Saturday Night’s Main Event #10: “The Collision Course” (3/14/1987, Detroit, MI)
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE PLUS ELIZABETH’S SERVICES: RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE “Women as property” angles are always incredibly stupid.
BATTLE ROYALE with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Paul Orndorff, Koko B. Ware, Nikolai Volkoff, Demolition, Billy Jack Haynes, Hercules, Lanny Poffo, Honky Tonk Man, Blackjack Mulligan, Hillbilly Jim, Killer Bees, Islanders, Butch Reed, and Ron Bass. Lanny Poffo does an incredible blade job after an attack by André. Later on, André eliminates Hogan!
JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. KING KONG BUNDY Jake gets DQ’ed for kicking the referee, then DDT’s Bundy, in accordance with the WWF’s regulation that only Hulk Hogan is allowed to pin fat wrestlers. Even Jesse Ventura points out how stupid the booking is in this match.
TAG TEAM TITLE: HART FOUNDATION vs. TITO SANTANA & DANNY SPIVEY Danny Davis, freshly fired from his refereeing position, interferes to cost the faces the title, setting up Tito’s participation in the six man tag at WrestleMania III.
RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT vs. IRON SHEIK Randy Savage does commentary, and he and Ricky have a staredown afterwards.
ROWDY RODDY PIPER TRIBUTE VIDEO set to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. To quote my friend Jeremy, “You realize that of course, we’re laughing at it 14 years later, but if we were watching this when it first aired we’d be holding each other and reaching for tissues.”
ONE AND A HALF HOURS
Saturday Night’s Main Event #11: “Showdown at Notre Dame” (5/2/1987, South Bend, IN)
JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. KAMALA Kimchee interferes to give Kamala the win, then unmasks to reveal himself as Honky Tonk Man. I’ll quote my friend Jeremy yet again regarding the logo they use to introduce Kamala: “It looks like something a fourth grader would draw in his notebook.”
LUMBERJACK MATCH: GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE vs. RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE Ricky Steamboat and George Steele do a funny pre-match interview where Ricky’s upset because Gene Okerlund tried to confuse George. Anyway, this is the big blowoff to the year-plus feud, and Danny Davis interferes to give Randy the win.
ANDRÉ THE GIANT & BOBBY HEENAN complain about the false three-count at the beginning of the WMIII main event.
TAG TEAM TITLES, 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS: HART FOUNDATION vs. BRITISH BULLDOGS The Bulldogs win two straight falls, but fall one was a DQ so the Harts keep the titles.
HULK HOGAN offers a rebuttal with his usual stuff.
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: RICKY “The Dragon” STEAMBOAT vs. HERCULES Savage interferes and sabatoges the match…for Hercules! It looks like a face turn, but it turns out Randy just wants Steamboat to win so he can get revenge and win the title himself.
THE CAN-AM CONNECTION vs. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & IRON SHEIK Hacksaw Jim Duggan interferes for the Can-Ams.
Also includes promos for a Maple Leaf Gardens house show with Billy Red Lyons and Jimmy Hart.
ONE AND A HALF HOURS
Saturday Night’s Main Event #12: “Mania Madness” (10/3/1987, Hershey, PA)
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: HONKY TONK MAN vs RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE Superb match that ends in a DQ. Historical moment: The Hart Foundation interferes to cost Savage the title. Honky shoves Elizabeth to the mat and gives Savage a nasty shot to the head with the guitar, but Hulk Hogan comes to rescue and he and Savage clean house—and the Mega-Powers are born. The match itself is ***, and the angle puts it in the purple.
WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN vs. SIKA Sika eats a raw chicken during the pre-match interview. OOOOOOOHHHH, I hope Hulk can overcome a threat like that. Oh, yeah, the match sucks.
“Mr. Wonderful” PAUL ORNDORFF vs KING KONG BUNDY Bobby Heenan is doing color commentary, so André the Giant makes a not-so-surprise appearance, interfering to cost Orndorff the match.
TAG TEAM TITLE: HART FOUNDATION vs YOUNG STALLIONS
HULK HOGAN & RANDY SAVAGE cut a promo announcing that they’re friends, now. Aw, that’s super.
SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT WORLD PREMIERE THEATER I kid you not, that’s what it’s called. It’s the debut of “Piledriver,” as seen on the video of the same name.
ONE AND A HALF HOURS
Saturday Night’s Main Event #13: “Bundymania?” (11/28/1987, Seattle, WA)
GEORGE “The Animal” STEELE vs. “Dangerous” DANNY DAVIS Terrible match with a pointless ending. Funny moment, though, where Jesse almost has a heart attack after Steele uses a drop-toehold.
RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE vs. BRET “Hit Man” HART The best match in the seven years that this show aired. **** ½
WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN vs KING KONG BUNDY Bobby Heenan promises a “big surprise” for everyone. Okay, if you can’t guess what it is, please stand on your head. Yeah, so “Big Surprise” is sent away for interfering, but Hogan still loses after Heenan holds his foot down so he can’t re-enter the ring. Hogan strangles and “injures” Heenan, and the rematch for the next show is set.
BAM BAM BIGELOW vs HERCULES The superpush of Bam Bam commences, but, wait a minute, it’s a double countout. Bam Bam won’t be satisfied until we have a definite winner, leading to…
BAM BAM BIGELOW vs HERCULES, PART TWO Now Bam Bam wins.
Also includes promos for a Maple Leaf Gardens show with Billy Red Lyons, Jimmy Hart, and Slick.
ONE AND A HALF HOURS
Saturday Night’s Main Event #14: “Bundymania Runs Wild!” (1/3/1988, Landover, MD)
TAG TEAM TITLE, 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS: STRIKE FORCE vs. BOLSHEVIKS You’d think this was the match the world was waiting for. Bolsheviks & Slick cut a pre-match promo, then Slick cuts another promo in the ring, then we hear the Soviet Anthem, then we get a recap of Strike Force’s title win, then Strike Force cuts a long promo.
JAKE “The Snake” ROBERTS vs. SIKA Jake wins the match and then attacks Fuji, who gets the DDT, gets Damian wrapped around him, gets dragged out of the ring and almost dropped on the way out. And as Jesse points out, the cool thing about this is Fuji’s hat doesn’t move at all.
WORLD TITLE: HULK HOGAN vs. KING KONG BUNDY I believe this is Bundy’s last WWF TV match for 6 ½ years. Bobby is taking the night off after the neck injury at the last show, so André stands in Bundy’s corner. André attacks Hulk after the match and is built to look like a bigger threat than ever before.
KOKO B. WARE vs. GREG “The Hammer” VALENTINE The Hammer was THIS close to jumping ship to the NWA to join the Four Horsemen, so Vince split up the Dream Team, put Jimmy Hart back in his corner, and gave him a big push to keep him aboard, though in the long run Hammer’s decision to stay didn’t affect the company one way or the other.
REPORT ON HULK HOGAN’S CONDITION I don’t care how convinced any six-year-old was that wrestling was real, I don’t think ANYONE could take Gene seriously as he tells us doctors are considering oxygen and a tracheotomy tube for the Hulkster.
ONE AND A HALF HOURS
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