SummerSlam 1988: When Mega Powers Made Mega Bucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCxcnKrdhNo

According to Ric Flair, McMahon’s original plans for SummerSlam ’88 would have been an even more personal dig at Jim Crockett. ‘Naitch’, easily Crockett’s biggest draw of the 1980’s, told Sports Illustrated in a 2017 Q&A that the wheels were in motion to bring him into the WWF to headline SummerSlam in a dream match with WWF Champion Randy Savage.

“I was on my way to work for Vince [McMahon] and wrestle Savage at the Garden. My contract was up and Vince McMahon had been in touch with me. But I decided my best move was to remain in the NWA because I was so attached to my friends in the Four Horsemen. I thanked McMahon for the offer. I just couldn’t get myself to leave.”

Even without the ‘Nature Boy’, McMahon’s plan worked. By the time WWF closed out the year with Survivor Series in November of 1988, JCP was on the verge of bankruptcy and was ultimately purchased by Turner Broadcasting System for a cool $9 mill. TBS rebranded the promotion as World Championship Wrestling, and McMahon would blast ahead with a steady lead of the industry until the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s.

• The Bolsheviks
• the British Bulldogs
• survivor series
• 1988
• The Fabulous Rougeaus
• bad news brown
• Turner Broadcasting System
• andre the giant
• Big Boss Man
• WrestleMania IV
• WCW
• Demolition
• Dino Bravo
• Ted DiBiase
• don muraco
• WWF Championship
• gorilla monsoon
• rick rude
• hercules
• Jim Crockett Promotions
• WWF
• honky tonk man
• Junkyard Dog
• hart foundation
• Ken Patera
• Koko B. Ware
• randy savage
• ultimate warrior
• powers of pain
• Hulk Hogan
• Jesse Ventura
• SummerSlam 1988
• WrestleMania
• Jake Roberts
• SummerSlam
• Ric Flair
• Vince McMahon
• Royal Rumble
• wwe

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