horrorfan_1986

I will be reviewing various Saturday Night Main Event's on an irregular basis. While I have most, I'm pretty sure I don't have every SNME, so because of that, I will be reviewing them out of order.

Saturday Night Main Event # 20
March 11th, 1989
Hershey, PA
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

This was the last major stop before heading to Atlantic City for Wrestlemania 5. The major theme for the night was 'Decision of a Lifetime'. That decision was Miss Elizabeth's and whose corner she would be in for WM 5, Hulk or Savage. The rest of the night was full of wrestlers trying to gain some momentuem going into Wrestlemania.

Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan vs Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake
Pre-match saw Rude and Heenan telling Mean Gene that this match came about because they're sick of Beefcake making the entire WWF ugly with his haircuts. The match started with a collar elbow tieup with Brutus getting the advantage. He goes for a pair of punches in the corner, but the second time Rude stops him hits a reverse atomic drop. Rude locks in a headlock for a long time, meanwhile; Andre The Giant comes out. Barber hits his own reverse atomic drop on Rude. Brutus is thrown outside the ring, while the ref is distracted by Rude, Andre sits on and chokes Brutus. Out comes Jake Roberts with Damien. Rude jumps him though. Andre chokes Jake, but Big John Studd comes down and has a standoff with his former enemy. Jake grabs Damien and throws him in the ring and Andre runs out. Decent short match with Rude selling well. Helps add more to the story of Andre and Jake while Studd would end up the guest referee for the Wrestlemania match. 6 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Hulk Hogan w/ Miss Elizabeth vs Bad News Brown
It seems as if Bad News Brown had been spreading rumors that Miss Elizabeth was doing "Favors" (Ah, the wholesome days) for President Jack Tunney to help her men out. Since Savage wasn't doing anything about it, Hogan would. Bad News was a legit badass and one time actually called Andre the Giant out for a fight if he didn't shut his mouth. Andre apoligized.
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Typical Hogan ending for a match, but the match was a bit different from his norm. Midway through the match, Bad News went to the back and came out with a snow shovel. So cheesy, but I love it. Hogan hits the big boot, but doesn't go for the cover. He then pulls Bad News to the corner and rams his head to the turnbuckle. But if Pro Wrestling 101 taught you anything, African Americans and Islanders have very thick heads so Bad News no sells it. Hogan takes a lot of offense until Bad News gets on the mic to tell Hogan what he's going to do (His move, the Ghettoblaster). Big surprise, Hogan ducks. Due to the different ring style of Bad News, this was above average Hogan match. Normally, his TV matches are paint by numbers, this one did things a bit differently. Post match saw Hogan and Elizabeth posing to the crowd. 9 Minutes. 3 Stars.

Ted Dibiase w/ Virgil vs The Blue Blazer
Pre-match has an interview with the Blue Blazer. He says he's going to take to the air, whether that means from the top rope, turnbuckle, or the rafters. A very eerie comment looking back. As for Dibiase, this is the first night he's showing off his brand new Million Dollar Championship. From what I hear it's currently in safe keeping in Stamford. Dibiase jumps Blazer after his trademark backflip into the ring. Blazer doesn't even have time to take off his cape and he's being punched and closelined. Blazer makes his comeback and hits a nice suicide dive through the ropes to Dibiase on the outside. Back in the ring, Blazer connects with a crossbody from the top rope. Dibiase though catches and hits Blazer with a powerslam. It's a very short match, which is a shame because had they been given more time, even just 5 more minutes they could have put on a great match. 4 Minutes. 3 Stars.

Miss Elizabeth makes her decision
We head over to the WWF interview stage, which I would love to see the WWE bring back. Mean Gene is with Elizabeth and he sums up Liz's choices, either be in the corner of Hogan or Savage at Wrestlemania. Elizabeth talks about how hard of decision that has been and that she never thought she'd ever have to make it. Finally, Gene asks Elizabeth if she will be in Hogan's corner. She slowly admits that she won't be. Savage runs out excited that Liz chooses him. Gene, just for confirmation asks Liz if she will be in Savage's corner. She once again replies, "No". Savage gets upset and tries to pressure her, which brings out Hogan. Liz stands between them like she has been for the year. Segment ends with answers that only brings on more questions.

The Brain Busters w/ Bobby Heenan vs The Rockers
Pre-match interview with the Heenan Family has Arn saying that Bobby is the mind, Tully is the speed and that he's the power, a perfect combination. The Rockers then has an interview, but I'm distracted by Marty and Shawn rubbing their hands every 5 seconds. Cut to the ring and The Busters jump The Rockers before the bell. Arn and Shawn fights outside the ring while Tully tries to hit a slingshot suplex on Marty. Marty reverses it and Shawn jumps from the top rope and gets a 2 count on Tully. The Rockers continue to use double team moves for the next couple minutes. Finally, once the referee gets only 2 men in the ring, The Rockers stay in control. Shawn runs the ropes, only to have The Brain pull the top rope down and Michaels falls out of the ring. Bobby gets in a few kicks to the down Michaels, before the referee throws him out of ringside. Once they come back from commercial, but Brainbusters are in control against Marty. Arn and Tully shows that they were one of the best tag teams ever with a lot of quick tags, most of which came without Marty seeing them. They continue to build towards the hot tag, which finally happens with Shawn coming in and taking out both Busters. Arn and Tully rolls out of the ring while continuing to attack Marty, but Shawn flies out of the ring between the ropes to hit the former Horsemen. All four men fights outside until the referee counts to five. A cop out ending, but it left open a lot of room for a feud. I'm not really sure why these two teams didn't wrestle each other at Wrestlemania. I can't recall any sort of buildup between their WM opponents (Twin Towers and Strike Force). This was probably the match of the night and felt like it could of been an opening match for the early PPVs. 9 Minutes. 3 Stars.

