SummerSlam 1990 SummerSlam 1990 was the third annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay - per - view produced by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) . It took place on August 27 , 1990 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The card featured ten televised matches , including two main events . The Ultimate Warrior successfully defended his WWF Championship against Rick Rude in a steel cage match , and Hulk Hogan defeated Earthquake by countout . The pay - per - view also included two other title matches . Mr . Perfect lost his WWF Intercontinental Championship to the Texas Tornado , who was a substitute for Brutus Beefcake , who had been injured in a real - life accident . The Hart Foundation won the WWF Tag Team Championship from Demolition in a two out of three falls match . Each of the matches was built up through feuds scripted by the WWF ' s writers , and the matches that took place at the event had pre - determined outcomes that had been decided by the WWF . Reviews of the event are mixed . The tag team title bout is generally considered to be the best match on the card . Several matches are thought to have been poorly executed . Some reviewers enjoyed the event , while others claimed that it is not worth watching . Background . Paul Roma began feuding with The Rockers ( Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty ) during the June 21 , 1990 , episode of " WWF Superstars " . Roma was attacked after a match by Dino Bravo ; when The Rockers came to the ring for the following match , Roma accused them of attacking him . The argument turned physical , and Roma was backed up by Hercules . One week later , Roma and Hercules appeared on the Brother Love Show , an interview segment , and announced that they had formed a tag team known as Power and Glory . A match between the two teams was later scheduled for SummerSlam . The feud between Mr . Perfect and Brutus " The Barber " Beefcake began at the 1990 Royal Rumble . Beefcake , whose gimmick included cutting his opponents ' hair , was wrestling The Genius , Perfect ' s manager . When he began giving The Genius a haircut when Perfect interfered and caused a double disqualification . Perfect and Beefcake wrestled each other at WrestleMania VI , and Beefcake won the match . Perfect won the Intercontinental Championship on April 23 , 1990 in a tournament final . He had caused Beefcake to be eliminated from the tournament by interfering in his match . Beefcake and Perfect had a series of matches at house shows leading up to their planned SummerSlam match . Shortly before SummerSlam , Beefcake was injured while he was standing on a beach and a female friend ' s knees hit him in the face while she was parasailing . Several bones in his face were legitimately broken , including his jaw and nose . As a result , the Texas Tornado replaced Beefcake in the SummerSlam match . At the 1990 Royal Rumble , Sensational Sherri , Randy Savage ' s valet , appeared on the Brother Love show . Brother Love discussed the definition of a " lady " , using Sherri as an example . He then discussed " peasants " , bringing out Sapphire , Dusty Rhodes ' s valet , as an example . Sherri and Sapphire fought , which led to Savage and Rhodes fighting to defend their valets . Rhodes and Sapphire faced Savage and Sherri in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania VI . Rhodes and Sapphire won the match with assistance from Miss Elizabeth , Savage ' s former valet . For SummerSlam , individual matches were scheduled , with Sapphire facing Sherri and Savage wrestling Rhodes . Meanwhile , Sapphire had been receiving gifts from an anonymous benefactor . Tito Santana and Rick Martel formed a tag team named Strike Force in 1987 . They won the WWF Tag Team Championship together before Martel abandoned Santana during a match against the Brain Busters at WrestleMania V . This led to a lengthy feud between the two , The team split up as a result and the former partners had a lengthy feud . and a blow off match was scheduled for SummerSlam . Martel was injured prior to the SummerSlam match , so the WWF created a storyline that he was unable to compete because he was participating in a modeling competition in Paris . He was replaced in the match with The Warlord , who had been competing against Santana on house shows since April . Demolition and The Hart Foundation had faced each other two years earlier at SummerSlam 1988 , where Demolition had successfully defended the WWF Tag Team Championship . The Hart Foundation duo of Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart later focused on singles wrestling but soon reunited as a team . They announced on the March 31 episode of " WWF Superstars " that they wanted to challenge for the WWF Tag Team Championship after the WrestleMania match between The Colossal Connection and Demolition . After Demolition won the match , The Hart Foundation faced The Rockers on the April 28 episode of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " . Demolition interfered , causing a double disqualification . On the July 14 episode of " WWF Superstars " , Demolition and The Hart Foundation brawled after The Hart Foundation claimed that Demolition having three members was evidence of cowardice . The following week , a match between the teams was announced for SummerSlam . The stipulations stated that it would be a two out of three falls match and that only two members of Demolition would be allowed at ringside . The feud between Bad News Brown and Jake Roberts began when Roberts sent Brown a birthday present on the April 22 episode of " Wrestling Challenge " . Upon opening the package , Brown found a rubber snake ; it was revealed that Brown was afraid of snakes . On the May 5 episode of " WWF Superstars " , the two men agreed to a match ; Brown later claimed that his fear of snakes was cured , although he was quickly proven wrong . On the July 28 episode of " WWF Superstars " , it was announced that Brown and Roberts face each other at SummerSlam with the Big Bossman as a special referee . Brown also announced that he would bring 200 pounds of Harlem sewer rats to counteract Roberts ' s boa constrictor , Damien . Nikolai Volkoff began the year partnered with Boris Zhukov in a pro - Soviet tag team known as The Bolsheviks . After Lithuania , Volkoff ' s homeland , declared its independence from the Soviet Union on March 11 , 1990 , The Bolsheviks split up . Volkoff became pro - Western and was presented with an American flag by Jim Duggan . They were then booked to face a Japanese team known as The Orient Express at SummerSlam . As Hulk Hogan was being interviewed on the Brother Love Show during the May 26 episode of " WWF Superstars " , he was attacked by Earthquake . Earthquake hit Hogan with a chair and jumped on his stomach with an Earthquake splash . Hogan was taken from the stage on a stretcher . Hogan did not appear on WWF programming for almost two months , as the company teased his possible retirement . On the July 14 episode of " WWF Superstars " , Hogan announced that he was returning to action and would be facing Earthquake at SummerSlam . Hogan also stated that his friend Tugboat would be in his corner during the match . Earthquake and his ally Dino Bravo attacked Tugboat during a match on the August 18 episode of " WWF Superstars " . Tugboat was carried offstage on a stretcher after Earthquake performed two Earthquake splashes on him . Tugboat was rescued by the Big Bossman , but the injuries he sustained were said to be severe enough to prevent him from appearing at SummerSlam . Hogan later announced that the Big Bossman would be in his corner instead . The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude had been feuding since the 1989 Royal Rumble . The competed against each other in a " posedown " to show off their muscles , after which Rude attacked the Warrior . They faced each other at WrestleMania V in a match for the Warrior ' s Intercontinental Championship . Rude won the title , but the Warrior regained the title belt at SummerSlam 1989 . The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VI ; he was forced to give up the Intercontinental Championship , and Rick Rude was named the top challenger for SummerSlam . It was later announced that the bout would be a steel cage match . To build anticipation for the pay - per - view event , the WWF broadcast " SummerSlam Fever " on the USA Network . The show aired on August 19 and included several interviews as well as an appearance by Hulk Hogan and manager Jimmy Hart on the Brother Love show . It also featured nine matches that included wrestlers who would be competing at SummerSlam .