-RIP Road Warrior Animal.
-Today we look at the Saturday Night’s Main Event from October of 1989 from the WWF.
-SNME XXIII was broadcast on NBC on October 14, 1989. It was taped September 21, 1989 from the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
-Roddy Piper says he’s got Haku and his manager, Boobsy.
-Randy Savage and Queen Sherri say long live the Macho King and Jimmy Snuka better get ready for the Kingdom of the Madness.
-The Bushwhackers say The Rougeau Brothers are going to get a licking.
-Ted DiBiase is with Zeus and DiBiase says that Zeus is the Million Dollar Insurance Policy against Hulk Hogan.
-Hulk Hogan says that DiBiase has millions of dollars, but he’s got millions of Hulkamaniacs! I would personally rather have the money. Hogan says he and the Hulkamaniacs are going to stamp DiBiase and Zeus NSF!
-Opening Credits.
-Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura welcome us to the 6th season of SNME. Jesse does some topical humor talking about Cincinnati being the gambling capital of the world in light of the Pete Rose scandal. Rose and Ventura would go on to be inducted into the same Hall of Fame class in the WWE in 2004. Check out Vince McMahon’s look to the camera.
-They show the coronation of the Macho King, Randy Savage.
-Jesse interviews Randy Savage and Queen Sherri. Savage says he is on a quest to be the greatest King the WWF has ever had. Long live the Kingdom of the Madness. Jesse says long live the King!
-Randy Savage with Queen Sherri VS. Jimmy Snuka: Savage and Sherri come down carried on a throne.
-Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Jimmy Snuka. A rare Snuka interview. He says there is no king or queen over the Superfly.
-Jesse says Snuka is one generation removed from cannibalism. Savage dominates early. He hits the double ax handle from the top rope onto Snuka on the outside. Sherri interferes, hitting and kicking and choking Snuka with her purse. Savage gets a 2 count. Snuka comes back. Savage does a great selling job. Sherri hands Savage her purse. Savage hits Snuka with it and pins him. He then goes to hit Snuka with the flying elbow, but Snuka moves. Snuka then slams Savage. Snuka goes for the Superfly, but Sherri covers the Macho King begging Snuka not to jump. So he jumps down to chase them both away.
-Flashback to the times that Zeus and Hulk Hogan have met.
-Jesse interviews Ted DiBiase and Zeus. DiBiase says with Zeus in his corner, Money will talk and Hogan will walk. McMahon built up Zeus well.
-Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan. They do a rundown of the previous meetings. He keeps calling DiBiase the Multi-Million Dollar Man. He then does a lot of money related puns. They call this the Million Dollar Match.
-WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Hulk Hogan VS. Ted DiBiase with Zeus. Zeus grabs Hogan’s ankle early. Hogan keeps being distracted by Zeus. He keeps interfering. Crowd is really into Hogan. Jake Roberts comes out. This is building on the Roberts/DiBiase feud that has been brewing since summer. Hogan gets a two count. Virgil comes out from the back and grabs the bag that holds Damien and takes off. Roberts follows. DiBiase takes over. Both men knocked down at one point. Hogan starts a comeback. Zeus hits him. DiBiase hits a knee from the top rope, but Hogan kicks out of the pin attempt at two and comes back. Zeus comes in and holds Hogan for DiBiase to hit, but Hogan ducks and DiBiase hits Zeus. Hogan rolls DiBiase up for the pin. Zeus then wants a one on one matchup between himself and Hogan. DiBiase attacks Hogan from behind and tells Zeus to break Hogan’s neck. Even for a late night timeslot, this is still surprising coming from the WWF at this time. Zeus wrenches Hogan’s neck. DiBiase then applies the Million Dollar Dream to Hogan. Roberts comes back with Damien so the heels bail.
-Flashback to the problems Rick Rude and Roddy Piper have had with each other.
-Jesse interviews Bobby Heenan and Haku. They say Piper is going to pay for what he did to Rick Rude at SummerSlam and they are going to have fun doing it.
-Mean Gene interviews Roddy Piper. Typical Piper interview. He does a somewhat topical interview saying he’s going to make hurricane Hugo look like a summer breeze.
-Roddy Piper VS. Haku with Bobby Heenan: Piper comes to the ring looking determined. Haku attacks before the bell and they trade shots in and out of the ring. McMahon says it’s a brawl, Piper style. Piper goes after Heenan at one point. Haku takes over. He misses a splash and Piper comes back. He wins after a belly to belly suplex. That’s #1 of the Heenan Family, Piper says later.
-Mean Gene interviews Ted DiBiase and Zeus. DiBiase is tired of seeing and hearing about Jake Roberts. He says this time he will get the job done and get rid of Roberts once and for all. Zeus then says that Hulk Hogan won’t have anything to be thankful for at the Survivor Series.
-Mean Gene then interviews Rick Martel and Slick. Martel says he carried the Strike Force team. Slick says they’ve got the manpower to get things done.
-Tito Santana VS. Rick Martel with Slick and the members of the Survivor Series Team Martel is going to be on. The Twin Towers and The Honky Tonk Man. Jive Soul Bro is such a great song. Mean Gene interviews Tito Santana. He says actions speak louder than words when it comes to his response, but I’m distracted by the Tito Santana t-shirt he is wearing. It has a cartoonish picture of Tito on it and there is something wrong with the hair. Santana comes to the ring alone, when Jesse says that’s a stupid move, Santana waves to the back and his team for Survivor Series comes down: Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake, and The Red Rooster. Santana has an early advantage. He gets an early two count. Santana hits the flying forearm, but Slick gets on the apron. Then all the men climb up onto the apron. Another referee comes down and they restore order. Santana gets thrown outside. Back in, even paced match. Martel gets the Boston Crab on, but Santana gets to the ropes. Martel gets posted after Santana shakes the ropes. Santana get the figure four on, but Slick gets on the apron again. Then Dusty Rhodes and The Big Boss Man come in. Then all 8 men start going at it. The bout is ruled a double disqualification.
-Mean Gene interviews Roddy Piper. He says this is just the beginning for the Heenan Family. But you need the Heenan Family, because the buzzards have to eat too.
-The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers Jacques and Raymond with Jimmy Hart VS. The Bushwhackers Luke and Butch: Mean Gene interviews The Bushwhackers. They say they are going to take care of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers once and for all. Jesse calls them the marching morons. Bushwhackers corner Jimmy Hart after the Rougeaus are thrown outside. A tug of war with Hart leaves him pants less and he has the fleur-de-lis on his underwear. He then runs to the back. The Rougeau Brothers have the advantage. Jacques then hits Raymond accidently. Then Luke Williams comes in. They hit the battering ram and get the pin.
-Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan. He says Ted DiBiase, the Multi-Million Dollar Man and Zeus need to be stopped. Again with the Multi-Million Dollar Man stuff. Geez. He then says his team at the Survivor Series will wipe them out.
-Vince and Jesse then talk about the Hulk Hogan injury and sign off from Cincinnati.