Written by: Tom Hopkins
It’s only days before Summerslam! Vince McMahon starts with a voice-over recounting the action between the Nasty Boys and Warrior and Savage. The Warrior and Savage had a strenuous team-up to say the least. It got worse when Warrior is kneed into Savage by Knobbs. Savage and Warrior struggle with each other as the footage of the match ends. We go to Vince McMahon who is all by his lonesome at the announce booth.
Mr. Perfect isn’t there because he’s leading Ric Flair to the ring for the next match.
–Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) vs. Joey Maggs–
Flair’s getting some good heel heat here. I remember Maggs from the WCW Saturday Night episodes that are also on the WWE Online service. Flair dumps Maggs and Perfect gets in some cheap-shots because he can. Hey, if you’re going to be a heel you may as well play it up. Flair chops away and makes sure to get in some strutting before suplexing Maggs. The figure-four ends this at 2:56. I also just noticed that Bill Alphonso is the referee. ECW getting represented here, too! This was a good match for a squash – *.
Ultimate Warrior is here in his wrestling trunks, not the uni he had for his Primetime match. Warrior recounts the actions leading up to this match, including saving Savage from Flair and Perfect but he thinks Savage staged that. This is actually quite the lengthy interview as everything is recapped by the Warrior. It was done well, too.
Savage tells his side of the story as well. Both accuse the other of selling out to Mr. Perfect. Paranoia strikes deep. Both make valid points and I didn’t realize back then how deep this storyline ran – all coming together in a relatively short amount of time.
–Tatanka vs. Pat Rose–
Tatanka is still undefeated. A hiptoss and dropkick start things off for Tatanka. We hear from Tatanka in a pre-recorded promo. He’s ready for Berzerker at Summerslam. McMahon seems more interested in whose corner Perfect will be in. Tatanka bodyslams Rose and heads upstairs – connecting with a top rope chop. The Samoan Drop ends this at 3:01. What’s with the longer matches tonight?
Sean Mooney is at the Update Center with some last minute Summerslam hype. We hear from Rick Martel, who will be participating in a match against Shawn Michaels at Summerslam with the unique stipulation that you cannot hit the other in the face. Sherri didn’t want anyone’s face damaged! That’s one way to get some interest for a heel vs. heel match. We hear from Crush who will be fighting Repo Man.
–Kamala (w/Kimchee & Harvey Whippleman) vs. Jobber–
I didn’t catch the jobber’s name but I’m not too concerned about it. We hear from Harvey about the upcoming match Kamala has wit Undertaker. Kamala hits his big splash but has problems covering. He eventually does and this is over at 1:47. Kamala teases a top-rope splash as McMahon hypes the move. It’s almost like he’d know how the Summerslam match would turn out.
We go back to Sean Mooney who mentions something about a PPV coming up. Nailz and Virgil talk about their upcoming match at Summerslam. I just hope Virgil doesn’t tell us he’s 2 Legit 2 Quit again. Money Inc have words for Legion of Doom, also in regards to their upcoming Summerslam match.
The Bret Hart/Papa Shango thing is recapped briefly.
–Bret Hart vs. Louie Spiccoli–
ECW is all over this episode! Perfect predicts Hart will lose thanks to the curse of Shango. Hart dominates from bell to bell and finishes with the Sharpshooter at 3:00. McMahon wonders if this would be the last time Hart would hold the IC title in the ring (as champion) and the answer to that would be yes.
SUMMERSLAM REPORT! The last one! Okerlund runs down the big matches and we hear from Undertaker and The Legion of Doom.
–Rick Martel vs. Justin Taylor–
The only thing interesting here in this match is hearing from Sherri about the upcoming match between Martel and Michaels. Taylor sneaks in a small package for two so Martel gives him a backbreaker before putting Taylor in the Boston Crab for the submission at 2:16.
Mooney returns one last time for a final set of promo’s – this time featuring the Repo Man and The Natural Disasters. We end with McMahon and Perfect telling us to order Summerslam and teasing whose corner Perfect will be in.
–The Bottom Line–
The first 15-minute of this show was awesome but it faded towards the end. I shouldn’t watch two episodes of Superstars back to back, I think.