Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper are calling the action, and they are taped from Providence, Rhode Island. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these tapings took place on August 8 and drew a sellout crowd of 15,000 fans.
Opening Contest: Dusty Rhodes (w/Sapphire) (14-0-1) defeats Dale Wolfe after the Polka Dot Drop at 2:01:
Sapphire is wearing a fur coat and in the split screen she says that her best gift is coming at SummerSlam. Dusty works slowly, pummeling Wolfe with strikes to set up the Polka Dot Drop. After the bell, Rhodes and Sapphire dance for the crowd.
Gene Okerlund’s Update segment recaps Tugboat getting taken out of action on Superstars last week by Earthquake and Dino Bravo. Earthquake, Bravo, and Hart gloat about what they did and warn Hogan that the same fate awaits him at SummerSlam.
Non-Title Match: Demolition – Ax & Crush (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Smash) defeat Mario Mancini & George Skaaland when Ax pins Mancini after Demolition Decapitation at 2:43:
This is the first showcase of the Ax and Crush variant of Demolition. Crush shows off some power moves, getting a reaction for a chokeslam off the ropes on Mancini and that leaves Mancini dead to rights for Demolition Decapitation.
Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior says he will enter unknown territory in a steel cage but will still leave Rick Rude laying when their battle is over. Demolition tell the Hart Foundation that the beating Jim Neidhart took on SummerSlam Fever is a taste of what is come for them. Bad News Brown says that his sewer rats have not eaten in a month, so they are hungry to eat Damien. He also says that he has no hesitation in using the Ghetto Blaster on the Big Bossman is need be. Jake Roberts tells Brown that he does not expect the Bossman to be a factor in their match and he will take care of Brown while Damien takes care of the sewer rats. Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri promise to eliminate Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire in their respective matches. Okerlund also announces that Rick Martel will miss SummerSlam because of a previous modeling engagement in Paris, so Tito Santana will face the Warlord instead.
Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) (14-2-1) pins Mike Pocari after the Rude Awakening in 57 seconds:
Fans give their views of the SummerSlam cage match in the split screen as Rude works in fast forward against Pocari, winning in less than a minute in his last tune up before the pay-per-view.
Brother Love interviews Hulk Hogan, who promises that Tugboat will return to action quickly after SummerSlam. After putting over the power of Hulkamania he announces that the Big Bossman will replace Tugboat and be in his corner for the SummerSlam main event. The Bossman promises that he will make Earthquake and Dino Bravo serve hard time in Philadelphia.
The Texas Tornado (5-0) beats Bob Bradley with the discus punch at 2:00:
Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan do an insert promo about how perfect the Intercontinental Champion, something he will prove at SummerSlam. This is a simple squash where the Tornado works an armbar, hits a slam, and then uses the discus punch to finish.
Tune in next week to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Warlord, the Bushwhackers, Earthquake, the Legion of Doom, and Sergeant Slaughter in action!
The Last Word: As expected, the quality of commentary took a dive with this show. Roddy Piper has good enthusiasm, but he did very little to put over the acts in the matches. And since Piper is still a babyface there was not a lot of room for banter between he and Vince McMahon. Aside from commentary, the highlight of the show was replacing Tugboat at SummerSlam with the Big Bossman, an expected result after the end of last week’s telecast.
Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for August 26!