Summerslam 1990

[Killercam]

Coming off WM 6, WWF should have put out a mega card for SS, with only 4 ppvs back then every ppv should have been a mega card but especially SS. I think WWF really fucked up the early SS's by headlining them with b.s. tag matches (88'89& 91) For instance, SS 88 could have been Savage vs Ted D (Ted winning) , 89 could have been Hogan-Savage rematch (who wouldn't want to see part two of that) and 91 could have been Hogan-Warrior II (since it didnt happen at WM 7). So give me the super cards that could have happened at those SS's. Here's my 90:

Title for Title: Warrior vs Perfect (they just had a title for title and the IC champ won, Perfect took took the vacant IC...they could have sold me Perfect would win)

Tag Title: Demo vs LOD. This was the best time to ever let these two get it on

Roddy Piper. Vs. Savage... I can't believe this one never happened

Hogan & Dusty R. Vs. Earthquake and Dino....meh but get them on the card

Rockers vs. Hart F... Never got this one at a ppv

$ Title: Ted D. Vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan....need I say more?

That's 6 good matches, throw in 2 or 3 fillers...that's how they should have booked SS back in the day, instead we got shit

 

[The Brain]

Coming off WM 6, WWF should have put out a mega card for SS, with only 4 ppvs back then every ppv should have been a mega card but especially SS. I think WWF really fucked up the early SS's by headlining them with b.s. tag matches (88'89& 91) For instance, SS 88 could have been Savage vs Ted D (Ted winning) , 89 could have been Hogan-Savage rematch (who wouldn't want to see part two of that) and 91 could have been Hogan-Warrior II (since it didnt happen at WM 7). So give me the super cards that could have happened at those SS's. Here's my 90:

Just curious, were you actually watching and WWF in 1988 and are you old enough to remember? The main event tag matches for 88 and 89 were heavily hyped and highly anticipated. They were perfectly reasonable main events. I agree the 91 main event did suck.

Title for Title: Warrior vs Perfect (they just had a title for title and the IC champ won, Perfect took took the vacant IC...they could have sold me Perfect would win)

What would be the point? Warrior was IC champ at WM6 and forfeited the IC title when he won the world title. Why have him win it back only to forfeit it again? Besides, Rick Rude was a worthy opponent for Warrior.

Tag Title: Demo vs LOD. This was the best time to ever let these two get it on

I could see this but LOD had just entered the WWF. I don't think the WWF wanted to put the titles on them right off the bat. Besides, Harts vs. Demolition was awesome.

Roddy Piper. Vs. Savage... I can't believe this one never happened

Not bad at all. Piper wasn't wrestling much during this time but this could have been a great feud.

Hogan & Dusty R. Vs. Earthquake and Dino....meh but get them on the card

Meh but get them on the card? We're talking about Hulk Hogan here. There is no meh get him on the card when it comes to the Hulkster. He's a headliner. I don't understand why you complained about the Hogan tag matches of 88, 89, and 91 but want to put him in one in 90. Hogan and Earthquake was a huge angle in 1990 and a one on one match at SummerSlam is what should have happened.

Rockers vs. Hart F... Never got this one at a ppv

I could be mistaken but I believe Shawn Michaels was injured at this time. That's why he was attacked before the match with Power & Glory and did do anything during it.

$ Title: Ted D. Vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan....need I say more?

Yeah you should probably say more. Ted Dibiase vs. Dusty Rhodes is more intriguing than Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan. Dibiase didn't get a match but he was involved in SummerSlam. Taking Sapphire away from Rhodes was a big angle.

That's 6 good matches, throw in 2 or 3 fillers...that's how they should have booked SS back in the day, instead we got shit

No offense but I like what we actually got better. I don't think subbing Perfect for Rude in the main event would have made much difference. Hogan definitely should have been in a singles match with Earthquake. The Harts vs. Demolition was an awesome match and one of my favorite tag matches ever. Dibiase vs. Duggan may have been ok but hardly a difference maker. Savage vs. Piper is intriguing but I think SummerSlam 90 was fine the way it was.

 

[klunderbunker]

The show was quite good.

Hogan vs. Earthquake was the real main event and was happening as a revenge match for Hogan after Earthquake took him out so that Hogan could go and film Suburrban Commando. This was the payoff and then they feuded up through January.

