Saturday Night's Main Event XVI

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XVI

April 30, 1988 (taped April 22) from the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, MA

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

Wrestlemania 4 is in the rear view mirror. There's a new graphics package for the intro, featuring new champ Randy Savage instead of Hulk Hogan. In fact, Hogan's not even mentioned during the show as he's taking some time off.

 

We get footage of Duggan hitting Andre with his 2x4 during a match between them on weekly TV. Bobby Heenan and the rest of the Heenan Family are furious, as if Duggan hadn't done that to everyone he's come across.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan def Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan and Andre the Giant) by DQ in 8:47- Ventura: Duggan's "HOOOOOOOO" sounds like "a wounded water buffalo in heat". Yowzers. Ventura really didn't like Duggan, and I'm not sure if it was all storyline or if there was legit hatred there. I'm sure there's a shoot interview somewhere that would shed some light. Anyway, back and forth start. Herc ducks in the corner to get advice from Andre. Duggan dodges a punch and hits an atomic drop. Bad advice. Duggan barely gets Herc up for a backdrop. The follow up kneedrop is dodged and Herc works the knee a bit. Herc dodges a charge and Duggan rams his shoulder into the top buckle. Now it's pick your body part. Herc, being Herc, chooses neither and instead sticks with his punchy punchy chokey basic offense. Neither body part is sold the rest of the match. Herc pulls Duggan out with his tights. Heenan gets a shot in. Duggan gets pissed and grabs his 2x4 from the timekeeper's table and chases everyone out. While the ref is getting the 2x4 out Herc hits Duggan from behind. Slugfest. Herc bear hug. Duggan punches out but Herc stops the comeback with a high knee. Duggan counters a backdrop and goes into full comeback mode. 3 point stance clothesline! Heenan runs in to draw the cheap DQ. Andre beats Duggan down a bit until the Ultimate Warrior runs in and chases the heels off. 1/2*

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def "Dangerous" Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart) in 3:10- Hart is wearing a beret after Beefcake cut his hair at WM. Hart also has his own hedge clipping shears to counter Beefcake's. Beefcake and Hart compare Schwartz sizes before the match. Beefcake no sells a punch and Davis hides in the ropes. Buckle shots, hip toss, and Davis begs off. Davis gets a cheap shot in over the ref and goes into his own punchy chokey offense. Beefcake gets away from Hart's shears. He catches Davis with a knee in the jaw that looked like a legit shot. Davis looks out of it. He rolls out to recover, and when he gets back in Beefcake locks in the sleeper. Davis goes out and the ref calls it. Hair cutting and spray painting hijinks ensue. That was 3 minutes that felt like 15. 1/4*

WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) (w/Elizabeth) def The One Man Gang (w/Slick) in 6:03- This is a rematch of the semifinals of the WM 4 tournament, won by Savage by DQ after OMG used Slick's cane. It's also Savage's first TV title defense. They roll around the ring in the initial lockup. Savage tries some stick and move. Savage leaps up and OMG catches him, but Savage uses his momentum to drop him down into a pin! OMG's kickout sends Savage to the floor. He bounces right back up, jumps to the top rope, and hits a crossbody for 2! Top rope snap clothesline for 2. OMG takes over with big man offense. Slick chokes Savage with his cane. Savage ducks a clothesline, slides out of the ring (that's his baseball days showing) and chases Slick around. OMG hits him as he's getting back in the ring. More slow big man beatdown. Elbow drop for 2. Savage dodges a corner charge, hits elbows to the head, and clotheslines OMG 360 and out! Double ax handle off the top to the floor. He goes up again in the ring but OMG pops him in the gut coming down. Savage dodges the 747 off the second rope. Slick moves in on Elizabeth. Savage goes to stop him and OMG gets him from behind again. While the ref's jawing with Elizabeth the heels double team, but Savage dodges and OMG eats Slick's cane. Top rope Savage elbow, and good night. Savage tried his damndest to make this watchable. *3/4

WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition (w/Mr. Fuji) def The British Bulldogs by DQ in 5:05- Apparently Demolition has threatened to "dip Matilda in chrome and make her a hood ornament". I am a 100% dog lover, but that's hilarious. Smash and DBS start. Smash smashes. Ring Gearhead note: for some reason Smash is wearing his elbow pad over his upper arm. DBS gets a sneaky tag on a rope run and Dynamite ambushes Smash with a clothesline. Smash blocks a roll up but misses an elbow drop. Well, that would probably hurt less if he put his elbow pad on right. The faces work Ax's arm. Dynamite loads up a suplex but Smash comes in and breaks it up, putting Dynamite bulldog in peril. Smash with a bear hug. Dynamite headbutts out but can't get the tag. Ax axes. Dynamite gets a boot up in the corner and tags. Bodyslam party by DBS. But Dynamite tags right back in and Smash kills him with a shoulderblock, then throws him outside. Fuji gets kicks in. DBS chases him off with Matilda. Fuji runs all the way to the back and the Bulldogs chase him. After a minute (and conveniently timed commercial break) they come back with each holding half of Fuji's cane. They beat the Demos down with them and get DQ'd. Who's the heels here? Clusterfrell booking, and they didn't get enough time to get going to begin with. *

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) def "The Rock" Don Muraco (w/Billy Graham) in 4:12- Another WM 4 tournament rematch, this time from the quarterfinals. Fast DiBiase start with punches and chops. Muraco counters with a backdrop. Ring Gearhead note: for some reason DiBiase isn't wearing wrist tape. That's one of those things that you only notice when it's not there. Muraco slightly nudges DiBiase with a shoulderblock. He hits a powerslam, but Virgil puts DiBiase's foot on the rope. DiBiase hits a clothesline for 2 and rolls through his basic moveset. Muraco counters a backdrop attempt with a Russian leg sweep. Another powerslam for 2. DiBiase begs off to sucker him in, punches him in the gut and bodyslams him. DiBiase covers, and even though Muraco's foot is on the rope the ref doesn't see it (or was paid off) and counts 3. Like Savage, DiBiase did his best to get something decent out of it. *1/2

"Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) def Koko B Ware in 3:44- We JIP from commercial with Rude attacking Ware on the apron and the bell ringing. Rude thinks he backdropped Ware and does the hip swivel, but Ware leapfrogged over and hits a dropkick. Slugfest. Rude drops forearms. Fist drop off the top rope. Dropkick and lots of Rude posing. Ware dodges a second dropkick. Huge backdrop. Rude dodges a charge and Ware flies into the ropes. Rude Awakening and we're done here. Squashy. Yet another TV loss for Hall of Famer Koko B Ware. Rude was going places but still honing his craft. 3/4*

On the plus side, this was a heavily wrestling focused show with a SNME high 6 matches. On the bad side, none of them hit 2 stars and there were no major angles. Definitely a skippable bottom of the barrel SNME.

Clash of the Champions III

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions III: Fall Brawl

September 7, 1988 from the Albany Civic Center in Albany, GA

Commentary: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

Ric Flair doesn't have a match scheduled, so he's joining Tony Schiavone in the hosting booth. Flair's playing it less in character and more straight down the middle, even putting the guy he's currently feuding with, Lex Luger, over as a "great talent".

