10. WWE Promoted a Failed Boxing Pay Per View – SummerSlam 1988
You may not know it today, but a good portion of the inaugural SummerSlam event was dedicated to promoting an upcoming boxing pay per view. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Donny LaLonde was set for November 7, 1988, and Vince McMahon had a hand in promoting it.
The pay per view ended up being a massive flop and as a result, all mentions of the fight were edited out of the show. Add another thing to the list of failed ventures from Vince McMahon.
9. This was Dynamite Kid’s Final Pay Per View – SummerSlam 1988
One of the very best pioneers in WWE history is Dynamite Kid. An innovator of the junior heavyweight style, Dynamite Kid left WWE in 1988. What this means is SummerSlam 1988 marked the final time he would compete on pay per view.
He and Davey Boy Smith teamed to take on the Rougeau Brothers in a 20-minute draw. Their battle was perhaps the best match on the show and Dynamite Kid left the company a few months later.
8. ‘Mean’ Gene Curses, WWE Airs it – SummerSlam 1989
Accidents happen sometimes in WWE. This, however, was a pretty egregious error. Most backstage segments are filmed earlier in the day.
Multiple takes are done to ensure the best product possible but on the day of SummerSlam 1989, the wrong tape was aired. Instead of a flawless interview between ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund, Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan, we got this.
Peak comedy was aired instead. The SummerSlam sign behind the interview fell down and Okerlund yelled “F**k it!”. Obviously, this was not meant to air but someone in production had a snafu and played it by mistake.
7. Red Rooster was Injured and Out of Action – SummerSlam 1989
Injuries are no fun, especially when they happen at the beginning of a match on pay per view. In 1989, Mr. Perfect was scheduled to face the Red Rooster at SummerSlam.
By all accounts, this could have been a pretty solid match. Unfortunately, the Rooster injured his knee and the match had to be cut short.
A Perfect-Plex ended the match just three minutes in and the Red Rooster was forced to miss time recovering. He would return later in the year before leaving for WCW the following year.
6. Andre the Giant was Arrested One Week Earlier – SummerSlam 1989
Andre the Giant’s mugshot is an iconic one but some may not know that it came one week before SummerSlam 1989.
Seven days before the event, Andre had an altercation with a local cameraman in Iowa. The cameraman was getting footage for a news broadcast but was told not to film the match. He did anyway.
Andre put the man in a headlock and damaged his equipment. He was taken in for assault charges but was released after paying a $1,200 bond.
This meant he was able to make the show the next week where he faced Demolition and Jim Duggan in a six-man tag match.
5. The WWE Debut of Tony Schiavone – SummerSlam 1989
Tony Schiavone is a name synonymous with wrestling but not with WWE.
Schiavone was the voice of WCW for many years and currently serves as one of the voices of AEW. However, back in 1989, he made his WWE debut at SummerSlam.
It was not a long run as Schiavone has been open about Vince McMahon not liking his work. However, for this night the action was called by Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura, a very unique combination.
4. First WWE Pay Per View with no Gorilla Monsoon – SummerSlam 1989
Why did Tony Schiavone serve as commentator for SummerSlam 1989? Well because Gorilla Monsoon didn’t.
After a number of WrestleManias, Royal Rumbles, Survivor Series and one SummerSlam, this was the first time a WWE pay-per-view air without Monsoon on commentary.
Monsoon would return to the booth for Survivor Series later that year and would continue on as a regular part of the commentary team until WrestleMania IX in 1994.
3. Ultimate Warrior Won the Intercontinental Championship Multiple Times – SummerSlam 1988
WWE used to be run very differently than it is today. Because they had to tape weeks of television before pay-per-views sometimes wacky things happened.
In the shows taped before SummerSlam, WWE had to find a way to show Ultimate Warrior with the Intercontinental Championship. Honky Tonk Man was set to be beaten by the Warrior at SummerSlam and so WWE worked their wacky magic in the weeks prior to the show.
On each of the shows taped to air after SummerSlam, Ultimate Warrior would beat Honky Tonk Man for the title early in the night, then did his planned segment later in the show.
Afterward, they would reverse the decision and do it again on the next show. So if you went to all of those shows, man, were you in for a surprise.
2. This was the First SummerSlam to top 600,000 buys – SummerSlam 1989
Remember pay-per-view buys? That crazy thing that earned WWE all that money before the WWE Network? What a concept.
SummerSlam 1989 was the first SummerSlam event to top 600,000 buys. This was a different era but 600,000 buys was still a colossal number for the promotion.
When WWE switched to their Network format in 2014, the only pay-per-view that would surpass such a number would be WrestleMania.
Everything else would not even come close. Considering the poor card, this number was a massive success.
1. WWE Wanted Ric Flair for the Event – SummerSlam 1988
Ric Flair heading to WWE in 1991 was a massive deal in the world of wrestling. The biggest icon of the NWA finally jumped ship and made his way to WWE but what you may not know is it could have happened three years earlier.
Vince McMahon wanted to get Ric Flair to come to the WWE in 1988 to wrestle World Champion Randy Savage at the inaugural SummerSlam.
Considering how great their match would end up being at WrestleMania VIII, this would have been quite the treat. Of course, this did not happen as Flair was loyal to the NWA and Ted Turner said he would not purchase WCW without Flair.
Three years later, Flair had burned through that loyalty due to his backstage rivalry with Jim Herd.
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