The other main event was Warrior vs. Rude which was a feud with a history to it so it would make sense to see them fight, especially given that Rude took a title from Warrior in the first place. Also Rude was supposed to stick around and feud with Bossman but for some reason he left and took a year off before coming to WCW.

As for the tag titles, why mess with what worked? It also set up Demolition vs. LOD down the line and gave us a big surprise in the Harts winning, which was a major upset back then.

Savage vs. Dusty was a feud that had gone on over the summer so having Dusty face Savage as Sapphire was a distraction was a perfect way to transition to the reveal of DiBiase as her benefactor, setting up the perfect feud for Dusty: rich man vs. common man.

Other than that, a lot of the card was filler but you already had four. Piper was already transitioned to commentary and was fine in that roll. Brown vs. Roberts was built up for a long time and the Duggan/Volkoff match was around to further Slaughter's heel turn and be his first major feud. You had to have those in there.

The show was fine.

 

[ECW Sandman]

Why would you change the card of Summer Slam 90 ? The card was good If you ask me the 1990 Summer Slam was the best one out of the first ten IMO Here's the Card for Summer Slam 1990 and It did not suck.

Rockers Vs Power and Glory The Rockers were newcomers to The WWF

IC Title Match Mr. Perfect V Texas Tornado ( A little known fact it was going to be Perfect V. Beefcake for The IC Title but Beefcake legit had his face crashed from a boating mishap so they needed someone fast for the card so they put Kerry Von Erich in Beefcake's place.

Sherri V Sweet Sapphire The match never took place.

Tito Santana V The Warlord with Slick.

WWF Tag Team Belts Demolition V The Hart Foundation.

Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Bad News Brown with guest Ref The Big Boss Man.

Volkoff and Duggan vs Sato and Tanaka .

The American Dream Vs The Macho King Randy Savage. ( Oooooh Yeah ) Dibiase gets Rhodes' and the crowds to look at him, he told Dusty and everyone else he '' bought '' Sapphire.

Hulk Hogan Vs Earthquake.

Steel Cage Match for The WWF Title Warrior Vs Ravishing Rick Rude .



Now I look at that card I think it's a well put card you have to remember about the feuds and for the 1990 Summer Slam it was one of the greatest cards ever because you had guys facing each other that you would have never thought would face each other like Hogan and Earthquake. I never thought that would ever happen but it did and it worked.

 

[justtxyank]

I think this is a great thread to demonstrate a problem with modern fans. I see it a lot when fans who are young now (14-20 or so) are looking back at WCW and "rebooking" those cards. Often times you can't grasp what a card meant unless you were there, in real time, absorbing the buildup and the energy. What might look like a terrible card or lackluster main event 20 years from now might have been a great main event that was well built when it happened.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

One of the best events I saw as a kid. SummerSlam 1990 was great - and here are my memorable moments- The Hart Foundation winning the tag title. Waiting to see if that paid off for the harts, the emotion, the wrestling involved, the story telling was one of the very first reasons I became a WWF fan. It was one of the first matches I saw to do with WWF.

I remember the sell job Mr Perfect did for the Texas Tornado's twist punch. That was a selfless and great way to put an oppenent over. Mr P never lost any credibility after this match and this should be something all young aspiring wrestlers should watch.

The awful and cheesy segment of Nikoli Volkof and Hacksaw singing the US national anthem. It was so bad it was good. Properly funny stuff in the day.

Rick Rude provided a masterclass in working with the Ultimate Warrior. He carried warrior to his best match he would have until WM7 (against savage), and is probably still Warriors second best match ever.

The Big Boss man helping Hulk Hogan was pretty cool for kids in the day.

The point is- wwf was great fun to watch when you were a kid in 1990. I just hope the kids today that watch get as much fun and entertainment out of it.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Why would you change the card of Summer Slam 90 ? The card was good If you ask me the 1990 Summer Slam was the best one out of the first ten IMO Here's the Card for Summer Slam 1990 and It did not suck.

Rockers Vs Power and Glory The Rockers were newcomers to The WWF

IC Title Match Mr. Perfect V Texas Tornado ( A little known fact it was going to be Perfect V. Beefcake for The IC Title but Beefcake legit had his face crashed from a boating mishap so they needed someone fast for the card so they put Kerry Von Erich in Beefcake's place.

Sherri V Sweet Sapphire The match never took place.

Tito Santana V The Warlord with Slick.

