STW - The Main Event V 02.01.91 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

The Main Event V aired on February 1, 1991 on NBC and was taped on January 28 in Macon, Georgia before about 7,500 fans in a 10,000 seat arena. There were several events being taped that day but obviously, this one was the most high profile, as it is an NBC special airing hot off the heels of the Royal Rumble, where the Iraqi sympathizer Sergeant Slaughter defeated the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF championship just a few days after we literally went to war.

The show drew a 6.7 rating and an 11 share, good for 74th place in the prime time ratings for the week. It was the worst rated NBC special the WWF had ever done. It ended up being the last Main Event show ever. And, arguably, it did damage to the company’s relationship with NBC, which we will talk about more here in a second.

(Have we found the point in the 90s where business fell off? Did this angle nearly kill wrestling?)

News And Notes

While we’re on the subject of the TV tapings in Macon, several other angles were taped that night. One of them involved our beloved Bruce. As Meltzer said: Brother Love character apparently is no more. Story is Bruce Prichard will concentrate on front office duties. They did a BL segment with Undertaker's contract being sold to a new manager called Paul Bearer (Percy Pringle), who plays a mortician with jet black hair. Told Pringle is incredible in the role. As a trivia note, in between Pringle's stints as a wrestling manager, he once worked as a mortician.

(Why was the call made to pull Brother Love from TV and from the Undertaker? In hindsight...it was a blessing for Taker, right?)

Meltzer wrote...There's a difference between doing away with a character and personal humiliation and if you saw the Brother Love burial, you'd know the difference.

(Did you see it as a burial?)

I found something interesting on January 21, 1991. A report details a Madison Square Garden house show that drew a “small” crowd. Notably, Tito Santana defeated Koko B. Ware - who turned heel during the match. Koko never worked as heel on WWF television, though.

(Were you experimenting with a heel Koko Ware here? Why didn’t this idea move to TV?)

It was reported on February 25 that Mike Rotunda will be coming in after his March New Japan tour ends. As we all know, he would take up the IRS gimmick that he probably was most well known for throughout his career.

(How did the company get into talks with Mike Rotunda again, here? Were there other ideas considered for him besides IRS?)

The new Prime Time wrestling format debuted on 2/18. The "live" matches advertised turned out to be arena tapes. Taped before a live audience with the highlight being Bobby Heenan's inability to fix his fly.

This was the ALL NEW WWF Prime Time Wrestling. A total rebranding of the original Gorilla/Bobby desk shot show. You had a live crowd, live skits with wrestlers, and usually, Vince McMahon in zubaz.

(What are your memories of the change to a new Prime Time? Why was that done? Was it a pain to tape with a live studio audience?)

Another story from around this time…

Vince McMahon had the 900 number commercials for other wrestling lines pulled from his USA network shows and has agreed to start a Hulk Hogan 900 line which should get a ton of calls

(Can you tell us anything about the Hulk Hogan 900 number line? Was it more lucrative to have the number based around him instead of the entire company?)

The same day the event we are talking about today aired, 2/1, a house show in the Richfield Coliseum drew 8,000 as Barbarian pinned Ware *1/2, Duggan pinned Adnan *, Undertaker pinned Tugbloat *, Piper beat Perfect via count out ****, Rockers beat Demolition **1/2, Bossman pinned Haku *, Nastys beat Bushwhackers *1/2 and Slaughter beat Warrior in a cage match **1/2. . .

(What is the reaction at live events when you have the Iraqi sympathizing Slaughter go over the Ultimate Warrior?)

It didn’t go over well on at least one event. At the 2/11 house show in New Haven, a 21-year-old fan not only got past the guard rails but climbed over the cage into the ring to help out Warrior as he was being triple-teamed. He was arrested for breach of peace and possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to appear. The fan jumped on the back of one of the Nasty Boys and was flung down as the cops and Pat Patterson entered the cage to drag him out.

