I think back to a time when I was between the ages of five and thirteen years old. Too young to go out on weekends or even really care about such things; my time was spent at home playing video games and just doing whatever around the house. But my Saturday nights were always scheduled because it was when Saturday Night’s Main Event was coming on. One of the greatest theme songs ever would hit the airwaves and my favorite wrestlers of all time would rush to the ring for great WWE action that was sure to entertain. Who would be battling it out this Saturday? What type of argument would Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura get into? What big event would happen that would shape the feuds for the next four or five months? It was always a surprise and always fantastic which is why this collection of the best moments from SNME not only is a great set of wonderful moments in wrestling history but also a nostalgic trip back to my childhood.
Back in 1985, the WWF (before they dropped the “F” and added an “E”) began an occasional program that would air on NBC on Saturday nights. SNME was born and gave fans a little bit more wrestling during certain weeks so that they could get their fix and also see some of the biggest angles begin. It aired for about seven years in its original run on NBC before jumping over to FOX in 1992. Sadly, FOX only had SNME for two episodes before the WWE shut down production of the series and kept it dormant for fourteen years until it next appeared on NBC again in 2006. It has since become a regular two- or three-time-a-year staple for the WWE and usually happens when a big event is about to take place or an important Pay-Per-View (PPV) is on the horizon. No matter what the reason is, Main Event has always been a fun time for me and will continue to be so as long as I keep getting my fix of it every couple months. Luckily this set came out and has allowed me to relive some of the greatest moments from my past.
For those that didn’t watch or aren’t old enough to have seen the original run, let me assure you that you never really missed out on the greatest wrestling action around. Sure all the big names like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, the Hart Foundation, the Brainbusters, Andre The Giant, and many more always appeared on the different episodes but it was mostly to do angle advancements and start new feuds more then anything. The matches usually ended in a non-clean fashion such as a DQ or double countout or even just getting thrown out, but it paved the way for months or new feuds and matches that fans were hoping would someday happen. Today’s version of SNME is just kind of there and doesn’t really deliver stellar matches or do much for the way of advancing on big angles, but it is all in fun and merely to entertain the wrestling fans of the world.
This collection is phenomenal and a must have for any wrestling fan whether they grew up watching the basic cable series or have simply heard a lot about it. I’ve almost forgotten about a lot of the events that took place which happen to be included in this set and I know there are plenty more yet to be dusted off and thrown into the mix. But until they come out with The Best Of SNME Volume 2 I am going to repeatedly enjoy this first set that really delivers the action and the memories that display the enjoyment the WWE is all about.
Disc 1
~ A Must See Attraction
~ SNME May 11, 1985: WWE Championship Match Hulk Hogan Vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton – Mr. T is accompanying Hogan here and they even rip one another’s shirts off before the match. Ok then. Orton has the famous cast on his arm here which ends up making the bulk of Hogan’s offense into attacking that broken arm. What a poor sport. The match is decent and sees Orton take control and Hogan make the “tremendous” comeback before Roddy Piper runs in and screws up the whole mess.
~ SNME October 5, 1985: Uncle Elmer’s Wedding
~ SNME October 5, 1985: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff – Here is a match that had the potential to be absolutely great but it never even gets a chance to before it is all over. Both men get in a tad bit of offense before they brawl to the back and get counted out together. Rather disappointing.
~ SNME October 5, 1985: A Trip To The Zoo
~ Field Reporting
~ SNME November 2, 1985: Halloween Contest
~ SNME January 4, 1986: WWE Championship Match Hulk Hogan Vs. Terry Funk – Hogan versus Funk is just a match that is kind of hard for me to fathom because I’ve seen both of them around in the past fifteen or sixteen years, but never really against one another. And sometimes I forget how long Funk has been around. Nevertheless, the match isn’t that bad and sees Funk taking some pretty serious shots from Hogan in a match that they worked well together in. It’s kind of a fun match and doesn’t go too long which is what most Hogan matches need to be enjoyable.
