10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1989 Facts

1. It Was The First Of Four SummerSlams To Break 600,000 Buys

Hulk Hogan, Zeus
WWE.com

Across 1989, WWE raked big-time when it came to pay-per-view. The buyrate for WrestleMania 5 was up 58 percent from the previous year, and SummerSlam saw nearly the same kind of growth in just 365 days.

SummerSlam 1989 did 625,000 buys on pay-per-view, up more than 56 percent from 1988's total of 400,000 buys. Part of that could be chalked up to the pay-per-view market growing in the United States, but an impressive number is an impressive number nonetheless.

Only four SummerSlams have done 600,000 or more buys, and 1989 sits third all time among SummerSlams in that regard. In fact, SummerSlam 1989 was the last WWE pay-per-view (not just SummerSlam) to top 600,000 buys for almost nine years. It wouldn't be until WrestleMania 14 in 1998 (730,000 buys) that WWE would break that barrier again.

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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.