Saturday Night’s Main Event #10: The Wrestlemania Preview
IMG Credit: WWE
Date: March 14, 1987
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 21,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura
Heenan says Andre is the best.
Elizabeth explains the stipulations for Savage vs. Steele: the winner gets the title and her.
Jake Roberts and Damien will be feasting on 400lbs of King Kong Bundy.
Opening sequence.
Jesse says Vince looks like the Penguin from Batman.
Intercontinental Title: George Steele vs. Randy Savage
Winner take all. Before we get the bell, we get our fourth separate segment with Elizabeth in the first ten minutes, with Gene wishing her luck. Elizabeth is sitting in a chair at ringside like a lifeguard. George goes over to her but Savage jumps him from behind to get things going. He immediately tries to take Elizabeth to the back but Steamboat is waiting on him.
Steele takes the title belt and finds a poster of Elizabeth as a consolation prize.
Hogan is warming up and keeps saying the name of someone in the battle royal with every other name being Andre.
Heenan and Andre say the Giant will win.
Battle Royal
Hillbilly Jim, Ron Bass, Sika, Haku, Tama, Lanny Poffo, Hercules, Butch Reed, Paul Orndorff, Billy Jack Haynes, Koko B. Ware, Nikolai Volkoff, Blackjack Mulligan, Ax, Smash, Honky Tonk Man, Jim Brunzell, B. Brian Blair, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan
Everyone gangs up on Hogan to start but some guys go after Andre instead. Hogan fights back and dumps Honky Tonk Man before Andre does the same to Sika. Andre dumps Sika before hitting a massive headbutt on Poffo to bust him open, followed by a quick elimination. Hogan fights back as Poffo is taken out on a stretcher with pools of blood underneath him. Things settle down a bit as the ring has cleared out a little. Bass gets eliminated by Hogan and Andre does the same to Mulligan.
Jake says he and Damien will always be at the top of the food chain.
Jake Roberts vs. King Kong Bundy
Roberts tries to work on the arm to start and Bundy runs from the snake bag. Things settle back down with Bundy going to a standing armbar but Jake kicks the knee out to escape. Bundy goes to a test of strength and easily takes the Snake down for some near falls, only to have Jake go right back to the knee to get out again. A front facelock has a more lasting effect on Roberts but Jake slithers out and drills Bundy with a knee lift.
Rating: C. This was much better than I was expecting until the fairly lame ending. Jake was so smart in the ring and even acted like a snake, right down to the slithering around. I was surprised by how good the chemistry was here, especially when the match was looking like a filler.
We see crooked referee Danny Davis costing the British Bulldogs the Tag Team Titles back in January.
The Hart Foundation introduces Danny Davis as their official ringside observer, whatever that means.
Tag Team Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Dan Spivey/Tito Santana
The Harts are defending and Davis cost Santana his Intercontinental Title over a year ago in another questionable decision. Spivey is a tall guy who looks a lot like Barry Windham (so much that he replaced Windham when he left the US Express). He takes Neidhart down with a headlock to start but a big clothesline drops Spivey right back. Off to Bret vs. Santana, which should be awesome.
Bret misses a charge into Neidhart, allowing Tito to come in off the real hot tag. Santana cleans house with his flying forearm to both Harts before putting Bret in the Figure Four. The other two are still fighting though, allowing Davis to nail Santana with the megaphone to give Bret the pin.
Ricky Steamboat says his fire is getting hotter and hotter, even if people go after his injured throat.
Iron Sheik vs. Ricky Steamboat
Savage and Steamboat yell at each other.
The standard recap ends the show.
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