WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event – May 27th, 1989

May 27, 1989

From the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA

Your hosts are Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Vince McMahon

Tonight, we have Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bossman in a Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Title, Rick Rude vs. King Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the Intercontinental Title, and Demolition vs. The Brainbusters for the Tag Team Titles.

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: “Ravishing” Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan vs. King Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Duggan comes out carried on his throne. Rude cheap shots Duggan off of a break but fails to get him over on a sunset flip. Duggan then clotheslines Rude to the floor then suplexes him back inside from the apron. Duggan hits a few clotheslines as Vince tells us he is having “fun.” Rude fights back then catches a charging Duggan with a knee and follows with a forearm smash from the top rope. Rude starts gyrating but Duggan reverses a bearhug with an inverted atomic drop then follows with a piledriver. Duggan covers but Rude was able to get his foot on the rope. Haku is at ringside and Duggan heads out but referee Dave Hebner steps in between and then a few other officials, including Danny Davis, order him back as we go to break. The action returns with Rude hitting Duggan with a dropkick. He stays on the attack and cuts off Duggan with a knee smash. Rude heads up top with a flying fist drop then crawls over to the camera and gives a kiss. Duggan blocks a turnbuckle smash in the corner as he is starting to hulk up. Duggan fights back then backdrops Rude before setting up for the Three Point Stance as he ends up sending Rude through the ropes. The fans count along as Rude gets counted out and they are ecstatic (7:15) **1/4. After the match, Duggan parades around with the American Flag as “Stars and Stripes” is playing while Jesse makes fun of Duggan for being too dumb to realize he cannot win the title on a count out as Vince mentions how the Ultimate Warrior is hot on Rude’s trail.

Thoughts: Solid TV match, mostly all due to Rude. At this point, Rude was really becoming an awesome worker. Anyway, they got over Duggan’s king gimmick to the National audience and protected Rude a bit as he retained via countout and was on offense for most of the match. They also made sure to mention the Rude/Warrior feud as that continues.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage w/ Sensational Sherri

The crowd hates Savage. Jesse thinks its crap that Savage has to go through Neidhart in order to get a title shot against Hogan. The match starts as Neidhart is backed into the ropes where Sherri grabs his legs. Neidhart blocks a sunset flip then catches Savage in a bearhug. Savage breaks out and hits a high knee before taking Neidhart down with a clothesline. Sherri is cheering on Savage and chokes out Neidhart when the referee is not looking. Savage gets two with a flying double axe handle then stays on the attack. Neidhart fights back then slingshots in with a shoulder tackle as he is all fired up. Neidhart sends Savage outside with a dropkick then follows out and backs Sherri up and hits Savage with another dropkick. Back inside, Neidhart hits a powerslam for a nearfall then ties Savage up in the ropes as he is firing away. Sherri unties Savage then Neidhart charges and dumps outside. Savage flies out with a double axe handle then rolls Neidhart back in and finishes him off with the flying elbow drop (5:57) **1/2.

Thoughts: Another good TV match. This was all action and both guys worked hard, especially Neidhart. This introduced the Savage & Sherri act to the National audience while Neidhart got to look good in a match as he was feuding with the Barbarian on TV at the time but it was really just a minor program around the house show circuit.

Before the World Title match, Slick introduces Zeus to the crowd as that is followed by a clip from “No Holds Barred,” which opened up six days later. Zeus then stands with his arms folded in front of the cage door and does not let Hogan inside. Zeus then kicks Hogan and beats him down before leaving as we head to break. After commercial, a referee is checking on Hogan but Bossman comes out and tosses Hogan inside the cage. They are really amping up the “No Holds Barred” hype and this segment would really come into play later on in the year.

WWF World Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match: Big Bossman w/ Slick vs. Hulk Hogan (c)

