SummerSlam 90 Main Event

[The Brain]

I enjoyed SummerSlam 90. It was a fun show. It wasn’t a bad show at all but I feel it could have been better. I think a better main event could have made a huge difference. If you’re reading this you probably know the actual main event featured The Ultimate Warrior defending the WWF title against Rick Rude in a steel cage match. I know Rude is a favorite around here and this was his only WWF ppv main event and only televised title shot. A lot of people would have been happy to see Rude win the title. I like Rude as much as anybody but I don’t think he even belonged in the main event. It’s not that I think he didn’t have the talent to justify that spot. I just think Rude vs. Warrior was played out by that point. They wrestled each other at both WrestleMania V and SummerSlam 89. I think Warrior needed a fresh challenger. So who should have challenged Warrior for the title? The answer is pretty obvious but some of you might not like it. It should have been Randy Savage.

I know what some of you are thinking because the same thought entered my mind too. If Savage wrestled Warrior at SummerSlam 90 their WrestleMania VII match wouldn’t have been as special. Normally I like the big mania matches to be fresh new matches but I think this would have been an exception. Let’s think about how the storyline between Savage and Warrior started at the end of 1990. Savage wanted a title shot against Warrior and Warrior refused to give it to him. I’ve always hated that. Why would a babyface champion, someone that is almost unbeatable and cleanly defeated Hulk Hogan to win the title, refuse to give a worthy contender a title shot? The fans seemed to like it because it came off as the good guy sticking it to the bad guy but even at 11 years old I looked at it as Warrior being afraid of Savage. If the two wrestled each other at SummerSlam 90 they could have had a great match making it a better show, Warrior could have beaten a fresh challenger making his title reign more meaningful, and he could have then refused to give Savage a rematch because he had already beaten him instead of dodging him all together. Then everything that actually did happen between them could have gone down exactly as it did and made more sense. Their WM7 match would have still been as special as it was with their careers on the line and the reunion with Savage and Elizabeth. I don’t think it would have taken anything at all away from WM7 and may have even helped it.

Savage was just in a throw away match against Dusty Rhodes at SummerSlam. Their feud had really died down by then and Rude could have easily feuded with Rhodes during the summer leading to Rude vs. Rhodes at SummerSlam. For those of you old enough to remember 1990 just imagine going into SummerSlam with Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake and The Ultimate Warrior defending the title against Randy Savage. That’s a blockbuster.

 

[klunderbunker]

I literally just finished reviewing this match not an hour ago for my book.

The problem with this match was that the main event of the show wasn't Warrior vs. Rude. It was Hogan vs. Earthquake. Warrior vs. Rude just happened to go on last. Warrior vs. Rude was there to give Warrior an easy title win without taking away from Hogan vs. Quake. Leading up to the show, the bigger story by far was Hogan vs. Earthquake, with Hogan teasing retirement, only to be convinced by the fans to return.

Think about this: do you EVER remember hearing Warrior and Rude hyping up their match during the summer? Let me answer this for you: it didn't happen. The whole story was that Rude had beaten Warrior before (a year and a half earlier) and that Warrior had never been inside a cage before. Literally, that's the story. The match was treated like an afterthought by design as to not take the focus away from Hogan.

As for Savage challenging Warrior, yeah it would have been a blockbuster, but that's what they were hoping to avoid. The point of that show was to make Hogan vs. Earthquake the feature match, but they had Warrior go on last to make him seem like a bigger deal.

 

[The Brain]

I’m probably naïve but I never really thought about giving Warrior a lackluster match as to not take the attention away from Hogan. I’m of the mindset if you have the option to make something better you do it. The reason I even thought about this was because of the poor hype between Warrior and Rude like you mentioned. I didn’t buy that Warrior was in any trouble because he had never been in a cage. Maybe if Warrior never beat Rude in a rematch I would have bought into it a little more but after Warrior won at SummerSlam 89 I wasn’t buying Rude as a threat to the world title. I still think Hogan vs. Earthquake would have been the main selling point of the show even if it was Savage getting the title shot. From a promoter’s point of view I don’t see why you wouldn’t take the opportunity to make something that is already good even better if possible. I understand it now as there’s always another big show right around the corner but in 1990 there were two big shows that featured mainly singles matches. Stack the card as best you can.

