Monthly Archives: February 2008

Saturday Night’s Main Event #8 (11.86)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #8
November 29, 1986
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Sports Arena
(Taped on 11/15/1986)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Randy Savage (2/8/1986)
World Tag Team Champions: The British Bulldogs (4/7/1986)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (7/9/1986)

Jesse Ventura introduces the show! I would be CRAZY to not tell you that he’s wearing a silly toupee! He lets me know that the pleasure of his presence is all mine! HOT DIGGITY! It’s Jake Roberts and tonight, he and his snake Damien are going to SQUEEZE the IC title off Randy Savage! Macho Man screams at Elizabeth to polish his belt better because if he loses tonight, it’s HER fault! Koko B. Ware has come to drop some bombs on Nikolai Volkoff! That match is MONEY! Plus, the Hart Foundation makes their SNME debut against the Killer Bees, and the Hulkster faces the ultimate challenge! And what you gonna do brother, when the 24-inch pythons challenge you?! What does that mean? FIND OUT NEXT ON SNME!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

The Big Event

WWF The Big Event
August 28, 1986
Toronto, ON, CA
CNE Stadium

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Randy Savage (2/8/1986)
World Tag Team Champions: The British Bulldogs (4/7/1986)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (7/9/1986)

It just goes to show that uncreative names for events do NOT affect the attendance rate. This show had a crowd of 64,000 and the reason for it is simple: Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff.

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, the babbling “Luscious” Johnny V, and the incoherent Ernie Ladd. Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #6 (05.86)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #6
May 3, 1986
Providence, RI
Providence Civic Center
(Taped on 5/1/1986)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Randy Savage (2/8/1986)
World Tag Team Champions: The British Bulldogs (4/7/1986)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (11/25/1985)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan! Read the rest of this entry

WrestleMania 2

WWF WrestleMania 2: What The World Is Coming To
April 7, 1986
Uniondale, NY/Chicago, IL/Los Angeles, CA
Nassau Coliseum/Rosemont Horizon/L.A. Sports Arena

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Randy Savage (2/8/1986)

World Tag Team Champions: Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (8/24/1985)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (11/25/1985)

Cheap plug: I strongly recommend the “Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s” book that WWE has put out. It’s a great read with more 1980s information than you’ll probably ever want to know.

From New York, our hosts are Vince McMahon and Susan St. James! Remember McMillan & Wife? Well, she’s wife. The legendary Ray Charles sings “America the Beautiful”! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #5 (03.86)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #5
March 1, 1986
Phoenix, AZ
Veterans Memorial Coliseum
(Taped on 2/15/1986)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Randy Savage (2/8/1986)
World Tag Team Champions: Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (8/24/1985)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (11/25/1985)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #4 (01.86)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #4
January 4, 1986
Tampa, FL
The Sun Dome
(Taped on 12/19/1985)

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: The Fabulous Moolah (11/25/1985)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

The Wrestling Classic

WWF’s The Wrestling Classic
November 7, 1985
Chicago, IL
Rosemont Horizon

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)

This is THE first-ever wrestling PPV. I’m not actually sure they announced what the winner of the tournament actually wins. I just kept hearing Gorilla say that the winner will be able to “write his own ticket.” Whatever that means. Okay, let’s get started!

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #3 (11.85)

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! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #2 (10.85)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #2
October 5, 1985
East Rutherford, NJ
Meadowlands Arena
(Taped on 10/3/1985)

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)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #1 (05.85)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #1
May 11, 1985
Long Island, NY
Nassau Coliseum
(Taped on 5/10/1985)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Greg Valentine (9/24/1984)
World Tag Team Champions: Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (3/31/1985)
Women’s Champion: Wendi Richter (3/31/1985)

Besides grabbing Hogan from Verne Gagne and taking a chance on Wrestlemania, putting Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC was the best idea Vince had in the 1980s. When you consider that the majority of America back then did not have cable or satellite television, not everyone could enjoy WWF programming so this show played a big part in making the WWF the most popular wrestling promotion in the country. The show also played a major role in kick-starting many of the huge Wrestlemania main-event feuds. The first episode is the fallout to the first Wrestlemania. A couple things that you need to remember before I go ahead with the recap; in the main-event at Wrestlemania, Orndorff took the fall and was therefore blamed by Piper and Orton for losing the biggest match in their careers. Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff captured the tag titles from the US Express, Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda. Also with Cyndi Lauper at her side, Wendi Richter regained the Women’s title against Lelani Kai who was managed by Fabulous Moolah. As you might be able to tell, I’m being a lot tamer on this show compared to the newer, over-exposed SNME’s. It’s just not the same!

We hear from Wendi Richter, Cyndi Lauper, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura! Read the rest of this entry