The Brooklyn Brawler w/ Bobby Heenan vs The Red Rooster
Pre-match interview has Heenan calling Rooster a nobody, but he builds up the Brawler by saying he's a bigger and better nobody than the Rooster ever was.
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Meanwhile, Rooster says that he is a somebody, he's the Red Rooster. I'm not sure whether that was supposed to be a joke or not. On to the match, Brawler starts off with some punches, a knee and raking of the face. Rooster fights back, but is irish whipped into the ropes with Brawler setting him up for a back body drop. Taylor instead rolls Brawler up for a small package and gets the 3 count. Post match sees Heenan distracting Rooster by getting in the ring, but Brawler runs back in the ring and hits a Northern Lariat on Rooster. Heenan and the famous jobber continues to beat down on Rooster until Taylor makes his comeback and sends Brawler out of the ring, Heenan escapes. Not much of a match, but it helps builds towards Wrestlemania. I do have to question the WWF's choice in booking Booby vs Rooster at Wrestlemania though. Heenan was always a great person to book in a match, however; Rooster was never over in the WWF. It seems like such a mistake booking one of your top heels (Which Bobby was) against someone the people could give a shit about. 2 Minutes. 1 Star.

The show ends with Savage screaming he's still the champion and destroying things in the back and a special recap video of the destruction of the Mega Powers.

Overall
For just one hour, the WWF did a lot to build up Wrestlemania. I would of liked to hear a little more talk about Warrior vs Rude, but they at least had Rude wrestle. There was two really good short matches in Dibiase vs Blazer and Brain Busters vs Rockers. I really wished the WWE would book the modern SNME's like these old ones. It was a good blend of normal weekly action, but making it appear more important than shows like The Wrestling Challenge and Superstars of Wrestling.

Recommended Match
The Brain Busters vs The Rockers

__________________

Chino

Great idea.

I always love reading your stuff. You have so much knowledge on old school wrestling.

Your posts make for great reads.

horrorfan_1986

Saturday Night Main Event # 23
October 14th, 1989
Cincinnati, OH
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

We skip ahead past Wrestlemania and Summerslam to just a month before The Survivor Series. We're just about to the climax of the Hogan vs Zeus feud. If you're a recent fan of the WWE and you actually believe the Great Khali is a talentless big man, then you need to see Zeus. Zeus makes Khali look like the second coming of Andre the Giant.

Macho King Randy Savage w/ Queen Sherri vs Superfly Jimmy Snuka
Just a few weeks earlier, Savage became the new King of the WWF. In a pre-match interview, Jesse Ventura repeats "All hail the king" several times. Think Regal in 2006, just without the British accent. Meanwhile, Snuka in his jibberish claims that the Superfly has no king or queen. Cut to the ring with Snuka coming out and getting jumped once he gets in the ring. Savage runs the ropes, only to get one of Snuka's trademark chops and headbutts. Randy tries escaping, but Jimmy throws him back in the ring. Sherri does her best to distract Snuka which pays off with Savage sneak attacking Snuka. For the next few minutes, Savage proforms several versions of chokes. Whenever the referee pushed him back, Sherri would choke the Superfly. Finally, Snuka gains control once Savage misses a high knee in the corner. Randy is suspended in a tree of woe with Jimmy taking shots on him. Once the ref pushes Snuka back, Sherri slips Savage her loaded purse. Once again Superfly falls for Sherri's distraction and Savage hits him in the back and rolls him up in a school boy and gets the pin. Post match sees Savage missing the Elbow Drop and Snuka headbutting the King out of the ring. I love Snuka, but at this point of his career, he was really only good for his chops, headbutts and his crazy coked out facial expressions. Speaking of which, Snuka looked like he just did a little sniffing before the match. Either way, this match would of been better had it happened before Snuka took some time off (Circa 1985). 6 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Hulk Hogan vs Ted Dibiase w/ Zeus
Ted Dibiase tells Jesse Ventura in a pre-match interview that he only buys the best of things and Zeus is his biggest investment to date. Hogan tells Mean Gene that Zeus should of finished him off when he had the chance. Dibiase heads to the ring with Zeus, but Virgil is missing. The first half of the match really suffers with Zeus at ringside. Everytime Hogan got near him, Zeus would grab his legs. The problem with this is that Dibiase and Hogan could never really get in a flow. Luckily, Jake Roberts comes down to even the odds ad we get more of a match. With Hogan pounding Dibiase in the corner, Virgil comes running down and steals Damien in his bag. This caused Roberts to run after Virgil and was enough of a distraction for Hogan for Dibiase to closeline him out of the ring. Back from commerical, Dibiase is in total control. Hogan starts a comeback, but a duel closeline sent them both down to the mat. Dibiase gets up first and does a top rope knee across Hogan's throat. He goes for the pin, but Hogan kicks out and begins to Hulk up. Hogan hits the ropes and nails Ted with the big boot, but before he can do anything else, Zeus comes in. With Zeus holding Hogan, Dibiase goes to closeline Hogan (Damn, there's a lot of closelines in this match), but Hogan ducks and he nails Zeus. The misstep allows Hogan to set Dibiase up for a small package pin for the 3. For all haters of Hogan, him doing a small package is yet another example that he could do more than what he showed in the WWF. Post-match has a staredown between Zeus and Hogan. Dibiase jumps Hogan and the double teaming begins until Jake Roberts returns with Damien to clear the ring. But before Roberts could get in the ring, Zeus "Breaks" Hogan's neck with a twisting neck move. I wonder how Zeus vs Hogan would of turned out at WM 6. All of this buildup was for that match, but they made the smart move of putting Warrior in the match instead. The first half of this match wasn't too good. It felt more like an interview turning physical than an actual match. The second half of the match went a lot better. However, I still wish that Hogan and Dibiase a World Title match on PPV. Royal Rumble 1990 would of been perfect, but then we would of missed out on the epic Warrior/Hogan fight at the Rumble. 8 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Roddy Piper vs Haku w/ Bobby Heenan
In a pre-match interview, Heenan talks about how the Heenan family loves to have fun and how Piper will pay for costing Rick Rude the IC Title at Summerslam. Roddy Piper in his return on SNME, acts too crazy to even make sense. Piper comes to the ring, but Haku attacks him before the bell. Roddy counters and starts a flurry of punches and backhands. Haku is closelined out of the ring (Closeline is the move of the night I guess) and Piper jumps on Haku beating him up more. Piper back in the ring sees the weasel on the outside. The two of them runs around the ring until Haku knocks him down. Back in the ring Haku hits a nice shoulderbreaker and a legdrop that looks like it would knock the wind out of you. Piper comes back and irish whips Haku to the ropes and thrusts Haku into the ring. Not sure what it's called, but it's typical done by big or power wrestlers (Umaga comes to mind). With that, Piper hits a belly to belly suplex for the pin. Very short match with a full minute of Piper just in the ring and chasing Bobby. However, Haku hit a few good moves and Piper did a couple moves I've never seen him do before. I do wish that these two would of gotten more time. 10 minutes or so could have produced a 3 star match at least. 4 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Rick Martel w/ The Slick and The Enforcers vs Tito Santana w/ The Dream Team
Martel tells Mean Gene that he was the true member of Strike Force and he's going to prove that he's better than Santana. Tito says that he has a surprise for Martel. Martel makes his way down the ring with Akeem's music. But besides having his manger The Slick, he also has the entire team of the Enforcers (Big Boss Man, Akeem and Honky Tonk Man with Jimmy Hart of course). Santana comes out to the ring by himself but he whistles to the back and out comes the Red Rooster, Brutus Beefcake and Dusty Rhodes, The Dream Team. The match begins with both former members of Strike Force hitting hard and going back and forth. Santana closelines Martel out of the ring (Seriously, was this a requirement for the night? :sus: ) and attacks him outside the ring. Back inside, Santana starts dominating Martel and irish whips him into the ropes and flies off the opposite side to hit his Flying Forearm. The Slick gets up on the ring apron to distract Santana. The Boss Man shoves Santana back which causes all 6 wrestlers to jump in the ring. Another ref comes down to stop from a fight breaking out. Cut to a commercial and when we get back, all is settled with both men fighting it out again. The two fight for another 5 minutes before Santana gets his former partner where he wants him. While twisting Martel's leg around for the figure four leg-lock, Slick once again gets on the apron. Santana like a child with ADD seeing something shinny on the wall goes to the Slick trying to get his hands on him. Boss Man gets in the ring or rather falls over the ropes and chops Santana. This brings in the entire Dream Team followed by the rest of the Enforcers and we have an impromptu battle royal with the faces, The Dream Team being left in the ring. The longest match of the night and they couldn't have picked a better two to take up the time. Not quite ppv quality, but it was a nice blend of in ring action and build up for The Enforcers vs The Dream Team at the Survivor Series. I still can't understand why they didn't book Santana vs Martel at Wrestlemania 6. Neither man did much at the show, so I don't see why they couldn't have had one more major match and just book the Barbarian vs Koko B Ware. Nonetheless, 9 minutes. 3 stars.