 

[gk11973]

I remember things quite differently. Back then feuds began on or shortly after pay per views and usually stretched out for months and months after. The match would make its way around the country on the house show circuit, and then finally be settled on either another PPV or on Saturday Nights Main Event. Warrior began feuding with Rude again, shortly after WM6. The storyline was indeed based on Rude's argument that he was the only person in WWF to have ever pinned Warrior. There was little direct interaction between them on TV, because wrestling programming was totally different then. However, during the pre-recorded interviews that ran on the various shows, they continually talked about their feud. Hogan and Earthquake, followed a different path. Hogan was laid out by Quake shortly after WM6. He then took the next few months off to make another bad movie. Quake continued to destroy the competition on TV while chastizing Hogan. Tugboat became the spokesman for Hogan, and started an armband campaign to get him back. Hogan finally agreed and the match was set for SummerSlam. However, the event was billed as having a double main event. BOTH of these matches were advertised as the main event of the show. There was definitely more interest in the Hogan match, one, because he was HOGAN, and second, he was "injured" and off TV for months. The Warrior and Rude feud was actually very good and well done, but there was a sense of been there done that amongst a lot of fans. Finally, the Warrior vs Rude match went on last because it was a cage match. At that time, they still used the big blue cage and it was assembled manualy, not lowered down onto the ring from above as it is today. There would have been at least a 15 minute delay before and AFTER The match had it not gone on last. Summerslam was also the end of the Savage & Sherri vs Rhodes & Sapphire Feud that had been running since the Royal Rumble. It was a feud that ran very long, and was to be settled in two singles matches. However, Sapphire sold out to Dibiase that night and that set in motion the Rhodes vs Dibiase feud that would run until Rhodes left the WWE after the 91 Rumble. While Savage vs Warrior would have been a great match, it would never have happened unless they had started feuding right after WM6, that is just the way things worked back then.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I literally just finished reviewing this match not an hour ago for my book.

The problem with this match was that the main event of the show wasn't Warrior vs. Rude. It was Hogan vs. Earthquake. Warrior vs. Rude just happened to go on last. Warrior vs. Rude was there to give Warrior an easy title win without taking away from Hogan vs. Quake. Leading up to the show, the bigger story by far was Hogan vs. Earthquake, with Hogan teasing retirement, only to be convinced by the fans to return.

Think about this: do you EVER remember hearing Warrior and Rude hyping up their match during the summer? Let me answer this for you: it didn't happen. The whole story was that Rude had beaten Warrior before (a year and a half earlier) and that Warrior had never been inside a cage before. Literally, that's the story. The match was treated like an afterthought by design as to not take the focus away from Hogan.

As for Savage challenging Warrior, yeah it would have been a blockbuster, but that's what they were hoping to avoid. The point of that show was to make Hogan vs. Earthquake the feature match, but they had Warrior go on last to make him seem like a bigger deal.

This is what bothers me a lot about the golden era. Is how much the show was built around Hogan. Like really, they were afraid to book another blockbuster match in case of overshadowing Hogan? It always bothered me how much they built the show around him. The guy was a star, obviously. But the amount of other talent they had at the same time, main event talent that never got pushed as hard is just ridiculous.

I think Vince learned his lesson after he lost Hogan and realized he had no one to replace him with. That's why later on things were more balanced with Bret/Shawn/Nash, Austin/Taker/HHH/Rock, etc.

 

[sdelfin]

You say it was played out, and I'd definitely agree with you. Rude losing to Warrior was fresh in the minds of fans and it was too soon to make that a main event. Leading up to Summerslam, Warrior and Rude fought on a Saturday Night's Main Event in a regular match. And they went around the house shows doing cage matches together. Usually the big TV main events wouldn't be done on house shows before PPVs, and certainly not with the same TV stipulations. Between SNME and house shows, a lot of people saw enough of Rude challenging Warrior in 1990 making it even harder to sell that match.