NWA World Television Championship: Mike Rotunda (c) (w/Kevin Sullivan) and Brad Armstrong go to a 20:00 time limit draw- Usual mix of amateur takedowns and stalling at the start from Rotunda. He pops Armstrong with a chop and uppercuts in the corner. Springboard reverse crossbody from Rotunda, but Armstrong reverses it for 2. Rotunda powders. More uppercuts that Armstrong's doing some nice spit selling for. Shawn Michaels-esque. The first two rows will get wet. Armstrong gets a hiptoss and dropkick, and covers for 2. Rotunda slides out to think again. While both guys run the ropes Armstrong grabs a crazy armdrag. Rotunda kips up out of an armbar and uses tights to get Armstrong in the corner. He catches Armstrong with a knee in the gut while running the ropes, drops him over the top rope and throws him out. Sullivan gets shots in. Rotunda suplexes him back in for a 2 count. To the chinlocks! Ref Tommy Young catches Rotunda getting rope leverage. He pounds on Armstrong a bit while Armstrong tries to fight and stay on his feet. A diving clothesline kills the comeback attempt. Rotunda drops an elbow and covers for 2. Armstrong's thrown out again and Sullivan gets a couple more shots in. Armstrong sunset flips back in and gets a 2 count. Steve Williams comes out to ringside and tries to pump Armstrong up. Rotunda gets distracted by him and Armstrong wraps up a small package for 2. 3 minutes left. Rotunda does an airplane spin, but spins himself too much and can't follow up. 2 minutes left. Gutwrench suplex from Rotunda for 2. Small package for 2. 1 minute left. Rotunda half nelsons Armstrong on the mat and tries to get a pin with his foot on the ropes. Finally he covers Armstrong over and over again, with Armstrong kicking out every time until time runs out. Williams helps an exhausted Armstrong out of the ring. Solid stuff. Armstrong showed great babyface fire by refusing to be beat, but it would have been nice if he'd gotten some offense in the second half of the match. **3/4

JR says Jimmy Garvin will be out indefinitely with a broken leg and cues up footage from weekly TV of the attack from Sullivan and Rotunda that did the damage.

 

Nikita Koloff and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams def The Sheepherders (w/Rip Morgan) in 17:07- Fast start with the Herders immediately getting Williams into their corner and they pound on him until Williams fights out. Williams runs Luke over with a shoulderblock. Football tackles for everyone. Morgan gets in the ring, sees Williams in the 3 point stance pointed straight at him, sees his life flash before his eyes and bails out again. Butch dodges a Koloff corner charge and celebrates. Koloff, king of no selling, hits Butch from behind and has a bodyslam party on the heels. Koloff no sells a double team. A Williams clothesline sends Luke out. Williams suplexes him back in. Williams goes up top and hits a crossbody! Big guy flying alert. Butch breaks the pin up. Luke and Koloff have a moment while Young is jawing with Morgan where they look like they get lost and don't know what to do next. Luke does an eye rake to get going again. Koloff shrugs that off quickly and hits an armdrag and dropkick. Williams goes for another big football tackle, but Luke dodges and he posts his shoulder. The heels commence the beat down. Williams starts hulking up and no selling. An eye rake puts him back in peril. He dodges a double team, Butch hits Luke off the apron, and Williams gets the tag. Morgan hits Koloff with his flagpole. Fistdrop off the second rope by Luke for 2. Butch taunts and spits at Williams to bait him in and the heels double team. Luke locks on a sleeper. Koloff gets out but can't get the tag. He ducks under a clothesline and punches Luke 360 and out. Morgan hits Williams in the back with the flagpole to keep him from tagging. Luke tries coming off the top rope. Koloff dodges and tags out. Williams picks Luke up to press slam him. Butch clips him. Williams manages to tag out. Koloff comes in, immediately decapitates Luke with the Sickle, and gets the pin. Again, solid stuff. **1/2

 

No DQ Match: "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes def Kevin Sullivan (w/Gary Hart) in 6:59- This is billed as a grudge match even though there hasn't been much of a feud, even though these guys had crossed paths in Florida before. Why Hart's managing Sullivan when Sullivan is already a manager himself, you've got me. Probably a "I hate Dusty" thing. Dusty no sells Sullivan offense, hits a bionic elbow and Sullivan goes out. Dusty smashes him into the announce table again and again and again then throws him into Hart. He pounds Sullivan with elbows in the corner over Young until Sullivan pops him with a karate thrust to the throat. They go outside again and Dusty takes a guardrail shot. Hart hits Dusty with his shoe. Who uses a shoe, honestly? Hart passes a spike to Sullivan. He jams it into Dusty's throat. Dusty gets out of a chinlock with a blatant low blow. Stick and move jabs. Another elbow makes Sullivan drop the spike. Dusty scoops it up and nails him with it. Cover, but Hart pulls him off. Dusty chases. Al Perez comes to ringside with the dog collars and chain to be used in a future Dusty/Sullivan dog collar match commentary has been hyping up and hits Dusty in the back with the chain. Perez and Sullivan beat Dusty down with the chain in the ring. They stretch it out to clothesline him, but Dusty dives on it to pull them into each other. Then Dusty grabs Hart, small packages him, and Young counts 3? The great googly left eyeball of the Great Mowjowl hell was that? Dusty celebrates in the crowd after. What a stupid finish. Not much of a match either. 3/4*

Former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman and former UWF commissioner John Ayers is in the hosting box with Tony and Flair. Ayers will be the special ref for a future Flair/Luger rematch. He tries to talk about it but Flair realizes Ayers is getting run over by Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor and Too Tall Jones simultaneously and jumps in to save him. That was bad. Like worst promos of all time bad.

The ring announcer Lillian Botches the intro for the next match and calls it a "Russian Chainsaw Match."

Russian Chain Match: Ricky Morton def Ivan Koloff (w/Paul Jones and Russian Assassin #1) in 9:52- Robert Gibson left the promotion again after the Bash tour due to a pay dispute. Morton was playing nice and working out the rest of his contract, but would also leave later this month. All Koloff to start with throat shots and chokes with the chain. Morton slides under Koloff and crotches him with the chain. Koloff recovers and hits two corners before Morton flips him out of it. JR covers for Ayers saying, "He's a big guy that doesn't do a lot of talking. Public speaking isn't his forte". Morton tries to work Koloff's leg, which is sound strategery. He tries to drag him and hit corners but Koloff quickly stops him. Koloff goes up top. Morton yanks the chain to pull him off. Koloff hangs Morton across his back with the chain. Koloff gets to 3 corners before Morton wraps up his legs and drags him down. Koloff tries the top rope again. When he comes down both guys and the chain collide. Morton recovers first. He gets to 3 corners. Koloff grapevines the rope and grabs Jones' riding crop to hold himself back. After a bit Koloff loses his grip on the crop and Morton falls into the last corner to win. Decent finish to a terrible match. This was not the kind of match Morton should be trying to work and it showed. 1/2*

After the match RA1 beats Morton down while Koloff and Jones argue in the ring, bringing long simmering tensions to a boil. Koloff punches Jones. RA1 hits Koloff from behind, and a brand new RA2 runs into the ring. The heels beat Koloff down. The plan for this was to turn Koloff face to team him back up with comrade nephew Nikita, leading to a Starrcade match against the Russian Assassins. But as luck would have it, Nikita took a leave of absence soon after this show to deal with a family emergency. The Starrcade match would still go on, but with the Junkyard Dog randomly teaming with Ivan.

JR has Ayers at ringside to give him a second chance to cut a coherent promo. Thankfully they keep it short. Ayers stays at ringside for the next match which I'm sure is not a setup in any way whatsoever.

