WWE – The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event – Disc Two
Released: 2/10/2009

Your host is Gene Okerlund.

We head into 1988 in a world where Randy Savage is on his way to being the WWE champion. Before we get to WrestleMania, Hogan still has the gold and he’s still fighting off giants.

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy (w/Andre the Giant) – Saturday Night’s Main Event #14 (01.02.88)

Hogan’s insane promo about president Ronald Reagan and the Super Powers is included. Because Heenan caused Hogan to lose to Bundy by countout at the last SNME, we get a Hogan/Bundy rematch which would basically be Bundy’s sendoff to Hollywood, as Ted DiBiase would take over as Andre’s partner-in-crime to help take the WWF Championship away from Hogan. Anybody remember Bundy in the Richard Pryor movie, “Moving”? Hogan slams Bundy’s head into three of the four corners and then Big Boots him out to ringside to start. Back in, Hogan hits a series of elbows and connects with a running clothesline. Bundy bails out again and talks strategy over with Andre. Back in, Hogan works Bundy’s arm with a not-so-painful looking wristlock. They’re really just holding hands. Bundy escapes and yanks Hogan down by the little hair he has to hook on an armbar. Now THAT looks somewhat painful. Hogan punches out but then runs into a back elbow. Bundy goes back to the arm, but applies another not-so-painful looking wristlock. Bundy pulls Hogan to the mat by his hair again for the armbar. Amazingly, Hogan punches out of it and slams Bundy to escape the hold! While he shouldn’t have even been able to pick Bundy up with the hurt arm, he at least sold it like it hurt to accomplish that. Bundy gets right back on top of Hogan, but then misses an elbow drop. Bundy reverses a corner-whip but then the ref AND Hogan takes the AVALANCHE! Bundy goes for the SPLASH, but Hogan avoids and punches Bundy out to ringside. Ref Dave Hebner comes down as the replacement referee and tells Hogan and Bundy to chill out while they get the injured ref out of the ring. That gives Bundy and Andre plenty of time to scheme on the Hulkster. Bundy gets back in and takes Hogan down with a clothesline. Bundy follows that up by chopping Hulk out to the floor to try and get another countout victory. Hogan finally gets back in the ring where he’s met with a rear chinlock from Bundy. After a minute or so of that, Bundy releases the hold and delivers the AVALANCHE to just Hogan this time! He delivers another AVALANCHE, but then he takes forever to cover because he’s too busy doing the 1-2-3 hand gestures. BIG SPLASH by Bundy gets 1-2-NO! Hogan begins to HULK UP! He runs Bundy into the corner and then hits the LEG DROP for the 1-2-3. (12:09) Andre gets up on the ring apron and Hogan freakin’ begs Andre to get in the ring with him. Andre uses his smarts and climbs back down from the apron to give Hulk a false sense of security. When Hogan starts posing and turns his back to Andre, that’s when the giant strikes and DESTROYS the champ. He chokes Hulk to the mat as the British Bulldogs run down for the save, but Andre no-sells and gives them a double noggin knocker and tosses them out to the floor. Andre goes back to choking Hulk as Jake Roberts, Junkyard Dog and Strike Force come down. Andre finally stops choking Hogan when Hacksaw Jim Duggan runs in and wallops him with the 2×4 a couple times. Andre even gets to pose with the belt while the faces take Hogan to the back. Match is just a sidenote to the great build towards Hogan/Andre II. ½*

Okerlund recaps the ‘once friends, now enemies’ Hogan/Andre relationship.

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (w/Ted DiBiase & Virgil) – The Main Event #1 (02.05.88)

