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

-Great American Bash was next in order, but I wanted to get back to the WWF after the last two shows were NWA. GAB will be up next and then I will likely do SummerSlam90 again because it has been 14 years since that first review. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
-Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE
-July 28, 1990 (Taped: July 16, 1990)
-Attendance: 10303
-NBC Rating: 7.2

-The theme for this show is “Wild Kingdom.” Vince welcomes us to the show and Jesse is dressed for a safari. No cold opening promos this time sadly. All three Titles are on the line tonight as well.

-The pre-match promos are in front of a green screen tailored to each wrestler instead of being with Gene or Jesse. That sucks as well!

WWF Title: The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. “Ravishing” Rick Rude (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan)

-The crowd is much more alive for Warrior here than the last SNME where he was stuck later in the show and had to follow Hogan. Rude attacks from behind, but Warrior turns the tide quickly and runs Rude into the top buckle. He tosses him into the opposite corner and stomps away. Another whip to the corner and Warrior gets an inverted atomic drop. That’s that awesome Rude sell of the move that we all love. Rude gets sent to the floor and Warrior cracks Heenan and Rude’s heads together. Back in the ring Warrior gets a clothesline and heads up top. He drops a right hand, but misses a splash. Warrior rolls out to the floor where Heenan distracts the ref so Rude cause use the belt. He blasts Warrior with that and could have had a count-out, but Rude wants the Title so he heads out and fires Rude back into the ring. Now Rude heads up top but Warrior catches him with a shot to the gut on the way down. Reverse Atomic Drop but Rude fires up and gets a running clothesline out of the corner. These two always had solid chemistry! Rude attacks the back, but Warrior blocks a slam attempt. Warrior gets a slam, but Rude slides out of a second one and hooks a sleeper. He climbs on Warrior’s back to maintain the hold and gets Warrior to fall to the mat. “Warrior” chant, but it might be the heat machine as I don’t see anyone’s mouth moving. The ref actually checks the leg to see if it drops, but Warrior starts his comeback. He breaks the hold with a jawbreaker, but Rude is back on him with right hands. Rude stomps the hand which is cool! Rude Awakening is blocked as Warrior separates the hands. Rude counters that though and ends up hitting The Rude Awakening for two. Warrior-Up time! Clothesline and again and again. Rope shaking and a flying shoulder. The splash connects, but Heenan breaks up the count. Warrior chases Heenan, so Rude follows. Warrior presses Rude above his head and walks back to the ring, but Heenan lands a cheap shot from behind. Warrior takes Heenan into the ring and abuses poor Bobby before tossing him over the top and to the floor. Now the ref calls for the bell at 9:43.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: The Ultimate Warrior via DQ at 9:43
-Solid match, but weird dynamic as this was the Main Event for SummerSlam in a month’s time. No clue why they would run it here and have Warrior kick out of the Rude Awakening. You think they would save that for SummerSlam. The ref calling for the DQ after Bobby got his ass kicked seemed weird as well. Rude always knew how to handle and reign in Warrior. **

-Gene and Alfred Hayes make safari jokes and Gene works in a Pete Rose joke about being up the river. Hilarity! Also, RIP Pete Rose!

-Video tribute to Hulk Hogan as we “reflect upon the spectrum of Hulk-a-mania.” Those were Vince’s words. I vividly remember this video package as it was set to Real American and then gets dark and brooding as Earthquake SQUASHES Hogan on The Brother Love show. Real American is then played slow as we get iconic Hogan highlights including Rocky III footage. Nice! No Holds Barred footage! Then back to Earthquake SQUASHING Hogan and they throw in kids crying and looking concerned in the crowd. Here’s some footage of Hogan with Elizabeth just to piss on Randy Savage I guess. Hogan getting stretchered out is one those things that stuck with me as a child and we close with Hogan’s locker slamming shut. THIS WAS AMAZING and no wonder Hogan and Quake MADE ALL THE MONEY.

