#also the duality between sherry and jake | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fromtheringapron · 7 years

Text

WWF SummerSlam 1990

Date: August 27, 1990

Location: Philadelphia Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 19,304

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper

Results:

1. Power & Glory (Hercules & Paul Roma) w/Slick defeated The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty).

2. WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: The Texas Tornado defeated Mr. Perfect (champion) w/Bobby Heenan to win the title.

3. Queen Sherri defeated Saaphire via forfeit.

4. The Warlord w/Slick defeated Tito Santana.

5. Two-out-of-Three-Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) defeated Demolition (Smash & Crush) (champions) two falls to one to win the titles.

6. Jake Roberts defeated Bad News Brown via disqualification. The Big Bossman was the special guest referee.

7. Jim Duggan and Nikolai Volkoff defeated The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) w/Mr. Fuji.

8. Randy Savage w/Queen Sherri defeated Dusty Rhodes.

9. Hulk Hogan w/The Big Bossman defeated Earthquake w/Dino Bravo & Jimmy Hart.

10. Steel Cage Match for the WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (champion) defeated Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan.

Analysis

SummerSlam 1990 may not be remembered as one of the best SummerSlams of all time, but it does have a strange allure inviting several rewatches. Everything, from the booking to the promos, feels slightly off-kilter and piques curiosity. For its era, it’s also quite the anomaly⏤the rare show not to be headlined by Hulk Hogan.

Well, sorta. It’s abundantly clear the WWF still favors Hogan as their top star but he also shares the spotlight here with the Ultimate Warrior, the reigning world champion. As a result, this show presents a weird duality where they need to cater to both men. Hogan’s match with Earthquake gets more time and story, but it’s Warrior who closes us out. As we all know, the latter’s reign as champ wouldn’t last, but it’s nonetheless an interesting change of pace from the usual Hogan posedown which ends many other shows from the same era.

Another oddity is the decision to center much of the night’s drama around the disappearance of Saaphire. The resolution to the angle is predictable⏤everyone knows she’s been bought out by Ted DiBiase. But even then, we’re still treated to what’s essentially a live episode of Unsolved Mysteries, including a series of backstage skits and a pair of instantly quotable promos from Dusty Rhodes. The decision to place so much focus on storyline over in-ring action wouldn’t be out of place on an episode of Monday Night Raw today, but it’s completely novel in 1990, made even more so when you consider Saaphire would depart the WWF almost immediately after.

But just when it seems this show is ready to go off the rails, it’s grounded by an instant classic between Demolition and The Hart Foundation. Even in an era already known for its incredible tag team division, the match stands out as one of the best. There’s still a twist to the proceedings, thanks to Demolition adding a third member to their team earlier in the summer. However, while that decision proved unpopular amongst fans, the unfair numbers advantage adds an extra layer intrigue to the match and makes it all the more satisfying when The Hart Foundation overcome the odds.

While this show does give time and energy to ideas that either don’t work or fail to materialize into anything long-term, it’s interesting to watch the WWF try them out. It’s the first SummerSlam to take some considerable risks, and that’s absolutely necessary at this stage of the event’s development. We wouldn’t have the biggest party of summer if nobody stepped out of their comfort zone.

My Random Notes

This is one of the first wrestling shows I ever watched so I’m sure much of my enjoyment is purely based on nostalgia, but I do think its strangeness would make me gravitate toward it anyway.

One of my earliest wrestling memories is feeling super concerned for Shawn Michaels and condemning Power & Glory to hell for what they did to his leg. I even went so far to imagine Marty Jannetty visiting Shawn in the hospital and sending him get well cards, which is deeply sad now knowing the two weren’t exactly the best of friends in real life.

Ah, yes, this is the first SummerSlam with the classic SummerSlam theme song. Such a jam. It just sounds like heat rising from fresh pavement.

Didn’t take Bret Hart to be a Phil Collins fan but okay.

Texas Tornado’s pre-match interview was clearly taped earlier in the day because he’s wearing a different pair of trunks than what he wears to the ring. I’ve heard Kerry Von Erich would struggle a lot with promos and require several takes to get everything right. so that’s probably what happened here.

Quality National Geographic footage of Bad News Brown’s sewer rats, eh?

There are some seriously uncomfortable racial undertones to how Saaphire is treated by the other characters around her, most notably when Piper compares her to Aunt Jemima on commentary and Sherri refuses to recognize her as a person. It’s pretty icky stuff and it’s not lost on me that for as much as Juanita Wright is genuinely likable, the Saaphire character seems built up to subtlety mock her as well.

Speaking of Sherri, her look here is one of her best ever. It’s like if Jushin Liger, the band Kiss, the ensemble from Cats, and the Bride of Frankenstein got together and dropped some acid. Even more ridiculous is how we’re supposed to believe she’ll actually wrestle a full match in attire like that.

I’ve watched this show a million times and still manage to wince at the sight of the welts on Earthquake’s back from The Big Bossman’s chair shots. Like, how does he not manage to scream in pain?

On Warrior’s title reign: If the plan were indeed to make Warrior the next Hogan, I think that’s a huge mistake, mainly because Warrior’s type of character isn’t one you can center your entire company around without undoing most of its appeal. Hogan is larger than life, sure, but he’s also presented as an everyman who says his prayers and takes his vitamins. With Warrior, he’s presented to us as an enigmatic figure from Parts Unknown who performs acid poetry whenever he’s given the chance to speak, which is entertaining but doesn’t necessarily connect with a larger audience in the same way Hogan does. If you want to give him a world title run, go for it. If you want to make him one of the big stars of your company, go for it. But as the torch bearer who’ll lead the WWF into the next decade? Nah, not on that level. I don’t think that’s his place.

#wwf #wwe #summerslam

2 notes · View notes