SNME 1/89

It’s 1989 and here we are with the Survivor Series recap! In our first match.......

What? Questions already? I usually don’t get them this early on, but Ok.

”If this is a Saturday Night’s Main Event review, why the hell are you re-capping the 1988 Survivor Series? Not only was that a completely different show, it took place nearly 2 months ago!

Ok, that’s a valid question. I’m recapping the Survivor Series because virtually all of the major storylines currently going on in the WWF either started, ended or changed dramatically during the Survivor Series PPV, and not reviewing it would lead to a lot of confusion as to things like what was causing Randy Savage’s vaguely heel like attitude toward Hulk Hogan when he was clearly a babyface at the 10/88 SNME. You can consider this the “Bonus Plan”, where you’re getting 2 reviews for the price of one. And there’s also the completely coincidental fact that the 2005 Survivor Series just took place, and I thought it might be good to go back in time and re-cap one of the earlier Survivor Series PPVs for you. Sound good? Cool. Now let me get back to the review.

For the first 2 years of its existence (1987 & 1988), the Survivor Series was actually held on Thanksgiving night. SS was billed as a “Thanksgiving Night Tradition” The true reason for holding the Survivor Series on Thanksgiving night of all nights, was because Jim Crockett Productions (What you probably know as the NWA) had been holding it’s Starrcade PPV every Thanksgiving since 1983. Vince put his first Survivor Series on the same night and basically strong armed the various cable companies into airing his show instead of Crockett’s with the threat that if they didn’t air Vince’s show instead of Crockett’s then they wouldn’t be allowed to broadcast Wrestlemania 4 either. This resulted in the majority of cable companies caving in to Vince and airing the Survivor Series instead of Starrcade. By 1988, this had cut way into Crockett’s profit margin and helped lead to Crockett selling his wrestling promotion to Ted Turner. Now that you have the history, let's review the show.

Match #1:
Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Sam Houston, The Blue Blazer, & Jim Brunzell v. Honkytonk Man, Ron Bass, Danny Davis, Greg Valentine, & Bad News Brown

In 1988, we opened the Survivor Series with an extremely underwhelming matchup. By all accounts, this should have been a complete mismatch, as it was the Warrior, Beefcake and 3 jobbers (yes, I know that Brunzell was very talented, and that the Blue Blazer was Owen ‘freakin’ Hart, but the two of them were prettymuch JTTS (Jobbers To The Stars) at this point) Against 4 solid heels and one jobber in Danny Davis, who was eliminated less than one minute into the match. This match was prettymuch a throwaway and was barely worth the time it took me to write this paragraph about it. The only notable thing that happened here, was Bad News Brown abandoning his team in the middle of the match. Bad News was the ORIGINAL “Stone Cold” wreslter, as everything that Steve Austin is famous for today, Bad News had been doing in 1988. (c'mon, bald headed, goateed, black ring attire, anti-authority, complete loner to the extent that even other heels weren't safe around him? Bad News had the "Stone Cold" gimmick down to a "T")

Our second match though, was my personal favorite, as it wasn’t simply a 10 man elimination match, but a 10 TEAM elimination match with.....

Match #2:
The Powers of Pain, The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, and The Young Stallions v. Demolition, The Brainbusters , The Bolsheviks , Raymond & Jacques Rougeau, and The Conquistadors

Yes folks, the WWF had so many tag teams in 1987 and 1988 that they were able to put 5 teams on each side and let them fight it out with both members being eliminated if one of them gets pinned. This match was fantastic, not only because you saw virtually every combination of match-up between the various babyface and heel teams, but for several specific reasons.

1. This was the final WWF match that the British Bulldogs wrestled as a tag team. After being eliminated by Smash of Demolition, Dynamite Kid and Daveyboy Smith went back to Stu Hart’s Stampede wrestling and on to All Japan before a huge falling out between the Bulldogs forced Daveyboy and Dynamite to go their separate ways.

