WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXI (May 1989)

Original Airdate: May 27, 1989

From Des Moines, Iowa; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.


Opening WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Rick Rude v Jim Duggan: Duggan tries to give him a clean break on the initial lockup, and of course, gets decked. He responds with a clothesline to put Rude on the apron, and he suplexes the champ back in for two.  Series of clotheslines and a kneedrop for two, but a blind charge misses, and Rude hits him with a flying axehandle. He takes too long showboating, however, and Duggan gets him with an inverted atomic drop. Piledriver gets two, drawing out Rude's fellow Heenan Family member Haku - who had been feuding with Duggan over the 'King of the WWF' title. He gets ejected from ringside, but the distraction allows Rude a dropkick, and a he drops a series of elbows. Chinlock, but Duggan fires elbows to break, so Rude catches him with a kneelift to put him back on the mat. Flying fistdrop, but Duggan starts 'TARDING UP!! Fists of Fury! Backdrop! 3-Point Stance! knocks Rude to the floor, and dumbass Duggan gleefully counts along with the referee for the 'victory' at 7:15 - and seems completely happy not having won the Intercontinental Title. Stupid finish aside, this was actually really decent - with Duggan putting in a good effort, and no resting. * ¼

Randy Savage v Jim Neidhart: Savage tries to psych him out, but Neidhart is already there, and scares Savage to the floor. Lockup goes Savage's way when manager Sherri hooks Neidhart's leg, but the Anvil quickly turns the tide with a bearhug. Savage goes to the eyes to break, and a high knee drive Neidhart to the corner. Hangman's clothesline, and a flying axehandle for two. Slam, but Neidhart topples him for two, and hits a slingshot shoulderblock. Clothesline gets two, and a dropkick puts the Macho Man on the outside. Neidhart follows him with another dropkick on the floor, and back inside, hits a powerslam for two. He ties Savage up in the ropes, but Savage dodges a charge (with Sherri's assistance), and hits a flying axehandle to the floor. In, Savage destroys him with the Flying Elbowdrop for the pin at 5:54. Another solid, energetic match. *

WWF Title Cage Match: Hulk Hogan v The Big Bossman: Before Hogan comes out, Bossman manager Slick introduces Zeus - Hogan's opponent from the WWF-produced No Holds Barred film, which was set for release a couple of weeks later - kicking off one of the most ridiculous (if not the most ridiculous) feud in the promotions history. Zeus guards the door to deny Hogan access to the cage, and when Hogan charges forward, Zeus clobbers him with a series of forearm shots - which we know are deadly, because he's already used them to kill another man. Of course, that man was a paid actor in a film, as part of a fictional story where Hulk Hogan doesn't even play himself - but don't bother thinking about that. It's not like the WWF did. Hogan sells it like he's been shot, allowing Bossman to drag him into the cage, and choke him down with his own t-shirt. Hogan comes back with some fists of fury, but Bossman blocks a shot into the cage - so the Hulkster nails him with the big boot. He heads up, but Bossman pulls him down for a bodyslam. Splash, and Bossman goes for the door - but Hogan lunges for the ankle. Bossman punishes him with a spinebuster, and makes the climb - almost making it, before Hogan makes the save at the last second, drags him up, and superplexes him off the top of the cage. That kills them both, to the point that the referee actually has to come in and check the arms. They're both unresponsive, so he starts a ten-count, and Hogan shakes the cobwebs off! He crawls for the door, and Bossman recovers enough to stop him. He's still fazed, but manages a clothesline, and Slick passes him a steel chain to finish the job. Bossman chokes him down with it, and then wraps it around his knuckles - but Hogan blocks, and rams him into the cage. Hogan gets the chain, and fires off a couple of shots of his own - drawing blood from the Bossman. Legdrop, and he climbs, but Slick takes out the referee at the door, and runs over to slow him down. That allows Bossman to climb on the other side, but Hogan takes them both out, steals Bossman's trusty handcuffs to lock him on the ropes, and climbs out at 10:01 - blowing off their long running feud. Exciting match, building drama well (between the near escapes, the double knockout, Slick) and has become one of the most fondly remembered (mostly for the superplex spot - which was really wild at the time) matches from the era. ** ¼

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Demolition v The Brain Busters: Smash starts with Tully Blanchard, and easily overpowers him - sending Blanchard scurrying to the floor. He tries to lure Smash into a chase, but gets locked in a bearhug, so Arn Anderson runs in to break it up - only to get casually clotheslined. Tag to Ax for a backelbow on Anderson, and he takes him to the Demolition home corner for some abuse. A cheap shot from Tully turns the tide, and Arn hits Smash with a vertical suplex - only to get no-sold. Four-way brawl allows the Demos to clean house, and Smash press slams Tully back in for Ax to lock in a headvice. Smash with a chokeslam, but Anderson sneaks in to clip the knee, and the Busters cut the ring in half with some double-teams. Arn with a stungun and a spinebuster for two, Kneedrop for two, and tries to hook a chinlock, but Smash powers out. He marches over to make the tag, but Tully literally blocks him, and a slugfest with Arn leaves both men down. Smash quite nearly make the tag, so this time Tully sneaks around the ring, and pulls Ax off of the apron to prevent it. That triggers a four-way brawl, and the Demos slug the referee in the chaos - giving the Busters the win by disqualification at 9:15. Good storytelling here, as the Busters just couldn't slow the Demos down, so they started a relentless onslaught of cheating (featuring some of the best heel tag work you'll ever see), and when they still couldn't get it done, suckered the Demos into getting disqualified - all but guaranteeing them a rematch. The Busters would, in fact, get that rematch (and the titles) on the next SNME. **

Boris Zhukov v Jimmy Snuka: Zhukov tries a cheap shot at the bell, but Snuka no-sells it, and hits him with a lazy diving forearm (he barely got his feet off of the ground). Backbreaker, and the Superfly Splash finish at 1:11. Total squash, as Snuka had just returned to the WWF (this was his first televised WWF match since 1985), and Zhukov was strictly enhancement talent at this point. DUD

NO HOLDS BARRED!!!: We get a special preview of Hulk Hogan's upcoming flick, which consists of two minutes of Hogan grunting and punching things, then throwing some pies. I have a full review of the movie here on the site as part of its special pay per view broadcast, and it goes without saying that it's one film that takes the 'class' out of 'classic,' but still manages to highlight the 'ass.'

BUExperience:  As noted, Hogan/Bossman in the cage is one of those matches people still talk about today, and the rest is all good fun – top to bottom.