Saturday Night’s Main Event will always hold a special place in my heart for a number of reasons. Back in the days before Raw and Monthly Pay-Per-Views, SNME was the only place that we could see great superstar vs. superstar matches. There were no jobbers here, like on Superstars, and Hulk Hogan always wrestled. It seems so hard to believe that SNME actually replaced Saturday Night Live from time to time, and garnered incredible ratings on NBC. That’s right, wrestling was on a real network, and once a year, was actually on Prime-Time!

The other reason that I love SNME so much is the money that I made from the sale of the set. I finally buckled down and paid $100 US for the set back in early 2003. Of course I did what anyone else would do, resold copies on eBay. Except the thing was that folks went insane for the set, with the auction ending at over $500 US! Then, another guy who lost the auction emailed me that he would match that price if I would send him copies as well! In one week, these tapes made me over $1000, and as the Canadian dollar still sucked at that time, translated in well over $1600 Canadian. So began the “days of plenty” where I picked up a ton of crap on eBay, before spending the rest on my tuition. Ah, good times!

So this is the first Saturday Night’s Main Event since WrestleMania III, so we’re talking a huge time for the WWF. That’s weird to think about too, Hulk just slammed Andre. It seems like such a legendary event now.

We start off with some promos from Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, the Hart Foundation, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant, and Hulk Hogan. Should be an exciting night. All this and Kamala!

As usual, we will be using the Kamala Rating system.

Our hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura, who go over tonight’s card. We also see a clip of Ken Patera beating the crap of out Bobby Heenan, putting him in a neck brace.

Holy Crap, we start off with an interview with Kamala! I love this show! We find out that Mr. Fuji is Kamala’s new manager, and that Kamala is afraid of snakes. But Mr. Fugi has a plan.

We see clips of Jake the Snake getting hit with a guitar by the Honky Tonk Man. Awesome stuff.

Kamala vs. Jake the Snake

Jake brings Damien out, and Kamala lunges out of the ring! Kamala sneaks up on Jake and gets a deadly chop in, followed by a big kick. Jake escapes from a bear hug by stomping on Kamala’s feet. C’mon give him a break. They don’t have shoes in the jungle. Its all Kamala, who uses a variety of chokes, while Kimchee barks out orders. Jake goes to the outside and wants Kamala to chase after him. Jake ambushes him with a high knee and signals for the DDT. Mr. Fugi gets on the apron, while Kimchee comes in and levels Jake. Kamala gets the big splash and its all over! Kimchee takes off his mask, and it’s the HONKY TONK MAN!!! Honky drops and elbow on Jake and dances for the crowd. Jake tries to get up, but gets caught in the Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Honky thanks us for being a beautiful audience! I love it when wrestlers switch places with masked people. Easily 4 Kamalas!

We’re back with Mean Gene and George “The Animal” Steele. Gene explains the rules of a LumberJack match, but George really doesn’t understand. He does understand that Elizabeth will be there though.

The LumberJacks continue to come to the ring, and here’s the Honky Tonk Man and Kinchee together!

Ricky Steamboat confronts Mean Gene just to make sure that Gene wasn’t trying to confuse the Animal. I liked how they were friends.

Mean Gene is with the Macho Man and Elizabeth. Macho doesn’t like being called the former Intercontinental Champ though.

Back in the ring, Hercules trips Steamboat. These two will be fighting for the IC title later tonight.

Lumberjack Match – George “The Animal” Steele vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Savage ambushes Steele who was entranced by Elizabeth. Steele fights back and tosses Savage out of the ring. Steele is in control, and Savage has nowhere to run. Steele gets tied up in the rope, and Savage gets some shots in. Savage lands the top rope double axe handle and dumps Steele out of the ring. The heels go to work on him, but here comes Hacksaw Jim Duggan and his 2x4. We come back from commercial and see Danny Davis get a headbutt from the Animal. Its snack time, as George rips open a turnbuckle, and shares its contents with Savage. Savage isn’t hungry though, and regains control of the match. He gets tossed out of the ring, and takes a shot a Steamboat. Everybody starts fighting and Danny Davis sneaks in to the ring and bashes Steele with the ring bell. Savage emerges from the melee, and hits the elbow off the top rope. Its all over! Everybody’s in the ring, and here comes Jake and Damien! Honky escapes, but Kimchee doesn’t, and Damien attacks. 3.5 Kamala for the whole thing. Very entertaining!

We go to Mean Gene with a Saturday Night’s Main Event exclusive interview with Heenan and the Giant. Heenan says that Andre never lost, and questions the integrity of the referees and Jack Tunney. We see footage of the beginning of the match where Hogan fell while trying to slam Andre. It was close to three, but Bobby claims that it was three, but that the referee was biased. Bobby wants the belt, or a rematch.

