-It’s our 2nd anniversary and the start of our 3rd year doing this podcast. It continues to grow and for that, I am humbled.
-Another birthday. I turned 44. But it’s like the archeologist/philosopher Henry Jones, Jr. said, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage. 44 doesn’t bother me since when I turned 30, I had someone ask me how it was to be 52.
-I got my booster shot last week. Sore arm.
-Today we look at SummerSlam 1991 from the WWF.
-SummerSlam 1991 took place on PPV on August 26, 1991 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. There were 20,000 in attendance.
-Classic VKM SummerSlam Intro.
-Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to SummerSlam. He and Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan are our announcers for the evening. They talk about the Main Events coming up. Crowd chants Roddy when he’s talking.
-6-Man Tag Team Match. The Dragon, The British Bulldog, and The Texas Tornado VS. Power & Glory Paul Roma and Hercules and The Warlord with Slick: Roma and Dragon start. Roma with a scoop slam and a dropkick. Roma yelling at the crowd. Dragon arm drags him off the turnbuckle into a wrist lock. Dragon with a thrust kick back into a wrist lock. Roma with some shots in the corner, but misses a corner charge and Dragon hits a big arm drag. Then a big dropkick and snap mare to Roma. Hercules tagged in and gets hip tossed by Dragon. Dragon follows that up with an arm drag and Tornado tagged in. He works on Hercules' wrist. Hercules goes to push Tornado into the turnbuckle but Tornado blocks it. He bashes Hercules' head in repeatedly. He then does corner punches to Hercules. He does a discus punch and goes back to the wrist lock. Warlord and Bulldog both tagged in because it’s 1991 WWF PPV and it’s the law. Two shoulder blocks and clotheslines by Bulldog knocks Warlord down. Bulldog hits a standing suplex on Warlord. Gets a two count. Dragon tagged in and delivers a chop from the top rope. Warlord reverses a corner whip, but Dragon leapfrogs out of a corner charge and goes to monkey flip Warlord out but he holds on. Roma comes in and hits a big shot to the Dragon’s back. He then hits a clothesline. Dragon with a roll up and Hercules comes and Dragon ducks a clothesline attempt but Warlord hits his clothesline. Roma with a snap suplex and gets a two count. Roma with several delayed backbreakers. Hercules in with a delayed body press and slam on the Dragon. He runs the Dragon into the turnbuckle and tags Warlord in. He hits a big slam. Roma tagged in and comes in with a sit down on Dragon’s back. Front face lock applied to Dragon and Hercules tagged in. He Irish whips Dragon off but he slips through the legs coming back and chops Hercules. Irish whip and reversal and Hercules stun guns Dragon on the top rope. Dragon slammed down. Warlord goes up top to hit Dragon but takes too long and Dragon gets his legs up. Tornado tagged in. He cleans house. Warlord gets a sunset flip, but Tornado fighting it and Bulldog tagged in. He goes off the top rope on Warlord but gets caught. Tornado discus punches Warlord and Bulldog falls on him for a two count. Roma tagged in. Bulldog hits a power slam for a one count. Dragon tagged in. He gets the crossbody on Roma to get the pin.
-Sean Mooney interviews Mr. Perfect and his new manager The Coach who is John Tolos. He says to be a champion you have to be Perfect and Bret Hart is not perfect.