~ Randy Orton Reflects On His Dad
~ SNME March 1, 1986: Boxing Match Mr. T Vs. “Cowboy” Bob Orton – Orton and Mr. T were in a boxing match for the simple reason of getting people ready for WrestleMania II. It’s short and kind of boring but it does what it is supposed to and even gets the crowd riled up thanks to Orton cheating constantly.
~ Settling The Score
~ SNME October 4, 1986: Snake Pit Match Jake “The Snake” Roberts Vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – What we have here is a “Who can get their animal out first” match. Jake has his snake in the corner while Steamboat has his dragon with him. The match itself isn’t too bad with both men getting their licks in and taking advantage before a rather abrupt finish that sort of comes out of nowhere. After the match comes the fun though as Jake grabs his snake but Steamboat is armed with his komodo dragon and ready for a fight. I really think there could have been something great here had they been given more time.
~ Jake “The Snake” Roberts Reflects on Saturday Night’s Main Event
~ SNME November 29, 1986: WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Jake “The Snake” Roberts Vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – I’m not one hundred percent certain here, but I think that both men are heels in this match. Not sure how often that happened back in the day but today it’s rather commonplace. I always found Jake to be more enjoyable as a heel anyway. Hell, Savage too as a matter of fact. Jesse Ventura really has no idea who to root for because they both are rule-breakers which they show throughout the match. It’s a lot of fun and sees cheating from both sides before they can’t take it anymore and end up brawling outside to a double disqualification. I kind of wonder if this was the turning point for Jake to a long babyface run.
~ The Steel Cage Match –
~ SNME January 3, 1987: Steel Cage Match Hulk Hogan Vs. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff – The match itself is nothing to write home about, but it is the famous ending which got this one included here. After some battling back and forth, Orndorff and Hogan both make a break for it and are neck-and-neck climbing down the outside of the cage. All of a sudden they drop down and we seem to have a tie that has the referees scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. There is no choice but to restart the match since they seemingly hit at the same time and it leads to an easy Hogan victory.
Now I would have understood the whole controversy if they would have handed the belt to Orndorff and let him have it for a week or two. You know, Hogan feels he was robbed and vows to get back “the title he never really lost.” But no, the whole thing is rectified in five minutes as the match is restarted and Hogan gets the inevitable win. Heaven forbid they have taken the title off him back then even for a week.
~ The 8th Wonder of The World
~ SNME March 14, 1987: Battle Royal – A good number of well known wrestlers are in this one including Demolition, Paul Orndorff, Ron Bass, Hillbilly Jim, Koko B. Ware, and most notably Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant. It’s your typical battle royal with crap going on all over the place but then the camera of course focuses on Hogan as he is taking on the entire Heenan Family before Andre takes the fan favorite out of the match with a headbutt to the back. Awesome! And in a move that may have come long before it became a staple in these matches; everyone remaining in the match gangs up together (heels and faces) to eliminate Andre from the match. After the big guns are gone though, things slow down considerably and Hercules ends up with the victory that wasn’t really shocking, exciting, or disappointing. It was just kind of there.
~ Natalya Neidhart Reflects On Her Dad
~ SNME May 2, 1987: Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Match Hart Foundation Vs. British Bulldogs – Even though this match is less than ten minutes making it really short for a 2-ou-of-3 falls match, it certainly is important and a really big deal when it is all said and done. The first fall is done and out of the way before you can even say “boo,” because the Bulldogs were gaining an advantage and it was too much for the Harts to take. They end up double-teaming too long and get disqualified for their actions. The second fall sees the Harts keep the advantage before a hot tag to a fresh Davey Boy makes all hell break loose. This leads to the eventual pin in which sends the Bulldogs and crowd into a frenzy seeing as how they have won the match and the titles but not so fast my friend. Ventura points out the brilliant loophole here that the Harts were disqualified in the first fall and the belts cannot change hands on a DQ so they remain the champions even though they lost the match.