After Wrestlemania 6, WWF didn't have many heels in a good position to be a credible challenge to the Warrior. Even Savage would have needed some strong booking to rebuild him quickly. He was fed to Hogan and boxing champion Buster Douglas on NBC's Main Event early that year. Earthquake was in the best position to challenge for the title, but they obviously went a different way with him.

 

[The Brain]

You say it was played out, and I'd definitely agree with you. Rude losing to Warrior was fresh in the minds of fans and it was too soon to make that a main event. Leading up to Summerslam, Warrior and Rude fought on a Saturday Night's Main Event in a regular match. And they went around the house shows doing cage matches together. Usually the big TV main events wouldn't be done on house shows before PPVs, and certainly not with the same TV stipulations. Between SNME and house shows, a lot of people saw enough of Rude challenging Warrior in 1990 making it even harder to sell that match.

After Wrestlemania 6, WWF didn't have many heels in a good position to be a credible challenge to the Warrior. Even Savage would have needed some strong booking to rebuild him quickly. He was fed to Hogan and boxing champion Buster Douglas on NBC's Main Event early that year. Earthquake was in the best position to challenge for the title, but they obviously went a different way with him.

That's another point I meant to make in my opening post. Thanks for bringing that up. Warrior did beat Rude on SNME just a month and a half before SummerSlam. It was a pretty decisive victory and hurt what little momentum the SummerSlam match had. I don't think Savage would have needed to be rebuilt. He was plenty established and losses to Hulk Hogan didn't hurt him. Yeah, Buster Douglas knocked him out but that was just a quick little celebrity moment. It didn't hurt Savage's position on the roster. Savage was talented enough and versatile enough to go from feuding with a mid card guy like Hacksaw Jim Duggan to a main event guy like Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior without seeming out of place. Savage was wasted in the second half of 1990 by being put on the back burner in a three minute match with Dusty Rhodes at SummerSlam and not even wrestling at Survivor Series when he could have easily taken the place of Ax in the Warrior's match.

 

[Pedigree1]

I agree with the Brain! In reality it should have been Savage vs Warrior at SummerSlam 1990. From a promoters point most definitely it is a way better match. It has blockbuster written all over it. Warrior vs Rude did indeed die down by that point and really wasnt even the main event. It was Hogan vs the Late John Tenta aka Earthquake.

The Warrior vs Rude match just happened to go on last thats all. There was no buildup nothing at all i do remember that as im sure im older than KB is. (Even though at that time i was sick as a kid and had to get IV's every three weeks due to my poor immune system.)

Savage was so versatile that he could have a main event with that idiot Hacksaw(who i never have cared for)to Hogan! But if Rude had any momentum it died when he lost to warrior even before summerslam started on SNME!

 

[legendkiller1979]

The warrior really got the short end of the stick. In his first big pay per view as world champion, he had nobody to work with. Clearly his match with Savage was going to be saved for Wrestlemania VII so there was no chance of getting it at summerslam. The hype for the match was built around the warrior never being in a cage match and Rude being the only one to ever beat the warrior for a title. The obvious problem with that was that it was only a year earlier, and Rude was dominated by the warrior.

I don't have a good answer, and that's a problem. It speaks to the weak roster. Who else could it have been? Savage was not going to happen so I'm not going to even talk about that. The fact is there was nobody else for the warrior to work with. Say what you will about the warrior as world champion, but he had nothing to work with and had no chance to be successful.

I do wonder about Randy Savage around this time. His match at summerslam was crazy short, and he didn't compete at the survivor series or royal rumble. I've often wondered if he wasn't injured at this time. If nothing else, he should have replaced Ax on the perfect team.

