Off the heels of the first WrestleMania, we come to the very
first Saturday Night’s Main Event, broadcast on May 2.
Promos
Cyndi Lauper
coaches Wendi Richter on her upcoming match with The Fabulous Moolah and Hulk
Hogan and Mr. T warned Rowdy Roddy Piper against interfering in Hogan’s
championship match with Cowboy Bob Orton.
Good promos,
but the Lauper/Richter coaching felt rushed to get to Hogan and Mr. T and Hogan
stealing Mr. T’s catchphrase just seemed odd. Not a bad promo though, I enjoyed
Lauper’s coaching and what Hogan had to say. 3/5
Interview
Gene Okerlund interviews the faces of the upcoming six man
tag team match, Ricky Steamboat, Mike Rotundo, and Barry Windham, with Capt.
Lou Albano. They felt that tonight was the night they would take care of Sheik
and Volkoff, only wishing it was a championship match and Albano expressed what
he would do to Blassie if he interfered. 4/5
Great interview, the team and Albano sounded like they were
quite ready for the match.
Match: Six Man Tag Team Match, The
Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and George “The Animal” Steele (with Freddie
Blassie) vs. Ricky Steamboat, Mike Rotundo, and Barry Windham (with Capt. Lou
Albano)
Nothing like the faces coming out to beat down the evil foreigners
while The Boss plays, that just slightly improved the match for me.
The match started with Sheik and Windham, who got the first
strike and had and complete domination with his teammates. The match ended when
Steele was abandoned by Sheik and Volkoff, giving Windham the opportunity to go
for the pin. After the match, Sheik and Volkoff attacked Steele while he was
eating the turnbuckle, and Albano came to console Steele.
It was a nice match. The faces had control throughout the
fight and didn’t allow the heels to get a leg up. While I think it could have
been better with the heels coming back before the faces got their second wind,
Blassie pulling out Sheik and Volkoff to abandon Steele , was a good move. I
also liked how Steele turned face, no honor amongst thieves (or communists, in
this case) in deed.
Winner: Ricky
Steamboat, Barry Windham, and Mike Rotundo with heel abandonment and pin. 4/5
Interview
Okerlund interviewed Sheik and Volkoff, who claimed it was
all Steele’s fault who came up and attacked them in retaliation. Perfect timing
for a good, short interview 5/5
Piper’s Pit
Piper talked with Paul Orndorff about WrestleMania, Piper
called Orndorff a loser, stating that he was the one doing all the fighting in
their WrestleMania match. It ended pretty much the way they always do: insults
and fighting. Orndorrf turned on Piper and Orton, having to be restrained by a
newly arrived Mr. T. A great Piper’s Pit, would have been better had Mr. T not
gotten involved and just had Orndorrf beat Piper and Orton around. 4/5
Interview
Okerlund interviewed Hogan about Piper’s Pit. Hogan felt
that people like Piper should be out of the WWF and that his match was
dedicated specially for his mother. He also felt that Orndorff was having a
change of heart.
This interview felt completely out of place, especially with
Hogan. I realize Hogan had a match right after this, but it might have been
better if Orndorff was interviewed instead about what just went down. But the dedicating
the match with Orton to his mother was nice. 2/5
Match: Cowboy Bob
Orton (with Rowdy Roddy Piper) vs. Hulk Hogan (with Mr. T) for the World
Heavyweight Championship
The match started with Hogan in control, Orton finally
gained advantage at one point, even kneeing Hogan in the face. But once Hogan
came to his feet, he went back in control. After Piper decided to level Mr. T,
and make the odds uneven, Orndorff showed up, making Piper and Orton flee to
get counted out.
Nice match. Nothing much to say about it, but Orndorff
showing up was good. 3/5
Interview
Okerlund interviewed The Fabulous Moolah who stated that she
was tired of Lauper and got her banned from ringside. Good heel action. He then
interviewed Richter and Lauper who
expressed that she would never leave Richter’s side and that Moolah always
interferes. The latter part comes off as whining and the interviews just seemed
unnecessary. 2/5
Match: Wendi Richter
(with Cyndi Lauper) vs. The Fabulous Moolah for the Women’s Champion
Moolah had the upper hand for most of the match, but Richter
was able to gain the advantage, countering Moolah’s pin.
Honestly a mediocre match. I liked Richter getting in some
good strikes in the middle, but it was mostly dominated by Moolah. It made
Richter’s win look like dumb luck.
Winner: Wendi Richter
with a counter to Moolah’s pin. 2/5
Interview
Junkyard Dog was interviewed with his mother, where he
wished his mother a happy mother’s day.
I liked this interview. Instead of the average “I’m gonna
win this match!” Dog wished his mother and all mothers a happy mother’s day and
said he brought his mother here because she had never been to New York. A
nicely done interview and nice sentiment. 5/5
Match: Junkyard Dog (with
his mother) vs. Pete Dougherty
Junkyard Dog just completely demolished Dougherty. And it
was great. Could have done without Dog’s mother dancing in the ring afterward.
Winner: Junkyard Dog
with a pin. 4/5
Interview/Promo
Okerlund interviewed the Junkyard Dog who was excited about
his previous victory. The Iron Sheik expressed distaste at Lauper’s Mother’s
Day Party because they were unable to get their mothers out. Okerlund
interviewed others and their mothers until Moolah crashed the party, insulting
Lauper and her mother.
Umm. This was interesting. Parts of it were good. I want to
know why Sheik and Volkoff were there. Weren’t there other talent that could
have been there with their mothers other than Sheik, Volkoff, Blassie, Albano
and Hogan? Other than that, Moolah
getting more cheap heat was fairly good. 3/5
The full show averages a 3/5, just average. Some of the interviews weren’t needed or could
have been done differently, and the Mother’s Day Party should have had
different talent to fill it. Otherwise, the matches were good and so was Piper’s
Pit. My favorite? Junkyard Dog’s match.
That leaves it for today’s Vintage Wrestling Review. Coming
up on Friday: The 1985 Great American Bash.
