wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF The Main Event #1
Image Crédit: WWE
Loading...-My twitter feed has been filled with video of Hogan/Andre from this show all day since it is the 35th anniversary. So let’s take a break from 1996 and go back to 1988 for the most watched wrestling show in US History. Let’s get to it!
-Some history: WrestleMania III saw Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant have the biggest match of all time. There was some controversy over a supposed three count for Andre. Enter Ted Dibiase who tried to buy the WWF Title from Hogan, but our hero wouldn’t do that. Some Ted bought Andre off of Bobby Heenan and the plan is for Andre to win The Title and give it to Ted.
-Meanwhile The Honky Tonk Man failed to catch on as a face and became chicken shit heel, who stole the IC Title from Ricky Steamboat in a stunning upset. He then entered a feud with Randy Savage, who was become a fan favorite because he’s awesome! After always escaping with the title, the feeling was HTM was toast here.
-For me personally I was 6 years old at the time (would turn 7 in May of that year) and watched with my mom and step-dad. Neither of them were wrestling fans at all, but they didn’t mind that I was, and even they were slightly curious about Hogan/Andre II. I watched WrestleMania III from my grandma’s house (my step-dad’s mom) and became the first kid allowed to eat in her living room, so I wouldn’t miss anything. I remember it was spaghetti and salad. I also remember being so scared Hogan would lose that I hid in the kitchen during Hogan/Andre and used the empty spaghetti box on my arm as a cast like Bob Orton. My step-dad yelled in that Hogan won and I ran in to see the replay.
-NBC gave Vince a spin-off for Saturday’s Nights Main Event with this show and it aired at 8 PM on a Friday. A massive audience was expected and it delivered the biggest audience for a wrestling show in US History.
-Here is a rundown of the card that didn’t make the NBC feed: Ax over Ken Patera, Jake Roberts over Harley Race, Ron Bass over Koko B Ware, The Bulldogs over The Islanders, Jim Duggan over One Man Gang, and The Ultimate Warrior over Sika.
-Announce Team: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura (sporting a leopard print genie hat, I think)
-Air Date: 02.05.88
-Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN
-TV Audience: 33 million (yep!)
-The awesome SNME intros are here with Randy Savage hyping his match with The Honky Tonk Man. HTM replies and we see him smashing the guitar over Savage’s head a few months prior.
-Ted Dibiase and Andre hype up the rematch with Hogan. Speaking of which, Hogan talking about fighting for his life when Andre choked him and he survived because of the thoughts and prayers from all the Hulk-a-maniacs.
-The nostalgia with the opening is real!
-Vince and Jesse set the stage and Jesse predicts Hogan will lose his title tonight.
-They throw to footage (much to Jesse’s disgust) of Hulk Hogan training in the gym. Funny enough the music being used would end up being Jake Roberts entrance theme.
-Mean Gene Okerlund is backstage with The Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart. HTM claims Elizabeth is in love with him and tonight he will get the lonely woman. He will take her down to The Heartbreak Hotel and he Won’t Be Cruel. He will Love Her Tender and be Her Teddy Bear while Randy Savage will be in The Ghetto. I had HBO free this weekend and I got to watch the Elvis movie. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It sucked me in and I couldn’t stop watching.
-Back to Gene who is standing by Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. Savage says Liz has nothing to worry about, but that’s not the case of Honky. “Vengeance is mine, sayeth The Macho Man.”
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Honky Tonk Man (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue (Sherri)) vs. “The Macho Man” Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth)
-There are a lot of rumors and politics behind this match which we get to later. Savage goes after Jimmy Hart which lets Honky shake his hips at Liz. Probably not smart as Savage just blitzes him to start the match. He drapes Honky throat first over the top rope and gets a back elbow out of the corner. Honky bails to talk to Jimmy and Savage rams them into each other. Savage gets his leg grabbed by Hart which lets Honky take over. Honky tries a sunset flip, but Savage blocks with a right hand. He throws jabs in the corner, but misses a charge in the corner. Honky misses an elbow and Jimmy gets involved again so Savage chases after him. They chase goes into the ring where Jimmy leaves the megaphone and Honky blasts Savage with it for two. Honky cranks on Savage’s neck, but it doesn’t last long as Savage breaks. He gets caught with a knee that sends Savage to the floor. Honky goes out after him and comes off the apron with an axe handle to the back. Back in the ring Honky puts the moves on Liz again. Honky stomps away on Savage and then distracts the ref so Hart can choke for a bit. They repeat as Honky dances for Liz again. Savage rallies with elbows and jabs, but Honky goes back to the gut and hits a clothesline. He drops multiple elbows and peacocks for Liz again. This time though he goes outside after Liz, but Savage comes too and sprints after Honky. The crowd is losing it as Honky begs off in the ring. Savage is out for blood as he tosses Honky over the top and then he comes off the top with the double axe to the floor. Back in the ring Savage gets a slam and comes off the top with another double axe for two. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Savage pulls him into the ring. HTM tries to hit a knee, but Savage moves and Jimmy gets decked. Savage with a sleeper, but he releases as he sees Peggy Sue going after Liz. Savage backs her away and then catches with a right hand as he tries to come off the apron. Honky gets sent into the post and gets counted out at 8:23.
