SummerSlam (1988)

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SummerSlam (1988)
Details
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	August 29, 1988
Venue	Madison Square Garden
City	New York City, New York
Attendance	20,000
Pay-per-view chronology
WrestleMania IV	SummerSlam (1988)	Survivor Series (1988)
SummerSlam chronology
First	SummerSlam (1988)	SummerSlam (1989)

SummerSlam (1988) was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).^[1] It took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York City, New York.^[1] The tagline was "Where the Mega-Powers Meet the Mega-Bucks".^[2] The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (formally Jim Crockett Promotions).^[3] It was one of the first four annual pay-per-view events produced by the WWF, along with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series.^[4]

The main match of the undercard was the Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and the reigning champion The Honky Tonk Man.^[5][6] The Ultimate Warrior won the match in approximately thirty seconds to end the longest Intercontinental Championship reign up to that point.^[5] The main event was a match pitting The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) against their long-time rivals, The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant).^[7][8] Hogan and Savage won the match after Miss Elizabeth, Savage's wife and manager, distracted the referee by removing her skirt to reveal her underwear.^[2][7] After SummerSlam, Hogan and Savage began a storyline feud, culminating at WrestleMania V, where Hogan won the WWF Championship from Savage.^[9]

Contents 1 Development 2 Report 2.1 Background 2.2 Event 2.3 Aftermath 3 Results 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] Development

In the late 1980s, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s main competition in the professional wrestling industry was from Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade pay-per-view, which began airing in 1983, by creating the WrestleMania franchise. After WrestleMania III, the most successful professional wrestling pay-per-view event in history, McMahon created the Survivor Series franchise, which aired the same day as Starrcade '87 in November 1987. After defeating Crockett in the ratings war, McMahon created the Royal Rumble, an event airing for free on the USA Network in January 1988, which set a ratings record for the network with eight million households tuning in to watch the event. In retaliation, Crockett created the Clash of the Champions event, which aired simultaneously with WrestleMania IV. WrestleMania IV garnered higher ratings, and not long after, Crockett filed for bankruptcy and sold his company to Ted Turner, who renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW).^[10]

As the WWF continued to replace its closed circuit programming with pay-per-view programming, McMahon added more pay-per-views to the lineup to capitalize on the success of his previous events. In addition to WrestleMania in March, the Royal Rumble in January, and Survivor Series in November, McMahon created an event for August, which he named SummerSlam. To keep the WWF from having a pay-per-view market monopoly, Turner began airing monthly WCW pay-per-views, and both companies began bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.^[3] SummerSlam became one of World Wrestling Federation (and later World Wrestling Entertainment)'s most successful events and one of the "Big Four" pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble.^[4][11] Those four events, along with King of the Ring, are known as the "Classic Five".^[12]

[edit] Report

[edit] Background

Prior to SummerSlam, The Honky Tonk Man, a villainous on-screen character, had been the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWF history.^[5] He was originally supposed to defend his championship against Brutus Beefcake, but Beefcake was unable to compete due to a storyline injury caused by Ron Bass before the event.^[6] The Honky Tonk Man no longer had a challenger for his title and claimed to not care whom he opposed.^[6] The Ultimate Warrior, a new addition to the WWF roster, accepted his challenge for SummerSlam.^[6] Also prior to the event, Demolition (Ax and Smash) held the WWF World Tag Team Championship, which they had won at WrestleMania IV after only a year in the WWF.^[13]

The storyline feud between Rick Rude and Jake Roberts began weeks before SummerSlam. Rude, who often picked women out of the audience to kiss after winning a match, chose Roberts' wife Cheryl on one occasion, infuriating Roberts.^[14][15] This resulted in a series of confrontations leading up to SummerSlam.

For months prior to the pay-per-view, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, two of the WWF's top crowd favorites, had feuded with André the Giant and Ted DiBiase, respectively. After Hogan defeated André the Giant at WrestleMania III, André, as part of the storyline, was absent for approximately a year before reappearing, claiming to return only for the money.^[2][16] The first televised match between André the Giant and Hogan after WrestleMania III was on The Main Event on February 5, 1988 and drew thirty-three million viewers, making it the most-watched match in professional wrestling history.^[16] The storyline surrounding the match was that André had ended Hogan's four-year reign as champion with the help of a screwjob finish involving twin referees Earl and Dave Hebner.^[16][17] Their feud as singles wrestlers culminated in a rematch at WrestleMania IV in March 1988 as part of a tournament to crown a new champion, but they were both disqualified after hitting each other with steel folding chairs.^[7][18] Savage, on the other hand, won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania IV by defeating DiBiase in the finals of the tournament, with help from Hogan.^[2][7] The team of Hogan and Savage was formed on Saturday Night's Main Event on November 11, 1987 (although it did not air for several weeks) when, after a match between Savage and Bret Hart, Savage was the victim of a worked (scripted) triple-team attack by Hart, The Honky Tonk Man, and Jim Neidhart.^[7] As a result, Miss Elizabeth, Savage's wife and manager, ran backstage and brought Hogan down to the ring to rescue Savage from the attack.^[7] After saving Savage, Hogan and Savage were paired together as The Mega Powers on August 29, 1988 at SummerSlam.^[19]

