WCW BattleBowl (November 1993)

While Starrcade had taken a backseat to SuperBrawl as WCW’s flagship supercard by the fall of 1993 – being used as BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery shows for the 1991 and 1992 editions – with the 10^th anniversary of Starrcade around the corner, WCW capitalized on the opportunity, and temporarily restored Starrcade to its proper position of prominence. However, even though the concept had failed to find either critical or commercial appeal during the first two outings, WCW was determined to get BattleBowl over, and decided to give it its own dedicated pay per view slot in November 1993 – just a month before Starrcade.

Unfortunately for them, Sid – who had been penciled in to win the WCW World Title from Vader at Starrcade – had gotten into a violent altercation with Arn Anderson in late October, and was released. While this show would have logically been used to build some kind of showdown between he and Vader (either in the Lethal Lottery, or more likely, the battle royal), WCW was now left with all dressed up, with nowhere to go.

From Pensacola, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape IV (1991)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape IV (1991)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes.  The theme this time is that the security crew won’t allow Mooney into the building, so they have to watch the tape (which he literally carries around with him – and not even in its official Coliseum Video case!) in a completely non-sketchy van.

The cover of the tape features the Big Bossman, and promises a profile on him. I would be remiss in not noting the awesome WWF action figures commercials at the start of the tape. I used to envy those kids so much, as they seemingly had unlimited access to all of the figures – most of which I could never find in my local stores. Roddy Piper missed his calling as a spokesperson for children’s toys.

NWA (WCW) Chi-Town Rumble (February 1989)

By early 1989, Ted Turner had purchased the NWA’s largest ‘territory’ from Jim Crockett, and put Jim Herd in charge to try and desperately reign in the excesses that had led to Crockett’s demise. One big move (along with ousting head booker Dusty Rhodes)  was bringing Ricky Steamboat back into the promotion, and immediately pairing him with Ric Flair by giving Steamboat a clean victory over the World Champion in TV tag action. These two were considered two of the best wrestlers in the world at that point, and the feud that would follow would become one of the most legendary in wrestling history – with their first encounter set for Chicago, on pay per view.

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Magnum TA.

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape III (1990)

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NWA (JCP) Bunkhouse Stampede (January 1988)

In November 1987, the NWA wanted to bring their annual Starrcade supercard to pay per view. In response, Vince McMahon decided to counterprogram – creating the first Survivor Series, and forcing cable companies to take sides. Since the WWF was radically more popular, Starrcade got the boot from almost all providers, and the WWF decimated their buyrate – along with inventing one of their most enduring show concepts. They destroyed Starrcade so badly, in fact, that the NWA permanently moved the event to a December slot for the future.

Spurned, but still desperate to break into the lucrative pay per view market, the NWA held another event in January – a pay per view headlined with a gimmick battle royal known as the ‘Bunkhouse Stampede.’ Vince McMahon counterprogrammed again, once more inventing one of the WWF’s most enduring concepts with his own gimmick battle royal show called the ‘Royal Rumble’ – airing it on the non-pay per view USA Network at the same time as Stampede, and promising Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant – forcing fans to choose. Once again, the WWF won out.

From Uniondale, New York; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle.

WWF Survivor Series 1997

If Over the Edge 1999 is the most notorious show in WWE history, the 1997 Survivor Series probably comes in as a close second – becoming known for, more than anything else, the Montreal Screwjob, and Bret Hart’s sad exodus from the WWF. Montreal is one of those things among wrestling fans that has been talked about so much, written about so much, had terms created for so much, had documentaries released on (both by the WWE, and independently) so much, and changed booking so much that there’s almost literally no new insight to give. So, I won’t lecture about the causes, the motivations, the rights, and the wrongs of the participants – I’ll just focus on how it made me feel as a twelve year old mark, watching live.

In late 1997, with the internet on the rise in American households, I was one of those many middle school wrestling fans with access to a ‘dirt sheet.’ While most everything the semi-daily e-mail would report on would later turn out to be completely and totally false, one of the big things they were printing going into Survivor Series was that Bret Hart had signed with WCW. As a major Hart-mark, I couldn’t believe it – and since the ‘publication’ had been wrong so many times before, I wrote it off. Unfortunately, they were right – and more unfortunately was how Bret would leave the company after such a long and very mutually beneficial relationship. Breaking up is hard to do. Breaking up with Vince McMahon while you’re WWF Champion is fucking agony.

