liz kissing for the first time (I think) on WWF TV. Ever the showman Savage milks the crowd before hitting the kiss. I am romantic so I love all this and don’t think about how it all ended.
-Thanks for reading!