Winner: Randy Savage via count-out at 8:23
-Solid match with a ton of heat. A simple match but they didn’t have to do anything special because the crowd was so into it. The rumor is Savage was supposed to win, but Honky refused to do the JOB knowing there was going to be a massive TV audience. So, he kept the title a little longer and Savage was rewarded with The WWF Title at WrestleMania IV. **3/4
-Honky has his guitar and has Savage cornered in the ring. Jimmy decks Savage from behind with the megaphone. Honky winds up, but Liz gets in front which has Honky but on the brakes. Savage regroups and takes control of the guitar and Honky smartly bails. Savage destroys the guitar over the ring post to a thunderous pop from the crowd.
-We head back to WrestleMania III as Hulk Hogan beats Andre The Giant in the biggest match in the history of everything. They show the opening where Andre fell back on a Hogan slam attempt and got a disputed two count. Heenan, Andre, and Jesse all feel it was three. As a Hogan fan I knew it was two.
-Now we go back to Jan 1988 at The Capital Centre as Andre attacks Hogan with headbutts to the back of the head and then chokes Hogan out. Terrifying!
-Next to The Copps Coliseum later that month as Andre and Hogan signed the contract for tonight’s match. Hogan lunges for Dibiase, so Andre dumps the table over on him.
-Gene is backstage with Andre, Dibiase, and Virgil. Ted notes Andre is already Champion and blames the ref for what happened at Mania III. Ted has had Andre training at the finest facilities to get ready for this match. Hogan promises to squeeze and twist the life out of Hogan. Again, terrifying!
-Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan and he reviewed the film and Andre only had him down for a two count. Hogan is sporting his version of the WWF Title here for the last time.
WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Andre The Giant (w/ Ted Dibiase and Virgil)
-Andre gets booed out of the building and there is a banner that reads “Andre Who?” Words hurt you know! Hogan heads to the ring now wearing the Winged Eagle Title as it makes it’s debut. Weird production slip there! The crowd is really into this Hogan fella. Hogan threatens to hit Andre, Dibiase, and Virgil with the WWF Title, but the ref prevents it. Hopefully that’s the last the ref gets involved in this one. Jesse notes he feels good about Dave Hebnar being the ref instead of Joey Marella. Did Jesse know? Real American playing with the crowd losing it as Andre just stares through Hogan is amazing and makes me so happy. Massive Hogan chant as we are 40 seconds into this match and they haven’t touched but the crowd doesn’t care. Andre continues to stall so Hogan just attacks, and to be fair the bell did ring. Hogan sends Virgil over the top to the floor and the same happens to Dibiase. He goes to work on Andre, but he just won’t go off his feet. The crowd is losing it as Hogan staggers Andre in the corner. He hits a running elbow and Andre is still on his feet. More right hands and then a clotheline, but Andre is still up. Virgil on the apron and gets decked again. Dibiase gets his hand stomped on and back to right hands for Andre. Hogan rakes the eyes and Jesse is pissed! Running corner clothesline and Andre is still sanding. Popeye punch and still nothing. Hogan goes back to the eyes and again, Jesse is pissed. Hogan actually goes up top because he doesn’t know what else to do, so Andre slams him off like he is Ric Flair. Andre misses a headbutt and Hogan goes for a cover, but Andre casually reaches up for a choke. He chokes Hogan down for a count of four and then releases and goes back to it. Thunderous Hogan chant, but it’s not helping here as Andre fires him into the corner and then stomps Hogan’s fingers. Slam from Andre followed by a headbutt. He lands a chop as Jesse is euphoric thinking about Hogan losing here. More chops fro Andre and another headbutt. Andre goes back to the choke. Andre lands a big boot, but falls on his ass which is kind of sad. Hogan rolls to the floor, but Virgil fires him back in and Andre uses his singlet to choke. Andre goes to a nerve hold, but Hogan starts to rally and this place is just bonkers. Hogan forces a break and starts firing away with chops and right hands. Hogan goes back to the eyes and comes off the send rope with a clothesline that drops Andre. Virgil grabs the leg to stop the legdrop. Hogan goes to the other side and hits the big leg, but the ref is busy with Virgil. Andre grabs Hogan from behind and delivers two headbutts. Andre gets a weak looking suplex/throw and gets the cover. Hogan gets the shoulder up at one, but the ref ignores that and we have a new Champion at 9:08 as Hogan’s monster title run comes to an end at 1474 days. Six year old me was watching at home with my mom and step-dad and I burst into tears crying. The other time that happened over a wrestling outcome was two years later when Hogan lost to Warrior.