After years of watching, and following both Hart and rival Shawn Michaels’ careers closely, I eagerly awaited their match at Survivor Series. When Vince McMahon ‘rang the fucking bell’ at the finish, and it became apparent what had happened, it not only angered me because of what had happened to my hero – but also killed the last shred of doubt that I had that what I was watching wasn’t ‘fake.’ In the weeks to come, I would stop watching the WWF entirely out of ‘protest,’ and wouldn’t actively return as a fan until after WrestleMania XIV – mostly because WCW was becoming such a chore to watch.

From Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape II (1990)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape II (1990)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Sean Mooney. The cover features Marty Jannetty, and promises a profile on The Rockers.

WWF In Your House - Ground Zero (September 1997)

In Your House: Ground Zero (notable for being the first In Your House event to expand to a three hour format) marked a change of the tide in the WWF. While Bret Hart had spent most of 1997 as the companies top heel with his Anti-American gimmick, focus shifted away from Hart (who won the WWF Title just the month before), and onto Shawn Michaels as the companies new top heel – engaged in a feud with The Undertaker. As Bret Hart had correctly predicted (well documented in Wrestling with Shadows) Shawn Michaels had ‘scooped up his heat’ at SummerSlam, leaving him twisting in the wind as a lame duck champion once more.

From Louisville, Kentucky; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler.

WWF Royal Rumble 2000

By 2000 – with rival WCW becoming increasingly irrelevant with each passing week, a massive expansion of the roster throughout 1999, and finally starting to come out of their Vince Russo stupor – the WWF booked the most interesting Rumble card in years, beginning a run of dominance through 2000 that lead to an endless series of poorly executed reactionary decisions from WCW, before they folded altogether a year later.

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

ECW Barely Legal (April 1997)

Living in Upstate New York, I first came upon ECW while channel surfing one Saturday morning in 1997. Having only been exposed to the WWF and WCW at that point, ECW really caught my attention. It was billed as being ‘extreme’ and ‘hardcore,’ and while I was never a fan of gory matches, there was something about the slapped-together-looking production, and impromptu atmosphere that hooked me right away. While I never became true fan of ECW (my burgeoning fandom probably not done any favors by the fact that their programming seemed to change airtime from week to week), I still always casually followed the promotion – though never having the guts to attend any of their live events that came through my area (interestingly, in the same ‘arena’ my high school graduation would take place in) fairly regularly.

For 1997, ECW – which had been building a reputation as an ‘Extreme!!!’ alternative to mainstream wrestling since the day mainstay Shane Douglas threw down the NWA Title in 1994 – wanted to bring their brand of wrestling to pay per view. They had tried before, in late 1996, but concerns over the graphic nature of the product (not helped by wrestler New Jack nearly stabbing a guy to death while trying to blade him, and a controversial angle involving mock-crucifixion) had cable companies keeping their distance. It took a serious fan-campaign, promises to tone down the product, and literal begging from promoter Paul Heyman, finally attained ECW a limited pay per view spot for the Spring of 1997.

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Your Host is Joey Styles.

WWF Royal Rumble 1999

By early 1999, the Attitude Era was in full swing, and The WWF was now firmly in control of the ratings war against rival WCW. The booking (led by Vince Russo, in what was coming to be known as ‘Crash TV’-style that put little focus on long term planning) was becoming increasingly erratic, but to a middle schooler, the WWF’s product was more and more exciting every week – particularly because I had lost all patience with WCW over 1998.

From Anaheim, California; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler – as perennial Attitude Era commentator Jim Ross was out battling Bell’s Palsy.

WCW SuperBrawl III

By the 1993, WCW had established SuperBrawl as its flagship program – leaving Starrcade twisting in the BattleBowl wind – and set up a big blowoff for the hot Vader/Sting program to headline the card. It also marked Ric Flair’s long awaited return to WCW pay per view - after having a falling out with the company in 1991, and a successful eighteen month run in the WWF.

From Asheville, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

WCW SuperBrawl II

With the ‘tainted’ Starrcade shuffled aside, WCW was prepared to fully promote SuperBrawl as their flagship show – booking a long-awaited blowoff between WCW Champion Lex Luger and former best friend Sting in the main event.

The show also marked another revolving door regime change for the promotion, as Jim Herd was dismissed in January, and replaced by Kip Frey – whose main contribution was to backstage morale, in offering bonuses to whomever he felt put on the match of the night.

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff, with Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura – in his first WCW pay per view appearance, riding out on a motorcycle – on commentary.

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape I (1990)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape I (1990)

Standard Coliseum Video compilation, hosted by Sean Mooney. The cover features Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake posing behind the bars of a steel cage, and promises a profile on The Bushwhackers.