-WWF Intercontinental Championship Match. Mr. Perfect with The Coach VS. Bret Hart: Stu and Helen and Bruce Hart shown in the crowd. Bret is cheered coming out. Perfect it is a wonder he is even walking as his injuries were severe to his back. They lock up briefly taking their time. Hart with a shoulder block and a hip lock. Perfect rolls outside. Heenan and Piper doing some classic banter here as Hart hits a crucifix for a two count. Hart with a side headlock. Perfect goes to push off, but Hart holds onto the hair and reapplies the headlock. Perfect with an Irish whip. Hart comes back with a crossbody. He gets a two count but Perfect knocks Hart to the outside with the kick out. Hart sunset flips Perfect coming back in. That gets another two count. Back to the side headlock. Perfect pulls the hair getting back up. Perfect with a shot. Perfect with an Irish whip, but Hart catches his leg. Hart with a stomp, but Perfect gets a corner whip and a big slam. Hart responds with a kick and a scoop slam. Perfect thrown outside. He goes to leave and you can see that he is hurt. Hart goes out after him and throws him back in. They lock up in the corner. The referee separates them and Perfect hits a cheap shot. Perfect with some kicks to Hart and he lands outside. Perfect comes out after him and chops him. Hart pushed off the apron onto the barricade as he tried to get back in. Back in, Hart with some shots to the corner. Perfect reverses the corner whip but Hart leaps over the corner charge with a rollup for a two count. Perfect with some chops. Perfect with a corner whip and Harts hits the corner hard. That gets a two count. Perfect with a snap neck breaker and a reverse sunset flip for a two count. Perfect with a shot and a dropkick. Hart back outside. Perfect out after him. They fight on top of one of the turnbuckles. They both fall off. Perfect lands on top for a two count. Perfect slings Hart across the ring by his hair. Perfect gets a sleeper on. Hart going down but fighting it. Hart with some elbows to the stomach and a crucifix. Perfect does a backdrop to get Hart off. That gets a two count. Perfect chops Hart in the corner. Hart sent into the turnbuckle chest first. Perfect gets the perfectplex, but doesn’t lock the fingers and Hart kicks out. Hart with two atomic drops. He swings Perfect by his hair and Perfect gets crotched on the corner post. Hart with a suplex for a two count. Small package gets a two count. Side Russian leg sweep. Another two count. Perfect with a roll up for a two count, but Hart pushes him to the outside with the kick out. Perfect run into the ring post. Back in, Hart kicking Perfect’s leg to set up for the Sharpshooter. He goes for the Sharpshooter. Coach climbs up on the apron and Hart slugs him off. Perfect hits the ropes and Hart gets a groin hit. Perfect with a kick to the groin as the crowd chants let’s go Bret. Perfect goes to drop a leg on Hart’s groin, but Hart blocks it and turns it into a Sharpshooter. Perfect gives up and Hart is the new Intercontinental Champion. He rips the rest of the singlet off of Perfect. He raises the belt up to all four sides of the ring.
-Lord Alfred Hayes is standing by where the Harts are and tries to talk to Stu but Bret arrives and hugs his family at that moment. Stu does manage to say that it’s wonderful.
-Promo for the Hot Ticket discounted PPV Specials they used to do.
-Mean Gene Okerlund interviews The Bushwhackers and Andre the Giant. They flashback to Earthquake clipping and injuring Andre on Superstars. Bushwhackers say when they finish with the Natural Disasters, they are going to throw them to Andre and he says that will be his chance to get even.
-The Natural Disasters Earthquake and Typhoon with Jimmy Hart VS. The Bushwhackers Luke and Butch with Andre the Giant: Bushwhackers get a great reaction coming out. Earthquake and Typhoon come outside and yell at Andre but the Bushwhackers come over and give them an eye poke. Butch and Typhoon start. Butch bites Typhoon. Earthquake comes over, but Butch ducks and Earthquake hits Typhoon. All four in and the Bushwhackers corner whip the Natural Disasters into each other. They use Earthquake as a battering ram on Typhoon. They double clothesline Earthquake. The Natural Disasters roll outside to regroup. Earthquake jumps Butch. He slams his back onto the turnbuckle. He goes to drop the elbow on Butch, but Butch moves. Earthquake keeps Butch from tagging. The referee stops Luke from coming in. Earthquake drops the elbow on Butch this time. Typhoon tagged in. He does a backbreaker on Butch. He runs Butch into the turnbuckle again. Earthquake tagged in and has Butch in a bear hug. Bobby Heenan announces he’s heard that Hulk Hogan has arrived in his dressing room and he’s going to confront Hogan about something. He says it’s put up or shut up time for Hogan. Heenan then leaves. Earthquake with a backbreaker and Typhoon tagged in. Typhoon hits a back elbow. That gets a close two count, but Luke breaks it up. Typhoon holds Butch for Earthquake to hit, but Butch ducks and Typhoon gets hit. Luke gets tagged in and hits some clotheslines on Typhoon. A shoulder block gets Typhoon down. All four in and the Bushwhackers nail both Natural Disasters with battering rams. They run Typhoon into Earthquake who goes outside by Andre who threatens Earthquake with his crutch. Luke gets a two count on Typhoon. Earthquake does a backbreaker on Butch on the outside. Then he and Typhoon do a crushing sandwich on Luke. Earthquake tagged in and does the sit down splash on Luke to win. They then go after Andre who holds his brace up as a weapon. The Legion of Doom come out to protect Andre and get a huge MSG pop. Natural Disasters surrounded on all sides so they go and leave and Andre hits them with his cane as they leave. Last WWF appearance for Andre.
