WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #3
November 2, 1985
Hershey, PA
Hershey Park Arena
(Taped on 10/31/1985)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Tito Santana (7/5/1985)
World Tag Team Champions: Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (8/24/1985)
Women’s Champion: Wendi Richter (3/31/1985)

Because this is the SNME Halloween ’85 special, some of the wrestlers are dressed up (more than usual) in fitting costumes for a faux Halloween party. For example, Bobby Heenan is dressed as Daniel Boone with a “weasel” cap on his head. The best has got to be Piper dressed up as SUPERROD. Great stuff.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura!

• Terry Funk (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Junkyard Dog
  

This is the blow-off match after JYD was attacked and branded by Funk way back in the SUMMER. It just goes to show how different feuds are handled back then compared to now. JYD attacks Funk before the bell even sounds to send Funk out to the floor for a breather. Back in, Funk gets a slam but then misses an elbow and gets thrown out to the floor. Back in again, JYD hits a slam and gets down on all fours for his ramming headbutts which sends Funk out to the floor again. Vince says if Funk wins this match, he could possibly get a title shot against Hogan. Poor JYD. Funk shoves JYD into the ropes as Hart trips him up. JYD goes out and gives chase after Hart. Once JYD grabs Jimmy, Funk runs after him and takes a back drop out on the floor. Back in, Funk fights back with punches and gets a near-fall. Funk tosses JYD into the ropes and applies a sleeper, but JYD reaches the ropes. JYD ducks a clothesline and hooks on a sleeper of his own. Once Jimmy gets up on the apron, JYD releases the hold and goes after him. Funk grabs Jimmy’s megaphone and nails JYD in the back of the head with it. The ref doesn’t see it and counts three for Terry Funk. (5:14) Post-match, Funk tries to brand him but JYD blocks it and nails Funk with the iron to clear him of the ring. That leaves Jimmy Hart to get de-panted and branded. The crowd LOVES it. Five days later, JYD would win the utterly pointless Wrestling Classic tournament by defeating Randy Savage by countout which would be the closest thing he would come to being a champion in the WWF. If you want to catch that match in DVD quality, you can find it on WWE’s Greatest Wrestling Stars of the ’80s DVD. **

We go back to the party where Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff are dressed Batman and Robin. I didn’t know they were commies! King Kong Bundy (or Abe Lincoln) and Captain Lou Albano (or Julius Caesar) square off in a pie-eating contest. In case it’s necessary to note, Captain Lou wins.

Piper’s Pit w/Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer and Cousin Junior: For some reason on the last episode of SNME, Uncle Elmer had his marriage ceremony on the show and Roddy Piper and didn’t like it so now he’s bringing them on the Piper’s Pit to apologize. Jesse Ventura also had some brutally honest things to say about the hillbillies. Oh yeah and by apologizing, I mean he makes fun of them some more. Once they all get up out of their seat to start beating on him, Piper points the finger at Jesse Ventura back over at the announce table for talking trash about them. Hillbilly Jim wants Jesse to get in the ring and say what he has to say to his face. Jesse comes down and tells them that he sticks to what he said and isn’t about to back down. During all this, Piper’s bodyguard Bob Orton is creeping all around the ring to set up for an old fashion school boy on Hillbilly Jim. That causes the hillbillies to get all riled up and clear the ring of the heels.

Back to the party for a pumpkin bobbing. It’s “Bobbin'” Bobby Heenan vs. Cousin Junior! Heenan wins because he’s the BRAIN!

• King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Andre the Giant & Hulk Hogan (w/Capt. Lou Albano)

There is SO much heat for this match. Hogan and Bundy start, and Hogan gets a high knee for one. He tries a slam, but Bundy pounds him down. Clothesline misses and Hogan elbows him and gets a corner clothesline, and brings in Andre. He chokes out Bundy and brings Hogan back in, as he hits a double-ax but gets caught in the heel corner. Studd overpowers Hogan, but Hogan comes back by blowing an atomic drop and makes the tag to Andre. The ref gets bumped on a backhand from Andre and now all four men are in beating on each other. A second ref comes in as the faces clean house and we go to break. We come back to Andre punishing Studd with a bearhug. Andre chops Studd down and tags in Hogan for a clothesline. Andre comes in but gets tied up in the ropes, and Bundy splashes Hogan out of the picture. The heels pound on Andre until the ref calls for the DQ. (5:35) Gene Okerlund is in the ring to get a word from Hogan/Andre. They say they want MORE! Even though the wrestling wasn’t too great, the heat for this feud was unreal and earns this a * alone. You can catch this one on the Hulk Still Rules DVD.