 

[Headman]

Rude was someone the Warrior had worked well with in the past, so they figured they'd get a decent match out of him in his first ppv title defense. Also, there was no real need for a 2nd "Blockbuster" on the show considering Hogan's "Comeback" match against Earthquake was intended to be the main draw. Plus from a kayfabe standpoint in the school yard there will still some kids who didn't think Warrior could beat Rude without Piper's help. The SS90 match put Rude in the rear view mirror and allowed Warrior to move on to... well, actually nothing else really happened during his reign. lol

And on a personal note. I was a huge Warrior fan and absolutely feared Hogan coming back to take the title from the Warrior. So when Earthquake squashed Hogan and put him out of action I wrote Hogan a letter saying something along the lines of "Dear Hogan I hope you die." or something stupid like that. In return I got a postcard from "Hogan" thanking me for my support. lol they totally no sold me.

 

[HBsam31]

One thing I will say is that this match had a little more build than people are giving it credit for. RUde cut his hair for this match, and they were constantly showing him training with The Brain. I remember in particular them running on the beach. It might not have been the greatest build, but the definitely tried to show Rude went though a transition for this match. They tried to make him look more serious and focused. That being said I still like the idea of Savage/Warrior starting it all at Summerslam. It would have been a great match and I think it would have only added more to their match at Mania 7. I liked the Rude/Warrior cage match, but it did just seem like a stepping stone for the Warrior. I think Savage and Warrior having a longer feud would have been the way to go, and I think it would have allowed the Mania moment to possibly be even bigger.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I have to agree with the Brain.

I've made quite a few posts in the past that state my praise and appreciation for the Ultimate Warrior/Randy Savage match at Wrestlemania VII, as I feel it is one of the most perfect matches ever performed in wrestling. However, I have always felt that a "Retirement" stipulation was a bit extreme considering it was their first major match they had up to that point. A "retirement" match is the type of stipulation match that is supposed to be the conclusion to a long and epic feud. The Savage/Warrior feud had only been going for 3 months and they hadn't had a single match against each other either before their match at Wrestlemania, at least on TV (I would assume they did house show matches, though I don't know).

So I think them having a title match at Summerslam 90 would've really added to their feud, and made the retirement match even more meaningful and special than it was. Retirement matches shouldn't be the first match in a feud. It should be the conclusion to a long, epic feud. The Savage/Warrior feud as great as it was was much too short for such a huge match.


I think that they could've done the Savage/Rhodes/Sapphire/Dibiase storyline on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event rather than Summerslam. Have the conclusion to the Rhodes/Savage match on SNME with Dibiase interfering and then building to a match between Dibiase and Rhodes at Summerslam, and then have Sapphire turn on Rhodes during the match and run off with Dibiase. Then you've got the Dibiase and Rhodes feud under way like what happened.

In the meantime, start building to Savage and Warrior and have their first match be at Summerslam 90. Have some kind of inconclusive finish to the feud like a DQ or countout, put that in the middle of the card and have Hogan and Earthquake go on last that way the show doesn't end with a DQ or countout which would suck. Then like's been suggested, have Savage team up with Mr. Perfect and Smash and Crush, call the team "The Perfect Kings" and of course Warrior wins the elimination match. Then continue the storyline with what actually happened. Savage wants a rematch, Warrior doesn't give him one, so he costs Warrior the title at the Royal Rumble, then we're off and running to the Retirement match at Wrestlemania.


As for where that leaves Rick Rude, I'm not really sure, although to be honest, does it really matter? He would leave within a month or two of the show anyway and WWE wasn't going anywhere with him. Perhaps Rude could've faced Piper (they never did have a one on one ppv match during their feud in late 1989), Hacksaw Jim Duggan, or they could've started the feud with Big Boss Man early, which was the direction they were going with before Rude left anyway.


But point being, I think having a match at Summerslam 90 between Warrior and Savage would've helped add to their feud and their Retirement match at Wrestlemania, because again it really didn't make sense to have a Retirement match as their first match. The feud should've been built up more with more matches and confrontations before resulting in a Retirement match. That could've begun back at Summerslam 90. So I'm all for it.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I literally just finished reviewing this match not an hour ago for my book.

