10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1989 Facts

Hulk Hogan faces his greatest challenge yet: a B-movie actor out for revenge.

Hulk Hogan, Zeus
WWE.com

You know what would've been fun in 2006? If Robert Patrick (the T-1000 from Terminator II) made his presence felt on an episode of WWE Raw, calling out John Cena. And why not? Patrick was the antagonist in the original Marine movie, with Cena as his heroic counterpart, and the movie was released in the fall of 2006.

You may be thinking, "What sense does it make for an actor like Robert Patrick to have a rivalry with the man he play-fought with on the big screen?" It doesn't make much sense, but that didn't stop WWE from doing something similar in 1989.

The main event for the 1989 SummerSlam pitted WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and best friend Brutus Beefcake against Macho Man Randy Savage and Tom Lister, aka Zeus from the Hogan star-vehicle No Holds Barred. Hogan was the Cena to Zeus' Patrick, and the two had a wrestling feud centered on the apparent idea that Hogan had accidentally broke Zeus' nose on the set of the movie.

Okie doke.

Farcical as that sounds, it did not drag down what was a mighty fine SummerSlam, highlighted by an intense Intercontinental title match, some high-quality tag team wrestling, and best of all: Mean Gene dropping the F-bomb on air. Somehow, it's even more glorious than it sounds.

Here are ten fascinating facts about SummerSlam 1989 you may not have known.

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

Hulk Hogan, Zeus
WWE.com

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.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.