WWE Recap: Saturday Night Main Event (February 1988)

This special "The Main Event" episode comes from Indianapolis, and features some solid championship matchups for the network audience. Vince McMahon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura greet us, and the audience seems pretty fired up. There were a number of dark matches before the three that were broadcast.


Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth vs The Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue (Intercontinental Championship)

Honky Tonk Man dances in the ring before the match, but looks concerned as The Macho Man's music hits. On a related note, Savage's music remains one of the greatest intros of all-time. Anyway, HTM gets chased from the ring by Savage, and they circle the ring briefly, until Macho finally catches him and goes on the attack. Back in the ring, Savage hits a couple of elbows and uses the rope to clothesline Honky Tonk Man. Savage goes outside and gives Jimmy Hart a warning, but as Savage climbs back into the ring, Hart grabs his ankle, allowing Honky Tonk Man to go on the offensive. After Macho Man hits the turnbuckle, HTM goes for an elbow, but misses. Jimmy Hart, however, gets involved again. Macho chases him, and as the referee follows Hart, HTM gets the megaphone and nails Savage in the stomach with it. A pin attempt is unsuccessful. A knee to Savage's mid-section sends him out of the ring. Honky Tonk Man is in control, and Jimmy Hart gets a few cheap shots in as well. HTM delivers some hard kicks on the mat before Hart attacks again when the ref is distracted. Finally, as Savage gets back to his feet, he blocks a punch and lands a few of his own, fighting back. Honky Tonk Man manages to land a clothesline, though, and then goes after Elizabeth, who he has promised he's going to take away from Macho Man. Just as he creeps closer, and traps her between himself and Jimmy Hart, Savage makes the save. He's re-energized as he goes after HTM back in the ring, before once again sending his opponent to the floor. Savage goes to the top and crashes down all the way to the floor on Honky Tonky Man, who's in trouble. Savage lands another shot from the top rope, but only gets a two-count. Hart gets involved again, but as HTM attacks from behind, Savage moves and Hart goes down. Now, Peggy Sue begins to advance on Elizabeth, and Savage comes outside. HTM tries a sneak attack, but Savage is ready and tosses the champion into the ringpost. Macho gets back in the ring, but the ref counts Honky Tonk Man out.  Winner: Randy "Macho Man" Savage

Savage wins the match, but not the belt. After the bell, Honky Tonk Man comes into the ring with his guitar, ready to bash Savage. Macho Man backs away, but is hit from behind by Jimmy Hart with the megaphone. Elizabeth jumps into the ring to protect Savage. HTM holds up for a second, but then goes for the guitar shot. Savage recovers, though, and jumps up and grabs the guitar. He takes it away and HTM flees the ring. Savage signals Elizabeth up onto the apron, as she generally hold the ropes for him. This time, however, Savage does the honors and he hoists her up on to his shoulders, and the crowd eats it up. This was a solid match that told a good story, but ended pretty blandly. Savage not winning the belt makes sense, but a countout makes Savage look like an idiot.


Andre the Giant w/ Million Dollar Man and Virgil vs Hulk Hogan (World Heavyweight Championship)

As Hogan enters the ring, the referee, Dave Hebner, takes the belt from Hogan, cutting short his ring act. Hogan challenges Andre to come on in, but the Giant is slow to enter. He finally does, but then turns around to talk to DiBiase and Virgil. Hogan is tired of waiting and attacks from behind. Andre stumbles to a corner, and Hogan brings DiBiase and Virgil in before dispatching each of them with a big boot, much to the crowd's delight. Hogan goes after Andre next, and hits him with a series of punches and elbows, non of which are enough to knock the Giant off his feet. Hogan climbs to the top rope, but Andre catches him and slams him down. The Giant begins to choke the champion, using the full five-count before letting go. Now Andre is in complete control and hammers Hogan with punches and a body slam. The Hulkster is sent to the floor with a big boot, but Virgil throws him back in the ring. Andre goes to work with what I guess is a nerve hold on Hogan's neck area, but the champ finds it to be as ridiculous as I do and starts to Hulk up. He gets to his feet and starts to fight back, eventually taking Andre off his feet with a clothesline from the middle rope. The crowd is off the rails now. Hogan goes to the ropes to attempt the leg drop, but Virgil grabs his leg. The ref admonishes Virgil, but Hogan has landed the leg drop on the second attempt. He pins the Giant, but Hebner is still arguing with Virgil and there's no count. Hogan grabs Hebner, but Andre takes advantage and grabs Hogan from behind. Andre slams Hogan and makes the cover. Hogan gets the shoulder up after a one-count, but Hebner makes the three-count anyway. Winner: Andre the Giant

Hogan and the crowd are upset. He clearly kicked out. Andre immediately hands the belt to Ted DiBiase, as he's sold the championship to him. As Hogan verbally spars with the new champ, there's confusion in the ring, as there are suddenly two Dave Hebners. The twins go at it. Hogan grabs the fake Hebner and tosses him from the ring into DiBiase, Virgil, and the Giant. The match itself was nothing special, with Andre's limitations. The story was the draw, and was well done. Hogan is protected by losing under questionable circumstances, but they were still able to get the belt off of him.


Strike Force vs The Hart Foundation 

The show ran long, so this match didn't complete on the air. Strike Force won to retain the belts.


Overall Impressions

Well, we only got two matches, but both were solid, and both did a good job of helping to push the stories forward.

Winners:
Viewers: We only got two matches, but we weren't subjected to a bunch of boring fluff, so I'll call it a win.

Losers:
Strike Force and Hart Foundation: They almost got to be on the special.


Things I Would Have Changed

The ending to the Savage/Honky Tonk Man match made Savage look dumb. A disqualification ending would have made a little more sense, but it's a minor complaint.