411’s WWE Greatest Moments Report: Saturday Night’s Main Event

-This should be fantastic as SNME is just pure nostalgia and makes me so happy. Hopefully, they stack this list with moments for the original run and skip the stuff from the 2000s and beyond. Let’s get to it!

-Michael Cole is our narrator and host.

10. The First Saturday Night
-May 11, 1985

-As expected the first SNME gets the 10 spot. This was a massive deal as SNME got to run in the SNL time slot and NBC brought in all their production. We get Dick Ebersol and Bob Costas as talking heads. Piper (2013) puts over being on Network TV in that time slot. CM Punk says it fit the spectacle of the what WWE was doing at the time. Ebersol says it was the highest rated show of the year in that time slot. Is that legit?

9. Justice is Served
-Feb. 8, 1992

-I just reviewed this show a few months ago. This was the first SNME on FOX and was the build to Mania VIII. Sid (2012) says it was the biggest thing he had ever been part of at that point. Hogan says they knew they were hitting on something big. Sid and Hogan team against Flair and Taker and Sid walks out on Hogan. Sid says it made his whole career. This one probably could have been left off the list.

8. Wedding Bells
-Oct. 5, 1985

-Apparently Uncle Elmer getting married was the first marriage on Network TV since Tiny Tim was married on The Tonight Show. I was too young to remember any of this so no nostalgia for me, but of course Roddy Piper had to be the one to break things up. “You stink. The whole damn wedding stinks.” Mick says it has been 40 years (we are old) and can repeat verbatim Jesse’s great line about the kiss: “It’s like two carps in the Mississippi River going after the same piece of corn.” That is hilarious! Mick says the wedding was completely legit as they really did get married.

-Commercials!

7. Saturday Night’s Snake
-May 3, 1986

-Jake Roberts attacks Ricky Steamboat before their match and DESTROYS him with a DDT on the concrete. Dragon says he hit his head flush and was out. Jake says he nearly gave himself a hernia putting Steamboat in the ring. Steamboat says he had no concussion issues, but one side of his face blew up. That’s nasty!

6. Steel Cage Showdown
-Jan. 3, 1987

-Now we are into the time where I have vivid memories of watching as a child. Funny enough, my aunt renter a copy of Mania 2 and we watched that because we forgot SNME was on this night. We caught the ending of the show and that was it. This is one of the most famous cage matches in WWE history as they do the finish where both men hit the floor at the same time. Tie goes to the Champion, but I guess a Steel Cage Match can’t end in a tie. Hogan says Mr. Wonderful did a great job. Wonderful (2005) says it’s the best cage match ever and people still talk about it.

-Commercials!

5. A Shocking Saturday
-Feb. 8, 1992

-Really? We are getting two moments for this FOX version of the show. Boo! This was Piper defending his IC Title against former Champion, The Mountie. Piper is wearing a protective vest to stop the shock stick and then he uses it on The Mountie to get the win. I mean, cute idea, but it doesn’t belong on this list.

4. Rage in The Cage
-May 27, 1989

-We get No Holds Barred footage of Zeus! BEST EPISODE EVER! I love No Holds Barred and I don’t care how much people bad mouth it. This was my 8th Birthday and I did review this show recently as well. Before the cage match against Boss Man, Hogan gets attacked by a debuting Zeus, who came straight from the movie for revenge. Then we get the spot that made this match legendary. Hogan suplex Boss Man from the top of the cage. Just amazing! Both men sell it like crazy because well, it was crazy back in 1989. That crowd reaction is crazy! Prichard mentions that Hogan saved crazy bumps like that for special moments to make them mean more. Truth! That match is so great and just make me happy!

3. A Reign Demolished
-July 29, 1989

-Historic moment here as Demolition had been WWF Tag Team Champions for 478 Days and faced The Brain Busters. David Shoemaker says his money would not have been on The BB. I want to be a talking head on this show. The BB cheat to win and end the monster reign of the Demolition and I believe it was the first title change on SNME. My review is here!

Commercials!

2. A Heartbreaking Triumph
-Nov. 14, 1992

-Man, FOX only had 2 episodes of the show, but end up getting 30% of this list. This moment is fine to be on here, but the others should have been dropped. I reviewed this show as well, but it hasn’t dropped on 411 yet. Keep an eye out for it. Bulldog had famously beaten Bret Hart for the IC Title at SummerSlam, but he was never long for the Championship as he dropped it just months later to Shawn Michaels, who was getting pushed up the card. Good match but they would have better once Shawn really became Shawn Michaels. The talking heads put over the importance of winning The IC Title.

1. A Night of Mega-Powers
-Oct. 3, 1987

-Yeah, this deserves to be #1 and just makes me so happy to watch as it laid the foundation for my favorite story in wrestling history. The Formation and then Explosion of The Mega Powers. This took place in Hershey, PA and I’ve been to that arena twice and had to watch my High School Basketball Team lose a State Championship both times. Savage gets screwed out of winning The IC Title from The Honky Tonk Man. The Hart Foundation attack and Honky shoves down Liz, so she heads to be back and sets the world on fire by bringing out Hulk Hogan. Nobody was ever competing with this as Hogan and Savage shake heads in epic fashion and the wrestling world changes forever. I love this all so, so much. It sucks that all 3 of the Mega Powers are gone now.

-This was great as it was all nostalgia, and I loved it. They missed some moments that should have been above The Sid turn and Piper/Mountie, but it’s their list. Genius upsetting Hogan, Perfect smashing the WWF Title with a hammer, Harley Race through a table, Bundy squashing Hogan are just a few of the moments that rank higher than those two FOX moments. Minor issue aside I think they nailed the top moment unless I am completely blanking on something. Thanks for reading!