(Were there increased instances of things like this during the Slaughter angle? Did you have to beef up security in the arena from what it had been before on ALL shows?)

Meanwhile, the house show circuit at the time was also dominated by Hulk Hogan/Earthquake stretcher matches. They reportedly drew strong crowds, like 11,000 in Calgary on February 9 and 10,000 in Pittsburgh on February 15. How about 14,000 in the Nassau Coliseum on February 16. Serious numbers!

(Was this never considered to continue all the way through Wrestlemania? Call me crazy, but I think a Quake/Hulk main event would have done better business. What say you?)

Now, to talk about some of the controversy surrounding tonight’s Main Event show.

According to Variety Magazine, NBC knew about Titan's plan to burn a flag on the prime time special and wouldn't allow it.

(If NBC hadn’t stopped you, were you really going to do this? Not since the plot of the Producers has someone seemed to want to sabotage his own product so much!)

The NBC special, which was pre-empted in the Los Angeles market (which would have been a disaster if they still had the Coliseum to fill), will air on KNBC at 3 p.m. this coming Sunday afternoon. The show was preempted because of breaking news on a plane crash. If the LA market had been included in the rating and done the national average (traditionally the LA rating for WWF shows is slightly below the national average) the rating would have only been upped to a 6.8 so if someone wishes to use that as a factor or excuse for the rating, it doesn't hold water.

(It’s got to be particularly disappointing when the major build-show to your big event isn’t even shown on time in the market that you’re holding said-big event, right?)

Speaking of disappointing news...there had been a sparkle of good news related to gates at live events but Meltzer wrote on February 18, 1991 that it was hardly cause for celebration...

While the WWF can point, and deservedly so, to the fact that the gates the past two weeks have been good, a few weeks from now, that will all be forgotten. Two things won't be forgotten. Wrestlemania had to be moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum to the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which would mean a difference ranging anywhere from $1 to $2.5 million in profits from the live event, even factoring in a $1 million security bill if that figure is indeed correct. And when we talk about the security bill, what is the reason so much extra security was going to be needed in the first place? They aren't going to have those problems at the Indy 500 or the Daytona 500, whether the war is going on or not, and those events will draw much larger crowds than Wrestlemania ever could hope to. The extra security, if indeed that is even a factor in moving the live site, is directly attributed to picking the wrong angle at the wrong time.

(Did you guys have to spend $1 million on security for Wrestlemania?)

Meltzer went on to write…

The second thing is the NBC television rating from the 2/1 special. The show drew a 6.7 rating and an 11 share, good for 74th place in the prime time ratings for the week. It was the worst showing, by far, or any WWF program ever on NBC. The November special, which wasn't considered successful by any means, did an 8.6 rating and that was without Hulk Hogan, the wrestler with by far the most mainstream appeal and ratings power in the business. Hulk was all over this show. In comparison in previous years, the February PT special, held in the same time slot at the same time of the year drew more than triple the number of viewers (33 million to 10.6 million) in 1988 and roughly double the number of viewers the past two years.

(Brutal numbers on this show. But, there’s no sign of stopping as we continue with this program into Mania. What was Vince’s reaction to these numbers? I mean...how can you not say ‘This isn’t working’??)

There’s more from Meltzer, though...

Major newspapers have called for letter writing campaigns not only to the WWF, but to its sponsors. This is not good public relations, particularly during a time when advertisers are overly sensitive to begin with. There may very well be no long term effects as far as advertisers are concerned. The general public, which has shunned this angle because of bad taste as both media reaction and the TV ratings clearly show, may slowly drift back. (Stan Note: They didn’t until the Austin era). Certainly in real sports, during every strike, you hear talk of fan boycotts and the like, but once the strike ends, crowds relatively quickly go back to normal. Wrestlemania is still going to be profitable. Nowhere near what was anticipated. Nowhere near what it would have been with another angle that was more timely. This angle, thought to be timely, was actually the single least timely wrestling angle possible. Then again, perhaps some effects won't be short term. Certainly to the general media, the days of wrestling being scrutinized only for the laughable and behind-the-times question of "simply whether it is real or fake are over. The WWF itself is very sensitive to this. You can count on it being more honest and up front when it comes to dealing with no-shows. They have to be right now. It's become fashionable to take the WWF to task for exploiting the war. Reporters are hardly going to look the other way at blatant false advertising. This is not to pick on the WWF as the only culprit in either poor taste or false advertising in wrestling, but this is a very visible time in the company's history and its decisions have never been open to more media scrutiny.

