Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)1988 - The very first event from Madison Square Garden & mostly came off as a 3 hour edition of Saturday Night's Main Event instead of how WrestleMania was later developed as most matches were just here with little to no buildup. Standout matches & moments feature the main event tag team match with Jesse Ventura as the referee between the Mega Powers (Hogan & Savage) vs. the Mega Bucks (Dibiase & Andre) that had an ending with Ms. Elizabeth that had every man in the arena distracted...including the wrestlers, the record setting Intercontinental Championship reign by the Honky Tonk Man ending in the blink of an eye by the Ultimate Warrior, and tag matches pitting the Hart Foundation vs. Demolition & British Bulldogs vs. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers.
1989 - "Feel The Heat" here as this edition of SummerSlam was headlined by the feud based off their movie 'No Holds Barred' with Hulk Hogan teaming with Brutus Beefcake vs. Zues & Randy Savage with Sensational Sherri. Other standout matches & highlights here include the only SummerSlam appearence of ex-4 Horsemen members Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard as the Brain Busters vs. Hart Foundation, Dusty Rhodes vs. Honky Tonk Man, Rick Martel & Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Tito Santana & Rockers, Jim Duggan transforming into "King Demolition" for one night to team with Demolition against one of the largest teams ever in Andre The Giant & Twin Towers (Big Boss Man & Akeem), and one of the most underrated performances from Ultimate Warrior in his WrestleMania V rematch against Intercontinental Champion Rick Rude.
1990 - "The Heat Returns" as this SummerSlam was the first one where most of the matches throughout the card started having the storyline buildup & purpose behind them. One main event was based around the return of Hulk Hogan, from being injured throughout the spring/summer, against the man who put him out of action in Earthquake. The other saw the final WWE inring PPV appearence of Rick Rude against his arch-rival Ultimate Warrior inside a steel cage but this time, it was for the WWE Championship. Other matches & highlights include the Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect vs. 'Texas Tornado' Kerry Von Erich, a classic 2 out of 3 falls match between Hart Foundation vs. Demolition for the tag team championship, Ted Dibiase showing that "everyone has a price" to Dusty Rhodes, and Big Boss Man pulling double duty as Hogan's cornerman and the referee between the Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown match.
1991 - SummerSlam returned back to MSG & to me, this to me was the first SummerSlam that I concider the entire event a classic instead of it just being a PPV that had some classic matches. It was a "Match Made In Heaven" as WWE had the moment that people were waiting for years on in the wedding of Randy Savage & Ms. Elizabeth and unlike how WWE weddings are in this day & age where it's a mockery & complete joke, this was very classy & real emotional for long time fans of not just the couple but WWE itself. The main event here was "A Match Made In Hell" between Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter's "Triangle Of Terror" with Sid Justice (Sid Vicious/Sycho Sid) debuting as the referee in a match which is probably remembered more for it being Ultimate Warrior's last appearence in WWE for months & what happened behind the scenes that caused it to be Warrior's last match. This event also included the classic match that many say was the "Steamboat/Savage" of the 90's that inspired a new generation of wrestlers & style in the WWE as Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect took on Bret Hart. Other matches include Legion Of Doom becoming to first team to win all the major tag team championships (NWA/AWA/WWE) in a street fight against Nasty Boys, Virgil vs. Ted Dibiase in a match for the Million $ Championship, Big Boss Man vs. Mountie in a match were the loser had to spend the night in a New York City jail...complete with comedic footage throughout the night at the jail, Andre The Giant's last PPV appearence in the corner of the Bushwackers vs. Natural Disasters, and British Bulldog & Ricky Steamboat & Texas Tornado vs. Warlord and Power & Glory.
Side note: Again, I didn't see the DVD version, only the VHS so I don't know if they included the aftermath at the wedding reception involving Sid, Jake Roberts, and Undertaker.
1992 - This was not only the most unique SummerSlam...but the most unique WWE PPV ever as it had a series of events/setups/situations that you never saw before & will never see again. This was the first & only WWE PPV broadcasted from Europe (not including the U.K. only PPV's) that included the second largest crowd in WWE history and featured a double main event that featured all babyfaces & no heels. The main event that closed the show was not for the WWE Championship but the Intercontinental Championship as the hometown hero in British Bulldog faced off against the champion Bret Hart in a match that's concidered one of the greatest in SummerSlam history with a real life storyline in that Bret's sister Diana was Bulldog's wife. The other main event featured WWE Champion Randy Savage in a rematch from WrestleMania VII against Ultimate Warrior with the wild card here being that Ric Flair & Mr. Perfect claiming that one of the wrestlers bought their services. Other highlights include the last WWE appearence for 5 years of Legion Of Doom vs. Money Inc. with a memorable entrance riding their Harley Davidsons to the ring, a heel vs. heel match in Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel in a match were Sensational Sherri made the stipulation that neither man can hit each other in the face, and strickly for historical purposes only but former Demolition members fought each other in Crush vs. Repo Man (Smash).
These sets of SummerSlams started off strong as they got better each year before the '92 edition dragged them down a step but quite frankly, this is one volume that's worth your money as there was only one classic "SummerSlam" in the '91 edition while the others included classic matches & moments that stand the test of time. I recommend.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
WWE: Summerslam - The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 1988-1992
Click here for more information about WWE: Summerslam - The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 1988-1992