The original plan for SummerSlam was to bring Ric Flair over from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to the WWF.^[20] Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF, wanted Flair to challenge Savage in the main event for the WWF Championship.^[20] Flair, however, felt obligated to the NWA and did not leave the promotion for the WWF.^[21] Therefore, Hogan and Savage were paired together to end their feuds with their respective on-screen rivals.

[edit] Event

Other on-screen talent

Role:	Name:
Commentator	"Superstar" Billy Graham
	Gorilla Monsoon
Ring announcer	Howard Finkel
Interviewer	Gene Okerlund
	Sean Mooney
Referee	Earl Hebner
	Joey Marella
	Tim White

The event began with a match between The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond). As soon as the bell rang, Smith attacked Jacques. The two teams traded blows until The Rougeaus performed a middle rope, belly-to-back suplex on Dynamite Kid. Dynamite Kid also escaped an abdominal stretch before tagging in his partner, Smith, and The British Bulldogs performed a double-team maneuver on Jacques. Despite having the upper hand, The Bulldogs failed to pin Jacques in time, and the match ended in a twenty-minute time draw. The next match was between Bad News Brown and Ken Patera. Before the bell rang, however, Brown attacked Patera, who retaliated by performing a clothesline from the corner. Patera then performed a bear hug on Brown, who followed up with a full nelson on Patera. At the end of the match, Brown defeated Patera by striking him in the back of the head with his finishing move, the Ghetto Blaster.^[1]

After the second match ended, Rick Rude and Junkyard Dog (JYD) made their way to the ring. Their match began as Rude attacked JYD from behind, who retaliated by headbutting Rude several times. Subsequently, Rude climbed to the ring's top rope and pulled down his tights to reveal another pair of tights with a picture of Cheryl Roberts on them. As a result, Jake Roberts ran to the ring and attacked Rude, forcing the referee to disqualify JYD. The next match was a tag team match between The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord), who were accompanied by The Baron, and The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff), who were accompanied by Slick. Immediately, The Powers of Pain chased The Bolsheviks from the ring. Slick, however, distracted The Powers of Pain long enough to give The Bolsheviks an advantage. Zhukov was a victim of both a running powerslam and a flying headbutt, which allowed The Barbarian to pin him.^[1][5]

The fifth match of the event was an Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and the reigning champion The Honky Tonk Man, who was accompanied by Jimmy Hart. The Ultimate Warrior had the advantage from the beginning, attacking The Honky Tonk Man, who was still in his entrance attire. After performing both a gorilla press slam and the Warrior Splash, The Ultimate Warrior pinned The Honky Tonk Man after only thirty seconds to win the title.^[6] The following contest was a re-match from WrestleMania IV between Dino Bravo and Don Muraco. Muraco, the crowd favorite, was in control for most of the match. Frenchy Martin, who accompanied Bravo to the ring, distracted Muraco, allowing Bravo to perform a side suplex and pin him for the win.^[5]

The seventh match of the night was for the WWF World Tag Team Championship. Reigning champions Demolition (Ax and Smash), accompanied by both Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Hart, were challenged by The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart). As soon as the bell sounded, The Hart Foundation attacked both members of Demolition. Their control was brief, as Demolition then gained the advantage over Neidhart. As Bret Hart was tagged into the match, Neidhart chased Jimmy Hart from ringside and returned to tag back into the match. When all four men began fighting inside the ring, Neidhart attacked Mr. Fuji, who was on the ring apron. At the end of the match, Bret Hart attempted to drive his opponent's head into the mat by performing a piledriver, but Ax hit him with Jimmy Hart's trademark megaphone, and Smash pinned Bret Hart for the win.^[5]

