The Event Center: Saturday Night’s Main Event July 28th, 1990 Review

Introduction:
Hello and welcome back to CrazyMax’s Event Center. We are starting out our trilogy of SummerSlam 1990 shows with Saturday Night Main Event XXVII. This is the show from July 28th, 1990. We get a preview of the main event at SummerSlam when the Ultimate Warrior squares off against Rick Rude in a singles match for the WWF Title. We also get an Intercontinental Title match as well as a debut match on Saturday Night’s Main Event of the Texas Tornado. I always enjoy doing a Saturday Night’s Main Event and this one is no different so lets get this show on the road.

Event Information:
Date: July 28th, 1990
Location: Omaha Civic Center in Omaha, Nebraska
Attendance: 10,303
Main Event: WWF Title Match: Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Ravishing Rick Rude

Show Opening:

Lord Alfred welcomes us all to Mutual of Omaha’s Animal Kingdom but Vince interrupts him right away and says no no this is the World Wrestling Federation’s Wild Kingdom on Saturday Night’s Main Event. We then go to the commentators table with Jesse and Vince. Vince says this is the wildest kingdom of them all the World Wrestling Federation. Vince says Jesse is joining him in this Rumble in the Jungle. Jesse says if we are looking for animals then its right here on Saturday Night Main Event.

Vince says that Tito is cheetah like and Jesse calls Perfect a perfect animal, perfect champion, and perfect everything and Chico has no chance. Vince lets us know that Hogan will be back on Saturday Night’s Main Event as we cut to the opening video where they run down the card.

Promo by: Rick Rude & Bobby Heenan

Heenan says that everyone knows needs food to survive. Heenan says tonight is survival of the fittest and that the Warrior will be just another link in the food chain of this hungry beast. Rude says he has devoured Warrior and now history has to repeat itself. Rude says that Warrior is a guppie in the ocean of life and that the waters that Warrior swims is inhabited by the deadliest predator of them all, Ravishing Rick Rude, the next WWF Champion!

Promo by: Ultimate Warrior

Warrior says that he is going to give Rick Rude a lesson in evolution. Warrior says in the food chain the bigger animals devour the smaller ones. Warrior says animals battle for territorial ground but he knows no boundaries. The Ultimate Warrior fears no predator and tonight the Warrior will prove that he is the ultimate animal.

Match 1: WWF Championship Match: Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Rick Rude

Aww man no promo at the start of the match by Rude trashing the fans. Thats unfortunate. Warrior is about to hand the belt to the ref when Rude attacks him from behind. Rude is laying in the forearms but when he goes to throw him head first into the turnbuckle the Warrior blocks it and rams Rude into the turnbuckle 7-8 times. Warrior then whips Rude into the corner and then picks him up and throws him back into the corner. One of Rude’s favorite spots. Warrior lays in the boots as the fans count to 10 for him.

Warrior drops Rude with an atomic drop and then a clothesline up and out to the outside. It’s all Warrior early on here. Warrior then goes over and rams Rude head first into Bobby Heenan. Warrior gets Rude back into the ring and Warrior ends up dropping him with a clothesline. Warrior then goes to the top rope and comes off with a double ax handle to Rude. Warrior goes for his big splash but Rude rolls out of the way and Warrior misses. Warrior rolls to the outside and Rude goes out after him and grabs the WWF title and nails the Warrior with it on the side of the head.

Rude throws the Warrior back into the ring and Rude goes to the top rope but Warrior ends up hitting him in the gut and then an atomic drop. Rude regains control with a knee to the face and then a clothesline to Warrior. Rude goes for a body slam but Warrior blocks it and hits Rude with a body slam of his own. Warrior goes for another one but Rude goes up and over and gets the Warrior in a sleeper hold right in the middle of the ring. Warrior gets back to his feet and drops down with a jaw breaker on Rude to break the hold.

Rude keeps control and nails the Warrior with some right hands but the Warrior is fighting through it here. Rude goes for the Rude Awakening on Warrior but the Warrior grabs the hands of Rude and breaks free before he can deliver the move. Warrior goes for a clothesline but Rude blocks it and kicks the Warrior in the gut and then drops him with the Rude Awakening anyways. Rude goes for the cover and he gets a 2 1/2 count. Warrior starts hulking up and no selling for Rude.

