Slaughter again goes back to work on the lower back, punches and knees, etc. General Adnan gets up on the apron, which distracts Earl Hebner, and in the background Slaughter is able to get a visual pin for some odd reason. Hulk was selling no move in particular as one that Sarge should have been able to get about a 15-count on. Officially, he only gets a two-count once Hebner finally makes it over.

Slaughter goes and gets a chair again, and again waffles Hogan on the head with it. This time Hebner is able to pretend not to see. Slaughter's pin attempt only gets two, and now Hogan is busted open. Slaughter ups the aggression in the face of a bleeding opponent. Regis Philbin, who is on commentary for the match, says, "Boy, Hulk is a mess of blood in there!" Monsoon answers, "But he's still on his feet," which is an odd thing to say while Hogan is flat on his back.

Slaughter applies the camel clutch. The crowd tries to will Hogan out of it. Slaughter releases it only long enough to stomp away at Hogan's back, and then he reapplies. Hogan finds the strength to get up to a vertical base, carrying Slaughter on his back, but Slaughter drops behind and slams Hogan hard into the corner. Sarge pulls in the Iraqi flag, drapes it over Hogan, goes for the pin, and...yeah, that's our hulk-up moment.



Hogan rips the Iraqi flag up. Slaughter tries to stay on the attack, apparently not realizing that this would be the time to bail for the intentional countout. Hogan no-sells, big boot, legdrop, and Hogan is once again the WWF Champion.



Result: "...and NEW WWF Champion," Hulk Hogan via pinfall
Rating: *1/2

Hogan straps on the belt, poses, waves the American flag, and sends the crowd home happy.

Overall show thoughts: There was definitely enough good on this show to call it a good show. Wish it had been capped by a main event that I could bring myself to enjoy, but Savage vs. Warrior, Rockers vs. Haku/Barbarian, Perfect vs. Boss Man, and DiBiase vs. Virgil all provided good-to-great entertainment.

As a kid I thought the build up to that hogan slaughter match was great. They made sure we hated slaughter.

I think my biggest struggle as a kid was that I just couldn’t buy Slaughter as a world champion.

https://youtu.be/VXkF2gs28LI

I was 8 and watching this storyline unfold around the time of seeing the war and bombings televised. I thought gen adnan and col mustapha combined with slaughter could end hogan for good. I was totally invested in this match lol

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

Just for the record, I’ve never rated Savage/Warrior five stars, even though I consider it my favourite match ever. I gave it ****1/2 in the WM rewatch thread.

Dammit.

Well, my mistake for misrepresenting you both.

The most important thing I got out of this writeup is that Nutri System is a lot older than I thought it was.

I'm quite certain this forum has enough of my writeup threads kicking around, but because I feel inspired to do this today, let's play fast and loose with the "This Day in Wrestling History" concept, because unfortunately August 13, 2018 is the day we lost The Anvil.

I think that means there's a match to give a proper and thorough writeup to tonight.

SUMMERSLAM 1990: 2-OUT-OF-3 FALLS FOR THE WWF TAG TEAM TITLES - DEMOLITION (c) VS. THE HART FOUNDATION

Background

The Hart Foundation quietly went their separate ways after WrestleMania V and competed as singles wrestlers, but found their way back together by the end of 1989. They had a series of matches with The Rockers into 1990, culminating in a TV match on Saturday Night's Main Event in April 1990.



Demolition, who had won the Tag Team Titles for a third time at WrestleMania VI to a huge face pop, showed up in the middle of the Rockers-Foundation match, and ended up interjecting themselves to an extent that it turned into six-way brawling and a no-contest. Demolition were faces coming into this night, and Jesse Ventura went on a rant about how pissed he was that they just ****ed up such an exciting match, so this wasn't itself the Demolition heel turn, but the segment ended in boos as the crowd understandably wanted to see the match get a real finish. This was one of the first markers of a heel turn for Ax & Smash.

As spring gave way to summer, Demolition added Crush as a third member, and slowly turned heel as the rotating third member would cheat and the face announcers would rail against the unfairness of it all. Jesse warmed up to them. They defended the Tag Team Titles against The Rockers on the July 1990 Saturday Night's Main Event. While the referee was distracted, Shawn Michaels had a visual pinfall on Smash, and Ax - not part of the match that night - clobbered him with a clothesline and pinned him illegally to retain. Demolition was fully heel by this point.

On the July 23, 1990 episode of Superstars, the Hart Foundation appeared on The Brother Love Show and called Demolition cowardly for always bringing a third member to the ring, claiming that they knew they would lose to the Harts 2-on-2. This drew Demolition out, the Anvil challenged them to go to the ring right then to have a 2-on-3 match for the belts, and when the Harts turned their backs to head to the ring, Demolition attacked them from behind and beat them down in the aisle.



This set up the 2-out-of-3 falls Tag Team Title match for SummerSlam 1990.

The Event

After the first coming of Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Warlord, mopped up Tito Santana in a prelim match, it was time for the Tag Team Titles to be on the line. Vince McMahon and Rowdy Roddy Piper are our announcers tonight - the WWF having unfortunately recently lost the services of Jesse Ventura - and Vince sends it backstage to Sean Mooney, who is on hand to interview Demolition.

