SATURDAY NIGHT'S MAIN EVENT 1
Cyndi Lauper has a Mother's Day surprise, Fred Blassie worries about those crazy fruit cakes, and Junkyard Dog ponders his lack of neck...and pro wrestling returns to network television...
history in the making
Following the successes of The Brawl To End It All, The War To Settle The Score and WrestleMania, NBC’s Dick Ebersol looked to cash in on the WWF boom, and offered Vince McMahon the chance to fill the Saturday night time slot usually filled by Saturday Night Live. Wrestling hadn’t been on network television in America for decades, so this was a big deal, giving the WWF a level of exposure and legitimacy that cable television couldn’t at the time.
The event featured the fall-out from WrestleMania, which had been as such: Roddy Piper and Bob Orton, Jr. had blamed Paul Orndorff for defeat in the Mania main event and branded him a loser. Bobby Heenan, who suddenly became Orndorff’s manager again, also did the same, only to get fired on Tuesday Night Titans. Orndorff’s face turn was not complete by this stage, and he was set to be the guest on Piper’s Pit in order to solve the issues between himself and Roddy Piper…Thunderlips and Clubber Lang were still hanging out, and Hogan was scheduled to defend the title against ‘Cowboy’ ‘Ace’ Bob Orton, Jr. for this inaugural broadcast.
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Cyndi Lauper was also still on the scene as Wendi Richter’s manager, towel in hand, and had just filmed the music video for ‘The Goonies R’ Good Enough’ which featured many WWF stars. As a result, she would be at Saturday Night’s Main Event to debut the video and also manage Richter against The Fabulous Moolah, who was receiving her final shot at Richter’s Women’s Championship.
It happened to be Mother’s Day on the day of broadcast, so Cyndi would be holding a party to celebrate mothers and lady folk in general, establishing a trend of cheesy, non-wrestling diversions that characterised a lot of Saturday Night’s Main Event’s run and made wonderful YouTube diversions.
It happened to be Mother’s Day on the day of broadcast, so Cyndi would be holding a party to celebrate mothers and lady folk in general, establishing a trend of cheesy, non-wrestling diversions that characterised a lot of Saturday Night’s Main Event’s run and made wonderful YouTube diversions.
it's a happening
We open with some promos: Wendi Richter is going to block everything, as Cyndi Lauper again displays her managerial genius as she cautions Richter to “keep your trunks strong.” Hulk Hogan and Mr T try to talk, but the fans thunderous chants of “Hogan! Hogan!” drowns a lot of it out.
It’s Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura on commentary, which would become the A-list commentary team; the pair would host SNME and flagship show Superstars until Jesse’s departure in 1990. Vince talks of the “Wrestling-Entertainment Connection” and Ventura is so excited about everything that he struggles to remember that the Junkyard Dog has a match later on…
Mean Gene Okerlund is with Ricky Steamboat and The US Express to talk about their six-man tag team match. Barry Windham completely burns Steamboat by noting how disappointed he is that it’s a six-man and not a rematch for the Tag Team Championship. Way to make your partner feel part of the team, Mr Windham.
It’s Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura on commentary, which would become the A-list commentary team; the pair would host SNME and flagship show Superstars until Jesse’s departure in 1990. Vince talks of the “Wrestling-Entertainment Connection” and Ventura is so excited about everything that he struggles to remember that the Junkyard Dog has a match later on…
Mean Gene Okerlund is with Ricky Steamboat and The US Express to talk about their six-man tag team match. Barry Windham completely burns Steamboat by noting how disappointed he is that it’s a six-man and not a rematch for the Tag Team Championship. Way to make your partner feel part of the team, Mr Windham.
The US Express & Ricky Steamboat (w/Capt. Lou Albano) vs. The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff & George 'The Animal' Steele (w/Freddie Blassie)
George 'The Animal' Steele had been a hugely successful heel from the late 60s to the early 80s, headlining Madison Square Garden against Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. Formerly a contrasting character, eloquent on interviews but animalistic in the ring, he changed his speaking style in the early 80s to grunts and random words. He had moved from Lou Albano to Mr Fuji and now had Blassie as his manager, hamming up his style slightly as the new WWF wouldn't appreciate him popping out the arms of jobbers...
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The first match in Saturday Night's Main Event history begins with George prancing around the ring, flapping his arms, because he’s an animal. The heels try to calm him down and get him out of the ring, so eventually we start with Windham and The Iron Sheik. Windham takes control with some rights, a side headlock and a big body slam. The faces work over Sheik, trading tags and chops from the top rope. We are informed that this is only the second time that George Steele has ever been part of a tag match. Meanwhile, Sheik manages to hook in an abdominal stretch on Steamboat, but The Dragon hip tosses his way out, and then gives the same treatment to Volkoff and Steele. Steamboat is a house on fire, nailing a missile dropkick and a flying body press, the win only denied by Volkoff running in.