WWF Tag Team Belts Demolition V The Hart Foundation.

Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Bad News Brown with guest Ref The Big Boss Man.

Volkoff and Duggan vs Sato and Tanaka .

The American Dream Vs The Macho King Randy Savage. ( Oooooh Yeah ) Dibiase gets Rhodes' and the crowds to look at him, he told Dusty and everyone else he '' bought '' Sapphire.

Hulk Hogan Vs Earthquake.

Steel Cage Match for The WWF Title Warrior Vs Ravishing Rick Rude .



Now I look at that card I think it's a well put card you have to remember about the feuds and for the 1990 Summer Slam it was one of the greatest cards ever because you had guys facing each other that you would have never thought would face each other like Hogan and Earthquake. I never thought that would ever happen but it did and it worked.

It's an even lesser known fact that Kerry Von Erich was 3rd choice for that match. The original replacement was Davey Boy Smith, but he had a car crash that took him out of the running, so the already signed Tornado was promoted to the slot. Kerry was not in line for a massive "off the bat" push as he got as Vince knew about the foot, and wanted to see how it played out before giving him a run.

The show itself didn't need much change other than who went over. No excuse for Rude not to have won that match. Vince let Warrior and Hogan dictate that Rude was too small, yet he was clearly the best heel of his time, as evidenced when he walked into WCW and nearly always had a major title.

 

[DeathClutch]

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but can also be illogical like in your case!

Everything that occurred on them shows was story lined to lead into something bigger at Wrestle Mania with a small teaser at Survivor Series or to tie loose ends so Survivor Series could build towards WrestleMania.

 

[The Mountie]

I have to agree with the general consensus here, SummerSlam 90 was pretty good. As a youngster I loved it, and after seeing it again at a later age, it still stands up to the test of time. The WWF was different back in the late 80's and as a child, I loved the over-the-top colourful characters. I went crazy when the Ultimate Warrior beat Rick Rude for the title, I loved that crazy bastard. Now however I realise and understand the job that Rick Rude did and thus appreciate the match even more.

Also, I think the OP's complaint about SummerSlam being headlined by tag-matches in 88,89 and 91 is ludicrous. 1988 was the Mega Powers vs the Mega Bucks, Hogan and Savage teaming together! It was awesome and it was the perfect build to their split.
1989 wasn't as good as the previous year but storyline wise it worked a treat, with Hogan and Beefcake facing Savage and Zeus. The same can be said about 91's SummerSlam with Hogan and Warrior against Sgt. Slaughter's posse. It followed on perfectly from Wrestlemania's main event when Hogan kicked Slaughter's ass.
The point being is that this was in a time when the WWF only produced 4 ppvs a year. Long term booking was the key, especially with the main events. Giving SummerSlam tag-team main events also gave it an identity that was different to the other 3 ppvs.

It is all very well and good to look back on the events now and think that the show would have better if blah blah blah. Back then the ppv's were all linked. Hogan and Savage's friendship and it's subsequent collapse can be tracked from their teaming up at SummerSlam 88, to their continuing success in the main event of Survivor Series. In the following Royal Rumble Hogan accidently eliminated Savage. Throw in a bit of jealousy involving Elizabeth and boom, you have a Wrestlemania main event that can be tracked back through a year's worth of logical booking.

 

[JAK]

Whilst SummerSlam 1990 wasn't perfect I think the card you've proposed was far worse. As others have said Warrior and Rude had a feud built up since WM 6, and the same could be said about the original plans for Mr Perfect vs Brutus Beefcake. Furthermore Rude was seen as a possible threat to Warriors belt as he'd beaten him at WM 5 and didn't need to score a pin to win the world title, he just had to get out of the cage.

The Dysty Rhodes/Hulk Hogan vs Dino Bravo/Earthquake match is attrocious. For a start if it was going to be a tag match then Tugboat should have been Hogan's partner as he'd spent about 3 months begging WWF fans to send their get well soon cards to the Hulkster. What connection did Dusty Rhodes have to this feud.

LOD vs Demolition would have been great at SummerSlam in my opinion, but this was long before the new kids got title shots in the first few months. Furthermore the WWF had been building to a Hart Foundation/Demolition match since Wrestlemania.

Admittedly the WWF could have changed storylines, but the storylines in place were built well over a few months, some of them leadiong off of Wrestlemania and some even going as far back as the Royal Rumble. This was the days in which feuds were built over months, not weeks and days.

