WWF Superstars of Wrestling – August 26, 1989

August 26, 1989

From the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Your hosts are Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Vince McMahon

In action this week are The Rockers. Rick Martel, Dusty Rhodes, and the Ultimate Warrior. Plus, Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake on the “Brother Love Show” and more!

The Rockers w/ Tito Santana vs. Black Knight & Tim Patterson

The Rockers take control early as the announcers talk about their six-man tag match at SummerSlam. Patterson screams and flexes after knocking down Jannetty but gets hit with a knee lift. Black Knight tags in as Jannetty takes him down then they clean house until they put Black Knight away with a double flying fist drop (2:11).

Thoughts: Good win for The Rockers as Tito came out here to show some unity before their match at SummerSlam.

WWF Update with Gene Okerlund. It was clips from the 8/21 episode of “Prime Time Wrestling” that lead up to Roddy Piper and Rick Rude being held apart.

Koko B Ware vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart

Garvin is shown in an insert promo telling Valentine he will be watching him closely as he heads down to the ring. Koko manages a small package as Garvin takes a seat. Valentine notices Garvin and moves over closely as that allows Koko to fire away. Valentine avoids a crossbody then drops an elbow before taunting Garvin. Valentine adjusts the shinguard but Garvin bangs on the apron as Valentine tries to kick him but that allows Koko to sneak behind and get a rollup for the win (2:26). Koko and Garvin celebrate as Jesse yells at Vince for calling that a win for Koko.

Thoughts: The action was nothing special at all but the point of this was to reignite the Garvin/Valentine feud. Koko jumping up and celebrating after this win pretty much cemented him as a guy slightly above the level of a Tim Horner.

Sean Mooney is in the Event Center to hype the 9/9 Boston Garden show. The Rockers talk about the one-hour “Marathon Match” against the Rougeau Brothers while Heenan sprays Andre with water as Andre says he will not break a sweat against the Ultimate Warrior. I wish I got to see one of those marathon matches as I heard they were all very good.

Jerry Monti vs. Rick Martel w/ Slick & Jimmy Hart & The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers

Martel takes Monti down with a hip toss after an Irish whip sequence then high-fives the Rougeaus. Martel works the arm but Monti switches to a headscissors. We hear from the Rougeaus in an insert promo as they promise to manhandle the Rockers at SummerSlam. Back to the match as Martel stays in control until he puts Monti away with a top rope knee drop (2:26).

Thoughts: More hype for this SummerSlam six-man tag. I loved Martel’s top rope knee drop finisher. It looked great.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Barry Horowitz

Dusty is shown in an insert promo saying the Honky Tonk Man cannot sing and dance to hype their match at SummerSlam. Dusty avoids a charge in the corner then fires away before dropping an elbow for the win (1:32).

Thoughts: Just a quick match for Dusty to hype his match against Honky at SummerSlam.

Randy Savage, Sensational Sherri, and Zeus are shown in a pre-taped promo. Savage puts over Zeus as being a “god” and calls Beefcake the weak link of the team. Sherri talks about disfiguring Elizabeth while Zeus ends by telling Hogan & Beefcake to get on their knees and pray to their new god.

The Brainbusters w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Stephen DeLeon & Louie Spicolli

Arn grounds Spicolli as the crowd starts a “weasel” chant. The Hart Foundation are shown in an insert promo as they promise to embarrass the Brainbusters at SummerSlam. Tully tags into the match and roughs up DeLeon and shortly after that the Brainbusters hit the Spike Piledriver for the win (1:59).

Thoughts: They way this whole set up has been done would make you believe the Hart Foundation would win and become the #1 contenders.

Brother Love Show with guests Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake. Brother Love asks Hogan if Elizabeth will be at SummerSlam and does not think she has the “guts.” Hogan gets pissed and grabs Brother Love and says Elizabeth has guts and will be there as Jesse calls Hogan out for being a bully. Brother Love then asks Beefcake about being embarrassed by Savage & Sherri before but this time Beefcake promises to strut and cut as he scares off Brother Love, who then points out how he sees fear in Hogan’s eyes when it comes to Zeus. Hogan then talks about tearing apart Savage & Zeus while ripping off his shirt as he says they have the “eye of the tiger” and do not fear anything. Hogan said all that happened on “Saturday Night’s Main Event” was a sneak attack and only got caught off guard because they were not playing their game. They end by taking Brother Love down as Beefcake cuts their hair as Jesse goes off on them for picking on the little guy because they cannot do the same to Savage & Zeus. Lots of bullying of Brother Love here as Hogan says he is not afraid of Zeus.

SummerSlam Report with Gene Okerlund.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Steve Vega

Warrior beats on Vega both in and outside of the ring. Andre is then shown in an insert promo laughing about Warrior not looking too good at Summerslam. Warrior takes Vega back inside and hits the press slam/splash combo for the win (1:15). After the match, Warrior carries Vega backstage but is met in the aisle by Heenan. Warrior dumps Vega on the ground and goes after Heenan but Andre comes out from behind and chokes the Warrior. The fans are booing loudly here.

Thoughts: Good post-match attack. I thought it was done well as the beginning of this feud has been built up well enough.

We get a replay of Andre choking the Warrior as Jesse laughs over Warrior still thinking he can win at SummerSlam as Vince signs off.

Final Thoughts: Decent enough job with last minute SummerSlam hype. They also amped up the Warrior/Andre and Garvin/Valentine feuds along with pushing the Rude/Piper problems from “Prime Time Wrestling” as they are setting up their TV feuds post-SummerSlam as well.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 8/27/89

Wednesday: TBD

Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Charles Wright (The Godfather)

Friday: WWF SummerSlam 8/28/89

Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 6/24/82

Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/2/89

Monday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/3/89