Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVI

-We are now in the Ultimate Warrior Era as he is the new WWF Champion and gets his first big title defense. Let’s see how it goes for our new conquering hero and if he can run with the torch. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Taped: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
-Air Date: April 28, 1990 (Taped: April 23, 1990)
-Attendance: 8500

-Old school pre-match promos start with Warrior noting he won’t walk in Hulk Hogan’s footsteps and will fulfill the Ultimate Destiny. He faces Haku tonight!

-Meanwhile Mr. Perfect lets Hulk Hogan know he is going back to school. Hogan calls himself a professor and he will be doing a lot of teaching as Perfect is heading to the principal’s office and Genius to the dunce’s corner.

-Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura are RIDING HORSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE. That is an awesome visual! Jesse is chewing on some grass and both men are sporting cowboys hats.

-Sean Mooney is backstage with Mr. Perfect and The Genius. He runs down Hogan for losing his WWF Title, his confidence, and his fans at WrestleMania.

-Mean Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan, and it does look weird not seeing The Winged Eagle around his waist. Hogan talks about having the courage to get back up after his loss and he will be standing taller than ever before. Compare this to Warrior’s program later in the show and you can see why a lot of fans still rode with Hogan after the loss.

Mr. Perfect (w/ The Genius) vs. Hulk Hogan

-This crowd still really, really likes this Hulk Hogan fellow even after the loss just weeks earlier. Jesse notes that Hogan must be hard of hearing as it takes him four times to hear the roar. Hah! I chuckled at that. This is the blow-off from their feud the previous Winter where Perfect smashed Hogan’s belt and then helped Genius get the MONSTER UPSET win over Hogan. We start and this crowd is jacked for this one. Perfect goes flying over the top rope. Back in the ring he gets an hip-toss and plays to the crowd. Another go and Hogan gets the hip-toss followed by a slam and Perfect bails to the floor. “Hogan” chants! Back in the ring Perfect pulls the hair and fires punches in the corner. He fires Hogan into the corner and then hits kick to the ribs. Chops! A whip is reverse and Hogan goes for the big boot, but Perfect grabs the rope and bails. Hogan gives chase and runs Perfect into the apron. He sends Perfect into the post and he does a 360 spin off it. That’s our Perfect! Back in the ring Hogan gets a running clothesline. Corner clothesline next as Jesse continues to rant about Hogan cheating. Punches and chops from Hogan! Running forearm followed by a running back elbow in the corner. That sends Perfect flying over the top and Hogan gives chase. Jesse is PISSED at Hogan using a closed fist. Genius tries to get involved and eats a right hand. Perfect grabs the metal scroll and blasts Hogan on the side of the head. Perfect teases coming off the top to the floor, but the ref gets him down as we head to break at 5:04.

-60 seconds of Peacock commercials (as I always note, that will likely affect the match time compared to what it was when this show aired on NBC).

-Back at 6:05 with Perfect sending Hogan into the railing. Back in the ring Perfect gets the neck snap and then chokes Hogan on the top rope. He drops a series of elbows, but misses a third one. Hogan starts to rally as he lands right hands. He delivers a boot to the gut, but sets too early on a backdrop. Clothesline lands a kick to the chest and gets a sweet clothesline. He tells us we are going to see a Perfectplex and hits it, but Hogan kicks out at two. Jesse accuses Hogan of using the tights to help him kick out. HULK UP TIME! BIG BOOT! LEG DROP! THREE COUNT AT 9:00!

Winner: Hulk Hogan via pin at 9:00
-Just a normal Hogan match to give him a win after the loss to Warrior and the crowd ate up every second. **1/2

-Genius attacks after the match, but Hogan shakes that off and slams him over the top to the floor. Vince calls Hogan a brahma bull and notes there is something cooking. Huh? If he would have called him The People’s Champion as well, I would have lost it.

-Rick Martel ARROGANCE commercial!

-Jesse is backstage with Earthquake and he has Hillbilly Jim up next. Lots of earthquake related puns and Jimmy works in some Deliverance references.

-Gene is with Jim, who talks about the pigs he helped raise. Quake reminds him of the hog that won the Mud Lick County Fair last year.

Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Hillbilly Jim

-Quake had just started a feud with Hogan that would pick up steam shortly. Before we get there though, he gets another Hogan friend to SQUASH. Quake misses a splash before the bell which lets Jim land a bunch of punches. He rams Quake’s head off the top buckle and then lands some chops. Cartwheel from Jim and he pays for that as Quake goes to the eyes. He hits a running shoulder in the corner, but misses the splash again. Jim claps the ears and fires more punches. Hart is on the apron and goes after Jim’s horseshoe. Quake finally hits the corner splash. He drops an elbow and The Earthquake Ass Splash finishes at 1:58.

Winner: Earthquake via pin at 1:58
-As mentioned, just a way to continue making Quake look like a MONSTER. 1/2*

-Another Ass Splash. Then another! How about three more elbows as well? The stretcher comes out for Hillbilly, but we don’t have time for that as Vince plugs appearances from The Rockers, Warrior, and Hogan.

-Another Model Arrogance commercial!

-Jesse is backstage with The Hart Foundation, who threw out a challenge to whoever walked out of Mania as Tag Champions. Jesse calls The Rockers a pair of “somersaulting sissies,” and Bret adds on with “tumbling teenie-bobbers.” So, what the Foundation is saying is, “No Flips. Just Fists.”

-Gene is backstage with The Rockers and Shawn notes they have all the ammunition they need. I assume ammunition means drugs and booze. I kid!

The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation

-We get a crazy shot of the horses’ asses as they are tied to a fence behind Jesse and Vince at the commentary stage. That’s just something else! Fast start for The Rockers as Shawn comes off the top with a cross-body on Bret for two. Double Side Russian Leg Sweep, but as they kip up, Anvil rips the head off both with a double clothesline. SWEET! The lines have been drawn with the fans as you can see the women freaking out and moving cheering Anvil like crazy. Marty gets Anvil down and hooks a headlock. Tag to Shawn and he gets one as well. Anvil shoves off and Shawn tries a slam, but no dice. Shawn slides out of a slam and gets a dropkick for two. Shawn tries a cross-body, but Anvil catches him and slams him down. Tag to Bret and he runs Shawn down with a clothesline and stomps him in the gut. Bret gets in a knee to the small of the back from the apron. Backdrop sends Shawn flying as he took that one with mustard. Bret back in and he drops an elbow to the throat. Whip to the corner bounces out to sell the back. Anvil back in and he just clubs Shawn on the back and then drives shoulders into the ribs. Shawn gets a sunset flip on Bret for two as Demolition head down to scout both teams. Backbreaker from Bret, but he makes the mistake of checking on Demolition. Shawn with a dropkick to send Bret to the floor as we take a break at 5:33.

-30 seconds on Peacock commercials!

-Back at 6:08 with Bret still in control against Shawn. Vince notes this match has been a humdinger and that just sounds dirty coming from his mouth now. Bret gets caught coming off the middle rope and the hot tag is made to Marty. He lands an elbow on Bret and punches Anvil for good measure. Powerslam to Bret! Superkick to Bret, but it only gets two. Marty with a sunset flip for two. Marty drops his head and Bret makes him pay with a neckbreaker. Tag to Anvil and Bret slings him in for a splash, but Marty rolls out of the way. Hot Tag to Shawn now and listen to those SQUEALS. Anvil murders him with a running shoulder that Shawn sells with a 360. Shawn counters a backdrop and gets an elbow for two. This is great! Shawn off the middle ropes and fights to get Anvil down for two. The kick-out sent Shawn to the floor and now a brawl with Demolition takes place. Everyone starts hitting everyone and the ref calls for the bell at 9:53.

Double DQ at 9:53
-This was great as you would expect. Sadly, the ending stopped things just as they were hitting that extra gear. ***3/4

-In today’s world this would be setting up a 3 Way Match, but this was 1990 and we didn’t get matches like match. Too bad! It probably would have ruled.

-Earthquake is backstage and cuts a promo on Hulk Hogan as they reference Earth Day. Seems nobody cares more about the environment than Quake. Daniel Bryan’s favorite wrestler probably.

-Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan, and he will prove the strongest force in the Universe is not a typhoon or Earthquake, but Hulk-a-mania.