Bossman beats on Hogan and chokes him out with his own shirt. Hogan finally fights back and starts fighting dirty. He takes Bossman down with a big boot and tries to climb out but gets pulled down. Bossman beats Hogan down and hits a slam before hitting a splash. Bossman tries to climb out the door but Hogan grabs on to his leg then hammers away. Bossman catches Hogan with a poor excuse of a spinebuster then tries to climb out. Bossman is almost out but Hogan gets up and reaches through and pulls Bossman up. They are on the top where Hogan takes him down with a superplex as both guys are down. The referee starts counting as both guys remain out on the mat. Hogan sits up first then crawls to the door but Bossman dives and grabs his legs for the save. Hogan rakes the eyes but ducks his head and ends up getting clotheslined. Slick tosses in a chain as Bossman grabs it to choke out Hogan. Bossman wraps the chain around his fist but Hogan blocks the punch and fires away. Bossman rakes the eyes and they struggle before ramming their heads into the cage. Bossman tries to crawl out but this time Hogan makes the save. Hogan now grabs the chain and puts it around his fist as he decks Bossman as Jesse is just ragging on Hogan using illegal tactics while on commentary. Hogan rams Bossman into the cage a few times then starts to climb out. However, Slick rams the ref into the cage and runs in as he tries to prevent Hogan but fails. Bossman tries to climb out as Hogan yanks him down as Bossman is crotched on the ropes. Hogan then knocks Slick down and cuffs Bossman to the cage. Slick tries to uncuff Bossman while Hogan is climbing down and Hogan is down first and retains the title (10:01) ***1/4. After the match, Hogan beats on an uncuffed Bossman outside then runs in to give Slick his comeuppance.

Thoughts: The match is decent but the story was superb. I thought the actual work here was nowhere near as good as their 3/18/89 MSG match though but this one was still entertaining and enhanced by Jesse on commentary.

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Brainbusters w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Demolition (c)

Smash shoves Tully down then hits a clothesline. Tully tries to get Smash to chase him but runs into a bearhug. Heenan jumps up on the apron as Arn knees Smash from behind. Arn is in but Smash beats him down too. Ax tags and attacks Arn as Demolition stays in control. Tully knees Smash from the apron and that allows Arn to attack from behind and hit a suplex. However, Smash pops right up as Arn celebrates and hits a slam. The match breaks down with Demolition clears the ring as Vince says they are having “fun.” Tully heads in and chops Ax but it has no effect. Tully catches Ax with a boot but Ax catches Tully in midair then sends him up and over on an Irish whip. Ax knocks Tully on top of Heenan, who is irate and trying to climb into the ring but is stopped by his men as we go to break. We return with Ax beating on Arn. Tully is in and Smash overpowers him but Arn takes him out from behind. Arn is now stomping on Smash as the Brainbusters are finally in control of the match. Arn knocks Ax off of the apron to prevent a tag then slugs it out with Smash in the corner until they knock each other down. Tully sneaks around the apron and yanks Ax down and this leads to all four men brawling. Ax takes referee Joey Marella and tosses him hard into the corner and the match is ruled a disqualification in favor of The Brainbusters (10:01) ***. After the match, Demolition attack the Brainbusters in the aisle as Jesse thinks its despicable how Demolition intentionally got themselves disqualified in order to retain the belts.

Thoughts: The first half of this came off like a squash for Demolition but it became a lot more competitive after the break and became a really fun match to watch. It was all action for the most part and exciting plus it sets up for a future match between the two teams.

Jesse is with Savage & Sherri. Savage tells Hogan he will teach him a lesson and no longer be fit to be a movie star. Savage says he now has a manager without wandering eyes as this ends with both of them chanting “oh yeah.” With Hogan back after hyping “No Holds Barred,” his feud with Savage continues.

Boris Zhukov w/ Slick vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

Zhukov kicks Snuka and tries a few turnbuckle smashes but it has zero effect. Snuka hits a running chop and a backbreaker before getting the win with the Superfly Splash (1:11) DUD.

Thoughts: This was terrible even for the short amount of time it received. Zhukov was atrocious for his entire WWF run and Snuka, who was breaking down even when he left here in 1985, was even a shell of what he was back then here. At least his Superfly Splash looked good though and might as well have him return on National TV at the end of a loaded show.

Gene Okerlund is with Hogan, congratulating him on his win. He then calls out Zeus and said they’ve been having problems since the movie. He then challenges Zeus to face him inside the squared circle. And we will get a follow up to this challenge eventually.

Final Thoughts: One of the best SNME episodes. Besides the brief throwaway match at the end, everything else was good and three title matches on TV was a rarity. They loaded up this card and the action was great. I really recommend this show to everyone.

Here is my schedule for the rest of the week:

Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 5/28/89

Wednesday: EVOLVE 73

Thursday: Kayfabe Commentaries Guest Booker: Re-Booking Dallas with Gary Hart

Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 6/3/89

Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 5/13/82

Sunday: WWF Boston Garden 6/3/89

Monday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/4/89