2. In the “guilty pleasure department”, we saw the Conquistadors beat the odds and actually survive the entire match (which lasted 42minutes!), escaping defeat multiple times before being eliminated by the Powers of Pain. And speaking of the Powers of Pain…

3. We saw what may be the first double heel/face turn in WWF history, as Mr. Fuji, turn on Demolition, who he had managed to the WWF Tag Team Championship, and align himself with the Powers of Pain who were booked as babyfaces and the main competition to the heel Demolition! In mid-match, it seemed that both teams switched sides. Demolition would wind up being counted out, but not before attacking Fuji before leaving the ringside area. This confused fans at first though, as they couldn’t tell if Fuji had turned babyface, or if the Powers of Pain had turned heel. In the end, the Powers of Pain as noted earlier defeated the Conquistadors to win the match, and celebrated with Mr. Fuji in the center of the ring. The crowd was cheering for the POP though, so as soon as the next WWF TV, Mr. Fuji was cutting heel promos against Demolition to make it clear that he hadn’t turned face, but that it was the POP that had turned heel. Demolition meanwhile, began cutting babyface promos to further put over the fact that they were the WWF’s newest babyface team.

It’s been widely stated by fans that this was a completely botched angle by the WWF, not in that they did the simultaneous heel/face switch, but that the WWF didn’t make more of the feud than they did. This could have been a real high profile match-up, but outside of a handicap match between Demolition v. POP & Fuji at Wrestlemania 5, this feud was prettymuch pushed to the back burner. They could have really done some good stuff here with maybe a tag title switch, leading to Demolition regaining the title at Wrestlemania 5 or the POP maybe winning the belts at Wresltemania.

Either way, the 1988 Survivor Series is worth picking up if only for this match. In addition to the final WWF match of the British Bulldogs, we saw the PPV debut of The Brainbusters, as they eventually brawled to a double countout with the Rockers, but not before eliminating the Hart Foundation. In general though, you just saw a lot of great tag team action with the absolute best tag team roster available at any point in wrestling history.

Match #3:
Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect, & Harley Race v. Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Scott Casey, Ken Patera, & Tito Santana

This was the PPV debut of the recently arrived Curt Hennig to the WWF, and was still being announced as “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig. The WWF would soon after, drop Hennig’s name, and just call him Mr. Perfect. A name that fit him so well, that even after both Hennig and Ray “Big Bossman” Traylor were working in WCW nearly 10 years later, Traylor accidentally called Hennig “Mr. Perfect” on live WCW TV! We also saw Tito Santana try the impossible and attempt to sunset flip Andre the Giant (something that Bad New Brown would never do after Andre shit on him during a match in Mexico.) Jake Roberts finally scored a televised clean pin on Rick Rude, who he had been feuding with all year. But the celebration was cut short, as Jake’s newest main nemesis, Andre the Giant choked Jake until being disqualified, leaving Jake easy prey for Mr. Perfect to score the winning pin. This match was better than the first one, but still came in behind the Tag match.

Match #4
The Megapowers , Hercules, Koko B. Ware, & Hillbilly Jim beat Ted DiBiase, The Twin Towers , Haku, & Red Rooster

In our final Survivor Series match, we saw WWF Champion Randy Savage taking an incredible pounding at the hands of the Twin Towers and Haku for an extended period of time while Hogan had been handcuffed to the bottom rope. With Elizabeth’s help, Hogan managed to free himself and tag into the match, and pin Haku in short order (the Towers had already been disqualified by this time.) Savage is still exhausted, as Hogan is in the ring celebrating as if he had won the entire match single handedly. Hogan is even celebrating with Elizabeth on his shoulders, and that appears to be the final straw for Savage, as everyone watching can see that Savage is extremely upset with Hogan. No heel turn yet for the Macho Man, though you can definitely see that there is now a chink in the armor of the Megapowers.

Note, that even though Hogan appeared to be taking credit for the win, without really acknowledging Savage, remember that this was 1988. In 2006 of course, there would be several subplots going where Hogan would have probably been planning this out for months at a time, and would have had some kind of ulterior motive in stealing Liz and leaving Savage out of the picture. But back in 1988, no such subplots existed. Hogan was 100% sincere here, and had no designs on Elizabeth (who was managing both Hogan and Savage at the time, so there was no reason why Hogan shouldn’t have been celebrating with her), and considered Savage as his “best friend”. The only plot line here, was that like every partner that Hogan ever had in the WWF, Savage began to get jealous of Hogan, which would eventually lead to the breakup of the Megapowers and the main event of Wresltemania 5, where Hulk Hogan would wrestle a solidly heel Savage for the WWF Title. But I’m getting ahead of myself now. Wresltemania 5 can’t happen until I review the action from…….

SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT 1/7/89 from Tampa, Florida

Yes, I’ve finally gotten around to the review. But now that you have the full back-story, you can read with a full understanding of what has been going on since the 11/88 episode of SNME. With Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura in the announcer’s booth, we go right into our first match.

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake v. “Outlaw” Ron Bass
This was a grudge match from prior to Summerslam 88. Brutus had been involved with a months long feud with then Intercontinental Champion, the Honkytonk Man, and had repeatedly failed at winning the title from him. Summerslam was going to be the night that Brutus finally took the title from HTM, but the WWF was noticing that despite a big push, Brutus wasn’t getting over as well as they were hoping he would. Meanwhile, the Ultimate Warrior with little in the way of a hard push from the WWF, was making more headway with the fans than Brutus was. With his incredible physique, colorful ring attire and face paint, and intense personality, the Warrior was really growing on the fans, and the WWF made the last minute decision to insert the Warrior in Brutus’ place in the IC title hunt. With Brutus already booked as the Honkytonk Man’s opponent for Summerslam, they needed an excuse to remove him from the match. Enter Ron Bass, who attacked Brutus at a WWF TV taping and brutalized him with his steel cowboy spurs, putting “The Barber” out of Summerslam. The Warrior went on to win the Intercontinental Title in Brutus’ place, but that left Brutus hanging in limbo. Well several months later, we finally get some closure as Brutus and Bass wrestle in a match where the loser gets his head shaved.

Bass is already in the ring, and immediately attacks Brutus as he tries to enter, choking the Barber with his whip. Brutus finally fights Bass off and chases him of the ring with Bass’s own bull whip. Both men finally lock up with Bass getting the early advantage with a knee to the gut and a forearm to the back. And irish whip by Bass is reversed and the Outlaw catches a jumping knee lift by Brutus, sending Bass back to the outside. An incensed Bass tries repeatedly to re-enter the ring, but Brutus is there attacking Bass and keeping him outside.

Bass finally makes it back in and locks up with Brutus. Both men exchange rights with Brutus getting the advantage. Brutus then runs the ropes and delivers several additional rights to Bass, and then mounts the fallen Outlaw and nails him with several additional right hands (Yes folks, Brutus’ main offense has been pretty much the same thing. The right hand. Add in a knee lift and a sleeper hold, and you have about 90% of Beefcake’s offensive arsenal. Despite this, he was still quite popular though.) Bass makes it to his feet, and Brutus rams him into the turnbuckle. Bass responds by reverse atomic dropping Beefcake to take the advantage back. Bass with a stomach crusher and several kicks to the head. Bass then lays Beefcake across the corner turn buckle and sends Beefcake to the outside with several stiff kicks. Brutus is dragged back into the ring and after an irish whip, takes an elbow to the gut. Another whip by Bass, and Beefcake takes a boot to the gut. It’s clearly Ron Bass in charge here as he continues to work on the mid-section of Brutus Beefcake with numerous punches and kicks. Bass hits Beefcake with a piledriver, but refuses to pin him, as he signals that he’s going to cut Brutus’ hair and picks him back up. Bass drops Beefcake throat first over the top rope and refuses to cover him. Bass nails Brutus with a clothesline, and this time covers him for the pin, but only gets a 2 count. Unfortunately, Bass thought he had gotten a 3 count and goes for the hair clippers. The ref is trying to tell Bass that he didn’t get the pinfall, and is so busy arguing with the ref that he allows Brutus to regain his senses. Bass attempts another clothesline, but Brutus ducks. Bass rebounds off the ropes, and as Gorilla Monsoon would say, “He slaps it on!” Brutus has the sleeper hold on Ron Bass and before long, the Outlaw is out COLD. Brutus then does what he does best and shaves Bass completely bald. This was the last hurrah for Bass, as outside of an appearance at the 1989 Royal Rumble not long after this show aired, Ron Bass and the WWF would part company.

Hulk Hogan v. Akeem
Hulk Hogan is currently feuding with both the Big Bossman and “The African Dream” Akeem. Akeem was in fact the One Man Gang,. This was a hilarious gimmick, in my opinion, as Akeem dressed in African garb, danced (or at least tried to dance) and used what were apparently black mannerisms and speech, as if he were indeed black, while totally ignoring the fact that he was in fact white. (These days of course, it’s perfectly obvious that there are native Africans who are indeed white, but this apparently wasn’t common knowledge in 1988. And either way, none of those white Africans put on the charade of “acting black” that Akeem did.) The gimmick could have bombed completely, but Akeem worked it well enough that it got over immediately.

