Live Feed Mania – WWF The Main Event III 02/23/90
By Maffew Gregg on 8 January 2025
WWF @ Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena – February 23, 1990 (21,000)
I’ve been watching live satellite feeds courtesy of the one man supply depot that is Richard Land and thought it’d be nice to share the cool stuff you’re not supposed to be watching with all you lovely Windjammers.
This is the earliest one on his list and hey I remember this show, it’s the one with Mike Tyson refereeing, right?
In one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports entertainment boxing, Buster Douglas defeated The Baddest Man On The Planet on February 11th at the Tokyo Dome.
According to Bruce Prichard (on an episode of Something To Wrestle With that I can’t find right now and it’s not been uploaded in a separate video), all the voiceovers and advertising for The Main Event III had been done the week beforehand with the intention of Tyson being the guest ref because it wasn’t like he was losing or anything. So when Bruce headed for a break that weekend, he got a call that he had to come back to work to re-record everything and to also sign Buster up to be the new ref with two weeks notice. Luckily for WWF, Buster was a fan of the product and had no issues taking Tyson’s deal from him (as well as dozens of other products that were eager to throw money at him which was why he was able to retire comfortably after losing to Holyfield).
So was all the effort worth it? And are there any cool little bits from this little Satellite Feed? Buggered if I know, let’s watch it together and find out.
The feed starts and we get the very end of Haku & Andre retaining their tag titles against Demolition. All we get is a few seconds of Andre holding his belt up at ringside while Smash kicks a ring rope out of frustration. Yeah the WWE Vault can suck it, this is where the power lies.
Nothing happens for two minutes but you can see everyone in the crowd turning to where Jesse and Vince are getting ready to do their talking.
But before that, The Macho King lets us know he’s got the most powerful right hand in the world because it’s full of Macho Madness! Jack Tunney then reminds Buster that this is the WWF so don’t cause any problems. Also his trainer has a bad haircut and a red cap so I legit thought he was Pete Rose. Then Hogan compares everything to explosions and TNT because he knowsallaboutbombs.
Main Event intro featuring clips of Buster like he’s part of the roster. I don’t recall him appearing in wrestling after this but let me know if I’m wrong.
Vince and Jesse introduce the show and makes sure to mention that Tyson’s management pulled him out of the show so there’s nothing they can do about that but HEY WE’VE GOT THE GUY THAT KNOCKED TYSON ON HIS BUTT. After Jesse says that, the cameras make sure to get a good luck at this happy fan and his sign:
We head to break but the feed stays with the commentators. They don’t say anything but Jesse burps loudly at one point.
Backstage, Macho King tells Mean Gene he’s glad Tyson pulled out because he discovered Mike’s great grandmother was a card-carrying Hulkamaniac and there would have been no way he’d have called it down the middle. Sherri thankfully reminds Savage and the audience that oh right, this is a world title match. Savage then shoves Sherri out the way as they both head to their throne. Tremendous ham.
Hogan says he heard that Buster is a proud American who says his prayers and all that but he’d better watch out or else Hogan is walking out the WWF and Undisputed boxing champion tonight. Hogan comes across as his usual selfish coked up self but then we get a few timid, dull words from Buster and suddenly I’m hoping Hogan drops him.
WWF World Heavyweight Title
Hulk Hogan vs. Macho King Randy Savage
Guest Outside Referee Buster Douglas
Their last match against one another in the WWF. Jesse says Savage & Sherri remind him of Harry & Leona Helmsley, and it’s surreal hearing that surname in a different context.
Hogan naturally batters Savage until the King needs a breather outside, with Buster stopping Hogan from causing more offence. Then Savage sends Hogan outside so when Randy tries an Axe Handle off the top, Buster blocks and gets his fist ready. Then brave Hogan goes for Sherri on the apron which causes Savage to accidentally bounce her off it before landing an Axe Boombaah as we’re apparently skipping to the end. Hogan continues to dominate to such a degree that Hebner has to warn him, with Hogan threatening to throw him over the top rope again. Hey that was a nice callback to Main Event 1, that went unnoticed by the commentators. Wounded Sherri grabs Hogan’s ankle so Savage can finally get some shots in. After being blasted, Jesse gets a jab in about the ref making slow counts (for people who don’t remember, there was controversy that didn’t last long about the count on Douglas’ KO being slow) and then Buster escorts Sherri to the back for blatantly choking Savage in front of him.
We got to a commercial break but the match continues due to the power of satellites. Savage applies a chinlock on Hogan as he waits to be told when they’re back on the air. Vince goes over the next few segments with someone via his head-set and then we’re back with Douglas returning to the ringside area after dumping Sherri in the recycling bin.
Hogan escapes the chinlock but Savage knocks him down and tries to pin him with one foot. Axe Handle off the top to the outside sets up a second, crappier one in the ring for two. Jesse is yelling about a potential upset like what happened to Tyson because it’s been three minutes since we mentioned it. Douglas prevents a third Axe Handle to somehow tease he’s unbiased but even the seeing eye dogs can tell he’s just doing his job. Savage lands the top rope elbow beautifully but the lack of heat for it being a potential finish demonstrates his place on the card at this point. Hogan of course kicks out with ease, beats up Savage who accidentally bumps the ref so after a leg drop, Buster does his job and counts the pin at 11:52.
Jesse is livid at Buster’s fast count, but not as much as Savage who strongly disagrees with the idea that he was pinned. So Savage gets in his face and slaps him, leading to Hogan shoving Savage into Buster’s punch…that misses so Savage has to tell him to do it again.
