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WWF Saturday Night's Main Event November 29th, 1986

November 29, 1986

From the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA

Your hosts are Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Vince McMahon


Tonight, Randy Savage defends his Intercontinental Title against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Also, Koko B. Ware takes on Nikolai Volkoff, Hart Foundation take on the Killer Bees,and Roddy Piper takes on Cowboy Bob Orton. And Hulk Hogan puts up the WWF Heavyweight Title against Hercules.



WWF Intercontinental Title Match
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage (Champion) w/ Elizabeth

Savage was great in his preshow promo, telling Elizabeth to shut up and polish his belt. Jake cut an impressive promo himself. The crowd is amped for Roberts, even starting a "DDT" chant. Roberts intimidates both Savage and Elizabeth with the snake before the match. They start off playing mindgames as Savage slips out of a DDT attempt and ducks outside and Roberts chases him around until they wind up back in the ring. Savage traps Roberts in the corner and hammers away, getting a nearfall in the process. He tries to put Roberts a few more times and fails. Roberts fights back but Savage grabs his hairs then ties him up in the ropes as they go to break. When they come back, Roberts breaks free then knees Savage through the ropes. He goes out and grabs the snake bag then comes back in and hits Savage with a short-armed clothesline that gets two as Savage got his foot on the ropes. The camera shows a worried Elizabeth as Roberts teases a DDT and hits a gordbuster instead and Savage once again breaks the count by getting his foot on the ropes. The fans are really into Roberts. Roberts knocks down Savage then tries for the DDT again but Savage is able to hook on to the ropes and duck outside. Roberts goes outside and Savage uses Elizabeth as a shield then attacks Jake from behind. He heads up top and hits Jake with a double axe handle. Back inside, Savage gets a nearfall with another double axe handle. He heads up top again but Roberts catches him with a shot to the face. Roberts yanks Savage to the floor and roughs him up before rolling him back inside. Savage knees Roberts and fires away then shoves referee Dave Hebner when he tries to intervene. Roberts takes the advantage and also shoves the ref as he tries to break things up as the ref rings the bell and rules the match a double DQ (9:30) ***1/2. After the match, Savage grabs a chair then Roberts gets his snake and chases him away.

Thoughts: Great stuff. These two had the crowd in the palm of their hands the entire time. It also showed just how popular Jake was, even as a heel, and his face turn would happen shortly.



WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Hulk Hogan (Champion)

They battle over a test of strength until Hercules breaks that up by ramming Hogan's chest. He slugs away in the corner but Hogan reverses an Irish whip and hits Hercules with a corner clothesline. Hercules ducks a clothesline but Hogan catches him with a high knee. Heenan runs up on the apron and Hogan chases him around for a bit. Back inside, Hogan boots down Hercules before hitting a slam but misses an elbow drop as Hercules takes control. He sends Hogan into the corner and targets the back then puts him in the backbreaker as Jesse on commentary is yelling how he heard Hogan say that he quit. Hercules drops Hogan down and acts as if he has won but referee Dave Hebner tells him that he did not as Jesse loses his mind on commentary. Hercules covers and gets two as Hogan hulks up immediately and unloads on Hercules. He rams his head off of the turnbuckle ten times then chops him down before hitting the big boot then getting the win with a leg drop (6:30) *1/4.

Thoughts: Fine for what it was as they got Hercules over more than he was before this and seeing Hogan defend the belt on TV was a must-see event among WWF fans so that was cool. The finish here (hulking up after kicking out of a pin then big boot/leg drop) made it's debut on a National level in this match I believe.



Ventura is shown at a restaurant interviewing Bob Orton and Jimmy Hart. He asks Orton about being Piper's best friend as Orton says that Piper stole all the glory and says that he does not have any friends now as this leads to Vince introducing us to a video package of the Orton/Piper friendship set to the Clearance Clemons & Jackson Browne tune "You're a Friend of Mine." It was a great video.



"Cowboy" Bob Orton w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Roddy Piper

Muraco comes out wearing a kilt to stand in Orton's corner but the referee sends him to the back as you see agent Chief Jay Strongbow escort him back. In the ring, Piper wins a slugfest then takes him down with a bulldog. Orton backs away and begs for mercy but Piper bites his forehead then sends him into the corner. Piper gets two off of a kneelift but ducks his head and Orton takes him down with an uppercut. He hits a gutbuster and a fist drop that gets two. Orton misses an elbow drop then but Hart grabs Piper. Orton stops short after Piper escaped but gets knocked into Hart then Piper rolls him up for the win (3:48) *.

