Thanks to the WWE Network (and having an eight month old), I am burning through a lot of archived material in WWE's history. Leading up to SummerSlam 2015 in The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, I'm trying to watch every SummerSlam there ever was. Tonight I put on the 1991 SummerSlam Pay Per View, and I'm working my way through it.
This will forever be remembered as the good old 'Match Made in Heaven/Match Made in Hell' SummerSlam.
I remember I didn't see this event live on pay per view when I was just eight years old. I do remember laying in bed listening to AM radio and the ballgame had just ended when sports talk came on the air and they were talking about the 'wedding' between Macho Man and Elizabeth going down. To me, this was ultra-cool and the big storyline of the night despite Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior tkaing on Sergeant Slaughter and a few of his Saddam Hussein-like goons from Saudi.
One thing I want to note about all these matches: in the old days these guys really did a great job of telling a story throughout the match. Even the mid-card guys. That's one big difference I notice from yesteryear to today's product. Maybe it's because all of this stuff was fresh then or seemed more magical because they were who I loved as a kid. But these matches were just kick ass.
The show began with a three man tag match: Power and Glory (Hercules Hernandez and Paul Roma) with The Warlord against Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich, and The British Bulldog. It was an okay little match with Steamboat cross body blocking Roma off the top rope for the win; but it's clear WWF wanted to involve these guys all in something but didn't know exactly where to place them. So they threw together the mixed tag match that we see so often today. It's just not a great match format. It did get me down a few Hercules rabbit holes on the internet. What a monster he was. He did seem overweight and out of shape in this footage, but still a massive man.
Obviously, the famed Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect Intercontinental Championship match was the one that probably stole the spotlight. Like Bret said in his book, this was like a Spy vs. Spy episode. Two of the best mat technicians ever face off to give us all a masterpiece forever, with vintage Bret winning the belt. I want to note that Perfect's manager at the time; "Coach" was a dipshit who added little to the program and was distracting at ringside constantly blowing his whistle. Perfect was great on the mic, so I'm not sure why the side act was needed. It just didn't fit.
Even Virgil; whom is a loathsome human being, had a great match with Ted Dibiase. Obviously the Million Dollar Man had a brilliant mind for the business. I don't think Virgil was much of a wrestler; but this pinnacle of his career was a decent and entertaining match. It's probably the one I watched most closely in the first half of the card and it held my interest. How about Roddy Piper out of nowhere going near-coitus the entire match for Virgil - whom he probably couldn't stand in real life. Pretty funny stuff looking back.
Big Bossman as we knew him was beginning a downslide in beating The Mountie, but these were two talented long-time grapplers who put on a nice match. Mountie is arrested in good fun after the match by law enforcement and carries on a multi-segment tantrum.
We got a Natural Disasters (awesome tag team of the past) vs. Bushwhackers (with Andre the Giant on crutches and looking like shit) match. This one went about like it should have. It is hard to believe the lovable Bushwhackers could hold their own with the Natural Disasters; and although they did for a little bit, there was no way they were going over on these two monsters. Even with Andre standing for most of the match in their corner. Andre was a circus elephant gate attraction by this point. What it must have been like for the kids in the front row down the aisle who got to tap the legend as the mammoth walked to the ring. For them to look back on it and say 'when I was six, I tapped Andre the Giant at Summerslam'. The Natural Disasters eventually got theirs against the Bushwhackers, and like I said before, as a kid you don't realize that the Bushwhackers had no damn chance. Watching it tonight, you understand the 'story' the writers were telling there.
It's not just the matches that were magical about these old pay per views; it's the characters and the promos cut in between the matches that allowed these characters to draw you in. You don't get that anymore, partly because the characters now are mostly real people and don't have the colorful features of the heroes of the past. They aren't larger than life anymore - both physically and on the mic. I'm not sure wrestling can ever create that again. In between matches you see promos from Perfect, The Legion of Doom, Dibiase, The Nasty Boys, Slaughter, Big Bossman, Macho Man and more. Just think about those talented promo guys I just listed.
The whole event seemed longer, it seemed like there were more matches. It seemed like such a special event. Today's PPV's seem so plastic, over in 10 minutes, disappointing. They end early.
I was pretty into Legion of Doom but didn't realize at the time that they had already passed their prime run in wrestling. I always thought Hawk was a physical marvel, even more so than the Ultimate Warrior and he's what drew me to the team. The Nasty Boys always put on great matches, and their gimmick worked. The match between these two teams was an all-out brawl like it should of been. Lots of power moves, quick spots, double teaming and a mess for the official to keep track of. Jimmy Hart at ringside with the Nasties. WWF/WWE needs to bring back the manager, but only if they can find guys who have the 'it' like Jimmy Hart did. It's something they need to look for and develop once again.
The LOD hit the Doomsday Device - awesome finisher as there ever was - and win the straps with the crowd exploding. Without a doubt this was their high-water mark in WWF.
This was obviously the first and only show where the Million Dollar Belt, IC Belt, and Tag Straps changed hands. Probably a good little wrestling trivia question there.
It's great to hear Gorilla Monsoon on the commentary at this event.
Irwin R. Schyster was awesome in promo work. You can't appreciate it as a kid. Was anyone better at pissing off a crowd quickly and getting heat? He was just getting started in his great gimmick as a tax man when he beat a tired Greg "The Hammer" Valentine who was a believable worthy opponent, but was starting to phase out as a WWF superstar.
And of course, the main event had more pizzaz than substance; with Warrior and Hogan beating Slaughter, Mustafa, and Adnan with Sid Justice as special guest referee.
This was when Warrior really was reaching a fever pitch with the fan base. It was his huge build just before his peak. He's wearing the colorful lime green deco similar to what I had his hasbro figure in with some patriotic stars on it. Hogan with some powder and a leg drop to end this one. It seemed like the greatest thing in the world when Hogan ended a pay per view with a victory and his music blaring. A happy ending. All was as it should be in my 1991 world when those things happened.
The show didn't end there with the wedding taking place, and Macho Man beginning his feud with Jake the Snake, another magical character who did not have a role in this pay per view as far as in ring.
RATING: 7.5/10
This was one of the classics to be sure that made this one of the great traditions in wrestling that it was. An all-time great IC Title match, and a roster dotted with as much talent as WWF ever had make it a strong pay per view showing. It wasn't a big ticket main event; but match quality throughout was great.
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