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The Name on the Marquee: Saturday Night’s Main Event (4.30.1988)

June 18, 2018 | Posted by Adam Nedeff
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event WWF SNME Image Credit: WWE
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The Name on the Marquee: Saturday Night’s Main Event (4.30.1988)  

-Cold open promos, set to Jake Roberts’ music Hacksaw Jim Duggan is going to make a clean sweep of the Heenan Family…Bobby Heenan says that after tonight, “Jigsaw Jim” will be missing a lot of pieces…Slick knows the One Man Gang got robbed at Wrestlemania IV, but tonight, the Gang will get the belt that he has coming to him…Randy Savage promises that everybody will feel the madness!

-Originally aired April 30, 1988.

-We’re in Springfield, MA, home of Wrestling Challenge for the moment.

-Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura.

-We look back at Hacksaw Jim Duggan KOing Andre the Giant a few weeks back.

-Gene Okerlund has words with Bobby Heenan & Friends. Bobby clarifies and Andre the Giant is once again a member of the Heenan Family, and there’s actually a real-life story to that bit of booking, because once the company realized that fans didn’t buy into Ted DiBiase as a good wrestler, they moved Andre back with Bobby Heenan so fans wouldn’t think of DiBiase as “Andre’s manager.” Heenan calls Mean Gene a “cowpie” and warns Jigsaw Jim that he’ll be missing a lot of pieces. So I hear. Andre lets out a “HOOOOOOOOO!” and everybody laughs maniacally.

-Gene gets words from Hacksaw Jim. He calls Hercules a yo-yo and offers the hungry Giant a serving of Hacksaw Jim’s high-fiber diet.

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN vs. HERCULES (with Bobby Heenan & Andre the Giant)
-Sloppy post-production weirdness has Howard Finkel introducing Duggan while we see Finkel taking his seat at ringside without a microphone anywhere near him. Jesse promises that we won’t be seeing a classic match between these two.

-Hercules tries to ram Duggan into the turnbuckle. Block and reverse by Duggan. He follows with a clothesline and Hercules goes to the corner for advice from his crew. It doesn’t work; Duggan atomic drops him and follows with an elbow. Hercules tries to take a breather, but Duggan slingshots him back in. Backdrop by Duggan. He goes for a kneedrop and Hercules gets out of the way.

-Hercules targets the leg while the “Weasel” chant erupts. Hercules goes to Duggan’s eyes. Duggan gets some false hope by reversing an Irish whip, but he misses the corner charge. Hercules punches and chokes away at Duggan. Duggan throws a few weak forearms but doesn’t do much to daze Hercules. Hercules tosses him to the floor and Heenan & The Giant politely mind their business and just leave Hacksaw writhing.

-…Oh, until Heenan gets cocky and takes a cheap shot. Hacksaw immediately grabs his 2×4 and chases everybody out of the ring, and nobody will go back in until the 2×4 is taken away from him. We’ll see if they can get it away from him when we return!

-Back from commercial, it’s a fistfight and it’s pretty even until Hercules goes to the eyes again. Bearhug is clamped on, but Duggan doesn’t stay in it very long at all, boxing Hercules’ ears until he releases. Hercules knocks him back down and chokes Duggan with his boot. He goes for a backdrop and Duggan boots him away.

-And it’s a full-blown comeback by Duggan, with turnbuckle shots and punching. Hiptoss by Duggan and he connects with the three-point stance, but Heenan won’t let Duggan get the pinfall. He runs in and stomps Duggan to break the pin and get Hercules DQed. 0 for 1. Jesse Ventura: Prophet. It’s a 3-on-1 assault until Ultimate Warrior arrives, grabs the 2×4, and clears the ring.

-We go to Wrestlemania IV, where Brutus Beefcake gave Jimmy Hart a haircut.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis, who have their own Beefcake-style bag. They have hedge clippers and scissors of their own, and for good measure, they also have a gigantic, lethal-looking straight razor.

-Brutus Beefcake yanks a handful of Jimmy’s hair out of his bag and threatens to finish the job tonight. We’ll see if he can pull it off when we come back.

BRUTUS “The Barber” BEEFCAKE vs. DANGEROUS DANNY DAVIS (with Jimmy Hart)
-Jesse astutely observes that the similar tights make it look like two candy canes are wrestling. This was advertised in the local promotion for the show as an Intercontinental Title match, and a few weeks earlier, Coliseum Video abruptly switched out their announced Best of the Honky Tonk Man tape for a Best of Brutus Beefcake tape, so everything leading up to this show was screaming “title change” and then they suddenly pulled Honky for the show and threw Danny Davis in here.