This rematch comes about because Andre felt the videotape from WrestleMania III proved ref Joey Marella’s hand drop three times on the canvas while Andre had Hogan covered and his shoulders pinned to the mat. To explain DiBiase’s presence here, he had bought Andre’s contract from Bobby Heenan for a MILLION dollars a few weeks prior to this match, which is why you won’t see Bobby Heenan here. Hogan goes NUTS on everyone to start. He pulls DiBiase and Virgil in off the apron and Big Boots them both out to ringside. Hulk staggers Andre, but can’t put the giant down. Hogan nails DiBiase and Virgil again and then charges into the corner to give Andre a clothesline. Hogan rakes the eyes and heads up top like an idiot and gets slammed down to the mat. Andre tries to fall on him with a headbutt, but Hogan rolls out of the way. Hogan goes to cover, but Andre GOOZLES Hogan! What a great counter! Andre chokes Hogan back down the mat after the ref’s five-count. Andre controls with his usual offense before returning to a blatant choke. Andre hits Hogan with a big boot that sends Hulk out to the floor and makes him fall as well. Virgil throws Hulk back in to avoid the countout and Andre chokes on Hogan some more this time with his tights strap. More choking occurs as Hogan begins to HULK UP! Hogan fires back and then comes off the middle-rope with a clothesline to take Andre off his feet (by Hogan’s own skill) for the first time in the match. Virgil grabs Hulk’s ankle as he goes for the LEG DROP on the first attempt, but then hits it on the second try. Ref Earl “Dave” Hebner is busy arguing with Virgil and doesn’t get over for the count. Hogan gets up and turns the ref around to complain. Andre gets to his feet and grabs Hulk from behind and drills him with a couple headbutts before spinning Hulk around and delivering the DOUBLE-UNDERHOOK SUPLEX. Andre covers and Hulk’s left shoulder is up at one, but Hebner counts three anyways to give Andre the belt and ending the third-longest single WWF World title reign ever of 1474 days. Had it been a week later, he would’ve tied with Bob Backlund’s second-longest reign of 1481 days. (7:52) Ha, Vince calls Hebner’s mistake a STUPID mistake and that it should be overruled by Jack Tunney, but Ventura says that this isn’t football and we don’t go by replays. Regardless of the fact that Andre got this rematch based on a replay of what happened in his match at WrestleMania III. Andre is champion for no more than a minute when he’s hands the belt over to DiBiase. The heels wave at Hogan as they leave because they’ve accomplished their goal. Once they leave, we see that there are TWO Dave Hebners in the ring! Dave Hebner is obviously a heavier-set man and Earl Hebner is thinner, which makes everyone who can’t tell the difference a moron; including Hulk Hogan. Earl ends up kicking Dave out to ringside, tipping off to Hogan who the real Hebner is. He presses Earl up and THROWS him out on top of DiBiase, Virgil and Andre who just happens to still be at ringside! In my opinion, this match is just as historically significant as their WrestleMania match. Because of the shenanigans, WWF President Jack Tunney declares the title vacant by the following weekend and the 14-man WWF World title tournament is set for WrestleMania IV. ½*

Ted DiBiase Jr. seems to think his dad was a legit WWF champion. It was a big thing for lil’ Ted at the time, but as we all know it was short-lived. He mentions how awesome the Million Dollar belt was – saying that his father told him the belt was worth more than their house and cars combined. One day he plans on bringing it back. Does he really think he has the charisma to pull that off?

• Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil & Andre the Giant) vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) – Saturday Night’s Main Event #15 (03.12.88)

Andre is being built as though he’s making a surprise appearance. It’s kind of hard to maintain the level of suspense when they’ve done it now on three out of the last four episodes. Virgil starts to mess with Elizabeth to bait Savage out to the floor. DiBiase kicks Savage in the back of the head from the apron and brings Savage back in the ring. DiBiase begins to punish Savage in the corner while working the crowd at the same time. Savage finally reverses a whip into the corner and catches DiBiase with a back elbow. He follows up with a high knee that sends DiBiase crashing out to the floor. Savage wisely brings DiBiase back into the ring and delivers a top-rope double ax. Savage blocks a kick and spins DiBiase around for a clothesline that gets two. Savage follows that up with a running hotshot and sends DiBiase out to the floor with an elbow. DiBiase receives a word from Andre and gets back in and regains control of the match. He hits a series of his fist drops, but then runs into a boot out of the corner for two. Savage tries a jumping knee drop, but DiBiase moves out of the way. That leads to a spinning toe hold from DiBiase, but Savage kicks him off and out to the floor. DiBiase pulls Savage out to the floor to brawl, but Andre comes over and puts a stop to that to allow Virgil to nail Savage from behind. As a result, ref Dave Hebner sends Virgil to the back. Its okay, Andre’s here! Back in, DiBiase hits a double-sledge and an elbow drop for 1-2-NO! DiBiase hits the chinlock, and Savage elbows out and hits a shoulderblock and a clothesline. DiBiase gets thrown into the corner and then takes a backdrop before Hebner gets bumped. DiBiase gets thrown out to the floor for Savage to deliver the top-rope double ax! Savage tries to take DiBiase back in the ring, but Andre comes over and stops Savage with a reverse headbutt and then tosses Savage into the ringpost. Elizabeth goes to the back because there is absolutely nothing she can do, but I bet she knows someone who can do something! Andre delivers more punishment to Savage at ringside, but then Hebner wakes up and counts Savage out to give DiBiase the win. (11:43) Virgil comes back down for a post-match beatdown, but Hogan runs in with a chair in hand to make the save. Good match as a sign of things to come. **½

Santino Marella thinks Andre freaking out from Damien made him look human for the first time. He’s a giant, but he’s scared of snakes like average people. Matt Hardy felt that Damien was a great equalizer for Jake Roberts. Well, yeah.

