Monday, August 28th, 1989
Meadowlands Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
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Off The Grid, Volume 25:
This one starts off so odd in the sense that we have Tony Schiavone as an announcer (definitely not a bad thing, although Gorilla is my favorite) and this is still the Royal Rumble music to kick things off in the intro.
Hart Foundation vs. Brain Busters
The original Hart Foundation music was always 100 times better than the Bret Hart solo version. The Busters having no music is so on brand too. This being a non-title match will always stand out as a terrible booking decision. In an era where there were only 4 pay-per-views, why would they not want this to be a championship match? Even Schiavone agrees and asks it out loud. No wonder he was gone soon. I can't even pretend to be a novice when it comes to 1980s NWA/Crockett, but I have a really strong appreciation for how good Tully Blanchard is. As you would expect, this match starts off with a hot crowd and some great wrestling. I'm not sure anyone throws a better working punch than Bret Hart. I typically try to recap a little bit of the action as I write these, but this one just has me sucked in wanting to watch the action. The Busters are eventually able to single out Neidhart for a little bit, but he collides with Anderson in the center of the ring. Anderson is able to get up first, but gets hit with an illegal kick to the back by Bret when he runs the ropes. In comes Tully, but Bret gets a tag too. Bret's able to take care of both opponents and hits an elbow off the second rope. Bret also hits one of the nicest vertical suplexes in the business. All four men are in the ring and Bret hits a clothesline on Tully. Neidhart goes out of the ring after Anderson and Bret hits an inverted atomic drop on Tully. The Harts hit the slingshot from the apron. Heenan is up on the apron while Neidhart powerslams Bret onto Tully. Neidhart gets distracted and Anderson hits a double ax handle off the top. Tully rolls him over and picks up the victory. The ending was a little sluggish, but other than that, this was top notch. Absolutely two of the best tag teams of all time in their primes. What else could you ask for?
Match Rating: ****
Dusty Rhodes is with Mean Gene wearing a police hat and Gene is trying his hardest not to crack up.
Honky Tonk Man vs. Dusty Rhodes
Honky Tonk Man is like an actor from a TV show where they are so good in their role, but once it's over, they can't find anything as special because they are so associated with that role. He was so good as being the crappy Intercontinental Champion, that he was never able to recreate that magic. Dusty messes up Honky's hair and hits an atomic drop. Jimmy Hart trips up Dusty and it leads to Honky hitting him with the megaphone in the midsection behind the referee's back. Honky puts on a rest hold and we get a lengthy struggle by Dusty. Finally Dusty gets out of it and here comes the shenanigans. Jimmy goes for a guitar shot, but Dusty ducks and he hits Honky. A big elbow and that is all for Honky. After the match, Sean Mooney interviews Honky in the aisle and he does a cartoonish concussion spot. The rest hold was way too long here and the rest was pretty standard.
Match Rating: *1/2
Demolition and Jim Duggan give a fun interview with Mean Gene backstage.
Mr. Perfect vs. Red Rooster
Two of the newcomers facing off here, but Perfect is rightfully portrayed as the favorite here. Schiavone tries to give us the impression that Rooster is over with the fans, but his entrance is about 10 levels lower than Dusty's. Perfect hits a standing dropkick and Jesse claims that he was the first one to ever do that move. Rooster appears to hurt his knee and it leads to a quick victory via the Perfect Plex. That was too short to really matter much.
Match Rating: *1/4
Rick Rude cuts a good promo on the Warrior before their highly anticipated rematch.
Rockers & Tito Santana vs. Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel
These are 6 of my favorites from this era. The Rockers and Santana are flying all over the ring and the Rougeaus and Martel go outside the ring to regroup with Slick and Jimmy. This is another match that is sucking me into the action. The crowd almost loses it for a Tito nearfall off a sunset flip. Tito is just so good at that underdog babyface role, which is one of the hardest roles to play. He finally is able to make the hot tag to Shawn Michaels and the place is unglued. After a suplex, Michaels goes up top and hits the fist. In comes Marty and he drops him on Martel and then Jacques comes in and hits Martel on accident. All 6 men are in and Tito hits an awesome flying forearm, knocking Martel out of the ring. Jimmy Hart gets involved again, leading to Martel interfering and getting the pin on Marty. This match was fantastic action. Seriously, this match ruled.