-Let’s go back to WrestleMania VI where The Ultimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title and made 8-year-old me cry. Jerk! My review can be found here, and yes, I did give Hogan/Warrior 5 stars.

-Jesse is backstage with Haku and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. He rants on Texas and talks about illegal aliens, and JR Ewing.

-Gene is backstage with The Ultimate Warrior and he sporting the white strap on his new won WWF Title. The story is Heenan knows how to beat Warrior since he managed Rude when he beat Warrior for the IC Title at Mania V. Warrior talks about grains of sand in the hour glass and how he has been chosen to lead his Warriors into the darkness without. This was nearly 3 minutes of Warrior kind of rambling.

WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Haku (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan)

-Haku attacks before the bell and you will notice they have turned down the lights in the arena to cover for fans that have left. Warrior with a clothesline and then he throws the belt off so he can chase Haku. Shoulder tackle from Warrior followed by a series of chops. He works the arm and in a bad sign the crowd is sitting quietly, but the sound machine is kicked in to add ambiance. Warrior sends Haku into the buckle ten times and then plays to the crowd. He charges but Haku gets a foot up to block. Haku goes crazy with clotheslines as Warrior keeps getting up. Jumping kick to the face gets a two count. Haku rakes the back and the eyes. Backbreaker from Haku and this isn’t really working in what is Warrior’s first televised Title Defense. Belly to back suplex from Haku gets two. Slam form Haku followed by a splash, but Warrior is out at two and WARRIOR’S UP. I mean, that kind of just made him a Hogan knock-off and even I could see that watching back then. Warrior runs wild with clotheslines and hits the splash for the win at 4:49.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 4:49
-Not the big time coronation they were likely expecting. They did Warrior no favors putting him late on the show and having to follow Hogan. 1/2*

-The Model is playing tennis and continues to plug Arrogance.

-Back to WrestleMana where Ted Dibiase attacked The Boss Man before his match with Akeem.

-Mooney is backstage with Slick and Akeem. Dibiase has paid them more money to finish the job the started at WrestleMania.

-Gene is backstage with The Big Boss Man and he is more concerned with Dibiase.

Akeem (w/ Slick) vs. The Big Boss Man

-This is a rematch from WrestleMania VI. Boss Man throws Akeem across the ring in an impressive spot. Boss Man drops a leg on the middle ropes and starts firing kidney punches. Akeem reverses and sits his ass on Boss Man’s face in the corner. Back elbow followed by a splash, but Boss Man is out at two and he BOSS MANS UP! Boss Man with a backdrop that sends Akeem over the top and the floor. Boss Man with a sling shot to bring Akeem back into the ring. AKEEM THE BUMPING MACHINE! Akeem gets his head bounced off the buckle and even as Boss Man lets go, he continues to bounce his head off the buckle in a cute spot. Boss Man Slam, but apparently Akeem can’t do a job here as Virgil and Ted Dibiase hit the ring for the DQ at 2:58.

Winner: The Big Boss Man via pin at 2:58
-Not much here though Akeem was bumping like a champ. 3/4*

-They cuff Boss Man to the top rope and beat on him for a bit, but of course he has a key to his own cuffs (which makes sense) and chases Ted to the back.

-Mooney is backstage with Heenan and he noticed some weaknesses on The Warrior and it will help Rick Rude. He notes Rude is the only man to beat Warrior for a Title.

-Gene is backstage with Warrior, who notes he is totally out of control. He will open up all the wounds from his past battles with Rude and poison them with an out of control disease. More craziness from Warrior.

-Cowboy Vince and Cowboy Jesse wrap things up on their horse and our last shot is Jesse and one of the horses eating a carrot together. Thanks for reading!

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

The drop off in quality of these shows is continuing and it's like once the calendar clicked to 1990 things changed and the show didn't seem as important. Very weird! Rockers/Foundation was fantastic with a bad ending and Hogan/Perfect is a perfectly solid and fun Hogan match. The rest was not good at all and Warrior didn't come off as the new conquering hero like they hoped, but I don't put all the blame on him. The Tag Match pulls this up to average and with all these shows it's an easy watch at just over an hour.