-Bobby Heenan is shown at Hulk Hogan’s dressing room. He pounds on the door. And he is holding the Big Gold Belt. This was huge at the time. The door is opened but of course you don’t see Hogan. Heenan says on behalf of the Real World’s Champion Ric Flair he would like to challenge Hogan for a match. The door is slammed on Heenan, who does some shtick before saying he wouldn’t do that if Ric Flair were here and to turn the camera off.
-They show Randy Savage talking on the Superstar Line.
-Sean Mooney talks to Ted DiBiase and Sherri about the Million Dollar Championship Match coming up. They show the past abuse that DiBiase did to Virgil. He says all that will pale in comparison to the gutter he will leave Virgil in with a crying towel.
-Million Dollar Championship Match. Ted DiBiase with Sherri VS. Virgil: Roddy Piper hugs and kisses Virgil on the head for luck as he comes down. Virgil attacks DiBiase early with shots to the corner. DiBiase to the outside after a Virgil clothesline. Virgil stops the count then goes after DiBiase. He runs DiBiase into the steps. Back in, Virgil hits some fancy footwork and shots to DiBiase. DiBiase misses a clothesline and Virgil hits an atomic drop. DiBiase back outside. Bobby Heenan returns to commentary. Virgil misses a dive over the top rope. A Virgil chant goes out. Virgil run into the steps. Back in, DiBiase hits a clothesline. Fist drop by DiBiase. DiBiase stomping Virgil. He hits a double ax handle. Gets a two count. DiBiase with a chop in the corner. Virgil gets the Million Dollar Dream on so Sherri comes in and hits Virgil with her purse. The bell rings. Howard Finkel makes an announcement that the referee could disqualify DiBiase, but instead Sherri is thrown out and the match continues. Both up. Virgil blocks being thrown into the turnbuckle and throws DiBiase in several times. Virgil with 10 corner punches. Double reversal into the corner whip and Virgil is run into the referee who goes down. DiBiase with a suplex then another one. And another one. He keeps yelling at Piper between each one and a Roddy chant goes out. DiBiase hits a piledriver. DiBiase unties the top turnbuckle pad. Virgil blocks it and runs DiBiase into it. They both collapse. Virgil crawls over and pins DiBiase. Crowd loves it. New Million Dollar Champion.
-Mean Gene is with The Mountie outside by a padded wagon to talk about the Jailhouse Match. They show Mounties attack on The Big Boss Man on Superstars. Mountie insults the officers telling them what he wants them to do to Boss Man after he loses.
-Sean Mooney talks to the Big Boss Man. He says Mountie’s going to be the one going to jail.
-Jailhouse Match. Loser spends a night in a New York City jail. The Big Boss Man VS. The Mountie with Jimmy Hart: Boss Man hits a big right hand to Mountie to start and Mountie is knocked down. He hits some more shots. Mountie up. Back and forth. Boss Man with a back elbow. Hits a splash on Mountie. Gets a two count. Gets Mountie on the ropes and does his leg drop on the ropes move. Goes for it again but Mountie moves so Boss Man slides outside. Back in, Mountie gets a thumb in the eye. Goes for a second rope move, but gets caught by Boss Man. Boss Man with a chin lock. Hart lures Boss Man to the outside. Mountie attacks from behind and pushes Boss Man into the ringside steps. Back in, Mountie hits a back elbow. Mountie with a fist drop. He hits a corner whip on Boss Man. That gets a two count. Boss Man reverses a corner whip but misses an elbow. Mountie with a snap mare. Two elbow drops. Another two count. Mountie with a dropkick to Boss Man. Another two count. Mountie drops Boss Man with an elbow on the apron. Back and forth. Mountie with a piledriver. Hart distracts the referee while Mountie goes to zap Boss Man with the shock stick. He misses and Boss Man hits a shot. Mountie with an Irish whip, a couple of misses and Boss Man hits a shot. Boss Man hits the Boss Man Slam for a two count. Mountie trips Boss Man to get him down. Boss Man blocks a piledriver into a big slam and gets the pin. He waves the police down and they handcuff Mountie and drag him to the wagon. They throw him into the wagon and leave. The camera follows the wagon out.
-Mean Gene is with Ted DiBiase and Sherri. They are irate at the result and the referee’s actions.
-Sean Mooney interviews Bret Hart. He says Mr. Perfect found out what the Excellence of Execution is all about.