~ Insurance Policy
~ SNME October 3, 1987: WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Honky Tonk Man Vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – The first five or so minutes of this match see nothing but Savage getting an easy victory over Honky except for the constant interference of Jimmy Hart which keeps his guy in it and also leads to him getting beaten down by Savage. After Hart is taken out, the match continues but the Hart Foundation end up coming out and taking over where he left off. This leads to the DQ finish and Honky going to take Savage out with the guitar but Miss Elizabeth steps in for mercy. This would lead to one of the biggest tag teams and angles in WWE history. Honky shoves Elizabeth down and nails Savage with the guitar. The crowd is going ballistic because of the brashness Honky displayed by putting his hands on Elizabeth. Hulk Hogan ends up running in for the save and TA-DA, a partnership of immense proportions.
~ SNME October 3, 1987: Mega Power Formation
~ The Union Of The Mega Powers
~ SNME October 3, 1987: “Piledriver” Music Video
~ SNME November 28, 1987: “Macho Man” Randy Savage Vs. Bret “Hit Man” Hart – If you’re a longtime wrestling fan like I am, then you tend to forget just how much Jimmy Hart and his minions got involved in matches that had other Hart Family members in them. Right away here though, Savage realizes he has to do whatever he can to take out Neidhart and Jimmy so they are kept at bay. Sadly, the numbers are too much and while he gets them out of the picture, Bret grabs the megaphone to take the advantage early on. After that, it is all Hitman as Savage injures his ankle and Bret goes methodical to work the leg to his advantage. It makes for a fun match and almost a great predecessor for what the Hitman would do in about seven or eight years for his tremendous singles run.
Disc 2
~ Turning Back The Clock
~ SNME January 2, 1988: WWE Championship Match Hulk Hogan Vs. King Kong Bundy – Bundy is just huge and was one of the beasts in the WWE at the time. It’s not like he needed an added advantage, but Bundy also had Andre The Giant in his corner for this battle with the Hulkster. This is a very typical Hogan match though as Bundy dominates and Hogan makes the miraculous comeback. It’s a fun match though especially with post-match staredown between Hogan and Andre before the beatdown by the Giant.
~ The Rematch
~ The Main Event February 5, 1988: WWE Championship match Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant – The rematch everyone has been waiting for since they had their epic battle at WrestleMania III. Ted DiBiase and Virgil come out with Andre which makes this match so damn important and instrumental in the history of the WWE. Andre got the controversial victory here pinning Hogan (when his shoulder was clearly up) and then handing the belt over to DiBiase. Seeing the title around DiBiase’s waist is more then I could have ever asked for as a long-time wrestling fan and I wish it would have been upheld.
~ Ted DiBiase Reflects On His Dad, “Million Dollar Man”
~ SNME March 12, 1988: “Macho Man” Randy Savage Vs. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase – My God, Miss Elizabeth was a beautiful woman. Simply gorgeous. Andre and Virgil are on the outside again in Dibiase’s corner Vince and Venture bring up the fact that confusion has set in as to whether referee Dave Hebner had been bought or its an imposter in the ring. All wrestling fans know that Dave has a twin brother named Earl and that’s where all the controversy came from. As for the match, it is a damn fine battle between two great in-ring performers and is truly enjoyable.
~ SNME March 12, 1988: Andre Passes Out
~ SNME March 12, 1988: Hulk Hogan Vs. “The King” Harley Race – Yet another typical Hogan match. Race has the advantage for virtually the entire match and then we see Hogan hulk up and clotheslines, big boot, legdrop. One thing I really miss though by watching Harley Race is that no one uses the headbutt in such a dramatic and useful fashion anymore.
~ Macho Madness
~ SNME November 26, 1988: WWE Championship Match “Macho Man” Randy Savage Vs. Andre The Giant – Andre not having entrance music was just one of the many brilliant ideas that made him seem so menacing and inhumanly monstrous. This match is a decent back and forth battle but it was mainly to advance the Andre versus Jake Roberts’ storyline. Jake had found the Achilles heel of Andre in his fear of snakes and it was great watching him use it to his advantage. Watching Jake and Savage shake hands after the match is kind of creepy considering what Jake would do to Savage with a cobra in a couple years.
