Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid vs. Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau

[7.0] "Everything about this match is just nice to watch. The WWF 80s tag match staples executed about as well as they could be. Even if there's a bit too many extended rest hold or submission sequences for my tastes, this is a boatload of fun with a hot crowd that goes by in a breeze."

[7.0] "Great match. Great action from both teams and some excellent heat moments from the Rougeaus where they cut off the ring, double team and work in a false hot-tag as well where they make the referee miss it and frustrate the crowd more. It's great stuff and they become unglued when Davey finally tags in and the Bulldogs make a comeback. I really wish this had a finish as it ended up as a time limit draw, which was frustrating and I'd probably rate this higher had it not been for that."

[5.0] "The draw might be frustrating, but the match was cool, with good wrestling, a good pace, and an enthusiastic crowd that made it more than satisfying despite the low stakes. In-ring quality: 1.25/4. Stakes: 0.5/2. Justification: 0.75/1. Placement on the card: 0.75/1. Suspense: 1/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 5.25/10. Match watched on Netflix (FR)."

[6.0] "Very decent opening to the show, I did not expect it. I have to say that it was a bit too long for what it was and it kind of dragged towards the halfway point. It got more exciting towards the end though and a time limit draw is not what I thought would happen."

[8.0] "Great match, better than what I was expecting, the British Bulldogs showed a great performance with moves that I wasn't expecting for a WWF match of the 80s, bad thing It was a time limit draw, but still I'll give it 8/10 [****1/2]"

[5.0] "It's an entertaining match, for a twenty-minute match it doesn't even feel like it should. It features several pretty nice moves and some pretty fluid sequences. The only bad thing we could say is its structure, where it's almost completely "one team dominates for a certain number of minutes, the other team dominates for a certain number of minutes and vice versa" throughout the match without much substance, but the sequences they do for their dominance and moves make it entertaining despite such an uninteresting structure."

[7.0] "Pretty good match. It was good all the way through. I think both teams did a hell of a job. I think an actual winner would have been a better ending."

[8.0] "It might be tempting to call this a basic match in how it was laid out - even for '88 - but most every move here was beautifully executed and delivered with intention. As others have said the finish is disappointing but while it lasted this was a great tag match for its time. The British Bulldogs really were some of the best of their era."

[6.0] "A good tag match with a disappointing finish. A nice story of the bulldogs being the better team but the Rougeau's cheating let's them take control. Just wish there was an actual winner. 6/10."

[7.0] "Dynamite kid was the best wrestler of the 80's in wwf after coming over from ajpw. His matches with tiger mask in 1982-4 ? . Anyways peak match"

[6.0] "A good old school heel vs face tag team match between two talented tag teams. It had some dead moments but the crowd was really in to it. I dont really get why they decided the match to end as a draw but it is what it is."

[7.0] "Nothing spectacular but there's always something enjoyable about a good ol' tag team match with two teams who know how to work tags properly. Classic heel stuff from the Rougeaus as the Bulldogs are always good value for the babyface-in-peril into the hot tag. The draw was a bit disappointing as you're right behind the babyfaces come the end but it's not a bad way to protect both teams to build a program out of it. But then they never followed it up. I assume we had the backstage issues between both teams around this time which nixed it."

[6.0] "Fun match with a real damp squib of a draw ending for no real reason. Them going 20 minutes lead to a few periods of just dead air, but at least the crowd stayed with them the whole way."

[3.0] "This is a good wrestling matchup between two teams that know how to work in ring and give some memorable enough character work, especially with BB's use of Matilda and The Rougeaus starting up their fun heel turn with the Canadian expatriate storyline. Unfortunately, and more importantly, this is also the dreaded time limit draw: a totally unsatisfying and terrible booking decision that really should never be used unless it directly services an important long-term storyline. We watch matches to see who wins... What a waste of work talent here and NOT the way you want to set the tone for a card's opening match."

[7.0] "Best match on the show and a very hot opener. The in ring action was pretty good and the match ended in a draw to protect both teams."

[6.0] "A good well worked tag match but I have to question why this firstly needed to go 20 minutes and secondly why it needed to go to a time limit draw as this match went too long and there were long periods of nothing happening. I have to think that something must have been going on as normally I would have thought that the Bulldogs should have been defeating a midcard team like the Rougeau's."

