SUMMERSLAM 90 REVIEW


Today im reviewing Summerslam 90. It was billed as a double main event because the Warrior/Rude feud wasn't generating enough interest. Harly anyone picked Rude to win so the interest just wasn't there. So Hogan managed to get some of the top billing when he made his WWF return to face the guy who put him out 2 months earlier The Earthquake. Vince McMahon and Rowdy Roddy Piper are the commentators tonight. Ventura got his walking papers from McMahon like a week before the ppv because, according to Wikipedia, Ventura had signed a deal with the Sega game guys when McMahon already had a contract with their arch nemesis Nintendo. So they had an arguement I guess and Ventura's illustrious WWF career came to a close without fanfare. Onto the review


Match #1

Tag Team Match

The Rockers Vs Power And Glory w Slick

This feud started when a face jobber Paul Roma lost a match to Dino Bravo earlier in the summer and the Rockers made there way out for their match. The Rockers showed concern for the dazed Roma who was still in the ring but Roma shoved them away and said he didn't want there help. Hercules came out to back him up and both Roma and Herc sucker punched the Rockers then got knocked out of the ring. Bascially the two low card face guys are jealous of the Rockers. The match isn't anything aside from story advancement. PAG jump the Rockers and Herc hits Michaels in the knee with his steel chain. Becomes a handicap match and Marty gets a s*** kicking for a good 3 minutes. The ref is totally inept. Shawn tries climbing up on the apron but Hercules punches him in the leg to knock him down Marty manages to make some token offense and pin attempts but the other PAG member always breaks it up. They finish him with their super sweet powerplex finisher at 6:01. PAG attack Shawn post match and he is stretchered out. They worked it this way because Shawn hurt his leg days earlier and had to go for rehab. 1 1/2 stars. I wonder why noone else has used the powerplex since then.


Match #2

Intercontinental Title Match

Mr Perfect w Bobby The Brain Heenan Vs The Texas Tornado Kerry Von Eric


Brutus Beefcake was THIS close to winning the IC title but the freak parasailing accident took a dump on his wrestling career. So the freshly debuted Kerry Von Eric made the challenge. Not a horrible fill in as the crowd was crazy over for him. During his interview Kerry is wearing a different outfit from when he comes through the curtain. Possibly pre taped? Kerry shows his strength early. Perfect gives him a hiptoss and as in an earlier interview doesn't act like Tornado is any big whoop. Tornado makes him pay and sends him out of the ring. Heenan say's he got lucky. He gets his act together somewhat and tries a sleeper on Von Eric. That doesn't work too well as Tornado powers out so he mocks him in the corner in typical Perfect Fashion. Tornado makes him pay and slingshots him into the steel post. Then he slaps on the claw and finishes with a tornado punch that puts Hennig into spin cycle and pins him at 4:47 (must be clipped) to win the IC title. Crowd errupts. Way too short and kinda meh for what CV gave us. 1 1/2 star.

A nutty Bobby Heenan and an irate Perfect barge in on Okerlund saying it was a bunch of BS.

Match #3

Womens Match

Sensational Queen Sherri Vs Saphire

They play Saphires music and announcer her a few times and when she doesn't show Sherri wins by forfit. Don't know if I should count it as a match or not but it's a dud anyway.

Okerlund interviews Dusty as to where Saphire is. Dusty doesn't have a clue and they talk about all the annonymous gifts she's gotten over the past month and a half. Dusty asks Hacksaw off screen if he's seen Saphire and Hacksaw walks into view and says no but everyone is looking for her. Yeah right. Like the roster is gonna waste time looking for Dusty's chunky manager over getting prepared for their matches on one of the big four of the year.

Match #4

Singles Match

Tito Santana Vs The Warlord w Slick

No backstory here. Santana tries working the arm but Warlord overpowers him. Santana uses some speed but eventually gets caught and is beat down. Warlord chucks him to the corner then runs into a boot and a clothesline by Santana knocks him down. Tito scores the flying jalapeno, but he only gets a close 2 1/2 as the Warlord touches the bottome rope. Warlord rallies with the running powerslam and the pin at 5:22. Just using Santana to try and put over Warlord on his singles push. 1 star.

