STW - Saturday Night's Main Event 10.13.90 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Saturday Night's Main Event - October 13, 1990

Welcome everyone to Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVIII (28)! October 13, 1990 from the Toledo Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio. The event was taped on September 18 and aired on NBC.

It was the second to the last SNME to air on NBC in the 90s. By SNME XXX (30), the show would be on the Fox Network. But the conversations were already happening surrounding that. Meltzer reported that the WWF had signed a deal with Fox Network to produce a special in February. The report said Fox would pay more for WWF than NBC does but there was concern that NBC might not be happy with WWF on their competitor’s network. NBC failed to renew Titan’s deal for a February special.

Where did the relationship with NBC go south? How did the conversation with Fox get started?

WWF filed suit against the New Jersey State Athletic Commission for its tax on television revenue around this time, the Observer reported. Titan told the state legislature in 1989 that wrestling was predetermined and the participants work together to put on a show as a way to rid itself of commission regulation. Many states did drop the regulations but New Jersey’s governor vetoed the bill WWF wanted to see passed. Titan sought to reintroduce the bill while also attacking the state commission in the courts.

Where did the animosity come from between the New Jersey lawmakers and the WWF during the time? Is this what Governor Christine Todd Whitman would fix in 97?

The line-up for the WWF Survivor Series which was coming up in November featured all eight-man elimination tag matches. The Hulkamaniacs vs. The Natural Disasters (not the tag team) was atop of the card, continuing Hulk Hogan and Earthquake’s rivalry. The Warriors would open the show against the Perfect Team. Then, the night would end with an ultimate match of survival. Meltzer reported that the last match would probably tease Hogan-Warrior at Wrestlemania but we know that Mania was destined to be Sarge vs. Hulk. Tickets were 22, 19, 15, and 9. That’s a bargain.

Now is the time of the show we remind you how much we loved the ultimate match of survival

WWE held its first show at Madison Square Garden in months on 9/21 and drew under 12,000 with $185,000 paid for what was described in the Observer as a poor show. But by the standards of the day, it was their fourth largest drawing show since Wrestlemania. It was headlined by the Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom vs. Demolition.

Around this time, Sergeant Slaughter was beating his opponents with a noogie.

Where did that idea come from?

Suburban Commando began filming on 9/24 in Hollywood, reported the Observer. They added that a small role in the film would go to Brutus...the fucking Barber...Beefcake. But it was reported that New Line Cinema offered a role in the film to comedian Richard Belzer, who was choked unconscious by Hogan on Belzer’s talk show during the 80s and settled a lawsuit out of court over the matter for $315,000. He was reportedly not amused.

Is Richard Belzer not a big Hulk Hogan or WWE fan? :)

What do you remember about Suburban Commando?

Around this time there was a report of a backstage fight between Mr. Perfect and Boris Zhukov. Word in the Observer was that several serious blows were thrown and that somehow, Zhukov was getting the better of the exchange before Blackjack Lanza threatened to dock pay from both guys and broke it up.

Did you ever hear about that fight? How could anyone hurt Zhukov’s head?

Around this time the Ultimate Warrior appeared on the Brother Love show and made him wear a dress and a wig. Warrior renamed him “Sister Love.”

What ever happened to Sister Love?

WWF was reportedly gearing up for another head-to-head battle with the NWA on 10/27 in Chicago. The NWA had their Halloween Havoc PPV show scheduled while Titan ran The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase.

Was it someone’s job to watch for events from the competition and try to counter-program them?

On September 24, the debut happened of Herb Abrams Universal Wrestling Federation in Reseda, California before an estimated 425 fans. Brian Blair was the booker and pushed names including Steve Williams, Paul Orndorff, Blair (duh), Col. DeBeers, David Sammartino, Billy Jack Haynes, and Cactus Jack Manson! 21 matches were taped for Sports Channel America and literally none of them had actual finishes - all ended in count outs, DQs, or something similar. One of the stories of the night was how a jobber was booked under the name Davey The Observer Meltzer. Meltzer jobbed for Williams who shoved a piece of paper in his mouth and poured a bottle of dirt on him.

What do you think about that booking idea?

Titan held a warehouse sale where several thousand reportedly showed up to buy clearance items. As reports go, it shocked everyone in attendance and more had to be added to make room for the inventory. The wait to get into the facility was around three hours.

Do you remember the company doing these warehouse sale events? When did they stop and why?

Titan sued three bars in Dayton, Ohio for illegally showing Wrestlemania VI, the Observer reported. The WWF wanted $330,000 from each defendant but the bar owners claimed they had purchased the rights from a New York company, Primetime 24, which was authorized to sell rights to the event.

