Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF The Main Event V

-This is the final Main Event and we are nearing the end of the run with NBC overall as SNME was cut down to one show in April and that’s it for 1991. We are fresh off the heels of The Royal Rumble and Sgt. Slaughter is our new WWF Champion. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper
-Taped: Macon Coliseum, Macon, GA
-Aired: Feb 1, 1991 (Taped Jan 28)
-NBC Rating: 6.7 (10.6 Million Viewers)

-We start with video highlights of Hulk Hogan visiting the US troops as part of a USO Tour.

-Proper show intro!

-Vince McMahon welcomes us to the show and is joined by Roddy Piper. We are told Jack Tunney will name the Main Event of WrestleMania VII.

Earthquake and Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Hulk Hogan and Tugboat

-Hogan and Quake is a feud that is still rolling along and as I have mentioned before, I saw my first show in Feb of 1991 at The Civic Arena with my step-dad and the main event was Hogan vs. Quake in a stretcher match. Bravo starts with Hogan and shoves him back in the corner. Lockup and this time Hogan shoves Bravo into the corner and hits a pose. Jimmy Hart on the apron and Hogan decks him and hits Quake as well. Bravo gets bounced back and forth like a pinball between Boat and Hogan to pop the crowd. Tugger gets the tag and hooks a wrist-lock. A splash in the corner gets blocked as Bravo gets his feet up and he connects with an inverted atomic drop. Quake in and he misses an elbow. Tag to Hogan and the crowd is JACKED for this. Right hands to Quake and Bravo gets slammed. Hogan slams Quake! He hits the running clothesline in the corner and goes to work with right hands. Tag to Boat and we get a double big boot. Tugger charges and eats a boot from Quake. Bravo and Quake double team Tugboat. Quake drops an elbow for two, but Hogan breaks the count. Bravo back in and he drops an elbow. Bravo spits on Hogan to draw him into he ring. The ref forces Hogan out so Bravo and Quake hit a double clothesline. Quake back in and he chokes Tugger on the middle rope. Head-butt from Quake! Tugger reverses a whip and gets a corner splash. He clotheslines Quake down, but gets decked with a mega-phone by Bravo from the apron. We head to a commercial break at 6:33.

-45 seconds of Peacock commercials!

-Back at 7:22 with Quake landing an elbow to the back of the head and then another. Quake gets a two count! Bravo back in to lay in the boots and then he plays to the crowd. Bravo hooks a headlock as he cuts off Tugboat from Hogan. A tag is made, but the ref was with Quake. Double Slam as the ref forces Hogan back out. Quake goes for the Ass Splash, but Hogan is in with a right hand. The race is on and the HOT TAG is made to Hogan. Bravo gets mauled and eats a big boot and Hogan rolls him up off that for the pin at 9:48.

Winners: Hulk Hogan and Tugboat via pin at 9:48
-Hogan winning with a roll-up was different. This was just a tag match, but had a hot crowd as they continued to milk the real money feud with Hogan/Quake while turning towards The WrestleMania Main Event. Maybe Quake should have beaten Warrior at The Rumble with Savage’s help and finally given us Hogan/Quake blow-off at Mania. Probably would have drawn a stronger number and not had the stink of using the War in a wrestling angle. *1/2

-Courtesy of Coliseum Home Video we go back to The Royal Rumble and see how Warrior turned down Sherri and how it led to Randy Savage costing Warrior The WWF Title later in the PPV. That scepter shot still looks fantastic!

-Gene Okerlund is backstage with Sgt. Slaughter and General Adnan. Slaughter yells that it doesn’t matter how he came to power. He has a new set of rules and everyone has to play by them.

WWF Championship: Sgt. Slaughter (c) (w/ General Adnan) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (w/ Hulk Hogan)

-This is Slaughter’s first televised Title defense and Duggan and his patriotic act is a good first opponent. Lockup as we are told the ref made Hogan go back since he is not a licensed manager. Loud USA chant which shouldn’t shock anyone. Duggan shoves Slaughter on his ass to a loud pop. Sarge catches Duggan coming in with a boot and then works him over in the corner. He chokes in the corner behind the ref’s back. Duggan reverses a whip and starts firing off heavy right hands. He lands rapid fire punches in the corner and gets another USA chant going. Backdrop from Duggan! Heavy clothesline sends Sarge over the top and to the floor. Nasty landing as his back cracked off the apron. That looked like it sucked! Duggan tries to slam Slaughter back in, but Adnan grabs the leg to trip and Slaughter gets two. Duggan goes over Adnan and Sarge accidentally knocks him off the apron after charging at Hacksaw. Duggan sets to early on a backdrop and gets booted in the chest. Sarge chokes Duggan on the middle rope! Slaughter uses Duggan’s 2×4 to hit Duggan in the throat. He tries to pin with a single foot, but Duggan is out at two. Slaughter taunts the crowd and then sends Duggan into his pointy boots! He rams Duggan’s head off the buckle, but that just wakes him up. He sends Slaughter into the corner, where he goes flying over the corner and to the floor. Duggan chases and posts Slaughter! Adnan tries to get involved and Duggan just stares. Slaughter uses a chair to draw at DQ at 6:48.