In a pre-match interview, both Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Randy “Macho Man” Savage pledge his support for each other. Savage promises to be watching out for Hogan. Any bad blood between the two at the aforementioned Survivor Series may have just been a one time thing. Or was it?

Akeem is already in the ring, and has both Slick and the Big Bossman at ringside, while Hogan is only accompanied by Elizabeth. Savage and Gene Okerlund are still in the back, as Savage has decided to watch Hogan’s back from the lockerroom, while viewing the match on a TV set. Hmmm….

Back in the ring, Akeem tries to attack Hulk from behind, but Hogan dodges the attack, grabs Slick (who was still on the ring apron) and slams him on top of Akeem and covers both of them for a quick 2 count. Hogan lets a confused Akeem to his feet and fires away with several rights before stuffing his bandana in Akeem’s mouth and delivering another right hand to take Akeem down. Hulk then leaves the ring, grabs Slick and in a replay from just a minute ago, slams Slick on top of the Bossman. The crowd is hot, as Hogan jumps back in the ring and continues with several additional right hands on the still stunned Akeem. Hulk attempts a body slam, but doesn’t get him up before Akeem can fight him off. Akeem delivers several right hands of his own, before firing Hogan into the corner. Akeem charges in, but Hogan gets out of the way in time. Hogan then proceeds to ram Akeem’s face into all 4 turn buckles before hitting him with several additional rights and 2 clotheslines, taking Akeem off his feet again. With Akeem back up, it’s several more right hands and then an arm bar. Akeem reverses the arm bar though, and takes Hogan down. Akeem works on the arm, turning it into a wrist lock. Hogan makes his way to his feet and breaks the hold with, you guesses it, several additional right hands. Hogan runs the ropes for a shoulder block but Akeem doesn’t go down. Hogan goes again, ducks under a clothesline and lands a clothesline of his own. 2 more right hands by Hogan, and Akeem gets whipped into the bossman on the ring apron and goes down again. Hogan takes the time to taunt Akeem, imitating his “black” dance moves.

Hogan gets Akeem to his feet and hammers away at the African Dream in the corner. Big Bossman for the third time is on the ring apron to distract the referee. Hogan tries to charge Akeem in the corner, but Akeem drags the referee in the way and Hogan wipes him out. With the ref out cold, Hogan is being relentlessly double teamed by both Akeem and the Big Bossman. This would be an obvious cue for Randy Savage to run in and save his partner, but he’s still in the back room watching the match on TV and telling “Mean Gene” that Hogan is ok, and will get himself out of it. Meanwhile, Hogan is being absolutely destroyed as Akeem repeatedly splashes the Hulkster. Elizabeth runs to the back to get Savage to come out and save Hogan. Akeem is on the second rope for what should be a final splash on Hogan when Liz finds Savage and begs him to come help Hogan. Savage repeatedly tells Elizabeth that Hogan will be ok and expresses his confidence in his Megapowers partner while still refusing to come out to Hogan’s aid (Are you getting the picture now?)

Back in the ring, with the referee finally back on his feet, Hogan seems to finally be getting his second wind, and manages to do his traditional Hulk up. Hulk nails Akeem with 3 punches and clotheslines Akeem, Bossman and Slick. We cut to Savage in the back, as he’s cheering on his alleged good friend, assuring Okerlund that he knew that Hogan would be ok. Meanwhile, Hogan goes outside of the ring and continues to attack both Bossman and Slick. Hogan gets back in the ring and whips Akeem to the ropes and delivers the big boot. Hogan finally manages to slam Akeem but while running the ropes to deliver his patented leg drop, the Big Bossman nails Hogan in the back with his night stick. The ref immediately disqualifies Akeem, but the festivities aren’t over, as the Twin Towers proceed to go to work on Hogan. With Hogan down, Slick and the Twin Towers then turn on Elizabeth and handcuff her to the top rope. This does it for Savage, who unwilling to help Hogan, sprints to the ring with a chair to save Elizabeth, running the heels off in the process. With the carnage cleared up, Savage follows Liz and Hogan to the back, but doesn’t seem to look very pleased.