Rougeau Brothers w/ Jimmy Hart vs The Bushwackers
Raymond and Jacques heads down to the ring with the most bitchin' theme music of all time. For whatever reason, they're the only ones who doesn't have a pre-match interview. Cut to the back with The Bushwackers with Mean Gene. This is their SNME debut. I can't really understand what Butch and Luke are saying, but I could make out the word "Cousin" used a few times. The interview ends with the Bushwackers licking Mean Gene. Good times?
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Back to the ring, The Bushwackers jump the Rougeau's and knock them out of the ring, which leaves Jimmy Hart alone with the Kiwi's. He tries to run out of the ring, but the Bushwackers grab him, but Jacques grabs Jimmy's hands. For a moment there's a tug of war with Hart being the rope. Finally, the Bushwackers ends up pulling the pants off of Jimmy Hart, like we needed to see that. Once the match actually begins, it's all Raymond and Jacques up until Jacques showboats a bit and Luke takes over doing some moves that weren't common for a Bushwacker, dare I say they were actually good. In comes Butch to hit a battering ram with his head and a double gordbuster gets the 3 on Jacques. Short match, but some good moves displayed by the Rougeaus and surprisingly, Luke. Raymond and Jacques deserved much better though. 4 minutes. 1 1/2 stars

Overall
The matches were below SNME's normal quality, but it was a great buildup for Survivor Series. Hogan and Zeus had another good build while The Dream Team/Enforcers had a nice build during the match. I do find it weird that all 4 men of Roddy's Rowdies in action, yet none of the members of the 4x4's and Ultimate Warriors. Rockers (half of the Ultimate Warriors) vs the Rougeaus could of been a great match. This was still a weak outing for SNME though.

Recommended Match
Tito Santana vs Rick Martel

__________________

horrorfan_1986

Saturday Night Main Event # 8
November 29, 1986
Los Angeles, CA
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

With no Survivor Series to worry about, the WWF is currently finishing up all of their summer feuds to get all set for the biggest show ever with Wrestlemania III. WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan is in the middle of a few feuds all centering around men trying to take his title. The Hart Foundation are coming closer and closer to achieving their goal in becoming the Tag Team Champions. Lastly, Randy Savage is becoming more and more paranoid about his IC title and the men trying to win it.

Randy Savage (c) w/ Miss Elizabeth vs Jake Roberts - IC Title Match
Before the match, Mean Gene interviews Jake with Damien crawling over Roberts. Gene's hand is shaking the entire time making for an even better interview. Roberts is still technically a heel, so we have ourselves a rare heel vs heel match. There's a loud "DDT" chant before both men lock up. Early on has Roberts with a side head lock with Randy pulling Roberts hair to get pin attempts. Savage takes over working on Roberts. Jake is tied up in the ropes when Savages grabs Damien's bag and throws it under the ring. Back from commercial break, Savage is met with a running knee lift when he tries to get back in the ring. Now it's Roberts' turn on the offense. Roberts retreives his scaly friend from under the ring. Damn, I was hoping he was going to throw Liz under the ring to even the odds up. Savage tries to hide behind Elizabeth on the outside. If this was 1991, Elizabeth would of been slapped down. However, since this is 1986, Snake goes to open up Damien's bag. Savage jumps him and it's back in the ring. Roberts with a DDT attempt, but Savage grabs the ropes. Savage shoves referee Dave Hebner hard to the ground with Hebner tried to break up the fight. Back up, Roberts shoves Dave hard enough that he falls out of the ring. Hebner calls for the bell and we have a Double DQ. This match would really just be the beginning of Roberts face turn which would be cemented a short while later when Honky Tonk Man attacks him. The finish was to be expected seeing how it was the only way to not hurt either man and keep them looking strong leading into the new year. It didn't have the passion of their 1991 feud, but with this being just a random matchup, it was a lot of fun. Anyone who enjoyed their '91 feud should check this match out. 11 Minutes. 3 1/2 Stars.

