WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXII (Version II)

Original Airdate: July 29, 1989

From Worchester, Massachusetts; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

Honky Tonk Man is ready to pluck Hulk Hogan's six last remaining hairs to use as guitar strings. Meanwhile, the Hulkster confirms that he actually has TWELVE hairs left, so Honky can bring his Rickenbacker 360/12 and cover Byrds songs from now on. A lot at stake here

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Honky Tonk Man: Honky tries to take Hulk's head off with his guitar during the entrances, but Hogan ducks it and pulls him to the floor for a beating. He hammers Honky all the way into the aisle, so Jimmy Hart dives onto his back - Hulk hilariously no-selling it, and giving Jimmy a piggyback ride into the ring. That does allow Honky to attack with the guitar again, but Hulk still manages to avoid it, and he unloads on his challenger. Atomic drop and a cross corner backelbow flop Honky, so Hart tries to pull him to the outside, but loses a tug-of-war to Hulk (with Honky as the 'rope'), and the champ bashes their heads together. Honky bails, but Hogan goes after him, so Jimmy comes from behind with the guitar - finally able to derail the Hulkster. That allows Honky an axehandle off the apron, and he rolls Hogan in for a series of falling axehandles to the lower back. He adds a series of kneedrops to the back to setup a reverse chinlock, but Hogan powers up, and dumps him into the corner to escape. Honky quickly clotheslines him down to cutoff a potential comeback, and the Shake Rattle and Roll looks to finish, but only succeeds in triggering the HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Guitar Shot! Legdrop! 6:14! Not a workrate masterpiece, but a really fun match from a pure entertainment standpoint. * ¾ (Original rating: ½*)

We take a look back at the night Greg Valentine ended Ron Garvin's career, and Garvin's subsequent reinstatement as a referee

Greg Valentine v Jimmy Snuka: Ron Garvin is, of course, the assigned referee for this bout. That seems like a wild conflict of interest, and a ridiculous decision on Jack Tunney's part. Unless, it was meant to be some sort of crazy physiological experiment, in which case I like how this Tunney fella thinks. Valentine attacks from behind and hammers Snuka with forearms, but runs into a knife-edge chop during a criss cross, and Jimmy follows with a diving double-ax. 2^nd rope flying headbutt hits the knees, however, and Valentine drops a series of three elbows for two. Kneelift sends Jimmy to the outside, and Garvin doesn't appreciate the way Greg stops Jimmy from re-entering - leading to Garvin popping Valentine one! That sets up a flying bodypress from Snuka at 3:14. Jesus, Gorilla Monsoon would be losing his mind here. Snuka looked old and beat up at this point, even opposite fellow twenty year veteran Valentine. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Recently, on the Brother Love Show, Sensational Sherri reminded Brutus Beefcake that she is, in fact, a lady. Not exactly shocking that he needed a reminder on that one

Randy Savage v Brutus Beefcake: Weird alternate karate style robe for Savage tonight, that looks like it came from the props department on Boogie Nights. Savage tries to sucker him into a chase, but gets thrown over the top, then in for Beefcake to choke him with his robe. Savage manages to pop off a few jabs, but misses a charge in the corner, and Brutus dives at him with a bodypress for two. Sherri tries a distraction, but Beefcake avoids a cheap shot from Savage, and puts Macho down with a high knee for two. Another high knee sends Randy to the floor, where he promptly hides behind Sherri, and that allows him to turn the tide. He hits Brutus with a flying axehandle on the outside, and Sherri gets her licks in as well, of course! Inside, Randy tries a bodyslam, but Beefcake counters with an inside cradle for two - the count delayed by Sherri! Savage responds with a running forearm smash for two, but Beefcake counters a neckbreaker with a backslide for two, so Macho resorts to choking the Barber down! Sherri lends a hand by choking Beefcake with her stalkings, but Brutus blocks a flying axehandle with a gut-punch! That leads to more Sherri interference, but it backfires when Savage ends up running into her with a high knee on the apron, and Beefcake corner whips him, then backdrops him to the outside - Savage taking a hell of a bump! Back in, Brutus pounds him down for two, as Sherri summons Zeus to ringside! Oh, shit's on now, boy! Beefcake with a sunset flip for two, and the Sleeper looks to finish, so Zeus climbs in and attacks him - getting Savage disqualified at 11:30, but saving him from submitting! Zeus goes after Beefcake some more, so Hulk Hogan runs out for the save, but Zeus no-sells everything the Hulkster's got, and grabs him in a bearhug! Beefcake saves but gets bearhugged as well, so Hogan grabs a chair, but that's no-sold by Zeus as well! Man, we've all made a lot of fun of Zeus over the years, but the place is going crazy, and SummerSlam did great business, so I guess they got the last laugh there. Savage was just ON FIRE here - bumping around like a madman for Beefcake, and carrying him to what might be the Barber's best match, ever! Sherri also added a lot here with her constant cheating and cheap shots. *** ½ (Original rating: ** ½)

Backstage, Savage, Zeus, and Sherri appear to be having a competition to see who can strain their neck muscles the hardest without popping a blood vessel

Demolition audition for roles in Cats. Good to have a backup incase they ever lose those tag titles, I guess

WWF Tag Team Title 2/3 Falls Match: Demolition v The Brain Busters: Ax starts with Tully Blanchard, and Tully wastes no time trying to get cute with him, so Smash press-slams him, and the champs pinball Blanchard around for a bit. Tully railroads him into the home corner to try and turn the tide with a double-team, but Ax fights both Busters off by himself to clean house! Wild! The dust settles on Smash and Arn Anderson, and Arn starts unloading rights to the midsection to setup a snapmare, but Smash no-sells him, and slams him onto the top turnbuckle for a double-team with Ax. Arn takes a shot at the always bandaged knee to slow him down (Why didn't guys ever think to do that more often? Same with Austin in the Attitude Era), and Tully gets the tag - a bodypress/dropkick combo putting Smash down for two. The Busters go to work on him, and Arn hits a rotating spinebuster for two, but runs into a stungun to drop the first fall at 5:00. With Bobby Heenan near tears on the floor, the champions cut the ring in half on Anderson, but Arn manages to escape a headvice from Ax, and tag. Tully blitzes him with a slingshot to snap Ax's throat across the bottom rope, and the Busters cut the ring in half with their usual expert efficiency. Ax manages to avoid a backdrop from Blanchard to get the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Smash is an S&M dungeon of fire, and the Decapitation looks to finish Blanchard, but the referee disqualifies the champs for excessive double-teaming at 9:29. Ugh. I get that they don't want to job the guys twice in a single match, but that's a weak decision. I mean, they weren't doing anything that hasn't happened in literally every single tag team match since the beginning of time. Down to the deciding fall, so Andre the Giant joins us at ringside, as the Demos work Blanchard over, and it doesn't take long for another kettle to get put on, boy! The champs control another brawl, but they haven't got the aptitude for cheating that the Heenan Family does, and Andre passes Tully a chair to blast Smash with behind the referee's back to end Demolition's record long title reign (which was never broken) at 12:33! This one's also notable for being the first title change in SNME history, as well as making the Brain Busters the first team to win both the WWF and NWA tag title. Really well paced match, though it tended to be repetitive, and would have probably been served better as a standard one-fall bout. ** ¾ (Original rating: ** ¾)

Backstage, the entire Heenan Family celebrates the title win, and with Heenan now controlling both the Intercontinental and Tag Team Titles, Hulk Hogan is officially on notice!

Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan blows his nose, sans tissue. That nasty!

BUExperience: Another great and historically significant episode!