[8.0] "Considering the amount of heat between these two teams backstage, they wrestled a pretty flawless match here. 20 minutes of fast-paced action that resulted in a time limit draw. I usually dislike time limit draws, but this is one of the few done right."

[6.0] "A very decent hot opener, although they lean very, very heavily on tag team formula. Not once but twice with both Bulldogs taking spells in being isolated. If anyone ever wanted a prime example of every single bit of tag formula, this is the match for you! It's a shame they finally hit the crescendo of the match and the time limit expires. Especially with the Bulldogs not long for this promotion."

[6.0] "This was an excellent match. I probably would have given it 7 points if not for the lame time limit draw ending. I also want to commend both of these teams, because they kept the match professional despite having some very, very real personal issues behind the scenes going on at the time. If any of these four were less professional, this could have gotten ugly fast. Though the match still used a lot of the traditional tag team formula, a lot of frequent tags and varied offense made this a real treat to watch. Davey's power moves along with Dynamite's explosive and rapid offense made for a great foil to the Rougeau's fantastic heel work and tandem offense. Despite the length and a bad ending, this match is still worth watching, and is actually one of the very few excellent matches from this event."

[6.0] "I loved the action here. The Rougeaus are phenomenal, especially Raymond shines here with his prickish attitude. A lot of good stuff with The Bulldogs once again showing their speed and strength in their comebacks. Loved it until the time limit finish, which they didn't warn of at least a minute earlier."

[7.0] "29/08/88 SummerSlam WWF. Great opener, both sets of wrestlers worked well together. A few minor botches but the 20 mins flew by. The cheating Bulldogs should of been DQ'd several times, entering the ring without tagging, but I wouldn't put any form of cheating passed them. Not a bad finish especially with the WWF not over using time limit draws. With the great story being unfolded and technical ability on display a solid 7*"

[8.0] "Great opener for this show. This is my favourite match of the night; especially in terms of in-ring, the main event technically has better booking. This might've been a little better had it not been a time limit draw, but I still enjoyed the match. British Bulldogs and the Fabulous Rougeau's had really good chemistry; especially considering the backstage heat between the teams."

[7.0] "Great start, super fun tag team match that features two of the best tag teams of this era at their best. TDK still underrated to this day."

[6.0] "This was a fun match, with the abrupt ending leaving the door open for more matches between the two, although I don't think that ended up happening. I would have certainly headed out and bought a ticket to see them do this again if the WWF was running a show in my area though as they gave you enough to be satisfied whilst leaving you wanting more at the same time"

[6.0] "This was a pretty fun tag match that was held back by a few flaws. While most of the match was good, at 20 minutes in length it definitely felt like there were some lulls in action at times, and it probably would have benefitted by being 5 minutes or so shorter. I also thought the finish was fairly lame. I found it amusing when the crowd (who were very invested in the entire match) booed the Rougeaus for trading places without tagging in when the Bulldogs did the same thing a couple minutes earlier after Davey Boy hit his running power slam and nobody cared or reacted to it. If you like 80s tag team wrestling then I think you're likely to enjoy this, even if it isn't perfect."

"Good choice for the opening match. From the speed of the Bulldogs to the technical ability of both Jacques and Raymond, the heel vs face tag team chemistry worked! A match where Dynamite shows off his explosive ability (very much like Benoit). I like the ending, but cringe seeing the headbutting from Dynamite though."

[6.0] "Good in ring match. The Rougeau were great heels in this one and the crowd loved the Bulldogs. Action was good for the most part but a bit repetitive. Time limit draw was a poor ending for this match"

[7.0] "Above average match. I wanted to rate it 0.25 more, but it wasnt that kind of. It was very good from that era as we dont find too good matches from that time especially from wwf. (***1/2)"

[4.0] "Hot crowd and good workers at a good pace. Kind of sets the tone for what a future good PPV opening match should be. That being said, they're not all there yet."

[7.0] "The first match in SummerSlam history was quite good. It was a classic tag team match, but it was also interesting to watch. The great interplay between the heels, their teamwork, and their attempts to keep the Dynamite Kid from passing the tag, all of which were very interesting to watch. Coupled with that, the lively crowd and the sense of an even match made this bout even more awesome. The only thing I wasn't expecting in any way was this ending, I thought the match would end with the Bulldogs winning, but as it is. I love the tag team division at the time, largely because of such quality matches."

