Unfortunately, my old VHS copy of this show was not working so I watched in on YouTube, which did not have the interview with Lauper & Albano before her music video was shown.
May 11, 1985
Your hosts are Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon
Vince welcomes the crowd, which is absolutely jacked, and runs down the show. Both Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper will be here. Also, two championship matches will take place as Wendi Richter defends her Women's Championship against the Fabulous Moolah and Hulk Hogan defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Bob Orton.
Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff & George "The Animal" Steele w/ Freddie Blassie vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo & Ricky Steamboat w/Capt. Lou Albano
Windham works over Sheik to the delight of the crowd. The faces then all take turns working on the arm until Rotundo grabs a front facelock. The match breaks down then the faces clear the ring of the heels. Back from break, Steamboat is working the arm of the Sheik. He hits a powerslam then a missile dropkick. Flying body press gets two after Volkoff breaks up the pin. The faces take turns beating on Volkoff for a bit. Rotundo gets a few nearfalls until the Animal tags into the match. He runs around then looks for a tag but his partners bail and that allows Windham to rolll him up from behind for the win (6:29) **1/4. After the match, Sheik and Volkoff return to beat on the Animal. Albano comes into the ring and consoles his former client.
Thoughts: Good action and it was weird to see the faces completely dominate the match. Also, the first ever segment on SNME had George Steele turn to the lovable babyface he portrayed until he retired.
Piper's Pit with guest Paul Orndorff. The segment starts with Orndorff ordering Orton to the corner, quoting Eastwood's "make my day" line. Piper flips out about this then Orndorff finally sits down and calls out Piper for abandoning him after their match at WrestleMania. Piper accuses Orndorff of losing his guts then says that he has drinking "too much of his own bathwater." Piper flat out calls him a piece of garbage and calls Orndorff an embarrassment to him, Orton, and his family. Piper tries to cheapshot Orndorff but he blocks it and goes after Piper and Orton. He has Piper up for the piledriver but Orton attacks him from behind. They beat on him until Mr. T runs out for the save. Good stuff.
Okerlund is with Hulk Hogan. He asks him about what just happened on "Piper's Pit." Hogan says that Orndorff felt what it was like inside to have people behind him and says that he now has a change of heart and wishes him the best.
WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
"Cowboy" Bob Orton w/Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan (Champion) w/ Mr. T
Mr. T and Hogan rip off each other's shirts in an attempt to showcase wrestling's homoeroticism to a national audience. Orton tries to attack from behind ut Hogan catches him. He chases him around then gets a backdrop and a few slams. Orton bails then Hogan works the arm when he re-enters the ring. Orton comes back ith a knee smash then hammers away for a few minutes until Hogan hulks up. He hits a clothesline then drops an elbow for two. He works on him in the coner but Orton breaks that up with an inverted atomic drop. He sets him up for the superplex as the crowd is in awe but Hogan knocks him off the top and hits an elbow smash. Hogan then drops the leg but Piper cheapshots him and the ref rings the bell for the DQ (6:54) *3/4. After the match, Mr. T runs out but he gets duble-teamed in the corner. Orndorff runs out to back the faces, officially cementing his turn.
Thoughts: Not much of a match but decent enough. Lots of stalling and a good amount of attention was paid to the guys on the outside. We now have our main event matches set up for the next few months.
We are shown a music video from Cyndi Lauper's song "Good Enough" from the "Goonies" sound track. The song was awful. Afterwards, Albano and Lauper call it the greatest song ever until Piper runs out and rants at Lauper, stating that Sreven Spielberg asked him to be in the video and she had him cut his part.
WWF Women's Championship Match
Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter w/Cyndi Lauper
Before the match, Howard Finkel reads a note that orders Lauper to leave the floor and head back to the dressing room. Moolah kicks Richter out of the ring then stalls for a minute, allowing Richter to dropkick her out to the floor. Moolah gets roughed up for a minute then the girls slug it out in the ring. She pulls her off the ropes a few times but gets chopped and Moolah uses some cheap heel stuff until Richter hits her with a small package for the win (3:14) 1/4*. Lauper runs out with Dave Wolfe to congratulate with Richter.
