Sage Cortez
Can’t believe I’ve watched 20 of these. Going in, they have a lot of good stuff. The most obvious excellent match on this show is the one between the Rockers and Brain Busters. It sounds like something I simply have to watch. Also on this show, we have matches between Hulk Hogan and Bad News Brown, and one between Rick Rude and THE BARBER. That last one sounds like something that will be suffered through. To the suffering!
– Taped to air March 11th, 1989, from Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania
The introductions are now extremely professional, and not laden with promos. This one shows the Mega Powers breaking up. Apparently, Elizabeth is choosing which corner she’ll be in at WrestleMania! Good idea to try to pull down a nice rating. The video heavily hinted at Elizabeth choosing Hogan.
After that’s over, our hosts appear on camera, and once again they’re Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura. Ventura says that he’s not here to cover women. That’s a good heel act, right there. He says that Ted DiBiase is facing the Blue Blazer! The Brooklyn Brawler is facing the Red Rooster too! This is a great card.
Brutus Beefcake vs. Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan)
Pre-Match Thoughts: First up, we have a promo with Heenan and Rude. I’m slightly confused by this match, I can’t imagine either guy losing. Rude has no intention of having his hair cut here, nor of going to sleep. It’s terrible that this guy got lines of four or five words when he could cut a great promo on his own behalf. It should be pointed out that these two fit Vince’s mold of pumped up bodies. It was funny when Beefcake said Rude’s hair had no body. Cracked up at that line, even though the scripted style of the interview was horrible. This match should really suck, if I haven’t made that clear.
Match Review: The crowd looks to be quite amped up for this one. The two men lock up, and it is made clear that Rude put the Ultimate Warrior’s face on his tights. The Barber starts off with a backdrop, and goes for punches in the corner after that. He puts Rude in his SLEEPER, but Rude reaches the corner to break it. The Barber wants to punch Rude more, but Rude uses an inverted atomic drop to put an end to it. Rude follows with a knee to the gut, and a turnbuckle shot. He continues with a snap suplex, it gets 2. He puts a chinlock on Beefcake, and here comes Andre the Giant! Why is he here? Beefcake gets out of the chinlock with a jawbreaker, and gives Rude an inverted atomic drop. Beefcake misses a charge to the corner, and Rude throws Beefcake to the outside. Now, Andre’s reason for being at ringside is made clear, as he sits on Beefcake and starts choking him. Of course, Jake Roberts runs out there, only to be hit from behind by Rude. The bell rings at 5:45, who knows what for.
Jake gets sent into the ring, where Andre and Rude attack him. Jake is taking a big beatdown, and getting put out. Beefcake charges back into the ring, and attacks Rude. He gives Rude an atomic drop, and a clothesline to send him over the top rope. Now he tries to stop Andre, who headbutts him. Andre is clearly in control of this, so here comes BIG JOHN STUDD. Studd lumbers to the ring, and Andre gives him a big stare. The crowd seems quite hyped to see this clash. Jake takes the snake out of his bag, and of course Andre gets the hell out of dodge. It appears that Brutus Beefcake has won via disqualification.
My Thoughts: There was a lot going on here. First, we had a poor match of about 1/2*. It was really bad, and really stupid. After that, we had a post match that sort of made sense and at the same time didn’t. Let me get this all straight. We have Brutus Beefcake going into a WrestleMania match with Ted DiBiase. DiBiase doesn’t show up. Rude is in a feud with the Ultimate Warrior, who does not show up during a 2 on 1 attack. Jake does show up during Andre’s attack. To finish it all off, Big John Studd shows up. That made sense at least. It’s funny to see Andre and Studd facing each other in another feud, except the roles are reversed in a way that Studd is effectively marginalzed as he’s not a good babyface. These guys are also worse than they used to be. Really terrible stuff, I’m glad the feud didn’t go down.
Bad News Brown vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Apparently Hogan took this match to avenge the lies that Bad News Brown told about Elizabeth. That makes sense, you know. Remember the allegation was that Elizabeth did favors for Jack Tunney. Bad News has a promo before the match, and says that Tunney’s administration is corrupt. The match between these two on a house show was not bad at all, but that was quite a few months before this. Hogan is in full blown crazy mode, ranting against Brown and Randy Savage. He cuts a promo on Savage, straight out selling their WrestleMania match to the people at home. I’m hoping for Savage to run out during this.
