Saturday Night’s Main Event was a masterstroke by WWE. It was a deviation from their other PLEs. It took place in prime time and on regular cable television. Anyone could tune in to watch it for free, and it included some great matchups that we didn\u2019t get to see within regular booking.<\/p>\n
The show had great staying power, and the matches were a huge reason for this. There were some great marquee matches, some showcased younger talent and match-ups that no one thought they would see.<\/p>\n
They were the matches that created a legacy for Saturday Night’s Main Event. Below are examples of these.<\/p>\n
Saturday Night’s Main Event was a show where we got to see matchups that we wouldn\u2019t on other programming. A fantastic example of this is when the viewing audience was treated to a dream match between Randy Savage and Bret Hart.<\/p>\n
Of course, this wasn\u2019t heralded as a dream match at the time. Hart was still part of the Hart Foundation, and his singles acumen hadn\u2019t been established. That didn\u2019t stop him and Savage from putting on a great technical match.<\/p>\n
It was something we were used to from Savage, but it showed the potential of the Hitman. It was the beginning of Hart’s trajectory to the top of the card. The world saw that he was able to be a viable singles wrestler.<\/p>\n
Ted DiBiase was at peak heel when he first debuted. His \u201cEveryone Has A Price\u201d schtick made him one of the most hated men in the company, which was compounded when he enlisted the help of Andre The Giant. Andre was an imposing presence at ringside and gave DiBiase an instant edge.<\/p>\n
It was this edge that DiBiase counted on when he took on Randy Savage in March of 1988. The match was exactly what one would come to expect from these two great workers. It was compelling, well-called, and included an intriguing ending that had wide-ranging implications for the promotion.<\/p>\n
Andre, Virgil, and DiBiase were throwing a beat down on Savage when Miss Elizabeth ran to the back and emerged with Hulk Hogan in tow. Hogan cleared the ring and a partnership with Savage was created that would blossom into the Mega Powers.<\/p>\n
For everything the show was, there was one thing it usually wasn\u2019t and that was surprising. There were some fresh matches and interesting angles, but there wasn\u2019t much going on that anyone would classify as a shock. However, there was one night in Worchester, Massachusetts that had many a jaw-dropping.<\/p>\n
Demolition was the standard bearer, for the tag division, for close to a decade. Ax and Smash dominated the ranks, which is why it was such a shock to see them lose the straps.<\/p>\n
Losing to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard was not surprising, but to do it with little built and not on a PLE was a big move. It was a great moment that created an \u201canything can happen\u201d atmosphere around the event, making Saturday Night’s Main Event a must-see program.<\/p>\n
Mr. Perfect and Tito Santana were at the apex of the mid-card. Throughout both their tenures they were the workhorses of the division and the litmus test of anyone who was on their way to the main event. They were two men who were intertwined during their careers and also had the fortune of facing each other for a time or two.<\/p>\n
One of their best encounters took place during a balmy night in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a match for the Intercontinental Championship and one that was a showcase of Perfect and Santana\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n
The match was a tight contest that was the best-wrestled contest of the night. The crowd was into it and the chemistry was apparent. There was no reason to expect any less from these consummate professionals.<\/p>\n
Perfect winning was a result that wasn\u2019t in doubt, but that shouldn\u2019t take away from the efforts of both men. They showed everyone why they were the workhorses of WWE.<\/p>\n
The British Bulldog was a mere months removed from his historic IC Championship victory when the company decided to pivot. We all thought that his win was going to be the start of something special, and whether it be through backstage problems or change of mind, the office called an audible.<\/p>\n
Shawn Michaels was a mid-card talent on the rise and he and Bulldog produced a great match. The power of the Bulldog was a great contrast to the quicker style of the Heartbreak Kid.<\/p>\n
There was a speed to the match that wasn\u2019t present with the big men of the day. It was a fun little match that contained a finish that not many could have predicted.<\/p>\n
HBK reversed a suplex attempt from the Bulldog to sneak a pin and steal away the Intercontinental Championship. It was a shocking finish to move away from the Bulldog towards Michaels but also a move that set HBK on a path to legendary status.<\/p>\n
After a 14-year hiatus, WWE brought back Saturday Night’s Main Event to the joy of many. It was a show that would help build programs heading into WrestleMania 22. The biggest of these programs was the impending battle between Shawn Michaels and Mr. McMahon.<\/p>\n
McMahon was going to face HBK but chose his son Shane to take up the battle. What ensued was a Street Fight that was the exact car wreck that everyone hoped it was going to be.<\/p>\n
It was indicative of a McMahon match that there were going to be run-ins, weapons, and big spots. The audience was incredibly entertained, especially with the massive suplex spot through tables on the outside.<\/p>\n
The only drawback to the match was the overused Montreal Screwjob finish by WWE. It did nothing but put cheap heat on the finish when there could have been thousands of other ways to end the match.<\/p>\n
Edge and Jeff Hardy engaged in one of the best feuds in company history. They started as tag team rivals, being involved in the famous TLC matches, but it was when their singles program began that things got personal.<\/p>\n
Edge and Hardy were constantly at each others\u2019 throats, main eventing various PLEs. However, an under-the-radar match of theirs took place at Saturday Night’s Main Event.<\/p>\n
There wasn\u2019t much new ground broken in this match but, even at half speed, Edge and Hardy can put together a great match. It revolved around Edge\u2019s vicious streak as he targeted Hardy\u2019s leg. A nice piece of storytelling that was logical considering both of their move sets.<\/p>\n
Edge getting the win via MVP interference made sense. Edge was moving onto Hell in a Cell and MVP\u2019s issues with Hardy\u2019s brother Matt were well documented. It was a well-rounded match that featured two of the best of an era.<\/p>\n
Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<\/span>WWE Network<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Peacock<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saturday Night’s Main Event was a masterstroke by WWE. It was a deviation from their other PLEs. It took place in prime time and on regular cable television. Anyone could tune in to watch it for free, and it included some great matchups that we didn\u2019t get to see within regular booking. The show had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4518,"featured_media":128846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,3],"tags":[9009,47,540],"class_list":["post-128834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-saturday-nights-main-event","tag-wwe","tag-wwf"],"modified_by":"Chinyere Okafor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128848,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128834\/revisions\/128848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}