-Vince brings Hulk Hogan out and the crowd goes crazy. Yeah, Warrior was absolutely toast and it’s no wonder the poor guy didn’t draw as Champion. Hogan thanks the fans for all their prayers, and for the cards and letters. I am pretty sure I sent him a letter and that’s why I started getting the WWF Merchandise Catalog. Hogan notes Hulk-a-mania has had highs and lows before, but he was never attacked like what happened with Quake, Bravo, and Jimmy Hart. Hogan says he is back and will have Tugboat in his corner at SummerSlam. Earthquake, Bravo, and Hart are down and surround the ring. Hogan swings his weight belt at both men, but they have him cornered until Tugboat runs down for the save. Jesse says we could have a Tag Match here. WE NEED TEDDY LONG! Again, the crowd was going crazy for this and it drew all the money that Warrior couldn’t draw.

-More with Hayes and Gene in the “wild.” Koko B Ware jumps on screen as he is looking for a mate for Frankie. We then get stock footage of apes as they are really trying to sell this. Jake Roberts shows up and saves Gene for a snake attack. Next The Bushwhackers show up and walk on some train tracks. Okay then!

WWF Tag Team Titles: Demolition (c) vs. The Rockers

-Crush is now part of Demolition to make the team a trio and they get to use Freebird Rules when defending the Tag Titles. Crush and Smash get the nod this time as Ax is injured and this was the solution instead of stripping them of the Titles. Smash and Marty start us off and Smash lands the first shot and pounds Marty down to the mat. Smash misses a charge in the corner and Marty gets an arm-drag, a trip and then a dropkick that sends Smash to the floor. All four men in the ring and The Rockers hit stereo head scissors and dropkicks to send Demolition to the floor. Smash and Marty start us again, and Smash gets close enough to land a blow. Again though he makes the mistake of letting Marty quicken the pace and he pays. Tag to Shawn with another head scissors, but Crush is in behind the ref’s back with a clothesline. Tag to Crush to bring him into the match proper and he starts bouncing Shawn all over the ring while calling him a punk. Shawn reverses a whip and The Rockers use more double team offense. Jesse notes it was an illegal double team. Crush puts Marty of the top rope and chokes away, which forces the ref to break. Marty off the middle ropes with a sunset flip for two. Shawn off the middle rope with a shot to the arm and then tag back to Marty who does the same. Mart with a side headlock but Crush shoves off. Smash low bridges Marty to the floor and Ax gets a slam out there. That sends us to a break!

-45 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back at 5:25 with Smash pounding Marty down and then choking with the top rope. More clubbing blows! Marty gets pitched to the floor where Crush presses slam him back into the ring over the top rope. Cool! Crush off the top with a double ax to the back. That looks awesome from a dude that size. Backbreaker from Crush and then another, but no cover. Marty ducks a clothesline, but runs into a chokeslam. Not the height you see with today’s chokeslams, but still cool to see an early version. Smash back in and he grabs a bear-hug which has the crowd trying to fire up Marty. He fights out and tries to get a sunset flip, but Smash punches to block. Back to Crush and he misses a clothesline. That lets Marty knock him down and the hot tag is made to Shawn. Smash is in as well and Shawn drops him with a flying forearm. Dropkick to Crush! He runs Demolition into each other and a double dropkick sends Crush to the floor. Here’s one for Smash as well! Double superkick! They head up top and hit the double first for two as Crush breaks the fall. Shawn gets a roll-up behind the ref’s but Ax is in and decks Shawn. He gets the cover for the win at 10:19 as the ref is made to look stupid.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Demolition via pin at 10:19
-Stupid ending but a solid tag match. **3/4

-The Hart Foundation and The Legion of Doom are out to argue with the ref, but it won’t do any good at this point.

-More safari fun with Lord Alfred and Mean Gene.

-Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan get promo time backstage. Perfect has 20/20 vision and no cavities because he is perfect!

