10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1989 Facts
3. Hogan And Beefcake Had An Interesting Way Of Keeping Zeus Calm
Zeus was functionally an untrained wrestler, receiving minimal schooling from Hogan and Beefcake in rehearsals for the main event match. Naturally, Randy Savage would do most of the heavy-lifting, but Zeus' menace was needed in parts, especially when sharing the ring with rival Hogan. There was an obvious concern that the highly-intense Zeus might work too stiffly, with nerves as a contributing factor.
To remedy this, Brutus Beefcake claims that he and Hogan had a method of keeping Zeus loose. When either man was in the ring with the powerhouse, they would get him to scale back his aggression by muttering the phrase, "Free James Brown". At the time, the legendary singer was serving time, stemming from a September 1988 incident with police on US Interstate 20. The mantra was apparently amusing to Zeus, getting him to ease up with his work.
Hogan has also claimed to have used the phrase on the set of the No Holds Barred to calm Zeus down, but it's not clear if filming was still happening at the time of Brown's arrest.