Saturday Night's Main Event
March 16, 1989 (+ BONUS junk)
by Scrooge McSuck
Interesting choice here, as, for the most part, this was a completely blind DVD recieved in what I'm assuming was an interesting exchange of wrestling footage, as I recieved this for reasons I can't really remember. Featured on the label is an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, but then everything else is a question mark. What would I be subjected to? After FINALLY Completing a review for the first disc I recieved from the same DWB Member, why not go for Round 2 and finish what I promised to do half-a-decade ago?
As mentioned above, the only "known" footage on the DVD is the March 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. While I will recap all of the matches, I won't make comments about every interview spliced in between, saving me about 20 minutes of time. Sorry in advance for any disappointment this brings anyone reading this recap.
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan):
I always found it weird these two were never given an angle during their tenure, but at the same time, both found themselves suddenly gone from the WWF after the Summer of 1990, for various reasons (Beefcake's (then) career threatening injury and Rude's untimely release), so who knows what might have happened. "Presently", Rick Rude was getting ready for a showdown with the Intercontinental Champion, the Ultimate Warrior, and Beefcake was tossed in a meaningless match with Ted Dibiase that served no purpose other than get both men on the card. The longer ago the 80's get, the more outrageously bad mullets really seemed to be, especially Beefcake's mess of a haircut. Lockup to start, and they tumble around while Ventura points out Rude's tights has a picture of the Warrior on them. Beefcake pounds away and takes Rude over with a back drop. Beefcake mounts him in the corner for FIVE punches. Beefcake applies the Sleeper Hold, but he ends up tossing Rude into the corner to break the hold. Beefcake mounts him again, but this time Rude counters with an inverted atomic drop. Rude whips Beefcake to the ropes and drives a knee to the midsection, then sends him to the buckle. Rude pounds away and takes Beefcake over with a suplex for a two count. Chinlock! Beefcake tries fighting free with elbows, but Rude yanks the hair to maintain control. Andre The Giant wanders to ringside just as Beefcake escapes with a jawbuster. Beefcake connects with his own atomic drop. Whip to the corner, but Beefcake meets the knee of Rude. Beefcake gets dumped out of the ring, and Andre drops ass on him a few times. Andre chokes him now, but this brings out Jake Roberts to make the save. The bell finally rings at 5:45, and I'm assuming its a Double Disqualification? Andre and Rude double team Roberts until Beefcake recovers enough to crawl back into the ring and take out Rude. Andre shrugs him off, though, and it's not until Big John Studd makes his way to the ring. Imagine if THAT feud played out. Worst Matches of the Year candidates, easily. ** Not much of a match here, but it wasn't bad, I guess. Post-match shenanigans were a bit too muddy, though. Beefcake had nothing to do with any of the programs everyone else was involved in.