-Mean Gene interviews the Natural Disasters and Jimmy Hart. Hart is worried about the Mountie. The Natural Disasters say the Legion of Doom stuck their noses where they didn’t belong.
-Sean Mooney talks to the Big Boss Man. He says that Mountie is a jailbird. He says he is the law and order of the WWF.
-Mean Gene checks in with Randy Savage who is talking on the hotline again.
-Intermission.
-Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Roddy Piper reset for the second half of the show.
-The wagon pulls up at the jail. Jacques Rougeau is so good here.
-Sean Mooney interviews Jimmy Hart and the Nasty Boys. The Nasty Boys say no more crying and whining. The heat is on and they are going to win.
-The Mountie gets his picture taken.
-Mean Gene talks to the Legion of Doom. They talk about the upcoming no count out, no disqualification match. They say that’s right up their alley. They also talk about the Natural Disasters.
-The Mountie gets his fingers printed.
-Sean Mooney talks to Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa. They talk about the match made in Hell and how they might have one more surprise in store.
-Mean Gene talks to newcomer Sid Justice. He says he stands alone. Mean Gene shows a video of the Triangle of Terror approaching Justice. He says they did approach him, but he didn’t promise them or anyone else anything at all.
-WWF Tag Team Championship Match. No disqualification, No count out. The Nasty Boys Jerry Sags and Brian Knobbs with Jimmy Hart VS. The Legion of Doom Hawk and Animal: LOD gets a big pop coming out, but the announcers put over the Nasty Boys as being fighting champions. LOD attacking immediately. It goes outside. Animal throws Knobbs in the ring. Hawk and Sags fighting on the outside. Animal with a squat power bomb on Knobbs, but Sags breaks up the pin. Hawk and Sags mess up an Irish whip spot. Sags then catches Hawk’s foot so Hawk does an enziguri to get out of it. LOD chant goes out. Sags spraying something in Hawk’s eyes but the announcers are bickering so they don’t see it. It goes outside and Sags slams a tray of drinks on Hawk. Knobbs tagged in and double clothesline to Hawk. LOD chant goes out again. Hawk in the Nasty Boys corner getting choked with the tag ropes. Sags runs Hawk into the ring steps. Beating Hawk down in the corner again. Knobbs with a corner charge on Hawk. Sags tagged in and hits an elbow drop from the top to Hawk. That gets a two count as Animal breaks up the count. Knobbs goes for a shot, but Hawk gets his leg up. Animal tagged in and cleaning house. He gets a power slam on Knobbs, but Sags makes the save. All four in. Hawk thrown out. Hart throws the motorcycle helmet to Sags to hit Animal while Knobbs holds him. Animal ducks so Sags hits his back instead. Gets a two count, but Animal kicks out. Hawk comes around and gets the helmet from Hart and nails Knobbs with it. They then nail Sags with the helmet and go for the Doomsday Device. He hits it and Animal pins Sags. New Tag Team Champions.
-Mountie is shown getting thrown into a cell.
-Survivor Series ad.
-IRS VS. Greg Valentine: Valentine with a side headlock and a shoulder block. Pro Wrestling Spotlight guy John Arezzi shown going back to his seat. Another shoulder block by Valentine. Valentine with a hip toss and a clothesline. IRS rolls outside. Back in, he gets a knee to Valentine’s stomach. Valentine gets a sunset flip for a two count. Gets a scoop slam and IRS rolls out again. Back in, IRS kicking Valentine. IRS with an abdominal stretch holding onto the ropes. He denies it to the referee. He finally gets caught as Valentine hip tosses IRS. Misses a knee drop and IRS hits a clothesline. He drops an elbow and gets a two count. Gets a headlock. Backbreaker to Valentine. Goes up top but gets caught. Valentine slams him off. Valentine with chops and slaps. IRS reverses the corner whip, but misses the charge coming in. Valentine setting up for the figure four. He gets it on. IRS gets to the ropes. Misses an elbow drop. Valentine goes for it again and IRS gets the win with a rollup.
-Another Hot Ticket ad.
-Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Hogan says they have to take out Sgt. Slaughter and company. Warrior says the recent snake bite by Jake Roberts Cobra isn’t enough to take him out and he and Hulk Hogan will be successful.
-Sid Justice is introduced as the special guest referee.
