[1990-07-21-WWF-Superstars] Summerslam Report w/Gene Okerlund

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I love this Summerslam music. I was liking Hogan's promo until he started with the natural disaster metaphors, but this is still a vast improvement over Wrestlemania talk. I'll take it. Hogan-Earthquake gets the lion's share of the hype while Gene cavalierly mentions "the other half of the main event" when discussing Rude/Warrior. It's a legit point - Hogan/Earthquake had a much better storyline, but it's also interesting that they figured out quickly there was a problem. They are still toying with Warrior's look.

[PeteF3]

I never quite got why the cage was brought out for this match without any real build-up.

[soup23]

Cage stip seems desperate. So conditioned to PPV on Sunday that it seems weird when they talk about Summerslam on a Monday night now.

 

Hogan/Quake is really the main event of this card. I liked Hogan's promo and can see why they went to the metaphor given the name of his opponent.

 

Warriors paint and promo are equally ridiculous.

[shoe]

It's tough to build up a new champ when the old one is better in all aspects, 2ndly they are both similar in that they are modern day heroes. So in theory they both should be booked the same against monsters. Though you can't build 2 monsters on top. So they really painted themselves in a corner.

[Kevin Ridge]

Tugboat will be in Hogan’s corner to keep an eye on Bravo and Jimmy Hart. Another crazy Warrior promo talking about normal world inside fifteen foot steel cages. I like Rude and all but I find myself more into the Hogan/Earthquake match at this point.

[aethelred]

Gene keeps saying "in Summerslam" and that bothers me for some reason. Good promo by Hogan. It's pretty amazing how much of an afterthought the Ultimate Warrior already is.

[garretta]

I couldn't even hear Warrior half the time, and I had my DVD player cranked up about as high as it could go. The man just continues to stumble, and it's no wonder why Hogan/Quake feels like the main event even with a World title match in a cage. You almost wonder why they didn't have Rude pull the upset here, then set up a Hogan match for Mania. Of course, Rude was gone by then, so maybe that wouldn't have worked so well after all.

 

Quake's promo was actually semi-normal for once, which was good, but Bravo could never talk for beans as a heel, so why did they keep trying with him on the mic? That's what Jimmy was supposedly there for, even if his own promo ability had gone almost totally in the tank by then. As I see more of him, I'm beginning to wonder if he was badly used in the WWF or if having Lawler to play off of in Memphis gives him a reputation for being good on the mic that he really doesn't deserve.

 

Wonder when we'll start hearing from Curt? Even if he didn't know his opponent yet, you'd think he would have at least cut a generic promo by now.

[GSR]

Mean Gene is here with the Summerslam report. He recaps what was said in the ‘Update’, about Demolition facing the Hart Foundation in a two out of three falls match but with only two members of Demolition allowed at ringside, and that there will be an Intercontinental title defense. He then announces that it will be a double main event, of the Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude inside a 15ft high steel cage for the WWF title, and Hulk Hogan vs Earthquake with Tugboat, Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart in their respective corners. Taped promos from both with Bravo warning Tugboat not to step out of line, otherwise he’ll deal with him himself. Earthquake welcomes Hogan back to the WWF. He knows he’s got revenge on his mind and is coming back to try and end his career, but it’s not going to happen, and he guarantees that his decision to come back for Summerslam will be the worst decision he’s made in his life. Tugboat is excited that the Hulkster is back, and can’t wait until the Earthquake looks him in the eye and realises that the only natural disaster at Summerslam will be him. Hogan says that he’s been reborn again and is the stark raving Hulkamaniac that you used to know! He says that Tugboat is like a lighthouse for Hulkamania, he protects him from any harm or injury, and just in case Dino Bravo makes a move in his direction, or Jimmy Hart tries to attack him with that megaphone, the Tugster will be there to watch his back. He owes the Earthquake for what he did to him, for trying to put him out forever, and for trying to make him retire. We then get a Warrior promo with him stood behind a cage. There is a hiss on the audio for this so I can only make parts of the promo out. Second time that has happened for a Warrior interview on the Yearbook, and again I’m not complaining. Gene says that more matches for Summerslam are being announced all the time and he’ll be back with more matches and more news next week.

 

Double main event in name only, as it is clear what is being pushed as the real main event. My guess is the cage is a stipulation to keep Heenan out of interfering in the match (like he did at Wrestlemania V), but that is me just reading between the lines and based on nothing that we’ve been officially told.

[dawho5]

At least they mentioned the Warrior match this time. Even so, it's not exactly in a way that makes it seem overly important.