Hulk Hogan (w/ Elizabeth) vs. Bad News Brown:
Another interesting pair-up, here, as Bad News spent most of the winter feuding with Randy Savage until suddenly the Mega Powers EXPLODED, and now he's just there, waiting for his next angle. Hogan is here to defend Elizabeth's honor, as Bad News was going around claiming she did "favors" for Jack Tunney in exchange for Randy Savage to get away with whatever he could to remain champion, like ducking his challenges. I don't recall Bad News losing a nationally televised match at this point, but damn it if Vince McMahon will pay any attention. Bad News attacks Hogan while the referee checks him over, and pounds away. The canned heat is obvious, and surprising, at the same time. Brown misses several elbow drops, and now Hogan is up and he is MAD. Hogan with a series of rights, sending Brown out of the ring. Hogan follows and punches s'more. Hogan slingshots Brown back into the ring, then rakes the eyes. Irish whip is reversed, but a shoulder block goes in Hogan's favor, and he follows with a clothesline and elbow drops. Irish whip, and Hogan with the big boot, but he pulls him back to his feet and rams in to the buckle. Brown no-sells and headbutts Hogan, then clobbers him with more rights. Whip across the ring, but Brown runs into another boot. Hogan with an atomic drop, sending Brown over the top rope, to the floor. Hogan heads outside again, but gets the eyes raked and whipped into the post. Bad News measures up, but punches the post instead. Brown grabs a chair, but Hogan blocks and rams it into Brown, instead, IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE, but no DQ is called. Brown looks around under the ring, then heads backstage, and he returns with... a snow shovel?! He's hardcore! He's hardcore! We cut to a commercial, and come back with Hogan driving a knee into the midsection of Brown. Back in the ring, and Hogan pounds away. Whip to the corner, but Brown charges back out and connects with a clothesline. Brown rams Hogan face-first into the canvas and hammers on the back of the Hulkster's head. Brown scoops him up for a slam, then connects with a leg drop, but that only gets a two count. Brown knocks Hogan out of the ring with a boot to the chest, then has words for Elizabeth. Hogan catches up to him and gets rammed into the post for his troubles. Back in the ring, and Brown with a Russian leg sweep for a cheap two count, as Hogan's leg was just far enough of the ring to break the count. Brown continues to punish Hogan, then gets on the house mic' to talk smack. He calls for the Ghetto Blaster and Hogan ducks, of course. Now there's calling spots, and there's calling spots. Hulk-Up time, and you know what that means. Hogan with a running high knee and a leg drop for the three count at 9:56. After the match, Hogan and Elizabeth celebrate the victory, including Hogan hoisting her up on his shoulder, Macho Man style. Just seeing Elizabeth doing the Hogan hand-to-ear thing makes me smile, and realize what a tragedy her life turned out to be. ** Not a great "wrestling" match, but it was a fine brawl, and both men seemed game for it. Didn't care for the finish, but it was different, I guess.
- The Blue Blazer vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil):
This marks the first "high profile" match appearance of Dibiase's Million Dollar Belt, recently debuted on the Brother Love Show. It's worth a million bucks says Dibiase, but in real life, the often allegedly price was still a hefty 6-figure number. Blazer is, of course, Owen Hart under a mask, and yes, his promos were pretty bad, then, too. Blazer does his back-flip into the ring, and eats a clothesline for it. Dibiase rams him into the buckle and hammers away with rights. Irish whip, and Dibiase connects with a back elbow, followed by a scoop slam and elbow drops. Irish whip, and Blazer surprises Dibiase with a small package for a two count. Blazer blocks a hip toss and back slides him for another two count. Irish whip, and Dibiase with another stiff clothesline. Dibiase to the middle turnbuckle, and he connects with an elbow to the top of the head. Dibiase with his signature suplex, and he taunts the crowd for a few moments. Irish whip, and Blazer comes back with a dropkick, sending Dibiase out of the ring. Blazer connects with a suicide dive, then hammers away with rights. Blazer ducks a clothesline, then atomic drops Dibiase into the ring post. Back in the ring, the Blazer heads to the top rope for a cross body, but that only gets a two count. Irish whip, and Blazer takes Dibiase over with a back drop, then nails a series of dropkicks. Blazer with a series of european-style uppercuts for another two count. Dibiase grabs a headlock, then catches him with a powerslam, and that's enough for a three count at 3:58. ** Action filled match, but it was too short to get much more in the rating department. Seemed more suitable for an episode of Superstars, but that's usually how the "lower level" matches from SNME seemed all the time, anyway. See later for a better example.
- I should note a VERY Special Interview with the lovely Elizabeth. She's still undecided on who she will be representing at Wrestlemania V on April 2nd at Trump Plaza Hotel. Elizabeth gets in a few lines before it becomes another Hogan-Savage keep-apart segment. The eventual answer would be that Elizabeth will be in both mens corner, which makes zero sense if she doesn't do a heel turn, and really, NO ONE would believe Elizabeth as a heel. At least not in 1989.
