Written By: Matt Peddycord
WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #15
March 12, 1988
Nashville, TN
Municipal Auditorium
(Taped on 3/7/1988)
The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Vacant
Intercontinental Champion: Honky Tonk Man (6/2/1987)
World Tag Team Champions: Strike Force (10/27/1987)
Women’s Champion: Sensational Sherri (7/24/1987)
Tonight, Macho Man says DiBiase is a bad check and he’s about to get bounced up outta here! Beefcake likes to use hair puns! One Man Gang does his best Brick Tamland impression! Harley Race thinks he’s going to beat Hogan! It must be time for Saturday Night’s Main Event! Oh snap, we have NEW SNME music! It’s pretty rockin’ if I do say so myself!
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Fedora Hat Wearing” Ventura!
Despite 35 million people who watched “The Main Event”, they show a replay of the ending of Hogan/Andre II and the infamous “twin referees” angle. Once again, Jesse uses the excuse that we don’t use instant replay in the WWF.
Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Brutus Beefcake
Valentine’s feuding with Beefcake because he claims he had to carry the Dream Team for all those years, and now he looks to prove he’s the better wrestler here in this match. Hey, can’t say I don’t agree. Valentine hammers Beefcake with forearms to start, but then Beefer comes back with a high knee and a big boot. Valentine does his face-first flop, which calls for some strutting. Beefcake follows up with a pair of atomic drops and connects with a running elbow for two. Ten-count corner punch and Valentine flops again. Valentine begs off in the corner and catches Beefcake in the face. He heads up top and comes down on Beefcake with an elbow for two. Valentine hooks on the FIGURE-FOUR in the ropes so he can use the ropes for leverage to give him a good five seconds with the hold. BRILLIANT! He kicks Beefcake out to ringside as the Honky Tonk Man comes down to belittle Beefcake to add some heat for their upcoming WrestleMania match. Some other refs come down and escort Honky to the back because he’s got no business being down there. Valentine throws Beefcake back in the ring and hammers him with more elbows. He starts working on the leg to set up for the Figure-Four, but Beefcake pulls Valentine off of him. Valentines tries for it again, but gets kicked off into the corner. Beefcake wins a slugfest and calls for the SLEEPER, and gets it. Valentine reaches the ropes, and they both fall out to the floor. Beefcake throws Valentine back in, but Jimmy distracts him to keep him out on the floor. Jimmy slides through the ring and gets Beefcake stomped by Valentine. He delivers a back suplex and we get a double-pin situation, but Beefcake gets his shoulder up at two to give him the win. (9:01) Valentine thinks he’s won, but he’s DEAD wrong. Beefcake grabs one of his mini shears and cuts off a lock of Valentine when he’s not looking. Valentine tries to get back at Beefcake, but then he grabs his hedge clippers and Jimmy and Valentine get the heck outta Dodge. **
King Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Hulk Hogan
Hulk no-sells an elbow drop on his way into the ring, which should hint to you how this match is going to go. Hogan’s right hand is all taped up for this one for some reason. Race takes a clothesline out to the floor and lands knees-first on a table! OUCH! Sure, Race is a spry 45-year old man here and had been wrestling almost every day for nearly thirty years, but that looked like it would hurt just about anyone’s knees! Hogan follows him out and drives Race shoulder-first into the ringpost. Heenan gets chased around the ring for Race to nail Hogan from behind. Race tries a PILEDRIVER on the floor, but Hogan backdrops out of it. Hogan destroys Race some more before going in and breaking the count. He slams Race out on the floor and then throws him back in the ring. Hogan chops Race down and then uses some of his tape to choke on Race! What a role model! Heenan gets pulled up on the apron by Hulk and pays for it with a double-ax to the back from Race. He punishes Hulk with some headbutts and delivers the BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX for 1-2-NO! When that only gets two, Race has no choice but to give Hogan a PILEDRIVER! Race tosses Hulk out to ringside and lays Hogan on a table! He goes up on the apron and tries for a diving headbutt, but Hogan moves and Race hits wood and snaps the table in half! Back in, Race tries for a diving headbutt off the top and connects! He covers for 1-2-NO! It’s HULK UP TIME! Hogan hits a bunch of clotheslines and delivers the LEG DROP for the 1-2-3. (6:37) It just goes to show that no matter how many times you win an NWA World Title, not even the world’s all-time greatest wrestlers can defeat Hulkamania. *
Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil & Andre the Giant) vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth)
Once again, Andre is being built as though he’s making a surprise appearance. It’s kind of hard to maintain the level of suspense when they’ve done it now on three out of the last four episodes. Virgil starts to mess with Elizabeth to bait Savage out to the floor. DiBiase kicks Savage in the back of the head from the apron and brings Savage back in the ring. DiBiase begins to punish Savage in the corner while working the crowd at the same time. Savage finally reverses a whip into the corner and catches DiBiase with a back elbow. He follows up with a high knee that sends DiBiase crashing out to the floor. Savage wisely brings DiBiase back into the ring and delivers a top-rope double ax. Savage blocks a kick and spins DiBiase around for a clothesline that gets two. Savage follows that up with a running hotshot and sends DiBiase out to the floor with an elbow. DiBiase receives a word from Andre and gets back in and regains control of the match. He hits a series of his fist drops, but then runs into a boot out of the corner for two. Savage tries a jumping knee drop, but DiBiase moves out of the way. That leads to a spinning toe hold from DiBiase, but Savage kicks him off and out to the floor. DiBiase pulls Savage out to the floor to brawl, but Andre comes over and puts a stop to that to allow Virgil to nail Savage from behind. As a result, ref Dave Hebner sends Virgil to the back. Its okay, Andre’s here! Back in, DiBiase hits a double-sledge and an elbow drop for 1-2-NO! DiBiase hits the chinlock, and Savage elbows out and hits a shoulderblock and a clothesline. DiBiase gets thrown into the corner and then takes a backdrop before Hebner gets bumped. DiBiase gets thrown out to the floor for Savage to deliver the top-rope double ax! Savage tries to take DiBiase back in the ring, but Andre comes over and stops Savage with a reverse headbutt and then tosses Savage into the ringpost. Elizabeth goes to the back because there is absolutely nothing she can do, but I bet she knows someone who can do something! Andre delivers more punishment to Savage at ringside, but then Hebner wakes up and counts Savage out to give DiBiase the win. (11:43) Virgil comes back down for a post-match beatdown, but Hogan runs in with a chair in hand to make the save. Good match as a sign of things to come. **½
The Killer Bees vs. The Islanders (w/Bobby Heenan)
This is back when the Islanders had stolen Matilda from the Bulldogs, which is why they bark during their interview to show that they are animal lovers. The Bees control Tama to start and work over on his arm. Brunzell whiffs on his DROPKICK and takes a suplex from Tama for two. Haku tags in and shows Brunzell how to deliver a dropkick for 1-2-NO! Brunzell gets caught in the Islanders corner and tries to get out with an inverted atomic drop, but Tama easily reaches Haku for a tag. Double-KO spot occurs and Brunzell makes the HOT TAG TO BLAIR! He goes crazy on the Islanders and rolls up Tama, but the ref stops the count once both Brunzell and Haku come in to save. While the ref admonishes Blair back to his corner, Haku nails Blair with a clothesline and covers him for the 1-2-3. (3:40) The Bees were pretty much past their usefulness at this point and the Islanders were getting set for their big 6-man tag at WrestleMania with the Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware. *
One Man Gang (w/Slick) vs. Ken Patera
I don’t think they could end the show on a worse match. They trade some shots and Patera actually gets his arms around OMG for the bearhug, which OMG actually sells. Gang escapes with an eye-rake, but gets caught in a FULL-NELSON or the “Master Lock” for you newer fans. Gang easily gets out of that and smashes Patera in the corner. Patera fights back and delivers the ten-count corner punch. He whips OMG into the ropes, but then OMG floors Patera and gets the 1-2-3. (3:07) I could’ve went without seeing that waste of time. CRAP
Final Thoughts: Not too much going on here considering WrestleMania IV is only two weeks away. The HTM/Beefcake feud isn’t all that interesting to catch up on, and Savage/DiBiase was better at WrestleMania IV. Thumbs down for this one.