Winner and New WWF Champion: Andre The Giant via pin at 9:08
-I mean this was a better match than what they had at WM III mainly because it was shorter and had a faster pace. Andre couldn’t do much of anything other than choke and throw some headbutts, but at his size he doesn’t have to do much. Hogan bounced off him and even broke out Lucha Hulk to carry the match as best as possible. The match quality isn’t the point though as the crowd was losing their mind. The match basically served to get to the angle that followed. *1/2 for the match, but ***** for the historic nature of the match and the craziness about to follow.
-We are only just beginning with this awesomeness. Hogan is practically in tears as Hebnar presents Andre with The WWF Title. The crowd is part stunned and part pissed except for a few people in the crowd. Notable two guys that fell over hugging each other when Andre won. I hated those two as a kid!
-Gene gets in the ring to talk to the new Champion and it’s the shortest reign ever as he gives the Title to Ted Dibiase. Andre screws up and calls it the World Tag Team Championship. Perhaps he could see in the future and knew what was coming for him. Hogan chases everyone off as Vince doesn’t think what Andre did was legal.
-The camera cuts back behind Hogan and we have two Dave Hebnars in the ring as this just gets more awesome with each second. Vince and Jesse argue over which one is the real Dave Hebnar. The crowd is shocked and just want Hogan to hit somebody. He threatens both men and then leaves them to wipe the tears from his eyes.
-The refs start shoving each other and the Evil Hebnar decks the real Hebnar and Hogan has his answer. He tries to escape but Hogan catches him and presses him over his head and LAUNCHES him down the aisle. He was supposed to land on Dibiase and Virgil, but cleared them rather easily. That was nasty!
-Strike Force are in the ring for a Tag Title Match, but we throw backstage to Mean Gene with Hulk Hogan, who is in tears. “How much money did they spend on the plastic surgery man? I had all bases covered. I had the Hulk-a-maniacs watching Dibiase. I had Virgil in his place. Never in my wildest dreams Mean Gene. When I think that I would get ripped off by a penny pinching two-timing referee. How much money on the plastic surgery? How much money did he spend to pay the referee off? (We see footage of the “pin” as Gene gets Hogan to talk about it). I turned around Mean Gene, they were identical. IDENTICALLLLLLL! Look at the shoulder brother. Look at the shoulder. The referee is paid off brother. Look at the hundred dollar bills falling out of his pocket. My God! Hulk-a-maniacs! HULK-A-MANIACS!” GIVE THIS MAN EVERY EMMY FOREVER! I LOVE PRO-WRESTLING!
-This sets up WrestleMania as the WWF Title is held up after Andre tried to give it to Dibiase. Andre is still a former champion, but Dibiase is not even though he “defended” it a few times. A 14 man tournament was set up for WrestleMania with Hogan and Andre receiving byes, but facing each other. Notice no Hogan slam here as you had to pay to see that. The rumors was Dibiase was going to win The Tournament, but when Honky balked at losing to Savage, they decided to give Savage the WWF Title at Mania. The thought I assume being they didn’t want a heel IC and heel WWF Champion. It all worked out amazingly as we know as Savage winning made a Main Event start and set off The Mega Powers story and Honky would get SQUASHED in epic fashion by The Ultimate Warrior to make another star and set him on a path to WrestleMania VI.
WWF Tag Team Titles: Strike Force (c) vs. The Hart Foundation
-This match is already in progress as it started during Hogan’s backstage interview. Bret and Martel are in the ring and Martel lands a running forearm. Anvil gets involved which brings Tito into the ring. Bret drills Martel with a piledriver as Vince tells us we are out of time and closes the show for the TV audience. The camera goes wide and we have no commentary for the final 10 seconds as Tito gets a roll to block a sunset flip from Bret for the win at 47 seconds shown.
Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Strike Force via pin at 0:47 (shown)
-Nothing to rate here as I assume it was just a match to send the crowd home happy after Hogan’s loss. It did add to the chaotic night as the TV audience didn’t get to see the finish.
-Thanks for reading!
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