The Rockers vs. The Brain Busters:
(Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels vs. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson)Here we go with Round 32 in the 1989 War of the Rockers and Brain Busters. This all started at the 1988 Survivor Series, and became an on-going television rivalry (off and on is more like it) until a 2 out of 3 Falls match towards the end of the year on another episode of SNME. It'll make my night if Arn plants one of these bastards with a spinebuster. Note: I haven't seen this match in forever, so I don't know if it happens or not. The Busters attack from behind, with Anderson knocking Michaels out of the ring. Tully tries a slingshot suplex on Jannetty, but it fails, so he rolls him up. Michaels comes in off the top with a cross body on Blanchard, and the end result of the mess is the Rockers standing tall in the middle of the ring. Arn with a knee to the midsection, but he gets slammed off the top rope, as usual. Michaels turns him over with a Boston Crab, then nails Blanchard trying to come in and break the hold. Double irish whips and reverse crescent kicks from the Rockers, sending the Busters out of the ring, again. Michaels with a suplex on Blanchard to bring him back into the ring. They exchange blows, with Michaels winning the battle, then takes him over with a hip toss and a head scissors. Anderson tags in and grabs a headlock. Irish whip, and Anderson with a shoulder block, but Michaels returns the favor with a drop toe hold. Irish whip, and we get a weird communication spot. Blanchard tags in, and Heenan pulls the ropes down on Michaels as he's bouncing off the ropes. The referee throws Heenan from ringside for attacking Michaels, as well. Why not just call for the Disqualification and get it over with? I know... Logic in Wrestling.
We return from a commercial with Jannetty in control over Blanchard. Anderson gets a blind tag and DRILLS Jannetty with a double-axehandle clothesline. Anderson with a snapmare, followed by some face stomping. Anderson whips Jannetty into the knee of Blanchard. Whip to the corner, and Jannetty gets a sunset flip on Blanchard for two. Anderson comes back in and nails Michaels off the apron, then dumps Jannetty over the top rope. Jannetty tries a sunset flip back into the ring, but Blanchard gets the tag and nails him from behind. Jannetty keeps fending off the Busters, but Blanchard takes him over with a headlock. Jannetty counters with a head scissors, and then we get the bridge and back slide spot for a two count. Blanchard connects with an atomic drop as Jannetty attempts to tag out. Anderson tags in, and plants Jannetty with the spinebuster. WOO! That only gets a two count, though. Anderson with a slam, but he splashes the knees of Jannetty on a follow-up move. Michaels gets the hot tag and hammers away on both opponents. Double Noggin-Knocker! Michaels tries for a suplex, but Blanchard with a sunset flip and Anderson a clothesline. Jannetty tackles Blanchard to break the pin attempt, and everyone brawls outside of the ring until it;s a Double Count-Out at 8:41. Intense match from all the participants. Out of all the Rockers' opponents, Blanchard and Anderson definitely got the best out of them, introducing them to a new style of working tag matches. ***1/4 Not a "OMG CLASSIC" that a lot of people make it out to be, but it was one of the best free T.V. matches. They had some better stuff on the local arena show broadcasts, but having 20+ minutes instead of 8 is always a good thing.
The Red Rooster vs. The Brooklyn Brawler (w/ Bobby Heenan):
The only interesting thing about this developed feud is the fact GORILLA MONSOON took a hit from the Brawler on an episode of Primetime Wrestling. Heenan drops a pretty hilarious line. "The Rooster was a nobody when I found him, and he's still a nobody. And this man right here is a bigger and better nobody than he will ever be!" Speaking of Superstars of Wrestling level of talent... We join the match in progress, with the Brawler in control with his usual offense of punching and clawing. You'd think that last move would be in the Rooster's arsenal. Whip to the corner is reversed, but Rooster puts the brakes on and hammers away. Rooster with a dropkick, followed by a hip toss. Irish whip is reversed, and Rooster cradles him for a three count at the 59-second mark. Rooster wants some of Heenan, but he's going to have to wait until Wrestlemania V. In the mean time, the Brawler attacks from behind and they put the boots to him. Nothing match. Don't be confused by the lack of anything... Brawler actually picked up some wins over the Rooster on the house show circuit during this time.And now, we get some bonus features. Who knows what we're going to see...
