LODemolition
Championship Contender
Dark Match: Shane Douglas def. Buddy Rose
1. Power & Glory (w/ Slick) def. The Rockers
2. Intercontinental Championship: The Texas Tornado def. Mr. Perfect (c) w/ Bobby Heenan
3. "Sensational Queen" Sherri def. Saphhire *by forfeit*
4. The Warlord (w/ Slick) def. Tito Santana
5. Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match: The Hart Foundation def. Demolition (c)
6. Jake "The Snake" Roberts def. Bad News Brown *with Big Boss Man as special guest referee*
7. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan & Nikolai Volkoff def. The Orient Express (w/ Mr. Fuji)
8. "Macho King" Randy Savage (w/ Sherri) def. Dusty Rhodes
9. Hulk Hogan (w/ Big Boss Man) def. Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart & Dino Bravo) *by countout*
10. WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Ultimate Warrior (c) def. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan)
The 3 title matches at SummerSlam were exciting, but not much else on this card stood out. It could definitely have used some changes in my book, and here they are.
Rewriting SummerSlam '90
1. Legion of Doom def. Powers of Pain
This was Hawk and Animal's first ppv in the WWE, but they were left off the card. Why? Yes, they got involved in the tag team title match, but why not give them their own and having them win in the opening contest would have gotten the crowd hot right off the bat. Besides, there was no rush in getting them involved with Demolition. That deserved a huge build to WrestleMania VII.
2. Intercontinental Championship: Jake "The Snake" Roberts (c) def. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan)
Though I enjoyed the Warrior vs. Rude in a steel cage for the WWE Title, I'd have still gone another route for the main event. Roberts won the IC Championship from Rude in my WM6 rewrite, so this would have been the long-anticipated rematch. I can understand them putting the strap on Von Erich here, but again, Roberts certainly deserved to have won gold at some point in his career and looking back, 1990-91 was some of his best work that deserved to be rewarded.
3. "The Model" Rick Martel def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper *by disqualification*
Martel was just breaking out on his own in 1990 and about to start a feud with Jake Roberts. In my WM6, Martel beat his former Strike Force partner Tito Santana. Here at SummerSlam, his momentum continues when picking up the DQ win after Piper gets carried away and nails Martel with his very own bottle of arrogance.
4. The Hart Foundation def. Power & Glory
First of all, I really liked Power & Glory and thought they were a very underrated tag team. It's great that they got the win over The Rockers in the opening contest despite it being a handicap match when Michaels was taken out before the match started (and from what I've read, Shawn had a legitimate knee injury and that's why he didn't wrestle). But since I don't have the Hitman and Anvil in the tag team title match, I think this would have been a great pairing. I don't recall the Hart Foundation and Power & Glory ever squaring off, but I would have loved to have seen it. The Foundation wins in a great 10-minute back and forth match.
5. "Macho King" Randy Savage def. Dusty Rhodes
Nothing to change here in my mind. Savage goes over and is on his way to a tremendous feud with the Warrior. Rhodes' time wasn't far from over here.
6. The Texas Tornado def. Bad News Brown
Like the Road Warriors, this was Von Erich's first WWE ppv and again it was just too much too soon with him. I could only see throwing the IC Title on him if it meant bigger things were in store for Curt Hennig, but they really weren't. Bad News Brown wasn't on Jake Roberts' level either, so that matchup made little sense to me as well. Tornado goes over in a quick one that may eventually lead to an IC Title picture.
7. Tag Team Championship: Demolition def. The Rockers (c)
The Rockers never winning tag team gold is understandable with the division being as stacked as it was those days, but still disappointing. This would have been a rematch, as I had Jannetty and Michaels winning the straps from Demolition at Saturday Night's Main Event which took place just one month prior to SummerSlam. Michaels gets jumped before the match just as he did in reality by Power & Glory (especially if his knee was truly injured), and Jannetty is forced to fend for himself. Seeing how Demolition's odds were stacked in their favor at 3 on 1 with the addition of Crush, it would have been inevitable that they would make short work of Jannetty and become 4 time WWE Tag Team Champions.
8. Big Boss Man def. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
If you forget how much Boss Man was over like I sometimes do, this event will remind you. Boss Man pulled double duty that night, serving as the guest referee for Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown, and later backing up Hulk Hogan in the first half of the double main event. DiBiase had fallen off a bit in the past year from his days main eventing with Hogan and Savage, so I don't feel too conflicted about another loss for him here.
9. Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant def. The Natural Disasters
After WMVI, Jimmy Hart had told everyone that he had become the new manager of Andre the Giant and would soon be tag teaming with Earthquake. When Andre of course revealed the truth that nothing could be further from the truth, Jimmy Hart recruited Tugboat - now Typhoon - to form the Natural Disasters with Earthquake. I think it would have been great to see Hogan come to Andre's aid when he was outnumbered and have them team up for what would be Andre's final match. However limited he may have been in the ring, Andre deserved that spotlight one last time and I think being part of the first half of a SummerSlam main event would have done him justice. Hogan delivers the big boot and the leg drop to Typhoon and tags Andre in to make the pin with a foot on his chest.
10. WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Mr. Perfect def. Ultimate Warrior (c)
Curt Hennig imo is the greatest WWE superstar to have never been its champion. At the time in WWE history after Savage had lost the title at WMV and before Ric Flair arrived in late 1991, there was a top heel missing and Mr. Perfect could have easily filled that void. I'm not saying he had to be a long-reigning champion or even go into Mania wearing the gold, but at some point in this year-and-a-half gap, I definitely think he should have. This seems like the most appropriate time to me. It's easy to picture Mr. Perfect becoming new champion in this fashion where he did not have to pin the Warrior to win. Heenan could have tossed a foreign object to Perfect and after striking him with it, he crawls out of the cage and the fans are stunned. And before you argue "the crowd must always go home happy in those days", I say take a look at Survivor Series 1987 and you will see that is simply not true.
Thanks for reading my SummerSlam 1990 rewrite. Please feel free to comment and/or post your changes to this card.