Warrior hits multiple clotheslines on Rude as the crowd goes crazy for him. Warrior hits a flying shoulder block and then a splash for a 2 count before Heenan interferes and pulls Warrior off of Rude. Warrior goes out after Heenan but Rude attacks him from behind. They are brawling on the outside until Warrior picks up Rude and gets him in a gorilla press and is about to throw him back into the ring but Heenan knees the Warrior in the back and Warrior ends up dropping Rude. Warrior gets in the ring with Heenan and rams him into the turnbuckles and then throws Heenan out of the ring to the outside. The referee then calls for the bell as this one is over. Your winner of the match by disqualification….The Ultimate Warrior!

Recap:
There was nothing to this match and it was no where near as good as their SummerSlam 89 match or their Wrestlemania 5 match. However, they are scheduled to have a pay per view main event a few weeks after this show so I understand why they didn’t give much away here. I feel like it is stupid to give away a pay per view main event 3-4 weeks before the actual pay per view and expect somebody the caliber of the Warrior to be able to deliver. The guy was limited in the ring, obviously, so having him work his pay per view opponent 3-4 weeks before the pay per view was just dumb. The only redeeming quality of this match is it did setup the fact that Heenan interfered to much so in order for the Warrior to get a fair fight at SummerSlam they would need a cage to keep Heenan out. That is what this match was for and it delivered on that front but not much else.

They go to a promo featuring Lord Alfred Hayes and Gene Okerlund.

They show a highlight video on Hulk Hogan.

In Ring Interview: Hulk Hogan

Hogan gets in the ring and takes a sign from a fan that said “Earthquake Made a Big Mistake.” Vince asks Hogan for a few comments. Hogan says he is here for one reason and that is to say thank you to each and every one of the Hulkamaniacs in the building and all over the world watching Saturday Night’s Main Event. Hogan says he also thanks all the fans for a prayer and writing a card or note to him. Hogan says each and one of those cards and letters will be responded to by himself. Vince then asks Hogan about SummerSlam. Hogan said that Earthquake made a mistake and he is going to show him just how big of a mistake he made.

Hogan says he has someone special watching his back and it will be the almost 500 pound Tugboat in his corner. Hogan says with Tugboat in his corner, it will leave this thing between he and Earthquake. Hogan says that Hulkamania is still the strongest force and then Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and Jimmy Hart come out and corner Hogan. Earthquake and Bravo are about to get into the ring but Tugboat comes out of no where and stands back to back with Hogan as quake and Bravo run scared.

They show Hayes and Gene going through the jungle looking for animals. Hayes go off on Gene for no reason and then Koko B. Ware shows up out of no where. Koko says he is trying to find a mate for Frankie. Gene was then looking up at the trees when he trips over a log and ends up landing on some brush where a snake is slithering around.

Jake Roberts then shows up this is a nice little play friend for Damien and one more reason why Bad News can’t sleep at night. They cross some rail road tracks and then the Bushwhackers show up doing there arm dance as Hayes and Gene continue further into the jungle.

Match 2: WWF Tag Team Title Match: Demolition (c) vs. The Rockers

Looks like we are going to get Smash and Crush in this tag match. Smash and Marty are starting this one off. Smash gets the advantage early and just clubs Marty down to the mat with some ax handles. Marty hits Smash with a hip toss, clothesline, a trip, and then a drop kick that sends Smash to the outside and regrouping. Smash and Crush get in the ring as the Rockers both hit a head scissors take down and then a double drop kick on Demolition that sends them out of the ring and regrouping once again.

Marty gets a tag to Shawn and they totally botch a spot there and I have no idea what the hell they were trying to do. Shawn ends up jumping on Smash and then Marty drop kicks Smash and Shawn takes him over for a hurricanrana. Crush gets tired of it and just nails Marty with a nice looking clothesline. Crush gets the tag and he comes in and gets the control of the match on Shawn with some punches until Marty comes in and they hit Crush with a double hip toss and then a double elbow drop.

Crush picks up Marty and puts him on the top rope and starts choking him. Marty ends up hitting Crush with a shitty looking sunset flip for a 2 count. Rockers are being pretty damn sloppy here and it’s taking away from the match. Shawn and Marty are doing quick tags as they continue to work the arm of Crush. Smash is trying to cheat and hit Marty but Marty sees it coming and baseball slides through the legs of Smash. However, when Marty gets to the outside Ax ends up dropping him with a clothesline as we head to commercial break.