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: WrestleFest ’88

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: WrestleFest ’88

Unlike most Coliseum Videos, this wasn’t a compilation tape, but rather a card recorded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in late July 1988, specifically for release on videotape.

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Superstar Billy Graham – in front of a large crowd, in an open-air baseball stadium.

WCW World War 3 - 1996

After the complete and utter critical failure of the first World War 3 event in 1995, WCW did the only logical thing: run the show again! Heading into the 1996 card, the WCW World Title wasn’t vacant, so instead they did the very corporate thing, and offered the winner of the 60-man, 3-ring battle royal a World Title shot… at some undetermined point in the future.

From Norfolk, Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan – with Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall and, Larry Zbyszko joining in to help cover the battle royal.

WCW Bash at the Beach 1995

For 1995, WCW took the Beach Blast/Bash at the Beach concept literally – and decided to hold the event outdoors, on an actual beach, without ‘tickets’ or ‘seating’ as much as going for a festival-type atmosphere. They ended up drawing about 10,000 locales and vacationers to watch the matches – which is rather impressive, given there were no bleachers – leaving people casually gathered around to watch a stage, Woodstock-style.

From Huntington Beach, California; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan – with the ocean waves literally crashing in the background.  

WCW Slamboree 1995

1995 was the third and final year WCW would bill Slamboree as a ‘Legends Reunion,’ with focus on honoring stars of yesterday, along with developing current feuds and angles. For 1995 – somewhat shockingly after the abortion that was Uncensored – WCW was actually allowed to still exist, and used Slamboree mostly to settle issues left over from Uncensored – which is a bit contrived, considering Uncensored was designed with the sole purpose of blowing off feuds with crazy gimmick matches.

From St. Petersburg, Florida; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan.

WCW Uncensored 1995

As part of its expanding pay per view schedule for 1995, WCW introduced Uncensored (or UnCenSored, for effect) in March, with the selling point being that all the matches would be ‘unsanctioned’ by WCW, and contested under no disqualification rules – with most of them gimmick matches.

It certainly sounded exciting to a ten year old, though the results were significantly less than pleasing – even if it did feature some particularly infamous ‘highlights.’

From Tupelo, Mississippi; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan.

WWF Royal Rumble 1998

1997 had seen sweeping changes in the WWF. Throughout the year, the product had been becoming increasingly more violent, sexual, and generally adult. These changes – along with the rise of stars like Steve Austin, and Degeneration-X – helped make the WWF competitive with WCW again, as they had been badly losing the war for ratings and buyrates since the introduction of the nWo in the summer of 1996.

For me, this was a low point for my beloved WWF. Lower than the real ‘bad period’ of about a year before, as the WWF had forced Bret Hart out at the Survivor Series in Montreal, and I had become disinterested with their product as a result. While I did see the show live, my interest was mainly in WCW during this period – though they, too, were starting to lose me after botching Starrcade so badly.

From San Jose, California; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

WWF Royal Rumble 1997

By the time the calendar flipped to 1997, the increasing momentum WCW had a year before had swelled to the point of overtaking the WWF entirely in mid-1996, with their seemingly unstoppable nWo angle dominating both TV ratings and pay per view buyrates. The WWF was in limbo – not quite abandoning the failed ‘New Generation,’ and not quite turning into what would be the ‘Attitude Era’ – though signs of change were everywhere.

From San Antonio, Texas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler – live from the Alamodome, an arena that can hold over 60,000, though with the WWF’s plummeting appeal, only drawing a fraction of that – forcing them to give away some 20,000 tickets literally to random people on the street, just to fill seats.

WWF Royal Rumble 1996

After near universal critical disdain for the ‘fast paced’ version of the Rumble match in 1995 (featuring one minute intervals, and less star power than a bad episode of Entourage), the WWF reverted back to the classic two minute intervals for 1996.

Facing financial troubles, and tougher competition than in years previous with WCW’s steady ratings gain throughout 1995 (along with their addition of Nitro to compete with RAW, and commencement of a monthly pay per view schedule), the WWF was in something of a state of limbo, leaving even the most devoted fans (like eleven year old me) becoming somewhat disinterested with the product.

From Fresno, California; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect.

WWF SummerSlam Spectacular (August 1992)

Original Airdate: August 23, 1992

This was a go-home, hard sell show for SummerSlam 1992 – put on during a Wrestling Challenge taping a few weeks before – and airing as a special on the USA Network. Also, it's spectacular!

From Nashville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan – dressed as Sherlock Holmes, along with a bad British accent.