-Match Made in Hell. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior VS. Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa: A USA chant goes out as Slaughter and Company come out. Warrior gets a big ovation coming out. Hogan gets an even bigger ovation. Another USA chant goes out. Gorilla Monsoon says Hulk Hogan is the greatest WWF Champion in history bar none. That might or might not be debatable up to that point but both Warrior and Slaughter are right there, Gorilla. Just chill, dude. Slaughter has his belt off to hit Hogan, but Justice rips it out of his hands and throws it away. Slaughter with big shots to Hogan in the corner. Hogan reverses a corner whip, but Slaughter doesn’t go over the ring post to the floor like he usually does. Slaughter ping ponging back and forth in the faces corner getting hit by both Hogan and Warrior. Warrior tagged in and he and Hogan do a double clothesline on Slaughter. Warrior hits an atomic drop and Hogan tagged back in. Double big boot. Slaughter run into the ring post by Hogan. Gets a two count as Mustafa comes in to break it up. Hogan with a running elbow. Warrior tagged back in and hits a running shot to the stomach of Slaughter. He runs Slaughter into Hogan’s boot. Hogan tagged back in. Hogan with a double ax handle for a count that Adnan and Mustafa break up. Hogan with a corner whip and clothesline. Hogan with some corner punches and a choke. Justice drags him off and yells at him to break it. He goes back and Justice breaks it up again. Slaughter with an eye poke. He runs Hogan into Mustafa’s boot. Slaughter with shots to Hogan and Warrior. Adnan tagged in. He rakes Hogan’s back. A Hogan chant goes out. Hogan in the heels corner and they all take their shots. Mustafa tagged in. He hits a gut wrench suplex on Hogan. Mustafa with the camel clutch on the man he lost the WWF title to in 1984 in the building that he lost it in. There’s some trivia for you. Warrior kicks Mustafa to break it up and Slaughter tagged in. He does a backbreaker on Hogan for a two count. Slaughter with some shots and chokes in the corner, but Justice breaks it up. Hogan corner whipped into Justice and they have words as Slaughter hits a double ax handle to Hogan’s back. Adnan tagged in and he hits Hogan’s back with several double ax handles. Adnan with a back rake and an eye gouge. Adnan biting Hogan and Slaughter tagged in. Slaughter goes up top, but Warrior pushes him off. Warrior tagged in. He unloads on Slaughter. Four clotheslines to Slaughter. Warrior runs into Sid Justice. Hogan comes in to plead Warrior’s case as Warrior and Justice are staring at each other. Slaughter runs Warrior into Mustafa’s boot. Adnan tagged in. Slaughter diverting Justice’s attention while Adnan rakes Warrior’s back. Mustafa tagged in. He tries a suplex but Warrior blocks. Warrior reverses the suplex. Slaughter tagged in and lures Hogan in. Justice takes Hogan out while Slaughter and company stomp and choke Warrior. Slaughter with a clothesline to Warrior. Warrior ducks a clothesline, hits one of his own and starts humping air for some reason. Very strange. He’s going to make me have to put the explicit tag on this episode. He then collapses. A double count going. Slaughter up. Warrior makes the tag to Hogan. The You point. Punches, Big Boot, Punches to Adnan and Mustafa. Warrior takes them out. Slaughter run into the corner post. Warrior gets a chair and chases Mustafa and Adnan back to the locker room and then promptly quits or gets fired depending on who you believe. Hogan throws some powder on Slaughter. Leg drop and pin. Hogan must pose. Hogan motioning to someone in the back. Sid Justice comes back to the ring. Hogan rips his shirt off and they pose together.
-They take a final look at the Mountie. You wanna fight me buddy?
-Flashback to the Macho Man proposing to Elizabeth.
-Elizabeth and Macho Man Tribute Video. Not the original music on the Network. The Together Forever Video is on the WWE’s YouTube page however.
-Randy Savage comes out and gets a great ovation. Bobby Heenan is hilarious here. 2021 Warrior Award recipient Rich Hering is the official. Elizabeth comes out looking lovely. Agents and security line the aisle so she isn’t touched. They play it absolutely straight and there are no shenanigans at all. Crowd gives them a big ovation as it ends. They wave to the crowd as they leave. Streamers and confetti falling. They say I love you as they sign off from MSG.
-Final Thoughts: A classic show. Warrior was gone for a while after this so they pivot Roberts from Warrior to Savage with the cobra in the box at the wedding reception and Justice is the new big face of the company. Wrestling world is changing as Flair is about to come in.