[7.0] "I thought this was a very solid match and for being a draw it is very entertaining and a good opener to the show. ***1/2"

[6.0] "Working off the Coliseum Video here. Solid opener and the crowd seems hot for it but it ends in a time limit draw and it's obvious it's been edited because we didn't get the full 20 minutes on home video. Good opener."

[6.0] "The Bulldogs are beyond finished by this point. Dynamite is hanging on by a thread as his injury has limited what he can get up to in the ring and Bulldog is way too juiced up to move around like he used to. Despite all this, the MSG fans are still massively into The Bulldogs. Bulldog works in a few cool high spots, such as him countering a monkey flip with a cartwheel, but he's too massive to keep the pace up on the high-flying stuff and you will see a lot of holds during this. The Rougeaus have got their camp and cowardly tag act down to a tee and get something decent out of their opponents. The Rougeaus work an extended hot tag segment on Dynamite and they keep it entertaining the entire time. We get classic spots such as the illegal man getting a cheap shot in and the referee missing a face tag because he's being distracted by the heels. Once Smith gets in, they clean house and hit their finish only for the time limit to expire. I have no issues with a time limit finish, but it was never announced that this match had a time limit and they never alerted the fans that x amount of time was remaining on the clock, robbing the finish of the drama. The questionable finish hurts this overall, but the first-ever match in Summerslam history is still a fun tag match that had a hot crowd and got plenty of time."

[5.0] "The first match in the history of SummerSlam. The Rougeaus were on fire ever since turning heel earlier that year, and they drew great heat because of it as always. The in ring action in this contest was really good, but I feel it ultimately dragged a little bit because there was no real storyline here to help take the match to that next level. Of course there was one in real life, but that's a story for another day! [**1/2]"

[7.0] "An athletic and well-wrestled match between two of the better tag teams of the 80s WWF. Dynamite might be a terrible person, but he's one hell of an in-ring worker, and this was Bulldog in his prime, a shockingly impressive powerhouse who hadn't yet started to slow down due to his size. Coupled with the very game and technically savvy Rougeaus, and you have a very impressive bit of work, here, and in this case the time limit draw just makes it feel like a battle of two equally matched opponents rather than a cop out finish."

[7.0] "Really good tag match here, the Rougeaus are so much more interesting as heels, as opposed to the generic babyfaces they used to be. The wrestling was as good as you would expect and I was entertained throughout."

[7.0] "I love the Rougeaus' gimmick around this time and their amazing heel work carries the majority of the matches that I've seen from them in '88. Good opener for a really weak card and likely the best match of the night. This was also around the time Jacques Rougeau famously knocked a few of Dynamite Kid's teeth out in a backstage fight. A few months after the Bulldogs were gone from the company."

[5.0] "A passable match that doesn't seem noteworthy to me at all, it seemed clear early on they were planning for a draw as the match moved at a very slow pace. A long match does not necessarily equal a good match and this is further proof."

[5.0] "This was a good 'opening match' style tag match, with both teams working hard and doing some very good stuff."

[9.0] "The match was a really good contest. Great back and forth wrestling with both teams being very impressive. There were some good counters throughout the match. One I liked was Davey Boy escaping a monkey flip with a cartwheel. The crowd loved the Bulldogs and it was for good reason. I really liked watching them. The Bulldogs outsmarted the Rougeaus a lot early on but the Rougeaus came back in a big way and were really good heels. Some things I really liked were them cheating to get momentum and double teaming behind the ref's back. Both teams isolated a member of the opposition and I thought it was great. Some main examples were Isolating Raymond and The Rougeaus isolating Dynamite kid and keeping him down with submissions. That was one of my favorite parts of the match. It was some great drama seeing him struggle and sell the pain. I really liked the limb targeting by both teams like attacking Raymond's arm or Davey's legs. The match was great and chaotic at the end. Both teams were awesome and naturally worked really well together. The match was a ton of fun and was pretty fantastic."

[7.0] "A 20 minutes tag team match with two great tag teams. Some parts of the match are highly technical and the final splash from the rope is epic. Still, they really slowed down the fight to avoid getting tired. ***1/2"

[7.0] "I gave this match *** 1/4. Good match but nothing special. The finish let this down for me, as did the numerous abdominal stretches that made this match longer than it needed to be."

[6.0] "This match started off pretty slow and stock standard but when the Rougeaus took over things picked up a little. The result was a bit off a let down but that was the style of the day so you can't complain too much."