We come back with Smash working over Marty and then tossing him to the outside. Crush then picks up Marty and just throws back into the ring over the top rope out of a gorilla press. Smash tags in Crush and he comes in off the top rope with a double ax handle to the lower back of Marty. Crush drops Marty with a tilt a whirl back breaker. Crush’s strength was ridiculous. Crush gets a one handed choke slam off the ropes and just floors Marty. Crush tags in Smash and he continues to work the lower back of Marty. Smash gets a bear hug on Marty in the middle of the ring.

Marty breaks free and hits Smash with a sunset flip but he can’t get Smash over so Smash punches him in the face as Smash tags in Crush. Crush whips Marty into the corner and he goes in sternum first like Bret Hart did. Marty ends up slamming Crush down by his hair as Crush makes the tag to Smash and Marty tags in Shawn. Shawn comes in a house of fire as he drops Smash with a flying tackle and then a drop kick to Crush.

Shawn whips Smash into Crush and then double drop kick Crush and Smash. They hit a double side kick on Smash as they head to the top rope and hit Smash with a double fist drop. They go for the cover but Crush breaks it up at 2. Shawn gets a roll up on Smash but Ax comes in, as the ref is distracted, and nails Shawn with a clothesline and then pins Shawn for the 1-2-3. Your winner by pinfall and still WWF Tag Team champions….Demolition!

After the match the Hart Foundation and the Legion of Doom come out and tell the refs that all three guys were involved in the match and they are going off on the ref. The names here is just insane.

Recap:
This was a pretty good match here. The Rockers looked pretty damn awesome outside of a couple of missed spots. Their tag team offense looked really good and Demolition sold really well for them. The finish was expected but I enjoyed the match as a whole. Also, at the end of the match you have a ring full of Demolition, Hart Foundation, the Rockers, and Legion of Doom? Those are 4 of the best tag teams of all time and here they are all in the same ring at the same time. What a time for the tag team division in the WWF.

They go back to the jungle with Hayes and Gene still looking for animals. Gene just started “hallucinating” as he started acting like a monkey and then crawling around on the ground but Alfred “saved” him before it’s too late.

Backstage Interview: Mr. Perfect & Bobby Heenan

Heenan starts us off by saying that he will be feeling the affects of the Mr. Perfect but it will be from the champagne from the victory party. Heenan says that Tito is a former Intercontinental Champion and he is going to stay that way. Perfect then says that people are saying Tito has the same likeness of a cheetah. Perfect says there is one only perfect animal in the world and we are looking at him. Perfect says he has the perfect mane, the perfect 20×20 vision, and the perfect teeth with no cavities. Perfect says that what we are looking at is what champions are made of. Perfect says it is Saturday Night and he is at his best with Bobby Heenan in his corner he says nobody, no where, stopping this force at this time.

Match 3: WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Mr. Perfect (c) vs. Tito Santana

We start this one off with Perfect getting control early until Tito reverses an irish whip and then hip tosses Perfect 2-3 times followed by a drop kick that sends Perfect flying over the top rope. Tito goes out after Perfect but Perfect gets back in the ring and then back outside as Tito continues to follow him. Tito hits Perfect with a big ass chop on the outside and then throws Perfect back into the ring. They keep reversing arm wringers until Perfect gets reversed on an Irish whip but Tito ends up ducking early and Perfect kicks him in the chest and then clubs him in the face.

Heenan is telling Perfect to pace himself from the outside. Perfect then hits an awesome looking knee lift on Tito to keep control of the match. Perfect picks up Tito and hits him with a chop and then a standing drop kick. Tito tries to get back into it but Perfect stops him and hits him with a body slam. Perfect gets Tito in a chin lock. However, Heenan distracts the ref so Perfect can choke out Tito without the ref seeing it. Tito grabs the hair of Perfect and then he nails him with a left hand that stuns Perfect. Both guys get up but Perfect gets control with punches and chops until he whips Tito into the corner but Tito gets the boot up. Tito drops Perfect with a big ass clothesline that sends Perfect flipping over. That was awesome.

Tito grabs Perfect up by the hair and nails him with a wind up left hand that drops Perfect but he falls on to the ref’s leg and it takes out of the ref. Tito then kicks Perfect in the leg and Perfect does another flip as he sells the kick. Tito then gets Perfect in the figure four leg lock as Perfect taps out but the ref is knocked out. Tito ends up breaking the hold and wakes up the ref. Tito then hits his flying forearm on Perfect as he goes for the cover but the ref is selling his leg like a million bucks. The ref finally starts counting but Perfect kicks out at 2 2/3.