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Mr. Perfect (c) (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) vs. Tito Santana

-Perfect lands the first blows, but Tito back with an arm-drag and a dropkick that sends Perfect FLYING over the top rope. That’s our Perfect! Tito chases on the floor and a chop has Perfect defying gravity with the air he got off a simple job, but again, that’s our Perfect! Back in the ring Tito sets too early on a backdrop. That lets Perfect land a kick and then a sweet looking clothesline. Knee-lift follows as Perfect has the match at his pace. Standing dropkick from Perfect! He talks some trash, but Tito fights from him back with kicks. They trade punches and Perfect gets the advantage. He lands a slam and hooks a neck crank. Heenan smartly distracts the ref, which gives Perfect the chance to go to a choke. The crowd doesn’t like that at all, but I find it fantastic! Tito fights fire with fire and goes to the hair to break. Perfect runs into a boot in the corner and flips inside out from a clothesline. He begs off as the crowd is rocking with them! Right hand knocks Perfect into the knee of the ref. Tito kicks Perfect’s knee and hooks the figure-four, but we have no ref. Apparently, Vince can hear Perfect giving up from the announce position which seems dubious at best. Tito releases and hits the flying forearm, but the ref takes too long to get back up and it only gets two. The crowd bought that near fall big time! Tito off the middle ropes with a clothesline and again only two as the ref crawls over with the bad wheel. This is great! Tito is not happy with the ref and here comes another as we head to a break at 6:30.

-45 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back with Tito getting a cross-body for two. Look at the fans standing as they are biting on everything. Tito chant rings out as Perfect slugs him down. Chops from Perfect in the corner and he gets the neck snap. Heenan is there to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Tito fights back and they start trading blows. Perfect gets in a thrust kick and uses his legs to twist the neck. Tito fires back and fires off punches in the corner. A haymaker sends Perfect over the top and to the floor. Tito follows and fires him back into the ring. Perfect whipped across the ring and he tries to slide to escape, but goes balls first into the post. Reverse Atomic Drop and then a regular one sends Perfect bouncing into the top buckle! That gets two! Small package gets two, but Perfect is able to roll and get his own small package for the pin at 11:02.

Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Title Santa via pin at 11:02
-This was fantastic and one of the best matches in the history of this show. Just great stuff from both men and they pulled the crowd into everything they were doing. This might be Tito’s last truly great match as he and Perfect just meshed so well together. Definitely a hidden classic and worth watching. ****

-Earthquake is backstage and threatens to put Hogan back in the hospital.

-More fun with Gene and Hayes as they continue to trek across “Africa.” They run into Slick and Akeem before Gene ends up taking a dive into a river full of piranhas.

”Playboy” Buddy Rose vs. “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich

-This is Kerry’s WWF debut! Vince mentions Kerry’s wrestling family which didn’t always happen as he was content with not mentioning anything about a debuting wrestler’s past. Rose gets a slap to start, but Kerry knocks him across the ring and hits a series of slams. Whip to the corner and then to another one as Rose bumps around the ring. Rose ends up tied in the ropes alas Andre The Giant. Kerry punches away until Buddy is free and he falls to the floor. Back in Rose rakes the eyes and drops a knee. He heads up top, but Kerry is up and slams him down. Discus Punch finishes at 3:10

Winner: Kerry Von Erich via pin at 3:10
-Basically a SQUASH, but not a good one. SQUASH

-Jesse interviews Rick Rude backstage to hype the cage match with Warrior at SummerSlam!

-Over to Mooney who is with a pacing WWF Champion, The Ultimate Warrior. It’s a Warrior promo and I am not a fan of the face-paint look he has here.

-Jesse and Vince throw to Gene and Alfred for our last safari vignette. Gene is happy as he has a chimp to play with now. I don’t blame him as Apes are my favorite animal.

-Jesse and Vince wrap things up as next time it is the season premiere of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This was a wonderful show with a great match between Perfect and Tito. Definitely check that one out at minimum and there are a couple other solid matches that had bad endings. You can see the format is changing with the show sadly and we are marching towards the end of the first NBC era.