Saturday Night's Main Event 3/1/1986

Well I seem to have been dropping the ball recently haven’t I? I failed to have a review ready for last Friday. Well, I apologize and without further ado, here’s Saturday Night’s Main Event from March 3, 1986, held in the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, AZ.

Okerlund opens the show by interviewing Mr. T in the midst of working out, who goes off on him for interrupting his workout, but calls his 10 round Boxing Match (!?) with Cowboy Bob Orton a war.

Piper tries to mudsling Mr. T and does it almost as well as political parties do.

Mr. T has a proper interview with Okerlund now, who said he’s ready to take Orton out in 2-3 rounds. He also claims that Rocky III was just a movie and this is real life and he’ll win for sure. Right.

Match: Mr. T vs. Cowboy Bob Orton in a Boxing Match

Great way to start off a wrestling show… with a boxing match. Yeesh.

The match starts off with Orton striking T before the bell rings, which causes the match to start. Orton then had the greater advantage for the beginning. Orton thumbs T in the eye which causes the match to stall for a bit, but in starting back up, T had Orton on the defensive.  In the 2^nd round, T put Orton over the top rope.

Winner: Mr. T in the 2^nd round by countout.

This was an interesting idea, but it shouldn’t have started off the card. The match really should have gone on longer than two rounds and the ending was really disappointing. I am aware of the 20 count for being knocked out of the ring, but why make it so obvious? 2/5

After the match, Piper and Orton beat T down. The show can get better.

 Okerlund then interviewed Bobby Heenan, who said let Bundy get in the ring with Hogan for a shot at the title and King Kong Bundy, who said he wanted Hogan anywhere, anytime.

Match: Steve Gatorwlf vs. King Kong Bundy (with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan)

Oh look, an unknown name already in the ring. Time to squash the jobber.

I wasn’t wrong. Bundy dominated the entire thing.

After the match, Bundy called out Hogan anywhere, anytime.

Winner: King Kong Bundy

As far as squash matches go, this one was ok, but I think Bundy should have toyed with him a little more. Or at least have Gatorwolf actually look like he’s trying. 2/5

Okerlund now had an interview with Muraco, who said Hogan was behind Fuji’s sudden flu. Of course he is. Heenan was then revealed as Muraco’s temporary manager. Yay.

Now an interview with Hogan. He’s ready. He’s always ready. He doesn’t sleep because he’s always ready. Yeah.

Match: Hulk Hogan vs. The Magnificent Muraco (with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) for the World Heavyweight Championship

No prize to guess the winner.

This is Hogan’s first entrance to “Real American”

Anyway, Muraco starts off with a strong offensive, giving Hogan no mercy. But Hogan was able to reverse things, giving Muraco everything back, plus more. Muraco was able to regain some steam mid match though, but Hogan took it away, only for Heenan to kick him in the head.

Winner: Hulk Hogan by disqualification to retain the championship

This had everything for a great match until Heenan kicked Hogan in the head. Every good title match should have a point where it looks like the champ is going to lose. This match had that from the beginning. Hogan had good offense to counter, but lost steam until he entered his cheat codes. And like I said, Hogan had a pin, it should have ended like that. Not ANOTHER disqualification. 3/5

After the match, Hogan attacked Heenan, but was stopped by Bundy, who then proceeded to smash.

Match: Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith (with Capt. Lou Albano) vs Brutus Beefcake and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Luscious Johnny) for the Tag Team Championship

Smith and Valentine started off with Valentine having the immediate edge and staying in control for most of the match, handing it off to Dynamite as well. Near the end of the match, Valentine and Beefcake were able to take some of the heat back.

Winners: Beefcake and Valentine to retain the championship

This was a very interesting match with a good ending to it. It really went back and forth, but the challengers were dominant in the beginning and the defenders had the offensive in the end. But the final seconds of the match saw the two legal men blindside each other, but Beefcake was able to get the pin. This was a good match. 3/5

Match: Junkyard Dog vs. Adrian Adonis (with Jimmy Hart)

The match started off with Adonis mocking Dog, who then brought the match into his favor. Mid match, after hurling Adonis outside the ring, Dog decided to mock Adonis and threw Hart into Adonis. At one point, Adonis and Hart kept the referee distracted to incapacitate Dog, bringing Adonis the upper hand. Dog was able to quickly turn it back around.

Winner: Junkyard Dog

JYD matches are almost always great, and this one was. I like how the cheating of Hart and Adonis were the only way to get offensive against JYD,  but still wasn’t enough. 4/5

The show almost reached “good” with a rating of 2.8/5 Maybe if they hadn’t had that bad boxing match and put a good wrestling match as a card opener, then the show could have reached it’s potential. The night was ok, it wasn’t bad but certainly could have been better. I think my favorite match was either the Tag Team Championship or the JYD match.

That’s it for today, coming up Wednesday, we have WrestleMania II! And Friday is another Saturday Night’s Main Event from May. Stick around!