Next up is a recap of The Slick selling Hercules' contract to Bobby Heenan. The Slickster just wants his moneeyyyy so Bobby withdraws huge stacks of cash from his bank. Ironically enough, The Slick would end up being Hercules manager in 1990 when Hercules turned heel. Come to think of it, I think the Slick only had Hercules for a few months before selling him to Heenan. Slick had just came into the WWF in 1986 and gained control of some of Freddie Blassie's wrestlers once Blassie's health forced him off of the road.

Hulk Hogan (c) vs Hercules w/ Bobby Hennan - WWF World Title Match
Hercules gets this match not so much because he had issues with Hogan, but Heenan made it his personal goal to find someone to beat Hogan for the WWF Title. Test of strength to start things off. Hercules is actually overpowering Hogan. Hogan with some punches then leaves the ring to chase Bobby. Back inside, Hogan blocks some punches and hits a elbow for a 2 count. Hercules works over the back of Hogan with the Torture Rack. Herc thinks that he won, so does Ventura. Pin attempt...1...2...No. Hulk Hulks Up. A lot of punches by Hogan. Big Boot followed by the Legdrop gets Hogan the 3 count. Hmm, I seem to remember this being a lot better when I first reviewed it on the home video WWF Superheroes. This was really too short to be anything too special. Herc was a good opponent for Hogan though. They were both the same type of wrestler which could of made for an interesting feud. This would be about as big of a push as Hercules would have in his 7 year WWF career. 8 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Earlier tonight as some Hollywood restaurant, Jesse Ventura talks to Cowboy Bob Orton and his manager, Jimmy Hart. Orton claims that Piper was never a good wrestler and that he always did his dirty work.

Next up is an extremely cheesy, but awesome video highlighting the friendship between Roddy Piper and Bob Orton.

Roddy Piper vs Cowboy Bob Orton w/ Jimmy Hart and Don Muraco
Piper turned face at the previous SNME. Meanwhile, Orton was now in the Hart camp and was a tag team partner of Muraco. Muraco tries pulling the ankle of Piper when Roddy hits the ropes. After some arguing, the ref orders Muraco back to the lockerroom. Bulldog by Piper is followed up with some biting. Orton is whipped into the corner and does a Flair bump. Orton is overselling like crazy. Running knee life by Piper gets a 2 count. Irish Whip with Piper looking for a back body drop. Orton counters with a Goldust like uppercut. Gutwrench into a ribbreaker gets a 2 count for Orton. Jimmy Hart grabs Piper so that Orton can hit Piper. Piper moves out of the way and Orton pulls the punch in time to not hit his manager. Piper pushes Orton which sends Jimmy Hart flying off of the apron. Roll up by Piper gets the 3. This match had two purposes. First, was to keep building Piper up as a face. The second was to have Piper go over another member of Hart's family. Much like Hulk Hogan, Piper would be feuding with an entire family of wrestling on his way to facing the main one (In this case Adrian Adonis) at Wrestlemania 3. Orton was near HBK-level overselling tonight. I was never a fan of the Cowboy though. I guess it's something in the genes of the family which makes me hate them. The crowd was really getting behind Piper by now. One could easily say that he was the number 2 babyface going into Wrestlemania 3. Entertaining even if it was just to put one man over. 6 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Backstage, Mean Gene talks to Roddy Piper about his recent crowd reaction. Piper talks about Adonis and puts over how there's bigger things to come. Nice little segment of building towards his final match ever at 'Mania.

The Killer Bees vs The Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart
These two teams battled a lot in '86. I believe it's the Harts first major feud and the only significant one for the Bees. In case you're wondering, The Bees are Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell (Of the underrated AWA team, The High Flyers). The Bees are in control until Hart knees Brunzell while on the apron. Demolition finisher gets Bret a 2 count. Dropkick by Neidhart. Not bad. The Harts double team by choking Brunzell with a tag rope while the ref is busy with Blair. Brunzell is thrown out of the ring as we go to a commercial break. Brunzell continues to play the face in peril. Nice dropkick by Brunzell allows him to tag in Blair. But wait, the ref was distracted by Bret and didn't see the tag. Brunzell is thrown out of the ring again followed by Niedhart hitting Blair off of the apron. The Bees are looking under the ring. Could it be? YES~! The Bees are now wearing the masks~! B. Brian Blair is now in the ring without a tag. Sleeper by Blair is broken up by Hart. The ref orders Bret to get out of the ring. Brunzell pushes his partner out of the ring and pulls an Eddie Guerrero. Neidhart tags in Hart. Small package by Brunzell for the 3 count. I loved the concept of the masks for the Killer Bees to out cheat all of the heels. However, this match was a virtual squash before the masks came out. Even though the Bees won, they still looked like jobbers while the Harts continue their quest to become the WWF Tag Team Champions. These two teams had better matches earlier in the year, including the MSG match on Bret's DVD. 10 Minutes. 2 1/2 stars.

Backstage, Mean Gene is with Koko B Ware. Gene claims that all of America is looking forward to Koko vs Nikolai Volkoff. Uhh...sure. On a night with Hulk Hogan, Miss Elizabeth, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Damien and The Hart Foundation, people are actually looking forward to seeing a black midget wrestler. Seriously, Koko is shorter than Mean Gene.

Nikolai Volkoff w/ The Slick vs Koko B Ware w/ Frankie
Before the match, Volkoff sings the Russian national anthem. For some reason, he just stops before the ending. Did someone miss their cue to interrupt it? How much do you want to bet that Koko wins with a rollup or some lucky pinfall? Nikolai uses his power in the match while Koko uses his speed. Pin attempt by Koko only gets a two. Missal Dropkick by Koko gets a 2. Nikolai takes over. Volkoff, realizing that he has the win in hand, turns his back on Koko and talks to his manager. Koko rolls Volkoff up and gets the win. You don't even need to see this match to know exactly how it will turn out. If I was Volkoff, I would have had a serious thought about where my career went. Less than 2 years ago, he won the tag titles with the Iron Sheik at Wrestlemania. Before that, he main evented shows across the nation challenging for the World Title against the likes of Sammartino and Hogan. And now he loses to the colorful jobber known as Koko. 4 Minutes. 1 Star.