-Davis takes a cheap shot, and then tries to hide in the corner. Beefcake won’t let him; he rams Danny into the turnbuckle and hiptosses him. Davis throws more punches and Beefcake goes down. He chokes Beefcake and Jimmy Hart charges at Beefcake with his clippers. Beefcake backs off and Davis tries for an attack, but Davis lifts the knee. Slam by Beefcake, and Davis goes to the floor to recover.

-Beefcake brings him up to the apron and snapmares him back inside. He locks on the sleeper and Jimmy tries to distract the referee like he did at Wrestlemania IV, but the referee won’t fall for it; he stays with Beefcake & Davis until Davis passes out to give Brutus the win. 0 for 2. Total squash. Beefcake cuts Danny’s hair, and then covers him with spraypaint. Then he wakes up Danny and just kicks his ass a little bit MORE. To say the least, this was the end of Danny Davis being treated as a credible threat to anybody.

-We go back to Wrestlemania IV, where Randy Savage & One Man Gang went at it in the semi-final of the championship tournament. The outcome of the match was inconclusive, so tonight, the war will be settled.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Slick, who blames “that boney-legged woman” for distracting the referee during the match and causing all the trouble.

-Randy Savage is up for the challenge, natch.

WORLD TITLE: RANDY “Macho Man” SAVAGE (Champion, with Elizabeth) vs. ONE MAN GANG (with Slick)
-Gang charges and misses right off the bat. Savage connects with a series of elbows to the head. Gang whips Savage into the ropes and tries to catch him, but Savage shifts his weight and falls on top to get an early two-count. He goes off the top rope and connects with a bodypress to get another two. He snaps Gang’s neck over the top rope and gets another two-count.

-Front facelock by Savage, but Gang backs him into the corner to break. He hammers Savage and lifts him in the air for a choke. He drops Savage down and puts the boots to him. Slick attacks with the cane while the referee is distracted by the Gang. Gang keeps stomping Savage. He Irish whips Savage and tries to clothesline him, but Savage, in a continuous motion, ducks, dives out of the ring, chases Slick around on the floor, and chases him into the ring, where Gang is waiting for him with an attack.

-Gang keeps pounding while Slick yells from the floor about how nobody touches his threads. Big elbow by the Gang gets two. He goes for an avalanche. Savage dodges and throws a series of elbows. Clothesline sends Gang over the top and onto the floor. He hits the axehandle from the top rope, and Gang falls on top of a photographer. The photographer earns his pay by snapping a photo while Gang is on top of him.

-Back in the ring, Gang slams Savage to halt the comeback. Gang goes to the second rope and goes for a splash, but Savage rolls out of the way. Slick tries the always reliable plan B for a Randy Savage match, going after Elizabeth. Savage takes the bait and Gang takes full advantage with more clubbing blows. Referee turns his back to reprimand Elizabeth while Gang props up Savage for a cane shot from Slick. Savage ducks and Gang gets the cane flush in the jaw. He collapses into perfect position for the flying elbow, and Savage gets the three-count to retain. 1 for 3. Good, energetic TV match, and Savage followed the Hogan formula pretty well here, timing his comebacks and struggles nicely. It was also nice to see Randy look strong ON HIS OWN for once. For a few weeks after Wrestlemania IV, they had an issue with fans chanting “Hogan, Hogan” whenever Savage started to look like he was in trouble during his matches, and honestly the company had only themselves to blame for conditioning them that well. But here, Savage got to be his own savior and showed he could be his own giant killer. Note for the observant: You can tell this was actually the last match of the taping, because as soon as the bell sounds, we got away from the hard camera wide shots and stuck to close-ups of Randy & Liz, so we couldn’t see the fans leaving in the background.

-Gene Okerlund reports on rumors that Demolition is planning on dipping Matilda in chrome and making her a hood ornament. God almighty Gene, what websites are you checking for these rumors?

-Jesse Ventura asks Demolition where the Matilda hood ornament is going to be mounted, and it’s going to be mounted on Mr. Fuji’s Winnebago, apparently. The mental image of Fuji driving around in a Winnebago in that tuxedo & facepaint is actually a cute one.

DEMOLITION (Tag Team Champions, with Mr. Fuji) vs. BRITISH BULLDOGS
-This is non-title, apparently, which makes sense because the Bulldogs just lost a high-profile match.

