wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XXV
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Personal Note: On Sunday, Aug. 25, I unexpectedly lost my stepfather. The man raised me for nearly 40 years as when he made a commitment to my mom, he also made one to me and my younger sister. Jeremy has been great at telling me to do whatever I need. I have some Retro Reviews (like this one) already done that will be posted, but there will likely be some time before I get to the next one. My stepfather was a great man, who raised me and made me the husband and father I am today. This is a wrestling article, and he wasn’t a wrestling fan, but he knew I was, so he got sucked into watching at times. He also took me to my first live show when WWF came to The Civic Arena. The Main Event was Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake in a stretcher match. I remember him being impressed and kind of in awe at how jacked Barbarian was. I could keep typing about him and I would probably ramble before getting back on track like I am doing now. Thank you to everyone that has reached out to my family. It is greatly appreciated. Jeff, I love you!
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-We continue as WWF had a lot going on in the early part of 1990 as this show is fresh off the heels of The Royal Rumble (though taped before it) and a month later they have The Main Event #3. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Taped: UTC Arena, Chattanooga, TN
-Aired: 01.27.90 (Taped: 01.03.90)
-NBC Rating: 11.1
-No opening interviews which sucks as instead it’s just Vince hyping that Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior are teaming up for the first time. Dropping the cool intro interviews was another sign that this show was starting to lose steam.
-Vince and Jesse run down the card while standing in front of a blue screen. Weird dynamic as the show was taped before The Rumble, but aired after, so Jesse brings up Hogan and Warrior facing off even though the fans who were there for this show had no idea.
-To the silver curtains as Mean Gene Okerlund is with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. He wants revenge for The Macho King “stealing” his crown.
-To the pink curtains as Gene is with The Macho King and Queen Sherri. Savage threatens to slap Gene and knock him out, but he finds him funny. I say it every time they are on screen, but Savage and Sherri are amazing together.
”Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. “Macho King” Randy Savage (w/ Queen Sherri)
-Duggan is a jerk and dumps Savage off his throne before the match even starts. Duggan gets Savage into the ring, but misses a charge in the corner. No effect. Savage lands a boot and again no effect. Savage hits a clothesline and then chokes away with his boot. He lands an elbow on the apron, but gets mowed down with a clothesline. Another clothesline in the corner gets a two count. Atomic Drop! Sherri on the apron and Duggan goes after her, which lets Savage hit him with a double ax. Savage comes off the top with a double ax to the floor. Sweet! Savage heads back up and hits another double ax for a two count. Savage snaps Duggan’s throat off the top rope and that gets another two count. He misses his next move, but Duggan misses an elbow as well. Right hand from Duggan, but Savage goes to the eyes. Duggan catches Savage running in with a backdrop over the top and to the floor. Savage is bumping his ass off here! Sherri stops the count which is genius. Duggan tries to hit her with a clothesline, but she ducks and Savage gets dropped. We head to a break as Sherri is bitching at the ref.
-60 seconds of Peacock commercials!
-Back with Savage begging off in the ring, but I am sure it’s just a ploy as our Macho King doesn’t beg. Sherri distracts the ref again which saves Savage. Duggan with a right hand and Sherri puts Savage’s foot on the bottom rope to break. Clothesline from Duggan and another and another. Heavy right hand sends Savage to the floor. Sherri rakes the back of Duggan, which doesn’t hurt him, but gets his focus off Savage. Duggan gets hold of her in the ring and we get a shot of Sherri’s panties. Savage delivers a knee to the back and heads up top. They end up hitting each other to leave both men down. Sherri hands Savage her loaded purse and gets the ref’s attention again. McMahon notes this is how Duggan originally lost the crown to Savage. He wallops Duggan with the loaded purse, but it only gets two. This crowd is pretty jacked! Small package from Duggan gets two! Savage gets rammed into the top buckle. Atomic drop and then another clothesline and another and another. I think Duggan likes throwing clothesline. Duggan with a running clothesline that sends Savage to the floor. Suplex back in, but Sherri trips Duggan and Savage falls on top for the pin as he had his feet on the ropes and Sherri was still holding Duggan’s foot. That’s some spectacular cheating!
Winner: “Macho King” Randy Savage via pin at 8:58
-These two worked well together as the crowd loves Duggan and Savage and Sherri cheated like there was no tomorrow. This was fun and I would have liked to see more. ***
-To the pink curtains as Jesse is with Mr. Perfect and The Genius. Perfect notes that The Genius already has a win over Hulk Hogan.
-Flashback to The Royal Rumble and my review is here. It’s HOGAN VS. WARRIOR and I am still amazed the universe didn’t explode when they clotheslined each other.
-To the silver curtains as Gene is with Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Lots of flexing, yelling, and babbling and it’s AWESOME!
