WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XV (March 1988)

Original Airdate: March 12, 1988

From Nashville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.


Opening Match: Greg Valentine v Brutus Beefcake: Beefcake tries to clear the ring with a pair of scissors, but the referee's all not cool with attempted murder, and forces him to give them up. He still hits the high knee early, and a big boot drops the Hammer. Beefcake with a pair of atomic drops (resulting in some of the most hilarious ass-selling ever seen outside of porn), and a ten-punch count. Valentine gets a cheap shot in off of a rope break, and hits a flying elbowsmash. Regular elbowdrop gets two, and he hooks the figure four - blatantly grabbing the ropes. Nice spot there, as he knew the referee could see it, and he wouldn't get the win - but also knew it was going to help him get the advantage by destroying Beefcake's leg. And, indeed, the Barber can't even stand once they break, and bails to the floor to try and recoup. Valentine 'helps' him back in, and continues hammering the knee, but Beefcake counters another figure four attempt by tugging at his tights. Ah, no wonder they broke up - Hulk Hogan can put up with his wife whoreing around, but his barber is where the line is crossed. And, indeed, Brutus KISSES UP!! Sleeper, but they spill to the floor, and Valentine manager Jimmy Hart gets involved. That allows Greg to takeover, and he hits a side suplex to finish, but forgets to lift his shoulder, and Beefcake gets the pin at 9:02. The ending worked there (based on the wrestling-cliché of tag team partners who know each others offense too well), but needed something more definitive, considering they were pushing Beefcake. Solid match, otherwise. *

Hulk Hogan v Harley Race: Hogan goes right for Race manager Bobby Heenan - chasing him to the dressing rooms before the bell - as he knows Heenan was involved in his screw job on The Main Event. Inside, Race tries to unload headbutts, but Hogan no-sells, and clotheslines him down, and to the floor. Hulkster posts him out there, but gets distracted with Bobby Heenan again, allowing Race to nail him. He tries a piledriver on the outside, but Hulk backdrops to counter, and hits an atomic drop as a possible nod to Beefcake. Back in, Hogan destroys him with chops, and chokes him with his wrist tape. Heenan gets involved again to allow Harley some more headbutts, and a belly to belly suplex. Piledriver, but he knows that's not enough, and dumps him to the floor - laying him out on a table. He tries his falling headbutt off of the apron, but Hogan dodges, and Race goes through the non-precut table - legitimately injuring himself, in what would eventually result in his retirement. Not that you'd notice, as he pops back up to finish the match as planned - as if nothing happened. And not that it helps, ‘cause Hogan's HULKING UP!! Cross corner clothesline! Legdrop! 6:37. Fun match, as Hogan was essentially in Hulk Up mode the whole way through, wrestling aggressively now that he's pissed, and chasing the WWF Title again. It’s like the lyrics to ‘Eye of the Tiger,’ or something. * ¼

Randy Savage v Ted DiBiase: Andre the Giant shows up at ringside to stand in DiBiase's corner, and Virgil goes right after Miss Elizabeth - luring Savage to the outside. DiBiase jumps him, and dominates back in the ring. 2^nd rope flying elbowsmash finds its mark, so Savage tries to bail - only to get met with the paws of the Giant. Savage manages a backelbow on DiBiase, and a high knee takes him down. Flying axehandle, and a hangman’s clothesline get two. Elbowsmash puts DiBiase on the outside to regroup with Andre, and he works the count - frustrating Savage. It works, as he catches Macho off guard, and drops a series of fists to daze him - but a blind charge misses. He still has a presence of mind to dodge a kneedrop, but a figure four attempt allows Savage to shove him off. They spill to the outside, but Virgil gets involved, allowing referee Dave Hebner to eject him - cementing his credibility to the fans, and pushing that it was his evil brother who was bought off in the storyline. Inside, DiBiase tries a chinlock, but Savage clotheslines him to come back. Backdrop, but another criss cross bumps the referee. Savage takes advantage of it by dumping DiBiase out for a flying axehandle to the floor, but doesn't think far enough ahead to realize Andre is out there, too, and without a referee to keep order. He gets murdered in short order, and counted out once the referee recovers at 11:39 - which is actually a few minutes longer than their WrestleMania main event a few weeks later. Afterwards, the beat down on Savage continues, but Liz emerges from the dressing rooms with Hulk Hogan (‘Beefcake will be there for you to eat later!') to make the save, and push the buyrate for WrestleMania IV. Fun, energetic, fast paced back-and-forth match - with a well booked ending to keep both guys strong going into 'Mania. ** ¾

The Islanders v The Killer Bees: Tama and Jim Brunzell start, with Brunzell going right at him. Rollup gets two, as the Bees trade off quick tags, and work the arm. Dropkick misses, however, and Tama suplexes Brunzell for two. Tama tags, and a Haku dropkick finds its mark for two. The Islanders cut the ring in half, but a double knockout spot allows the tag to B. Brian Blair. He's a house of arson, and nearly pins Tama with a rollup - only to have Haku break it up. That leads to a four-way brawl, and cheap shot from Haku in the chaos ends things at 3:45. This was actually a 2/3 Falls Match (since, apparently, you couldn’t have standard tag matches on the mid-80s tag scene), but only the first fall aired for time reasons, so we'll just pretend it was a standard match – though the rest would air on TV the next month. Decent action for what it was, but obviously abbreviated - as they were building a longer match. ¼*

Ken Patera v One Man Gang: And...Squash: Gang jumps him right away, choking him out with his own ring jacket, but Patera locks him in a bearhug. That goes about as well as expected (seriously, dude? You can barely get your arms around that gut. That was, like, a cubhug at best), and Gang pounds him. Patera tries a full-nelson instead, but that one doesn't work out too well either, and Gang finishes him with a clothesline at 3:47. Energetic, but nothing more than a squash. DUD

Everyone offers some closing thoughts with Mean Gene Okerlund. They discuss Vasili Arkhipov, Nikola Tesla, and, you know, other shit.

BUExperience:  One of the better editions, blending solid wrestling with intriguing angles, and acting as a good ‘go home show’ for WrestleMania IV. Looking at the card, you’d think they could cut the Gang squash out in favor of airing the tag match in full, but they had limited time (and only a few broadcasts a year) to showcase their talent on a national (non-cable) network, and understandably wanted to work the One Man Gang squash in – as he would face new Champion Randy Savage in the first SNME after WrestleMania.