Mooney is puzzled when all three members join him in the interview area. "Joining me now, Demolition: Ax, Smash...and Crush. Gentlemen, I thought this two-out-of-three falls title defense restricted the presence to only two members of Demolition at SummerSlam." Ax: "You didn't read the fine print, Mooney! It says only two members at ringside!" They tease that nobody knows which combo they'll be using tonight.



Mooney: "Surely standing in your path, should you be successful here tonight, would be your next challengers, the Legion of Doom." Crush: "Hey, they're just a couple of second-rate imposters who need their butts kicked!"

Demolition would later change to a more foreboding heel theme, but for tonight they're still coming out to the kickass Derringer classic that was so huge in helping make their careers. Two members of the Tag Team Champions come out under masks. In lieu of playing dumb as he often would, Vince says that obviously one of them is Crush since he's way the **** taller than the other two, and then he identifies the visible long hair of Smash. Smash and Crush, the two Demos who weren't scaring Vince with any sort of heart condition at this time, are our defending champions tonight.

I remember that promo from TLF lol. "Is it going to be Ax and Smash or Ax and Crush etc". Who could possibly give a ****.

I mean, in a kayfabe era I can see it making sense, you prepare differently for Aaron Rodgers than Ben Roethlisberger, etc., but yeah I'm sure nearly zero fans actually cared which combo went out there.

Mean Gene is backstage with the challengers, the Hart Foundation. Gene says it must have been disconcerting for them to not know who exactly they were facing until just this moment. Bret: "I must admit, it's been a little confusing, but I thought all along it was going to be the two original and most experienced members of Demolition, Ax and Smash." Gene: "Anvil, what do you think?" Anvil: "Think?! YAHAHAHAHA! They don't pay me to think! They pay me to be tough, like an anvil! Hence the name, right? RIGHT? HAHAHAHAHA! It never mattered to me, because when I get in the ring I just don't care! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Bret: "Settle down, Anvil, settle down! He's just a little anxious. So am I. Anxious to once again be the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions. And now, since we'll only have to worry about two Demolition, you can bet that the Hart Foundation, we're going to make flatliners out of Ax and Crush!" (Bret still doesn't know who they're facing.) Anvil: "Yeah, Demolition! After the heart attack we're gonna give you, you'll be buying pacemakers by the truckload, baby! YAHAHAHAHA!" Bret: "Just like Phil Collins says, what we have here are two hearts beating as one."



Anvil gives the signature laugh one more time, back in the arena Vince gives the lame hyuk-hyuk-hyuk to that painful Phil Collins reference, and we're ready for the challengers to enter. (Which reminds me that I forgot to say: champs out first.)

Fall #1

Earl Hebner is officiating. Bret Hart and Smash start the match for their respective teams. Smash appears to have one of the straps of his outfit unfastened before the two have even made contact.

Bret and Smash battle for leverage in a unique lockup, Crush tries to enter illegally, and that draws Anvil right in to knock him from the ring. Anvil suddenly feels at home, and helps Bret execute a double back elbow before Hebner can force him back to the apron. Bret continues the assault with a headbutt and a right hand. An arm-wringer later, his Irish whip is reversed, but he goes behind Smash and tries to get to the first fall quickly with a roll-up; only gets a two-count. He takes Smash down with an armdrag, then as Smash stands up, Bret keeps a vice grip on the arm and continues hammering down on it. The two drift toward the Anvil, and Bret tags him in.

Anvil enters with an axhandle. Smash whips him into the corner, but Anvil dodges a corner charge and maintains control, continuing to work Smash's arm. Tag to Bret, who hops up to the second rope and drops a blow on Smash's lower back. Bret takes Smash down with an arm-wringer, then drops a targeted legdrop on the injured arm. He wrenches that elbow, but Smash is able to regain his feet and slam Bret, freeing him up to tag in big Crush.

Crush with a slam, but he tries to drop a knee and fails. Headbutt by the Hitman, who executes an arm-wringer. Crush reverses an Irish whip, Bret ducks a clothesline, but Crush catches the cross-body attempt on the way back and slams him down lazily like a sack of potatoes. Corner whip by Crush, who charges in but runs face-first into Bret's boots. Schoolboy by Bret gets another two, Crush tags out to Smash, and Bret flails over and tags in Neidhart.

Neidhart with a standing side headlock on Smash. Releases off the ropes, hits a shoulderblock, but he keeps running the ropes and catches a cheap knee from the apron by Crush. Smash beats him down with axhandles, then tags Crush. Crush with a corner whip, but the Anvil comes charging back out with a clothesline.



Anvil tags Bret; Crush tags Smash. Bret with an Irish whip and a clothesline. Crush enters, but promptly eats a Hitman dropkick. Crush just stays in illegally, but Bret fights off both men. He whips Smash into Crush, knocking Crush from the ring. Russian legsweep by the Hitman gets a near-fall. Backbreaker, second-rope elbow, and Crush scrambles in and saves the pin with a legdrop to Bret's back.