• King Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Hulk Hogan – Saturday Night’s Main Event #15 (03.12.88)

Hulk no-sells an elbow drop on his way into the ring, which should hint to you how this match is going to go down. Hogan’s right hand is all taped up for this one for some reason. Race takes a clothesline out to the floor and lands knees-first on a table! OUCH! Sure, Race is a spry 45-year old man here and had been wrestling almost every day for nearly thirty years, but that looked like it would hurt just about anyone’s knees! Hogan follows him out and drives Race shoulder-first into the ringpost. Heenan gets chased around the ring for Race to nail Hogan from behind. Race tries a PILEDRIVER on the floor, but Hogan backdrops out of it. Hogan destroys Race some more before going in and breaking the count. He slams Race out on the floor and then throws him back in the ring. Hogan chops Race down and then uses some of his tape to choke on Race! What a role model! Heenan gets pulled up on the apron by Hulk and pays for it with a double-ax to the back from Race. He punishes Hulk with some headbutts and delivers the BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX for 1-2-NO! When that only gets two, Race has no choice but to give Hogan a PILEDRIVER! Race tosses Hulk out to ringside and lays Hogan on a table! He goes up on the apron and tries for a diving headbutt, but Hogan moves and Race hits wood and snaps the table in half! Back in, Race tries for a diving headbutt off the top and connects! He covers for 1-2-NO! It’s HULK UP TIME! Hogan hits a bunch of clotheslines and delivers the LEG DROP for the 1-2-3. (6:37) It just goes to show that no matter how many times you win an NWA World Title, not even the world’s all-time greatest wrestlers can defeat Hulkamania. *

We skip ahead through the summer of ’88. You’re not really missing anything anyway.

• WWF World Champion Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) – Saturday Night’s Main Event #18 (11.26.88)

Savage uses the stick-and-run strategy with right hands and double-ax handles. When Andre gets a hold of him, he chokes him down using his shoulder strap. Jake Roberts and Damien come down about half way into the match, but ref Earl Hebner sends Jake to the back. Notice how I didn’t say Damien! Jake’s stuck him under the ring somewhere and now Andre can’t concentrate on the match because he’s so worried about that darn python. Heenan goes snake hunting to get it away from ringside. When he finally has Damien by the sack, Jake returns to the ring and chases Heenan into the ring for the double-DQ. (8:40) Andre gets tied up in the ropes, but escapes just in time before Damien gets too close. I’ve heard this match get dissed before saying that it made Savage look weak, but what was he going to do with Andre? Slam him? Give him a running hotshot? Yeah, that’s realistic. *½

Instead of showing the two-minute long match, they show a twenty-second montage of the Duggan/Zhukov flag match on the 11/88 show.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior vs. Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) – Saturday Night’s Main Event #19 (01.07.89)

This is the rematch from SummerSlam where Warrior surprised Honky Tonk and beat him in thirty seconds for the belt. Honky tries to avoid Warrior to start by LEAVING, but Warrior presses him up over his head and carries him back into the ring. Warrior connects with a big boot as Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron for the sole purpose of a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! OUCH! It looked like Honky’s elbow went directly into Jimmy’s face! Talk about an unsafe working environment! Warrior keeps up the offense and delivers a choke lift before going to the corner for a ten-count corner punch. Warrior connects with a shoulder charge in the corner, but misses a second one. The ref gets distracted by Jimmy Hart so that Honky can beat Warrior with the megaphone a few times. Warrior gets stomped a whole lot, and then shakes the ropes for a comeback. He knocks Honky Tonk down with a clothesline and goes for the GUERILLA SPLASH, but Honky gets the knees up for 1-2-NO! Weird spot as Warrior doesn’t sell a double-KO spot (I assume that’s what it was), as Honky just falls to the mat. Honky goes for another clothesline, but Warrior ducks and hits a Running Shoulder Tackle for 1-2-3. (5:06) Despite his own personal claim as being the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time, this was actually the last Intercontinental title shot Honky Tonk would ever receive up until 2008 when Honky was picked to battle Santino Marella at Cyber Sunday. Not too bad of a back-and-forth type match considering. *½

Another series of clips of the Beefcake/Bass hair match from the 1/89 show.

• Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. The Twin Towers (w/Slick) – The Main Event #2 (02.03.89)

This all started on a “Brother Love” segment after SummerSlam when Bossman and Slick had first attacked Hogan. One Man Gang was transformed into the “African Dream” Akeem (a dig on Dusty Rhodes, of course) and joined up with the Bossman in the destruction of Hogan. Since Savage was Hogan’s friend at the time, he became naturally involved in the feud regardless of the problems that stemmed from Hogan and Elizabeth’s growing relationship. At the last SNME, Savage felt the sting of the third wheel as Elizabeth helped Hogan to the back after he beaten up mercilessly by the Twin Towers. Savage is the CHAMP, mind you, and champions just aren’t third wheel material. Well, not so much champions, but egomaniacs aren’t third wheel material. Then eight days later at the Royal Rumble, guess who eliminates Savage by “accident”? Hulk Hogan, that’s who. Savage even THEN showed patience with Hogan and patched things up for the sake of the group. Later on in the Rumble, the Twin Towers end up alone with Hogan by the luck of the draw and dump him out of the match, which leads us to where we are right now. Here we go, Savage wants to start off against Bossman, but Bossman shoos him away because he wants Hogan. What a way to make the champion feel like the champion. Nevertheless, Savage lets Hogan start the match instead. Hogan quickly clears the ring of the heels and poses for the crowd. Bossman uses a nine-count and then gets back in to face Hogan. Bossman pounds away on Hulk until he tries to drive Hogan’s into the buckle, which causes him to get his face driven into the buckle around ten times. Bossman bails again and gets nailed from behind by Savage to let him know he’s there. Akeem tags in and gets caught in the MegaPowers corner as Savage tags in for a double-ax handle. Hogan tags back in for a double-ax handle, but Akeem still won’t go down. Akeem rakes the eyes and tags in Bossman, who levels Hogan with a clothesline and then gives him a piledriver! Bossman doesn’t go for a cover and tags in Akeem instead for more hammering on the Hulkster. Bossman tags in as they go out to the floor where Bossman gets ran into the ringpost. Back in, Bossman tries to crawl over and tag in Akeem, but Hogan grabs hold of him. Wait a minute, why is Slick grabbing Hogan’s leg? Isn’t that just helping keep Bossman from reaching his corner? Anyways, Savage kicks Slick away as Bossman hits a Spinebuster on Hogan for two. Akeem tags in and pounds on Hogan some more. He tags Bossman again, but that leads to some heel miscommunication and a HOT TAG TO SAVAGE! Running hotshot to Akeem! Savage comes off the top for a flying crossbody for 1-2-NO! Bossman saves. Savage comes off the ropes, but Slick nails him in the back with the nightstick. Ref didn’t see it though. The Towers trade some tags working on Savage’s neck for a while. Akeem throws Savage out to the floor, and Hogan doesn’t do anything to help. Akeem does it again with Elizabeth getting in the way, and Hogan leaps down to help her. Once Savage comes to, he sees Hogan kneeled down over her. He would question what’s happening, but Akeem grabs him by the hair and brings him back in the ring for an extended beatdown while Hogan picks up Elizabeth in his arms and takes her to the back. Some “doctors” wheel Elizabeth to a first-aid room on a stretcher. Hogan cries over her like a pansy and oversells it by saying “Please God, please!” over and over and over again while the doctor looks busy. After the commercial break, we see Savage crawling to his corner with no Hogan there to tag, because he’s still whining over Elizabeth in the back. He’s FINALLY heading back to the ring to do what he’s paid an excessive amount of money to do, and that’s wrestle. It doesn’t matter much, because Savage is stuck in the Twin Towers corner getting the crap beat out of him. That is until the Towers go for a double-splash (Akeem slips through the ropes and falls head-first on the floor, haha), but Savage moves out of the way. To prove he doesn’t need Hogan, he disposes of both the Towers and then goes over and slaps Hogan in the face and walks out on Hogan with his belt in hand. The Towers double-team Hogan a bit, but that ultimately fails which gives Hogan some time to beg Savage to come back to the ring. No way, brother! Savage throws up the peace sign and walks for good. Akeem splashes Hogan for two, but then Hogan HULKS UP. He fires back, hits the Big Boot, nails Bossman and then connects with the LEG DROP on Akeem for 1-2-3! (19:09) After the match, Bossman attacks and tries to handcuff Hogan to the ropes for a nightstick assault, but in cartoony fashion, we find out that Slick and Bossman end up being handcuffed to each other. Hogan heads to the back to find Savage. **½

