Saturday Night's Main Event XIX

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XIX

January 7, 1989 (taped December 7, 1988) from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

Hair vs Hair Match: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def "Outlaw" Ron Bass in 7:40- This stems form Bass' pre-Summerslam attack on Beefcake that took him out of the IC title match that Warrior ultimately won (like Beefcake wouldn't have forgotten about the title halfway through the match and would just want to cut Honky's hair like every other match they had). Bass jumps Beefcake as he gets in and chokes him with his whip. Beefcake escapes, takes the whip and goes full Indiana Jones with cheesy spaghetti western whip cracking sounds dubbed on. Bass waits outside until the ref takes the whip away. A Beefcake high knee sends Bass out again to more stalling. Reset lockup in the ring, leading to a slugfest. Beefcake does some ground and pound. He goes for mounted punches but Bass counters with an inverted atomic drop. Bass gutbuster. He drapes Beefcake across the top in the corner and kicks him out. Bass stays working the midsection for a while, keeping some tight psychology. He breaks the pattern with a piledriver. He covers Beefcake but then stops the count. He wants more damage. He drops Beefcake over the top rope, covers and lifts up again. After a clothesline he covers for real. Beefcake just kicks out. Bass thinks its 3 and gets Beefcake's shears. Beefcake ducks another clothesline and locks in the sleeper. Bass goes out. Solid stuff. Bass gets the full haircut job after, not just a little off the top. **

 

Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth) def Akeem (w/The Big Boss Man and Slick) in 8:06- Savage is in the back with Okerlund watching at a proper TV watching angle. Hogan dodges an Akeem charge at the bell, picks Slick up, and throws him into Akeem. He stuffs his bandanna in Akeem's mouth and punches it out, then goes outside and picks Slick up again to throw him into Boss Man. Hogan mocks Akeem's dance. He goes for a slam but Akeem blocks it. Another Akeem corner charge that Hogan dodges. Round the world buckle shots. Boss Man eats another clothesline. Akeem tries to hair pull out of an arm wringer. A running Hogan elbow knocks Akeem down. He's whipped into Boss Man again. Akeem begs off and Hogan mocks his dance again. As Hogan charges with a clothesline Akeem pulls Hebner in the way and he's down and out. The heels take advantage to 2 on 1 double team with Boss Man's nightstick and Akeem 747s. Savage is still watching from the back (in very badly edited cutaways, it's like they're in different arenas) and thinks Hogan can take it. Elizabeth runs to the back and we get a quick glimpse of the Gorilla Position circa 1989. Elizabeth begs Savage to come help but he still thinks Hogan's got it. Elizabeth goes back by herself. Hogan is hulking up. A clothesline sends Akeem down. Boss Man and Slick take shots again. Slick is bumping as much as anyone in this match. Hogan slides out and atomic drops Slick into Boss Man. Big boot on Akeem. He goes for the legdrop but Boss Man whacks him in the back with the nightstick for the DQ. More heel beatdown follows. Elizabeth gets in the ring. The heels see and corner her, and Boss Man puts cuffs on her. That gets Savage out with a chair. He chases all the heels off. Ventura points out, rightly, that Savage wouldn't come out to help Hogan but he does for Elizabeth. Savage is upset with Elizabeth as they leave. *3/4

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) in 5:07- Honky supposedly has a big advantage here because unlike the Summerslam impromptu match he's had time to prepare. Honky stalls getting in as Warrior is doing his usual crazy entrance so Warrior chases him up the aisle, lifts him up in a press slam and carries him back to the ring. Double noggin knocker on the heels. Warrior pillar to post beating. Honky dodges a charge and Warrior crashes in the corner. Hart distracts the ref and Honky gives Warrior several shots with the megaphone. Hart gets a choke in. Honky beats him down more in the corner until Warrior starts Warrioring up. Honky dodges an elbow drop to get momentum back. Warrior comes back with buckle shots but Honky gets his knees up on the big splash. He covers Warrior for 2. Warrior ducks a clothesline and hits the flying tackle to win. Shockingly not too bad, helped by a good back and forth layout. Warrior's learning. **1/4

Once again Terry Taylor has to endure people saying he has "limited skills". He's undefeated in WWF so far and Bobby Heenan takes all the credit for it.

 

Tito Santana def The Red Rooster (w/Bobby Heenan) in 7:27- Heenan is mic'd up for this match. Back and forth start. Heenan screams at Rooster not to turn his back. A good speed sequence ends with a Santana dropkick and half splash for a cover. Rooster gets his foot on the rope. Rooster comes back with a double stomp and a jawbreaker. Santana gets a double leg takedown. Rooster does a sunset flip. Heenan tells him to use the tights, but he doesn't and Santana punches out. Santana stays in control and Heenan gets more and more frustrated. Rooster gets out of a figure four attempt. Heenan grabs Rooster and drags him out of the ring to berate him. They shove each other on the floor and Heenan backs off. Rooster tries to suplex Santana out of the ring but Santana reverses and suplexes him back in. Taylor gets the Flair Lite kneedrop. Backbreaker for 2. Santana reverses a suplex attempt into a small package for 2, then gets a backslide for 2. Heenan sounds like he's about to chew through the ringpost. Rooster gets a boot up in the corner and hits a piledriver for 2. After a hot shot Rooster goes to hook on a scorpion death lock/sharpshooter but Santana fights out. A clothesline sends Rooster 360 and out. A furious Heenan rolls Rooster back in. While Rooster is asking Heenan what that was about Santana rolls him up for the pin. This was all about the Heenan angle, but both these guys were way too damn good to let that stop them. ***

After the bell a pissed off Heenan jumps in the ring. Rooster says he doesn't need Heenan. Heenan says "YOU NEED THIS!" and slaps him. He immediately backs off. Rooster pops him with punches, whips him around and beats Heenan down with perfect Bobby Heenan selling. What an amazing bumper he was. Rooster face turn complete.

 

Mr. Perfect def Koko B Ware in 3:10- Quick Ware hiptoss, slam and dropkick sequence sends Perfect out. I think that just made him mad. He beats Ware down in the corner. Ware hits a deep armdrag. They do a good speed run that ends with another Ware armdrag. Perfect takes over with a knee to the gut. On a corner exchange Perfect hits a stiff back elbow. A Perfect dropkick sends Ware out. Perfect dodges a charge and Ware goes nads first into the corner. Perfect hits the Perfectplex and good night. Another spunky match with the good back and forth layout the whole show's had. The only thing against it is being so short. Yet another TV loss for Hall of Famer Koko B Ware. *1/2

Mean Gene is with the Mega Powers, who deny there's any tension between them and that they're on the same page. We'll see how long that lasts. After a few really weak shows this is a nice "get back on track" SNME as the new year starts.