Winner: Jim Duggan via DQ at 6:48
-Not the best way to make Slaughter look strong heading into THE MAIN EVENT OF WRESTLEMANIA AGAINST HULK HOGAN (SPOILERS). 1/2*

-Slaughter beats Duggan with his riding crop but Hogan is out for the save. Slaughter gets to Hogan first and hits him with a chair before spitting on him. He takes his leave as Hogan fights to his feet and goes to check on Duggan. USA chant from the crowd! Hogan helps Duggan to his feet and they waive Old Glory as Vince goes on about standing side by side with your fellow countryman.

The Orient Express (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. The Legion of Doom

-LOD get interview time with Gene in the back before the match. Their promo is all about Japanese imports vs. American Muscle. Animal starts with Kato and tosses him across the ring. Lockup and Kato throws chops in the corner, but no effect. He bails to make Animal chase and catches him on the way back in the ring. Animal ducks a clothesline and gets a powerslam. All four men in and Tanaka goes FLYING off a double backdrop. That was a wild bump! The Express regroup on the floor with Fuji. Vince actually says Duggan is a contender to be in the Main Event of WrestleMania with a straight face. At least Piper mentioned Savage and Warrior. The Express cheat to gain the advantage, but it’s short lived as Hawk beats on both of them by himself. Animal presses Kato on the floor and sends him back into the ring, where Hawk sends him right back out. Animal with a clothesline on the floor. The crowd is loving this ass kicking. Tanaka back in with Animal and he gets run over with a shoulder. Clotheslines from Animal has Tanaka doing a 360 sell. Fuji throws slat in Animal’s face and The Express finally get an advantage. Tanaka leaps over Kato and lands on Animal’s back but he gets a double clothesline and tags Hawk. He runs wild with shoulders and decks Fuji off the apron. Animal in with a corner clothesline. Doomsday Device finishes at 5:12.

Winner: The Legion of Doom via pin at 5:12
-A fun extended SQUASH for The LOD as they steamrolled The Express. Kind of sucks for The Express after the great match only days earlier against The Rockers, but this is the LOD and you got to let them do their thing. *1/2

-Mean Gene is in the ring with WWF President, Jack Tunney to announce the Main Event of WrestleMania VII. Gene mentions Hogan never got a rematch after losing to Warrior last year. Warrior never got his rematch and Gene mentions Duggan deserves a rematch after the way his match ended earlier in the night. Savage is the other name mentioned. Tunney announces Slaughter will defend against Hulk Hogan.

-Sean Mooney is backstage with Sgt. Slaughter who says the fans won’t be cheering long. Hogan has never faced an opponent like him as he will stoop to depths never seen or imagined. He doesn’t care about the public and breaks out the Puke-A-Maniac term that Savage used previously.

-Back to the arena where Gene is in the ring with Hulk Hogan. This would be a quick, hard sell for Mania VII since there are no other SNME until then. Hogan talks about the Forts he visited on The USO Tour and brings up Slaughter waiving The Iraqi Flag. He is bringing everyone after Slaughter at Mania VII. He compares his arms to Patriot Missiles and pledges before everyone including The Lord that he will be the next WWF Champion. Hogan leads the crowd in The Pledge of Allegiance as a play on Slaughter doing it years ago. Cute! Yeah, Slaughter was toast!

-Vince and Piper wrap things up. Thanks for reading!

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

Not a good show, but an easy watch at just a little over 45 minutes. Slaughter was a lame duck champion as Warrior/Savage was a hotter feud and Hogan/Quake was drawing all the money. Because of that they had to rush to naming Hogan the next challenger here and start the hard sell. You could also see the relationship with NBC continuing to sour as this was the second Main Event special in 3 months and ended up being the final one. In that case it has some history and again, it's an easy show to watch, but you won't miss anything if you skip it.