Summer Slam (1990) - Event

Event

Before the pay-per-view began, Shane Douglas defeated Buddy Rose in a dark match. Hercules attacked Shawn Michaels prior to the first televised bout, hitting him in the knee with a chain. Although his partner was unable to compete, Jannetty controlled the beginning of the match, using hip tosses to throw Roma and Hercules. Power and Glory then attacked Jannetty while their manager, Slick, distracted the referee. Although Jannetty was able to mount a brief comeback, Roma and Hercules wore him down and got the victory after performing a PowerPlex—a superplex from Hercules followed by a diving splash from Roma.

The Texas Tornado got an early advantage in his match with Mr. Perfect, controlling the bout with several power moves. Mr. Perfect recovered and used a neckbreaker and sleeper hold to wear down the Tornado. As Perfect was showing off for the crowd, the Tornado attacked him from behind. He wore Perfect down with a clawhold before hitting him with a discus punch to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship.

Sensational Sherri came to the ring for her match against Sapphire, but Sapphire did not come to the ring when she was announced. As a result, Sherri was awarded the victory by forfeit.

Tito Santana began his match with The Warlord by locking his opponent in a headlock and dropkicking him out of the ring. The Warlord took control of the match when he returned to the ring, using his strength to control the match. Slick, The Warlord's manager, interfered, but Santana regained a brief advantage. The Warlord gained the victory by pinning Santana after performing a running powerslam.

In the two out of three falls tag team match, Crush and Smash represented Demolition against the team of Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. Both teams relied on brawling tactics during the first fall, which was awarded to Demolition when they pinned Hart after performing the Demolition Decapitation. They continued to wear down Hart until Neidhart tagged back into the match. He and Hart took turns attacking Smash before performing the Hart Attack. Before they could pin him, however, Crush prevented the referee from making a pinfall count, which resulted in a disqualification. During the third fall, Demolition distracted the referee, enabling Ax, their third member, to come to hide at ringside. When Smash was knocked out of the ring, Ax took his place while Smash hid. Well rested, Ax used his power to control the match against Hart. Ax and Smash traded places again, but the Legion of Doom appeared and pulled Ax out from under the ring. With Smash distracted, Hart and Neidhart were able to tackle Crush and pin him to win the match and the WWF Tag Team Championship.

During the following match, a covered cage sat at ringside, supposedly containing 200 pounds of Harlem sewer rats, although the contents of the cage were not revealed. Bad News Brown controlled most of the early stages of his match against Jake Roberts. Roberts attempted to perform the DDT twice, including once when Brown was arguing with special referee Big Bossman, but Brown blocked the move both times. Outside the ring, Brown hit Roberts with a chair while the Big Bossman was not looking. Roberts gained the advantage by punching Brown repeatedly but was kicked to the outside after Brown reversed a DDT attempt into a back bodydrop. Brown hit Roberts with a chair again but was disqualified when the Bossman saw him. Brown tried to gain revenge after the match by attacking Roberts's boa constrictor, Damien, but the Bossman attacked Brown to save the snake.

Sgt. Slaughter was a guest on the Brother Love Show. He presented Brother Love the "Greatest American Award" and claimed that the United States had become soft and weak. He also declared war on Nikolai Volkoff. Prior to the next match, Duggan and Volkoff sang "God Bless America". They were attacked by The Orient Express (Akio Sato and Pat Tanaka), and all four men fought in the ring. Sato and Tanaka attacked Volkoff while preventing him from tagging Duggan into the match; Mr. Fuji, the manager of The Orient Express, also hit Volkoff with his cane. When Tanaka missed a big splash, Volkoff tagged in Duggan, who performed several clothelines on Tanaka and Sato. Volkoff and Duggan then Irish whipped their opponents into each other; Duggan clotheslined Tanaka from a three-point stance and pinned him to win the match.

As the match between Dusty Rhodes and Randy Savage was about to begin, Ted DiBiase appeared and announced that he had purchased Sapphire. Rhodes walked down the aisle toward DiBiase and Sapphire but was attacked from behind by Savage. Savage controlled most of the match, and Sherri interfered to help him while the referee was distracted. Rhodes made a brief comeback, but Savage was able to pin him after hitting him with Sherri's purse, which was said to be loaded with a heavy object. After the match, Rhodes chased after DiBiase and Sapphire but was unable to catch up to their departing limousine.

Control went back and forth at the beginning of the match between Hulk Hogan and Earthquake. When Earthquake rolled out of the ring, both wrestlers' cornermen got involved, as Hogan and the Big Bossman fought against Earthquake and Dino Bravo. Bravo and Earthquake powerslammed Hogan while the referee was distracted, which allowed Earthquake to lock Hogan in a Boston crab hold. After being powerslammed outside of the ring by Earthquake, Hogan tried to lift his opponent but was unsuccessful. Earthquake powerslammed Hogan and performed two Earthquake splashes but was unable to get the pinfall. Hogan recovered and bodyslammed Earthquake. He performed a legdrop on Earthquake before Earthquake's manager, Jimmy Hart interfered. Hogan threw him out of the ring and then bodyslammed Earthquake onto a table at ringside. Hogan got back into the ring and won the match via countout. Earthquake attacked Hogan after the match, but the Big Bossman saved Hogan by hitting Earthquake with a chair.

The Ultimate Warrior gained the early advantage in his steel cage match with Rick Rude. After the Warrior missed a splash attempt, Rude attempted to win the match by escaping the cage. The Warrior stopped him, and both wrestlers unsuccessfully attempted to perform their finishing moves. Rude was then able to perform a Rude Awakening neckbreaker but chose to continue attacking the Warrior rather than escape the cage. Rude performed a shoulderblock and tried to leave through the cage door. The Warrior held him back while Bobby Heenan, Rude's manager, tried to pull Rude out. The Warrior pulled both Rude and Heenan into the cage. He punched Heenan and then threw him out of the cage with an atomic drop. Warrior then knocked Rude down three times with clotheslines and threw him onto the ring floor with a gorilla press drop. Warrior climbed over the cage and dropped to the arena floor to win the match and retain the WWF Championship.