Backstage, Mean Gene is with The Hulkster. Gene brings up Ventura's doubt in Hogan winning tonight. Hogan puts Hercules over as a guy of similar strength but just goes on and on about himself. Hulkamania will live forever. Honestly, the Hogan/Herc feud could of been huge. I guess it was just a matter of bad timing though. Had Herc came into the WWF in early '85, they may of been able to push him hard enough for a WM 2 match with Hogan.

'The Rebel' Dick Slater vs Don Muraco w/ Mr Fuji
It appears as if Slater is a face. Slater wasn't in the WWF for too very long. He was however, a fixture on Turner television for years as 'Dirty' Dick Slater. Before the match, Mean Gene talks with Muraco and Mr Fuji. Fuji actually sings Slater's theme music. Awesome.
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Sadly, from there, the match is all downhill. Fuji cheats some to help out his man while Muraco has a hard time even capitalizing on anything. Muraco wins with his feet on the ropes. Slater got in way too much offense. The former IC champion looked like a joke in what should have been an easy win. 3 Minutes. 1 Star.

Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura wraps up the show.

Overall
Without a November PPV, this was a pretty exciting night showcasing most of the main wrestlers and storylines at the time. Only 2 throw away matches which is about on par for SNME's at this time. Savage vs Roberts as the main event was a top notch match. By this point, the WWF knew how to put together these supercard events which leads me to wonder why they can't these days.

Recommended Match
Randy Savage vs Jake Roberts

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KenTheKiller

The middle one sounded boring to be honest. Maybe because I haven't seen it. I don't know.


Do you think WWE should put up old SNME's on WWE 24-7 or release them on DVD or something?

__________________

horrorfan_1986

The middle one was pretty entertaining. Maybe not the most technically sound event ever, but everyone played their role well enough to be entertaining.

If nothing else, I'd love for the WWE to release a 2/3 Disc "Best of Saturday Night Main Event" DVD. There's a lot of great matches that has yet to be released on DVD. If the DVD does well enough, it'd be incredible if they do a SNME Anthology. With most only being around 1 hour long, an Anthology would only be 36 hours (Not including extras) compared to the 60 hour Summerslam anthology.

__________________

horrorfan_1986

Saturday Night Main Event # 32
March 18, 2006
Detroit, MI
Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Tazz

After the April 1991 SNME (Warrior vs Slaughter and Hart vs Dibiase), the WWE and NBC severed their ties for the Saturday Night Main Event. The following year, the WWE brought back SNME on Fox. The new Fox SNME lasted a year (2 episodes) before SNME seemed disappeared from the air forever. The WWE did do a few SNME-like specials, most notably Super Tuesday (Before Survivor Series '02). Much to the delightful surprise of old school fans, it was decided to bring SNME back to NBC for one night to help build up Wrestlemania 22. Finally, newer fans would finally get to see the classic show that gave the fans so many memorable moments. The question was, could it live up to it's old standards?

They start off the show just as they should with short promos building towards the matches tonight. Triple H, John Cena, Vince and Shane McMahon, Shawn Michaels and the Boogeyman all gets their time.

Triple H and John Cena vs Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle and Randy Orton - 2 on 3 Handicap Match
This would be Raw's main event for WM vs SD's. For the SD team, Angle and Mysterio both agreed to watch each others back for this one night. Orton made it clear he was only out for himself. Triple H and Cena starts off as a formidable team. However, once we take the first commerical break, we return with the news that Hunter wanted Cena to take some cheap shots on Rey when he distracted the ref. Cena refused though. On the outside, Hunter slams Rey against the barricade and yells at Cena to listen to him when he tells him to do something. Back in, Cena doesn't tag in when Hunter holds out for the tag. The SD guys root on Mysterio until he can get in a tag to Mysterio. Cena tags in and we get a dream match of sorts between Mysterio and Cena. Orton tags in but quickly gets the spinning slam by Cena. Cena with the "You Can't See Me" directed at Hunter to Orton. Hunter breaks up the pin and Pedigrees Cena. Hunter leaves, but re-enters the ring to pull Orton on top of Cena. 1...2...NO, Mysterio pulls his own partner off of Cena. Mysterio doesn't want to win this way. This brings Hunter back in the ring to take Mysterio out. Angle throws Hunter out of the ring, but turns right into an RKO. Orton in his snake-like pose readies himself for the RKO to Cena. Cena reverses the RKO into a pin and gets the win for the Raw guys. More than anything, this was just a way for the partners to turn against each other. However, making it 2 on 3, SD was doomed to look bad in comparison. The fact that they couldn't win with the 2 on 3 advantage, Hunter turning on Cena and with the only combination that could get along being on a team (Angle and Mysterio). The match wasn't too great though. Once the match starts to get going, the craziness begins leading to the ending. 12 Minutes. 2 1/2 Stars.

Backstage, Booker T is in the trainer's office. It appears as if he's injured his knee. The doctor can't seem to find out what's wrong, but he urges for a MRI and for Booker not to wrestle the Boogeyman tonight due to the pain. Teddy Long reluctantly agrees to call off the match. As Booker and Sharmel are leaving, a smile appears on their face. Hmm...you don't think he was faking it do you? *Gasp*

In the ring are Edge and Lita for the latest edition of The Cutting Edge. Edge puts over how Mick Foley used to be a hardcore legend. However, Foley is more of a teddy bear these days. Edge challenges Foley to come out. When that doesn't work, Edge calls Foley the most overrated wrestler ever. Well I guess if there's one guy who knows what overrated is, Edge would be the guy. That's enough to bring Foley out. Before Foley enters the ring, Edge lights a table on fire giving a bit of foreshadowing for what's to come. When the fire is extinguished, Foley pours out a bag full of...you guess it, thumbtacks. Foley tries to slam Edge into the tacks, but Edge reverses it and hiptosses Foley into the tacks. Edge and Lita starts to leave, but as Foley stands up smiling, but falls on cue. Foley runs up and attacks Edge. Foley ends the segment giving Edge an one man con-chair-to. Awesome segment to build up the match of the night at Wrestlemania.

Backstage, Booker T and Sharmell celebrates their lies with a little towel dance. The lights go red and The Boogeyman appears behind them upside down. Both scream and runs out of the lockerroom. They happen to run right past Teddy Long.