Thoughts: The match was a lot of stalling but it most likely would have been a lot worse had it gone longer than several minutes.
Okerlund is with the Junkyard Dog and his mother. JYD says he took his mother to New York for Mother's Day. That was it for this interview.
Pete Dougherty vs. Junkyard Dog w/Bertha
JYD headbutts Dougherty then hits a clothesline. Dougherty starts screaming outside then JYD yanks him up by the hair. In the ring, JYD no-sells a few punches then uses his crawling headbutts. He slams Dougherty off the top rope then uses some more headbutts then hits the powerslam for the win (3:15) 1/4*. After the match, JYD and his mother dance in the ring to the delight of Vince.
Thoughts: A long, dull squash match. I am pretty sure that Vince wanted to highlight JYD dancing on a national stage as he was always way into his dancing segments.
Okerlund is backstage with everyone at Lauper's Mother's Day party. Typical wackiness from the 80's WWF including a drunk, ranitng Albano and Blassie lying to Okerlund about the hot young girl in a bikini being his mother. Moolah comes out, upset that she is not invited and ends up getting tossed into the giant cake that was on the table.
Final Thoughts: The wrestling wasn't much but they ran a really hot angle and the production values were much better than their other shows so it turned out okay. Two free title matches on TV was a huge deal back then as well.
May 11, 1985
Your hosts are Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon
Vince welcomes the crowd, which is absolutely jacked, and runs down the show. Both Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper will be here. Also, two championship matches will take place as Wendi Richter defends her Women's Championship against the Fabulous Moolah and Hulk Hogan defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Bob Orton.
Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff & George "The Animal" Steele w/ Freddie Blassie vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo & Ricky Steamboat w/Capt. Lou Albano
Windham works over Sheik to the delight of the crowd. The faces then all take turns working on the arm until Rotundo grabs a front facelock. The match breaks down then the faces clear the ring of the heels. Back from break, Steamboat is working the arm of the Sheik. He hits a powerslam then a missile dropkick. Flying body press gets two after Volkoff breaks up the pin. The faces take turns beating on Volkoff for a bit. Rotundo gets a few nearfalls until the Animal tags into the match. He runs around then looks for a tag but his partners bail and that allows Windham to rolll him up from behind for the win (6:29) **1/4. After the match, Sheik and Volkoff return to beat on the Animal. Albano comes into the ring and consoles his former client.
Thoughts: Good action and it was weird to see the faces completely dominate the match. Also, the first ever segment on SNME had George Steele turn to the lovable babyface he portrayed until he retired.
Piper's Pit with guest Paul Orndorff. The segment starts with Orndorff ordering Orton to the corner, quoting Eastwood's "make my day" line. Piper flips out about this then Orndorff finally sits down and calls out Piper for abandoning him after their match at WrestleMania. Piper accuses Orndorff of losing his guts then says that he has drinking "too much of his own bathwater." Piper flat out calls him a piece of garbage and calls Orndorff an embarrassment to him, Orton, and his family. Piper tries to cheapshot Orndorff but he blocks it and goes after Piper and Orton. He has Piper up for the piledriver but Orton attacks him from behind. They beat on him until Mr. T runs out for the save. Good stuff.
Okerlund is with Hulk Hogan. He asks him about what just happened on "Piper's Pit." Hogan says that Orndorff felt what it was like inside to have people behind him and says that he now has a change of heart and wishes him the best.
WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
"Cowboy" Bob Orton w/Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan (Champion) w/ Mr. T
Mr. T and Hogan rip off each other's shirts in an attempt to showcase wrestling's homoeroticism to a national audience. Orton tries to attack from behind ut Hogan catches him. He chases him around then gets a backdrop and a few slams. Orton bails then Hogan works the arm when he re-enters the ring. Orton comes back ith a knee smash then hammers away for a few minutes until Hogan hulks up. He hits a clothesline then drops an elbow for two. He works on him in the coner but Orton breaks that up with an inverted atomic drop. He sets him up for the superplex as the crowd is in awe but Hogan knocks him off the top and hits an elbow smash. Hogan then drops the leg but Piper cheapshots him and the ref rings the bell for the DQ (6:54) *3/4. After the match, Mr. T runs out but he gets duble-teamed in the corner. Orndorff runs out to back the faces, officially cementing his turn.
Thoughts: Not much of a match but decent enough. Lots of stalling and a good amount of attention was paid to the guys on the outside. We now have our main event matches set up for the next few months.
We are shown a music video from Cyndi Lauper's song "Good Enough" from the "Goonies" sound track. The song was awful. Afterwards, Albano and Lauper call it the greatest song ever until Piper runs out and rants at Lauper, stating that Sreven Spielberg asked him to be in the video and she had him cut his part.
WWF Women's Championship Match
Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter w/Cyndi Lauper
Before the match, Howard Finkel reads a note that orders Lauper to leave the floor and head back to the dressing room. Moolah kicks Richter out of the ring then stalls for a minute, allowing Richter to dropkick her out to the floor. Moolah gets roughed up for a minute then the girls slug it out in the ring. She pulls her off the ropes a few times but gets chopped and Moolah uses some cheap heel stuff until Richter hits her with a small package for the win (3:14) 1/4*. Lauper runs out with Dave Wolfe to congratulate with Richter.
Thoughts: The match was a lot of stalling but it most likely would have been a lot worse had it gone longer than several minutes.
Okerlund is with the Junkyard Dog and his mother. JYD says he took his mother to New York for Mother's Day. That was it for this interview.
Pete Dougherty vs. Junkyard Dog w/Bertha
JYD headbutts Dougherty then hits a clothesline. Dougherty starts screaming outside then JYD yanks him up by the hair. In the ring, JYD no-sells a few punches then uses his crawling headbutts. He slams Dougherty off the top rope then uses some more headbutts then hits the powerslam for the win (3:15) 1/4*. After the match, JYD and his mother dance in the ring to the delight of Vince.
Thoughts: A long, dull squash match. I am pretty sure that Vince wanted to highlight JYD dancing on a national stage as he was always way into his dancing segments.
Okerlund is backstage with everyone at Lauper's Mother's Day party. Typical wackiness from the 80's WWF including a drunk, ranitng Albano and Blassie lying to Okerlund about the hot young girl in a bikini being his mother. Moolah comes out, upset that she is not invited and ends up getting tossed into the giant cake that was on the table.
Final Thoughts: The wrestling wasn't much but they ran a really hot angle and the production values were much better than their other shows so it turned out okay. Two free title matches on TV was a huge deal back then as well.
SNME was always awesome. I have them all on DVD. As a kid, it was the wrestling show I was most excited for, not counting PPVs of course.
ReplyDeleteTwo face turns, 2 title matches, and celebs all in one night, that's a pretty hot show.
ReplyDeleteVince ran a great show to present to a national audience.
ReplyDeleteI was too young at the time to watch but retroactively having watched most of the TV from 83 on its hard to buy orndorff as a face. That guy is a natural born heel who is hard to cheer for. My fave orndorff face moment was when he wrestled don muraco at wm2. He pointed at mr Fuji and made slant eyes at the crowd for a babyface pop lol
ReplyDeleteGreat recap of a classic show. I love the SNME shows, have the whole set on DVD I custom made. Recently rewatched the entire series again, and loved it all over again. Just a great way to remember how much better wrestling was in the 80s. If anyone wants to see my recap of this episode it's at http://nala310.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/wwf-saturday-night%E2%80%99s-main-event-1-%E2%80%93-may-11-1985/
ReplyDeleteGood think Ebersol took over production and helped teach them the quicker style production cuts and brighter lighting. They perfected it by the end of 1986.
ReplyDelete