 

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Sting def Barry Windham (c) (w/JJ Dillon) by DQ in 21:14- Huge yell from Sting and we're off. He hits a couple of armdrags and Windham's hot. Speed sequence. Sting lands on Windham's shoulders during a leapfrog and the way they shrug it off I'm not sure it was planned. A dropkick sends Windham outside. Big Windham back suplex out of a headlock. Sting pops right back up and hits more dropkicks. Sting offers Windham a free shot, but Windham wants a test of strength instead. It's a RUSE, as Windham uses it to give Sting a kick in the gut. Mounted punches from Windham. Sting counters it into an inverted atomic drop. Mounted punches from Sting and Windham does a wonderful super delayed flop out of the corner. He's learned from the best. Sting yells in Dillon's ear to annoy him. Windham dodges an elbow drop, takes it outside and beats Sting down on the floor. Slam on the floor. Big Windham suplex back in. Sting gets a sunset flip for 2. Windham powerslam. Desperation small package from Sting for 2. He dodges a corner charge and Windham files over the corner, across the top rope, and eventually to the floor. Sting posts Windham and he's bleeding. More great dazed selling from Windham, wildly punching the air and walking over the rail into the crowd. Back in, Sting bites the cut and does a couple of back rakes. Sleeper. Windham goes down, fights it, and tries to run Sting into the corner. Sting anticipates it, pushes Windham into the corner, then locks the sleeper back on off the ricochet. Windham finally uses a kneebreaker to get out. He works Sting's knee a bit and hooks on a figure four. Young breaks it up when he sees Dillon helping. Sting punches back and hits a suplex. Windham rolls through it and locks in that little known variant of the Claw, the Black Gloved Titty Twister of Extreme Torque +2. Sting runs Windham around and uses momentum to send him outside. Backdrop and elbow drops from Sting back in. They lose their spot for a second and have to maneuver around in a very obvious way, ending with Young taking a clothesline. Stinger Splash! Sting hooks the Scorpion in but there's no ref. Dillon comes in with a chair and Windham whacks Sting in the head with it. He covers and Young is back in to count, but Ayers comes in, pulls Windham off, and raises Sting's hand as winner by DQ. OK, did he have that authority for this match? What's his position anyway? Damn good show saving main event marred by another shitty finish. ***1/2

The show closes with Flair, fully back in character, cutting a killer promo on Ayers and Luger. "To be the man you've got to beat the man, and I'm THE MAN! Wooooooooooooooooooooooo". Tony runs down the NWA shows coming up on TBS this weekend and for every one Flair says "I'll be the star of that one too". Hilarious.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Windham and Sting is worth a look despite the finish, but that's about it. Dusty's creative juice was at a low ebb here and the promotion as a whole was in rough shape despite a pretty good Bash tour. It would turn out this would be the last major show under the Jim Crockett Promotions banner. The next Clash in December takes place just after the sell to Turner.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

Saturday Night's Main Event XV

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XV

March 12, 1988 (taped March 7) from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

We're on the road to Wrestlemania 4 as the show opens with a recap of the WWF title change(s) on The Main Event, but surprisingly no details on the title tournament already set up for WM.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) in 9:02- The Dream Team explodes! Valentine with fairly stiff forearms. Beefcake counters with a running high knee. A big boot gives us the first Valentine flop of the match. Beefcake dodges a punch and hits two atomic drops with A+ Valentine sells. Beefcake with a rollover cover for 2. Mounted punches and another Valentine flop out of the corner. Valentine gets a cheap shot in the corner to take control. Elbow off the top rope. Valentine hooks the figure four in while near the ropes, and blatantly uses them for leverage to try to damage Beefcake's knee as much as possible before the 5 count. As Beefcake slides out we get a good shot of an oddly placed table at ringside. I'm sure that won't be used later in the show in any way whatsoever. While Beefcake's recovering on the floor the Honky Tonk Man, who Beefcake is scheduled to challenge for the IC title at WM, comes to ringside and grabs a mic to run Beefcake down. The refs get rid of him. Back in to the Hammer dropping hammers. He goes for the figure four again but Beefcake pulls his tights down to get out. Another try, and Beefcake pushes Valentine into the corner. Slugfest. Beefcake locks the sleeper in. Valentine gets to the ropes and both guys fall to the floor. Hart gets involved and Beefcake chases. Valentine ambushes, back suplexes Beefcake back in the ring and bridges, and the ref counts 3. But, Beefcake got a shoulder up and is declared the winner. Hair cutting hijinks follow. Your usual solid Greg Valentine match. **

 

Hulk Hogan def "King" Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) in 6:37- Bit of a dream match here, with WWF's current top guy taking on the NWA's biggest star of the '70s. Hogan goes right for Heenan, who took credit for orchestrating the events of The Main Event before selling Andre's contract to DiBiase. Hogan slides in the ring, which is always the cue for his opponent to jump him. Hogan no sells it. Race headbutts. More Hogan no sells as his music is still playing. Hogan punches Race down, tears his shirt off and finally the music stops and the bell rings. Race floppy sells Hogan clotheslines before going 360 and out, landing knees first on the table. Hogan follows and posts Race's shoulder before going after Heenan again. Race with the ambush. He goes for a piledriver on the floor but Hogan backdrops out. Atomic drop on the floor and Race gets posted again. Race is slammed on the floor. Finally they get back in with Hogan continuing the beatdown. He chokes Race with his wrist tape! Heenan grabs Hogan's foot and Race gets him from behind again. Belly to belly suplex. Piledriver! Race throws Hogan out, adjusts the table, and sets Hogan on it. He goes for a falling headbutt off the apron, but Hogan dodges! Race falls right through the table face first, breaking it! This is no modern thin designed to break easy table, this is a thick, reinforced one. Gimmicked I'm sure, but still broken in half. That is one HELL of a spot for 1988. And Race gets back up before Hogan! He pushes the table away in disgust and goes right back on the attack. He hits a diving headbutt off the top rope! Cover. Hulk Up. Corner clothesline, legdrop, done. Damn, where did that come from? Between Race turning back the clock a bit, Hogan showing a more vicious and aggressive side (almost Hollywood-like minus the coward heel) after losing the title, and all the work on the floor which was a bit out of the WWF style at the time, this was a damn fine piece of business. Unfortunately the table spot would cause a long term injury for Race that would be the catalyst for his eventual retirement. ***1/4

 

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil and Andre the Giant) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) by countout in 11:39- Unbeknownst to anyone at the time but knownst to us now, this is a preview of the upcoming WM main event. Andre is revealed as DiBiase's surprise in the corner. Virgil gets in Elizabeth's bubble and Savage jumps outside to get him out, allowing DiBiase to jump him from behind. All DiBiase to start with his usual well calculated mix of hitting moves and taunting the crowd. He hits an elbow off the second rope. Andre pokes Savage as he's laying near the apron. Savage reverses a whip and hits a back elbow. A high knee in the back sends DiBiase outside. Double ax handle off the top. DiBiase slides out. Savage opens the ropes to invite him back in. When he does DiBiase gets control back and hits fistdrops. Savage with a boot up on a corner charge. DiBiase dodges the kneedrop and hooks in a stepover toe hold. Savage pushes out, sending DiBiase flying over the top and out again! Slugfest on the floor. Andre steps forward. Virgil hits Savage from behind and gets booted by Hebner. DiBiase with a double ax handle off the second rope. He works a chinlock for a bit until Savage comes back. Ref bump! Savage throws DiBiase out. Double ax handle off the top to the floor! Andre grabs Savage from behind and headbutts him. Elizabeth runs to the back as Andre continues to work Savage over. DiBiase revives Hebner and Savage is counted out. The heels continue to beat him down until Hogan runs in with a chair and runs them off. Rock solid back and forth match. I said it in my WM 4 review, but I'll say again- it's a real shame they had to work the whole tournament to get there instead of having a normal main event PPV match. It would have rocked. **3/4

The Islanders (w/Bobby Heenan) def The Killer Bees in 4:00ish (shown)- Heenan's in his "I hate all animals" phase and is wearing a beekeeper's mask. In the arena this was a 2 out of 3 falls match, but because of time constraints we get a truncated version with an edit from the first to third fall in here at some point. The Bees jump as soon as the Islanders hit the ring. Brunzell hits a legdrop for a 2 count. Blair with a roll up for 2. Tama dodges a Brunzell dropkick. Suplex for 2. Haku dropkick for 2. Tama and Brunzell slugfest. Brunzell hits an inverted atomic drop but in the heel corner. Double clothesline. Tags on both sides. Blair rolls Tama up and the ref starts counting, then suddenly decides he needs to get Brunzell out instead. Haku kills Blair with a clothesline, and Tama covers to win. Call it *1/4 for what was shown.