(What was the internal reaction to the letter writing campaign effort here?)

(Is this the beginning of WWE having to be more politically correct in the corporate world? How hard of an adjustment was that for Vince McMahon?)

Wrestlemania is still going to do big business. It may even do better on PPV than last year. The price charged is the same. And they do have a heel this year, which is probably the main factor in last year's PPV disappointment. But the profit ratio on PPV is much lower than that from the live gate. And if the ratings lead to a weakening of Titan's position with NBC, over the long haul, it wasn't worth it.

(This was the last Main Event special ever on NBC and the relationship wouldn’t last much longer between the two companies, at least at this point in time, either. How much stress did the angle put on your relationship with NBC? Any feedback from Ebersol?)

There is a letter written in to the Observer around this time from one of our servicemen who was about to be deployed to the Gulf War. I think it’s important because this guy is obviously a WWE fan...and he hated the angle.

I am sitting here at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, which is an Army mobilization post. My unit, an Iowa National Guard Military Police unit, is waiting to go to Saudi Arabia any day now. Tonight in Milwaukee, the WWF has a live card. I could care less. I have read articles on the current angle. While I agree that this is a McMahon-feuled angle, you have to admit the man is consistent. Some of the reasons Slaughter originally left were his realization he would never be pushed as much as Hulk Hogan and because McMahon wanted a piece of the Hasbro toy deal. Bob Remus could only come back under Vince's rules. In return, he did get the strap, but he does risk the chance of never being safe in public again. I understand McMahon's motives, but I can't agree with his decision to continue this tasteless skit once the war started. When the first American lost his life, this angle should have been terminated. Also, from the very start, to link Saddam Hussein with Sgt. Slaughter was totally wrong. I will be in Saudi Arabia when Wrestlemania takes place. I feel a boycott of this PPV would send the right message to Vince McMahon, but I also know this won't happen. If Terry Bollea had either guts or scruples, he would make Hulk Hogan stop promoting this angle. I grew a lot angrier watching the NBC Prime Time special. Why doesn't Titan just come out and be honest and say they're after blood money. Terry Bollea can stop this angle. His fake show of patriotism is nauseating. If Bollea were to refuse to continue with this facade, some respect could be put back into our favorite sport. I'm proud to be an American and am willing to leave my family to support our military effort. So many others have already given up so much. It just hurts to see some people try to gain from it without making any sacrifices. I won't forget this soon and Vince McMahon has to live with it for the rest of his life.

Doyle Norris

Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

(You realize this entire angle was a mistake, now, right? Right? Does Vince realize it?)

The Event Itself

Let’s get to the event itself. If you haven’t already, we just did an episode on the 1991 Royal Rumble that lays the groundwork for some of what we’re about to talk about here. Because in the Observer, Meltzer had been absolutely destroying the company and Hulk Hogan for what he deemed an exploitative angle. It went so far as WWE sending out letters criticizing Meltzer’s opinion pieces in newspapers. So, keep that in mind as we begin this week’s report from Dave with HEAVY SARCASM….

