WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XI (May 1987)

Original Airdate: May 2, 1987

From Notre Dame, Indiana; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.


Opening Match: Jake Roberts v Kamala: Jake scares Kamala out of the ring with his snake (it's pretty big for a white guy - Kamala got freaked), but gets jumped as he's putting the mouse back in the house. Kamala with a jab to the throat, and he hugs him like a bear. Jake jabs free, and hooks an armbar, so Kamala simply decks him to break. Kamala chokes him with everything he has (literally - he chokes him with his hands, feet, the ropes), but Roberts manages to nail him as he does a happy dance. Kamala does not appreciate that, and headbutts him into tomorrow, so Jake bails, and lures him into a chase - which he easily turns into a kneelift as Kamala wheezes to catch up. DDT, but Kamala handler Kim Chee whacks him with his cane, and Kamala finishes with a splash at 4:18. Afterwards, Kim Chee removes his hood to reveal himself as Honky Tonk Man - who had been feuding with Roberts. Energetic and short - which is more than I was expecting going in. ¼*

Lumberjack Match: Randy Savage v George Steele: As usual, Steele nuzzles Elizabeth - and as usual, the Macho Man goes ballistic on him. Slugfest goes Steele's way, so Savage tries to bail - but the lumberjacks don't let him past the apron. God, this has to be every Memphis heel's ultimate nightmare. Savage manages to dump Steele, but he does it on the face side, and Ricky Steamboat happily helps him in. Steele rakes the eyes, but gets caught with a flying axehandle, to dumped again - this time on the heel side. He gets a beat down, so Jim Duggan puts the 'lumber' in 'lumberjack' and makes the save with his 2x4. Back in, Steele slams him, and tears up a turnbuckle pad to provide him some ammo against Savage. Soft, cushiony ammo. Randy rightly blows that off (the dude was throwing turnbuckle stuffing at him - what was he supposed to do, keel over and die?) with a suplex, but Steele dumps him right onto Ricky Steamboat. That leads to a massive brawl between the lumberjacks, and in the chaos, Danny Davis whacks Steele with the ring bell, allowing Savage to hit the Flying Elbowdrop for the pin at 6:44. Afterwards, all of the lumberjacks continue to brawl in the ring, until Jake Roberts runs back out, and cleans house with the snake. Lumberjack matches usually hurt performances with all of the spots tailored to the gimmick, but in this case, after so many matches between the two, a change of pace was welcome. ¼*

WWF Tag Team Title 2/3 Falls Match: The Hart Foundation v The British Bulldogs: The Harts had won the titles off of the Bulldogs in January - with the help of crooked referee Danny Davis. Davey Boy Smith starts with Bret Hart, and they fight over an armbar - Davey winning with a few somersault reversals. Bret counters into a side-headlock, but Davey catches him with a monkey flip, and a crucifix for two. Criss cross allows Hart to fire off a kneelift, and he tags Jim Neidhart. He gives Davey a hairpull slam, and railroads him into the Hart home corner for some double-team fun. Bret with a backbreaker for two, but a blind charge misses, and Davey gets the tag off to Dynamite Kid. He gives Bret his chest-first corner bump right out of the gate, and a hairpull slam. Snap suplex gets two, and a falling headbutt - but Jim Neidhart runs in, and the Harts destroy Kid until the referee disqualifies them at 4:34 - putting the Bulldogs up 1-0. The Harts continue to destroy Kid with a decapitator, and start expertly cutting the ring in half. Bret misses a bodypress into the ropes, allowing the tag to Smith - and he's an abbey of fire. He manages to ram the champs together, and presses Dynamite onto Neidhart for the pin at 9:48. The crowd goes berserk, but it turns out that the Harts keep the belts because the Bulldogs' first fall victory was a disqualification. Okay, I can buy that logic - but why even continue into a second fall if the Bulldog's have no shot at winning the titles? These four have legendary chemistry, and though the match was too short, they packed as much as they could into ten minutes, well paced action, and filled with crisp execution all around. ***

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Ricky Steamboat v Hercules: Big slugfest goes Herc's way with a kneelift, but he walks into a pair of dropkicks. They spill to the floor for Steamboat to open up with a series of chops, and hit an atomic drop. Inside, Steamboat railroads him into the corner, but Herc tugs the tights - ramming him into the turnbuckle. Clothesline gets two, but Steamboat dodges a backdrop, and takes him down with a snapmare. Swinging neckbreaker, but Hercules goes to the eyes, and hooks the Full Nelson (his finisher). Steamboat's done, but suddenly Randy Savage hits the ring and breaks it up - not out of love for Steamboat, but his intense desire to beat no one other than the Dragon to get his beloved Intercontinental Title back. The referee lets it continue, and Herc tries a flying splash, but hits the knees, and Steamboat levels him with chops. Ten punch count, but Herc counters into an inverted atomic drop, and whacks Steamboat with his chain for the disqualification at 6:42. Afterwards, Savage heads in to 'check on' Steamboat, only to hit him with the Flying Elbow. We would never get the showdown, unfortunately, as Steamboat's honeymoon with the title wouldn't last - dropping it to the Honky Tonk Man the next month as punishment for requesting time off to witness the birth of his son (and a bit of resentment from influential stars like Hulk Hogan for upstaging him at WrestleMania). Fun match, with Steamboat's selling as brilliant as always. * ¼

Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik v The Can-Am Connection: Jim Duggan watches from ringside, to protest the presence of Sheik and Volkoff on the basis that they're not American. No word yet on his feelings for Canadian Rick Martel. Volkoff starts with Martel, but misses a blind charge, and gets dropkicked. Tag to Tom Zenk, but he gets booted during a backdrop attempt, and Sheik hits a gutwrench suplex for two. Vertical suplex for two, and a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Sheik with an abdominal stretch, but Zenk hiptosses free - only to get caught with a clothesline. Sheik dumps him for Volkoff to abuse on the floor - irritating Duggan to no end. He eventually jumps the rail, and the distraction is enough to allow Martel to roll Sheik up for the pin at 4:45. Afterwards, Sheik and Volkoff jump Duggan for sticking his nose into their house of Un-American Activities - until the Canadian guy saves him. Weirdest war ever. They had Duggan/Sheik married to each other for the next few months (American Patriot v Foreign Heel angle) but just a few weeks after this aired, Duggan and Sheik were arrested while driving together while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in New Jersey, and both taken off of the road for breaking the law, and kayfabe. Energetic - which is no surprise, given their penchant for cocaine. *

BUExperience: No milestone moments this time around, but an exceptionally fun episode, top to bottom. It’s historically notable for being the first episode not to feature Hulk Hogan (he did give a pre-taped promo discussing/ranting about his victory over Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III), though everyone else kicked it into high gear, and his in-ring presence wasn’t missed – by the live crowd, or otherwise.