 

One Man Gang (w/Slick) def Ken Patera in 3:47- OMG jumps Patera as he's taking his pants off (has he never heard of tear offs?) and chokes him with them. Patera comes back with punches and locks in a bear hug! OMG sells the hell out of it and eye rakes out. Patera dodges a punch and tries a full nelson! OMG gets to the ropes. He squashes Patera in the corner. Patera counters with shoulders in the corner and a running knee. Coming off the ropes OMG kind of pushes Patera down with a clothesline and falls on top of him for the pin. Bit of an ugly finish, but the match was shockingly spunky considering who was in there. Patera trying to take the large monster down with power wrestling holds was amusing. *

The Main Event I

Legacy Review

The Main Event I

February 5, 1988 from the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

The Main Event is Saturday Night's Main Event, except on a Friday, and it's live. This show, headlined by Hogan/Andre II, still holds the record for the highest rated wrestling program in history.

Ahhhhh, real crowd noise. None of that canned stuff that's been used for all the taped SNMEs up to now. I've been saying for months the Thunderdome is Vince's greatest wish finally realized: the crowd will do whatever he tells it to do. We start the show with a Hulk Hogan workout video set to, oddly, an early version of what would become Jake Roberts' music.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def The Honky Tonk Man (c) (w/Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue) by countout in 8:20- Peggy Sue is future Savage manager Sherri Martel. Honky woos Elizabeth while Savage threatens Hart. Savage chases him off and around the ring as the bell rings. After they get back in a back elbow sends Honky back out again. Savage gives Honky and Hart a double noggin knocker. Honky dodges a charge and Savage goes shoulder first into the top turnbuckle. Hart distracts again and Savage chases him around and through the ring. Hart drops the megaphone, and Honky whacks Savage in the gut with it. A Savage comeback is cut off with a knee to the gut. Usual slow Honky offense. Hart chokes Savage while Honky dances for Elizabeth again. He goes outside and he and Hart corner Elizabeth. Savage tears out and hits Honky from behind. Double ax handle off the top to the floor. Double ax handle in the ring for 2. Savage dodges and Honky takes out Hart while he's on the apron and Savage locks a sleeper in. Now Peggy Sue threatens to slap Elizabeth. Savage goes out to stop her. Honky tries to get the jump but Savage is a step ahead and Honky gets posted. Savage gets back in while Honky is counted out. Honky gets the guitar. Hart hits Savage from behind with the megaphone. Honky loads up a guitar shot but Elizabeth stops him. Savage grabs the guitar, runs the heels off, and smashes it. Unlike their SNME match, this one was almost completely controlled by Honky and is worse as a result. *3/4

 

WWF Championship: Andre the Giant (w/Ted DiBiase and Virgil) def Hulk Hogan (c) in 9:05- Hogan has the old belt on in his prematch promo, but in the arena it's the brand new greatest wrestling belt of all the times, the debuting Winged Eagle. Andre slow walks getting in the ring after the bell, then stops to confer with DiBiase and Virgil. Hogan has enough and jumps the group. Virgil and DiBiase eat big boots. Hogan punches and chops away and Andre absorbs it all. A running elbow and clothesline still can't get Andre down. Corner clothesline. Hogan goes up top and shockingly it's a mistake as Andre slams him off. Hogan dodges a falling headbutt and Andre's finally down. When Hogan gets close Andre grabs a choke. And chokes. And chokes. He stomps on Hogan's hand and slams him. Andre falls down giving Hogan a big boot. Sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) singlet choke. Hogan fights out of a choke and turns on the comeback. A clothesline off the second rope gets Andre down. Virgil grabs Hogan's foot. Hogan shrugs it off and hits the legdrop, but Hebner's arguing with Virgil and doesn't count. Hogan argues with Hebner. Andre grabs Hogan from behind and hits headbutts, then does that grabby half suplex thing and covers. Hogan's shoulder clearly goes up, but Hebner counts 3 anyway! New champion? Hogan is furious, but Hebner awards the belt to Andre. New champion! Andre takes the mic and says he's surrendering the title to DiBiase. Bought and paid for. He puts the belt around DiBiase's waist. As the heels go to leave, a Hebner look alike comes in! It's twin magic! In fact the run in was the "real" Dave Hebner. The match was reffed by his twin brother Earl, who had just jumped over from the NWA a couple of months prior. A confused Hogan grabs both Hebners and tries to conduct an in-ring interrogation. Neither one gives, so an even more confused Hogan gives up. One Hebner punches and kicks the other out of the ring. Hogan supposes by advanced wrestling logic that the aggressive Hebner is the evil one, scoops him up, and press slams him onto DiBiase and Virgil. Well, Hogan throws Hebner so far he damn near clears them and almost splats straight to the floor but DiBiase and Virgil manage to save him. Really good and historically significant angle, all the more effective because they would resist the temptation to ever use the Hebner twins this way again. Horrible match. 1/2*

Soon after this show on weekly TV WWF President Jack Tunney will uphold the "referee's decision is final" rule and cement Andre as the official winner and WWF Champion. However, he will also say that no one named Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo or Kevin Nash is booking this show and you can't just surrender a title to someone else. As far as he's concerned Andre vacated the title, and he sets up the 16 man tournament for the belt at WM 4.

This show, and review, is super short, so allow me to go stathead on you for a bit. This match ended Hogan's almost four year long first title reign, the last of the old school multi-year WWF title reigns. After this they'd start to modernize and move the belt around more often. In fact, from this show through the end of 2020 there have only been five other wrestlers that have had a single WWF/E world title reign of a full year or longer:

Randy Savage (371 days, '88-'89)

John Cena (380 days, '06-'07)

CM Punk (434 days, '10-'12)

AJ Styles (371 days, '17-'18)

Brock Lesnar (Universal Title, 504 days, '17-'18)

Also just missing a full year:

Hulk Hogan's second reign (364 days, '89-'90)

Diesel (358 days, '94-'95)

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: Strike Force (c) def The Hart Foundation (w/Jimmy Hart)- After this match's intros we cut back to the locker room where Mean Gene is with a distraught Hogan. "HOW MUCH DID THEY PAY FOR THE PLASTIC SURGERY?" Well, that was more complex than Tom's Rhinoplasty could do that's for sure. Hebner didn't get the David Hasslehoff. Hogan keeps ranting as we go to commercial. Coming back in, the match is going on with Martel in peril and Bret hitting a piledriver. Vince says they're out of time and have to go. The Network copy stays on long enough to see Martel cradle Bret during a backdrop attempt and get the pin. NR

Clash of the Champions II

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions II: Miami Mayhem

June 8, 1988 from the James L Knight Center in Miami, FL

 

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bob Caudle

 

The first Clash was a resounding success both creatively and commercially, so Turner and JCP quickly penciled in more onto the TBS schedule to be held on a roughly quarterly basis. We're also on the road to the Great American Bash, which this year is not only the traditional live event tour, but also JCP's next attempt at breaking fully into the PPV market by putting the July 10 Bash show from Baltimore on PPV after WWF killed Starrcade's buyrate with Survivor Series and Bunkhouse Stampede just flat out sucked. After three rounds of it we've reached a bit of a detente in the JCP/WWF scheduling wars so no counterprogramming here.

 

JR has been relegated from commentary to the arena's back entrance, where various grandees in limos are making their way to the show. Do you smell that? No, it's no Miami. It's the obvious upcoming parking lot beatdown. 

 

Some necessary notes for our opening match: Both Barry Windham and the US title have been on a journey since the last Clash, when Windham and ex-Horseman Lex Luger defeated the Four Horseman team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard for the World tag titles. A month later, Windham pulled off the most shocking heel turn of the year by betraying Luger to help Arn & Blanchard win the titles back, then filled the vacant spot in the Horsemen left open by Luger's own departure and face turn. Around the same time, Dusty Rhodes was stripped of the US title when he attacked Jim Crockett Jr with a baseball bat during a big brawl on weekly TV. Incidentally, that would also be the end of Dusty's final reign with any title in a major company as his in ring career continued to slowly wind down. Newly minted Horseman Windham won the tournament for the vacant title in May, defeating Nikita Koloff in the final. That once again gave every member of the Horsemen gold. 

