SummerSlam (1988)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=SummerSlam (1988)


tagline=Where the Mega-Powers Meet the Mega-Bucks
promotion=World Wrestling Federation
date=August 29, 1988
venue=Madison Square Garden
city=New York City, New York
attendance=20,000
lastevent=WrestleMania IV
nextevent=Survivor Series (1988)
event=SummerSlam
lastevent2="First"
nextevent2=SummerSlam (1989)

SummerSlam (1988) was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York City, New York.Shields, Brian. "Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s", 174.] The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (formally Jim Crockett Promotions). 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. Reviews for the event were mixed.

Ten professional wrestling matches, performances with pre-determined outcomes between wrestlers with fictional personalities that are portrayed as real, were featured. The main match of the preliminary bouts was the Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior (Brian Hellwig) and the reigning champion The Honky Tonk Man (Roy Farris). The Ultimate Warrior won the match in approximately thirty seconds to end the longest Intercontinental Championship reign up to that point. The main event was a match pitting The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan [Terry Bollea] and Randy Savage [Randall Poffo] ) against their long-time rivals, The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André the Giant [André Roussimoff] ). Hogan and Savage won the match after Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette), Savage's wife and manager, distracted the referee by removing her skirt to reveal her underwear. After SummerSlam, Hogan and Savage were scripted to begin an on-screen feud, culminating at WrestleMania V, where Hogan won the WWF Championship from Savage.

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. McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade pay-per-view, which began airing in 1983, by creating the WrestleMania franchise. After WrestleMania III in March 1987, 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. The event 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). [Assael, Shaun. "Sex, Lies, & Headlocks", 74–80.]

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. As a result, both companies brought in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.Assael, Shaun. "Sex, Lies, & Headlocks", 94–95.] 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.cite book|author=Keith, Scott|title=Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation|isbn=080652619X|publisher=Citadel Press|date=2004|pages=160] Those four events, along with King of the Ring, are known as the "Classic Five". [Shields, Brian. "Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s", 166.]

Background

Prior to SummerSlam, The Honky Tonk Man, a villainous character, had been the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWF history. He was originally supposed to defend his championship against Brutus Beefcake (Edward Leslie), but Beefcake was unable to compete after his storyline called for him to receive an injury from Ron Bass before the event.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/listthis/greatestsslammoments/greatestsslammoments10|title=The fast and the furious|author=Adkins, Greg|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-20|date=August 23, 2007] Therefore, as part of the scripted events, The Honky Tonk Man no longer had a challenger for his title and claimed to not care whom he opposed. The Ultimate Warrior, a new addition to the WWF roster, accepted his challenge for SummerSlam. Also prior to the event, Demolition (Ax [Bill Eadie] and Smash [Barry Darsow] ) held the WWF World Tag Team Championship, which they had won at WrestleMania IV after only a year in the WWF.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/30445413212311|title=Title Histories: World Tag Team Championship (Demolition's reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-21]

The on-screen feud between Rick Rude and Jake Roberts (Aurelian Smith, Jr.) began weeks before SummerSlam. Rude's character often picked women out of the audience to kiss after winning a match and chose Roberts' wife Cheryl on one occasion. As a result, Roberts' character was depicted as being infuriated with Rude, [cite video|people=WWE Legends: Jake "The Snake" Roberts|title=Pick Your Poison|medium=DVD|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|year2=2005] [cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/WrestlingStarBios/rude.html|title=Rick Rude's bio|author=Powell, John|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2008-04-20] and there was 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 surrounding the four characters, was absent for approximately a year before reappearing, claiming to return only for the money.cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCO/is_4_4/ai_94123536|title=The main events: ladies and gentlemen, may we present the 25 most memorable matches in the last 25 years|author=Eck, Kevin|publisher=Wrestling Digest|accessdate=2007-10-14|date= December 2002] 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. The storyline surrounding the match was that André had ended Hogan's four-year reign as champion with the help of a controversial finish involving twin referees Earl and Dave Hebner. [Shields, Brian. "Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s", 57.] 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.cite book|author=Meltzer, Dave|title=Tributes II: Remembering More of the World's Greatest Professional Wrestlers|pages=214|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|date=2004|isbn=1582618178] [cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania4.html|title=Tournament spices up WrestleMania 4|author=Powell, John|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2007-10-14] 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.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/1988/mainevent1/|title=SummerSlam 1988: Main Event|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-20] 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 depicted as being the victim of a scripted triple-team attack by Hart, The Honky Tonk Man, and Jim Neidhart. As a result, Miss Elizabeth, Savage's wife and manager, was scripted to run backstage and bring Hogan down to the ring to rescue Savage from the attack. After saving Savage, Hogan and Savage were paired together as The Mega Powers on August 29, 1988 at SummerSlam.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/listthis/greatestsslammoments/greatestsslammoments9|title=Mega-beauty stuns the beasts|author=Rote, Andrew|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-20|date=August 23, 2007]

