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WWE – The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event – Disc Two

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 Read the rest of this entry

WWE – The Best of Saturday Night’s Main Event – Disc One

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

Your host is Gene Okerlund.

Gene introduces the show by taking us back to 1985 – the origin of Saturday Night’s Main Event. This was the first wrestling program on broadcast television since the 1950s. The Rock N Wrestling Connection defined the era and Saturday Night’s Main Event became the must-see show of the time. On the main event of the very first show just weeks after the first WrestleMania, WWF champion Hulk Hogan took on Roddy Piper’s partner in crime “Cowboy” Bob Orton Jr. for the title.
Read the rest of this entry

NWA World Television Title History

Champion Won From Date City/Event
Danny Miller Ole Anderson 2/27/1974 Raleigh, NC[1]
Ivan Koloff Danny Miller 5/10/1974 Richmond, VA
Paul Jones Ivan Koloff 7/8/1974 Charlotte, NC
Ivan Koloff (2) Paul Jones 10/24/1974 Anderson, NC
Paul Jones (2) Ivan Koloff 12/26/1974 Greensboro, NC
Ric Flair Paul Jones 2/8/1975 Winston-Salem, NC
Paul Jones (3) Ric Flair 8/8/1975 Richmond, VA[2]
Angelo Mosca Mr. Wrestling 4/14/1976 Raleigh, NC[3]
Paul Jones (4) Angelo Mosca 6/30/1976 Raleigh, NC
Mr. Wrestling Paul Jones 10/16/1976 Greensboro, NC
Greg Valentine Mr. Wrestling 11/8/1976 Raleigh, NC
Rufus R. Jones Greg Valentine 11/30/1976 Charleston, SC
Greg Valentine (2) Rufus R. Jones 1/19/1977 Raleigh, NC
Rufus R. Jones (2) Greg Valentine 2/15/1977 Raleigh, NC
Ric Flair (2) Rufus R. Jones 4/4/1977 Greenville, SC
Ricky Steamboat Ric Flair 6/15/1977 Raleigh, NC
Baron Von Raschke Ricky Steamboat 10/12/1977 Raleigh, NC
Johnny Weaver Baron Von Raschke 3/5/1978 Charlotte, NC
Baron Von Raschke (2) Johnny Weaver 3/26/1978 Greensboro, NC
Paul Jones (5) Baron Von Raschke 6/7/1978 Raleigh, NC
Ricky Steamboat (2) Paul Jones 6/10/1978 Asheville, NC
Masked Superstar Blackjack Mulligan 4/1/1980 Raleigh, NC[4]
Roddy Piper 11/1/1980 Richmond, VA[5]
Sweet Ebony Diamond 4/29/1981 Raleigh, NC[6]
Greg Valentine (3) Sweet Ebony Diamond May 1981
Sweet Ebony Diamond (2) Greg Valentine 5/30/1981 Charlotte, NC
Greg Valentine (4) Sweet Ebony Diamond Summer 1981
Ron Bass Greg Valentine 9/6/1981 Asheville, NC
Ivan Koloff (3) Ron Bass 11/3/1981 Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Valiant Ivan Koloff 1/2/1982 Hampton, VA
Ivan Koloff (4) Jimmy Valiant Spring 1982
Jimmy Valiant (2) Ivan Koloff 6/6/1982 Toronto, Ontario
Ivan Koloff (5) Jimmy Valiant Fall 1982
Jimmy Valiant (3) Ivan Koloff 10/17/1982 Toronto, Ontario
Jos LeDuc Jimmy Valiant Fall 1982 [7]
Bad Leroy Brown 11/27/1982 Greensboro, NC[8]
Mike Rotunda Bad Leroy Brown 12/25/1982 Charlotte, NC
Dick Slater Mike Rotunda 2/22/1983 Columbia, SC
Roddy Piper (2) Dick Slater 3/27/1983 Asheville, NC
Dick Slater (2) Roddy Piper 4/3/1983 Greensboro, NC
Jos LeDuc (2) Dick Slater 4/30/1983 Richmond, VA
Great Kabuki Jos LeDuc 5/23/1983 Greenville, SC
Jimmy Valiant (4) Great Kabuki 11/24/1983 Starrcade[9]
Mark Youngblood Dick Slater 3/7/1984 Spartanburg, SC[10]
Tully Blanchard Mark Youngblood 5/1984
Dusty Rhodes Tully Blanchard 3/16/1985 Greensboro, NC
Tully Blanchard (2) Dusty Rhodes 4/28/1985 Charlotte, NC
Dusty Rhodes (2) Tully Blanchard 7/6/1985 Great American Bash
Arn Anderson Wahoo McDaniel 1/4/1986 Greensboro, NC[11]
Dusty Rhodes (3) Arn Anderson 9/9/1986 Pro
Tully Blanchard (3) Dusty Rhodes 11/27/1986 Starrcade
Nikita Koloff Tully Blanchard 8/1/1987 Pro
Mike Rotunda (2) Nikita Koloff 1/26/1988 Pro
Rick Steiner Mike Rotunda 12/26/1988 Starrcade
Mike Rotunda (3) Rick Steiner 2/20/1989 Chi-Town Rumble
Sting Mike Rotunda 3/31/1989 World Championship Wrestling[12]
Great Muta Sting 9/3/1989 Atlanta, GA
Arn Anderson (2) Great Muta 1/2/1990 Power Hour
Tom Zenk Arn Anderson 12/4/1990 World Championship Wrestling
WCW withdrew from the NWA in January 1991.

