Post by mikey1974 on Jul 25, 2015 15:28:08 GMT -5
"A Match Made In Heaven.... A Match Made In Hell ! "
heading into summer of 1991, the WWF seemed like a different place than it was a year before. gone were such perennial WWF guys like Rick Rude, Demolition, Dusty Rhodes, and Randy Savage ( at least from in-ring action, anyway ). but in their place came LOD, The Nasty Boys,, and The Undertaker and the return of Davey Boy Smith and Ricky Steamboat, as well as one HUGE defector from WCW in Sid Vicious ( rechristened as Sid Justice) ,and an even BIGGER star just around the corner, Ric Flair himself. but while there seemed to be a new generation of WWF Superstars coming in years before the OFFICIAL " New Generation " began, you still had Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior on top of the face side of things. however, cracks had begun to appear - Hulkamania wasn't running as wild as before, and a damaging steroid scandal brewing had weakened Hogan's standing in the eyes of the fans. and even Warrior, the hand-picked successor to the WWF throne, had faltered at the end of his Title run, and his nemesis that summer, The Undertaker, was receiving almost as many cheers as him.
so into this changing WWF landscape came the 4th annual Summerslam, again taking place in the spot of the original, Madison Square Garden. the 2 main focal points for this Slam would be the culmination of the feud that was going on for months - Hulk Hogan vs Iraq, with Sgt. Slaughter as it's proxy. dropped into this, a bot awkwardly, was the Warrior,even though he was feuding with the Undertaker at the time. indeed, all summer long there were tag matches pitting hogan and Warrior vs Slaughter and Taker, so I was rather surprised to see Taker's exclusion from the main event. unfortunately for the WWF, while the hate for Slaughter was still hot, the angle itself had grown cold, as the real Gulf War had ended months earlier, and fans were tired of having it continually thrown in their faces. Vince's solution was to add Sid Justice as the wild-card special referee.
the other focal point was the culmination of the love affair between the reunited Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth, with their in-ring wedding at this event. in reality, they had been married for years,and the relationship was actually on the rocks ( they would officially divorce a year later). but at the time, it made for good TV.
while this Summerslam had a strong 1 - 2 punch for it's main events, the undercard was frigging awesome as well! we got to see Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect in a great encounter that elevated Bret towards his ultimate destiny, LOD vs the Nasty boys in a long-awaited, bruising encounter that saw both teams fight each other for real, Virgil cementing his place as a true WWF Superstar, the last PPV appearance of Andre the Giant in the WWF, and even a fun encounter between the big Boss man and The Mountie that saw the loser go to jail, and we were treated to numerous trips to the NY City jail to see The Mountie go through the justice system - and maybe even find a new love interest in his cell!
Summerslam 91 was FUN! I really enjoyed it! had a great vibe, almost all the matches were entertaining...I was entertained through the whole event, which is really what you could hope for every time you turn on a pro wrestling program. and the intrigue afterwards - Warrior getting fired, Slaughter turning patriotic again, Sid being anointed as the nest Hogan successor, and Undertaker and Jake Roberts crashing the wedding reception set up months worth of feuds and storylines for the rest of the year.2 things of note - it was the first ever appearance of the NWA/WCW "Big Gold Belt on a WWF PPV, and this was hogan's last time at Summerslam as World Champion, and he never defended the Belt at any of his SS appearances
THE CARD:
The British Bulldog, The Texas Tornado, and The Dragon vs Power & Glory, and The Warlord , w/ Slick
WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr.Perfect , w/ Coach vs Bret "Hitman" Hart
The Natural Disasters ,w/ Jimmy Hart vs The Bushwhackers , w/ Andre The Giant
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, w/ Sensational Sherri vs Virgil - Match For The Million Dollar Belt
Big Boss Man vs The Mountie , w/ Jimmy Hart - Jailhouse Match
WWF Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys , w/ Jimmy Hart vs Legion of Doom - Street Fight
Irwin R. Schyster vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa, and Gen. Adnan - Special Referee Sid Justice
"Macho Man" Randy Savage wed Miss Elizabeth during an in-ring ceremony
heading into summer of 1991, the WWF seemed like a different place than it was a year before. gone were such perennial WWF guys like Rick Rude, Demolition, Dusty Rhodes, and Randy Savage ( at least from in-ring action, anyway ). but in their place came LOD, The Nasty Boys,, and The Undertaker and the return of Davey Boy Smith and Ricky Steamboat, as well as one HUGE defector from WCW in Sid Vicious ( rechristened as Sid Justice) ,and an even BIGGER star just around the corner, Ric Flair himself. but while there seemed to be a new generation of WWF Superstars coming in years before the OFFICIAL " New Generation " began, you still had Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior on top of the face side of things. however, cracks had begun to appear - Hulkamania wasn't running as wild as before, and a damaging steroid scandal brewing had weakened Hogan's standing in the eyes of the fans. and even Warrior, the hand-picked successor to the WWF throne, had faltered at the end of his Title run, and his nemesis that summer, The Undertaker, was receiving almost as many cheers as him.
