Ranking every WWE SummerSlam PPV in history

20. WWE SummerSlam 1989

• The Brain Busters def. The Hart Foundation
• Dusty Rhodes def. The Honky Tonk Man
• Mr. Perfect def. The Red Rooster
• The Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel def. The Rockers & Tito Santana (6-Man Tag Match)
• The Ultimate Warrior def. Rick Rude to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
• Demolition & King Duggan def. The Twin Towers & Andre the Giant (6-Man Tag Match)
• Greg Valentine def. Hercules
• Ted Dibiase def. Jimmy Snuka by count-out
• Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake def. Randy Savage & Zeus

Call me nostalgic but I really enjoy the 1989 edition of SummerSlam. Yes, there is a few bad matches, but there are also things to like about this show.

The tag match featuring four future WWE Hall of Famers was a great way to kick things off as The Brain Busters, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, took on The Hart Foundation, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. This was a classic tag match with two of the best teams from the era going back and forth for more than 15 minutes with The Brain Busters getting the cheap win. Nice start to the night.

Dusty Rhodes and The Honky Tonk Man was nothing special, nor was the next match with Mr. Perfect and The Red Rooster (I still feel sorry for Terry Taylor having to use that awful gimmick). The six-man tag with Tito Santana and The Rockers battling Rick Martel and The Fabulous Rougeaus was a lot of fun and kept a good pace for the majority of the time they were given. Again, the heels picked up a win here.

Next up was the Intercontinental Championship rematch from WrestleMania V with The Ultimate Warrior looking for revenge on Ravishing Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan after getting screwed out of the title on the grandest stage of them all. It’s not often that I say I enjoyed a Warrior match but this one was solid. Rowdy Roddy Piper getting involved to distract Rude and even things out only made the crowd pop even more and Warrior got his belt back.

Another six-man tag followed and the team of Andre the Giant, Akeem and Big Boss Man has to be the biggest trio ever assembled, right? At a combined weight of more than 1,300 pounds, they still couldn’t get the win as Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Demolition (the real version of Ax and Smash) picked up the victory in a short but fun-enough match.

There were a couple filler matches leading into the main event as Greg “The Hammer” Valentine got a quick and cheap win over Hercules and Ted Dibiase picking up a count-out win over Jimmy Snuka, but the crowd was ready for the closer and 10-year-old me was as well.

The main event featured Hulk Hogan and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake taking on Randy Savage and Zeus, Hogan’s co-star and nemesis from No Holds Barred. Yes, the movie had flopped and was really bad, but the build to this match was so much fun.

Savage obviously had problems with Hogan after losing the title to him at WrestleMania V and he and Beefcake had been feuding throughout the summer as well. Zeus had shown up in WWE saying that he could destroy Hogan in real life and things were off and running. The heels had Sherri in their corner but as expected, Miss Elizabeth returned after a long hiatus to be in the corner of Hogan and Beefcake. The crowd had a huge pop for her.

The match really isn’t all that great when you sit down and over-analyze it like we wrestling fans often do. But the crowd was so hot for it and just like we wanted it to, it all came down to Hogan having to overcome Zeus to pick up the win. Savage certainly carried the load as Deebo was just horrible in the ring but it all worked.

Sherri and her loaded purse got involved but the weapon ultimately destroyed the team as Hogan whacked Zeus with it before the bodyslam and the big leg for the 1-2-3. Afterwards, Liz smacked Sherri with it and Brutus cut her fake hair off. This was classic ’80s stuff and I still go back and watch that match often. Hogan said recently that was the most fun he ever had at SummerSlam and it’s easy to see why. A hot crowd, a good build and good storytelling can sometimes make up for an average match.