WWE Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII (March 2006)

Original Airdate: March 18, 2006

From Detroit, Michigan; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Tazz, and Jerry Lawler. Cool minimalistic set design (with NO GIANT SCREEN!!) already makes this show feel like something different and fresh compared every other TV product they’ve put out since the late 90s

Handicap Match: John Cena and Triple H v Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton: Man, this building is having some major ventilation issues - a giant cloud of smoke clouding everything following all the pyro for the entrances. Cena starts with Orton and controls, so Angle quickly rushes in and drops John-boy with a release German suplex. Kurt hammers him with European uppercuts and a release overhead suplex, but Cena blocks the Olympic Slam, and spinebusters Kurt down for two. Tag to HHH, and man, that smoke is getting distracting. Kurt quickly hands Hunter a three-alarm rolling German suplex before passing to Rey - Mysterio coming in with a springboard seated senton and a sunset cradle for two. Backslide gets two, but HHH swipes at him with a right hand, and passes back to Cena. Criss cross goes Rey's way with a dropkick, and he catches an incoming HHH with a headscissors, but misses the 619 on John, and gets leveled with a lariat from Hunter! HHH and Cena (well, mostly HHH) cut the ring in half on Mysterio, but Rey manages to block a side superplex from the game, and hits a flying moonsault press to get the tag to Orton. Randy comes in hot, but runs right into the Cena train, and the Five Knuckle Shuffle sets up the FU, but HHH breaks up the pin - turning on John with a Pedigree to setup the WrestleMania main event. Orton covers, but now his own partner Mysterio breaks the count! HHH punishes Rey with a Pedigree, but now Orton and Angle are turning on each other too! RKO for Cena, but he counters with a schoolboy for the pin at 11:40. Less about what was going on between the ropes than it was about building up the two title matches for WrestleMania, but that's what TV is meant for. ** ¼

The Hall of Fame Class of 2006 is announced. They're kinda running out of big names at this point, but man, those first few years were just STACKED with heavy hitters

At the medical station, Booker T's knee hurts, so he can't wrestle Boogeyman tonight, sorry

Edge and Lita host The Cutting Edge, with special guest Mick Foley. Edge sets fire to a table and tells Foley to deal with it, but that's apparently too much to deal with for the Hardcore Legend, as the ring crew quickly rushes in to put it out with a fire extinguisher. Um, okay. Mick still attacks Edge, but ends up eating a DDT onto some thumbtacks, before getting the last laugh with a Con-Chair-To on Edge

McMahon Family/Shawn Michaels feud review video package

Backstage, Booker T and Sharmell celebrate tricking Teddy Long into cancelling the scheduled match with Boogeyman, but fail to trick Boogey himself. Well, maybe if they weren't gloating in FULL VIEW OF THE NON-HIDDEN CAMERA they wouldn't get caught! That's one of my biggest Attitude Era pet peeves that somehow carried over into the next generation, and into today

John Bradshaw Layfield and Steve Austin have an in-ring beer drinking contest. JBL, of course, cheats, but Chris Benoit (bastion of integrity and all things good, after all) puts a stop to it, and Bradshaw eats a Stunner

Backstage, Candice Michelle and Victoria admire the formers Playboy cover

Trish Stratus and Mickie James v Candice Michelle and Victoria: It's been over thirty five minutes since the last match ended at this point, though I get that they're going for the variety show treatment to appeal to the broadest possible audience here, so it's understandable. And speaking of 'broads!' Candice tries to grind for Trish, but Stratus doesn't appreciate it, and beats her down. A cheap shot from Victoria quickly turns the tide, however, and they cut the ring in half on Stratus. Victoria with a slingshot somersault legdrop for two, and a front-facelock looks to ground Trish, but she fights up, and ends up snap suplexing both ladies. Stratusfaction finishes Victoria at 2:40 - Mickie never even tagging in. Afterwards, Mickie tries to get a kiss from her partner, but gets rebuffed by a fed-up Trish again - causing her to snap and go ballistic, beating her down with her own signature moves. ¼*

Backstage, broken hearted Mickie James cries over Trish

WrestleMania 22 promo

Mark Henry and Daivari come out to talk shit about the Undertaker, until Undertaker makes the lights go out, and appears with several druids and a casket. The Black Scorpion ain't got nothin' on him!

Street Fight: Shawn Michaels v Shane McMahon: You had to know that Vince would prominently feature himself and his family in the WWE's return to network television. You just had to! Shawn attacks him in the aisle before the bell, and whips him into the rail before retrieving a chair from underneath the ring. When Shawn pulls the apron up to get the chair, I can't help but admire just how nicely the ring crew has stocked all the plunder. Like, there's several tables neatly stacked up, several ladders, chairs, trashcans, etc - all neatly compartmentalized. It's a thing of beauty. Shawn takes too long setting up a table and gets reversed into the post, however, and Shane rams his back into it a few more times for good measure. He puts Shawn (or, well, Vince does it for him) onto a table, but Michaels fights off Mr. McMahon and vertical suplexes Shane off a ladder setup in the ring through a table on the floor! That's a pretty crazy bump! Into the ring, Shawn bodyslams Shane, but Michaels' own back is hurt, and slowing him down as he climbs the ladder again. He gets to the top in hopes of recreating the famous flying splash spot from WrestleMania X, but Vince whacks him with a kendo stick to knock him down before he can. It's like we're getting two Handicap Matches for the price of one tonight! Shane capitalizes by slamming the ladder down on Michaels a few times for two, and dropping an elbow to the back for two. He stays on the back with a bow-and-arrow, but Shawn reverses, so Vince gets involved again, and Shane is able to put HBK down with a float-over DDT for two. He bashes him in the face with a chair to setup Coast to Coast, but Shawn moves, and he ends up hitting Vince with it instead! Big slugfest goes Michaels' way to setup the diving double-ax, and an inverted atomic drop follows. Bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop, though sans ladder. Considering Shawn is barreling through his comeback at double speed here, I'm going to go ahead and guess they were running long, and told to finish up. Superkick looks to do just that, but Vince pulls the referee out at two. Shawn's had ENOUGH, and decides to kick his ass, but Shane saves with a low blow. Sharpshooter, and Vince himself rings the fucking bell at 16:42 - despite Michaels not actually submitting. Details, details. He was just being merciful! Clearly, Shawn WOULD HAVE submitted. Vince is a great guy. The match was fun in a stunt show sorta way. ** ¾

BUExperience: Even in the era of RAW, Smackdown, and all the other weekly broadcasts, this still managed to feel unique, entertaining, fresh, and relevant. A worthy return for the Saturday Night’s Main Event brand – a fun blend of nostalgia and WrestleMania build