~ SNME November 26, 1988: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan Reflects On His Flag Match
~ SNME January 7, 1989: WWE Intercontinental Championship match Ultimate Warrior Vs. Honky Tonk Man – Just a few months prior to this match-up, Warrior had beaten Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam in squash fashion ending the longest Intercontinental Title reign in all time. Mind you, one of those fantastic Warrior promos precedes this match and it is crazily awesome. Not much here though as Honky cheats a lot to get the advantage and Warrior freaks out near the end of the match to get back on top.
~ SNME January 7, 1989: Brutus Beefcake Shaves Ron Bass’ Head
~ A Supreme Alliance
~ Main Event February 3, 1989 Twin Towers Vs. Mega Powers – Akeem and Big Boss Man were one hell of a tag team and led by the one, the only, the “Doctor of Style” Slick making them even better. Again we have a pretty decent match but the storyline involved is much bigger then any match on this night. The Mega Powers were tearing through the WWE and no one could stop them except for jealousy. Miss Elizabeth got knocked out during this match and taken to the back for aide by Hogan meaning Savage was left to fend for himself for a while. It pissed Savage off and was the last straw so he ended up leaving Hogan as well after a well-placed slap right across the Hulkster’s kisser.
After the match we see Savage attending to Miss Elizabeth when Hogan comes in and that’s when all hell breaks loose. The Mega Powers were done for after this night and would “EXPLODE” at WrestleMania V.
~ A Grueling Experience
~ SNME May 27, 1989: Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship Hulk Hogan Vs. Big Boss Man – This was a bit different then your run-of-the-mill Hogan match because it was actually back and forth throughout and gave one of the greatest visuals of all time in wrestling. About ten minutes into the match, Boss Man makes a break for escape and ends up almost to the bottom outside of the cage but Hogan grabs him, brings him back up, and then superplexes him to the mat from the top of the cage. It’s a really fun match with a lot of drama and tension even though you kind of always knew which way it would go.
~ SNME May 25, 1989: Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Match Rockers Vs. Brain Busters – A young Shawn Michaels before he broke free of the glow-in-the-dark pants and threw Marty Jannetty through a plate glass window. I’d enjoy this tag match any day of the week at present time because it has four brilliant performers involved in it and you never quite knew who would pull out the victory. It also sees the collapse of some branches of the Heenan Family which was a big deal simply because it was one of the strongest factions in all of wrestling at the time.
Disc 3
~ Hogan Vs. The Genius
~ SNME November 25, 1989: Mr. Perfect & The Genius Smash the WWE Championship
~ SNME January 27, 1990: Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior Vs. Mr. Perfect & The Genius – Seeing Hogan and Warrior teamed up together was just insanely big back then and drove the fans nuts. The good guys pretty much rule most of the match and this is the time when the ball got rolling for the feud between Warrior and Hogan that would culminate at WrestleMania VI. A missed clothesline and unexpected tag ends up causing a little bit of animosity and the two fan favorites know it is time to tangle.
~ SNME April 28, 1990: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura On Horseback
~ SNME April 28, 1990: Hulk Hogan Vs. Mr. Perfect – I would have given anything to see Perfect go over clean on Hogan, but you know that wasn’t going to happen during the whole “Hogan is the WWE” time period. Hogan controls from the start, Perfect turns the tide, but of course the Real American knows how to pull out another victory. Surprise surprise.