Tito goes up to the middle rope and hits another clothesline on Perfect. Tito goes for the cover again and the ref is continuing to sell the leg as we get another 2 1/2 count. Tito is pissed off at the ref so Tito calls for another ref and one comes at as we head to commercial break. Tito hits a nice cross body on Perfect but again Perfect gets out at 2. Perfect snaps Tito over and then hits the rolling neck snap on Tito. Perfect then gets his face wiped off by Heenan. What a great heel combo these two were. I bet they are having some sort of fun wherever the hell they are at.

They start exchanging lefts and rights as Tito gets back to his feet. Perfect then picks up Tito and he wrenches the neck of Tito. Perfect is laying in the rights and chops in the corner until Tito reverses it and sends Perfect flying over the top rope with a right hand. Tito then grabs Perfect by the hair and throws him into the steel post nut first. Perfects face there was awesome. Tito then hits two straight atomic drops and on the second one Perfect goes flying head first into the turnbuckle. Man Perfect is so damn awesome.

Tito goes for an irish whip and ducks early but Perfect comes in and goes for the Perfect Plex but Tito reverses it into a small package. Perfect then reverses the small package and ends up getting the 1-2-3. Your winner and still WWF Intercontinental Champion….Mr. Perfect!

Recap:
This match was so damn good. Perfect was just awesome and was selling like a million bucks for Tito Santana. The difference between Perfect overselling like this and what Shawn did at Slam 05 is that Perfect did this every match for every worker. Hell he would sell like this for a jobber some times. This was just how Perfect was and it was way of making himself and his opponent look good. I also have no idea what the hell it was but it was as if Mr. Perfect had springs in his feet and he only weighed about 75 pounds. He moved so freely in the ring and it looked effortless. The guy was truly remarkable and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves these days for how great of a talent he really was. This match is definitely worth checking out and you will know exactly what I am talking about when the match is over. Two of my favorites and they put on a classic here that is pretty damn awesome.

Backstage Interview: Earthquake, Dino Bravo, & Jimmy Hart

Jesse admitted that he heard a roar from the crowd that was deafening to his ears but that roar could come to an end at SummerSlam. Jimmy says thats right and that Hogan has been carried out before and he will be carried out again at SummerSlam. Earthquake says there is only one way for Hogan to leave the arena and that is on a stretcher to the ambulance and back to the hospital. Bravo says there will be no interference by Tugboat because he will make sure of that. Jesse wraps it up by saying that no animal can survive an Earthquake.

We head back to the jungle with Hayes and Gene. They then see Jimmy Snuka running up a hill. They arrive at a caldron of soup it appears. They then run into Akeem and Slick. Slick asked if Hayes is lost. They ask where the river is and Slick tells them it is a different way. They arrive at a river and Hayes ends up throwing Gene into the river. Hayes says he has saved Gene again but at what cost. This shit is dumb.

Match 4: Texas Tornado vs. Buddy Rose

Kerry is making his debut here in the WWF. Rose pushes Kerry into the corner and then slaps him right in the face. Rose takes off running and heads to the outside because he has pissed off the Tornado. Rose goes for a hip toss but Kerry blocks it and hits a hip toss of his own on Rose. We do the same thing but this time we do a body slam and it ends with Kerry hitting Rose with two straight body slams. Kerry whips Rose into the corner and Rose goes in upside down and to the mat. Kerry hits a nice drop kick on Rose as this one is just about over.

Kerry then lays in a right hand and gets Rose locked into the rope. Kerry lays in some big time right hands while Rose is stuck in the ropes. Rose gets free and then he falls out to the floor on his ass. That was a funny looking spot there. Rose racks the eyes of Kerry and then drops a knee to him. Rose goes to the outside and heads to the top rope but Kerry ends up on his feet and body slams Rose off. Kerry then hits the spinning discuss punch for the 1-2-3. Your winner by pinfall….Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich!

Recap:
This was just a glorified squash match so they could get Kerry on a national broadcast to make his debut. Rose sold really well for Kerry and thats all you can really ask for. Kerry got over all of his moves that would make him famous going forward so I would say job well done with this one.

