WWF The Main Event - November 23, 1990
by Scrooge McSuck
Originally taped on October 30th, 1990, from the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this episode marks the only edition of the Main Event to not air during the month of February. Although intended to be a full length episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, this taping was to have featured the 2 out of 3 Falls, Tag Team Championship match between the Rockers and the Hart Foundation. Due to the precieved atrocious performance thanks to one of the ropes snapping, and whatever other reasons people came up with (I still question the "Jim Neidhart was leaving, but oh wait, no, he ended up staying instead" theory, because Vince McMahon wouldn't give a shit), the entire match was scrapped, and the title switch all but erased from history. The full match (sans any commentary, of course) is available for viewing on one of the Shawn Michaels DVD sets (Heartbreak & Triumph?), for you curious cats.
- The show opens with Mean Gene Okerlund talking to the challenger to the WWF Championship, the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. We see clips of Dibiase's antics from the past, such as kicking the basketball away from a little kid, paying off some bum to have a public pool all to himself, and of course, the incident from the inaugural broadcast of "The Main Event" with the twin referees. Sean Mooney is standing by with the Warrior, and you can pretty much make up your own promo right now and it'll have the same effect.
WWF Championship Match:
The Ultimate Warrior © vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil):
No backstory for this one, but it has a chance to be decent. Dibiase was in the middle of a program with Dusty Rhodes, and Warrior had intensifying issues with the Macho King. Lockup to start, and Warrior shoves Dibiase to the corner. Piper with his first ludicrous comment, making fun of Milli Vanilli for being fakes in comparison to what we're about to see. Dibiase goes for an overhead wristlock, but Warrior is too strong, and easily shrugs Dibiase off. Dibiase with a knee to the midsection and a series of rights. Whip to the ropes, and Warrior comes back with a vicious clothesline. Warrior with another, sending Dibiase over the top rope, to the floor. Warrior goes after both Dibiase and Virgil, then heads to the top rope and comes off with a single hand sledge. Warrior with chops in the corner, but a charge meets the knees, and Dibiase levels Warrior with a clothesline of his own. Dibiase to the second rope, and he connects with a double axehandle for a two count. Dibiase with a piledriver, and that gets a two count, as well. Dibiase goes for it again, but Warrior counters with a back drop. Warrior with a pair of shoulder tackles, but Virgil trips him up on a third visit to the ropes, and Dibiase knocks Warrior out, between the ropes.
We return from a commercial, with Dibiase taking Warrior over with a snapmare and connecting on a fist drop for a two count. Dibiase with a side headlock and takeover. Warrior escapes, but goes right back down courtesy of another clothesline. Whip to the ropes, and Warrior surprises EVERYONE with a back slide for a two count. Dibiase regains control, and takes Warrior over with a suplex for a two count of his own. Dibiase goes for another, but Warrior escapes with a knee, then takes him over with a sunset flip for a two count! Dibiase throws Warrior out of the ring to keep Warrior from building momentum, then introduces him to the ring steps. Back inside, Dibiase lays into Warrior with rights, but Warrior is starting to no-sell. Warrior blocks a suplex, and takes Dibiase over with his own. Irish whip, and a a criss-cross ends with a head collision, putting both men down for the referee's count. Dibiase unwisely heads to the second turnbuckle, and takes a fist to the midsection on the way down. Warrior starts going through his superman comeback routine of shaking the ropes, ignoring all of Dibiase's blows. Warrior comes off the ropes with a trio of clotheslines, followed by a diving shoulder tackle for a two count, broken up by Virgil, and triggering the Disqualification at 10:05. Warrior quickly lays Virgil out with a clothesline, but suddenly Randy Savage and the Sensational Sherri hit the ring, and lay a beating in on the Warrior. Dibiase's position in the roster at the time really didn't need the protection of a cop-out finish, but still a very solid performance, and dare I say it, the best Warrior match to not be featured on Pay-Per-View.
- Mean Gene Okerlund catches up with the Macho King, who cuts a pretty outrageous, out there promo. You could compile an entire DVD of Savage and Warrior promos from this time frame, and do your best to decide who comes across more insane. Anyone else find it weird that Randy Savage was kept off the card at Survivor Series? Was he nursing an injury, or something?
- We're supposed to get a match between Nikolai Volkoff and Sgt. Slaughter, but before the match begins, Slaughter attacks with his riding crop and clamps on the Camel Clutch. Jeez, and both men STILL had their jackets on too. It's really weird thinking that Slaughter went straight from a terrible program with Nikolai Volkoff to winning the WWF Title and headlining WrestleMania VII. Match never gets started, but I can't say I'm complaining too much not getting to see these two stumble around the ring like it's still 1984.
