The Joy of WWF Saturday Night's Main Event 7/28/90

During this era, there was no program I looked forward to more than Saturday Night's Main Event. My dad would tape it for me and I'd watch the tapes over and over, and this episode was one of my favorites. It's a loaded episode with all the belts on the line, and several memorable performances. Let's see how much I like it 30 years later. 

Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior

ER: A smokin' great Rude performance in front of an unhinged crowd that loved every single thing Warrior did. Warrior's entrance reactions were at their peak here (and it's kind of amazing how loud this crowd stayed for this show considering they had already sat through THREE long Superstars tapings) and Rude was almost certainly Warrior's best ever opponent. This isn't one of their greatest matches, and Rude doesn't get much offense, but Rude stooged his way through this and built to him almost winning the belt. Rude took big bumps on Irish whips into turnbuckles, got tossed by a press slam, ate axe handles like they were dangerous projectiles, and gave us two immaculate atomic drop sells. I can't imagine having more fun as a professional wrestler than getting atomic dropped in front of 8,000 loud fans, then sticking your tailbone out and duck walking across the ring on your tiptoes before getting laid out with a clothesline. Rude's atomic drop selling is probably the greatest stooge sell of all time, and it's amazing how uniquely he treated the bump and always found new gags to add in. I love the heel aspect of Rude coming back by wasting Warrior with a belt shot, nailing him with a convincing nearfall Rude Awakening, leaping onto his back to really sink in a sleeper (Warrior hilariously getting his leg lifted by the ref like he's doing Jan Fonda glute exercises), and of course all the distraction and interference Heenan ran from ringside. I loved Heenan stopping the count and then walking all the way down the entrance way like he was just minding his own business, not interfering in a pro wrestling match. The finish is a big mess with Warrior taking it all out on Heenan (Heenan gets his face bounced off all the turnbuckles and takes a wild bump to the floor after getting tossed) and the match gets called a DQ. But what a tremendous Rude performance, the kind that keeps moving him up my list of favorite wrestlers ever. 

They play *that* Hulk Hogan tribute video, and watching it again with adult eyes I kind of forgive myself for thinking that Hulk Hogan had actually died because of Earthquake. If you showed this to someone who was unfamiliar with the angle, I can only assume that they would think Hulk Hogan died, or at minimum was seriously injured. The entire video really plays like Hogan got crushed to death by Earthquake. I liked the in ring Hogan promo and the intensity of Earthquake/Dino Bravo surrounding the ring, with a big tumbling save from Tugboat. I'm really surprised they didn't run the Hogan/Tugboat vs. Earthquake/Bravo tag match sooner (they ran it a few times on house shows, but not for several months after this aired, and this tag didn't air on TV until 6 months later), but this angle played out really well on TV. 

The Rockers vs. Demolition (Smash/Crush)

ER: Crush is kinda clumsy and doesn't have great timing, and this probably would have been better with Ax and Smash. But Ax gives a strong ringside performance and Smash puts in a great performance. Barry Darsow was a real goofball but was good at creating openings for the small Rockers and good at directing tags with Crush. Rockers looked good, had a couple nice headscissors and dropkicked both Smash and Crush to the floor. Eadie hits a great lariat on the floor to allow Demolition to take control, and the simple control segment is good. Crush hits big backbreakers on Marty Jannetty and even hits a cool press slam to throw him from the floor over the top rope. Michaels and Crush probably mix up less than anyone in the match, but Crush was fun as a big lug taking cruiser offense. The finish run is really fun with the Rockers hitting a great tandem superkick on Smash, then hitting the spot of the match with a gorgeous tandem fistdrop. Michaels hits an O'Connor roll on Smash but Ax comes in and nukes him with a clothesline, fun use of the masked heel finish. 

Mr. Perfect vs. Tito Santana

ER: This was great, a rematch of the finals of the IC Title tourney (after Warrior vacated the title), and even better than that match. Tito gets such a wonderful, loud babyface reaction throughout the match, with especially loud cheers coming from women. The cheers were higher pitch and loud, and Perfect bumped all over the ring and floor in a way that really made it look like Tito had a chance. Sure, it's not surprising to hear that Perfect bumped his way through a match, but these bumps came off like Tito was a serious threat, almost all of them felt like an actual extension of the move he was taking and not like athletic showing off. He flew to the floor two different times, really flying out past the top rope no his way to the floor; he took a couple of his signature flip bumps that land him on his head, getting his leg swept on the floor and in the ring. The in ring leg sweep bump is Perfect's signature, but I don't remember seeing him use it on the floor like this, not often. 

We get a long stretch of Earl Hebner selling a leg injury, and it takes a lot for Tito and Perfect to not let him overshadow everything. Hebner got run up on and he drags himself all around the edges of the ring as if he took sniper fire from the rafters. He's a wounded soldier in there and hilariously, Perfect has to overact just to try to combat Hebner's extreme overacting. So Hennig is selling Tito's figure 4 as if acid were being slowly poured up his legs, and we build to a nice dramatic moment where Tito hits the flying forearm and Hebner laboriously crawls over, bleeding out, leg likely already lost, and only makes a 2 count. Fans really want Tito to take this, and it's a great moment when Tito finally gets his new referee, running triumphantly down to the ring to gently nudge Hebner out to the floor. Once we get the new ref, the home stretch is brilliant. Perfect takes TWO atomic drops, meaning this show had TWO Minnesotans (the biological best bumpers on the planet) each taking TWO atomic drops and creating FOUR unique atomic drop bumps in the process (Perfect's silliest involved him getting bounced face first into the turnbuckle). The finish itself is so well executed and felt like one of those cool Arn finishes: Tito ducks down for a backdrop that Perfect scouts, Perfect stops short and grabs him for a Perfect Plex, Tito expects that and blocks it with a small package, and Perfect reversed the small package and narrowly escapes with a 3. I could easily see someone lifting this finish today, except Perfect and Tito made it look like actual logical reversals and not two dance partners over anticipating movements that haven't yet come. This is one of the more fondly remembered matches in SNME history, and it earns that acclaim. 

Buddy Rose vs. Kerry von Erich

ER: This is von Erich's TV debut, and really there aren't many cooler things in wrestling history than Kerry von Erich's long shag underneath a headband. Buddy Rose is a really fun but opponent for a debuting von Erich. Rose is gigantic and has two of the more memorable bumps on a show that had Rick Rude, Shawn Michaels, and Mr. Perfect in full title matches. He slaps Kerry to start and spends the rest of the match getting his ass kicked in and out of the ring. It's great. Kerry slams him, Buddy stumbles around and gets caught in the ropes, does that crazy huge fat guy Harley Race bump where he hangs off the bottom rope by his feet and falls on his head, and he leans right into a spins into the mat after taking the discus punch. This match and a two minute Superstars match are the only two times these absolute wrestling legends crossed paths, two stars from different worlds orbiting each other for merely 5 total minutes.