Footnotes:
[1]: This was a tournament final to crown the first NWA Mid-Atlantic TV champion.

[2]: Paul Jones had won the NWA US title on November 27, 1975, and gave up the TV title.

[3]: This was a tournament final to fill the vacancy.

[4]: Steamboat vacated the title in December 1978 when he won the US title. This was a tournament final to fill the vacancy.

[5]: Piper vacated the title after winning the US title on January 27, 1981.
[6]: This was a tournament final to fill the vacancy.

[7]: LeDuc was soon stripped of the title for excessive cheating.
[8]: Bad Leroy Brown won a 20-man battle royal to win the title.
[9]: Valiant dropped his ‘Charlie Brown’ persona and vacated the title.
[10]: This was the final round of a tournament to determine the NWA TV champion. Dick Slater’s US title, of course, was not on the line in this match. Also note that in a semifinal encounter vs. Assassin #2, Mark Youngblood put his feet up on the middle ropes to gain the pinfall.

[11]: This was a tournament final. The title was declared vacant when Dusty Rhodes was unable to defend the belt due to an injury.

[12]: Due to a controversial finish at the Great American Bash in July 1989, the NWA world TV belt was held up. Tapes later showed that Muta’s shoulders were off the mat.

Credit goes to: PWI Almanac, wrestling-titles.com, and ProWrestlingHistory.com

Saturday Night’s Main Event #19 (01.89)

WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #19
January 7, 1989
Tampa, FL
The Sundome
(Taped on 12/7/1988)

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)

TONIGHT! True fact: If you make the Ultimate Warrior say “ultimate” four times, then he subconsciously beats on his chest! Plus, we find out the heartbreaking reality that the Honky Tonk Man can barely play an actual guitar chord! Also, Brutus Beefcake BEGS Ron Bass to bring his S&M gear for their match tonight! Hope you’ve put kids to bed, because I can already hear the snap of a whip. Akeem is ALL about ridding the world of evil, over-tanned, steroid-filled egomaniacs! Hulk Hogan lets us know quite clearly that he doesn’t know where Africa is! Seriously, he says, “Akeem, I don’t know where you came from.” I guess knowing basic geography isn’t a requirement to being a Hulkamaniac after all! It’s time for Saturday Night’s Main Event!

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

Royal Rumble 1989

WWF Royal Rumble
January 15, 1989
Houston, TX
The Summit

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)

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura! For some reason, Jesse’s dressed like Rocky Balboa when he’s down on his luck. Read the rest of this entry

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

SummerSlam 1988

WWF SummerSlam 1988
August 29, 1988
New York City, NY
Madison Square Garden

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Randy Savage (3/27/1988)
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Demolition (3/27/1988)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Superstar Billy Graham! Jesse Ventura has refereeing duties tonight. 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

Royal Rumble 1988

WWF Royal Rumble 1988
January 24, 1988
Hamilton, Ontario, CA
Copps 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)

Once again, Vince wouldn’t let JCP have a big event on the same night without him, so he uses Pat Patterson’s idea and turns it into a special cable television event on the USA network. Nevertheless, what only started out as a big “screw you” to Jim Crockett in the ongoing promotional wars, turned into an annual affair that would set up many of the main event feuds heading into WrestleMania.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse 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