Big Boss Man vs. Mr. Perfect:
The ongoing Boss Man vs. Heenan Family program over insulting Boss Man's momma continues. Originally intended to be a program between Boss Man and Rick Rude, the sudden departure of the latter landed Mr. Perfect in the role of main antagonist of the storyline, instead. Bobby Heenan isn't at ringside, to the surprise of McMahon and Piper. Perfect starts things off with an unwise slap of the face, but is smart enough to take a hike. Bossman follows, and we get a game of Cat-and-Mouse until Bossman throws Perfect down to the ground. Irish whip, and Bossman creams Perfect with a clothesline. Whip to the corner WITH AUTHORITY, then across the ring for a signature over-sell from Perfect. Bossman drags Perfect around the ring with a handful of hair, then tosses Perfect across the ring in the same manner. Bossman with a back breaker, and he heads to the top rope and misses a splash. I don't recall babyface Bossman trying that too much. Perfect with the reverse version of his float-over neck snap, and that looked pretty cool. Perfect with a somewhat sloppy small package for a two count, and he continues to stomp away at the lower back of Bossman for another two count. Perfect undoes one of the turnbuckles while the referee checks on Bossman. The plan backfires, and Perfect with another dramatic over-sell of the situation. Bossman pounds away with rights, but gets whipped into the exposed turnbuckle on the second attempt. Suddenly, Bobby Heenan makes his way to the ring area. Bossman counters a Perfect-Plex with a small package for a two count. they exchange chops and punches until Perfect thumbs the eye. Perfect-Plex on the second attempt, but Bossman kicks out at two. We get heel miscommuncation, causing Perfect to go flying over the top rope. Bossman goes after Heenan, and my GOD, Heenan was gone faster than you could say Speed Racer. Perfect rolls back in the ring and wins via Count-Out at 8:15. Decent match, but a little all over the place. Bossman chases Perfect with the nightstick, but is just a tad too slow.- Time for one of the oddest segments from the early 90's. The Playboy Buddy Rose "Blow away Diet!" plan. You can eat whatever you want whenever you want. All you have to do is shake on the Blow away powder, sit in front of a house hold fan, and "blow, blow, blow the fat away." Kind of a lame idea, but Buddy Roses' facial expressions, and the closing shot of his "after" picture (looking the exact same, except with a huge shit eating grin on his face) is mildly amusing.
Tito Santana vs. "The Model" Rick Martel:
You know, someone should just compile all the matches they can between these two guys. I'm pretty sure Rick Martel won every single time, but hey, it's an idea I'm sure no one has ever followed through with (this coming from the guy who made 6 6-hour long VHS sets of KANE, mind you... I stopped in 2006). Martel was smack in the middle of a program with Jake Roberts over you-know-what. Martel attacks Santana during his entrance, and puts the boots to him before dumping him out of the ring. Martel attempts to attack outside the ring, but wraps his arm around the ring post. Santana works the arm some more, before tossing it back in the ring. Santana with a double axehandle from the second rope, then takes Martel down with a wristlock. Irish whip, and Santana with a stomp to the face to counter a monkey flip attempt. Santana jerks the arm and slaps on an armbar. Criss-cross, and Santana with a small package for a two count. Martel escapes, takes Santana over with a snapmare, and goes to a chinlock. Santana escapes almost immediately, and goes back to work on the arm. Martel uses the tights of Santana to throw him face-first into a turnbuckle, then goes to work with choking. Santana with blows to the midsection until a rake of the eyes puts an end to that comeback attempt. Martel with a back breaker, and the canned heat is outrageous. Martel with a second back breaker, and he heads to the top rope, only to get slammed off for taking his sweet time. Santana with a flurry of boots, rights, and lefts. Whip to the corner, and Santana connects with a dropkick. Santana with a back breaker of his own, followed by a second rope clothesline for a two count. Santana blocks an atomic drop and goes for a figure-four, but Martel counters that with a small package for a two count. Martel slaps on the Boston Crab, seemingly out of nowhere, and that's good enough for the victory at 6:49. I'm half-surprised that Martel won the match completely clean.- Mean Gene is backstage with Jake "the Snake" Roberts, and we revisit his rivalry with Rick Martel with very fast clips. Jake Roberts is sporting some Stevie Wonder sunglasses. Roberts claims Martel rolled the dice and they came up snake eyes, and then shows off his special contact lenses to further sell the effects of Martel's "Arrogance."
- We end things, with the Warrior cutting a promo on the Macho King, and this might be the most unusual Warrior promo ever. Speaking mostly in a hush tone and not sporting a new face-paint job as typical with these shows (See also: Hogan's random change of bandana's from interview to match). The point? To further his issues with the Macho King. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of them two going at it.
Final Thoughts: It's a shame that the Tag Title Switch "never happened", as I'm sure that, along with what was left for broadcast, would've made for an outstanding show, match quality wise. Warrior/Dibiase kicked things off with a highly enjoyable performance, and the two undercard matches allowed to get underway were enjoyable in their own rights, even though neither stood out as anything special, either. There's really nothing on this show that could be considered "bad", since Volkoff/Slaughter never got to happen, and the Blow-Away Diet had it's moments that were worthy of a chuckle. However, as a "Main Event" special, there really wasn't anything that made it stand out as special, like previous editions of the Main Event. It's a solid show regardless, and Warrior/Dibiase is definitely worth a look.
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