Back to the ring, JBL introduces us to the first ever SNME Beer Drinking Contest. JBL trashes Detroit and forever becomes my enemy when he insults the Detroit sports teams. Steve Austin comes out to one of his weakest pops ever. Honestly, Booker T when his image was displayed on the screen later in the show got a bigger pop than Austin. Think about that for a minute. JBL keeps reverting back and forth from his Wrestling God-like self to a rookie shy of talking to a star like Austin. They finally start the drinking contest with both men back to back while drinking. JBL just pours the drinks on himself. That doesn't go on too long as Austin catches him. JBL throws beer in Austin's face and escapes. Midway to the entrance, Chris Benoit (Oh yeah...the guy who ACTUALLY has a match with JBL at WM) grabs JBL and throws him back in the ring. Austin stuns JBL and celebrates some. I don't understand giving Austin so much time when he didn't even have a match at WM. It's not like Austin was even over much on the show. Checking out the ratings will also show he didn't help in that department. Meanwhile, you have Benoit, the Raw tag team title match and the entire MITB match all getting no time on the show (Unless you count the 20 seconds with Benoit). The segment felt very off too. With a drinking past that JBL had, they tried to portray him as someone who didn't drink much. This was just such a waste of time.

Trish Stratus and Mickie James vs Candice Michelle and Victoria
Holy Batman, an actual match. With Torrie Wilson pulling out of the match due to an injury by Victoria and Candice, Mickie James filled in. This was to be Mickie and Trish's last time together since Trish wanted a break from the increasingly stalkerish Mickie. Trish starts off the match. The heels pull the ref over distracting him from seeing the tag to Mickie. Trish attempts to tag Mickie again, but Victoria knocks Mickie off of the apron. Trish gives a boot to Victoria and hits the very staged-looking Stratusfaction to win the match. Total time Mickie was in the match: 0:00. After the match, Mickie gets on the mic saying she will leave Trish alone for now on. Mickie just wants one handshake though. Trish agrees, but Mickie teases a kiss on the lips. Mickie kisses Trish on the cheek and then hugs Trish. Trish freaks out while Mickie hits Stratus with her own Chick Kick (Later to be called the Mick Kick). HEEL TURN~! Finally. I was waiting for this for months. As for the match, for such a short match, it shouldn't have any technical flaws in it. However, even in how short it was, there was botches and just an utterly terrible match. The post-match events were fantastic though. 3 Minutes. 3/4 Star.

From WWE.com Unlimited, Mickie gives a short but great promo. "Do you love me now Trish?!!!" Psycho Mickie was easily the best part of Raw.

Back at the ring, Davari and Mark Henry calls out The Undertaker. Apparently, Taker is scared of Henry. The lights go off and the druids pushes out a casket followed by Taker. Taker has his usual long entrance taking up even more time. Henry and Taker fights out of the ring and Taker reverses a whip and sends Henry into the steps. Taker hits a boot to Henry sending him over the barricade. Chokeslam to Davari. Taker ends the segment tombstoning Davari on top of the casket taking him out of action until he comes back with Khali. Yet another wasted segment which only point was taking Davari out of the feud (Thus setting up Khali's debut) and building towards the Casket Match. Who honestly wants to see these two fight so close to WM? All this is is a way to take time away from others. A Finlay vs Lashley match would of been much smarter.

Shawn Michaels vs Shane McMahon w/ Vince McMahon - Street Fight
To preview the Street Fight between Vince and Shawn, they book this. Shawn meets Shane up at the entrance and rolls him down the ramp. Shane sets up a ladder in the ring with some tables on the outside. Shawn punches away Vince to get off of the table. Some fighting at the top of the ladder leads to the suplex by Shawn through the table. Nice spot simple spot that gets a Holy Shit chant. We go to commercial and once we return, both are back in the ring as if nothing even happened. Later on, Shane sets Shawn up in the corner for the Coast-to-Coast (Aka Van Terminator). Vince holds a garbage can infront of Shawn from behind. Shane jumps, but Shawn moves out of the way causing Shane to crash the can in Vince's face. Vince is out cold. Shawn hits the top rope elbow followed by the Sweet Chin Music. Vince jumps in the ring as if he wasn't attacked just moments before. Shane locks in the Sharpshooter and Vince orders for the timekeeper to ring the bell. Screwjob~! Ugh...it's as if they took the blueprints of a street fight and just did the normal spots. The no-selling really hurt the 2 big spots making this match completely meaningless. With Shane, I expected much better than this. 17 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Overall
While the original show rarely had any long matches (15 minutes or more) but they always made sure to add plenty of in ring action (Especially after the first couple of years). Somehow, SNME became a show of segments, rather than matches. The show started off well enough up until the Drinking Contest. From then on, it was all downhill. How is it that Raw gets involved in all 3 matches, while SD gets 2 segments and half of the main event? This would of been the perfect time to give either the CW or WWE Tag Team Champions their WM-Level match seeing how they weren't booked at the big show. MNM vs Mexicools or Gregory Helms vs Kid Kash could of been great. I had high hopes for the return of SNME, but it seemed as if the WWE forgot how to book them properly. Sadly, the WWE hasn't put in much more effort into SNME's since then. If you want to see a good SNME, just watch the very last one before going off of the air. Bret Hart vs Papa Shango in Bret's first title defense as WWE Champion, Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog in an IC title match where Shawn wins it and Money Inc defending the tag titles against Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior. 3 matches, buildup to Survivor Series '92 and plenty of big stars. Guess what? The ratings were twice as much as the 2006 one. Hell, with the exception of the Aug 2006 one (Main event of Kane/Batista vs Finlay and Khali), every SNME has went down in ratings with the last one being 1.4. 1.4? That's pathetic. Much like this show.

Recommended Match
The Cutting Edge segment

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King Steventon

And people disagreed with me when I said SNME was pointless these days.