The Soviet is in to feel Steamboat’s “karate style” and a double dropkick from The Dragon and Barry Windham, which gets a two count. Mike Rotunda is in next, nailing a nice legdrop, but Steele prevents the three. An awkward, misplaced sunset flip from Rotunda ends with Volkoff crumpled up against the ropes. Windham comes in to try his luck with the sunset flip, but this time Nikolai ends up hanging through the ropes. Steele is finally tagged in, and to a big pop to boot, but when he gets into a little trouble, Volkoff and Sheik won’t tag back in, and Windham rolls up The Animal to get the three.
The Soviet is in to feel Steamboat’s “karate style” and a double dropkick from The Dragon and Barry Windham, which gets a two count. Mike Rotunda is in next, nailing a nice legdrop, but Steele prevents the three. An awkward, misplaced sunset flip from Rotunda ends with Volkoff crumpled up against the ropes. Windham comes in to try his luck with the sunset flip, but this time Nikolai ends up hanging through the ropes. Steele is finally tagged in, and to a big pop to boot, but when he gets into a little trouble, Volkoff and Sheik won’t tag back in, and Windham rolls up The Animal to get the three.
Steele goes crazy on the foam from the turnbuckle pad, demonstrating a psychologically destructive habit of eating when depressed. The Tag Team Champions jump him, but The Animal manages to run/flap-his-arms them off. Capt. Lou comes in to calm the raging Animal – Albano had of course managed Steele during his run as a monster heel in the 1970s and early 80s – and convinces the hairy one to leave with him.
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In the aisle, Mean Gene is with Freddie Blassie and the tag champs, with 'The Fashion Plate' declaring George Steele “as crazy as a fruit cake”, which of course is the craziest of the baked goods. Steele and Albano pass by and a quick scuffle ensues between them all.
Piper's Pit
Vince brings us up to speed on the Roddy Piper-Paul Orndorff situation. Orndorff is wearing disturbingly short and tight trunks as he enters. Mr Wonderful calls Bob Orton a “dunce” as Piper asks him nicely to take a seat. “Ladies first,” replies Orndorff. Piper starts nicely yet sarcastically, trying to empathise with Orndorff that he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a loser, but it must be hard.
Hot Rod soon comes out though, as he grows tired of Orndorff’s reluctance to apologise to him and Orton. Piper grows increasingly irate, calling Orndorff “a piece of garbage” and even a quick blast of “you dumb son of a…” Piper gives up and goes to leave, but his attempt at a cheap shot on the way is blocked. Mr Wonderful sets Piper up for the piledriver, but Bob Orton is in with his cast to break it up. To a big pop, Mr T makes the save, and then has to hold Orndorff back from getting back in the ring. Mr Wonderful is now a babyface, for sure.
Next, Mean Gene is with Hulk Hogan. “This is going to be a special match for my mother, brother,” (comma hopefully inserted correctly) Hogan declares. He’s happy about Paul Orndorff’s change of heart, and hopes he keeps it up…
Hot Rod soon comes out though, as he grows tired of Orndorff’s reluctance to apologise to him and Orton. Piper grows increasingly irate, calling Orndorff “a piece of garbage” and even a quick blast of “you dumb son of a…” Piper gives up and goes to leave, but his attempt at a cheap shot on the way is blocked. Mr Wonderful sets Piper up for the piledriver, but Bob Orton is in with his cast to break it up. To a big pop, Mr T makes the save, and then has to hold Orndorff back from getting back in the ring. Mr Wonderful is now a babyface, for sure.
Next, Mean Gene is with Hulk Hogan. “This is going to be a special match for my mother, brother,” (comma hopefully inserted correctly) Hogan declares. He’s happy about Paul Orndorff’s change of heart, and hopes he keeps it up…
wwf championship: hulk hogan (c) (w/mr t) vs. 'ace' 'cowboy' bob orton, jr. (w/roddy piper)
Hulk Hogan and Mr T rip their shirts off of one another, making Vince McMahon shout out “Oh yeah!” Hogan turns his back on the Man of a Thousand (or two) Nicknames on purpose to lure him in for a sneak attack, leading to a slugfest and Hogan dominating with three consecutive powerslams. Orton bails to get advice from Piper as Hogan confers likewise with Mr T. Back in the ring, Hogan bites Orton much to Ventura’s disgust and McMahon’s obliviousness. Hogan works over Orton’s “injured” arm – “Hogan wants to take that arm home with him” (McMahon).
Orton takes control, hitting some falling punches. He gets some two counts out of it, but Ventura thinks he needs to do more to get the three count. Orton is taking it surprisingly slowly, just punching or kicking Hogan a bit, but the crowd are massively into the match, cheering Hogan to make a comeback. He duly does, Hulking Up with some punches, a clothesline, and a running elbow drop for a two count. Hogan mounts Orton in the corner, but can only get four punches in before Ace atomic drops his way out of trouble, and then sets Hogan up for the superplex. The Hulkster punches his way out of it, and hits an elbow/axehandle combination from the ropes. Legdrop follows, but Piper nails Hogan for the DQ.