 

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Barry Windham (c) (w/JJ Dillon) def Brad Armstrong in 13:35- Windham's new heel status is very obvious as he's in no hurry to get going. There's a supposed armdrag but we don't see it because TV is focused on someone's sign at ringside. Sadly that's going to be a theme all night. The second one is just barely caught before cutting away to a closeup of Dillon. Armstrong slams out of an armbar and Windham quickly slides out to rethink things. Back in Armstrong slides under into a hiptoss and headlock takedown. Windham quickly counters into a headscissors. The crowd gives him some serious hate. The Horsemen are definitely not popular here. Windham builds up even more heat by going back to the floor and asking for a time out. Another headlock/headscissors exchange back in. Ref Teddy Long says Windham pulled hair and they have an extended argument about it. More delaying tactics from Windham. After a couple more corner breaks Windham finally gets the opening to hit a cheap shot and change momentum. Slam. Armstrong dodges a fistdrop and yet again Windham goes to the floor. Armstrong grabs another headlock when Windham gets back in and walks up the corner to flip Windham over in a takedown. When Windham gets up Armstrong does it again and gets a near fall out of it. I've lost track of how many crowd cutaways we've had already. It's like Kevin Dunn snuck into the truck and started slamming on his favorite buttons. Long speed run. Armstrong catches Windham in a leapfrog and slams him, then hits an armdrag. He tries yet another corner walk up. This time Windham counters it into a back suplex. To the well one too many times. Powerslam from Windham for 2. Straight slam. Windham puts on a figure four! Dillon adds some extra torque. Armstrong tries to reverse it but Windham counters to keep himself on top. Long continues to question why the ropes are moving on their own. Big breeze off the ocean. Finally he catches Windham getting extra rope leverage and forces a break. Windham stays in control after. He tosses Armstrong out to the floor and drops him on the guardrail. When Armstrong gets on the apron Windham flips him back in over the top rope. He goes up top. Armstrong dodges an elbow drop! Dropkick from Armstrong. Kneelift. Setup slam and now Armstrong goes up top. Crossbody! Windham kicks out at 2. Armstrong immediately springs up and goes up top again. Another crossbody. Windham rolls through it and gets the Claw on! Armstrong goes down and Windham gets a pin! The first half was a bit pedestrian, like they were setting up to go 30 minutes instead of less than 15, but they slowly cranked it up better the second half and that was a FANTASTIC finish. ***

 

The Rock N Roll Express make their way out to announce their return to JCP. It's not mentioned on air, but they had been embroiled in a contract dispute for months, mostly due to the fact they clearly were not the top draw they were back in '85-'86 anymore. The return celebration wouldn't last long either. Robert Gibson would be gone from the company again due to continued contract unhappiness before the Bash tour was even over. Ricky Morton played a bit nicer, running out the string on his contract before he too left in September. They wouldn't be back until 1990, well after the WCW takeover.

 

After that we get taped footage from "earlier today" from the luxury ship Blackhawk (so named because it's the ship of the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks) of the contract signing for the NWA World title match on the Bash PPV between Ric Flair and the rapidly rising Lex Luger. Tony calls it "the biggest contract signing in NWA history", which is just a bit of a stretch. But far from the first time Tony would call something the greatest thing in the history of our sport that wasn't. Since they're on a fancy ship everyone plays nice and signs the contract with no shenanigans. Flair, however, does give Luger a subtle warning, saying the Bash tour starts on June 26 and "he better make it to Baltimore".

 

After commercial we go back to JR at the arena's back entrance. Dillon runs up to greet the rest of the Horsemen as their limo arrives. Flair says again Luger still has to make it to Baltimore. We cut back to the arena for intros for the next match, then as soon as that's done cut right back outside because Luger's limo is arriving. As soon as he steps one foot out the door the Horsemen jump all over him! They pound Luger down and tear his tux off! Flair says "You want to be a World champion! I DON'T THINK SO!" and rams Luger's head into the limo's trunk. Luger's bleeding. He takes a few more shots and JR says "Let's go to a break" as the Horsemen leave. And you thought the NXT parking lot was the only unsafe parking area in Florida. Absolutely classic Horsemen beatdown.

NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Fantastics (c) def The Sheepherders (w/Rip Morgan) in 17:03- We come back from commercial with both teams on the floor. The match might have already started during the beatdown or break, we're not sure. There's no bell so I'm thinking it did. Reset in the ring and the Herders get Rogers down. Rogers gets into dodge mode, hits the ropes, hits a crossbody, then springs up and tags out. Fulton hops in with a dropkick on Luke and he falls out to the floor. The Herders quickly brawl Fulton down too. Back elbow from Butch for 2. Luke tags in but for some reason ref Teddy Long won't let him in. Thought he was a tag team expert. They sort it out and the Herders stay in control. Fulton manages to catch Luke with a dropkick and they fight out to the floor. Morgan comes in from behind and hits Fulton. Fulton ducks and Morgan clotheslines Luke! The Fantastics beat Morgan down on the floor, then get Luke cornered in the ring. Luke's counter shot is lost thanks to another crowd cutaway. Fulton floats over Luke and gets a sleeper on! Butch quickly runs in and breaks it up. Fulton crawls over and tags out. We get the 5 minute call, which either means we didn't miss anything at all and the bell never rang, or someone ringside doesn't know how to keep time. Rogers slam/elbow drop combo on Luke for 2. He tries for what I think is a crucifix but it doesn't come off right at all and they both flop down to the mat. Luke goes to the old eye rake to turn things back around. Fistdrop from Butch for 2. Rogers dodges around, flips out of a backdrop, then slams both Herders. DONNYBROOK! Double noggin knocker for the Herders and they go to the floor to regroup. Back in Butch gets Rogers down again. When Rogers fires back Luke runs in and takes him out. Abdominal stretch from Luke. A wrestling hold?! Wonders never cease. Rogers powers and hiptosses out. Butch gets a knee up in the corner and covers for 2. Rogers dodges and Butch knocks Luke off the apron! Roll and tags to Fulton! He pounds Butch around, but ends up in the wrong end of town. Luke hooks his arm from the apron, allowing Butch to put him back down. Elbow drop from Luke for 2. Fulton hits a shoulderblock and kneelift. Speed run and Fulton runs Luke over with a tackle. Both guys are down. Fulton tries to fight Butch off to make a tag but can't. Blind tag. Fulton crossbodys both Herders! They do a silly but fun sequence where both Fantastics get near falls covering both of the Herders at the same time over and over. The Herders get the hell out of town again to break the momentum. Back in the Fantastics string together their first real sustained offense of the match, working on Luke's arm. Butch pulls the top rope down and Rogers tumbles out to the floor! Guardrail shot for Rogers. Some wiseass fan ringside pokes Rogers with his or her foot and security quickly swoops in to tell them off. Morgan must still have Long distracted because Butch hits Rogers in the back with one of the tag belts. And a (plastic) chairshot to Rogers' back from Luke. Rogers finally manages to stumble back in. Luke covers but Long is still trying to restore order. Backdrop from Luke. Rogers dodges and Butch takes out Luke with a double ax handle off the second rope! But Luke manages to cut the tag off. Rogers pops out of the corner with a clothesline on Butch. Again the tag is cut off. Ripcord knee from Butch for 2. Luke puts a sleeper on. Rogers counters a double team and Luke goes right into a chair being held by Butch! Tag to Fulton! He rolls Luke up, and despite Butch's attempt to break it up gets a pin to retain! Damn good wild all around brawling stuff. Not as good as their classic from the '86 Crockett Cup (which I personally don't rate quite as highly as others do anyway), but like that match the Fantastics took a backseat and let the Herders' wild brawling style lead. ***1/2

 

After commercial, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams is SHOCKED the Horsemen would attack Luger like that. So shocked he can barely get through his promo. But that's not really shock, that's just Doc Death. Williams is joining commentary for the next match as he's been beefing with the Varsity Club lately. 