Event

The event began with a match between The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith [David Smith] and Dynamite Kid [Thomas Billington] ) and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond). As soon as the bell rang to signify that the match had began, Smith attacked Jacques. The two teams traded blows until The Rougeaus flipped the Dynamite Kid over their heads so that he fell on his back to the mat. Dynamite Kid escaped another offensive maneuver 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 (Allen Coage) and Ken Patera. Before the bell rang, however, Brown attacked Patera, who retaliated by performing a clothesline from the corner. Brown then slipped both of his arms underneath Patera's armpits and locked his hands behind his neck, using a submission move known as a full nelson. 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.

After the second match ended, Rick Rude and Junkyard Dog (Sylvester Ritter) made their way to the ring. Their match began as Rude attacked Junkyard Dog from behind, who retaliated by headbutting Rude several times. Subsequently, Rude climbed to the wrestling 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, Cheryl Roberts' husband, ran to the ring and attacked Rude, forcing the referee to disqualify Junkyard Dog. The next match was a tag team match between The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian [Sione Vailahi] and The Warlord [Terry Szopinski] ), who were accompanied by The Baron (James Raschke), and The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov [Jim Barrell] and Nikolai Volkoff [Josip Peruzović] ), who were accompanied by Slick (Ken Johnson). 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 then slammed to the mat back-first and headbutted from the top rope, which allowed The Barbarian to pin him.Shields, Brian. "Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s", 176.]

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 slamming him to the mat, The Ultimate Warrior climbed to the top rope and landed stomach-first on The Honky Tonk Man using his signature move, the Warrior Splash. The Ultimate Warrior then pinned The Honky Tonk Man after only thirty seconds to win the title.

The following contest was a re-match from WrestleMania IV between Dino Bravo (Adolfo Bresciano) and Don Muraco. Muraco, the crowd favorite, was in control for most of the match. Frenchy Martin (Jean Gagné), who accompanied Bravo to the ring, distracted Muraco, allowing Bravo to slam him to the mat from an elevated position and pin him for the win.

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 (Harry Fujiwara) 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 a piledriver, a move where the offensive wrestler turns his opponent upside down and drives his head into the mat, but Ax hit him with Jimmy Hart's trademark megaphone. Smash then pinned Bret Hart for the win.

The next match-up was between The Big Boss Man (Ray Traylor), accompanied by Slick, and Koko B. Ware (James 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, Boss Man refused to pin him and finish the match. Instead, he attempted to climb to the top rope and land on Ware stomach-first, 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, allowing him to pin Ware for the win. The second to last match of the night was between Jake Roberts and Hercules (Ray Fernandez). When Roberts attempted to slam his opponent's head on to the mat with a DDT, Hercules was able to escape the maneuver and take control of the match. As Hercules attempted to slam Roberts to the mat, Roberts reversed the move into a DDT, enabling him to pin Hercules for the win.

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 (Raymond Heenan) and Virgil (Mike Jones). Jesse Ventura was the special guest referee. 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. After a while, all four men began brawling, 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. While Ventura was distracted, Savage climbed to the top rope and jumped at DiBiase, hitting him with his elbow. Hogan followed the maneuver by jumping next to DiBiase and landing with his leg across DiBiase's body. 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.Shields, Brian. "Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s", 177.]

Aftermath

The Mega Powers continued to team together after the event, until a new storyline was developed where Randy Savage became jealous over Hulk Hogan paying attention to Miss Elizabeth.cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania5.html|title=WrestleMania 5: The Mega Powers Explode|author=Powell, John|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2008-04-21] Foreshadowing their burgeoning feud, Hogan was scripted to accidentally eliminate Savage from the Royal Rumble in January 1989 by knocking him over the top rope and to the floor. [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/1988115/mainevent/|title=Royal Rumble 1989: Match|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-21] On an episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event", the script called for Savage to gain 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 was scripted to win the title by pinning Savage.

