WWF Saturday Night's Main Event XXI (Version II)

Original Airdate: May 27, 1989

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

We start with a look back at WrestleMania V, as Rick Rude robs Ultimate Warrior of the Intercontinental Title, though Bobby Heenan doesn't see it tarnishing Rude's reign as champion since the belt still shines the same. How can you even argue with that? Jim Duggan doesn't see it that way, but then he's cross-eyed

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Rick Rude v Jim Duggan: Hicksaw Jam Duggan! Rude tries punching at him to start, but Duggan's head is too hard, and he clotheslines the Ravishing one onto the apron, then vertical suplexes him back in for two. Series of clotheslines follows, and damn the crowd is just INTO Duggan, aren't they? Bodyslam sets up a kneedrop for two, so Rude goes low, and hits his challenger with a flying tomahawk chop. He wastes time swiveling his hips, however, and Jim delivers an inverted atomic drop, followed by a piledriver for two. That draws Haku out (Duggan recently having beaten him for the title of 'king'), and the distraction allows Rude to dropkick him. Snapmare sets up a series of three pointed elbowdrops, and another snapmare sets up a fourth elbowdrop for two. Chinlock wears Jim down for a flying fistdrop, but Hacksaw starts no-selling, and backdrops the champion. Three-Point Stance knocks Rick to the floor, and Duggan is all too eager (even counting along with the official, like a moron) for the countout at 7:15. This was actually a surprisingly solid and energetic match, even though the finish pretty much paints Duggan as the biggest idiot to ever idiot. But then, that fit with his character. ** (Original rating: * ¼)

Jim Neidhart wants to talk about Sensational Sherri's ass. Well, who doesn't? Randy Savage calls her 'beautiful, lovely, and gorgeous all at the same time,' so clearly the drugs were the top shelf stuff that night in Iowa

Randy Savage v Jim Neidhart: Neidhart's on-screen graphic is super creepy, and looks like an alternate version of a Child's Play poster, or something. Sherri gets involved right away by hooking Neidhart's ankle during the initial lockup, but Jim fights Macho off, and grabs a bearhug. A mere thirty seconds in, that's gotta be some kind of record! Savage quickly escapes an high knees him into the corner to setup a hangman’s clothesline, and he chokes the Anvil down. Flying axehandle gets two, but Jim topples him for two during a bodyslam attempt, and Neidhart follows with a slingshot shoulderblock. A few standard shoulderblocks and a clothesline get two, and Jim dropkicks Randy out of the ring - then follows him to the floor and throws ANOTHER dropkick out there! Man, the Anvil is bringing the heat tonight! Neidhart with a scoop powerslam for two on the way back in, but a charge misses, and he goes flying out of the ring - Savage right after him with a flying axehandle on the floor. Back in, Macho finishes him off with the Flying Elbowdrop at 5:54. Fucknuts, this was better than it had any right to be. This has to rank as Anvil's best ever singles match, right? ** ¼ (Original rating: *)

Big Boss Man is ready for his cage match with Hulk Hogan. And, by the looks of his stomach, he's ready for Thanksgiving dinner as well. Kinda hard to believe he was only all of twenty six years old at this point. Fucker looks forty. Lump Arn Anderson into that group as well - some guys are just born looking middle aged

