WWF Saturday Night's Main Event IX (January 1987)

Original Airdate: January 3, 1987

From Hartford, Connecticut; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.


Opening Match: WWF Title Cage Match: Hulk Hogan v Paul Orndorff: Orndorff jumps him the second he gets into the cage, and starts beating him with his own title belt. He goes for the door early, but Hogan grabs the ankle, so Orndorff goes ballistic on him - stomping a mud hole. He goes for a climb escape, but Hogan pulls him back in by the hair, and bashes Orndorff into the cage. Slugfest goes Orndorff's way, and he tries for the door - but Hulk's on him with fists of fury. Hulk goes for the door, but Orndorff manager Bobby Heenan holds the lock to allow Orndorff the time to recover, and stop him. Orndorff bashes his face into the mat, but Hogan reverses a shot into the cage - leaving both men down. They both stagger to their feet, and start climbing opposite sides of the cage - and end up hitting the floor at the same time at 6:10. One referee declares Hogan the winner, but another says Orndorff hit the floor first, so Paul settles it by jumping Hogan on the floor (taking out the referee who favored him in the process), ramming his head into the steel, and taking the title belt. Unfortunately for him, it's decided the match must continue, and undeterred, he drags the Hulkster in to finish him. Flying elbowdrop hits, and he drops a series of knees and fists, but Hogan's HULKING UP!! Fists of Fury! Rage in the Cage! Backbreaker! Legdrop! Climb! - so Bobby Heenan runs in to stop him, only to get killed, too. Hogan takes one last token shot at Orndorff, and climbs out to retain at 11:00. Not a great match, but a great blowoff to their long, blockbuster of a feud - fondly remembered as one of the best segments in the history of the show. ¾*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Randy Savage v George Steele: Steele brings Miss Elizabeth a (surprisingly well wrapped) gift, and while Savage is flipping out, George jumps him with a chokeslam. Pair of bodyslams, and Steele signals for the locker room. Turning his back allows Savage to nail him, and he returns the favor with a bodyslam of his own. Flying Elbowdrop, but here comes what Steele was signaling for - Ricky Steamboat! That distraction allows George to slam the champ off of the top rope, and dump him for good measure. With him down, the Animal drags Elizabeth to the dressing room to rescue/rape her. Savage loses his shit, but Steamboat stands in the aisle - daring him to try and go after her. WWF Officials work to get him away from ringside, as Steele returns (the referee too distracted with Steamboat to count him out), and he eats a couple of turnbuckles - throwing the stuffing into Savage's eyes. Battering ram into the corner, but Savage reverses, and unloads a series of jabs. Steele returns fire with a Greco-Roman bite on the nose, and rams Macho into the exposed buckle. More biting, and Steele pulls a pair of knux to level the champ with. Savage responds by braining him with his trusty ring bell, and Steele is done at 8:30. Afterwards, Savage tries to drop off of the top with the bell, but Steamboat rushes back out to make the save. Hey, can't blame Savage for returning fire - Steele was cheating outrageously from bell-to-bell. ¼*

Harley Race v The Junkyard Dog: Race pops him in the jaw in lieu of locking up, and hits a high knee for two. Slugfest goes JYD's way, and Race flies into the ring post in a visually impressive bump (he plowed that thing). Race rakes the eyes to slow Dog down, and hits a belly-to-belly suplex - but a falling headbutt hurts him more than the Dog. Dog with a series of headbutts of his own, and Harley Flair Flips to the floor. JYD takes the opportunity to steal Race's crown and robe (he was doing a 'King of Wrestling' gimmick), inspiring one of the all time great facial expressions from Bobby Heenan. He makes the mistake of trying to take the crown off of the Dog, and that's a disqualification at 6:00. Race looked good, but the match was all set up the WrestleMania blowoff. ½*

Roddy Piper v Adrian Adonis: Piper throws the kilt over his head at the bell, and goes ballistic on Adonis - beating him from end to end of the ring. Adrian goes to the eyes to turn the tide, but Piper unloads a few more closed fists to stop that effort. A pair of faceslams sets up the Sleeper, but they end up on the floor, and Adrian blinds him with a spray of perfume, and gets the countout victory at 3:35. Piper beating the shit out of Adrian Adonis is always fun, but again, this was just WrestleMania setup. ¼*

Jimmy Jack Funk v Blackjack Mulligan: This is billed as the 'Battle for Texas.' I’m not sure if they’re battling over some kind of Real Estate dispute over ownership of the state itself, or if it’s a battle for Texas the way a man fights for love – but either way, something loosely associated with Texas hangs in the balance. Funk objects to Mulligan's spurs (objecting to spurs during a Battle for Texas automatically loses you any Battles for Texas), and they quickly spill to the floor for Mulligan to backdrop him. Inside, Funk fails to slam him, and Mulligan gives him a pressed version. Lariat, and a diving backelbow wins Texas for Mulligan at 2:31. See, I called it. Shouldn't have bitched about the spurs. Just your standard end-of-show squash to fill the remaining few minutes of airtime - but certainly energetic. ½*

BUExperience: One of the most historically significant matches of the entire series (not to mention, the blowoff to an epic feud), along with development for three of the hottest angles going into WrestleMania III make this one well worth checking out.