Hogan held the title for approximately one year until storylines called for him to lose it to The Ultimate Warrior, who was receiving more air-time and more prominent matches as the reigning Intercontinental Champion, at WrestleMania VI in April 1990.cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454126|title=Title Histories: WWE Championship (Savage's reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-21] [cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania6.html|title=Canada hosts WrestleMania 6|author=Powell, John|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2008-07-26] After winning the WWF Championship, Warrior vacated the Intercontinental Championship, as the WWF did not allow a wrestler to hold both championships simultaneously. [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454128|title=Title Histories: WWE Championship (Ultimate Warrior's reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-07-26] Warrior, however, lost the title to Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus) in January 1991, [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454130|title=Title Histories: WWE Championship (Sgt. Slaughter's reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-07-26] and he was never again scripted to hold the championship.

After retaining their title against The Hart Foundation, Demolition held the WWF World Tag Team Championship for a record-breaking sixteen months. They were eventually scripted to lose the title to The Brain Busters on July 18, 1989 during an episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event". [cite web|title=Title Histories: World Tag Team Championship (Brain Busters' reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-04-21|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/3044541321111211] The Brain Busters held the title for three months before Demolition once again became champions by winning the title in a rematch. [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/3044541321111211|title=Title Histories: World Tag Team Championship (Demolition's 2nd reign)|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-07-26]

Production and reception

The event was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and took place on August 29, 1988 in New York City's Madison Square Garden. The pay-per-view had a 4.5 buyrate, which means that 4.5% of pay-per-view subscribers ordered the event. [cite web|url=http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Specialists_34/article_26148.shtml|title=Nostalgia Review: GAB 1988: Flair vs. Luger; Windham vs. Dusty Rhodes; Sting/Koloff vs. Anderson/Blanchard|author=Hoops, Brian|publisher=PWTorch|accessdate=2008-07-25|date=July 8, 2008]

The original plan for SummerSlam was to bring Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr) over from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to the WWF.Flair, Ric. "To Be the Man", 234.] Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF, wanted Flair to challenge Savage in the main event for the WWF Championship. Flair, however, felt obligated to the NWA and did not leave the promotion for the WWF. [Flair, Ric. "To Be the Man", 235.] Therefore, Hogan and Savage were paired together to end their feuds with their respective on-screen rivals.

In WWE.com's 2007 list of the top ten SummerSlam moments in history, The Ultimate Warrior's Intercontinental Championship title win was listed as number ten, while Miss Elizabeth's distraction during the main event was listed at number nine.

Calum Waddell, in "Fighting Spirit Magazine", called The Ultimate Warrior's win over the Honky Tonk Man "genuinely captivating," and he said the match between The British Bulldogs and The Fabulous Rougeaus was an "exciting battle." In contrast, he had a negative reaction to the main event match, citing it as "predictably one-dimensional" and "abysmal." [cite web|url=http://www.fightingspiritmagazine.co.uk/article.asp?IntID=19|title=Feel The Heat!|author=Waddell, Calum|publisher=Fighting Spirit Magazine|accessdate=2008-07-13] Similarly, Adam Nedeff of 411mania.com called the tag team match between The British Bulldogs and The Rougeaus "a solid match" but stated that the "lack of a finish was a disappointment". Although he reviewed most of the matches negatively, he called the WWF World Tag Team Championship match a "good match". Overall, he rated the event a 4.5 out of 10 and stated, "Without Warrior's big win and Elizabeth's surprise finish, this is a totally forgettable show." [cite web|url=http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/76549/The-Name-on-the-Marquee:-Summerslam-88-(8.29.1988).htm|title=The Name on the Marquee: Summerslam 88 (8.29.1988)|author=Nedeff, Adam|publisher=411mania.com|accessdate=2008-08-09|date=July 23, 2008]

Results

Footnotes

References

*cite book|author=Assael, Shaun and Mike Mooneyham|title=Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment|publisher=Crown|date=2002|pages=74–95|isbn=1400051436
*cite book|author=Flair, Ric|title=Ric Flair: To Be the Man|publisher=Simon and Schuster|pages=234–235|year=2005|isbn=0743491815
*cite book|author=Shields, Brian|title=Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s|publisher=Pocket Books|pages=174–177|year=4th Edition 2006|isbn=9781416532576

Further reading

*cite news|author=Pro Wrestling Illustrated|title=2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts|work=Wrestling’s Historical Cards|publisher=Kappa Publishing|date=2007|pages=86
*cite video|people=World Wrestling Federation|title=SummerSlam 1988|medium=VHS|publisher=Coliseum Video|year2=1988

External links

* [http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam07/history/1988/ Official 1988 SummerSlam site]