Match #5

World Tag Team title 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match

Demolition Vs The Hart Foundation

Demolition had recently turned heel back around May when they brought a third man into the team. Crush was a replacement for Ax who had been sidelined with some sort of food alergy or something and they were using the gimmick that their opponents would never know which two they would be facing. In three months their opponents didn't catch on that it was always Smash and Crush defending the belts? The heel turn was kinda stupid too. Demolition got involved in a SNME match between the Harts and Rockers and they were attacked without much reason and then immediatley decided on bringing in a third guy so everybody hated them over night. The writers wanted them as heels because they didn't care anymore since they had signed the LOD around the same time so Demolition was an endangered species. Also the third member of Demolition is barred from ringside. Bret and Smash start off and Bret almost gets him with a quick rollup. Harts doubleteam Smash but Smash overcomes Bret and tags in Crush. Crush misses a clothesline and Bret tries a crossbody but gets slammed instead. Anvil hottags and tangles with Smash until he gets kicked in the back on a run. Anvil drops Smash with a clothesline. Bret tags in and clotheslines Smash then dropkicks Crush. He gives Smash an inverted atomic drop and is holding his own. He takes down Crush with a russian legsweep and gets a two count. Then he drops Smash and hits an elbow off the second rope and almost gets three but Crush legdrops him. Demolition then set him up and hit the demolition decapitation and score the first fall. Bret lost the fall so he must start the second fall. Smash beats on him and tags in Crush who puts on a neck wrench. Bret makes a desperate tag and Anvil goes nuttier and cleans house. He powerslams Smash for a close two then while Smash is in the corner Bret irish whips Anvil into Smash. They hit him with the hart attack then as the ref is about to make the three count Crush jumps on the ref and picks him up carrying him away and costing Demolition the fall on a DQ. Why he didn't jump the harts is beyond me. Harts don't have long to celebrate as Crush jumps them and while they scuffle Ax makes his way to ringside and crawls under the ring. Anvil powerslams Bret onto Smash but no three count. Smash crawls outside and Ax takes his position and pummels Bret. Hebner is the only guy in the building not to notice. It all breaks down as Anvil and Crush fight inside Smash and Ax beat up Bret outside. Ax crawls back underneath and Smash takes over his position. The crowd errupts as LOD make there way to ringside and pull Ax out from under the ring. Animal trips Crush off the top rope and he lands pretty hard. Anvil hits a slingshot into the ring on Crush and rolls him up to score the second fall at 15:17. Crowd goes crazy. Best match so far on this card. I give it 3 1/2 stars.


Mean Gene interviews the new tag champs and LOD and Doom says they want Demolition. Sean Mooney is backstage dicking around outside Demolitions dressing room and Demolition is obviously pi$$ed.

Mean Gene does an interview with Queen Sherri that thickens the plot on Saphires dissapearance. Pretty funny stuff from Sherri.

Sean Mooney interviews Hacksaw and his newly turned face the traitor Nikolai Volkoff who say's Hacksaw is his idol. Oy.

Mean Gene does another interview with Earthquake on the upcoming match.

Jake Roberts gets an interview before the next match and Damion is giving him trouble on screen.

Match #6

Singles Match

Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Bad News Brown

What a s### feud this was. They put this together like neither guy was good for anything else. Right after Mania 6. Okerlund interviewed Bad News and questioned him about his birthday. He gave him an annonymous present and inside was a rubber snake that BN freaked out over. So that made BN the heel in this? What the hell did Jake have to do with Bad News anyway? Bad News started carting around a box that was supposed to contain sewer rats which are never seen during this crap filler feud. Whatever. Big Bossman is the special ref and Bad News jumps Jake and works him over for the first few minutes. BN misses a fist drop off the second rope and then follows up with a knee lift and short clothesline. Jake tries a ddt but gives Jake a backdrop. Jake ends up giving BN a wedgy during the move. Piper is knocking Bad News about smelling and having an oily head. Both end up outside and Bad News jabs Jake in the guts with a chair getting disqualified at 4:20. BN beats up Bossman after an arguement until Jake puts Damion on him making him run away. Bah. 1 star.

This weeks raw segment. Brother Love interviews Sgt Slaughter who declares war on America and Nikolai Volkoff. Fast foward.

Match #7

Tag Team Match

The Orient Express Vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff

Hacksaw and Nikolai sings god bless america then get jumped by the Express. Tanaka starts with Volkoff and tries speed and ends up getting caught by Nikolai but he gets help from Sato who attacks Nikolai from behind. Sato in and he nails Volkoff with a nice crescent kick. Hacksaw hottags and goes wild on the Express. Turns into a texas tornado as Nikolai knocks Sato out Hacksaw hits Tanaka with the football clothesline and pin at 3:03. Feh 1 star.

Match #8

Singles Match

The Macho King Randy Savage Vs The American Dream Dusty Rhodes

Before the match starts Ted Dibiasie interupts on the mic and introduces Saphire and tells Dusty he is the one who gave her all the giftts. He goes on saying this proves everyone has a price. Dusty leaves the ring to go after Dibiasie and Saphire but gets jumped by Savage. Dusty fires back with some offense but just isn't into it really and Macho knocks him out with Sherri's loaded purse at 2:15. The match was monday night garbage focusing more on pushing a new feud. I guess ill give it 1/2 star for story developement. It's the beginning of the end for Dusty's WWF tenure. From this point on he would come out on the short end of the stick with the Savage and Dibiasie feuds.