Is it possible they didn’t actually purchase the rights? Did the Primetime 24 group not do the sale right? What could have happened here?

A fight involving Koko B Ware was reported in October as happening while on tour at the Holiday Inn bar in San Francisco. Not a lot of info was available on this except that Koko was sent home from the tour and there was no word on if it was a long-term suspension or who was involved.

Do you remember Koko B. Ware getting into a fight around that time - or getting in a lot of fights? Ever see him beat the shit out of that jobber in Memphis?

Everyone was speculating about “the egg” on TV around this time, which debuted on WWF television as a big surprise that would crack open at Survivor Series. One rumor was that it was King Kong Bundy returning, which would have been a hilarious visual: an egg getting out of an egg.

Reports around the time were focused on how pro wrestling companies were struggling to do good business. The drop off was expected as the traditional post-Wrestlemania drop in business has been the norm. But with a big title change, the company usually expects to do strong business for the new champion. Meltzer reported that wasn’t occurring this year with Warrior having the belt. Warrior was no where near as big of a draw as Savage had been with his run with the belt two years before.

Did Warrior draw disappointing houses as champion? Is that why the focus returned to Hulk by Survivor Series?

In larger markets, reports were that Titan was starting to do localized interviews or TV segments where they previously had not done them in order to help houses. One example was that a video camera was used to shoot home-movie style footage of Dino Bravo causing Hulk Hogan to lose. Hogan specifically talked about the last match and upcoming match to build the match for the market.

This is an old school strategy from back in the territory days, right? Any memories of shooting home-movie style promos for specific markets? Was this an effort to help sagging business?

The USA Today ran a story on 10/8 saying Jesse Ventura would be running for Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. He faced an 18-year incumbent and guess what? Jesse won and served as mayor from 1991 to 1995. It wouldn’t be the last of his venture into politics, either.

Were relations still too sour with Jesse to be able to appreciate his political efforts during this time? Did him winning the election mean anything to anyone in the office?

Around this time, it was reported that the effort to brand Kerry Von Erich as “Texas Tornado” and the Road Warriors as the “Legion of Doom” weren't getting over, with fans referring to them both by their previous names.

Do you remember having issues with branding these previously-established stars with their new Titan personas?

A few big personnel changes were about to happen in the WWF. One of those was Rick Rude quitting the promotion. Rumors were that Rude was unhappy with his Summerslam pay - reportedly $17,000 for a main event match with Warrior. Meltzer reported that Rude and Vince had been at odds since Rude had a tricep injury and missed a few weeks worth of main events with Warrior.

At the TV tapings, the Rude-Bossman angle was shifted to Bobby Heenan-Bossman. Jack Tunney would announce Rude was suspended for remarks regarding Bossman’s mother on October 27. Meltzer believed this to be the first time the WWF acknowledged someone who left the company.

We’ve covered Rick Rude in longform in the archives. Can you revisit why he was unhappy around this time? And was this the first time someone who had quit was acknowledged on air by name?

Another personnel change was in the form of Akeem - George Gray. It was described as a more amicable parting of ways as Akeem was simply tired of life on the road and needed to go home to rest.

Do you remember Akeem needing some time off?

WWF cleaned house around this time, trimming the roster down. Those who were said to have gotten cut included Jimmy Snuka, Boris Zhukov, Nikolai Volkoff, Ron Garvin, and The Genius Lanny Poffo, which reportedly upset Randy Savage.  Some of those guys would return.

Do you remember the decision to cut Leaping Lanny? Did it upset Randy?

During the same time, plans were also announced for Jim Neidhart to be dropped from wrestling and moved to the commentary booth.

How did that plan come about?

Reports were that the company lost 16 television slots when the new fall 1990 TV season started but that merchandising and licensing revenue were still solid. However, with business hurting at least somewhat, the decision was made to drop the “C” house shows and just do A and B shows.

The plan talked about in the sheets was that starting in November, two shows would be running - one headlined by Hulk and one headlined by the Warrior. Each show would be six matches deep in “feud” matches.

Can you describe the decision to cut the C team? With the brand split today, how many teams do you have touring at once?

So with business woes mounting, television time slots vanishing and more, Vince decided it was time to start a bodybuilding federation. Stories of McMahon signing bodybuilders to six-figure contracts to get them away from the Weider organization were reported at this time. The idea was mentioned that the hope was for the bodybuilding business to help finance wrestling when the wrestling economy weakens.

If only ICO-PRO sales had taken off…

Did the company really believe bodybuilding was a good investment - or was that pretty much one person’s idea that everyone else had to support?