As for a title vs title match - this would have been a rehash of the big money draw from WM6 and fans would probably have seen it as overkill of a gimmick. I agree that Mr. Perfect should have worn the WWF championship, but hotshotting it onto him 4 months into the Ultimate Warriors reign, then having to have another IC title tournament would have been overkill.

It's weird looking back at the WWF in 1990 - everything was so much slower to develop. I remember after Hogan beat Earthquake he talked about getting the WWF belt back but fans had to wait 8 months for himt to finally get a shot, bar the odd occurance that's virtually unheard of if the wrestlers the biggest draw in the promotion.

 

[LWFMiller]

I can actually tend to agree (to some certain aspects) of the OP's idea, as Summer Slam '90 was actually my VERY FIRST intro/ppv build up/cherry popper into becoming a wrestling fan; Stayed with the channel as a younger lad after an episode of He-Man had concluded totally enticed by upcoming "WWF action on All American Wrestling with an update on the attack of Hulk Hogan on the Brother Love Show", Lol.

Now, while it (the forthcoming SS '90 PPV that is) obviously caught & kept my attention (really just wrestling in general was a perfect fit/budding interest to me) enough to keep tuning in, it was more the superstars as well as shockingly realizing that the "famous" Hulk Hogan who'd I'd always heard of wasn't world champ & that instead this chiseled cool looking Ultimate Warrior guy was, and would be in a cage with the Ravishing one defending his title... And while I later got to watch it on vhs and enjoyed it, the PPV honestly really didn't hold up to me as much as it had when I was in the midst of my more 'innocent years'... And I viewed it multiple times in my youth amongst the many other rentals of WWF (some Wcw/Nwa) tapes playing "catch-up" (and later on legitimately purchased -or stolen from the store- in building my collection of classic events) Lol. Though it was a quality event and not by any means "bad" or disappointing, I thought Summer Slam '89 was most definitely superior on all fronts (except for the main event anyway) IMHO... Great quality opener w/ the Busters & Harts, an energetic six man w/ Tito & The Rockers vs Model & Rougeaus and the cool monster one with Andre & Towers vs the still unstoppable Demolition & Duggan, a BETTER Warrior/Rude affair with Piper getting involved, and still pretty new Mr Perfect totally humiliating the Rooster (in a match that 'perfectly' forecasted just where both mens WWF tenures were going), and some entertaining decent enough blow off filler w/ Dusty-Honky, Dibiase-Snuka, and Garvin embarrassing Valentine throughout his match with Herculies.

Here's what I'd hypothetically do with the Summer Slam 1990 card:

Warrior vs Rude **(the Perfect title/title idea is cool in concept no doubt, but as another poster said this should just stay as is given the history between the two and also the IC title and its status)

Hogan/Dusty vs. Earthquake/Dibiase (w/ Bossman and Bravo still in their respective corners) **(Go ahead, throw Hogan in another 'tag SS main-event' scenario, as the 'Quake one on one didn't end cleanly anyway, no big loss. On a side note, I am very glad that things worked out here as to where Tugboat was excluded and Bossman was given this role instead, very cool & intriguing for the time indeed with Bossman just coming off that heel run)

Savage vs. Piper *(I like this, and btw it was done on Wrestlefest '90 I believe- and Piper could've went right back to the booth after as is often >over< done now, as they could have done Macho getting his win back to feud conclude w/ Dusty >just as transpired< on a preceding SNME match which Dibiase got involved distracting Rhodes just as they did)

Demolition vs. Harts *(Keep this, while LOD would've been good, timing didn't anyway, and LOD/Demos should've been done right -as it never Really was- at the Rumble or WM 7 since they didn't give LOD the titles there which will always be a mystery to me, besides who cares about the Nasty Boys?!)

Jake vs. Bad News (w/ Bossman as ref)

LOD vs. Orient Express

Warlord vs. Volkoff *(C'mon, give Tito a break for once, Lol!)

Mr. Perfect vs. Tornado *(As always Mr. P didn't disappoint- that 'tornado punch' sell was great, Lol. Though I like personally enjoyed at WM 7 when Bossman slaps him in the face and the man does a 360 in sell/response, just brilliant!)