After watching Friday night's NBC special I do have to apologize to Hulk Hogan. It was obvious, since the WWF didn't air any footage of his visit to military bases, nor did Hogan even mention his trips as a way to cloak himself in patriotism, what his and the company's true motives were in making that USO tour. Since that tour has turned into such a controversial issue and the WWF has insisted all along the tour wasn't for promotional purposes, it was just heartwarming to see, before its largest possible audience on Friday night that they resisted what must have been a huge temptation to show clips of Hogan's flexing his biceps for the troops and for Hogan, in his interview, to talk about the kids of servicemen abroad that he visited with. It was also nice to see that the WWF didn't even send out any press releases after the tour trying to use it to get Hulk Hogan over. Okay, so they did, as this item from this past Saturday's Detroit News in the M.L. Curly wrestling column says:

WWF spokesman Steve Planamenta issued a news release pointing out that Hulk Hogan, by visiting several military bases, "is doing his part to ensure that morale remains high among family members of military personnel serving in the Persian Gulf." The fact that Hulk is still holding up signs proclaiming "Saddam and Slaughter will both surrender" and that Hogan's opponent at Wrestlemania just happens to wave the enemy's flag is purely a coincidence, of course. Hulk is making this tour because he is a very nice man. If it happens to sell additional tickets to Wrestlemania, that is just something the WWF will have to learn to live with.

(Why are you guys trying to pretend this isn’t an America vs. Iraq angle in the middle of a war? Wouldn’t this be like programming John Cena vs. Osama Bin Laden’s henchmen in 2002?)

Pointing out that Dusty Rhodes' speech at Wednesday's nights Clash was just as self-serving as Hogan's "non-promotional" USO sponsored tour doesn't make either any less guilty of using this situation as a cheap way to get themselves over.

It was also interesting in Friday night's special that there was no mention the show was coming from Macon, GA. The show, taped the previous Monday, was highlighted by some great Sgt. Slaughter interviews. While Slaughter continued to use war-related, terminology in his interviews, he never directly mentioned Iraq and Saddam Hussein, nor waved the Iraqi flag. General Adnan was still there and the connection is still clear in the eyes of the marks, and if it wasn't, we had Hulk Hogan's interviews to make sure that it was.

(Why not mention Macon, Georgia?? Was it not ‘big enough’?)

As you’ve already figured out, the show opens with loads of patriotism, including showing Hulk Hogan visiting the troops, posing with the troops, and playing on some kind of parachute simulator or something. Nothing will help the troops morale like Hulk Hogan showing up to play with all of their toys! Hulk is also wearing a flag bandanna, which I’m surprised there wasn’t more heat over. That said, I love the flag bandanna more than any other he wore :)

1. Hogan & Tugbloat beat Earthquake & Dino Bravo in 8:56 when Hogan pinned Bravo with a schoolboy. Most of the match consisted of Tugbloat vs. Earthquake, so it was largely pathetic. Of course any match with Hogan is going to have good heat so in some ways the match wasn't horrible. *

It’s curious because we just got a tease from Tugboat at the Rumble that he might attack Hulkster - but Hulk ended up eliminating him. And now we get this match which largely seems irrelevant compared to the current Slaughter angle.

(Are you still laying groundwork here for a Tugboat/Hogan angle? Are you maybe even considering it for Wrestlemania, still, here in late January/early Feb, because of the shit over the Iraq angle?)

2. Slaughter kept the WWF title losing via DQ to Jim Duggan in 6:50. Slaughter's offense still looks terrible, but he took three incredible bumps during the match. Not much can be said about Duggan other than he's been worse. Hogan came out with Duggan but was ordered back to the dressing room since he's not a manager. Sarge was DQ'd for using a chair. He kept hitting Duggan with the chair as Adnan kept the ref from intervening until Hogan came down the aisle but Sarge hit him with a chair and took off. *1/2

Note for Conrad: Sarge is now carrying a new, black strap WWF championship

(There was a lot of talk going into Wrestlemania about “Slaughter’s Rules.” And how Sarge could get himself disqualified or counted out to keep the title. Is this an attempt to make Sarge more of a threat to Hulk Hogan winning the title?)

