RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesHulk Hogan shirts inside at the closed Hulk Hogan's Wrestling Shop in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., at 147 East Wears Valley Road on July 24, 2024. Hulk Hogan's death was announced on July 24.
Thirty-seven years ago today, World Wrestling Entertainment (then known as the WWF) broadcast its 12th episode of Saturday Night's Main Event and offered wrestling fans a master class when it came to writing exciting television and publicizing an upcoming pay-per-view; in this case, Summerslam 1989.
While the show opened with Hulk Hogan successfully defending the WWF Championship against The Honky Tonk Man, the night truly belonged to the intense rivalry between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.
Savage, flanked by Sensational Sherri, brought his trademark frantic pacing and unmatched intensity to the ring. Beefcake, at the absolute peak of his popularity, matched him blow for blow. The match was an emotional rollercoaster of near-falls and high-flying maneuvers, easily PPV worthy as the combatants kept the crowd at a fever pitch. Beefcake seemingly had the match won, trapping Savage in his signature sleeper hold. However, the textbook wrestling match quickly devolved into complete chaos because of a man know as The Human Wrecking Machine:
Zeus.
Portrayed by actor Tommy Debo "Tiny" Lister Jr., Zeus co-starred with Hogan in the movie "No Holds Barred" and the WWE used the film as a springboard to a feud between Hogan and Zeus. While the pair had a brief run-in on a previous Saturday Night's Main Event two months prior, the ending of the Beefcake-Savage match did much more to portray Zeus as impervious to pain.
As Zeus put Beefcake into a bear hug, Hogan ran to the ring to help Beefcake, who would be Hogan's tag team partner at Summerslam 89 against Savage and Zeus. But Hogan's run-in did nothing, not even with a steel chair. As Hogan smashed the chair directly across Zeus’ back, Zeus turned around, smiling and barely even blinking. It led to a brilliant commentary moment from Jesse "The Body" Ventura:
He couldn't drop him! Zeus is smiling at him! Look at the fear on Hogan's face! Look (Vince) McMahon, your hero, showing nothing but trembling fear in the ring!
How well did this match and its aftermath build towards Summerslam? Put it this way: Summerslam 1989 did more PPV buys than Wrestlemania VI.
Not to be outdone, the tag team division also shined on this broadcast, with the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) scoring a huge upset against Demolition (Ax and Smash) in a best two-out-of-three falls match, ending Demolition's 478-day reign.
After splitting the first two falls, the finish showcased the Busters' impeccable heel intellect. While the referee was distracted, Andre the Giant, who appeared at ringside at the start of the third fall, handed a steel chair to the challengers. Anderson and Blanchard utilized seamless coordination and the hidden foreign object to blindside Smash, scoring the decisive pinfall and leaving the audience in stunned silence.
Ultimately, this iteration of Saturday Night's Main Event achieved exactly what great professional wrestling television is designed to do: make purchasing the upcoming pay-per-view an absolute necessity. By the time the broadcast signed off, the puzzle pieces for SummerSlam 1989 had locked perfectly into place.
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