Anyway, that would be my "tweaked/improved" SS '90 PPV card, thanks for reading.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Just curious, were you actually watching and WWF in 1988 and are you old enough to remember? The main event tag matches for 88 and 89 were heavily hyped and highly anticipated. They were perfectly reasonable main events. I agree the 91 main event did suck.



What would be the point? Warrior was IC champ at WM6 and forfeited the IC title when he won the world title. Why have him win it back only to forfeit it again? Besides, Rick Rude was a worthy opponent for Warrior.



I could see this but LOD had just entered the WWF. I don't think the WWF wanted to put the titles on them right off the bat. Besides, Harts vs. Demolition was awesome.



Not bad at all. Piper wasn't wrestling much during this time but this could have been a great feud.



Meh but get them on the card? We're talking about Hulk Hogan here. There is no meh get him on the card when it comes to the Hulkster. He's a headliner. I don't understand why you complained about the Hogan tag matches of 88, 89, and 91 but want to put him in one in 90. Hogan and Earthquake was a huge angle in 1990 and a one on one match at SummerSlam is what should have happened.



I could be mistaken but I believe Shawn Michaels was injured at this time. That's why he was attacked before the match with Power & Glory and did do anything during it.



Yeah you should probably say more. Ted Dibiase vs. Dusty Rhodes is more intriguing than Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan. Dibiase didn't get a match but he was involved in SummerSlam. Taking Sapphire away from Rhodes was a big angle.



No offense but I like what we actually got better. I don't think subbing Perfect for Rude in the main event would have made much difference. Hogan definitely should have been in a singles match with Earthquake. The Harts vs. Demolition was an awesome match and one of my favorite tag matches ever. Dibiase vs. Duggan may have been ok but hardly a difference maker. Savage vs. Piper is intriguing but I think SummerSlam 90 was fine the way it was.

Brain, you have outdone yourself. The OP's post was so awful, I was tempted to respond immediately. But, I read on and right away--you hit every bad point he made (even a shot at his use of the overused/always-dumb "Need I say more?" haha!)

Haha! He bashed the tag team matches and then throws Hogan in one with Dusty. OP, awful post!

Great job, Brain! Every terrible idea was addressed and shot down perfectly.

 

[willross]

In order to change this card, you would have to go back as far as Royal Rumble AT LEAST and switch alot of storylines around which in turn would tarnish WM6 which was a solid card.

The Savage/Rhodes match had to happen because they needed their blow-off match and the angle led right to DiBiase/Rhodes.

Rude vs Warrior was perfect because Rude was basing his chances off of WM5 and the fact that he didn't actually have to beat Warrior to win the title. It was also a fresh main event face.

Perfect vs Tornado was a great match, why mess with what worked.

Harts vs Demolition was built since Mania and their SS match led to Demo vs LOD, why mess with what worked.

Overall, I am pretty sure the OP wasn't watching back then and didn't properly educate himself with the use of DVDs or VHSs of the events during this time because if he did he would have certainly NOT have made this post, on top of ignorantly bashing the main events at prior Summerslams. Like Mega Powers vs Mega Bucks made 100% sense back then and was all part of the WM5 build was Hogan vs Savage. Mega Maniacs vs Savage/Zeus was done to promote No Holds Barred and to further build to a blowoff between Hogan/Savage/Zeus. Triangle of Terror vs Hogan/Warrior made sense and was perfectly fine as well because they needed a blow-off to the terrorist angle and putting the two biggest babyfaces together to take out the biggest heel ever up to that point made 100% sense as was necessary. That main event provided an out for Jake to work Warrior(even though Warrior held up WWF at the event and was fired) and opened the door for Hogan to feud with Taker and Flair.

Bad Post bro.

 

[thebarber]

I agree, Summerslam 1990 was a solid card. Beefcake was always in the IC Title match, not a little known fact. His July 4th parasailing accident put paid to those plans though.

The rest of the card, barring Santana being buried on ppv again was well built. Dusty's feud from Savage to DiBiase was smoothly executed, Hogan got his revenge on Earthquake without Quake lookinb to inferior or damaged by being pinned, The Harts vs Demolition was fitting way to get Crush into fans minds as the replacement for Bill Eadie.
LOD had only joined the company weeks earlier, maybe Wrestlemania 7 would have been a better platform for Demolition vs Road Warriors, but would not have been the same with Axe being taken off the road. All in all, Summerslam 1990 was a great show, and really no idea why anybody would want to change it, 22 years later