The next match-up was between The Big Boss Man, accompanied by Slick, and Koko B. Ware. With Slick as a distraction, The Big Boss Man took the early advantage in the match. After crushing Ware in between himself and the turnbuckle by performing an avalanche, Boss Man refused to pin him and finish the match. Instead, he attempted to perform a top rope splash, but missed. Ware then retaliated by performing several dropkicks and attempted a pin. Boss Man got his shoulder up to save himself from being pinned, and he slammed his opponent into the mat using his Boss Man Slam, allowing him to pin Ware for the win. The second to last match of the night was between Jake Roberts and Hercules. When Roberts attempted to slam his opponent's head into the mat with a DDT, Hercules was able to escape the maneuver and take control of the match. As Hercules attempted a scoop slam, Roberts reversed the move into a DDT, enabling him to pin Hercules for the win.^[5]

The last match of the night was the main event between The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage), accompanied by Miss Elizabeth, and The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant), accompanied by Bobby Heenan and Virgil.^[7] Jesse Ventura was the special guest referee.^[19] The Mega Powers took the early advantage over DiBiase. After Hogan attacked André the Giant, who was on the ring apron, The Mega Bucks were able to regain control.^[8] After a while, all four men began brawling in the ring, and André knocked The Mega Powers out of the ring. Subsequently, as part of the scripted ending to the match, Miss Elizabeth began arguing with Ventura, the referee, and ripped off her skirt to reveal her underwear.^[7][19] While Ventura was distracted, Savage performed a flying elbow drop on DiBiase, followed by a leg drop by Hogan. As Hogan pinned DiBiase, Ventura, a villainous character aligned with The Mega Bucks, began an obviously slow three-count. As a result, Savage slammed Ventura's arm down for the third time, indicating that Hogan and Savage had won the match.^[2][8]

[edit] Aftermath

The Mega Powers continued to team together, until a new storyline was developed where Randy Savage became jealous over Hulk Hogan paying attention to Miss Elizabeth.^[22] Foreshadowing their burgeoning feud, Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage from the Royal Rumble in January 1989 by knocking him over the top rope and to the floor.^[23] On an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, Savage gained revenge by attacking Hogan while Elizabeth was backstage receiving medical attention due to an on-screen injury and was unable to stop Savage. This rivalry culminated in a match for Savage's WWF Championship at WrestleMania V. At WrestleMania, Hogan won the title by pinning Savage. Hogan held the title for approximately one year until he dropped it to The Ultimate Warrior, the reigning Intercontinental Champion.^[9]

After retaining their title against The Hart Foundation, Demolition held the WWF World Tag Team Championship for a record-breaking sixteen months.^[13] They eventually lost the title to The Brain Busters on July 18, 1989.^[24]

[edit] Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

1. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) fought The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) to a time limit draw (20:00)^[1]
2. Bad News Brown defeated Ken Patera (6:33)^[1]
   • Brown pinned Patera after a Ghetto Blaster.
3. Rick Rude defeated Junkyard Dog (JYD) by disqualification (6:18)^[1]
   • JYD was disqualified after Jake Roberts attacked Rude.
4. The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) (with The Baron) defeated The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff) (with Slick) (5:27)^[1]
   • Barbarian pinned Zhukov after a flying headbutt.
5. Brother Love Show with guest Jim Duggan
6. The Ultimate Warrior defeated The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (0:31)^[5]
   • Warrior pinned The Honky Tonk Man after a Warrior Splash.
7. Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) defeated Don Muraco (5:28)^[5]
   • Bravo pinned Muraco after a side suplex.
8. Demolition (Ax and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Hart) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) to retain the WWF World Tag Team Championship (9:49)^[5]
   • Smash pinned Bret after Ax hit him with Jimmy Hart's megaphone.
9. The Big Boss Man (with Slick) defeated Koko B. Ware (5:57)^[5]
   • Boss Man pinned Ware after a Boss Man Slam.
10. Jake Roberts defeated Hercules (10:06)^[5]
    • Roberts pinned Hercules after a DDT.
11. The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant) (with Bobby Heenan and Virgil) (with Jesse Ventura as special guest referee) (13:57)^[8]
    • Savage pinned DiBiase after a flying elbow drop from Savage and a leg drop from Hogan.
    • Late in the match, Miss Elizabeth ripped her skirt off to distract the referee and The Mega Bucks, allowing The Mega Powers time to regroup.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Assael, Shaun and Mike Mooneyham (2002). Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. Crown, 74–95. ISBN 1400051436. 
• Flair, Ric (2005). Ric Flair: To Be the Man. Simon and Schuster, 234–235. ISBN 0743491815. 
• Shields, Brian (4th Edition 2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Pocket Books, 174–177. ISBN 9781416532576. 

[edit] Further reading

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated. "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts", Wrestling’s Historical Cards, Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 86. 
• World Wrestling Federation. (1988). SummerSlam 1988 [VHS]. Coliseum Video.

[edit] External links

• Official 1988 SummerSlam site