Mr T comes in, but he is quickly nailed with Orton’s cast. Piper and Orton circle Hogan, until Paul Orndorff runs in and helps chase the heels off. Mr T, Hogan, and Orndorff begin to pose in the ring as we head to a break…and they are still posing when we return, Vince having a great time exclaiming “You talk about beefcake, Oh Baby!” Backstage, Brutus Beefcake no doubt reared his head, only to be disappointed when he realised that the boss wasn’t referencing him…
Orton takes control, hitting some falling punches. He gets some two counts out of it, but Ventura thinks he needs to do more to get the three count. Orton is taking it surprisingly slowly, just punching or kicking Hogan a bit, but the crowd are massively into the match, cheering Hogan to make a comeback. He duly does, Hulking Up with some punches, a clothesline, and a running elbow drop for a two count. Hogan mounts Orton in the corner, but can only get four punches in before Ace atomic drops his way out of trouble, and then sets Hogan up for the superplex. The Hulkster punches his way out of it, and hits an elbow/axehandle combination from the ropes. Legdrop follows, but Piper nails Hogan for the DQ.
Mr T comes in, but he is quickly nailed with Orton’s cast. Piper and Orton circle Hogan, until Paul Orndorff runs in and helps chase the heels off. Mr T, Hogan, and Orndorff begin to pose in the ring as we head to a break…and they are still posing when we return, Vince having a great time exclaiming “You talk about beefcake, Oh Baby!” Backstage, Brutus Beefcake no doubt reared his head, only to be disappointed when he realised that the boss wasn’t referencing him…
Mean Gene is with Cyndi Lauper and a worked-up Lou Albano. Lauper cautions the Captain to calm down, as it makes his “medulla swell.”
This leads into the premiere of Lauper’s music video for “Goonies R’ Good For Us”, featuring the Goonies, Albano, Piper, Volkoff, Iron Sheik and other WWF stars. No words can describe this, no matter how hard I have tried…
This leads into the premiere of Lauper’s music video for “Goonies R’ Good For Us”, featuring the Goonies, Albano, Piper, Volkoff, Iron Sheik and other WWF stars. No words can describe this, no matter how hard I have tried…
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"Where is that WENCH?" And yes, Nikolai Volkoff was milking a plastic cow whilst singing the Soviet anthem...OK, here's part 2 as well, which we didn't get to see on Saturday Night's Main Event...
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We’re back to ringside, where the Fabulous Moolah is with Mean Gene, and she informs us that she has got Cyndi Lauper banned from ringside for the Women’s title match due to her physical interjections in Wendi Richter’s matches. Lauper refutes this, saying she will be at ringside, and asking, “What happened at WrestlingMania?” in regards to Moolah’s participation in the Richter-Kai match. In the ring, the referee reads Moolah’s proclamation, which is on a royal scroll for some reason, as Richter and Lauper stomp on a magazine. The Fink has an important announcement, and confirms that Moolah’s proclamation is legitimate and Lauper must leave ringside, as she eventually does, giving us a perfect time to head to a break.
women's championship: wendi richter (c) vs. the fabulous moolah
Cyndi Lauper is watching the match on a monitor on the arena floor. Moolah of course goes for the hair, and flexes as she throws Richter on to the timekeeping table. Moolah starts jawing with the fans, so Richter sneaks in and dropkicks her to the outside. After a few minutes, they are so exhausted they start scraping on their knees. Moolah goes back to the hair pulling, but her slam is reversed into a pin for the three count and Richter retains. Lauper hurtles down to the ring to celebrate with the Women’s champion and we'll have to wait until Trish Stratus learned to wrestle properly for women's wrestling to be consistently featured in the WWF again.
Junkyard Dog is with his mother and Mean Gene. He says…something. Mama JYD just says she wants him home soon.
junkyard dog (w/mama jyd) vs. 'the duke of dorchester' pete dougherty
Dougherty was a long-time jobber in the WWWF/WWF, who pops up on Youtube searches being destroyed by some of the biggest names in wrestling history, and occasionally even getting a couple of moves in. Occasionally. JYD opens with a big clothesline on The Duke of Dorchester. JYD pulls him back up by the hair, and Dougherty squeals Deliverance-style. Dougherty punches to no effect, but JYD knocks him down with one punch. On their knees, JYD nails some head-butts, an atomic drop and a powerslam for the three. JYD and his mama boogie down in the ring, as Ventura notes, quite rightly, “JYD’s got no neck.”