(How is Vince feeling about Sarge as champion just a few weeks into the experiment, here?)

3. Legion of Doom downed Orient Express in 5:11. For what it was, this was a very good one-sided match. The Orients took one great bump after another in this fast-paced but not very competitive match. The only real offense, which was short-lived, came after Mr. Fuji threw salt in Animal's eyes. Kato (Paul Diamond) seems to have been eating his vitamins as he's a lot larger than before. Finish saw Hawk pin Kato after the clothesline off the top rope. ***1/4

(The Orient Express were burning down the house in their matches during this era! They stole the show with the Rockers at Wrestlemania and here they are putting on a match with the LOD that was watchable! What can you say about the Orient Express? Are they impressing people backstage here? And was there ever talk about doing more with them?)

As we’re ending this show, we’re on the road to Wrestlemania 7 in Los Angeles.

Just because it’s funny to see how he describes things, here is Dave Meltzer’s preview of the card as written on February 25:

...the matches scheduled are headlined by Sgt. Slaughter vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF title, Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage in a loser must retire from wrestling match (in which the loser won't be retiring but will be taking a vacation), Mr. Perfect vs. Big Bossman for the Intercontinental title, Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys for the WWF tag team title, Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel in a blindfold match in which both guys will wear see-through hoods over their head and pretend to be blind, Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil with Roddy Piper in Virgil's corner, Legion of Doom vs. Power & Glory, Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao vs. Demolition, Davey Boy Smith vs. Warlord, Rockers vs. Haku & The Barbarian, Earthquake vs. Greg Valentine, Dino Bravo vs. Kerry Von Erich, Tito Santana vs. The Mountie (Jacques Rougeau) and Jimmy Snuka vs. The Undertaker.

It's interesting to note that of the three wrestlers most criticized the past year for being overpushed (Earthquake, Tugbloat and Dino Bravo), that Tugbloat isn't even on the card and Quake and Bravo are low on the card, so apparently their illogical pushes (admittedly one can make a good case for Quake since the original angle worked like a charm) are under control.

(I don’t get it. After all of this effort to push Tugboat, you don’t even have him on the card at Wrestlemania?)

Meanwhile, as the build to Wrestlemania continued, some of the celebrities involved started to have second thoughts...

The Baltimore Sun reported Bob Costas has become the first celebrity to withdraw from Wrestlemania VII because of the World Wrestling Federation's portrayal of the Iraq-U.S. conflict in the wrestling ring. Costas, an NBC sports announcer and late-night talk show host, announced over the weekend that he wouldn't participate in the March 24 pay-per-view show.

"I didn't think it would be in the best of taste," Costas said.

NBC's Paul Maguire, who was to participate with Costas and George Steinbrenner as part of an experiment with instant replay, will still appear at Wrestlemania VII. Others expected to appear: Roseanne Barr, Willie Nelson and Regis Philbin.

(What do you remember about Costas pulling out? Any internal reaction?)

While talking about that article, we have to mention something. In that article, we get one HELL of a quote from an NBC spokesman:

"I don't understand why people are suddenly up in arms," an NBC spokesman said of Maguire's involvement. "People have to understand the atmosphere this is all perpetuated in. They should know it's nothing but entertainment. I won't justify the way the WWF is promoting Wrestlemania VII, but pro wrestling has always made fun of blacks, Arabs, women and rednecks, to name a few."

(What’s your reaction to that statement?)

As it said in the article, there were plans for ROSEANNE to appear at Wrestlemania 7. For whatever reason, that didn’t materialize. Maybe the company had to draw the line somewhere with all the controversy.

(What was Roseanne going to do at Wrestlemania 7?)

(Why did that not happen?)

For new fans who are excited to hear us cover that show, we’ve got a little news for you that our older fans already know: We already covered it! Wrestlemania 7 is in the archives of Something To Wrestle. It was episode number NINE - so long ago!