The Bulldogs are in the ring, and we go to the back to Mean Gene with the Hart Foundation. Gene claims that the Foundation stole those belts and insults Danny Davis. Davis snaps and has to be held back. Wow, I never thought I’d type that.

2 out of 3 Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship

British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation

Matilda goes right after Jimmy Hart, who bails out, and we see a great shot with Matilda biting the megaphone. We get some great chain wrestling form Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith, and Davey gets a crucifix for two. The Anvil is in control and pounds on Davey. Davey Boy finally tags to Dynamite who lays into Bret. Anvil comes in, and all four men are in the ring. Danny Davis pounds on Davey Boy, and Tito Santana chases him off. The ref has lost all control, and calls for the bell. The Bulldogs win the first fall by Disqualification.

The second fall starts and the Harts are all over Dynamite Kid. Dynamite tries to get to Davey, but gets cut off by the Anvil. Bret gets crotched on the ropes, and Dynamite gets the tag. Davey is on fire! Harts regain control, and continue with the double team. Anvil accidentally nails Bret, and we have trouble. Danny Davis gets in the ring, but gets hit with Tito’s Flying forearm out of nowhere! The Bulldogs hit the rocket launcher on the Anvil and get a three-count. The first time I saw this, it knocked me out of my seat, because I don’t remember the Bulldogs ever getting the belts back. Jesse fills us in that you can’t win a title on a DQ, so the Harts are still champs. LAME! Why would they have even bothered to continue the match after the first fall anyway? The match was great, but the ending sucked. Still, I’d give it another 3.5 Kamala

We’re back with mean Gene and Hulk Hogan for another exclusive interview. He talks about fighting Andre and we see more footage of the stare down between the two of them, and the big slam! The Hulk says they can have all the rematches they want because Hulkamania will live forever!

Mean Gene is with Ricky Steamboat, who is ready for Hercules and Bobby Heenan. He’s come too far to be stopped by the likes of them. He waved to me last month at a Smackdown House Show. It was great.

Savage is backstage watching the match and is rooting for Steamboat. He wants to be the one that beats Steamboat for the belt.

Intercontinental Championship – Ricky Steamboat vs. Hercules

They start pounding on each other to start, and Hercules overpowers him. Steamboat uses his speed to gain control. They go outside the ring and Steamboat starts in with the chops. We see a split screen of Savage cheering Steamboat on. Steamboat uses a variety of techniques to wear down Hercules, before giving him a neckbreaker for two. Hercules rebounds and locks in the dreaded full nelson! I love putting my dog, Dok in the full nelson. Man he loves to play. Anyway, Savage rushes down and tugs on Hercules’ leg causing him to break the hold. We see a shouting match between Heenan, Hercules, and Savage. Hercules wasted time coming off the tope rope and gets Steamboats knees into the stomach. Steamboat again goes with the chops and looks like he’s raising the roof. Heenan throws the chain into the ring, and Hercules chokes out Steamboat. Doesn’t really make much sense, but he gets DQed. Savage does nothing to help him, but then comes in the check on him after Hercules left. He then lands the elbow off the top rope out of nowhere. 2.5 Kamala

Mean Gene is at ringside with newcomer, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He loves the USA and hates anyone that doesn’t. He bought a ticket for tonight’s show with his hard earned money. Odd that he would have only come out now, just as Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff come out. Hmmmm...

Sheik and Volkoff come to the ring and we heard previously recorded comments from Slick, saying the whole freedom of speech thing, not unlike Muhammad Hassan does these days. Also, they represent the Communist party. Jerks!

Can-Am Connection vs. Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff

Volkoff starts to sing the Soviet national anthem, but Hacksaw has had all he can stands, he can’t stands no more. He comes out of the crowd and decks Volkoff with the 2x4. He grabs the mic and says this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. So wouldn’t Volkoff be free to sing whatever anthem he wants? Martel uses some high flying moves and double teams with Zenk on Volkoff. Iron Sheik comes in and gets control and we find that Duggan is back in the audience. Makes me wonder if I’d get away with bringing a 2x4 to a WWE event and jumping the barricade. Sheik and Volkoff are in control, and Sheik get a abdominal stretch on Zenk. Zenk reverses, but can’t get to Martel. The heels pound on Zenk right in front of Duggan and he gets in the ring again. Sheik gets rolled up for three out of nowhere. The heels start beating Duggan as well, but the faces storm back into the ring. The match was a little too short, and we didn’t get to see anything out of the Can/Am Connection. 1.5 Kamala

Vince and Jesse run down the events of the evening and bid us farewell.

Here’s the thing:

A red hot show during a red hot period for the WWF. Storylines progressed nicely, and the whole thing wasn’t based around any one superstar, something that they should look into on Raw. Great stuff, although the Tag Title match’s ending was a little too lame for me. Not that it mattered, cause Demolition would start to dominate the tag division in a few months.

Overall rating 3.5 Kamala