Ultimate Warrior v. Honkytonk Man
At Summerslam 88, the Warrior ended Honky’s 14 month Intercontinental Title reign with a 30 second victory to win the IC Title. The WWF had actually been grooming Brutus Beefcake to win the title, but for reasons that I had mentioned earlier, it was the Warrior who wound up getting the nod. We now get to see Warrior and HTM in their first full fledged televised matchup.

After his customary wind sprint to the ring, Honkytonk Man leaves the ring and attempts to leave the ringside area, but the Warrior follows him out, gorilla presses him, and then carries HTM back to the ring, throwing him back in through the second rope. Warrior gets back in the ring, leapfrogs over a charging Honkytonk Man and then catches him with a big boot. Jimmy Hart is on the ring apron trying to console Honky, but the Warrior bangs their heads together. Honky is stunned as Warrir whips HTM to the ropes and hits an elbow. Warrior punishes the Honkytonk man with several chops and a series of right hands in the corner. Warrior whips HTM to the far corner and nails him with a shoulder block. Warrior whips HTM to the opposite corner, but Honky moves out of the way in time, sending the Warrior crashing to the mat. Jimmy Hart does an excellent job here distracting the ref while handing Honky his megaphone, so the former IC champ can batter the Warrior with it. With the ref back in the action, Honkytonk Man is in clear control, working the Warrior down with a series of punches and kicks (with Jimmy Hart throwing a cheap shot in every once in a while.) Before long though, the Warrior makes his comeback, bodyslamming HTM, but missing an elbow drop in the process. Honky tries to capitalize on it, but Warrior is still on his second wind, and goes on the attack with a vicious clothesline. Warrior attempts a big splash, but Honky gets his knees up in time. HTM goes for the pin, but only gets 2. Honky charges the Warrior for a clothesline, but fails to make a dent. He runs the ropes again, but the Warrior ducks and runs off the ropes himself, nailing the Honkytonk Man with a flying shoulder block and a cover for the 3 count.

I really liked the Ultimate Warrior at this time, but this match wasn’t really that great. You got your rematch between HTM and the Warrior, but considering the in-ring abilities of the two of them, you couldn’t be expecting a 5* (or even a 2*) classic.

Tito Santana v. Red Rooster
In a pre-match interview with Jesse Ventura, it’s hilarious how Bobby “The Brain” Heenan encourages the Rooster, while clearly insulting him and putting over how he (Heenan) took someone with limited talent and made something out of him. Boy, talk about a gimmick that killed someone’s career. Ted DiBiase will always be known as the Million $$$ Man. Curt Hennig will always be “Mr. Perfect”, but Terry Taylor will always be remembered as the “Red Rooster”.

Tito Santana is in the ring now, as the match gets under way. Both men lock up with the Rooster going for a single leg take down, but Santana counters. Another lock up, and the Rooster pushes Santana to the corner and nails him with a right hand. He looks at Heenan, clearly proud of himself, and gets dropped by Santana because he wasn’t paying attention. Heenan of course, yells at the Rooster. Tito whips Rooster to the ropes, and after confusing him with several drop-downs and leap frogs, hits a great drop kick on the Rooster. Santana goes for the cover, but the Rooster gets his foot on the ropes. Heenan is pissed off at the Rooster here, and confides in New York Yankees Manager George Steinbrener, who was in the front row. Meanwhile, Santana goes for a big splash, but Rooster gets his knees up in time. The Rooster goes on the attack here, stomping on Santana and hitting him with a chin crusher. At Heenan’s insistence, the Rooster chokes Santana. Rooster lets Santana get to his feet, and Tito begins fighting back with several punches. Santana hits a double leg take down and covers Rooster for 2. Rooster goes for an irish whip, but Tito reverses it. Tito ducks down for a back drop, but Rooster goes for a sunset flip. Tito fights through though and blocks it. Santana is back on the attack ramming the Rooster with several forearms in the corner. An irish whip and Santana hits the Rooster with a punch to the gut. Another whip, and Santana gets the backdrop, followed by an attempted figure 4 leglock, but the Rooster blocks it. Heenan then drags the Rooster out of the ring and berates him for not doing a better job in the ring. Heenan even shoves the Rooster several times before the Rooster has enough, and starts shoving Heenan back, much to the crowd’s delight.