Match Rating: ****
After a lengthy recap of their feud, Warrior and his very neon face paint, cuts a typical nutso promo.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior
These two have the crowd in the palm of their hands and they are milking it for all that it's worth. Warrior is able to get his hands on Rude and he gorilla presses him to the floor in a pretty impressive bump there from Rude. Warrior goes out to the ring and hits Rude in the back with the Intercontinental belt. Ventura is rightfully going nuts as to how that isn't a disqualification and the only thing Schiavone can come up with is that it's outside the ring. Warrior throws him back in the ring and climbs to the top and hits a double ax handle. I'm surprised that Savage was okay with him using that. Warrior mocks Rude and goes up top again, but this time Rude is able to crotch him before he can make the leap. Rude goes to work on the back of Warrior and goes for the Rude Awakening. Warrior is able to muscle out of it, but he's able to jump on his back and apply the sleeper. Warrior is able to get out of it and they then collide, which also knocks out the referee. Both men are up and Warrior is getting the better of the exchange, but the ref is still out. Warrior hits a piledriver and the referee wakes up. Warrior goes for the pin, but Rude gets his foot on the bottom rope. Warrior hits a running powerslam, but Rude gets his knees up for the big splash. Rude hits a really dangerous looking piledriver/powerbomb and then Warrior kicks out at 2. Rude goes off the top and hits a top rope fist. Out comes Roddy Piper to a big pop. Rude gets distracted by Piper and Warrior hits him with a German suplex. Warrior hits the gorilla press and splash and we have a new Intercontinental Champion. This was so much better than the WrestleMania match and a lot better than I had remembered too. They did keep Rude strong with the distraction finish too.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Sean Mooney is in the crowd and really doesn't accomplish much.
Mr. Perfect is with Mean Gene to talk about his victory over Red Rooster. Roddy Piper is next to join the party and he does his thing. Ronnie Garvin is next and he's wearing a tuxedo. He says that he has a special assignment and then an angry Bobby Heenan comes in and is hot. Rude says he had the Warrior beat until Piper came out.
Mean Gene welcomes us back from intermission and we get a recap of the main event feud.
Andre The Giant & Twin Towers vs. Jim Duggan & Demolition
Andre the Giant coming out to "Jive Soul Bro" is a pretty interesting little nugget of history. It's always been so strange to me that there were two 6 man tag matches on this show back in a time that it seemed like there weren't many on pay-per-views. The faces are able to single out Akeem in the early going and then move onto Boss Man. In comes Andre and the tide has officially shifted. Smash gets tagged in and hits body slams on both Akeem and Boss Man, but again Andre shifts the momentum. The match breaks down and Duggan hits Akeem in the back with the 2x4 and Smash is able to pick up the victory. That was quicker than I thought. The heels hardly got any offense in there at all.
Match Rating: **
Ted DiBiase cuts one of his typical promos about Jimmy Snuka.
Ronnie Garvin is announced as the ring announcer for the next match. He throws some pretty weak insults at Greg Valentine that still infuriate Valentine.
Hercules vs. Greg Valentine
The distraction allows Hercules to attack Valentine and gets a couple of nearfalls. Valentine tries to go off the top rope, but Herc hits him in the midsection. Hercules makes the usual mistake of going for a back body drop, but then is able to counter the vertical suplex into one of his own. We then get a little bit of a sloppy finish where Valentine gets a cheap pin by putting his feet on the ropes. Garvin comes in and announces that the winner in his mind is Hercules. He then says Hercules won by DQ and Valentine attacks him. Valentine and Hercules start going at it until Garvin gets back in and gets Valentine out of there. Ventura then makes sure that we know that Valentine actually did win. I'm not sure why the match was so short again, they don't seem to be running short on time.