Mr. Perfect and The Genius vs. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior
-How can anyone take Perfect and his manager as a serious threat to these two? Hogan is the WWF Champ and Warrior is The IC Champion. Perfect and Genius don’t even get a televised entrance as they are already in the ring. Hogan and Perfect start with a lock-up and Perfect goes flying into the corner off a shove. Jesse compares this to the upcoming Super Bowl with the heavily favored 49ers vs. The Broncos. SPOILER: My Niners beat the piss out of Denver 55-10! So, Perfect and Genius are SCREWED! Hogan with slams to both Perfect and Genius. Warrior gets the tag and he has no problems beating both men by himself as well. The crowd is loving every second of this, but you know they are waiting to see what happens if things go sideways for our heroes. Hogan back in and Perfect unloads with chops and punches in the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and gets a running elbow in the corner. Perfect is determined to make the most of this chance as he is bumping like a super ball off every move. Twisting bump off a trip to the buckle. Shawn Michaels was somewhere taking notes on how Perfect is selling Hogan’s offense. Big Boot sends Perfect over the top and to the floor. While Perfect has been bounced all over the ring, The Genius was writing a poem on his scroll. He gets the scroll to Perfect and he blasts Hogan with it. He then tries to decapitate Hogan with a chair, but it finds post. Hogan is the better of the two options to take the beating here as his whole deal is selling like he is dying before the comeback which works great for a hot tag. Genius in for about 10 seconds to land a few blows and then back out. Genius prances in front of Warrior and he won’t stand for that as he tries to get in the ring. Perfect stomps away and throws some right hands. Perfect-plex, but Perfect releases to stop the count and brings The Genius in to get the pin. Genius tries a middle rope moonsault, but Hogan gets a boot up. Perfect off the top, but Hogan gets a boot up. Hot tag made to Warrior and he runs wild. Gorilla Press to Genius and Hogan gets the blind tag so he can drop The Leg and get the pin at 7:46. Warrior knocked Perfect off the apron for good measure. Some will say Hogan stole that pin, but I like to think that he knew Perfect was going to be on the apron to hit Warrior and was thinking a few moves ahead.
Winners: Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 7:46
-Just a basic tag match carried by Perfect bumping all over the place, but it’s HOGAN AND WARRIOR TEAMING! Warrior was protected as Hogan did the heavy lifting for the team, but no issue with that. The whole point was to continue to tease Hogan/Warrior. ***
-Perfect and Genius try to attack after the match and Warrior hits everyone with clotheslines including Hogan. They get in each others face and we get some pushing as Jesse is having the greatest day of his life watching this.
-Flashback to where Jake Roberts takes possession of The Million Dollar Belt.
-Gene is at the silver curtains with Jake Roberts and wants to know if the belt is with Damian in the bag. Jake uses the line he likely used on ring rats as he tells Gene “reach in and find out.”
-Over to Jesse at the pink curtains where he has Greg Valentine and Jimmy Hart. I guess they are doing a favor for Dibiase.
-Before getting to the match, we go back to earlier in the night where Warrior clearly leveled Hogan with a clothesline. He was looking right at the man. I am on Jesse’s side here as that was intentional.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/ Jimmy Hart)
-Jake dumps Damian out and yes, The Million Dollar Title is in the bag with him. Valentine with an arm-drag and then another. McMahon and Jesse are still arguing over whether Warrior accidentally hit Hogan. Valentine gets too close the bag and nearly walks into a DDT, but bails to the floor. Jesse questions how Vince would know about the effects of the DDT since he has never been in a ring. Eh, give him nine years! Valentine drops an elbow to the back of the head, but makes sloppy cover and even Jesse calls him out for it. Jake swings wildly and misses, Valentine connects with a series of jabs and then another elbow. Tighter cover this time, but Jake is still out at two. Valentine buries a few knees to the back and goes for another cover, but Jake is out at two again. Jake starts to fire up with right hands and sends Hammer into the corner. A right hand knocks Valentine down, but Jake is still feeling the effects of the knees to his back. Short-arm clothesline! He signals for the DDT, but is taking too much time and Hammer backdrops out to counter. He misses an elbow, but Jake misses a knee-lift and Valentine uses the momentum to send Jake into the turnbuckles. Jimmy Hart is on the apron and gives Hammer a hug. Jake kicks out of a Figure-Four and that sends Hammer into Hart. DDT follows, but here’s Dibiase and Virgil for the DQ at 5:17.
Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts via pin at 5:17
-Valentine should have been able to take the loss to the DDT first before the run-in, but times were different back then I guess. This was fine, but Hammer needs 5 minutes just to break a sweat. **
-Dibiase beats on Jake as Virgil is too scared to get the Million Dollar Title. Jake makes his own comeback and dumps on Damian which sends Dibiase and Virgil packing.
-To the pink curtains as Jesse is with Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan. Rude is facing Dusty Rhodes and that lets Heenan break out the fat jokes about Sapphire. Rude says he can have any woman he wants and Sapphire is no different. Jesse isn’t sure why Rude wants Sapphire, but we know it’s ego as he just said he can get any woman he wants.