WWF Royal Rumble 1995

By 1995, after a rapid and thorough depletion of the WWF’s roster due, in part, to the steroid trials over the last few years - as well as competition from WCW - the WWF didn’t even have enough performers to properly hold the annual Rumble. Many workers were hired for one shot deals simply to fill the 30-man commitment, so to add to the ‘excitement’ (see: avoid extended periods with a ring full of jobbers) they reduced the Rumble entry intervals to only one minute.

From Tampa, Florida; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

WWF Royal Rumble 1994

The 1994 Royal Rumble was (and is) a very important, very personal show to me – both the first wrestling pay per view I ever wanted to see, and the eventual first wrestling VHS I rented, in what would become a long, sometimes tumultuous relationship with the local video store. What sucked me into the show – and the pro-wrestling world – was SuperStars’ coverage of the Hart Brothers feud. While the entire card intrigued nine year old me significantly (I remember being fascinated by the Undertaker’s peculiar vignettes promoting the WWF Title match), it was undoubtedly the saga of the Harts that would grab hold of me – and almost never let go.

From Providence, Rhode Island; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Ted DiBiase – retired due to an injury in 1993, but not yet settled into his role as manager.

WWF Royal Rumble 1993

1993 saw the WWF add – after four previous Royal Rumble pay per views – the stipulation that continues to make the match famous today: that the winner would go on to face the WWF Champion at WrestleMania. It was certainly a welcome change, as the card wasn’t particularly intriguing going in, and long gone were the days when Vince McMahon could count on Hulk Hogan’s devoted fan base to draw buyrates or ratings. This was, in fact, the first Rumble not to feature Hogan at all – and with The Ultimate Warrior bailing on the company in November, and Ric Flair on the way out – the lack of star power started becoming more and more noticeable.

From Sacramento, California; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan.

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

In 1992, the WWF made some changes to the Royal Rumble. While they hadn’t added the ‘Winner gets a WrestleMania Title Shot’ stipulation yet, for the first time the Rumble came with a prize. After the controversial finishes at Survivor Series and This Tuesday in Texas, kayfabe President Jack Tunney decided to vacate the WWF Title, and declared that the winner of the battle royal would walk away the new champion. It was a great way to add intrigue, as previous Rumble winners were just Rumble winners – and while the match format was popular and generally exciting – adding a prize made it all the more so.

From Albany, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan – doing one of the most legendary commentary broadcasts of all time.

WWF Royal Rumble 1991

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WWF Royal Rumble 1990

By 1990, with the Royal Rumble established as a part of the WWF’s pay per view calendar, the battle royal was once again booked to test the waters for what would be the WrestleMania main event – the much anticipated first meeting between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior.

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Royal Rumble 1989

After finding terrific success with their Royal Rumble cable-TV special the year before – both generating monumental ratings, and undermining the NWA’s effort to compete in the pay per view marketplace – the WWF brought the Rumble back, this time as a proper pay per view.

From Houston, Texas; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Royal Rumble 1988

Back when I was a kid, just knowing about this show – let alone the results, or even having seen it – could get you some serious street cred on the lunch table wrestling scene. Today, with the WWE more openly acknowledging their history (which is something they certainly did not do in the 90s), shows like this one are released on Anthology DVD sets, talked about in WWE produced ‘documentaries,’ and isn’t really obscure at all. Some things change, and sometimes they change for the better.

The original Rumble wasn’t the pay per view staple it has become – not even airing on pay per view at all, but rather as a special on the USA Network – and was devised (like Survivor Series before it) as a way to undermine the NWA, who were trying to expand into the pay per view universe with their Bunkhouse Stampede card. The Stampede promised a gimmick battle royal (it would be held in a cage), so to counter program, the WWF introduced their own gimmick battle royal – and attracted viewers by promising action on free TV. It was a huge ratings success – even more so because Stampede was so poorly critically and commercially received – and began a new, great tradition.

From Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI (November 1992)

Original Airdate: November 14, 1992

This was the final SNME for fifteen years, as a network change didn’t help the declining ratings and increasing scandals surrounding the WWF, and they weren't invited back (even to FOX! In 1992!) for another episode. The cancelation would, however, lead to the creation of Monday Night RAW a few months later, as the WWF’s main platform to develop angles.

From Terre Haute, Indiana; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXX (February 1992)

Original Airdate: February 8, 1992

With NBC decision not to bring Saturday Night’s Main Event back for the bulk of 1991, the WWF made a deal with still distant fourth place network FOX to air the show in early 1992, with this being the first of two one-hour SNME’s before cancelation.