 

"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin & Ron Garvin (w/Precious) def The Varsity Club in 13:11- It's TV champ Mike Rotunda (sans belt) and Rick Steiner representing the Club tonight. Kevin Sullivan is going to be locked in a cage on the floor, ostensibly so he can't interfere, but also to try to keep him away from Precious. The local ring announcer, who's been very bleh all night, says Ron Garvin has the "fists of stone". Close enough I guess. But before the match starts we cut back to JR for a Luger update. JR calls the attack "heinous" and says Luger's been taken to a local hospital. We then get a replay of the entire attack like it's Raw or Nitro. After commercial we're finally ready to start this match. It's been a very disjointed presentation tonight. Sullivan is in the cage and the Garvins are all over the Club in the ring. Stereo sleepers from the Garvins. Things settle down with Ron and Steiner in the ring. TV is only half focused on what's happening in the ring, they're just as if more concerned with Sullivan trying to get Precious' attention while holding a piece of paper he wants her to see. Steiner does an insane spinning sell of a Ron clothesline. "Fist" of stone from Ron for 2. Jimmy works on Steiner's arm for a bit. Steiner slides backward to the floor to get free and consults Sullivan. Rotunda tags in and fireman's carry takedowns Jimmy. Hammerlock exchange and Jimmy gets his own fireman's carry into an armbar. Another slow reset with Ron and Rotunda while Jimmy talks to Precious amid Sullivan's continued beckoning of her. The heels swap without a tag behind tag expert Teddy Long's back. Jimmy gets all the way off the apron to talk to Precious and keep her focused. But she continues to inch toward Sullivan while bugger all is happening in the ring. Jimmy runs over and kicks Sullivan's cage. Oh, Precious has the key to the cage. That's what Sullivan wants. The Club continue to kill time with heel shenanigans and armbars. There's no less than two phantom tag spots that we see as Long is not having a good night. Rotunda hits something off the top rope and covers for 2. Ron finally gets a real tag to Jimmy. Dropkick on Steiner. Snap mare/legdrop combo for 2. Now Jimmy kills some time with a front facelock. Williams slowly describes it for all those at home as a front....facelock. Thanks Doc Death. Ron tags in and rolls Steiner up for 2. Jackknife cover for 2. Sunset flip on Rotunda for 2. Ron finally hits a big chop on Rotunda. Rotunda responds with a backdrop/legdrop combo. Sullivan continues to point out the paper that he really really badly wants Precious to see. The Club get Ron in the wrong corner and choke him with Rotunda's workout rope. Ron gets tossed to the floor which kicks off a big brawl down there. Rotunda brings Ron over to the cage and Sullivan manages to hit him. Somewhat. Ron comes back in the ring, headbutts Steiner, and tags out. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Ron and Rotunda get into it on the floor. Precious finally gets close to the cage and Sullivan grabs her trying to get the key. Meanwhile, something we don't see happens in the ring and Jimmy pins Steiner. Great camera work, guys. Back to what's clearly more important here, Precious is digging around in Sullivan's robe trying to get that piece of paper. I assume. The camera then cuts back to the brawl still going on, so we don't see what happens next over there. Tony says Sullivan grabbed Precious and was choking her. We do see Williams leave commentary and save her, carrying her all the way into the ring. More crack camera/directorial work. Precious then shoves Jimmy away in the ring and leaves by herself to the ABSOLUTE SHOCK of Tony. Pretty nothing match, but the whole thing was completely second fiddle to all the Precious/Sullivan stuff. I don't think we ever learn what was on that piece of paper either. *1/4

 

Tony and Caudle recap the ongoing Road Warriors/Powers of Pain rivalry that started with the famous live weightlifting segment where the POP "accidentally" dropped a weight on Animal's face. They say a scaffold match has been signed for the GAB PPV between those two teams. That will end up being a "card subject to change" due to the POP jumping to WWF just a couple of weeks after this show. After that we see a diagram for the structure that's going to feature in another match at the GAB PPV, the final blowoff for all the Sullivan/Precious stuff in the Tower of Doom. Three levels, 40 feet high, each level slightly smaller than the last. It's the first appearance of a structure design that WCW will use off and on all the way to their final year. It's also going to suck donkey balls, at least this first time out. Most other times too. Caudle then pulls out a supposed ancient parchment that he says Sullivan found "somewhere" that depicts the FIRST EVER Tower of Doom, which is where he got the idea from. Looks more like one of the huts from the cannibal village in the first Monkey Island to me.

 

Nikita Koloff def Al Perez (w/Gary Hart) by DQ in 11:51- Physically Koloff is still going, but mentally he's completely checked out due to his wife suffering from health problems, which would sadly end up taking her life in '89. This is a feud that I think started during the US title tournament. Rough lockup stalemates to start. They start swinging fists around in a believable real fight way. Koloff gives Perez a hard corner whip. Both guys trade off arm holds. Perez tries to armdrag out but Koloff hangs on to an armbar. Koloff then shows his strength (despite his obvious loss of muscle mass) by countering a corner whip attempt into a hard arm takedown. Perez misses a wild senton or elbow drop or something and reset. Perez backs Koloff into the corner and hits the first real shots of the match. Dodge and Koloff runs his shoulder right into the top turnbuckle. Perez is all over it and kicks Koloff out to the floor. Hart gives Koloff a shot on the table next to commentary, collapsing the table. Or breaking its legs off, one or the other. Perez backs Koloff's back into the ring apron. Hart gets another cheap shot in. Koloff goes back out and stalks Hart, allowing Perez to ambush him from behind. He slams Koloff on the unpaded floor. Perez tries to suplex Koloff back in but Koloff fights it off into a cover for 2. Perez quickly gets back on offense. Koloff snap mares out of a chinlock but misses an elbow drop. Perez puts on a double chinlock. Koloff powers Perez up into an electric chair and drops him. Koloff comes off the ropes and they have an ugly as hell midring collision where neither guy seemed to know what they were going for. Perez quickly recovers to drop a knee into Koloff's gut. He tosses Koloff back out to the floor. Koloff tries a sunset flip back in but they back up all the way into the ropes behind them. Koloff blocks a suplex and hits his own. Back elbow from Koloff. Flying tackle. Mounted punches. Another back elbow sends Perez crazily flying over the top rope out to the floor. Larry Zbyszko runs in and attacks Koloff! That draws a DQ. A 3 on 1 gang heel beatdown follows. They seemed to have been planning a Zbyszko/Koloff match at the GAB PPV for Zbyszko's Western States Heritage title, but then they realized no one gave a shit about that title and changed plans. Not much happening here either, but Perez looked good just in trying his level best to keep Koloff on track. *1/2

 