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cyndi lauper's mother's day surprise
All the wrestlers from the show are backstage. In an odd sight, Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik are holding little pink plastic cups and complain - rightly - that their invite came too late to invite their own mothers, who live on different continents. Ruth Hogan is there, and Freddie Blassie is kissing and cuddling with a young lady who he claims to be his “mother” – that’s some weird role-playing you have going on there, Mr Blassie. Moolah appears, irate at not being invited, and goes for Cyndi Lauper’s mother: “Katrin? She looks more like latrine to me.” The upset Lauper ladies push Moolah and, inadvertently, Mean Gene into the giant cake nearby to end the first of many peculiar SNME segments.
Vince and Jesse review the card, with Ventura’s highlight being Orton taking out “Mr Blunderful”, not Hogan’s big title defence.
Vince and Jesse review the card, with Ventura’s highlight being Orton taking out “Mr Blunderful”, not Hogan’s big title defence.
well, you know something, mean gene
The first Saturday Night’s Main Event was another big ratings success for the WWF, gaining a 8.80 (more than Saturday Night Live was doing) and leading to Dick Ebersol offering more slots to Vince McMahon on NBC, beginning a six-year association between the organizations.
The show was, as McMahon announced during the opening, a presentation of the “Wrestling-Entertainment Connection”, and there was as much focus throughout the event on Mr T and Cyndi Lauper as there was on the wrestling talent. As a result, the first Saturday Night’s Main Event was light on great in-ring action, but contained some important angles. Some sources claim that NBC didn’t want a usual wrestling show, but more of a variety program along the lines of Tuesday Night Titans, and there are signs throughout SNME’s history that they never quite gave up on that idea.
Paul Orndorff solidified his babyface turn, joining with Hulk Hogan and Mr T although they celebrated this fact for quite some time…He may not have seemed like an obvious choice for a top babyface, but the crowd reacted well to the turn, and the crowd were enthusiastic for his run-in at the end of a half-decent WWF Championship match.
George Steele also turned face earlier in the night, which again was received very well by the Nassau Coliseum audience, who like many WWF fans at the time lapped up everything served to them by Vince McMahon. The six-man was probably the match of the night, with very little other competition, and mostly based on the athleticism of Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, all of who moved at a far greater pace than anyone else on the card.
Cyndi Lauper was all over the show, although she had perhaps outstayed her welcome by this point. Her near-year long association with the WWF had always seemed more storyline-centred, making her a more believable part of the product than the likes of Liberace. Her presence here, however, seemed more cynical – Wendi Richter had successfully captured the Women’s title back already, and it was clear that the main reason Lauper was there was to promote her new song. Admittedly, it did feature WWF superstars, but she was in multiple segments throughout the show, and it took away the chance to put over some of the wrestling stars to a network television audience.
All in all, the first Saturday Night’s Main Event was entertaining enough, and it did feature enough big moments to make the show feel important. And any show that could lead someone to the sight of Nikolai Volkoff and The Fabulous Moolah dancing together on the Goonies' pirate ship can not be a totally bad thing...
The show was, as McMahon announced during the opening, a presentation of the “Wrestling-Entertainment Connection”, and there was as much focus throughout the event on Mr T and Cyndi Lauper as there was on the wrestling talent. As a result, the first Saturday Night’s Main Event was light on great in-ring action, but contained some important angles. Some sources claim that NBC didn’t want a usual wrestling show, but more of a variety program along the lines of Tuesday Night Titans, and there are signs throughout SNME’s history that they never quite gave up on that idea.
Paul Orndorff solidified his babyface turn, joining with Hulk Hogan and Mr T although they celebrated this fact for quite some time…He may not have seemed like an obvious choice for a top babyface, but the crowd reacted well to the turn, and the crowd were enthusiastic for his run-in at the end of a half-decent WWF Championship match.
George Steele also turned face earlier in the night, which again was received very well by the Nassau Coliseum audience, who like many WWF fans at the time lapped up everything served to them by Vince McMahon. The six-man was probably the match of the night, with very little other competition, and mostly based on the athleticism of Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, all of who moved at a far greater pace than anyone else on the card.
Cyndi Lauper was all over the show, although she had perhaps outstayed her welcome by this point. Her near-year long association with the WWF had always seemed more storyline-centred, making her a more believable part of the product than the likes of Liberace. Her presence here, however, seemed more cynical – Wendi Richter had successfully captured the Women’s title back already, and it was clear that the main reason Lauper was there was to promote her new song. Admittedly, it did feature WWF superstars, but she was in multiple segments throughout the show, and it took away the chance to put over some of the wrestling stars to a network television audience.
All in all, the first Saturday Night’s Main Event was entertaining enough, and it did feature enough big moments to make the show feel important. And any show that could lead someone to the sight of Nikolai Volkoff and The Fabulous Moolah dancing together on the Goonies' pirate ship can not be a totally bad thing...