Match #9

Singles Match

Hulk Hogan w Big Bossman Vs The Earthquake w Jimmy Hart and Dino Bravo

Hogan makes his return tonight after being crippled in a sneak attack by Earthquake. The angle was worked to give him timeoff to film Suburban Commando. Crowd goes crazy when he comes out. Quake beats Hogan in a shoving competition. Hogan goes outside to talk to Bossman. Quake works on Hogans lower back. Quake sends him into the corner hard. Hogan battles back and hits Quake with clotheslines and punches but can't drop him. He winds up and gives him a big right hand that knocks the worlds toughest blue berry on his a$$. Action spills outside as Hogan pounds on Bravo and Bossman attacks Quake. Back inside Hogan and Bossman do inpersonations of the worlds ugliest Rockettes with syncronised big boots on Bravo and Quake, while the ref chases Bossman out Bravo helps Quake slam Hogan. Hogan gets in trouble again and Quake goes up to the top rope and hits a forearm drop across the back of Hogan. Earthquake slaps on the worlds biggest boston crab but Hogan grabs the ropes. Quake misses an elbow drop and Hogan's gotta get something going. Hogan tries a slam but Quake falls on him for a close 2 count. Quake slaps on a bearhug and in desperation Hogan rips the refs shirt. I think that's what it was anyway, maybe Hogan was pissed at the ref for something earlier I don't know. Quake squashes Hogan to the mat then mocks him on a Jericho style pin attempt. Earthquake follows up with the Quake and Hogan's not popping right up this time. Quake hits another one but Hogan kicks out of this one and goes into no sell/hulk up mode. Hogan does the finger point three punch big boot bodyslam of smelly death but as he tries a pin Hart distracts Hebner. Hogan/Quake/Bossman and Dino fight outside and while Quake holds Hogan Hart charges with the megaphone but smacks Quake instead. Hogan slams Quake on the table used to hold the box of sewer rats and it doesn't break. Quake is wiped out on the floor. Hogan scoots back in for a countout victory at 12:09. Bossman hits Quake with a chair and puts some nasty cuts on him. I liked this match soley on the way the finish was booked. They didn't just have Hogan splat Quake like other generic heels. They kept this thing going by making Quake look tougher than the other heels. that's all well and good but to me it felt anticlimactic. Feels like a 2 1/2 star rating.

Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan have an interview followed by a pissed Dusty Rhodes then Hogan, Quake and Warrior all get there time. Alot of interviews going on during this thing.

Match #10

World Title Steel Cage Match

The Ultimate Warrior Vs Ravishing Rick Rude w Bobby The Brain Heenan

Piper makes a comment about Warriors interview when he said he has a right to the belt, and Piper said you earn the belt you don't have a right to it. I wonder if he meant that as an inside jab at Warriors dick personality.

Warrior starts early chucking Rude into the cage and just knocking him all over the place until Rude sends him into the cage. Rude trying to escape the cage 2 minutes into the thing. What's the point of a cage match with a stipulation that lets you win by leaving so soon? Warrior stops him and gets thrown to the bars again. Rude is already busted open on the forehead. Warrior takes control until he gets both knees of Rude in the midsection from a splash attempt. Rude climps to the top of the cage and hits a flying fist on Warrior. Rude climbs up again not listening to Heenan and tries it again but gets punched in the gut on the way down. Warrior tries escaping but Heenan slams the door in his face and Rude tries a pin but only two. Rude tries escaping but Warrior stops him by pantsing him. Why was Rude always showing off his waxed ass anyway? Now I know where Billy Gunn got the idea for a gimmick. Heenan gets pulled in and clobbered and Rude uses the distraction to clothesline Warrior. Warrior into pcp mode as he grabs the ropes and hits Rude with the multiple clothesline combination. Warrior press slams Rude then escapes the cage at 10:02. Okay match but too short. Im gonna say 2 1/2 stars.

This would be Rudes last WWF/WWE ppv where he wrestled. I was suprised to see he stuck around until just before Survivor Series 90. I would of thought he took off right after SS since there was nothing else for him there really. They tried pushing him to the moon as a legit contender the fans didn't buy it and it was all for nothing as he didn't get the belt.


Overall opinion? This is one of my favorite old school ppvs but doing the review I felt underwhelmed by nearly all the matches. Warrior/Rude should of been longer as Hogan/Quake also. Harts/Demolition was the best thing on the card. My final score for this ppv on a basis of 1.0 stars to 10.0 stars is 4.2. It's still one of my favorites to watch but the matches were for the most part way too short.



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