8. Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage/Zeus - SummerSlam 1989
By 1989, the WWF as a promotional vehicle was white hot. They were so hot in fact that the main event of the SummerSlam pay-per-view involved a storyline based off of nothing that actually happened in a WWF ring, but instead from a movie that starred Hulk Hogan. Hogan and Brutus Beefcake's opponent for SummerSlam was none other than Zeus, aka actor Tiny Lister, Jr. reprising his role from action film No Holds Barred. Zeus was paired with Hogan's nemesis and ex-Mega Powers teammate Randy Savage, and the main event was set. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dyyo3_wwf-summerslam-1989-hulk-hogan-brutus-beefcake-vs-randy-savage-zeus_sport This isn't a top-notch in-ring confrontation. However, it does involve a mainstream actor, a mainstream film and in Hogan and Savage two of the biggest pop cultural icons of the era. When you combine all of that star power, the match itself really doesn't matter, but it's the statement that you can pull it off that matters more.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
