WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event (1-4-1986)

From the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, it’s SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT!

I don’t usually do entire show reviews, of course, but I don’t NOT do them, and this is a request! There will be a couple more, too. Plus SNME runs about 60 minutes and had a breeziness, so I’m looking forward to it.

Just a reminder that if you DO want to request a full show — which is welcome! — it, like, costs more than the normal $3. Because it is long and takes up a lot of my time. And what a great treat you get in the end! Me saying shit about wrestling to read while you take a crap or dump.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Hillbilly Jim & Ted Arcidi vs Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy (WWF, 4-26-1986)

WWF Championship Wrestling, Poughkeepsie, NY

A request! A nice little batch of ’86 TV from the WWF, in fact. This is number one. The Mid-Hudson Civic Center was an important WWWF/WWF venue from in spots between about 1977 until 1995, with a lot of TV taped there — All-Star Wrestling and Championship Wrestling in the mid-80s, then they got so Hulkamania big that they didn’t run but a house show or so there now and then for a while, and then in ’93-94 it hosted a good number of Raws plus some Superstars tapings, as they were no longer Hulkamania big. But then they got Stone Cold big and I think the last show the WWF ever ran there for TV came in ’95, a set of Raw tapings right after WrestleMania XI.

Later, ECW would tape some shows there, then they died, and in ’03 WWE started running occasional house shows there again. TNA and NEW have run there, House of Hardcore had its first show there in 2012 and became a regular, Global Force in 2016 and they had their first NXT live show that same year. I think the last WWE-branded show at the venue was in 2019, but Impact’s Rebellion PPV in April 2022 was held there. It’s not a glamor venue but it’s been a staple in wrestling a long time. There probably aren’t that many places that have hosted shows in the WWWF, WWF, and WWE eras of VinceCo.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Gimmick Battle Royal (WWF, 4-1-2001)

WWF WrestleMania X-Seven, Houston, TX

A request! Among the glitz and glamour, the big matches and the great WWF Superstars of the day, when the WWF had fully vanquished WCW and ECW had finally run itself out of business, there was also the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven, the WrestleMania people who are wrong continue to insist is the greatest ever.

A bunch of old farts in Super Silly gimmicks such as “Former WWF Champion The Iron Sheik” LMAO and “Jim Cornette”! LOL!!! Who came up with this CRAP back in the day?

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

20-Man Battle Royal (WWF, 3-27-1988)

WWF WrestleMania IV, Atlantic City, NJ

This is a request via Ko-fi. It’s for the entire show, which I’ll break into match-by-match reviews, since that’s how I do it here on this blog. I have watched this show so many times in my life. It was a favorite 88 cent rental from the Movie Zoo when I was a youngster for two reasons: 1) I love tournaments, and especially loved them as a kid, and 2) It was four hours as a double VHS so more bang for my not-quite-a-buck. It is not a good show, certainly not by today’s standards and really not then either, but it is one I have a remarkable soft spot for, and I’m happy to fuck with it again. Also because I was paid money to fuck with it, that helps.