Santana goes after the Rooster and suplexes him back into the ring for a 2 count. Santana whips the Rooster to the ropes and goes for another back drop, but the Rooster kicks Tito. Rooster drops a knee on Tito, and then hits a back breaker for another 2 count. Heenan is completely exasperated now complaining that the Rooster can’t do anything right. The Rooster goes for a vertical suplex, but Tito small packages him for 2. Heenan is beside himself now. Tito puts The Rooster in a backslide for another 2 count. Santana fires Rooster into the corner, but gets a boot in the face as he charges in. Rooster follows up with a piledriver for another 2 count. Tito tries to fight back, but winds up getting hot shotted throat first on the second rope. Rooster goes for a sharpshooter, but Tito blocks it, and makes it to his feet. Rooster goes for a clothesline, but winds up taking a clothesline of his own as Tito takes him over the top rope and out of the ring. Heenan is livid now, as he picks the Rooster up and throws him right back in the ring. The Rooster turns around to argue with Heenan, allowing Tito roll him up from behind for the 3 count.

Heenan climbs right into the ring to argue with the Rooster. He then makes the mistake of slapping the Rooster around. This finally wakes the Rooster up, as he loses his temper. Heenan realizes his mistake and tries to plead with the Rooster for forgiveness, but Rooster is having none of it and fires away at Heenan, yelling at him the whole time. He then whips Heenan to the corner and beats on him some more, still continuing to taunt “The Brain” Rooster fires Heenan to the opposite corner and then nails him with a solid right hand before Heenan finally bails out of the ring and runs to the back. The Rooster is left in the ring as the crowd cheers him on for finally realizing what a weasel that Heenan is.

Mr. Perfect v. Koko B. Ware
Curt Hennig is now ordering Mean Gene Okerlund to refer to him only as “Mr. Perfect”, and promises to unveil his perfect finishing hold, the “Perfect Plex”

The match starts with Perfect firing away on Koko in the corner. He whips Koko to the far corner, but Koko reverses it sending Perfect to the corner instead. Perfect rebounds off the corner into a hiptoss by Ware. Koko follows up with a bodyslam, followed by a beautiful drop kick, sending Perfect out of the ring. Back in the ring, they lock up again, and it’s Perfect hammering Ware in the corner again. Perfect is hammering Koko with several forearms and chops. Another irish whip to the corner is reversed by Koko who hits an armdrag on Perfect. Perfect gets to his feet and gets a side headlock. Koko sends Perfect to the ropes and after a series of leapfrogs, armdrags Perfect again. Perfect manages though, to get the advantgage back, with several additional forearms on Ware. Perfect than hits a “perfect” standing drop kick on Koko sending him out of the ring. Koko makes it back in and whips Perfect to the ropes and hits a clothesline. Koko with another irish whip to the corner, but Perfect gets out of the way in time, as Koko charges in for the attack. A stunned Ware stumbles back to the center of the ring where Perfect hits Koko with the cradle suplex, now known as the “Perfect Plex” for the perfect 3 count.

In the back, Gene Okerlund is interviewing the Megapowers with Hulk Hogan still in some pain from the beating he took earlier. Okerlund is asking them about any possible friction between them. Hogan has no doubt that his best friend Savage had his back and arrived just in time and still completely trusts him. Savage echos Hogan’s sentiments and insists that he and Hogan are still a team, and that they are still both the best of friends and partners. We of course, have our suspicions, but this interview was enough back in the day, to assure the fans and announcer Vince McMahon (but not color commentator Jesse Ventura) that there were no problems between them. We’ll find out once and for all though in one month when the WWF airs it’s second prime time Main Event special where the Megapowers will fight the Twin Towers and Savage will show everyone what his true colors are.

This was definitely a better show than what we had been seeing over the past several episodes. Where the majority of 1988’s SNME shows were pretty much treading water without doing much at all to advance current storylines (as opposed to 1987, when SNME played a major role in the WWF’s plot lines), 1989 begins on a pretty good note with a lead in to next month’s main event special. None of the matches were earth shattering, but there was nothing here that was bad either. All in all, things are looking a bit better than recent SNME outings.

My Score: 8

The WWF is finally beginning to once again use SNME to advance their ongoing angles. Next up, will be the 2/89 Main Event, which will lead directly into the buildup to Wrestlemania 5. As always, feel free to drop me a line at gnagus@comcast.net and let me know how you liked the review. I’m always interested in knowing if I’m being read by oldschool fans who saw these shows when they aired, or newer fans who are reading about these shows for the first time.

-Corey