~ Arrogance
~ SNME April 28, 1990: Rockers Vs. Hart Foundation – It’s quite a shame that we didn’t get to see more from the Rockers back in the tag team picture, but they were greatly overshadowed by the Harts, Demolition, LOD, and other teams that just garnered more attention. Hell, even the Bolsheviks got more attention than the Rockers did and it’s sad because they were one of the more talented teams. That is evidenced by this great match here between them and the Hart Foundation. Shawn and Marty worked perfectly together with their quickness and agility while the Anvil’s power was the perfect compliment to the Hitman’s technical in-ring work. The ending of the match is not clean and that is disappointing, but at least it was great while it lasted.
And speaking of the non-clean ending; it’s because Demolition came down and interfered. I know damn well that Demolition had many appearances on SNME and being my favorite tag team of all time, I’m overly upset that they don’t have a single match in this set. Come on, one of the most successful teams of all time deserve at least showing up more then just in a DQ run-in.
~ Intercontinental Competition~ SNME June 28, 1990: WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Mr. Perfect Vs. Tito Santana – Tito Santana is one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time and standing toe-to-toe with Mr. Perfect is a prime example of that. Santana always knew how to get a crowd going and constantly came close to taking that next step but never crossed the line. Santana and Perfect have a great back and forth match here with Tito making you think he would eek out a win, but Perfect knew how to overcome adversity which is why he was absolutely perfect.
~ SNME October 30, 1990: Oktoberfest
~ SNME April 27, 1991: 20 Man Battle Royal Match – Another really big name battle royal as Earthquake, Jake Roberts, Tugboat, Texas Tornado, the Warlord, British Bulldog, Hogan, and many others make an appearance. Kind of sad looking at a ring full of wrestlers form just eighteen years ago and seeing six of the twenty are now dead. God that sucks. For a battle royal though, it is a lot of fun and everyone gets their turn in the spotlight. The middle of the match sees a lot of quick eliminations one after another including a shocked Hogan being dumped by his friend Tugboat. You would have done it too ya big goon! All in all it’s a fun and chaotic match that ends in a pleasing manner. At least for me it does.
~ SNME April 27, 1991: Bret “Hit Man” Hart Vs. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase – How could this possibly be anything less then stellar when these two are involved? The match is going on perfectly even though Sherri is getting involved every two minutes like a good heel manager is supposed to I guess. The real problem comes when Roddy Piper, who is at ringside commentating, decides he has had enough of Sherri and DiBiase’s cheating. Piper chases Sherri to the back with DiBiase in tow and Hart right behind them all for the double countout. Sucky ending, but great match up until the finish.
~ FOX Takes Over
~ SNME February 8, 1992: Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice Vs. Undertaker & Ric Flair – Talk about having all your big names in one match; this was it. With Taker storming his way through the WWE while Flair did the same; Justice was actually playing second fiddle to Hogan a lot. Hence we get this match that would turn everything around. The match itself doesn’t really give much of anything, but the ominous heel turn for Justice here is present from the very beginning. Justice finally has enough of being in Hulk’s shadow and leaves him in the middle of the match. You know, it would have been even more successful had Hogan then been beaten down and defeated, but Flair gets DQ’ed and Hogan ends up coming out on top anyway. Still, it was a great moment to see yet someone else get sick of Hogan.
~ SNME February 8, 1992: Roddy Piper Shocks The Mountie
~ SNME November 14, 1992: WWE Intercontinental Championship Match British Bulldog Vs. Shawn Michaels – Shawn was in all his heel glory here and Bulldog knew how to work a crowd. Oddly enough, this is one of the few clean matches included in this entire set and it is great. Both men have great chemistry together and they tell a damn fine story throughout the duration of the match. There are no bells or whistles or added elements needed here because they just perform at a high level throughout and put on a fine battle for the title.
~ The Return
~ SNME March 18, 2006: Street Fight Shawn Michaels Vs. Shane McMahon – This match is like almost every other Shane McMahon match out there, but I still enjoy them. The man is always willing to put his body on the line no matter what he has to do to it. It’s great seeing Shawn Michaels in this match because it is the perfect transition from the final match in this set from SNME‘s original run fourteen years earlier involving him and Davey Boy but now here he is in the new run as well. The match is a pretty good brawl and ends with a significantly obvious ending that had been seen close to ten years earlier and would pull out the old chants of “You Screwed Bret!” once again.
