WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #4

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WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event #4 – 1/4/86
Tampa, FL
SunDome

This is the first SNME of 1986, and interestingly it carries over some of the feuds from 1985, and begins to establish a few new feuds. It was another enjoyable edition of the show, with some really good matches.

SNME comes to us from Tampa, FL, and the theme for the show is fun in the sun. There are skits between the matches involving the wrestlers at a water park and on the beach. The opening promos were all done in these locations, making for a very unique start to the show!

The ring they’re using in Tampa looks weird, with a dark blue mat, and the ropes in a weird color order. Looks more like a house show than a network TV broadcast, something that will begin to change throughout 86 and separate the WWF from the NWA. Vince McMahon is with Bobby Heenan, who’s subbing for Ventura while he wrestles in the first match.

1) Rowdy Roddy Piper, Bob Orton, & Jesse Ventura defeated Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer, & Cousin Luke at around the 8-minute mark when Junior passed out in Piper’s sleeper after Orton hit Junior in the back of the head behind the referee’s back with his arm cast; after the bout, Ventura returned to the broadcast booth and was congratulated by Bobby Heenan

This feud of course stems back to Uncle Elmer’s wedding. What’s interesting is the cheers the heels seem to get. I doubt anyone other than McMahon liked the hillbillies. Not only does the gimmick suck, but man do they suck in the ring. Cousin Junior has been replaced by Cousin Luke, who looks and wrestles pretty much the same, and sucks just as hard. The heels use all sorts sneaky tactics and brawling, and I enjoyed seeing them outsmart the dumbass hillbillies. Mercifully the heels win, by cheating, which makes sense for this time period.

Next up, Jimmy Hart and the Junkyard Dog have a waterslide race, which of course JYD wins. As geeky as this is, it sure was a lot better when wrestlers had actual personalities and the comedy wasn’t as forced.

Jesse Ventura interviewed Terry Funk poolside about his upcoming title match with Hulk Hogan, a feud which started a number of weeks before at a house show in Denver. Funk was just great here, and was hilarious in saying he would take Hogan’s title and be the next wrestler on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It’s interesting to me how feuds overlapped between all of the upper guys in 85, as Okerlund interviewed Hogan who introduced JYD as being in his corner for the match.

2) 
WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan (w/ the Junkyard Dog) pinned Terry Funk (w/ Jimmy Hart) with a lariat at 8:30 after Funk argued with referee Dave Hebner, arguing he had Hogan down for 3; after the commercial break, Funk was seen dragging Hart backstage after Hart sustained a headbutt from the JYD

Way back in the day someone told me that Hogan-Funk was the main event of Wrestlemania 1. I remember this mini-feud well, not only because of that comment, but also because of an Apter mag I read in 86 which talked about Funk being a threat to the title. The WWF did a great job in lining up credible heels to battle Hogan throughout 85, and guys like Funk really brought out the best in the champ. This match was simply awesome, with Funk’s wildly unorthodox, true hardcore offense meshing well with Hogan’s power moves. Funk took some great bumps, and also dished it out on the champ, and the match verged on the edge of insanity. Plus there were the antics of JYD and Jimmy Hart on the floor. Just a ton of fun to watch! Hogan, in the blue and red, wins with a weird clothesline while Funk argued with the ref. After the match Funk is throwing plastic chairs in the ring and drags Jimmy Hart by the foot back to the dressing room. GREAT match, with molten heat from the fans!

More poolside fun with Mean Gene interviewing George the Animal Steele and Capt. Lou, and Jesse Ventura interviewing Macho Man and Elizabeth. Great job by the WWF in making Macho look like a total dick, as he “teaches” Elizabeth to swim by throwing her off a diving area into the pool while Ventura laughs.

3) Macho Man Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) pinned George Steele (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) at 4:06 with a double axe handle after Steele became distracted by Elizabeth; after the contest, Savage carried Elizabeth over his shoulder backstage

Not much of a match, but more of a storyline kick off to the unexpectedly great year-long feud between Macho Man and George Steele. Brilliant story idea in having the Animal become infatuated with the beautiful Elizabeth, a la King Kong (which McMahon actually mentions!). The wrestling is non existent, but Savage’s dickishness towards Steele is just great, and his asshole Macho Man persona is really cemented here as he treats Elizabeth like a piece of property.

Up next is a special 1985 highlights video set to an 80s pop song. I forgot to mention that this show is just full of mid 80s pop music! Weird to hear on a wrestling show! This highlight package shows clips mainly from SNME and Wrestlemania 1. It really puts into context just how huge of a deal SNME was for the WWF during this time period.

Jesse Ventura was with Corporal Kirchner, back in the waterpark, talking about his upcoming “peace match” with Nikolai Volkoff. Fuck, Kirchner cut the worst promos. After garbling his way through, he gives a zip-lining demonstration into the water.

4) Nikolai Volkoff (w/ Freddie Blassie & the Iron Sheik) pinned Cpl. Kirchner in a Peace Match at 4:32 with a kneedrop to the chest after refusing to break clean against the ropes and dropping Kirchner throat-first across the top rope; the contest was devised to see which man had the better scientific skills; after the contest, Kirchner attacked both Volkoff and Sheik and cleared them from the ring

Another classic feud that would pick up from this match and lead to a battle at Wrestlemania 2. Not only did Corp suck on the mic, he also sucked in the ring. Nikolai finally showed some wrestling ability in this one. It’s weird to think Nikolai was actually young at this point, because he looks like he’s 75 years old. The match is just a showcase for heel chicanery, but I marked out when Nikolai won! I chuckled at the obviously fake cheering that was dubbed over the match, whenever Kirchner was in control. It was clear that the real audience was just sitting silently.

5) Junkyard Dog & Ricky Steamboat defeated Don Muraco & Mr. Fuji at 5:19 when JYD pinned Fuji with a kick to the midsection and a headbutt; after the match, Steamboat and Muraco continued to brawl briefly until Muraco & Fuji left ringside

Highlights were shown before the match of the late 85 feud between Muraco and Steamboat. Again, the overlapping is awesome, as not only does the JYD accompany his buddy Hogan earlier in the night, he also agrees to team with Steamboat in his feud with Muraco and Fuji. This is a short, but fun match to end SNME. Fuji looks surprisingly agile here, and contributes a lot to the match. The good guys get the win, clean, and I’m surprised it’s JYD, not Steamboat, that gets the pin on Fuji.

Another overall fun and entertaining edition of SNME!