Thoughts: Basic match. With Adonis back, the WWF had little use for Orton and he began his sharp decline down the card until leaving in the middle of next year.



Mean Gene is backstage with Piper and asks him about being on his own and not out to win "popularity contest" as Piper brags about getting revenge on Orton and calls out Muraco and Adonis after that. They were slowly turning Piper into a traditional babyface role with this as the first step.



Killer Bees vs. Hart Foundation

The Bees start the match working over Brett as we get an insert promo of the Bees being interviewed wearing their masks trying to confuse Okerlund. Neidhart tags and the Bees take him down with a double elbow smash. Brett knees Brunzell in the back from the apron as the Hart Foundation take control. Neidhart dropkicks Brunzell then applies a chinlock. Brett tags and hammers away as the Hart Foundation continues to cut off the ring. Back from break, Brunzell gets two with a sunset flip but Brett knocks him down then tags Neidhart. The Hart Foundation continue to work Brunzell until he dropkicks Brett. Brunzell makes the tag but the referee did not see it and orders Blair back to the apron as Neidhart knocks him down. The Bees go underneath the ring and get their masks as Blair is in the ring and cleans house. He puts Neidhart in a sleeper but Brett breaks it up with an attack from behind but Brunzell sneaks in and plays possum then is able to catch Brett in a small package for the win (9:00) **1/2.

Thoughts: Solid match. I have seen better from these two but still fun. The announcers all but called this a number one contender match too as it was seen as a huge win for the Bees.



Nikolai Volkoff w/ Slick vs. Koko B. Ware

Volkoff attacks Koko as Slick distracted the referee. Volkoff hammers away in the corner but Koko dodges a charge and punches away. He hits Volkoff with some odd-looking hurricarana then follows that with a pair of dropkicks for a nearfall. Volkoff takes control and hits a slam but misses a kneedrop. Koko hits him with a missile dropkick for two. Volkoff knees him in the face and hits him with his backbreaker but picks Koko back up after two and goes over to Slick for advice but that allows Koko to get up and knock him into Slick and roll up Volkoff for the win (2:30) 1/2*.

Thoughts: A cheap win that continues Koko's midcard push and keeps Volkoff relatively strong. Really not much more to say other than that.



In the locker room, Okerlund is with Hogan. He asks him about Ventura pointing out weaknesses in his match tonight as Hogan talks about the power of Hulkamania.



"The Rebel" Dick Slater vs. Don Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji

Fuji sings "Dixieland" in a prematch promo that makes me laugh. Muraco knocks down Slater and sends him into the corner. Slater slips out of a fireman's carry then knocks down Muraco. He hits a few elbow smashes then climbs up top for an elbow smash but Fuji puts Muraco's foot on the ropes to break the count. Fuji then trips up Slater but Muraco misses an elbow drop. Muraco then hits a poor excuse of a clothesline to get the win (2:12) DUD.

Thoughts: These two were just going through the motions as Muraco had become increasingly lazy and bloated and Slater was a step above a TV jobber as he was failing in his role. Well, he was terribly miscast anyway. Slater would not be here much longer as he was gone just before WrestleMania III.



Final Thoughts: A really good show. The opener was great and the tag match was fun. The Heavyweight title bout was solid and for the Piper fans, you got to see him get revenge on Orton. Sure, the final two matches were nothing much but that was expected with these shows.



Here is the rest of my schedule

Thursday: YouShoot with Teddy Long
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 11/30/86
Saturday: RoH Retribution: Round Robin Challenge Two 4/26/03
Sunday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 12/6/86
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 12/7/86






Comments

  1. Great stuff. Keep up the good work. This is one of my favorite SNME's.

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  2. This was a great show...the rematch cage match between Roberts and Savage in early 87 was supposedly a classic.

    Great review

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  3. CruelConnectionNumber2November 5, 2014 at 1:36 AM

    Teddy Long shoot is amazing, take your time!

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  4. At the end of the Harts/Bees match both Brunzell and Blair cried backstage and told Bret he should be champion in perpetuity

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  5. Loved the review, Bayless, as usual.

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  6. I remember them using "You're a Friend of Mine" during a Hogan-Savage video, literally minutes before the "Megapowers Explode!" Main Event show. They squeezed that ish for what it was worth, but that should've been Clue #1 that something was going down that night.

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  7. I'm upvoting you because the "Megatron as Autobot" avatar is sweet (and looking like a good storyline).

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  8. Thanks man. MTMTE is a fine, fine book just now. Hope you renounced your avatar and it's offshoots as commanded...

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  9. Best parts of the old SNMEs: The pre-Credits promos with the animated logos in the background (and the porn music lol)

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