"The Rock" Don Muraco vs. "Dangerous" Danny Davis:
What have I gotten myself into? From the June 25th, 1988 event held at Madison Square Garden, and rebroadcasted on the July 11th, 1988 episode of Primetime Wrestling. Muraco was in the middle of a program with Greg Valentine, and the whole "referee turned wrestler" thing has really been burnt out at this point, so Davis is really nothing more than a scrub. It wouldn't be another year until they FINALLY ended it and sent Davis back to his referee role. Davis tries a sneak attack, but Muraco sends him out of the ring not long after. Hey, did Hulk Hogan circa 2002 travel back in time to 1988 to work the broadcast booth? Davis uses his "speed" advantage to avoid Muraco's muscles. Davis grabs a hammerlock, but Muraco shrugs it off and tosses Davis down. Muraco works through a headlock and drop toe hold, forcing Davis to retreat, again. This is borderline a comedy match, but without any clowns or Bushwhackers. Muraco with another headlock, and Davis sells it like his head is being popped like a zit. Muraco maintains control with the hold with pulling of the hair. Lockup, and Muraco completely no-sells Davis' punches. Whip to the corner is reversed, and Muraco catches him in a bearhug, until a thumb of the eyes turns the table. Davis hammers away on Muraco, and actually drops him with a forearm. Davis with a lot of choking. Muraco mounts his big comeback, but Davis runs out of the ring again. Davis tries a press off the top rope, but Muraco catches him. Spike Piledriver time, but Greg Valentine runs in and attacks Muraco, drawing the Disqualification at 7:10.Valentine drops a series of elbows on Muraco, then signals for the Figure-Four. Billy Graham wants to make the save, but Lord Alfred stops him. Valentine takes it to Graham instead, and kicks his leg from under his leg. DUD Not much of a real match, but I guess some people thought it was entertaining.
Two-Ring Battle Royale:
(Participants: Andre The Giant, Bobo Brazil, The Brute, The Canadian Wildman, The Wolfman, Michaelangelo, Gary Fulton, Chris Markov(?), Chris Taylor, Dominic Dennucci, and Others)We're going really old school here. Everyone's already in the ring, and the commentator runs over all the names so fast I couldn't make out most of them, but I'm sure it's not too big of a concern. It's two rings, so you have to be tossed into the second ring, and then from the second ring to the floor. The winners of the two rings battle at the end. The Brute gets dumped into the second ring first. It's so boring, he tries coming back into the first ring again. Everyone gets dumped into the second ring and immediately gets pounced on by the Brute, who eliminates them all single-handedly, until the first ring comes down to the likely of suspects in the forms of Andre the Giant an Bobo Brazil. They go at it for a few minutes, but they stalemate on everything they attempt. After a brief conference, Andre opts to eliminate himself from the match and leaves Brazil to square off with the Brute... and then the video cuts away to Brock Lesnar, then ends. Zuh!? Well, it was a shitty battle royal, anyway.
WCW Championship Match:
"Macho Man" Randy Savage © vs. Hollywood Hogan (w/ The Dicyple):
From the April 20th, 1998 episode of Monday Nitro. Damn you! Damn you! Why make me suffer with crap like this!? I look at the run time for this match and I say damn you, again! Michael Buffer is present for special introductions, and people wonder how WCW blew so much money. Savage had won the title the previous night from Sting, as if Sting wasn't ruined the second the "fast" count was made at Starrcade the previous year. Hogan has the Voodoo Child/nWo Remix theme, which I've always liked a lot, even if I hated Hogan at this point. The Dicyple is a bearded, biker-ized Ed Leslie, a.k.a Brutus Beefcake and 205 failed gimmicks in WCW. So... was this the reponse to WWF winning the Ratings War the previous week with McMahon vs. Austin? By doing Hogan vs. Savage for the Title with zero hype? Seriously, HOW did WCW stay on top during 1997? I look back and think "what the fuck was going on." Oh, and Savage is part of the nWo, too, and he's got his "Oooh Yeah's" spliced into the nWo porn theme. Come on... was, like, half the roster in the nWo, and that half happened to be all the main event talent, except for Sting and Luger? And then they branched off and had the Wolfpac... TO INCLUDE STING AND LUGER?!
