Vince McMahon and Randy Savage provide commentary for this episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which was taped in Omaha, Nebraska on April 15. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 9,400, with 7,000 fans paying to attend. According to oswreview.com, the show drew a rating of 7.7. While it is impossible to compare to the prior edition because of a lack of data, this show outperformed the 7.2 rating that Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVII earned in July 1990. This would be the last Saturday Night’s Main Event to air on NBC until March 18, 2006.
Savage interviews Sergeant Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan, telling them that he hopes they finish off the Ultimate Warrior. Slaughter reminds people that he beat the Warrior for the WWF Championship at The Royal Rumble and brings them up to speed on his feud with Hulk Hogan. He warns the Warrior that he might take away the breath he has left after surviving the Undertaker’s casket.
Gene Okerlund talks with the Warrior after recapping how he was trapped in a coffin several weeks ago. He promises to bring the “ultimate battle” to Slaughter.
Opening Contest: The Ultimate Warrior (1-1) beats Sergeant Slaughter (w/General Adnan & Colonel Mustafa) (5-2) via disqualification when Adnan and Mustafa interfere at 7:17 shown:
Slaughter does a better job holding his own than he did at The Royal Rumble, working the Warrior’s back and getting timely help from his allies on the floor. As Slaughter works two long bearhugs, Paul Bearer wheels out the casket that the Warrior was trapped in on Superstars. That distracts the Warrior after he escapes the bearhug and after a commercial break he does his finishing routine. Bearer opens the casket to reveal the Undertaker, who sits up and glances at the Warrior. The Warrior is perplexed at the sight of the Undertaker and at that point Slaughter and his cronies pile into the ring to attack the former WWF champion, causing a disqualification. This was nowhere near the quality of their Rumble match and served more to put over the Warrior’s feud with the Undertaker. The Undertaker’s sit up from the coffin made for great television, though. Rating: ½*
After the bell, the heels briefly beat on the Warrior until Hulk Hogan makes the save. Hogan hits the Undertaker in the face with the WWF Championship Belt but the Undertaker does not sell it. However, Hogan does succeed in chasing Slaughter and his allies to the locker room. In the ring, the Undertaker misses elbow drops on the Warrior but does not sell the Warrior’s clotheslines. A flying shoulder block sends the Undertaker over the top rope but he lands on his feet. At that point, Pat Patterson and other WWF referees run into the ring and keep the Warrior from following up. The WWF did a nice job of mixing the Hogan-Slaughter and Warrior-Undertaker feuds in with this post-match angle, especially because it also gives a preview of a possible Hogan-Undertaker feud in the future.
Okerlund interviews WWF Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart. The Nasties say that the Bushwhackers are nutty, not nasty and they are going to beat the crazy out of them tonight.
Roddy Piper talks with the Bushwhackers, who lick him and try to bite his rear end.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Nasty Boys (Champions w/Jimmy Hart) (9-0) defeat the Bushwhackers (6-0) when Brian Knobbs pins Butch with a jackknife roll up at 6:47:
After posting a 34-2 mark over the last two years, the Bushwhackers finally get a shot at the tag team titles. This bout departs from the comedy that is typical of most Bushwhacker matches and they dominate most of the encounter, keeping the Nasties off balance with double clotheslines and Battering Rams. The Bushwhackers come close to winning the titles when Knobbs hoists Butch up for a slam and Luke takes his leg out, but Jerry Sags makes the save. A big fault of the match is the weak finish as Knobbs traps Butch in a jackknife roll up near the ropes and Sags uses one of his legs to give his partner extra leverage for the winning fall. Still, it was a serviceable outing for both teams, especially the Bushwhackers. Rating: *½
After the bell, the Bushwhackers clear the champions out of the ring with Battering Rams.
Okerlund interviews the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. They argue that death awaits the Ultimate Warrior and the Undertaker will not rest until the Warrior rests in peace.
Okerlund talks with Earthquake and Jimmy Hart while uncensored footage of Earthquake squashing Damien earlier in the day on Superstars is shown. Earthquake says he is going to target Jake Roberts first and then go after Hulk Hogan.
Savage talks with Roberts. Roberts likens Damien’s demise to losing a loved one and says that he has a new snake called Lucifer.
Okerlund interviews WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, who promises to get through the battle royal alive and then take the fight to Sergeant Slaughter.
