While the first SummerSlam event (1988) was a great premiere, this second edition takes a couple of steps backward due to only a couple really great matches and a "main event" that is anything but.
The only two matches I really enjoyed from SummerSlam '89 were:
-Hart Foundation vs. Brain Busters. Featured some great technical wrestling (as Bret Hart is always good for). -Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude. Just a classic feud that they let play out at THIS event instead of letting it percolate to the next Wrestlemania.
Then, we have the "Zeus" angle (from the WWF film production "No Holds Barred") for the main event, as he teams up with Randy Savage to take on Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. It is so obvious that Zeus is a film-promoting gimmick that it is kind of sickening. Plus, the Hogan/Savage feud had already been resolved at the previous Wrestlemania, so the bloom was off that rose.
Overall, then, I felt that SummerSlam '89 was kind of a disappointment with its gimmicky main event and low quality of matches. Also, and perhaps this is a result of it being only the second event in the show's history, but this one seemed like little more than a place-holder for upcoming angles/arcs.
The only two matches I really enjoyed from SummerSlam '89 were:
-Hart Foundation vs. Brain Busters. Featured some great technical wrestling (as Bret Hart is always good for). -Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude. Just a classic feud that they let play out at THIS event instead of letting it percolate to the next Wrestlemania.
Then, we have the "Zeus" angle (from the WWF film production "No Holds Barred") for the main event, as he teams up with Randy Savage to take on Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. It is so obvious that Zeus is a film-promoting gimmick that it is kind of sickening. Plus, the Hogan/Savage feud had already been resolved at the previous Wrestlemania, so the bloom was off that rose.
Overall, then, I felt that SummerSlam '89 was kind of a disappointment with its gimmicky main event and low quality of matches. Also, and perhaps this is a result of it being only the second event in the show's history, but this one seemed like little more than a place-holder for upcoming angles/arcs.