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horrorfan_1986

It wouldn't need to be pointless if they actually put some effort into it. I believe with the exception of the first modern one, all the others had a few days build. You're bound to get horrid ratings if you don't build and advertise properly. With the tri-branded PPVs keeping a lot of people off of PPV, SNME could easily be used to showcase endings for those feuds. A potential card could be:

Triple H (c) vs Vladimer Kozlov - WWE Title

William Regal vs Jamie Noble

The Colons vs Edgeheads (c) - 2/3 Falls Tag Titles Match

The Undertaker vs Chavo Guerrero

Batista (Or some other top star on Raw) Squash

But there's no reason why you should have a 90 minute program with only 30 minutes of actual wrestling.

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horrorfan_1986

Saturday Night Main Event # 14
January 2, 1988
Landover, MD
Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura


Jesse and Vince opens up the show running down the card. Ventura is especially interested in seeing Jake Roberts vs Sika. Not sure why, but good for him.

Backstage taped segment with Hulk Hogan working out preparing for his match with King Kong Bundy. Gene Okerlund tries to wish Hogan a happy new year, but Hogan says there won't be a happy new year unless he beats Bundy. Hogan also wants another piece of that no good giant, Andre. Oh, I think you will get another piece. *Insert evil laugh*.

We cut to our first pre-match interviews. Slick with his Bolsheviks promise to take home the tag team titles. Apparently, Mikhail Gorbachev (Or as Slick calls him, Gorby) even helped the Russians with a game plan. Quite impressive, let's see if the Bolsheviks can make Gorby proud.

As Nikolai Volkoff sings the Soviet national anthem in the ring, we but back to Okerlund and he's with the champs. Martel shouts that they will Strike hard and fast. Tito believes in his partner. Martel proudly proclaims 1988 as the year of the Strike Force. I believe a couple of paint wearing wrestlers would disagree.

Strike Force (c) vs The Bolsheviks w/ Slick - 2 out of 3 Falls Tag Team Titles Match
Strike Force had just won the tag straps back in October (Not aired until November IIRC). This would be their first major television title defense. That being said, search for their MSG rematch against the Hart Foundation, being that it's one of the best tag matches of the 80's. Tito and Boris starts off the match. Santana is easily in control as he tags into Martel. Strike Force begins working over the arm of Boris with arm ringers. Boris gets the tag to Nikolai resulting in Santana playing the face-in-peril for a few minutes. Frequent tags by the Russians showing that they can be as good as the champs. Tito outsmarts Boris (Yeah, I'm sure that took a lot of work to do) and uses his speed to get past him to tag in Martel. Martel locks in the Boston Crab (Finisher he used to make Jim Neidhart submit resulting in Strike Force winning the belts) while Santana hits Nikolai. Boris can't withstand it any longer and is forced to tap out. Strike Force are up 1-0. Strike Force begins the second fall double dropkicking Volkoff to the outside. Martel again locks in the Boston Crab on Zukhov. Volkoff breaks up the submission. While the referee is trying to get Santana out of the ring, the Russians double team Martel. Volkoff uses power moves to wear down Martel. Gutwrench suplex gets a two count. Tag to Boris. Zukhov uses his head to headbutt Martel repeatedly in his back. Hot tag to Santana. With the referee's back turned, Slick gives Volkoff his pimp cane. Volkoff winds back, but Tito ducks and Boris is hit with the cane. Martel dropkicks Volkoff out of the ring. Santana covers Boris and gets the three count. Strike Force BRISCOE'D the Russians. Solid first title defense for the champions. The match would show that not only were they a talented, but they were smart as well. Easily, the best match from the Bolsheviks I've seen. Losing two straight falls wasn't the best way for Boris Zukhov to being his WWE career. From AWA tag team champion (Never lost it) to tag team jobber. It's meaningless though, Volkoff was the talented one on the team and he was well past his prime. 9 Minutes. 2 Stars.

Backstage, Mean Gene is with the devious Mr. Fuji. Fuji is holding a large jar of mustard when suddenly a huge sub comes into camera view. It's Sika, of course. Mr. Fuji tells us that it's Damien dinner time as he spreads some mustard on the bun. Gene is horrified when he realizes that Fuji and Sika intends on putting Damien in the bun for a hot dog (Snake dog)? The interview ends with Fuji feeding Sika some mustard. Now, as great as this all sounds, I really feel as if the reader needs some images so they can properly understand what's going on. Enjoy:


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It's a bird...it's a plane...no...it's a giant sub bun~!!!1!


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Is that a sub bun or is Sika just happy to see Gene?


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Bruno, Backlund, Hogan, Austin...they all ate mouthfuls of mustard before a match right?


Mean Gene is with Jake Roberts now. Roberts doesn't seem worry in the least about Sika and Fuji's plans. Roberts threatens to allow Damien to twist Mr Fuji into a pretzel and Roberts would duck him in the mustard, see how he likes that. Hmm...hog damien dog or a salted fuji pretzel?

Jake 'The Snake' Roberts vs Sika w/Mr Fuji
This would be during Sika's brief single's midcard run. Besides a SNME title match against Hogan and a spot in the upcoming Wrestlemania 4 battle royal, the run was totally forgettable. McMahon actually brings up a good point about how Roberts is at a disadvantage because Sika (Being a Samoan) has an extra hard head. If the DDT would hurt him, how can Roberts win? Sika locks in a nerve hold for a long time. Just the thought of eating having a hot Damien dog is making Sika slobber all over. Roberts avoids a charaging Sika and rolls him up for the surprise win. After the match, Jake DDT's Fuji and lets Damien have a little fun slithering over Fuji. Like Sika's single's run, this match was forgettable. The match felt as if they were just killing time. 4 Minutes. 1 Star.

Gene Okerlund is with Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant and King Kong Bundy. Heenan announces that Andre will be in the corner of Bundy tonight, not himself due to doctors orders. Gene thinks it has more to do with fear until Andre nearly gives Mean Gene a heart attack. While I appreciate smart ass Gene, it's not too smart saying those kind of comments with the likes of Bundy and Andre around.
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Flashback to the last SNME where Bundy defeated Hogan by count out when Heenan held on to Hogan's legs. After the match, Hogan hit a few double armed chokeslams injuring Heenan. Thus, this rematch.

Hulk Hogan is with Mean Gene. He's ready to turn his luck around after a crushing lost at the last event. It seems as if then-US President, Ronald Reagan called a session for the super power of Hulkamania. Reagen apparently is a huge Hulk-a-maniac. Wow, 1987/1988 was quite the year for world leaders giving help to WWF wrestlers.