Paint by numbers Hogan vs. Savage match, with Savage somehow made to look even more foolish than usual as the commentators talked about how cool Buster was and how much of a bitch Tyson is. For some reason this was featured on Macho Madness: The Ultimate Randy Savage Collection because Randy has to be Hogan’s bitch even on his Best Of.
Douglas’ life after the Tyson fight is so uneventful that this match is listed twice on his Wikipedia page.
Backstage, the Ultimate Warrior name-drops a bunch of planets. Yeah well his presence here is taking up too much space so let’s go back to Hogan, still posing in the ring with Buster.
During the break, Vince thanks someone associated with Buster and is very polite about it. And that’s it.
Ventura interviews strongman Dino Bravo but makes the mistake of giving him the mic. “At Wrestlemania, you won’t be the IC Champ because I will be!” Aye. Jimmy Hart saves it by saying he checked Warrior’s policy and he doesn’t have Earthquake insurance. Good lad Jimmy.
WWF Intercontinental Title
The Ultimate Warrior vs. Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart & Earthquake)
Bravo gets no reaction because he’s the worst so I bother to pay attention to his entrance music for once and it’s La Marseillaise? But he hails from Montreal, Quebec so why’s he not coming out to Gens du pays? Or speaking French? It can’t be any worse than his English.
Warrior clarifies backstage he doesn’t have Earthquake insurance because no natural disaster can stop him and then he snarls.
Warrior then charges like bloody fuck down the aisle, yanking his belt off while he’s running and clotheslines Bravo while his music is still playing. Hell yeah Warrior, squash him. Do it for the kids. Warrior goes to the top but Earthquake grabs his boot to allow Bravo to get the advantage with his clubbering. Warrior gets knocked outside but he rolls under the ring so he can go to the other side and pull Hart under the ring. Hart re-emerges pantsless in a moment that would put Nightmare on Elm Street II to shame. The ref gets distracted by Hart running to the back so Quake can get some more slams in. Earthquake has done more work than Bravo so far but don’t worry, Dino locks in a very loose bearhug because he needs to get his breath back. He should quit smoking. Sidewalk slam somehow doesn’t end Warrior so Bravo goes back to his offence which is 90% clubbering. Warrior Hulks up and viciously clotheslines him for the shoulder tackle/running splash finish at 4:11. Match was as good as it could have been between two guys who improved their careers by dying.
Quake immediately attacks Warrior, showing better speed than Bravo despite being twice his size. Warrior takes Quake’s elbows as I guess he didn’t do the Stomp yet, instead going up to the second rope but don’t worry! Hogan is here to save the day! Quake is clotheslined outside as Warrior yells at Hogan for daring to save him and Jesse rightfully points out that Hogan is stealing his thunder. Both men shove referees out the way at the same time in a nice moment.
During the break Vince yells “Music! Music for the Warrior!” that starts playing because he did in fact win that match everyone has moved on from. Crowd don’t seem that arsed as Warrior poses by himself, instead focusing on Hogan leaving the ring. Get used to that.
Bad News Brown vs. Tito Santana
Oh this is new. Tito is apparently substituting for Jimmy Snuka who didn’t wrestle for the entire month so I’m assuming he was injured. Brown attacks Tito as he’s entering the ring and chokes him with his own shirt and…then we cut to the back for Vince to remind us what happened at the Rumble between Hogan and Warrior.
I’m glad they’re showing these clips of Warrior being presented as Hogan’s equal because this show has done a rubbish job of doing it so far. Hogan defeats one of his greatest rivals and Warrior needs assistance to deal with the worst guy on the roster and his mates? Hogan says he swears to his God that Warrior was the strongest thing he’d ever faced in the ring. Vince tries to stir the pot but Hogan has none of it, assuring us all he saved Warrior tonight not to steal the spotlight but because he doesn’t want a hair on his head harmed until their match cos he wants him at his best. That’s not a bad explanation to be fair.
Warrior tells Mean Gene that tonight had already been written, so he knew that he could turn his back on Hogan without him striking him. But Warrior can see the fear in Hogan’s eyes and points out that some fans have drawn the Warrior’s symbol on the walls which is somehow significant. Then he rambles some more and sounds cool.
Oh then during the break we hear the fans getting ready to watch Rick Rude vs. Roddy Piper in a Lumberjack match! That we don’t get to watch because we instead cut to Jesse claiming Hogan was trying to steal Warrior’s heat. Well we’re going to need some of that heat because we get closing words from Mr. Electricity himself Buster Douglas who tells us he’s going out drinking with Hogan tonight. Milk that is! That’s the joke.
Oh then we get some quick footage of Savage backstage holding his head to sell the pain of the punch and then the lumberjacks head out with a fan loudly yelling HEY DIBIASE YOU’RE A BUM and that’s the end.
Also occurring but not recorded:
Earthquake pinned Ron Garvin
Dusty Rhodes pinned Mr. Perfect after Sapphire interfered
Ted Dibiase defeated Jake Roberts via count-out
Rick Martel pinned Brutus Beefcake
Overall: If we’d had prime Tyson then this would have been something WWF would have shown footage of for decades to come. Instead it’s just A Thing That Happened. No wonder Summerslam did a better buy-rate than Wrestlemania with the way Warrior was presented here, this build missed the mark like this guy:
We got some tantalising glimpses of unseen matches but that was it so this event continues to disappoint even in Satellite form.