10 Times The Opening Match Stole A WWE Show
5. SummerSlam '89 - The Brain Busters Vs. The Hart Foundation
Booking doesn’t get much simpler than this: take four of the finest technical wrestlers on the payroll, give them a decent chunk of time to work with, sit back and relax. Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart make for as safe a collection of stars as you can assemble.
The Brainbusters had only a brief run in WWE, but their wily heel antics are put to great use here. Their offence is pure no nonsense clobbering, but there’s plenty of room for nonsense in their shenanigans, with their manager, the unbeatable Bobby Heenan, distracting the ref for some double team action.
The Hart Foundation meanwhile are booked brilliantly, the team showing off their combo of Bret’s technical prowess and Jim’s physical dominance. Bret was a few years off his big push here, but it’s all too apparent there’s something special in him.
The rest of the card is more than decent in parts, but it’s impossible to come away not thinking that the talent was stacked in the opening match. The skill and serious presentation puts it leagues above the rest.