Twenty-Man Battle Royal: Mr. Perfect wins after eliminating Greg Valentine at 12:57:
Other Participants: The Barbarian, the Big Bossman, the British Bulldog, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Earthquake, Haku, Hulk Hogan, the Orient Express, Power & Glory, Jake Roberts, the Rockers, Jimmy Snuka, the Texas Tornado, Tugboat, and the Warlord
There no stakes in this match other than bragging rights. Old and new feuds come to the surface as well as Paul Roma and Marty Jannetty eliminate each other and the Warlord dumps the Bulldog. Roberts also lives up to pre-match talk by going after Earthquake, only to get dumped by his rival. Roberts gets Lucifer out to go after Earthquake, but the big man stays in the ring and WWF officials force Roberts to leave. Earthquake is then unceremoniously dumped after the commercial break by Hogan. And Hogan has a target on his back as WWF champion, fending off attacks by friend and foe alike. Duggan gets in a few token shots and Tugboat goes after Hogan like he did in the Royal Rumble, succeeding this time in sending the WWF champion over the top rope. The match settles on a unique final four of Shawn Michaels, Perfect, Valentine, and the Barbarian and Michaels, who gets to eliminate Tugboat and Haku prior to the end, has a great back-and-forth with Perfect. Perfect whips Michaels into the corner and Michaels does a Flair flip, ending up on the apron. Michaels avoids Perfect’s first attempt to knock him off the apron, but an elbow from the Intercontinental champion knocks Michaels to the floor. Heel miscommunication allows Valentine to knock the Barbarian out, leaving Valentine to have a nice mini-match with Perfect. The Hammer hurls Perfect over the top rope, but Perfect ends up on the apron and then Perfect shifts his weight when Valentine tries to toss him a second time, sending Valentine to the floor. This was standard battle royal booking, with the final four bits making it above average. Rating: **½
Okerlund talks with Ted DiBiase and Sensational Sherri. They put over how money is stronger than heart. DiBiase also promises to give Bret Hart a crutch, the same gift that he gave to Roddy Piper.
Bret Hart (3-0) wrestles Ted DiBiase (w/Sensational Sherri) (7-2) to a double count out at 9:55:
Piper joins commentary for this bout, which is the biggest test of Bret’s new singles push thus far. Sherri has a nice dress that mirrors DiBiase’s entrance gear. As expected, she gets involved several times in the match, choking Bret with her jacket but also ending up in a bit of heel miscommunication at the beginning when DiBiase knocks her off the apron with a running knee. Bret blocks the Million Dollar Dream by ramming DiBiase into the turnbuckles and turns the tide after catching DiBiase with a fist to the cut when the Million Dollar Man tries an ax handle off the second rope. The crowd goes wild for moves of doom near-falls, which are cut short by Sherri grabbing Bret’s foot when he runs the ropes. Bret goes after Sherri and when DiBiase takes advantage, Piper comes to ringside to even the tide. Piper grabs a broom from underneath the ring, smacks Sherri on the rear, and chases her to the locker room while running with the broom between his legs. DiBiase leaves the ring to go after Piper and Bret follows, with each man trading blows in the aisle until they are counted out. These two had amazing chemistry and the crowd’s reaction to Bret reinforced how he was a star in the making. Rating: ***½
The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) (12-0) defeats Tito Santana (4-1) after using the cattle prod at 4:27:
This is a rematch from WrestleMania VII last month, where these two were forced to work an abbreviated match because of time constraints. It has a good opening but slows down when the Mountie takes control. Santana hits the Mountie with the flying forearm, but the referee stops the count when Hart tries to get in the ring. Santana flattens Hart with a flying forearm, sending the cattle prod into the ring. The Mountie gets a hold of it, shocks Santana in the neck, and scores another cheap win over the Arriba Man. Rating: *½
Okerlund interviews Sergeant Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan. Slaughter talks about scratching the rest of Hulk Hogan’s skin off to end Hulkamania.
Roddy Piper chats with Hogan, who says he has secret weapons to deal with Slaughter.
The Last Word: This was a fun episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event as there were two above average matches and new stars like the Undertaker had a chance to shine on a primetime stage. Shawn Michaels making the final four of the battle royal gave him an opportunity to show what he could do, continuing an impressive run for him over the last month as he also had an entertaining singles match with Mr. Perfect a week before WrestleMania VII. The only thing that is looking out of place is Hulk Hogan’s feud with Sergeant Slaughter since it still has lots of war analogies when the Persian Gulf War has been over for two months.
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