{"id":151074,"date":"2026-01-18T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=151074"},"modified":"2026-01-17T22:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T03:32:53","slug":"wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-snme-2006-first-of-the-2000s-revival-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/18\/wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-snme-2006-first-of-the-2000s-revival-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event (SNME) 2006: First of the 2000s Revival, Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2006, WWE made a significant step by reviving one of its classics from the 1980s, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/17\/wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-snme-xliii-preview-match-card-1-24-26\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">WWE Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event (SNME)<\/a>. The plan originated as part of WWE&#8217;s agreement with USA Network, following the return of RAW to its home channel in late 2005. WWE wasted no time broadcasting the show.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after RAW returned to USA Network, NBC aired Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event months later. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/snme\/history\/march182006\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE made a strategic approach by airing this once special show on the Road to WrestleMania 22.<\/a> The first Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event in the 2000&#8217;s was a success as it drew a 3.1 rating on television.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena &amp; Triple H vs. Randy Orton &amp; Kurt Angle &amp; Rey Mysterio<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Cena &amp; HHH vs. Angle, Mysterio &amp; Orton: Saturday Night&#039;s Main Event, March 18, 2006\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_z8CZwmXbRQ?start=1&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The show kicked off with RAW&#8217;s WrestleMania Main Event against SmackDown&#8217;s WrestleMania Main Event. Then WWE Champion John Cena teamed up with Triple H to take on the team of Randy Orton, then World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, and Rey Mysterio. There was so much friction within both teams as none of the respective teammates were able to get along with one another.<\/p>\n<p>On RAW, Cena waited for Triple H to finally get physical with him, but Triple H kept playing mind games. On the SmackDown side, Orton cleverly got himself in the title picture, being a thorn on both Angle and Mysterio&#8217;s side.<\/p>\n<p>During the match, Triple H nailed Cena with a &#8220;Pedigree&#8221;, leading Orton to go for the cover. When it seemed that the SmackDown was getting the win, Mysterio broke the pin as he did not want gandouts to get the win.<\/p>\n<p>This led to a frustrated Triple H also giving Mysterio a &#8220;Pedigree&#8221; before Angle knocked him out of the ring. Orton delivered an RKO to Angle afterwards. Orton would then measure Cena for an RKO as well, but Cena reversed it with a rollup to gain the victory.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>The Cutting Edge with Mick Foley<\/h2>\n<p>At the start of 2006, Edge made history by being the first person to successfully cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase to become WWE Champion. When Cena regained the title, Edge was due for a rematch. In this rematch, Cena had Mick Foley as the special guest referee. Foley called the match down the middle, with Cena finishing the match with a clean win. Angrily, Edge blamed Foley for his defeat by delivering him a &#8220;Spear&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>This prompted Edge to challenge Foley to a Hardcore Match at WrestleMania. Edge invited Foley to appear at Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event, but Foley did not come for a conversation. Foley came for a fight, and that&#8217;s what he did. He delivered a nasty conchairto to Edge, signaling his approval for Edge&#8217;s challenge.<\/p>\n<h2>Booker T vs. The Boogeyman<\/h2>\n<p>For multiple weeks heading towards Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event, The Boogeyman was stalking Booker T and Sharmell backstage. Boogeyman&#8217;s constant creepy hunt towards Booker T led to SmackDown General Manager, Theodore Long, making a match between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Booker T complained about a nagging injury backstage, prompting Long to cancel the match. A reluctant ended up doing so, leaving Booker visibly upset.<\/p>\n<p>It turned out Booker T feigned the injury so he didn&#8217;t have to compete against Boogeyman. When Boogeyman appeared in Booker T and Sharmell&#8217;s locker room, the couple flew in fear backstage for their lives. Long was standing at the side, seeing that Booker T had exposed his plan he had earlier in the night as he and Sharmell continued running.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. JBL (Beer Drinking Contest)<\/h2>\n<p>During JBL&#8217;s pursuit of the WWE United States Championship, he challenged Stone Cold Steve Austin to a Beer Drinking Contest, in which Austin accepted. When the contest began, Austin was drinking his beer while JBL was cheating by pouring his beer down the mat to make it seem he was ahead in the contest. Austin quickly noticed JBL&#8217;s scheme, but JBL dodged him at first.<\/p>\n<p>When it seemed JBL got the upper hand, his WrestleMania opponent, Chris Benoit, emerged from behind and tossed JBL back to the ring. Austin gave JBL a beating to remember, dumping beer on JBL and sending him out with a &#8220;Stone Cold Stunner&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2>Trish Stratus &amp; Mickie James vs. Candice Michelle &amp; Victoria<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trish Stratus &amp; Mickie James vs. Victoria &amp; Candice Michelle: Saturday Night&#039;s Main Event, March 18,\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3EHC2lpVqq4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this matchup, Trish Stratus ended up finishing the match without having to tag her partner, Mickie James. After the match, Mickie and Trish agreed on a goodbye as Trish didn&#8217;t want any part of Mickie due to her obsession with Trish.