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Survivor Series 1988

WWF Survivor Series 1988
November 24, 1988
Richfield, OH
Richfield Coliseum

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Randy Savage (3/27/1988)
Intercontinental Champion: Ultimate Warrior (8/29/1988)
World Tag Team Champions: Demolition (3/27/1988)
Women’s Champion: Rockin’ Robin (10/7/1988)

A lot in American wrestling changed in 1988: the AWA had basically gone to being the WORST promotion in the world, media mogul Ted Turner buys a major portion of the NWA (Jim Crockett Promotions) and attempts to salvage the mess that Dusty had made throughout the year, and then you had wrestlers who were either jumping ships or abandoning the ship altogether. What makes 1988 even worse is that we’re given major shows like this where you’ve got maybe one or two things going on that are interesting, is that everything else is just plum whacko.

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

WrestleMania IV

WWF WrestleMania IV
March 27, 1988
Atlantic City, NJ
Trump Plaza

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Vacant
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Strike Force (10/27/1987)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)

Basically every review I’ve ever read of WrestleMania IV considers reviewing the show a mind-numbing task. Its 3½ hours long (I have the Anthology DVD version) and not the best quality wise, but it’s actually a historically significant show. The WWF World Title was declared vacant for the first time since 1962 a week or so after “The Main Event” show due to the “Twin Referees” scandal/angle, and a 14-man tournament was created. 14-man tournament you say? Yep, since Andre and Hulk both had claims to the belt, they received byes straight to the quarterfinals and were scheduled to meet each other there. With the on-going McMahon vs. Crockett wars, the Crocketts fired the next shot by putting on the rather awesome first-ever Clash of the Champions on TBS. Since WrestleMania began to bore the crap out of most of its buyers, they stopped watching and tuned in to the NWA. The cable companies were pissed about it because both they and the WWF lost millions of dollars as a result. To say the least, these were interesting times.

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

Saturday Night’s Main Event #15 (03.88)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #15
March 12, 1988
Nashville, TN
Municipal Auditorium
(Taped on 3/7/1988)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Vacant
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Strike Force (10/27/1987)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)

Tonight, Macho Man says DiBiase is a bad check and he’s about to get bounced up outta here! Beefcake likes to use hair puns! One Man Gang does his best Brick Tamland impression! Harley Race thinks he’s going to beat Hogan! It must be time for Saturday Night’s Main Event! Oh snap, we have NEW SNME music! It’s pretty rockin’ if I do say so myself!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Fedora Hat Wearing” Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

Saturday Night’s Main Event #14 (01.88)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #14
January 2, 1988
Landover, MD
Capital Centre
(Taped on 12/7/1987)

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Strike Force (10/27/1987)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)

Jake Roberts and Damien are inviting Fuji and Sika to a NEW YEAR’S PARTY! Oh man, you know somebody’s getting drunk at that little shindig! Valentine’s gonna scramble some bird brains because he’s “The Hammer”! The Bolsheviks are communist Russian hippies! BUNDYMANIA gets a second shot at taking over the world, but HULKAMANIA stands in his way! It’s time for Saturday Night’s Main Event!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Movie Star” Ventura! Read the rest of this entry

Survivor Series 1987

WWF Survivor Series 1987
November 26, 1987
Richfield, OH
Richfield Coliseum

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (1/23/1984)
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Strike Force (10/27/1987)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)

It’s the first-ever Survivor Series! Vince decided that Ted Turner shouldn’t have ALL the fun on Thanksgiving with Starrcade, so he started a tradition of his own. A festivus for the rest of us, if you WEEL.

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Pilgrim” Ventura. Read the rest of this entry

WrestleMania III

WWF WrestleMania III: Bigger, Badder, Better
March 29, 1987
Pontiac, MI
The Silverdome

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 Hart Foundation (1/26/1987)
Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah (7/9/1986)

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon 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

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 #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