10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1989 Facts

10. It Was The First WWE PPV That Gorilla Monsoon Didn't Call

If you count the original WrestleMania as a pay-per-view (it technically wasn't; it was a closed-circuit offering only), Gorilla Monsoon provided play-by-play for the first ten WWE pay-per-views between 1985 and 1989. The only times you didn't hear from "Gino" was during the New York and Los Angeles portions of WrestleMania 2; Monsoon handled the Chicago part of the card.

Certainly, Monsoon was conspicuous by his absence at the start of SummerSlam 1989. Fans were greeted instead by fresh-faced Tony Schiavone, who called the evening's events alongside Jesse Ventura.

Schiavone had debuted with WWE in March 1989 (after balking at the idea of moving to Atlanta, following Jim Crockett's sale to Ted Turner), and his one year spent in WWE would see him call this SummerSlam, as well as the 1990 Royal Rumble.