The problem with this match was that the main event of the show wasn't Warrior vs. Rude. It was Hogan vs. Earthquake. Warrior vs. Rude just happened to go on last. Warrior vs. Rude was there to give Warrior an easy title win without taking away from Hogan vs. Quake. Leading up to the show, the bigger story by far was Hogan vs. Earthquake, with Hogan teasing retirement, only to be convinced by the fans to return.

Think about this: do you EVER remember hearing Warrior and Rude hyping up their match during the summer? Let me answer this for you: it didn't happen. The whole story was that Rude had beaten Warrior before (a year and a half earlier) and that Warrior had never been inside a cage before. Literally, that's the story. The match was treated like an afterthought by design as to not take the focus away from Hogan.

As for Savage challenging Warrior, yeah it would have been a blockbuster, but that's what they were hoping to avoid. The point of that show was to make Hogan vs. Earthquake the feature match, but they had Warrior go on last to make him seem like a bigger deal.

This right here was a mistake by the WWF, and lead to Warrior's title reign being lackluster and ending before the following WrestleMania. Why have Warrior beat Hogan clean if he's going to fall down the card to Hogan within 4 months? Had Warrior been booked properly as the champ he would have had the Earthquake storyline in 90, not Hogan. WWF had a simple formula for Hogan and should have followed it with Warrior. Warrior should have gone over on what seemed to be impossible giants to beat.

 

[sdelfin]

I have to agree with the Brain.

I've made quite a few posts in the past that state my praise and appreciation for the Ultimate Warrior/Randy Savage match at Wrestlemania VII, as I feel it is one of the most perfect matches ever performed in wrestling. However, I have always felt that a "Retirement" stipulation was a bit extreme considering it was their first major match they had up to that point. A "retirement" match is the type of stipulation match that is supposed to be the conclusion to a long and epic feud. The Savage/Warrior feud had only been going for 3 months and they hadn't had a single match against each other either before their match at Wrestlemania, at least on TV (I would assume they did house show matches, though I don't know).

So I think them having a title match at Summerslam 90 would've really added to their feud, and made the retirement match even more meaningful and special than it was. Retirement matches shouldn't be the first match in a feud. It should be the conclusion to a long, epic feud. The Savage/Warrior feud as great as it was was much too short for such a huge match.

I get where you're coming from, but I think the problems lie in selling the matches to the people. The way Savage was booked in 89 and 90, with the Zeus story and then doing a TV job to Hogan on NBC, I don't think the fans would buy him as the contender at the time just as I think the fans didn't buy Rude as a contender. WWE wasn't ready with heels for Warrior as they used Earthquake for Hogan(which didn't finish clean at Summerslam making it a poor closing match) and didn't build up Warlord fast enough.

With your scenario, Savage vs. Warrior at Summerslam would be somewhat of a throwaway in that it would have to be inconclusive for Savage to remain a contender. Also, I believe the bookers were adamant that Warrior needed to go over strong in his first PPV as champion. That's an important factor. They obviously believed that Warrior vs. Savage would draw better if it wasn't done on TV in advance. The retirement stipulation may have been the "bait" to get the match made.

I did a bit of research on what actually happened. WWF started the Savage/Warrior feud in mid August at a TV taping before Summerslam with Sherri trying to get Warrior to agree to signing a contract to face Savage. This angle would be on TV in early September and would continue for a while. I believe around October, Savage and Warrior were wrestling regularly on house shows which would continue through the end of the year and into January when they started having cage matches. I read that Savage broke his wrist in January of 1991. Slaughter is listed as Savage's substitute in most of those cage matches until right before Wrestlemania. On TV, Warrior fought Ted Dibiase on an episode of the Main Event, taped in October 1990 and aired in November. Savage attacked Warrior after the match with the scepter.