so into this changing WWF landscape came the 4th annual Summerslam, again taking place in the spot of the original, Madison Square Garden. the 2 main focal points for this Slam would be the culmination of the feud that was going on for months - Hulk Hogan vs Iraq, with Sgt. Slaughter as it's proxy. dropped into this, a bot awkwardly, was the Warrior,even though he was feuding with the Undertaker at the time. indeed, all summer long there were tag matches pitting hogan and Warrior vs Slaughter and Taker, so I was rather surprised to see Taker's exclusion from the main event. unfortunately for the WWF, while the hate for Slaughter was still hot, the angle itself had grown cold, as the real Gulf War had ended months earlier, and fans were tired of having it continually thrown in their faces. Vince's solution was to add Sid Justice as the wild-card special referee.
the other focal point was the culmination of the love affair between the reunited Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth, with their in-ring wedding at this event. in reality, they had been married for years,and the relationship was actually on the rocks ( they would officially divorce a year later). but at the time, it made for good TV.
while this Summerslam had a strong 1 - 2 punch for it's main events, the undercard was frigging awesome as well! we got to see Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect in a great encounter that elevated Bret towards his ultimate destiny, LOD vs the Nasty boys in a long-awaited, bruising encounter that saw both teams fight each other for real, Virgil cementing his place as a true WWF Superstar, the last PPV appearance of Andre the Giant in the WWF, and even a fun encounter between the big Boss man and The Mountie that saw the loser go to jail, and we were treated to numerous trips to the NY City jail to see The Mountie go through the justice system - and maybe even find a new love interest in his cell!
Summerslam 91 was FUN! I really enjoyed it! had a great vibe, almost all the matches were entertaining...I was entertained through the whole event, which is really what you could hope for every time you turn on a pro wrestling program. and the intrigue afterwards - Warrior getting fired, Slaughter turning patriotic again, Sid being anointed as the nest Hogan successor, and Undertaker and Jake Roberts crashing the wedding reception set up months worth of feuds and storylines for the rest of the year.2 things of note - it was the first ever appearance of the NWA/WCW "Big Gold Belt on a WWF PPV, and this was hogan's last time at Summerslam as World Champion, and he never defended the Belt at any of his SS appearances
THE CARD:
The British Bulldog, The Texas Tornado, and The Dragon vs Power & Glory, and The Warlord , w/ Slick
WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr.Perfect , w/ Coach vs Bret "Hitman" Hart
The Natural Disasters ,w/ Jimmy Hart vs The Bushwhackers , w/ Andre The Giant
"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, w/ Sensational Sherri vs Virgil - Match For The Million Dollar Belt
Big Boss Man vs The Mountie , w/ Jimmy Hart - Jailhouse Match
WWF Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys , w/ Jimmy Hart vs Legion of Doom - Street Fight
Irwin R. Schyster vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs Sgt. Slaughter, Col. Mustafa, and Gen. Adnan - Special Referee Sid Justice
"Macho Man" Randy Savage wed Miss Elizabeth during an in-ring ceremony