It’s not over yet. In the back, Hogan obviously finds Savage with Elizabeth. As soon as Hogan walks in, Savage takes some time to tell Hogan how it is. Savage settles it once and for all that he knows Hogan is jealous for his belt and his woman. Savage finally has enough of Hogan’s yapping and NAILS HIM IN THE FACE WITH THE BELT! Tongue depressors go EVERYWHERE! Elizabeth climbs off the stretcher to check on Hogan, but she gets tossed out of the way so Savage can hit Hogan again with the belt! No, wait, Brutus Beefcake comes in for the save, so he gets kicked in the balls for his stupidity. Haha, actually he misses his cue and gets in front of the camera for a second, which is quite funny. Savage leaves, but only because he wants to leave!

• WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bossman (w/Slick) – Cage Match (Saturday Night’s Main Event #21 – 05.27.89)

In a pre-match interview, Slick says he’s got a surprise for Hogan. That big surprise is Hogan’s enemy in his new movie “No Holds Barred”. He’s 6 feet 11 inches tall, 343 pounds, and he goes by the name of Zeus. This guy is so into his character, he remains in it WAY after the movie is filmed! He stands in the cage doorway waiting for Hogan to make his entrance. After we catch a clip of Zeus beating up some punk in “No Holds Barred”, (seriously- he just pounds him down to the ground) Zeus gives Hogan the same treatment and then heads to the back! Bossman brings Hogan into the ring as the bell sounds. Bossman dominates to start until Hogan comes back with a clothesline. Bossman blocks a cage shot, but Hogan hits the Big Boot instead and begins the climb up the cage wall. Bossman brings him down and gives him a splash for good measure. Bossman tries for the door, but Hogan grabs hold of his ankle and brings him back in the ring. Hogan fires away on Bossman, but then runs into a spinebuster. Bossman starts to climb out and gets over the wall, but Hogan grabs him through the bars and gives Bossman a SUPLEX OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE BACK INTO THE RING! OH SNAP! Hogan AND Bossman’s cool points just went up a notch. Both men are KO’ed. Hebner runs in to check on them, but Hogan pops up at the eight-count. Hogan starts to crawl for the door, but Bossman dives on top of him for the save. Bossman nails Hogan with a clothesline as Slick tosses in a chain to choke down Hogan. Bossman tries to send Hogan into the cage, but Hogan blocks and they send each other into the cage for another double-KO. Bossman gets up first and heads for the door, but Hogan puts a stop to it and gives Bossman a bunch of turnbuckle smashes. Now Hogan has the chain, and he wraps it around his fist and pounds away on Bossman. Hogan sends Bossman several times into the cage and then hits the LEG DROP. He starts the climb, but Slick beats down the ref and hops in the ring to play the part of Bobby Heenan by grabbing hold of Hogan’s leg. Hogan kicks Slick away and crotches Bossman on the top rope. He finds some handcuffs and cuffs Bossman to the ropes and then climbs out the cage for the win. (10:02) This match closes the book on the Hogan/Bossman feud, as Bossman and Akeem would battle Demolition throughout the summer. As far as the match goes, these two busted their tails. **½

• The Rockers vs. The Brainbusters (w/Bobby Heenan) – 2/3 Falls (Saturday Night’s Main Event #24 – 11.25.89)
  