Match Review: Bad News attacks, throwing bombs at Hogan to start the match off. Brown chokes Hogan with his boot, and misses a series of elbow attempts. Hogan gets up, gives Brown punches to knock him to the outside, and follows him out there for some punches. That seemed pointless to me. He brings Brown into the ring by slingshotting him with the ropes, and nails Brown with a clothesline. He drops the elbow a few times, and gives him a big boot. He tries a turnbuckle shot, but they go with the stereotype of that not hurting Brown, and Brown follows with a missed charge. Hogan sends Brown over the top with an atomic drop, and rams him into the rail. Brown sends Hogan into the post, and misses a punch and hits the post instead. He grabs a chair, but Hogan blocks the shot and uses the chair on him. How is that legal? Brown then rams his head into the chair a few times to show that it didn’t hurt, and he goes around the ring looking for another weapon. Bad News walks to the back, and tells Hogan to wait for him. Haha. Hogan breaks the count, and Brown walks out from the back with…A SHOVEL. The match goes to a commercial after that.
We come back, with Hogan and Brown fighting over the shovel. They go in the ring, the shovel gets dropped, and the referees get it out of there. Brown gives Hogan a clothesline, and keeps beating him up with punches. Brown gives Hogan a bodyslam, and follows with a leg drop for 2. Of course, Hogan is fired up after being given his finishing move. Brown boots him to the outside, rams him into the mat, and starts chasing Elizabeth around the ring. Hogan catches up to Brown to save her, but gets thrown into the post once again. They go back inside, and Brown dishes out a Russian leg sweep for 2. The count was only stopped because Hogan’s leg was under the rope. The two combatants get up once again, and Bad News grabs a microphone! He cuts a promo during the match about Hogan begging like a dog! Innovative! He goes for the GHETTO BLASTER, but it misses! Hogan hits Brown with a running high knee, and DROPS THE LEG. Over for the cover, 1-2-3, Hogan wins at 9:44. He picks Elizabeth up to celebrate, and I really wonder how Savage responded to that off-screen.
My Thoughts: This was a solid enough match, with an innovative finish. Trust me, guys calling out their finisher on the house microphone was quite rare. It still is! This was one of the better SNME matches with a weak heel opponent for Hogan to beat. **1/2, mostly for the shovel part and Bad News doing some great heel work. I couldn’t really care less about Hogan standing up for Elizabeth’s honor or any of that stuff.
In the back, we have Randy Savage walking around looking for Elizabeth. Let’s see where that goes!
Ted DiBiase (MILLION DOLLAR CHAMPION, w/Virgil) vs. The Blue Blazer
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is an awesome SNME match. The winner isn’t quite in doubt, but it’s a unique matchup between two name wrestlers who can put on a show. The rest of the show looks like it’s worth watching, too. DiBiase cuts a promo about his new belt, which is unsanctioned. It cannot be put on the line. Gene Mean is with the Blue Blazer, who says that he doesn’t care much for the Million Dollar Belt. I love that Owen got promo time and a full entrance, none of that jobber stuff.
Match Review: Blazer flips into the ring, and DiBiase DESTROYS him with a clothesline. What a rough way to start the match. DiBiase gives him a back elbow as well, and a bodyslam. After DiBiase drops the elbow a few times, Blazer tries a small package, which gets 2. A backslide by Blazer also gets 2, but DiBiase clotheslines him again. He heads up to the second rope, and down with an elbow to the head. He gives Blazer a suplex too, but Blazer flips through a backdrop and dropkicks DiBiase over the top! Blazer then flies through the ropes with a tope, taking DiBiase out! Blazer follows with an atomic drop, and sends DiBiase back inside. He heads up top for the first time, and comes down with a cross body for 2. Blazer gives DiBiase a backdrop, and a couple more dropkicks for a 2 count. DiBiase catches Blazer during a leapfrog, gives him a powerslam, and sadly that gets 3 at 3:57.
My Thoughts: This was an excellent match for the time allotted. Owen Hart seemed to be pretty good at making that happen. The moves were on point, and this was an ideal showcase match. Obviously one guy was the extremely likely winner, but the action was just right. It could lead a more casual fan to think that the Blazer was going to win it. **3/4. Owen had potential in this role, but I think it was for the best that he didn’t stick around doing it.
Next up is Elizabeth’s decision. Who is she going to corner at WrestleMania V? The broadcast heads to the interview podium, where Elizabeth is with Gene Okerlund. She says she won’t be in Hulk Hogan’s corner, at which point the crowd boos. Here comes Randy Savage, who celebrates his belief that Elizabeth will be in his corner. He gets booed louder and louder the longer he keeps talking. Apparently, she won’t be in his corner either! Savage starts to intimidate her, and here comes Hulk Hogan! He tells Savage that he’s going to take his head off, and they start arguing over Elizabeth being their manager. That was a great skit. Imagine if they had turned her heel and put her in Savage’s corner.
The Brain Busters (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. The Rockers
Pre-Match Thoughts: I hope they try as hard in their TV match as they did in their house show matches. If they do, I may be watching something great here. The Busters and Heenan talk a bit, calling themselves the greatest tag team in the history of wrestling. The Rockers are interviewed too, and talk extremely fast. Sign of nervousness there. Marty’s part of the promo made no sense whatsoever.