<\/p>\n<p>The goodbye was a failure as Mickie stole Trish&#8217;s signatures, the &#8220;Chick Kick&#8221; and &#8220;Stratusfaction&#8221; to use on her. This led to Mickie letting out all of her frustrations of being rejected by Trish. Mickie then came up with an idea of wanting to hurt Trish by taking the WWE Women&#8217;s Championship at WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Mark Henry Calls out The Undertaker<\/h2>\n<p>When Mark Henry went back to the main roster, he was on a path of destruction. Henry put Batista out of action, and he was looking to do the same to The Undertaker. Feeling threatened by The Undertaker on SmackDown, Henry made his presence known by making an impact. On the March 3, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle were competing in a No Way Out rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship.<\/p>\n<p>When it looked as if Undertaker was going to beat Angle for the World Title, Henry attacked Undertaker and delivered a &#8220;World&#8217;s Strongest Splash&#8221; on The Deadman on the announcer&#8217;s table.<\/p>\n<p>One week later, Undertaker challenged Henry at WrestleMania in a Casket Match. To prove that Henry was not afraid of the challenge, he and his manager, Daivari, showed up to Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event, calling out The Undertaker.<\/p>\n<p>Undertaker made short work of removing Henry from the equation as he chokeslamed Daivari on top of the casket. Unfortunately for Daivari, it was not over yet. Undertaker&#8217;s message to Henry ended with a &#8220;Tombstone Piledriver&#8221; to Daivari on top of the casket.<\/p>\n<h2>Shawn Michaels vs. Shane McMahon (Street Fight)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Michaels vs. McMahon \u2013 Street Fight: Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event, March 18, 2006\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6qj4V-x67ig?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For months heading towards WrestleMania 22, Mr. McMahon was antagonizing Shawn Michaels due to being told to move on from The Montreal Screwjob, involving Bret Hart in 1997. When Michaels and McMahon agreed to a No Holds Barred Match for their bout at WrestleMania, McMahon wanted to give a preview of what was to come. Michaels closed the first Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event after nearly 15 years against Shane McMahon.<\/p>\n<p>Both HBK and Shane had a great match, only for it to be ruined by Mr. McMahon. When The McMahons got the upper hand on Michaels, Vince had Shane lock HBK with Hart&#8217;s finisher, &#8220;The Sharpshooter&#8221;. Vince quickly ran to the timekeeper to ring the bell, pulling shades from Survivor Series 1997.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_151086\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-151086\" style=\"width: 458px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/22-18.jpg\" alt=\"A graphic of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) 2006.\" width=\"458\" height=\"347\" class=\"wp-image-151086 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/22-18.jpg 458w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/22-18-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-151086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The outcome was Shane winning via submission, even though Michaels did not tap out. The show would end with The McMahons celebrating successfully pulling off another devious plan of theirs.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i><span>\u00a0<\/span>for more on the WWE Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event (SNME) XLIII Preview and Match Card, 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.<\/i><\/em><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"336\" height=\"280\" layout=\"fixed\" data-multi-size=\"300x250\" data-multi-size-validation=\"false\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-4\" data-enable-refresh=\"30\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{\n   &quot;vendors&quot;: {\n      &quot;t13&quot;: {\n        &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;3768f6a2-52b3-46d0-97b2-0a4fed5fb32a&quot;,\n        &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot;\n      },\n      &quot;aps&quot;: {\n        &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;,\n        &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;,\n        &quot;PARAMS&quot;: {\n          &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot;\n        }\n      },\n      &quot;criteo&quot;: {\n        &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;,\n        &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;,\n        &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-4&quot;\n      },\n      &quot;medianet&quot;: {\n        &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot;\n      }\n    }\n }\"><\/amp-ad><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2006, WWE made a significant step by reviving one of its classics from the 1980s, WWE Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event (SNME). The plan originated as part of WWE&#8217;s agreement with USA Network, following the return of RAW to its home channel in late 2005. WWE wasted no time broadcasting the show. Shortly after RAW [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5615,"featured_media":151085,"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":[7205,4,3],"tags":[9074],"class_list":["post-151074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-wwe-saturday-nights-main-event"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151074","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\/5615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151074"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151080,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151074\/revisions\/151080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}