Heenan’s already pretty pissed with the Brainbusters before the match even started because of their recent loss of the tag team titles back to Demolition. Jannetty and Blanchard start the match. Jannetty spins out of a hiptoss and slams Tully down. He continues with armdrags into an armbar. Blanchard pulls the hair to escape, but Jannetty kips-up every time. Jannetty holds on to a front headlock as Tully inches towards Arn. Jannetty lets go and nails AA off the apron, allowing Tully to knee him from behind. Jannetty rolls away from a pair of elbows and comes back in from the apron with a sunset flip. Arn grabs hold of Tully’s hands to keep him from falling backwards, but Shawn runs in and breaks it up. Tully falls back into the pin for 1-2-3! (1:50 Rockers – 1 Brainbusters – 0) Heenan berates the ‘Busters and walks out on them only to stand back and watch from behind the curtain. The second fall begins and with the ‘Busters so preoccupied with Heenan, they get rolled up by the Rockers for 1-2-NO! STEREO SUPERKICKS! That’ll put the Brainbusters on the floor to regroup. Now it’s Arn and Shawn’s turn to go. Shawn flips out of the corner and it’s breakin’ loose in Topeka! Michaels headscissors Tully over while Marty pounds away on Anderson. Double-dropkick to Arn! Double-dropkick to Tully! Back in, Arn takes a double-hiptoss! Arn goes low on Marty and tags in Tully. Jannetty flips out of a back suplex and tags in Shawn for a knee-lift. Cover, 1-2-NO! Shawn goes for a headscissors in Arn’s corner and gets caught with a hotshot by Arn. That’ll cool him down. Tully covers for three. (5:08 Brainbusters – 1 Rockers – 1) We take a commercial break before the third fall. We come back and Jesse is meeting Bobby behind the curtain for a word. Heenan announces that the Brainbusters have been fired from the Heenan Family. Back to the ring, AA hits the Spinebuster on Shawn! He takes forever to cover, signaling that he isn’t supposed to win. Arn gets into a knucklelock battle on the mat and tries to come down on Shawn, which always results in a body scissors. Arn counters and catapults Shawn into a right hand from Blanchard. Tully tags and draws Marty in only to throw Shawn over the top rope. Uhh, that’s legal in the WWF, Tully. Shawn blocks a turnbuckle smash from the apron and flies back in with a crossbody for 1-2-NO! Arn tags and cuts Shawn off from Marty. AA releases a front headlock on Shawn to nail Marty, but Marty ducks and answers back with a right hand that knocks Anderson into Shawn. HOT TAG TO MARTY! He goes slam crazy on the ‘Busters, but Tully nails him from behind. Tully and Shawn go to the floor where Shawn gets posted. The ‘Busters call for the Spike Piledriver on Marty, but Shawn manages to punch Tully off the top and deliver a flying bodypress out of nowhere on Arn for 1-2-3! (8:51 Rockers – 2 Brainbusters – 1) Another fantastic SNME match from these two teams. This was actually Arn and Tully’s last televised match together as a tag team ever in wrestling. Arn would return home to the NWA in a matter of weeks while Tully flunked a drug test and found Jesus. Looks like it all worked out fine in the end. ***¼

Extras

The Brother Love Show with Hulk Hogan from the 11/88 SNME show. We take a quick look back at the last time Hulk was on the Brother Love show and how he got beat down mercilessly by the Big Bossman. Slick comes out first to assist Brother Love in teaching Hogan a lesson in self-control. Funny thing is, Slick went on to become an actual minister after his WWF stint. Love and Slick’s main objective here is to patronize the Hulkster until he snaps with tactics such as pulling the mic away from his mouth when it’s his turn to talk and then talk as much crap about him as possible to his face. Finally Hulk rips the mic out of his hand and treats them both the same way he was treated. Love finally has enough of that and takes the mic back from Hulk. He threatens Hulk with a call to the Bossman, so Hulk dumps Slick and slams poor Brother Love. Bring it on, Bossman!

• Dusty Rhodes vs. Big Bossman (w/Slick) – Saturday Night’s Main Event #25 (11.25.89)
  

This is supposed to highlight Sapphire’s debut in the WWF. Dusty hammers away on Bossman to start, but Slick distracts up on the apron and Bossman takes over. “Some old lady” later known as Sapphire exchanges some angry words with Slick at ringside. Rhodes eats the post and Bossman starts to work on the arm with a wristlock. After a while with that, Bossman misses a corner charge and takes the Flip Flop and Fly! Dusty takes forever hyping a DUSTY ELBOW DROP and misses. Bossman Straddle follows and Slick gets the nightstick, which enrages Sapphire and causes Slick to turn his attention to her. Bossman asks for the nightstick and forgets about Dusty, who rolls him up from behind for 1-2-3. (4:47) Bossman is PISSED! Dusty doesn’t care. He takes Sapphire into the ring to bust a move. And thus, the first ever interracial relationship in wrestling is born. ¾*

Final Thoughts: There’s a real good balance on this collection without too much of any one wrestler. Of course you’re going to have lots of Hogan and Savage, but they defined the SNME era, so what else can you expect. I prefer the Brainbusters/Rockers match from March more so than the one from November, but I’m just happy one of their matches are included.