From Lubbock, Texas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXIX (April 1991)

Original Airdate: April 27, 1991

This was the last episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC, as the WWF’s declining ratings through 1990 weren’t showing any improvement, and NBC decided not to bring them back, after six years on the air. The WWF would make a deal with FOX to air the show twice in 1992, before shelving it for almost fifteen years.

From Omaha, Nebraska; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Randy Savage.

WWF The Main Event (February 1991)

Original Airdate: February 1, 1991

This was the last edition of The Main Event, as the WWF’s declining ratings through 1990 weren’t showing any improvement, and NBC decided not to devote an hour of primetime to their programming anymore. Much like the original concept for The Main Event, this took advantage of the primetime network slot to set up the main event of WrestleMania – and desperately try to sell their insane 100,000 ticket goal for the LA Coliseum, back in the days when packing near one hundred thousand in for a WrestleMania was still based on the card, and not the prestige of the show alone.

From Macon, Georgia; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper.

WWF The Main Event (November 1990)

Original Airdate: November 23, 1990 – the night after Survivor Series, though taped about a month before.

This is a somewhat infamous edition of the show, as it was originally taped to air in the WWF’s normal post-Thanksgiving Saturday timeslot as an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event (you can even see SNME banners hanging in the arena – not their alternate ‘The Main Event’ ones), but NBC decided to reshuffle their schedule to bring the WWF onto primetime on Friday night instead – with only one hour as opposed to SNME’s standard hour and a half. With the show already in the can, they had to cut a half hour off – editing out The Rockers’ tag title win over The Hart Foundation. This has become quite notorious over the years due to the top-rope breaking during their 2/3 Falls bout – turning it into a train wreck – and the WWF decided never to air or acknowledge the change at all (it was finally released on DVD, nearly twenty years later), simply handing the titles back to the Harts.

From Fort Wayne, Indiana; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXVIII (October 1990)

Original Airdate: October 13, 1990

From Toledo, Ohio; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper  – as Jesse Ventura had left the WWF after a dispute about money (what else?), and wouldn’t return until his star had risen higher than the promotion itself: when he became Governor of Minnesota in the late 90s.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXVII (July 1990)

Original Airdate: July 28, 1990

From Omaha, Nebraska; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXVI (April 1990)

Original Airdate: April 28, 1990

With WrestleMania VI wrapped, we officially enter the beginning of the end for the Golden Era, as the audiences general apathy towards The Ultimate Warrior’s WWF Title win, coupled with a general slump in the wrestling business would lead to a sharp decline in ratings for Saturday Night’s Main Event (as well as business across the board, forcing Vince McMahon to run fewer house shows (at this point they were still running an astonishing three simultaneously, in different towns), and in smaller venues) before finally being ousted from NBC in 1991.

From Austin, Texas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura – both on horses, since they’re in Texas.

WWF The Main Event (February 1990)

Original Airdate: February 23, 1990

After two Main Event specials – putting the WWF live on NBC, and in primetime – were used to set up WrestleMania main events (IV and V) the WWF decided to modify their approach a bit – less focused on a big angle to promote the main event of WrestleMania, and more rather on airing two matches building up the participants in the WrestleMania main event, as well as hoping the involvement of a ‘celebrity’ would help draw ratings.

From Detroit, Michigan; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXV (January 1990)

Original Airdate: January 27, 1990 – airing a week after the Royal Rumble, though taped around New Years.

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

WWF No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie (December 1989)

This was a pay per view special, as the WWF – trying to recoup their investment in one of the worst movies ever made – decided to put the movie on along with the blowoff to the ridiculous, intelligence insulting feud it inspired. They shrewdly held the pay per view between Christmas and New Years (with the match pre-taped from Nashville a few weeks prior), when most of the target audience had school breaks, as well as when they were most likely to persuade their parents into wasting money on it.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV (November 1989)

Original Airdate: November 25, 1989 – airing two days after the ’89 Survivor Series, though taped about a month prior.

From Topeka, Kansas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXIII (October 1989)

Original Airdate: October 14, 1989

From Cincinnati, Ohio; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXII (July 1989)

Original Airdate: July 29, 1989

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

WWF The Main Event (February 1989)

Original Airdate: February 3, 1989

After breaking all wrestling ratings records with the first Main Event primetime special the year before, NBC was glad to bring the WWF back to primetime with a second one hour special. While they couldn’t hope to match their own bar set with Hogan/Andre, the WWF instead delivered an anticipated tag team showdown between The Mega Powers and The Twin Towers – along with an exciting and critical development of one of the biggest angles of the 1980s.

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.