That fall, JJ Dillon, Akio Sato, and company VP Dick Glover (lol) were in Japan with the mission of setting up a show in the Tokyo Dome, similar to shows there in the past. The WWF would end up promoting shows in Japan with Super World of Sports (SWS) on March 30, 1991, and December 12, 1991. The March 30 show was the one where Earthquake and Koji Kitao got into a near-shoot fight, leading to Kitao breaking kayfabe and grabbing a house microphone to announce that wrestling was fake. Liar.

Why did that son of a bitch lie and say wrestling was fake?

In all seriousness, was there a desire to do more shows in Japan? Was sagging business influencing that?

On 10/13 in San Francisco, 4,500 fans paid to see Hulk Hogan and Tugboat beat Earthquake and Dino Bravo in what was the second smallest crowd Hogan has ever worked before in the area since joining WWF in 1984. Stories were that Vince McMahon was on the road with Hogan trying to figure out how to get his drawing power back. Meltzer thought the answer was in having a strong heel opponent, which they did not have in Quake and Bravo.

Do you agree that a stronger heel was needed or were fans just burned out on Hulk?

Rumors were that Bobby Heenan had negotiated with Jim Herd about possibly leaving Titan for Atlanta but ended up resigning with the WWF, possibly with much more money on the table after using Herd as a negotiating ploy.

Do you remember Bobby Heenan considering leaving the company during this period? How important was it to Vince to keep him?

Meanwhile, rumors were that Jake Roberts had also considered leaving for the NWA but ended up resigning with the company, with plans for his blind angle with Rick Martel to continue. The angle was reportedly set up to give him time off the road to settle non-wrestling related matters.

Were there talks with Jake about him leaving in late 90?

Titan signed John Filipelli to a new deal to help up the quality of television production to keep the WWF ahead of their competition. Filipelli had 23 total Emmy nominations, mainly for work on NBC Sports World, and also worked on Super Bowls and the World Series.

For fans who don’t know him, tell us about John Filipelli.

The Show Itself

(Meltzer notes)

1. Legion of Doom and Ultimate Warrior beat Demolition in 5:38 when Warrior Splashed Smash.

The match was well paced but when you’ve got six guys and only have to go five minutes, it should be. There was nothing wrong with the match but nothing right with it either. **½

1. Randy Savage beat Dusty Rhodes by count out at 8:18.

The match, which was awful (but needed to be because a good match would have diverted attention from the ringside angle) was the backdrop for the angle. Dusty looks even worse, if that’s possible. Savage was good when he was doing something but most of the time it seemed he was simply trying to make sure nobody watched the match. Dustin Rhodes was sitting at ringside and Ted DiBiase and Virgil paid all of the front row fans $100 to leave (Meltzer was told this was a shoot). They tried to pay Dustin but he wouldn’t move. They wound up brawling and throwing him into the ringside area inside the guard railing. DiBiase potatoes Dustin with a chair and he juiced. The cameras showed the juice, generally from far away shots and no close-ups. Neither Vince McMahon nor Roddy Piper ever acknowledged the blood (which wasn’t supposed to be part of the angle). To clarify and correct what has been written here regarding NBC’s policy on juice, the network has no policy. It’s McMahon’s personal philosophy on wrestling to minimize blood because he doesn't feel it gets the right effect anymore and works as a detriment to the family audience he aims at. I had been told there is a problem with actually blading but not with the blood itself in that if the blood came from a legit wound there is no problem. Anyway, in this case, there is no problem at all with NBC over the blood being on television but there were no graphic shots either. Charitably, I’ll give the match *¾ because they “shouldn’t” have had a good match given what was supposed to be accomplished.

1. Hulk Hogan and Tugboat beat Honkytonk Man & Greg Valentine by DQ in 6:38.

Sloppy work with Tugboat in the ring most of the way. Do you smell a Tugboat turn several months down the road? There was good heat since Hogan was involved. Hogan got the hot tag at 4:30. Jimmy Hart ran to the back to get Earthquake and DIno Bravo but they were kept away from the ring by Pat Patterson, Rene Goulet, Jay Strongbow, and company (most of whom even today could probably outwork Bravo). Anyway, they came back after Honkey hit Tugboat with his guitar for the DQ and did a five-on-one on Hogan. Quake splashed him once then went for an Earthquake (finish) but Tugboat made the save with the guitar and ran all of the heels off. **

1. Kerry Von Erich kept the IC title beating Haku with the tornado punch in 4:09.

Kerry does nothing. *

1. Sgt. Slaughter beat Koko Ware in 5:18 with the atomic noogie.

Much to my surprise, Slaughter worked real good here. He looks too slow when he’s on offense but did a good job in selling to make it a decent match. *½