Savage is sporting a nice knee brace, so how injured was he at this point? I wasn't that into WCW, but I don't remember much of him after this time frame, until the spring of 1999 when he started bringing an entourage of his girlfriend, Medusa, and the eventually known Molly Holly with him.
Oh well, time for the match. Finally. But first we get some stalling from Hogan. What a surprise. They lockup, and Savage grabs a headlock, then puts Hogan down with a shoulder block. Hogan loses his bandana in the process. Lockup into the corner, and Hogan with a series of knees, followed by some rights. I always hated Hogan's back scratches... really, HULK HOGAN does that? Hogan punches a lot more, then fish-hooks Savage, all while trash talking him. Then we get some choking. We find out (for those who didn't watch the whole show) that this is No Disqualifications. The Dicyple adds his own choking to the match. Hogan with a back suplex, but that only gets a two count. Hogan tosses Savage out of the ring, where the Dicyple rams him into the security rail. It's No DQ... HE DOESN'T NEED TO DO THIS SECRETIVELY! Hogan grabs a chair and hits some weak ass blows on Savage. Back in the ring, and Savage tries mounting a comeback. Savage sells the leg injury and Hogan is back in control. Hogan goes to work on the leg, but too bad NONE of his normal stuff relies on working the leg. The Dicyple cheats some more, but again, he can just do it outright, but chooses not to. Savage with some jabs, but Hogan goes back to the leg. Hogan tosses Savage back out, and it's a country whippin' time! Back inside, and Hogan chokes Savage with the weightlifting belt. Hogan with a scoop slam, but he misses a leg drop with nothing behind it. Savage has the belt now, and he starts whipping Hogan around the ring. Savage with a slam, and now he heads to the top rope, and actually hits the elbow... but he's too hurt to make a cover. Hogan with some awful looking kicks to the knee, then he applies a spinning toe hold. For someone who's been wrestling 20 years at this point, you'd think he'd know how to make it look good. Figure-Four time! At least he can do that competently. Savage grabs the ropes, but it's no DQ, so Hogan really didn't have to let go. Schiavone even makes a note of that, totally no-selling anything Heenan and Tenay say. Hogan chokes, Savage chokes, I choke. Savage tosses referee Nick Patrick across the ring, then the Dicyple takes him out with a neck breaker. Dicyple attacks Savage from behind, and the gruesome twosome drag Savage to the corner, where they introduce Savage's leg to the ring post. That steel is HEAVY steel, you know. Dicyple does the Stunner... er... Apocalypse on Savage, and out comes Kevin Nash. Bischoff comes in too and helps Hogan and Dicyple work over Nash. Hogan accidentally hits his boyfriend with the belt, and Nash plants Hogan with the jacknife. Nash puts Savage on top of Hogan, and now Bret Hart runs in and smacks Nash with the belt, then puts Hogan on top of Savage. Then he drags the referee over for the three count at 15:48, and Hogan is WCW Champion? But wait... here comes Roddy Piper now and he wants answers from Bret. He pesters him for a while before getting knocked out, too, and now Nitro comes to an end. DUD Total shitfest.