WWF Title Cage Match: Hulk Hogan v Big Boss Man: Before the match, Slick introduces Zeus, and man, say what you will about his wrestling ability (or lack thereof), but he certainly looks imposing - especially with the expert level camera work to accentuate his size. Plus, SummerSlam drew a huge number, so fuck workrate sometimes, I guess. He lays Hogan out on the floor before the bell (which Hulk sells like death - Hogan knew how and when to sell to make guys look like threats, and thus draw money with them; see also: Quake, Earth), but Boss Man shows no mercy - dragging the champion in and choking him with his own t-shirt. Hulk manages a big boot, but gets splashed when he tries climbing out, and Boss Man bodyslams him. He goes for the door, but Hogan stops him, so Boss Man delivers a sloppy spinebuster. That looked awkward as fuck. He climbs, and quite nearly escapes (making it over the top and halfway down) before Hogan brings him back in with the famous superplex spot off the top of the cage! That one's still impressive today, let alone in 1989! It leaves both guys for dead, so the referee is forced to go in and check their arms. Both drop twice, so he uses his discretion, and gives them a ten count to get to their feet. Hulk stirs first and goes for the door, but Boss Man manages to grab his ankle to stop him, and then blocks a backdrop with a clothesline. Slick decides that desperate times call for desperate measures, and tosses Boss Man the handcuffs and nightstick to finish things off - Hogan getting choked down. Boss Man goes for the door, but Hulk stops him, and delivers a series of turnbuckle smashes before busting Boss Man open with a chain. He tosses him into the cage a few times to setup the Legdrop, so Slick takes the referee out as Hogan climbs. Slick rushes in to try and stop Hogan as Boss Man makes a last ditch effort, but Hulk crotches the challenger on the top, beats up Slick, and climbs out to retain at 10:01. Fun match, with the famous superplex spot that people still talk about today, and tons of drama. This was expert level stuff... even if you saw it on the house show circuit before this, they still managed to do a fantastic job of building up drama due to Zeus' involvement prior to the bout. ** ½ (Original rating: ** ¼)

Backstage, The Brain Busters have mastered the concept of jackets, but are still working on getting pants down. Or 'up,' in this case. Meanwhile, Demolition aren't worried too much about it, since they've got their formal S&M party gear on tonight - suitable for any occasion

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Demolition v The Brain Busters: Man, this is a stacked card tonight. Smash starts with Tully Blanchard, and uses his power advantage to toss him around, before Arn Anderson takes a cheap shot to stop a bearhug. Smash shrugs them both off anyway before tagging out to Ax, and Arn eats a backelbow. Bodyslam and a clothesline put him in the champions corner for some abuse, and Smash works a headlock, so Blanchard takes a cheap shot to turn the tide, and Anderson capitalizes with a vertical suplex - only for Smash to no-sell, and bodyslam him! That triggers a brawl, and Tully eats a bodyslam from Ax as the champions clean house. Dust settles on Ax and Blanchard, and Tully's attempts at a slugfest do not end well - Ax dumping him to the floor, where Smash press-slams him back in. Ax then clotheslines him right back out, and poor Bobby Heenan looks to be closing in on a heart attack here. The Demos continue to abuse Blanchard, but another cheap shot turns the tide, and they cut the ring in half on Smash. The level of dickbag heel cheating here is just brilliant from the challengers. Ax finally has enough and falls into the trap of coming in without the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Demos clean house, but the referee gets tagged in the process, and the official call is a DQ win for the challengers at 9:15. That goes over about as well as a poop in church, however, and they brawl all the way to the dressing room. Excellent chemistry between these two teams, as the Demos effortlessly plugged into the Road Warriors' roles (down to the spots, in some cases), and it came off really well. I know people generally refer to their NWA run when referencing Anderson and Blanchard as a team because of the Horsemen and all, but their WWF run is supremely underrated with tons of great matches had with a variety of teams. *** (Original rating: **)

Backstage, Randy Savage declares that there's 'no more hiding' for Hulk Hogan since, with Jim Neidhart out of the way, he's now the number one contender. He certainly has a high opinion of Jim Neidhart, I’ll tell ya

Jimmy Snuka v Boris Zhukov: This marks Snuka's first televised WWF match in four years. What a way to come back! And he looks terrible here, like some swarthy old man who answers his door in leopard skin underwear and stinks of Paco Rabbane at all times. He no-sells some turnbuckle smashes from Zhukov, then hits a backbreaker before finishing with the Superfly Splash at 1:11. Big pop for him, though. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Backstage, Gene Okerlund kisses Hulk Hogan's ass over his performance in No Holds Barred. In case anyone ever wanted to pinpoint the moment when Gene was at his absolute shilliest, there it is

BUExperience: Easily one of the best episodes of the series. Hot stuff baby, this evening. Hot stuff baby, tonight