NWA World Tag Team Championship: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (c) (w/JJ Dillon) and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes & Sting double DQ in 10:58- Sting was a fully made man after his already legendary draw with Flair at the first Clash, but everyone knew he still needed some seasoning before he was fully ready for main events full time. That's a very different face paint design he's going with tonight. Sting and Arn start. They quickly do the hair pull/kip up stuff and Arn rolls out for a rethink. Arn hits a cheap shot in the corner over Long, who's reffed every single match tonight. Back to the floor. Sting ducks a shot and Arn hits the ring post. Sting then cranks Arn's arm around it and goes to work on it in the ring. After a couple of escape attempts Arn goes to the eye rake to get free and tag out. Blanchard walks into a Sting armdrag. Hiptoss and flying headscissors from Sting. Dusty tags in to a big pop (Florida was Dusty's longtime home territory) and immediately lays into his longtime old foe Blanchard. Blanchard tries coming off the second rope, but right into Dusty's waiting arms. More elbows and jabs from Dusty follow. Dusty slowly gets Blanchard in a figure four! Dillon distracts Long so Arn can go over and rake Dusty's eyes to get his partner free. Dusty ends up on the apron and Dillon gets a cheap choke in. Back in Dusty gets some counters and hits a flying tackle, which from Dusty is a really big hit. Whoever's in the TV truck seems more interested in getting every kid in the arena that has Sting facepaint on a cutaway shot than showing the match. Supposed dropkick from Dusty and he tags out to Sting. Press slam on Blanchard. Stinger Splash! After losing his place a bit he goes for the Scorpion Death Lock. Arn runs in to break it up and the Horsemen double team Sting. Arn drops him on the guardrail. Back in Arn counters an ill advised backdrop attempt for two. Slam and Arn goes to the second rope. He tries a Vader bomb but Sting gets his knees up. Blanchard tags in and cuts the tag off. The Horsemen do their usual expert job of keeping the ring cut in half and Sting in peril. Sting blocks a suplex attempt, leading to a beautiful sunset flip/clothesline Horsemen counter of the counter. Blanchard covers for 2. He tights pulls Sting back out to the floor (with a bit of difficulty as Sting got caught up in the ropes). Arn DDTs Sting on the concrete! Dillon picks Sting up and rolls him back in. Long is distracted by Dusty trying to get in and the Horsemen can't get the pin. Sting starts slugging back on Arn. Backlside from Sting for 2. While in that Arn tagged out, superb ring awareness as usual. Sting hot shot on Blanchard! Arn tries to stop it but Sting gets the tag to Dusty! DDT on Arn! Dusty drops the big elbow. Blanchard breaks the pin up and things completely break down. Sting tosses Long to the mat so they can keep fighting. Dusty then pushes Long aside. Windham runs in, now wearing a suit, and puts the Claw on Dusty! Long has no choice to call for the bell, completely throwing the match out due to all the chaos. Just fine but no more. You know there's a much better match here with more time and a real finish. **3/4

 

Windham Claws Dusty all the way up the entrance aisle while Arn and Blanchard beat Sting down in the ring. Oh, I think Flair's in there too. That continues all the way to commercial. After the last break JR is with commentary and promises an update on Luger on weekly TV this week. Tony says the Braves are up next. The 1988 Braves? Yeesh. I think I'd rather watch a three hour loop of the Tower of Doom match.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Just fine, perfectly average. There's a couple of good matches but nothing amazing or mind blowing. The whole thing does serve as a good buildup for the GAB tour and PPV however.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

 

v2.0 posted 9/8/26

Saturday Night's Main Event XIV

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XIV

January 2, 1988 (taped December 7, 1987) from the Capital Centre in Landover, MD

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

The green screen work is much better this time around. It helps that it's plain black instead of a starfield. Bobby Heenan (in a neck brace) says he's stepping aside for Bundy's title match and Andre will be in his corner instead.

2 Out Of 3 Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: Strike Force (c) def The Bolsheviks (w/Slick) in 7:55- Santana teamed up with Martel during the summer of '87 to replace Tom Zenk, and they pulled the upset title win over the Hart Foundation on weekly TV in November.

FIRST FALL- Santana and Zhukov start. Solid Santana led back and forth. Quick face tags and arm work on Zhukov. Volkoff tries a press slam but Martel squirts out and gets a roll up for 2. Small package for 2. Santana hits a cross body on Zhukov. Volkoff breaks up the pin. Heel double team. Volkoff straight misses a couple of kicks or stomps on a prone Santana. Santana sells them anyway. Zhukov with a back suplex for 2. Santana dodges an elbow, dodges Zhukov and tags. Hot tag sequence from Martel. The Boston Crab gets a submission and the first fall.

SECOND FALL- Santana dropkicks Volkoff over and out. Double dropkick on Zhukov. Martel loads the Crab up again but Volkoff breaks it up. More heel double teams as the ref gets Santana out and Martel is forcer (striker?) in peril. Volkoff gut wrench suplex for 2. Santana runs in, allowing more heel double teams. Knee drop from Volkoff for 2. Martel tries a sunset flip. Midring collision. Tags on both sides. Santana has dropkicks for everyone. Flying flauta! The pin's broken up and we have a donnybrook. Volkoff gets Slick's cane. Santana dodges and Zhukov eats it. Santana rolls him up for a pin and it's over. Eh. About as good as you'll get with the Bolsheviks. *3/4

Fuji and Sika have a giant loaf of bread and giant jar of mustard to make a Damien sandwich with. Well, it's a nice change of pace from the usual "heel is scared to death" of Damien story.

 

Jake "The Snake" Roberts def Sika (w/Mr. Fuji) in 3:35- Deep Roberts armdrags. He ducks a couple of Sika punches and hits a clothesline. Shoulderblocks in the corner. Sika blocks a corner whip, hits a backdrop and rakes Roberts' back. Fuji gets a couple of cane shots in. Sika locks in the Nerve Pinch of Tormentable Agony +1. Roberts counters a backdrop with a kneelift. Short punches. Fuji grabs his foot to break the momentum. Roberts dodges a Sika corner charge, Sika Bret bumps, and Roberts rolls him up on the bounceback to win. Afterward Fuji eats a DDT and gets to play with Damien for a bit. Fuji almost completely no sells the DDT walking out, but his hat stayed glued on the whole time so who knows how much padding was in that thing? Strategery. 3/4*

 

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def King Kong Bundy (w/Andre the Giant) in 12:09- Hogan and Andre stare down on Hogan's entrance again. Hogan wins the lockup, dodges a charge and goes around the world with buckle shots. Big chops. The big boot sends Bundy outside. Still all Hogan after Bundy gets back in so he powders to confer with Andre. Bundy powers out of an arm wringer and pulls Hogan's hair to get control. Shoulderblocks stagger Bundy, but he ducks a clothesline and pops Hogan with a back elbow. More work on Hogan's arm. Eventually Hogan punches out and successfully slams Bundy, but the elbow follow up is dodged. They trade places with Bundy getting a slam but Hogan dodging elbows until he does a mini hulk up. Corner clothesline. Bundy goes for an avalanche, but the ref is in the way and he gets squashed between Hogan and Bundy! Hogan dodges a big splash and punches Bundy out of the ring. The match pauses as a replacement ref takes over, and the clinically dead original ref does a stretcher job to the morgue. Reset with Bundy getting control. Knee drop for 2. A chop sends Hogan over and out! Avalanche! A second one! Bundy gets arrogant, takes his time and demands his usual five count. Big splash. Hulk Up! Bundy does a Bret bump, Hogan hits the legdrop and good night. Perfectly serviceable. **1/4

Now for the real money for the night. Hogan calls Andre into the ring. Andre teases stepping in, then decides not to...until Hogan turns his back. Andre chokes Hogan down. The British Bulldogs run in and try to stop him. Andre throws them out and starts choking Hogan again. More faces run in from the locker room and try to get Andre off Hogan. Finally, Jim Duggan gets in and whacks Andre with his 2x4. That gets Andre's attention in a "if you shoot Mongo you'll only make him mad" way, but it allows the faces to get Hogan out of the ring. There's a funny unplanned moment where a frustrated Duggan slams the 2x4 on the ring apron and it breaks in half.