-To the silver curtains as Gene is with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire. She notes Rude is nothing compared to her little Dusty. Dusty is here to stop Rude from treating women badly.
Rick Rude (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. Dusty Rhodes (w/ Sapphire)
-Again, Dusty’s theme still SLAPS or is a BANGER or whatever the kids are saying today. Rude starts strong with right hands in the corner and then an elbow. Dream reverses a whip and Rude gets sent into the corner and immediately starts selling the back. Dream drops an elbow and then heads to the floor where he sends Rude back first into the apron. Rude gets in a knee, but stupidly tries a slam and that’s a no go with the back issues. Elbows from Dusty and he mocks Rude as he staggers around the ring. Rude begs off in the corner, but Dusty throws shoulders. Jesse rants to McMahon again about him never being a wrestler and not having any wins. Again, patience! Rude gets a chinlock as Heenan goes over to yell at Sapphire. Dusty throws right hands and goes after Heenan. Rude attacks from behind as Heenan again shows why he is the The Brain. The ref makes the decision to toss Heenan from ringside which seems suspect. He didn’t touch anyone!
-40 seconds of Peacock commercials!
-It seems Sapphire was asked to leave ringside as well. I can live with that! Rude sends Dusty into the post and then flexes. Rude attacks the arm as Jesse mentions that will take away Dusty’s ability to throw elbows. Good call! Sapphire is back in the front row as she apparently bought a ticket. I assume she got the ticket from a scalper. Jesse plugs Mike Tyson being the Special Ref for The Main Event in February when it’s Hogan/Savage II. Yeah, about that! Rude goes up, but gets caught with a punch on the way down. Dusty goes to work on the leg, but Rude goes to the eyes to break. Rude stomps away and fires off right hands as Rhodes begins to Dusty-up! Elbow from Dusty! He sets too early on a backdrop through and Rude gets in a boot. Rude yells at Sapphire, so she taunts him by swiveling her hips. Rude grabs her by the arm and Dusty saves. They brawl up the aisle and you can see where this is going as it’s a Double Count-out at 9:30 or so.
Double Count-out at 9:30
-Match was solid, but another crappy finish. Rude was getting set up as the first challenger for Warrior, I mean whoever wins at Mania VI, so I can see why he wasn’t losing here. **1/4
-Gene is at the punk curtains with Earthquake, Jimmy Hart, and Dino Bravo. Quake makes earthquake related puns.
”Rugged” Ronnie Garvin vs. Dino Bravo (w/ Earthquake and Jimmy Hart)
-McMahon compares Jimmy Hart to horse manure, and Vince talking about shit is creepy now. Garvin is coming off a win over Valetine at The Royal Rumble. Bravo dumps Garvin to the floor so Earthquake can run him into the apron. Back in Bravo gets an elbow for a two count. Side suplex from Bravo for two! Right hands from Bravo as you can see some people heading for the exits and the crowd has thinned a little. Garvin comes back with chops and right hands. Backdrop as Jimmy Hart is on the apron. Garvin throws him into the ring and tosses him over the top, but Earthquake catches him. Garvin stomps Earthquake’s hand and that won’t come back to cost him. Bravo throws Garvin to the floor, but Garvin comes off the top with a cross-body. Earthquake tips off Bravo and he rolls through and gets the pin at 3:17.
Winner: Dino Bravo via pin at 3:17
-Barely qualified as a match and very weird to have Garvin win at Rumble, but job here. I mean, this was filmed before Rumble, but to everyone outside the arena, this was post Rumble. So confusing and I probably spent more time discussing this match than needed. *
-Garvin won’t just accept the loss and attacks Bravo. That brings Earthquake into the ring and Garvin gets creamed with the Earthquake Splash and then another. A stretcher is out for Garvin, but Vince doesn’t have time for that as he plugs Hogan/Savage with Tyson as the special ref.
-Back to the pink curtains as Jesse is with The Macho King to hard sell February’s Main Event special. Savage is happy to have Tyson as the ref as there will be excuse when he beats Hulk Hogan. He also warns Tyson to call it down the middle and it would be best for him to bow down to the Macho King. He even threatens to spit on the back of Tyson’s head when he is kissing his feet. Man! How can you not love the craziness of Randy Savage?
-Gene is at the silver curtains with Hulk Hogan as we continue to hype The Main Event. Hogan calls Savage a dark cloud that keeps following him. I mean, you brought him to WCW. Gene says this could be the last time they fight for the gold. I think it was as far as the WWF Title went (not counting any house shows), but we know what went down in WCW.
-Vince and Jesse continue the hard sell for The Main Event and I don’t blame them as they had MIKE TYSON lined up as a special referee for HOGAN VS. SAVAGE. I’m sure there’s nothing that could BUST this dream booking.
-Thanks for reading!