Backstage Interview: Rick Rude & Bobby Heenan

Jesse says that Warrior is the king of the jungle but what happens when you put an animal in a cage. Rude says that when you put an animal in a cage it becomes a scared animal. The reason they are scared is because they are out of their element. Heenan says that Warrior may rule the wild kingdom as he knows but inside the steel cage Rick Rude rules it and Warrior is going to know it. Rude says it is not going to be a heavy action scene from Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom but its going to be SummerSlam 1990. Rude says that it will be Rude vs. Warrior inside the steel cage and that he will climb to the top of the cage but not to escape but to come down on the head of the Warrior. Rude then says that the Warrior will be singed by his burning desire to become the new World Wrestling Federation champion.

Backstage Interview: Ultimate Warrior

Mooney says that the king of the jungle in the WWF is the WWF Champion Ultimate Warrior. Warrior says that Rude asked him to take his power and those that he commands into a 15 foot steel cage. Warrior says it is a combat field but a jungle to rude. Warrior says the circumstances that surround this steel cage have no reason for the forces that he commands, his Warriors, to contain his Warriors to the fuel that they give him. Warrior says they shouldn’t confine them or subject them to one last challenge by Rick Rude. Warrior says he gets to control the most awesome force in the WWF and that is to walk as the WWF Champion. Warrior says he walks in the champion and leaves the same and that is the Ultimate Animal!

Show Closing:

Vince thanks everyone for joining them and hoping we have enjoyed the WWF’s answer to the wild kingdom. Jesse tells McMahon that there are two species that might go instinct and he is talking about Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior as he laughs. Vince then sends us back to the lodge where Gene and Hayes are back. Hayes says that they have made it back and that they have gained some knowledge as well as a friend. Gene is petting a monkey. Gene says he enjoyed his search as they looked for the mouth of the river. Hayes then sends is off until their next safari. Vince says that we have a new season of Saturday Night’s Main Event coming this fall as the show goes off the air.

Show Recap:

This was a pretty good show top to bottom. There was a lot of great action, even though we only had 4 matches. The opening match between the Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude was a little bit of a head scratcher. This was their pay per view main event in 3-4 weeks and they gave it away on free tv? That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Adding a cage isn’t going to move the needle on people paying for something if you ask me. They say the Warrior’s title run didn’t make money and it wasn’t very good but I would say they did him no favors during his run. They gave away his pay per view match on free tv. Then they had him run house shows against an aging and irrelevant Demolition team in 6 man tags. Thats not going to get anyone over as a champion. Terrible booking doomed the Warrior’s run, not him.

After that we got Demolition vs. The Rockers in another really solid title match. There was not really special and the Rockers were a little sloppy but the match was pretty fun and entertaining. The end when the Harts and LOD came out and got in the ring with the Rockers and Demolition on the outside. That is one hell of a list of tag teams together in one spot. Pretty surreal and awesome to see. Just goes to show how deep the WWF’s roster was at the time, as far as tag teams go.

The match after that was the match of the night and one that is definitely worth checking out. It was the Mr. Perfect vs. Tito Santana IC Title match. Both guys put on a show and just put on a great match. Perfect was at his peak as far as how good he was and Tito was no slouch either. He may have been an elevated enhancement wrestler at this time but he came to work on this night. Perfect’s selling was awesome and you really had no clue where this one was going to go until the end. Just a top notch performance by two hall of famers that is highly recommended by this guy.

Last we got the debut of the Texas Tornado. They put him in the ring with a nimble Buddy Rose and it worked if you ask me. Rose sold like a champ for Kerry and thats all you can really ask for in a debut. Kerry got his moves over and the crowd was pretty hot for him. It was a short match but it was good and recommended if you are a fan of either guy.

So that does it for this one. It was a quick show to get through but one that was highly entertaining and definitely worth checking out. The in between segments with Gene and Lord Alfred were dumb as hell and a waste of time but don’t let that distract from the great action that was on this card. Welp that puts a bow on another episode of the Event Center. I really enjoy doing the Saturday Night’s Main Event so I hope you enjoy reading them. Next up on the list will be our first endeavor into the world of Extreme. Thats right we are going back to the year 2000, man we must really like 2000 wrestling, and we are going to Heat Wave 2000. Not the greatest of cards but definitely entertaining. I hope you tune in for that one and I hope you have enjoyed this one. Until next time, stay safe and I will catch you all later!