Next up is the broadcast premiere of “The Land of A Thousand Dances” music video. If you haven’t seen it, it’s quite the cheese-fest. Vince mentions you can catch this video on MTV, which to the current generation would be completely UNREAL.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs. Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth)

Savage controls early by popping Santana in the face out of a tie-up. Savage hits a jumping knee drop and takes Santana’s face to the turnbuckle. Santana counters a hiptoss with one of his own but then misses an elbow drop. Savage comes off the top with a double-ax for 1, 2, NO! Savage hooks on a chinlock. Tito elbows out of it but then gets nailed in the head with an elbow from Savage. Savage slams Tito and goes up top for another double-ax, but Tito catches him in the gut and goes STOMPS A MUDHOLE in Savage. Tito sets up for the FLYING JALAPENO but Savage wisely rolls out of the ring just in time. Santana goes out and chases after him. Being the first man to get back in the ring, Savage nails Santana in the face as he hops up on the apron to send him falling back out to the floor. Savage tries a PILEDRIVER on the floor (!) but Santana blocks it and takes a knee lift instead. Savage gets up on the apron before the ten-count to win via countout. **¼

Let’s see how Roddy Piper celebrates Halloween at his house! Vince strangely shows up at his house with a camera and a microphone. Roddy wraps up bricks and calls them chocolate bars and puts sticks in bowling balls and calls them candy apples. So in other words, Roddy Piper snorts cocaine on Halloween so when the kids come to his door, he’s that CRAZY neighbor guy. *DING DONG!* Hey it’s a bunch of kids at the door and one of them is dressed up as Hulk Hogan! By dropping heavy objects into the kids’ bags, the bricks and bowling balls break through their bags leaving candy for Roddy Piper to scoop up for him to keep. He tells them not to cry because he has either circus peanuts or Fritos for them! The joke is on the HotRod however, as the kids had chocolate-covered red peppers in their bags. Hmm, I didn’t know red peppers and cocaine gets you that HIGH!

Before the big “Kung Fu Challenge” match, Mean Gene watches Fuji break stuff.

• Mr. Fuji (w/Don Muraco) vs. Ricky Steamboat – “Kung Fu Challenge” Match

The backstory here is that Muraco and Fuji choked out Steamboat with his own black belt and Steamboat wants some revenge. Steamboat blocks some kicks and comes back with chops and an enziguri. Fuji kicks low on Steamboat which will change the course of ANY match. After some chops from Fuji, Steamboat comes back with the same and kicks Fuji down to the mat. Fuji regains control with double throat thrusts. He connects with a back kick and tries a suplex, but Steamboat counters into one of his own. Steamboat heads up top and hits a missile dropkick for the three-count. (2:50) Immediately afterwards, Muraco jumps in the ring and sprays mist in Steamboat’s face for a two-on-one attack. ½*

We return to the party for the Pumpkin Pass contest! It’s faces vs. heels here. The faces win 5 to 4 after Miss Elizabeth drops the pumpkin. Macho goes into wife-beater mode here as Elizabeth gets chewed out for losing it for the heel team. Before we go to the credits, Ventura makes the challenge for the next SNME along with Piper to take on the hillbillies. Add Orton to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a match-up!

Final Thoughts: This was a fun show no matter what decade you’re in. It’s simple; you take your hottest feuds, give them five minutes a piece on free TV, and you have just given your fan base a dose so they’ll want to pay for more! I would make a Piper-drug joke here, but it’s too easy. All kidding aside, I enjoyed the heck out of this show. Thumbs up!