Oddly, at the same taping for the Main Event, Savage vs. Warrior was a special main event for a Coliseum Video release. I don't know if they were short on time, or if the Warrior was out of gas from already wrestling, but it was a complete squash. Savage got no offense at all. It's funny hearing Sean Mooney predict the match to be a war, only for it to end a minute later.

 

[daddyJ_t]

ok you give savage the title shot at summerslam? then what? regardless if he won or lost it wouldve affected wm 7 greatly. ok warrior beats savage at ss, then he has no reason to attack the warrior at royal rumble and he probably wouldve retained against slaughter thus putting him in a title match at wm7 and negating the retirement match with savage. then without so much on the line, hogan vs slaughter may not have happened. pretty much same scenerio if macho man wouldve won the title at ss. cause back then title changed didnt happen every other month,and no way could slaughter vs savage happened at royal rumble. the match warrior vs rude was the perfect blow off match to a couple year on and off feud. rude beat warrior for the ic title then warrior won it back tying them up 1-1 what better way to really end the feud then in cage for the wwf title. the quote un quote rubber match

 

[Judah's Lion]

per usual, gonna side with the Brain on this one. lots of other good posts on this thread, too, as to what to do with the Summerslam card and following ppv schedule.

Hogan/Quake at Summerslam stays as is. good storyline with Hogan being injured and off tv for some months. i also like Tugboat getting involved as Hogan's friend and ambassador. it makes it even that much better when he turns to Typhoon and makes the Natural Disasters.

i like the idea of Rhodes/Savage at SNME to end their feud and begin Rhodes/Dibiase at Summerslam. in fact, i REALLY like that idea. then it escalates with Dusty & Dustin vs. Dibiase & Virgil at the Rumble.

Warrior/Savage at Summerslam would be great. Brain totally nailed it when he stated that it doesn't make sense for Warrior to not give him a title shot (as seen at the Rumble) when he's a "fighting face champion" type. my only question is how the match ends. can't be a dq or countout. i'm actually thinking that it could have been a cage match, even as their first encounter. the cage match could be made to keep Sherri out in the storyline. i would have the finish be similar to one of the many Rey/Eddie matches... Savage hits the top rope elbow drop, then goes for a cocky pin, using Warrior almost like a pillow. Warrior then rolls Savage up and gets the pin. that way, when Savage asks for a rematch, Warrior can refuse, Savage can cost Warrior the title, and they can have their Wrestlemania VII match as it was. how do you up the stakes if the title isn't on the line and if your first match was in a cage? put careers on the line.

not sure what you'd do with Rude. Jake? Superfly? Hacksaw? Tito Santana? surely someone's able to have a good match with Rude. maybe find a broom in the janitor's closet and let Rude wrestle that. easy 4 star match right there.

all terrible jokes aside, good call Brain.

 

[The Brain]

ok you give savage the title shot at summerslam? then what? regardless if he won or lost it wouldve affected wm 7 greatly. ok warrior beats savage at ss, then he has no reason to attack the warrior at royal rumble and he probably wouldve retained against slaughter thus putting him in a title match at wm7 and negating the retirement match with savage. then without so much on the line, hogan vs slaughter may not have happened. pretty much same scenerio if macho man wouldve won the title at ss. cause back then title changed didnt happen every other month,and no way could slaughter vs savage happened at royal rumble. the match warrior vs rude was the perfect blow off match to a couple year on and off feud. rude beat warrior for the ic title then warrior won it back tying them up 1-1 what better way to really end the feud then in cage for the wwf title. the quote un quote rubber match

After a match between Savage and Warrior at SummerSlam everything goes on to happen exactly as it did. That's what's so good about it. Savage gives Warrior everything he can handle at SummerSlam. They have a great match with Warrior barely getting the victory. Since the match was so close Savage wants a rematch but since Warrior actually beat Savage he has a reason to turn the challenge down instead of just ducking Savage for no reason. I don't like when people try to rewrite history without thinking things through. The beauty of this is it slips right in and actually gives more logic to what actually did happen while greatly improving a big show. Win win.

