Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper do commentary and they are taped from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The broadcast drew a rating of 8.6 (15 million viewers), a significant decline from the 12.8 rating and 20.9 million viewers that the last Main Event drew in February.
Gene Okerlund talks with Ted DiBiase. DiBiase is such a cold act that the WWF recycles his vignettes from his debut and how he cost Hulk Hogan the WWF Championship in 1988. DiBiase repeats his signature phrase that everyone has a price for the Million Dollar Man.
Sean Mooney interviews WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior, who says that the power that runs through the veins of his fans cannot be bought.
Opening Contest for the WWF Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (Champion) (8-0) defeats Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) (22-2-1) via disqualification after Virgil interferes at 10:00 shown:
DiBiase is given a chance to avenge a loss to the Warrior at The Wrestling Summit which took place a few days after WrestleMania VI. The time constraints of the show force the action to keep going, treating fans to an entertaining match where DiBiase survives the Warrior’s initial blitz and uses Virgil to get the advantage. There is an entertaining back-and-forth in the middle as DiBiase scores a couple of near-falls and the Warrior does the same from a backslide and sunset flip. DiBiase never manages to lock in the Million Dollar Dream as the Warrior shakes the ropes after blocking a DiBiase double ax handle off the second rope. However, before the Warrior can get a clean win, Virgil does a run-in after ten minutes of intense action. Rating: ***
After the bell, the Warrior briefly beats up Virgil and lifts him for a gorilla press slam. However, Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri do a run-in and Savage hits the Warrior in the gut with a scepter. Savage launches attacks off the top rope and Sherri chokes the Warrior with the scepter as WWF officials flood the ring to stop the attack. Eventually, the heels retreat and the Warrior gets to his feet on his own as McMahon does his best to put over the moment as a big deal.
Mooney interviews Savage and Sherri. Savage says that DiBiase paid him to beat up the Warrior after the match but he would have done it for free.
Okerlund talks with Sergeant Slaughter and General Adnan. Slaughter says that America does not have guts anymore and the Iraqi flag is what he is proud to represent.
The next match is supposed to be Slaughter vs. Nikolai Volkoff but Slaughter beats up Volkoff with a riding crop before the bell, briefly puts him in the Camel Clutch, and spits on him until Hacksaw Jim Duggan makes the save. This officially transitions Volkoff’s feud with Slaughter to Duggan.
Okerlund chats with the Big Bossman, who says that Mr. Perfect is not going to prevent him from punishing Bobby Heenan for making fun of his mother.
Mr. Perfect (32-3) defeats The Big Bossman (29-2) via count out after Bobby Heenan interferes at 8:16:
McMahon says that Heenan is not in Perfect’s corner because he does not want to interact with the Bossman. The parts where the Bossman are in the control are the best bits of the match because of Perfect bumping like a madman. Each man trades turns bumping into an exposed turnbuckle. After the Bossman is whipped into the exposed steel, Heenan comes to ringside. Bossman counters the Perfectplex with a small package for a near-fall and then kicks out of it moments later. Heenan pulls down the top rope to help Perfect, but Perfect ends up hurting from that when the Bossman counters an Irish whip. The Bossman tries to lay his hands on Heenan, but Heenan gets free and the Bossman chases him to the locker room and gets counted out, giving us another cop-out finish on the show. Rating: **
Okerlund talks to a befuddled Heenan, who begs Okerlund to help him.
A mock advertisement for Buddy Rose’s “Blow Away” diet airs next. This is a great piece of work as Rose puts a powder on his large frame and has an electric fan blow it off. According to Bruce Prichard, the ad was Rose’s idea. It would have been a good vehicle to introduce Rose and enhance the heel side of the roster but the effect is muted because of Rose’s jobber status.
Rick Martel (17-1-1) defeats Tito Santana (16-10-1) via submission to the Boston Crab at 6:47:
Going into this match Martel was 2-0 against Santana for the year, pinning him on Prime Time on April 26 and beating him on Wrestling Challenge via disqualification on November 11. Martel has a lot of heat from the Roberts feud, so that enhances the match because the crowd rallies behind Santana. Both men have a good technical exchange as Santana works the arm while Martel later works the back. Santana blocks Martel coming off the top rope, but Martel blocks a figure-four effort and traps Santana in the Boston Crab for an eighth straight win. Santana typically lost feature matches by something fluky, so this was a more decisive loss than normal. It also keeps Martel’s momentum going since he earned a third straight victory over superstar talents in as many shows. Rating: **¼
Okerlund interviews Jake Roberts. Roberts argues that Martel is out in the open and can be hunted one-on-one because Survivor Series is over.
Mooney interviews WWF Champion the Ultimate Warrior, who is angry that Randy Savage made his fans cry earlier in the show.
The Last Word: This was a fun one hour show even with the lack of clean finishes in most of the matches. Ted DiBiase’s outing in the opener is evidence of how the WWF botched the Ultimate Warrior’s title push because DiBiase could have feuded with the Warrior after WrestleMania VI instead of Rick Rude and given the Warrior a fresh program. The heel beatdown on the Warrior by Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri was handled well, putting more heat on the Warrior-Savage program. It is a testament to Savage that he has already heated himself up again as a credible opponent since he was losing to Dusty Rhodes for much of the year on the circuit. And the feud is making the Warrior a relatable babyface, something that has hurt his run since WrestleMania. Sadly, this show did not draw a good rating, which did not help the Warrior’s case to keep the title. The poor rating also did not help the WWF’s relationship with NBC, frayed already by NBC’s decision to move this show out of its scheduled Saturday timeslot into a Friday one.
Up Next: WWF Superstars for November 24!