Norman Smiley vs. Fit Finlay (TV Champion):
From an episode of Nitro, circa June 1998. Interesting choice to throw on here, I guess. Ever since WCW closed, I haven't seen a lot of Norman Smiley, outside of a few appearances on the earlier weekly NWA-TNA PPV's, where he was used primarily as enhancement talent. Of course, the two most memorable parts of his career, to me at least, was destroying Chavo Guerrero's stick-horse and as Screamin' Norman during WCW's lamer hardcore title time frame. Lockup, and Finlay grabs a headlock. Smiley tries fighting free, but Finlay takes him over with a snapmare. Criss-cross, and Smiley with a hip toss and dropkick, then applies an armbar. Finlay takes control with some nerve pinching and an elbow to the mouth. STIFF european uppercut by Finlay, followed by a slam. Finlay with a drop toe hold, then applies a crossface. Finlay rolls him over for a two count. Irish whip, and Finlay with a clothesline. Finlay dumps Smiley out of the ring, but punches the ring post. Back inside, and Smiley stomps the hand. Finlay thumbs the eyes, then slams him down, again. The crowd is so into this, they're doing the wave. Finlay grabs an armbar, then turns it into a leg scissors. Heenan pokes fun at the crowd, one of the very few times I've heard reference to a crowd NOT caring like this. Smiley takes Finlay over with a back drop then pulls him back to the center of the ring, only to get his leg swept from under him. Finlay with a rolling slam, followed by the spike piledriver for a three count at 5:44. * Nothing was really BAD, but there wasn't much of a flow to any of it, and the lack of crowd enthusiasm really doesn't help.
XS vs. Los Fabulosos:
(Lane & Lodi vs. El Dandy & Silver King)I have NO idea who any of these people are, and it's from an episode of WCW Thunder, circa... oh, who the hell cares. Note: That was my reaction to first clicking the chapter selection. After a quick browser search, I know of these guys, but not much, so pardon me. Miss Hancock comes to ringside, and that's probably the highlight of the match. She introduces the hottest men from Latin America, the team of... Los Fabulosos. Team XS double team... one of the Fabulosos. Lane snapmares El Dandy and Lodi drops something, but the camera cuts to Miss Hancock before anything happens. Los Fabulosos take control, but do nothing much of note. Silver King misses something in the corner, then the Team of XS work over El Dandy again. That tide turns once again, and Lodi gets dropped with a helicopter spin, then El Dandy pins him with a cradle at 2:37. Total production mess. I couldn't focus on ANYTHING, and a lack of Miss Hancock doing anything hot, other than just going through the ropes, makes me sad.
Raven vs. Johnny B. Badd:
From the FSN Era of TNA Impact. I'm just as surprised as you. Badd has a Badd-Blaster with him, and something just doesn't seem right seeing him in the ring with Raven, in 2007. I don't think Badd's run with TNA lasted very long. Raven attacks from behind and drives a series of elbows to the midsection, followed by some stomping. I notice a clock in the top of the screen, and I forget TNA had some weird rules for their matches considering the time limits. Whip to the corner, and Raven takes Badd out with a bulldog for a two count. Badd blocks being rammed to the buckle and stomps away on Raven. Irish whip is reversed, and Badd takes Raven over with a sloppy head-scissors, followed by a running knee lift. Badd hammers away on Raven, then sets him up on the top turnbuckle, and connects with a SHITTY hurracanrana for a two count. Raven ducks a clothesline, then superkicks Badd into the referee. Raven with the Evenflow DDP, then all of a sudden DDP makes his way to ringside and takes Raven out with the Diamond Cutter. Badd crawls over for the cover, and gets the three count at 2:46. Lame. I guess DDP and Raven was one of those thrown-together progrems for their Turning Point PPV. As if anyone can tell me what happend on that show, anyway.Final Thoughts: That was some odd choices, to say the least. The March '89 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event was probably one of their better shows from a workrate point of view, and was enjoyable to recap. The rest, not so much. At least most of the stuff was pretty short, except for the insanly bad World Title match between Hogan and Savage from one of the random Biggest Episodes of Nitro Ever. The biggest pro for the random footage is a Miss Hancock siting. Yeah, that says a lot about everything, doesn't it?
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