 

[The Warlord]

I wouldnt have changed a thing..,I loved everything about the card. Warrior was given the ball and he did the best he could with what he had. Hogan/Earthquake was the bigger storyline....but a steel cage match with new face of the company in the final grudge match in a historic rivalry.
I may be in the minority...but I agree with The Brain: Rude wasnt main event material, he never was. Hard worker, talented, great character...just lacking that extra something. However, that match deserved to close the show and it did.

 

[The Eighties]

I always liked the Warrior vs Rude cage match even if it didn't come close to their epic Summerslam 89 match, and it served as a good PPV win for Warrior's first defense, I didn't know he'd beaten him just prior on a SNME though.

My guess is they knew Rude could carry Warrior and their main goal was to simply make him look good in his first defense, however your Savage scenario could have certainly worked Brain, and I agree it wouldn't have affected the Mania 7 match at all, in fact it would have enhanced it as you are again right about the odd booking of a superhero babyface not accepting a challenge.

Everything with Savage between WrestleMania 6 and 7 was lackluster and he seemed very underused to me. His feud with Dusty just faded out in a 3 minute match and the program never felt like it was intended to succeed. Then he simply didn't work two PPV's in the days when there were only four altogether. I wonder if he was carrying an injury or something.

If Warrior vs Savage had happened then Rude could have faced Boss Man as he was not actually in a match at the show and that was planned as the next feud for both men anyway, had Rude not left.

 

[BLeonard]

Oddly, at the same taping for the Main Event, Savage vs. Warrior was a special main event for a Coliseum Video release. I don't know if they were short on time, or if the Warrior was out of gas from already wrestling, but it was a complete squash. Savage got no offense at all. It's funny hearing Sean Mooney predict the match to be a war, only for it to end a minute later.

I can answer this one... That match took place at around 12:30 AM.

I was at this show. It started at 7:30PM and after 5 hours and people haveing to work the next morning (it was the middle of the week, school night, etc) people had about had enough.

On this night, WWF taped multiple episodes of "Superstars of Wrestling" (or maybe it was "Challenge," I don't remember for sure). Back then, they'd tape 3 weeks of shows in one night, on top of all of the interview segments done on the big blue platform with steps, or other things, such as the Brother Love Show, etc. I'm pretty sure that the infamous Survivor Series Egg that contained thw Gobbledy Gooker was there that night as well.

Anyway, on top of the 3 weeks of TV, they taped what was going to be a 90 minute episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event," the one where Warrior wrestled DiBiase and Savahe interfered. That was also the same night the the Rockers beat the Hart Foundation for the Tag Titles, but the top rope broke (which took a legit half hour to fix) and was cut from the program altogether when NBC wanted a 1 hour Friday Night show, instead of a 90 minute Saturday Night show.

So, long story short, that match was ver short because, had it gone on much longer, there would have been even less peopel who stayed for the entire thing.

Now, onto the actual subject:

My guess is, due to Warrior and Rude having a good amount of familiarity with each other, that certainly helped, as Rude made Warrior look good and was credibe threat, since he was th only guy to have beaten Warrior up to that point. I'm not saying that Savage wouldn't have made Warrior look good, or been a credible threat, but Savage and Sherri were ending their feud with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire, as both had matches scheduled that evening (Savage vs Rhodes, Sherri vs Sapphire).

So, if not Rude and not Savage, then who? I'm gonna stick with guys that were actually on the show and can come up with three potential possibilities:

3: Dino Bravo. The worst of the three, but he and Quake had had run-ins with Warrior and Hogan prior to WrestleMania VI, so, if they built Bravo correctly, he could have been a possibility.

2: Ted DiBiase. I have no idea why DiBiase's only part in SummerSlam 1990 was buying Sapphire, but surely, he could have had a good match with the Warrior and had been in the title picture before, though not as an opponent of the Warrior.

