WWE Recap: Saturday Night Main Event (May 1985)

Saturday Night Main Even was my first exposure to professional wrestling, so it had to be included in this project. Vince McMahon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura greet us to start the show. They're sharing a single microphone.


Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik, and Geoge "The Animal" Steele vs US Express and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

Volkoff sang the Soviet national anthem to some boos. The crowd was hot for the entrance of US Express and Steamboat. The Iron Sheik and Barry Windham start things off. Windham starts fast, with a nice bodyslam, then tags in Mike Rotundo. The tags from the good guys were quick, with each person spending just moments in the ring. Eventually, the heels try and raid the ring, but are quickly cleared out. After a commercial break, a loud "USA" chant had broken out. This must have been confusing for The Animal, who is from Michigan. After taking two big spots from Steamboat off the top rope, Sheik finally manages to tag in Volkoff. Steele made his way in after a while, to some applause. He attempted to make a tag, but Volkoff and Sheik dropped to the floor and refused it. Windham rolled up Steele from behind for the pin. Winner: US Express and Ricky "The Dragon Steamboat

This was one-sided, and the heel team really got in no offense at all. The abandoned Steele to take the pin, which makes sense, since he's American and they're an anti-USA team. Post-match, Steele destroyed the turnbuckles, then was attacked by Volkoff and the Sheik. He fought them off, and Lou Albano came in to calm him down, much to the crowd's delight. Solid start to the show.




Piper's Pit

Rowdy Roddy Piper and Cowboy Bob Orton welcomed "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to the ring for this segment. Piper wanted to discuss Wrestlemania, but Orndorff was still very upset. He referred to Piper as a lady, and Piper called Orndorff a loser. Things devolved into further name-calling, then threats, and finally an attack. Orndorff initially took command, but he was attacked from behind by Orton. Mr T came to the rescue, and helped Orndorff to the back.




Cowboy Bob Orton vs Hulk Hogan (WWF Championship)

Hogan made his way to the ring, and fans were way too close in the aisle, grabbing him as he walked. He had to push through a few people. He looked uncomfortable. After a commercial, Mr T had joined Hogan in the ring to counter Piper being in Orton's corner. Hulk started hot, hitting three straight bodyslams before Orton fled the ring. Hogan showed his dark side by biting Orton's head, then bashing Cowboy's "broken" arm against the ringpost. Orton finally gained control, using punches and knee drops on Hogan's head. After a few minutes, Hogan went into his "Hulking up" routine, no-selling Orton's punches. The crowd, as always, ate it up. Orton briefly rallied, but Hogan hit the leg drop and went for the pin. Piper interfered, and things got wild. Piper and Orton ganged up on Hogan, then on Mr T, who tried to help. The two heels started to go after Hogan again, but it was Paul Orndorff to the rescue. The crowd exploded as Piper and Orton fled the ring. Hogan, T, and Orndorff celebrated in the ring.


This was well done, and the face turn by Orndorff was predictable, but fun nonetheless. The wrestling was typical Hogan, which is always a crowd pleaser. Piper was fantastic through Piper's Pit and this match.


Fabulous Moolah vs Wendi Richter (Women's Championship)

Before the match, Moolah announced that Cindi Lauper would be barred from ringside for this match. Lauper and Richter were interviewed, and were painful to listen to. Cindi Lauper should stick to singing. Again, too-close fans grabbed as the wrestlers walked down the aisle. Lauper was indeed banned from ringside. This was read from an ancient scroll by the announcer. Moolah took control early, despite being knocked outside the ring at one point. Richter makes her move, but Moolah gets back on top. Ultimately, Moolah picks up Richter for a bodyslam, but Richter reverses it into a rollup, which actually looked very nice, for the win. Winner: Wendi Richter

Most of this match was pretty ugly. The rollup for the win was executed nicely, though. Lauper being barred from ringside had no real consequence.




Junkyard Dog vs a jobber whose name I missed

Yet again, the narrow aisle is a problem. Fans actually grabbed JYD's mother. The security team is useless. The jobber, who apparently is the Duke of Dorchester (who knew?) made a gesture at JYD's mother, and got a beatdown for it. A Junkyard Dog powerslam ended things. Winner: Junkyard Dog

This was a squash for JYD. He and his mother danced in the ring after the win.
 


A Mother's Day celebration closed the show. As they acknowledged some of the performers' mothers backstage, there was a comical moment where Fred Blassie kissed a younger woman. Mean Gene asked who it was, and Blassie said it was his mother. Cindi Lauper's mom looks exactly like her, for the record. Moolah showed up and began insulting Cindi and her mother, which inevitably led to Moolah being slammed into a conveniently placed cake along with Mean Gene to end the show.


Overall Impression

It was a predictable show. We got to see Hogan do his thing, and US Express got a little revenge for Wrestlemania. The announce team of Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura were ok. They definitely lead all announce teams in chin butts. The face turn of Orndorff was the highlight.

Winners: 
Paul Orndorff: He gets a face run, and was definitely over with the crowd.  
Roddy Piper: He's a natural heel, and he is in his element here.

Losers:
Fabulous Moolah: Lost a match and got slammed into a cake. Bad day.

 

Things I Would Have Done Differently

As the first episode of Main Event, they clearly wanted fans to be into it by having all the babyfaces win. A title change would have been intriguing, though. Moolah is much better than Richter and should have won the belt. That might have interfered with the celebration to end the show, so I'd get rid of that too.