Match Review: The Busters attack from behind, and here we go. Jannetty blocks a slingshot suplex attempt from Tully, and Tully reverses the block into a cradle. There’s no referee, so Michaels flies off the top with a cross body onto Tully. The Rockers then get thrown into each other, but were prepared and knocked both Busters out of the ring. Arn comes back in with a punch to Michaels and climbs up top, but Michaels kips up and slams Arn off the top rope. He puts Arn in a Boston crab, and Tully heads up top to break it up. Shawn hits Tully on the way down, and it’s back to 4 guys in the ring. The Rockers nail the Busters with superkicks in stereo, sending them to the floor! Michaels suplexes Tully back into the ring, and gives him a hip toss too. After a flying head-scissors, Tully gets the hell out of there. Too much punishment for him. Arn tags in, and gets taken down with a drop toe-hold. He gets up, tags Tully back in, and Heenan jumps up to the apron to pull the top rope down, sending Michaels flying out to the floor. Heenan stomps on Michaels too, and gets kicked out from ringside! Excellent.
Back from the commercial, Tully and Jannetty are in there. They trade punches, and even though Jannetty gives Tully an atomic drop, Arn tags in during the middle of it and takes Jannetty out with a big clothesline. He throws Jannetty into Tully’s knee, and he tags in again. Marty sunset flips Tully for 2, and Arn tags in once again. Arn throws Marty over the top, which allows Tully to attack Marty on the floor. Marty tries to sunset flip Arn on his way back in, but the tag was made. Marty bridges out of a headlock into a backslide, it gets 2. Tully gives him an inverted atomic drop, and back out he goes. Arn gives Marty a SPINEBUSTER, Shawn breaks up the count. Arn gives Jannetty a bodyslam and heads up top, but his reverse splash gets blocked. Both guys tag out, Michaels is a house of fire. He gives the Busters a noggin-knocker, and goes for a suplex. Arn blocks it, and Tully follows up with a sunset flip off the top for 2. Shawn flies over the top onto Arn, and now all four guys are fighting on the outside. Tully gets thrown over Shawn’s shoulders onto his partner, and I suppose both teams got counted out at 9:19.
After the match, the Rockers bring Arn and Tully in for double dropkicks, which take them out of the ring once and for all.
My Thoughts: This was another excellent match between these two teams. There was really nothing wrong with it, other than that it was too short. It being SNME and all, it couldn’t have been longer. So, what can you do? ***3/4 and recommended just like their other matches. This was a great series, in large part because these teams were great. I thought that the Busters should have won in order to establish themselves as the #1 contenders to the tag belts after WrestleMania.
The Brooklyn Brawler (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. The Red Rooster
Pre-Match Thoughts: Due to Brawler’s attack on Rooster and Monsoon during Prime Time Wrestling, this match was absolutely necessary. Rooster beating up Heenan on the last SNME episode was shown, as was the attack. Rooster is facing Heenan at WrestleMania, but Heenan is bringing Brawler in to show that he’s able to find a better nobody than the Rooster. Rooster finally has the dyed red spike in the missle of his hair. Awesome. His promo was horrible, I can’t believe he did that rooster crowing.
Match Review: Brawler hits Rooster with some punches to start the match off, and rakes at his face. Rooster misses a charge to the corner, but he was stopped himself in time and gives Brawler a dropkick. He follows with a hip toss, and puts Brawler in a small package for the victory at 1:05. After the match, Heenan distracts Rooster so that Brawler can clothesline him from behind. Rooster finally clears Brawler from the ring, and Heenan gets out of there.
My Thoughts: So, Rooster finally won. He deserved better than this. I don’t really like seeing Heenan get pushed as hard as a wrestler, but that’s what happened here. I’m surpised they had a match of that length, so it’s a DUD. The best thing about this feud is the Brawler. His gimmick was great.
Before the end, we have an interview with the Macho Man! He’s irate about Elizabeth not being in his corner, and tears apart a dressing room! Vince and Jesse close things out, and I guess they’ll see us at an indeterminate later date.
That was a pretty good show, especially given the format of Saturday Night’s Main Events. They had three matches of good quality, an interesting thing with the former Mega Powers, and only one bad match. That’s far better than the usual. They’ve done such a great job of promoting WrestleMania, now it comes down to whether or not it’s any good. Next up for me is NWA matches and angles leading up to Clash of the Champions 6!
Wrestling Time: 29:50. All but 5:45 of this was good. I’ll take it!
Best: The Rockers vs. The Brain Busters. This was such a great series, too bad it had to end.
Worst: Rick Rude vs. Brutus Beefcake. The crowd loved it, but it was stupid as shit.
Card Rating: 8/10, just like the Main Event 2. This show was a lot of fun!