 

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) def Koko B Ware in 7:30- Ware's just a proxy here as Valentine has been feuding with his former tag partner Brutus Beefcake. Valentine hits a quick hot shot and drops some hammers for some near falls. He goes for an early figure four but Ware fights out. Valentine slowly and deliberately climbs up the ropes and hits a double ax handle. Beefcake comes to ringside. Ware uses the distraction to get a roll up and small package for 2. Valentine slides out and jaws at Beefcake. The match stops as the ref goes out and orders Beefcake back to the locker room, which Beefcake takes forever to do. When it gets going again Valentine is right back on offense. He gets sloppy and crotches himself on Ware's knees, but Ware STILL can't get any offense in. Finally Valentine goes up top again and Ware slams him off. Slugfest. A dropkick puts Valentine down. Valentine flop off a Ware headbutt. Ware gets a fistdrop off the second rope for 2. Valentine hits a kneebreaker, locks in the figure four, and that's it. Yet another TV loss for Hall of Famer Koko B Ware, and a damn near squash at that. *1/2

After the match Beefcake comes back in and runs Valentine off. Ware holds Jimmy Hart in the ring. Beefcake comes back in and takes a bit of hair off the top with the TITATNIUN STEEL BLADES until Valentine returns to save his manager.

In the back with Mean Gene, Andre gloats about how good it felt to choke the life out of Hogan, says he's going to squeeze the title right off him, and gives Okerlund a taste as well. The show closes with a medical update on Hogan: windpipe damage, but no tracheotomy required. Also, thankfully no anal bleeding. Hogan and Andre go on to sign rematch contracts at the first Royal Rumble, and the match will take place at the next Main Event.

Saturday Night's Main Event XIII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XIII

November 28, 1987 (taped November 11) from the Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, WA

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

This show is in one of those classic pretape holes, taping before Survivor Series but airing two days after it. The show opens with Savage giving another "Danger Zone" promo over the Twilight Zone music and some really awful green screen work. I've seen better CSO (as the BBC called it) in early '70s Doctor Who.

We get a short piece of footage of Danny Davis attacking George Steele with the ring bell on weekly TV. Steele is clearly not over Elizabeth, as he's now carrying an action figure (well, in this case doll would probably be more accurate) of her with him.

George "The Animal" Steele def "Dangerous" Danny Davis by DQ in 3:49- Steele charges right in and bites Davis in the corner. The first half of the match is Davis powders, gets back in, tries to ambush Steele, Steele somehow outsmarts him (yikes), Davis powders again, rinse and repeat. Finally Davis gets an international spike out of his tights and works Steele over with it for the second half of the match, keeping it out of the ref's view. He was a ref so he should know all the tricks. After a bit Steele lifts Davis up in a hammerlock, Davis accidentally kicks the ref, and we have a cheap DQ. Steele hunts down, kills and eats a turnbuckle pad after. DUD

Clips from the last SNME of the Hart Foundation costing Savage an IC title match against the Honky Tonk Man.

 

"Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def Bret "Hitman" Hart (w/Jimmy Hart and Jim Neidhart) in 12:03- Savage signals he's fired up by flinging his robe and sunglasses away. Jimmy Hart and Anvil try to corner Elizabeth. Savage jumps out to shoo them off and chases them around the ring. He drags Bret out and posts him. Bret favors his arm and slowly gets back in. Savage beat down in the corner. A corner whip is reversed and reversed and reversed and finally Bret takes the buckles, but dodges a Savage charge. Bret lays in the beatdown in the corner. As you'd expect with these two every single move and moment is being done with 100% snap and intensity. Savage counters a backdrop. Bret recovers on the apron. Savage charges, pushes the ropes, and Bret gets sprung off the apron and into the guardrail! The Hart entourage helps him recover while Savage teases coming off the top rope. Anvil gets on the apron. Savage gives him and Hart a double noggin knocker. With the decks cleared Savage dives off the top rope to the floor, but Bret was waiting for him with the megaphone and Savage takes it in the gut! Elizabeth tries to help but Anvil chases her off and rolls Savage back in. Bret slams Savage upside down in the corner and he gets in the tree of woe. Bret piledriver for 2. Savage dodges a corner charge and Bret posts his shoulder. Double ax handle off the top for 2. Bret comes back with a gut punch and backbreaker. Savage dodges the elbow off the second rope. Snap clothesline over the top rope for 2. Bret backdrops Savage over the top rope to the floor! Savage hurts his ankle on the landing. He tries to recover on the floor and Elizabeth takes his boot off. Savage works the rest of the match in one sock foot. He gets back in and uses the ropes to try to stand up. He can't put any weight on the hurt leg. Bret goes right for it. He posts the ankle! With no boot on! Stepover toe hold. Savage pushes out and Bret posts his shoulder again. Savage is trying to hobble around on one leg. Bret quickly gets back on the ankle. Single leg crab. Savage gets under the ropes. Bret snap mares him over the top rope back into the ring. Savage gets a desperation eye poke and slides to the apron. Bret picks him up to slam him, but Savage rolls through it into a Paul Smackage and the win! Holy crap what a match. Savage gave an absolute masterclass in selling a leg injury. The only thing I can criticize, other than it being too short, is the arm/shoulder shots on Bret didn't end up going anywhere, but it doesn't matter a whole lot. Want to see the best match ever on a SNME, at least the original incarnation? This is it. This Bret Hart guy, he might be someone someday. ****1/4

Bobby Heenan teases a huge surprise for the title match. Everyone should have figured out what that's code for by now, but of course Vince and Ventura don't have a clue.

 

WWF Championship: King Kong Bundy (w/Bobby Heenan) def Hulk Hogan (c) by countout in 13:45- Heenan takes the mic and calls his huge surprise down to ringside. If you hadn't figured out well before now it's Andre the Giant, I can't help you. Hogan jaws with Andre on his entrance. Bundy and Hogan go face to face and shove before locking up. Shoulderblock standoff. Hogan goes down on the second one. They hit the ropes again, but Hogan flips the script with a high knee. He tries to slam Bundy but can't. Bundy falls on top of him for a 2 count then works Hogan's back a bit. Hogan dodges a big splash. Huge clothesline! Hogan's feeling it tonight. He telegraphs a backdrop and Bundy whacks him with a clubbing blow. Long chinlock spot with the arm drops. When Hogan comes back he hits the big boot. He hits the ropes again but Andre trips him. The bell rings and the refs separate everyone. The match ref orders Andre to return to the back, and he'll waive the DQ and let the match continue. Andre is predictably reluctant but Heenan begs him to go, saying it's Bundy's match and he'll mess everything up. Andre eventually does, taking out a cameraman (that we see POV from the camera) on his way out. The match restarts with a Bundy beatdown. Hogan reverses a whip and hits the corner clothesline. Around the world buckle shots on Bundy. Chops. Another high knee. Bundy dodges an elbow. He stands on Hogan's back and slaps on a bear hug. Hogan elbows out, but Bundy catches him running with a back elbow. .5 avalanche. Bundy hits a big splash on Hogan's back and covers. Hulk Up. 3 punches, big man slam. Bundy rolls out and drags Hogan with him. Hogan gets some more shots in and rolls Bundy back in, but as he's getting back in Heenan sneaks up and grabs his boot! Hogan's counted out! Sore loser Hogan knocks Bundy out with a punch and beats Heenan up after. Surprisingly not bad at all. For whatever reason Hogan was really going max effort out there, and the overall package was good setup for a rematch on the next SNME, and slow burn to the eventual Hogan/Andre rematch in February. **3/4

 

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) def Hercules in 7:00- Heenan's not out with Herc because he suffered a neck injury from the Hogan beatdown. Staredown and Herc posing before a very rough lockup. Shoulderblock standoffs. A back elbow from Herc staggers Bigelow. Clothesline over the top and out! Bigelow snap mares Herc down to the floor! Brawl on floor. As Bigelow slams Herc on the floor the bell rings for a double countout. Bigelow grabs the mic and demands the match be restarted. Herc agrees. They do football charges that end in standoffs. Herc tries a trip but Bigelow carwheels over him. Herc dodges a dropkick, drops elbows and a knee. Herc tries to come off the top. Bigelow catches him! Press slam. Bigelow hits the slingshot big splash and gets the 3. Shockingly stiff and much better than expected. **1/2

Bundy demands a rematch with Hogan at the next SNME, and he wants Andre in his corner officially. Hogan accepts his terms.