Smash tags Crush. For some reason Anvil is badly hurt on the outside, and whatever was supposed to lead to it was not shown on camera. In any case, he's out of the picture as Demolition sets up their Demolition Decapitation finisher. Smash sets Bret across his knee, Crush climbs to the second rope, connects on the elbow, makes the cover, and the champions have scored the first fall.



Demolition Lead 1-0

Fall #2

We continue with Crush vs. Bret. Vince asks how important it is to win the first fall. Piper says "it's like hitting the first home run" and "it gives the team a psychological advantage." That's...really dumb analysis.

Crush misses with a back elbow off an Irish whip, but catches Bret in almost a chokeslam on the way back, without really lifting him off the ground. In any case, the Hitman is down as Crush tags to Smash. Smash beats Bret down with an axhandle, then hits a back suplex. Two-count. Tag to Crush. Crush puts the boots to him, then wrenches at the Hitman's neck. The fans get into it and try to will Bret up. He finds his feet, elbows his way almost loose, but Crush lands a well-placed right hand to keep Hart down. Tag to Smash, who comes in and rams Bret into the turnbuckle. Bret ducks a clothesline off an Irish whip, then hits a big jumping clothesline of his own, in the style of a Hart Attack, on the way back.



Smash tries desperately to stop Bret from tagging. Crush tries to help pull Smash while Smash is dragging Bret, but Earl Hebner kicks Crush's arms to separate them. That seems inappropriate. All the same, the die is now cast, and Bret is able to take advantage of that assistance from Earl (don't feel too grateful, Bret) to make the hot tag to the Anvil.

Anvil with forearm smashes to Smash. He fights off an entering Crush. Irish whip of Smash, he hits something like a Polish hammer for two. Powerslam by the Anvil gets a near-fall. Tag to Bret. In a double-team move, Anvil goes to whip Bret into Smash in the corner, Bret reverses the whip, and Anvil launches into a shoulderblock that connects hard with Smash's abdomen. Bret clears Crush off the apron, and the challengers have Smash at their mercy. The crowd rises to their feet as the Anvil lifts Smash up into position. Bret off one set of ropes, then the other, and he connects with the Hart Attack. Hebner blatantly buys time, apparently not supposed to count the three-count here, and once he eventually gets into position to count, Crush comes in and lunges over the top of the pinning predicament and knocks Earl out of the count. Once Earl finally gets free, he waves for the DQ, and this thing is tied.



Tied at 1-1

Fall #3

As the Harts celebrate the second fall, Demolition jump Bret from behind and knock him from the ring. As Anvil goes out to check on his partner, amidst the distraction, we see Ax run down to the ring and crawl underneath to hide.



Bret returns to the apron. As Smash tries to keep him out, Bret hits him in the gut and then sunset-flips into the ring for a two-count. He drops an elbow to the back of Smash's neck, then hits an inverted atomic drop. Stomp to Smash's lower abdomen. Although Bret was close enough to tag, Anvil just enters illegally, and the Hart Foundation goes for a double-team. Anvil whips Bret into the corner toward Smash, Smash dodges, Bret hops up to the second rope instead of smashing into the corner, Anvil hits a running shoulderblock on Smash, and then he goes and carries Bret over and powerslams him on top of Smash; Crush breaks up the pin.

Bret hits a right hand that causes Smash to roll out. Smash promptly rolls under the ring, and Ax rolls out from under and enters the match fresh. Vince: "It's tough to tell them apart, but I know that's Ax!" See, Vince, you were doing so well when you didn't pretend that anyone would not know that the tall one was Crush. Now you're pretending that it's credible that someone wouldn't be able to tell Ax and Smash apart. That's ****ing stupid.

Anyway, Ax hammers Bret in direct view of Earl Hebner, who suspects nothing. Bret with a corner whip, but Ax comes charging out of the corner with a running clothesline. Scoop slam by Ax, and a cover for two. Russian legsweep for another two. Corner whip by Ax, and Bret takes the hard chest-first bump; Anvil saves the pin. Crush enters illegally, hits a slow-motion tilt-a-whirl slam, then attempts a cover that Neidhart again saves. As the referee attends to the illegal Anvil, Bret finds himself being double-teamed by the nearly identical Ax and Smash outside the ring. Ax slips back under, and Smash is going to resume wrestling, rolling Bret inside.

As Smash hits a stun gun on Bret, the crowd rises to their feet and looks up the aisle. We have visitors, and they're shedding their spiky shoulder pads en route to ringside. The Legion of Doom have taken an interest.



LOD drags a hiding Ax from underneath the ring. Crush has climbed the ropes, but Hawk gets up on the apron and knocks him down. Bret and Crush are left inside, but from the periphery, the Anvil comes launching in with a slingshot shoulderblock that knocks Smash over a kneeling Bret. Bret promptly follows through into a schoolboy, 1-2-3, and the Hart Foundation wins the decisive fall and the Tag Team Titles to a massive pop. Great finish.



"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this contest, and NEW World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions, the Hart Foundation!"



Very fun match, and holds up nicely on rewatch. Something on the order of ***1/2.



RIP Anvil.