-Smash smashes Davey Boy to start. Davey Boy makes the tag behind Smash’s back and Dynamite mows Smash down with a clothesline. Smash tries an elbow drop and misses that, and that’s about enough for him; he tags in Ax and he axes Dynamite. Dynamite clamps on an arm wringer and traps Ax in it, and the Bulldogs switch off to work it. Dynamite goes for a snap suplex, but Smash sneaks in and attacks to stop it.

-Smash tags in and hits a backbreaker for two. Bearhug by Smash is broken by a headbutt, but Smash cleverly falls over and hangs onto Dynamite with a drop toehold to prevent him from tagging. Demolition keeps switching off to work over Dynamite. Smash charges and takes a boot to the face. In comes Davey Boy with a big slam for Smash and one for Ax. He dropkicks Ax out to the floor while Dynamite comes back in and gets shoulderblocked into goo by Smash.

-Smash tosses Dynamite to the floor, and Fuji attacks, but Davey Boy “sics” Matilda, by which I mean she listlessly stares until Davey Boy starts running alongside her, and they chase Fuji to the locker room. Demolition runs out of the ring to go after them, but the Bulldogs return with Mr. Fuji’s cane and just beat and beat and beat on Demolition with it until the referee calls for the bell and DQs them. 2 for 4. I’m kind of surprised that this didn’t go anywhere, because the Bulldogs looked strong and the teams had good chemistry together.

-Gene Okerlund has words with Don Muraco and Superstar Billy Graham. Graham tells DiBiase to keep his stocks & bonds, because he’d rather have a piece of the Rock.

-Ted DiBiase stews about how he’s been robbed of the title twice and he’s the true WWF Champion. Tonight, he’ll prove it by beating Don Muraco. Gene clarifies that a victory tonight would ensure the #1 contender spot for DiBiase. Well, that pretty much lays the outcome in our laps, doesn’t it?

“The Rock” DON MURACO (with Superstar Billy Graham) vs. “Million Dollar Man” TED DIBIASE (with Virgil)
-Weird slip-up has DiBiase coming to the ring to “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which would actually be an appropriate theme for him today.

-DiBiase attacks immediately and chokes Muraco over the top rope. Series of chops and punches by Muraco. Muraco reverses an Irish whip and backdrops DiBiase. He follows with a forearm and double chops. Turnbuckle shot causes DiBiase to head to the floor for a breather, but Graham gets in DiBiase’s face with his cane out there, so he’s kinda stuck having to run a lap around the ring before he can go back in.

-Shoulderblock by Muraco. Clothesline and a powerslam by Muraco get a near-fall, but Virgil reaches in and puts DiBiase’s foot on the rope. Graham waves his cane at Virgil to ward him off while DiBiase gets in a little offense and gets a two. DiBiase faceplants Muraco and gives him a gutwrench suplex for two.

-DiBiase goes for a backdrop and Muraco counters with a Russian legsweep. Elbow by Muraco and then a powerslam for two (and the referee takes his sweet-ass time getting into position for it). Chops to the throat by Muraco. DiBiase sucker-punches Muraco, then slams him close to the ropes. Muraco gets a foot on the ropes, but the referee ignores it and counts three to give the win to DiBiase. Vince suspects chicanery. 3 for 5. Short but energetic.

-Gene Okerlund talks to Randy Savage. Savage promises that the Million Dollar Man will be bankrupt after facing him in a title match.

KOKO B. WARE vs. RAVISHING RICK RUDE (with Bobby Heenan)
-Maybe they were pressed for time, but I find it weird that they’re just throwing this match out there without acknowledging that these two have a bit of a mini-feud and they’re 1-1 against each other right now.

Rude backs Koko into the corner. Rude strikes the first blow and goes to work on Koko’s lower back from there. Elbows by Rude, and he celebrates with a little gyration. Suplex by Rude and he goes to the top rope. Fistdrop connects and Rude blows a kiss at the camera. Rude chokes away at Koko. He sends Koko into the ropes and dropkicks him. Rude goes for another dropkick and Koko dodges this one. He gets a backdrop in, then charges at Rude. Rude ducks and Koko hits the ropes neck-first. Rude Awakening finishes. 3 for 6. Okay, I know Koko was on the losing end more often than not, but who did he piss off HERE?

-An era ends as Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home” closes the show one final time.

5.0
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
A good show for anyone with a modern mindset who wants star vs. star but has a shorter attention span. No stand-out classics, but a decent way to pass 90 minutes.
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