Match Rating: *
We now get the famous Randy Savage, Sherri and Zeus cauldron of madness promo. Savage calling Beefcake the weak link is about as honest as a promo gets in 1989.
Ted DiBiase vs. Jimmy Snuka
DiBiase tries to attack him, but Snuka sees it coming and knocks DiBiase out of the ring. DiBiase misses again and this time it knocks Virgil out of the ring. We get an awkward spot with Snuka missing with the reverse leapfrog and actually hitting DiBiase. DiBiase is able to hit the Stun Gun and goes to work. He misses with a second rope reverse elbow and Snuka hits him with a headbutt. Snuka now climbs to the second rope and hits a headbutt. This time he goes up to the top and for some reason the referee keeps checking on DiBiase and Virgil catches the attention of Snuka. This allows DiBiase to throw Snuka into the ring post. We have a countout, which is a terrible finish here. Snuka was already a jobber at this point and going nowhere fast. Snuka attacks Virgil and DiBiase after the match to get his revenge. He hits the Superfly splash on Virgil to end things.
Match Rating: *1/2
Sean Mooney is up in the cheap seats and tells us that the main event is still left. They then show a kid with a sign that says "Hulk and Burtus (yes, Burtus) Rule!". Then we go to Hogan and Beefcake, who apparently have been "hangin' and bangin'".
The Genius is here to give us a poem on the main event.
Randy Savage & Zeus vs. Brutus Beefcake & Hulk Hogan
Kudos to the kid brave enough to dress up like Beefcake Barber. Miss Elizabeth gets her own entrance and a huge pop. All four men start brawling, but Hogan can't budge Zeus. Beefcake tries going off the second rope, but he gets caught and only gets let go of when Hogan hits him from behind. It still doesn't phase him and he locks on a bear hug. Savage hits Hogan in the back while in the hold and then hits a body slam. Let it be clear, Zeus is not good. Especially when you see all of these celebrities come in like Pat McAfee and Bad Bunny and tear the house down, Zeus looks like a 7 year old playing soccer with the high school team. There truly is no worse move in wrestling than a bear hug. Savage is in and snaps Hogan's neck over the top rope and spits at Beefcake. Savage's tights here are underrated. I dig the black and white variation of his classic orange. Hogan's finally able to make a tag, unfortunately it's to Beefcake. I kid. He comes in and hits a clothesline and a high knee for a 2 count. Beefcake slaps on the sleeper, but Savage is able to get out. In comes Zeus, but Beefcake rakes his eyes and jumps on his back to put on the sleeper. Savage comes in from behind and hits him in the head with Sherri's purse. Hogan finally gets the tag in and goes after Savage. Hogan hits the big boot and it sends Savage over the top to the floor. Hogan tries to suplex him back in the ring, but Sherri trips Hogan's leg and Savage gets a nearfall. Savage hits the top rope elbow drop, but Hogan no sells it and hits an atomic drop. Zeus is now in and we have the big showdown. Hogan hits a series of right hands and a clothesline and Zeus is down to one knee. Beefcake throws Savage off the top rope and now Hogan has the purse. Hogan hits Zeus with it and body slams him. He hits the big leg drop and gets the victory before Sherri can break it up. Schiavone is just losing it here. He then advocates for Hogan to hit her in the face and Ventura calls him out on it. He hits an atomic drop and Elizabeth knocks her down. Hogan then threatens to stab Savage and Zeus with the hedge clippers. Beefcake then cuts off part of Sherri's ponytail. The "babyfaces" then celebrate in the ring while the crowd erupts. Once this got past the bearhug portion of the match, this was pretty good.
Match Rating: **3/4
This was a really good show and so much better than I remembered. It has to be close to a top 5 SummerSlam and if you would have asked me last week, I would have said maybe top 15-20. This was everything that WrestleMania V wasn't. I guess having a crowd full of people who actually want to be there helps out a little bit.
Overall Rating: 82%
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