~ SNME July 15, 2006: Randy Orton/Brooke Hogan
~ SNME July 15, 2006: 5-on-2 Handicap Elimination Match D-Generation X Vs. Spirit Squad – Odd how I don’t recall this one little tidbit from this match, but once someone is eliminated…they get locked in a cage sitting at ringside. Strange. The Spirit Squad was simply working for the McMahons during their attempt to do everything possible to get rid of DX. This match is there simply for the fans to go nuts over DX because it is really never much of a contest.
~ One Of The Greatest
~ SNME July 15, 2006: WWE Championship Match Edge Vs. John Cena – Boom, bim, BAM and this match is over before it even really starts. A very quick match that sees both men get their advantage before Lita sticks her infected ass into the match.
~ Television History
Both the old and new moments from SNME are shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and they look great. Some of the older matches of course look a bit grainy and gritty but not too bad.
The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and we can hear all just fine. Commentary comes through clearly over the middle speaker while the surrounding speakers bring about the entrance themes, crowd noise, and eventually the pyro.
SNME May 11, 1985 (First Ever Match On Saturday Night’s Main Event): Ricky Steamboat & U.S. Express Vs. Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, & George “The Animal” Steele – Being the first ever match on SNME is a pretty decent feature to thrown on here, but obviously not one that needed to be included as part of the actual feature. It is a pretty basic six man tag that leads to a face turn for George “The Animal” Steele.
“Real American” Music Video
SNME May 11, 1985: Junkyard Dog & His Mother – The late and great JYD does a little dancing with his mother and that’s about it.
Brother Love Interviews Hulk Hogan – We first get highlights of a past Brother Love segment in which Slick and Big Boss Man maced Hogan and then cuffed him to a barricade and beat the hell out of him. Brother Love is in the ring for his bigger setup and Hogan comes out to discuss his beatdown at the hands of the Boss Man.
SNME October 31, 1989: Sapphire’s Debut: Dusty Rhodes Vs. Big Boss Man – Slick and Boss Man cheat a lot in this match that is a whole lot of nothing, but it is the ending that is the real reason it is here. A fan at ringside that was getting pissed at Slick’s cheating ends up dancing with Dusty Rhodes after his victory. She would then go on to be his valet and be known as Sapphire.
Alfred Hayes & Gene Okerlund Go On Safari – This is a cute and funny little segment that sees Okerlund and Hayes in the jungle meeting different wrestlers that would probably really take up residence there.
Shawn Michaels Talks About Winning His First Intercontinental Championship – HBK discusses winning his first big singles’ title and it is a rather generic interview.
Matt Hardy Talks About Boxing Evander Holyfield – This was when Hardy was taking on MVP in different events and Holyfield got dragged into the mix. Nothing much.
Trailers – Edge: A Decade Of Decadence and Starrcade: The Essential Collection
What an awesome set this is and you just can’t dare pass it up if you bother to call yourself a wrestling fan. SNME sits right u there in my mind with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble in terms of importance because it brought about some of the biggest moments in wrestling. When do you think the Warrior/Hogan feud began? That’s right, on Saturday Night’s Main Event and it led to one of the biggest main events in WrestleMania history. There are some truly classic moments captured in this set and because it is so great; I’ll give them a free pass this time on not really including Demolition in it whatsoever. But if I don’t see them in volume two then I’m really going to be pissed. Moving on though to the special features and we get a few more great moments that signify why SNME is one of the reasons the WWE was so successful back in the late eighties and early nineties. Hopefully the cool theme music and pre-match promos can bring it back to prominence once again.
………………………………………
WWE Home Video presents The Best Of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Featuring: Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Junkyard Dog, Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels, Big Boss Man, Ric Flair, Undertaker, and many more. Running time: 540 minutes on 3 discs. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: February 10, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