1: Mr. Perfect. First off, why they had Perfect lose to Beefcake at WMVI, I have no idea. Flip that result and Perfect is now the Intercontinental Champion and still undefeated heading into SummerSlam. What better way to showcase your chanpion than by having him beat a guy who, not only was undefeated, but a Champion himself as well? It also keeps Perfect out of having to job the Intercontinental Title to the Texas Tornado, who had barely been with the company for a month at that point. If you're gonna tout a wrestler for having an undefeated streak, why would you have Beefcake and Tornado be the first two guys to end it?

Again, not saying Savage would be a bad choice, but I think that there are others that would have been fine as well.

-Bill

 

[spaldoni]

I can answer this one... That match took place at around 12:30 AM.

I was at this show. It started at 7:30PM and after 5 hours and people haveing to work the next morning (it was the middle of the week, school night, etc) people had about had enough.

On this night, WWF taped multiple episodes of "Superstars of Wrestling" (or maybe it was "Challenge," I don't remember for sure). Back then, they'd tape 3 weeks of shows in one night, on top of all of the interview segments done on the big blue platform with steps, or other things, such as the Brother Love Show, etc. I'm pretty sure that the infamous Survivor Series Egg that contained thw Gobbledy Gooker was there that night as well.

Anyway, on top of the 3 weeks of TV, they taped what was going to be a 90 minute episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event," the one where Warrior wrestled DiBiase and Savahe interfered. That was also the same night the the Rockers beat the Hart Foundation for the Tag Titles, but the top rope broke (which took a legit half hour to fix) and was cut from the program altogether when NBC wanted a 1 hour Friday Night show, instead of a 90 minute Saturday Night show.

So, long story short, that match was ver short because, had it gone on much longer, there would have been even less peopel who stayed for the entire thing.

Now, onto the actual subject:

My guess is, due to Warrior and Rude having a good amount of familiarity with each other, that certainly helped, as Rude made Warrior look good and was credibe threat, since he was th only guy to have beaten Warrior up to that point. I'm not saying that Savage wouldn't have made Warrior look good, or been a credible threat, but Savage and Sherri were ending their feud with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire, as both had matches scheduled that evening (Savage vs Rhodes, Sherri vs Sapphire).

So, if not Rude and not Savage, then who? I'm gonna stick with guys that were actually on the show and can come up with three potential possibilities:

3: Dino Bravo. The worst of the three, but he and Quake had had run-ins with Warrior and Hogan prior to WrestleMania VI, so, if they built Bravo correctly, he could have been a possibility.

2: Ted DiBiase. I have no idea why DiBiase's only part in SummerSlam 1990 was buying Sapphire, but surely, he could have had a good match with the Warrior and had been in the title picture before, though not as an opponent of the Warrior.

1: Mr. Perfect. First off, why they had Perfect lose to Beefcake at WMVI, I have no idea. Flip that result and Perfect is now the Intercontinental Champion and still undefeated heading into SummerSlam. What better way to showcase your chanpion than by having him beat a guy who, not only was undefeated, but a Champion himself as well? It also keeps Perfect out of having to job the Intercontinental Title to the Texas Tornado, who had barely been with the company for a month at that point. If you're gonna tout a wrestler for having an undefeated streak, why would you have Beefcake and Tornado be the first two guys to end it?

Again, not saying Savage would be a bad choice, but I think that there are others that would have been fine as well.

-Bill

Thank You! I totally agree with you on Mr. Perfect! Why in the heck did he job to Beefcake at Mania ? He goes over Beefcake, wins the IC title tournament then faces Warrior at Summerslam. Warrior looks strong defeating a great wrestler and Perfect stays IC champ, keeping his heat. That's a great scenerio. It gives Warrior a great headlining title defense at a pay per view. Then he could of defended his title on SNME's and house shows against upper midcarders like Rude, Dibiase and Bad News Brown. Maybe defeat EarthQuake at the Royal Rumble. This would of given him a credible title reign and would have allowed him to go into Mania 7 as world champion. Now, if Warrior had a successful title reign then who should he defend the title against at Mania 7? The Savage angle could still be done or do you go a different route?