Hulk Hogan (c) vs King Kong Bundy w/Andre the Giant - WWF World Title Match
Besides wrestling a couple of months prior, Hogan and Bundy also wrestled in the first WWE title match at Wrestlemania. That would be the match with the iconic blooded image of Bundy's face. Hogan starts the match in total control throwing Bundy around. Bundy resorts to crawling out of the ring a couple of times to take a break and work out a strategy with Andre. Back in, Hogan does the unthinkable and performs a wrist lock on Bundy. Even more impressive is that it's locked in properly and Hogan hangs on to it. Bundy reverses it into an armbar. Holy shit, we're actually seeing some technical wrestling. Bundy continues to work over the arm and shoulder of Hogan. Hogan Hulks up and body slams Bundy, but Bundy moves out of the way of incoming elbow. Bundy slams Hogan, but he too misses the elbow. Bundy misses another one. Hogan is whipped to the corner in the direction of the referee. The referee falls to the mall to avoid being hit~!!!! Not only is there technical wrestling, but we actually have a smart referee in this match. I spoke too soon as Bundy hits his Avalanche in the corner on both the referee and Hogan. The referee is out cold. Bundy hits a normal splash, but Hogan kicks out. The match is stopped as some help comes out for the smart, but not smart enough referee. Great usage of making the Avalanche splash look devastating. We head to a commercial break. Once back, the other officials are carrying the downed ref on a stretcher. McMahon jokes with Jesse about that's how he used to be carried out after his matches. Ventura fires backs that's the only way McMahon can leave after his binges. McMahon is silent. HA! Bundy is standing on the chest of Hogan, relying on more power moves than before. Big Avalanche splash to Hogan. Bundy plays to the fans before setting Hogan up for another Avalanche. Bundy counts to five (Old gimmick where he'd force the referee to count to five to make his squashes more impressive) before hitting the ropes and hitting a traditional splash. 1...2...NO Hogan kicks out. All of the taunting ends up hurting Bundy. Bundy takes a Bret bump in the corner. Legdrop by Hogan is finally enough to put away Bundy. After the match, Hogan challenges Andre to come in the ring. Andre begins to walk away before jumping Hogan from behind during his post match celebration. Andre is choking Hogan out. The British Bulldogs run out to try and break it up. It takes several hits before Andre even realizes that they're there. Double noggin knocker and the Bulldogs are thrown to the outside. Back to choking Hogan. Strike Force, Jake Roberts and Junkyard Dog all comes out trying to pull Andre off. Jim Duggan runs out with 2x4 in hand. Andre finally lets go after two 2x4 shots, the second causing the wood to break in half. Andre turns to Duggan and Duggan does the one smart thing he's ever done in his career - he runs. This allows the faces to pull Hogan out of the ring to safety. Andre celebrates by holding the title over his head. This was your typical Hogan layout, only with different moves thrown in. The surprise technical wrestling and the break in the middle of the match was a welcome surprise. While it's not great, it was a very fun match. For Andre, the post-match events were simply awesome, making him look like the monster he should be made out to be. This would all set up their Main Event match with Andre winning the title due to the twin referees storyline. As for Bundy, this would be his last major match in the WWE before leaving for six years. Not a bad way to leave. He may of loss, but the WWE actually made him look good. 12 Minutes. 3 Stars.


Jesse Ventura is backstage with Greg Valentine and Jimmy Hart. After making fun of Gene Okerlund, Valentine tells Ventura that's he's never been happy than he is now with Hart. This is around the time that Lucius Johnny V left the WWE, so all of his wrestlers went to different managers. Dino Bravo and Valentine would go to Jimmy Hart. However, it also seems as if Valentine quit the WWE after not being happy with being teamed with Dino Bravo and being asked to kidnap the Bulldog's dog. The Islanders ended up doing it in December which would set up a six man tag at Wrestlemania with The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware vs The Islanders and Bobby Heenan. Valentine would quickly resign with the WWE, but he never really did much after that.

Elsewhere in the building, Koko B Ware sings some lines about his match tonight with Valentine to Mean Gene. Even with the afro, Koko is shorter than Oklerlund. That's quite sad.

Greg Valentine w/Jimmy Hart vs Koko B Ware
Prediction time, if Koko does win, it'll only be by a rollup or a distraction. It's all Valentine in the match. While he looks to start putting Koko away, Brutus Beefcake comes out distracting Valentine. Rollup by Koko only gets a two. Small package has the same result. Koko tries a backslide, but Valentine gets out at 1. The referee orders Beefcake to the back. Once we get back from a commercial
break, Valentine is continuing the assault. Valentine heads to the top rope, but Koko catches him and throws him off. Valentine begs for mercy. Punches by Ware sends Valentine falling to the mat with a Flair bump. Valentine regains his composure and locks in the Figure Four Leglock. Ware throws out some wild haymakers, but he can't connect. Koko taps out. Valentine celebrates for a few moments before locking in the Figure Four again. Beefcake runs to the ring (Didn't anyone ever tell him not to run with scissors?) for the save. Brutus chases Valentine away while Koko hangs on to the ankle of Hart. Brutus returns to the ring and cuts hair off of the top of Hart's head. Technically, my prediction wasn't wrong since Ware didn't win. Like most of Koko's matches in the WWE, it's passable. Valentine did try his best to get some entertainment out of it though. Valentine deserves better though. 7 Minutes. 1 1/2 Stars.

Backstage, Andre the Giant has an orgasmic experience talking about choking Hogan out with Mean Gene. Heenan promises 1988 will be the year for a new WWF World Champion. I'm inclined to believe him.

Elsewhere, Mean Gene is now with Jesse Ventura. It seems as if the doctors feel as if Hogan is breathing on his own now.

Vince McMahon finishes off the show and says goodbye to the first SNME of the new year.

Overall
A lot of hype for the Andre/Hogan feud which is how it should be. Matchwise, it's about what you'd expect from a SNME. Sadly, they didn't focus on any matches with talented wrestler vs talented wrestler like they normally had one match of. that hurts the overall quality of the show. On the plus side, they removed the last match which rarely went over 3 minutes. It wasn't great, but it wasn't a complete waste like recent SNME's have been.

Recommended Match
Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy

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