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!)

One Match From Each of the First 10 WrestleManias

Today is WrestleMania. Well, tonight is the first part of the 40th WrestleMania, which now comes in two parts, because there is no greater master than money, and they can sell out two nights in a stadium with ease, or come so close that it doesn’t matter they didn’t; the point is these things make a lot of money for a company that could, just once, sacrifice bonus money for something special, but obviously they will not.

I don’t watch wrestling much anymore. This will change sometime, in one way or another; I have increasing doubts I will ever follow current wrestling the way I have in the past, though I did watch ACTION’s DEAN~!!! show on Thursday and the Ring of Honor show on Friday, and enjoyed both other than simply not having the desire to spend four hours watching wrestling shows anymore. It’s actually not that I have a lot else to be doing, but I do have other things I could do.

Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair & Steve Austin (WCW, 7-30-1994)

WCW Saturday Night, Atlanta, GA

A request! It’s a turbulent time in The WCW, as Hulk Hogan has come in to fucking ruin my life and the life of everyone else whose biggest reason, end of the day, for enjoying WCW was that it was not 1989-91 WWF. Not to say we all hated the WWF, but it was a balance on television. You had the one style, and then the other, and they had similarities, but there were key differences.

And then here came Hulk Hogan. Nothing could ever be the same, really. Hogan himself might not have been so bad but he was insecure about his political power so he had to bring a bunch of dead weight with him to balance the odds.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

The Enforcers vs Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (WCW, 11-19-1991)

WCW Clash of the Champions, Savannah, GA

The story we’ve got here is the Enforcers, the tag team of Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko, slammed a car door on Barry Windham’s hand pretty recently. Windham tried to wrestle through the injury, but it was clearly still an issue, maybe even made worse.

Going into this match, it’s not known who will be teaming with Dustin as he tries to get the WCW tag belts off of Arn and Larrold.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Tully Blanchard vs Ricky Steamboat (NWA, 11-22-1984)

NWA Starrcade, Greensboro, NC

Man, I don’t remember the last time I watched this match, but I remember liking it a lot, and the WON gave it 4 or 4.25 stars, as I recall.

I was thinking of just watching these whole old Starrcade shows but goddamn, buds, I don’t know if I have another watch of Jesse Barr vs Mike Graham or Sullivan & Lewin vs Weaver & McGhee in me right now, so I’m picking some choice nugs.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Tito Santana & Ricky Steamboat vs Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (WWF, 4-21-1985)

WWF at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I’m watching this from “Best of the WWF Vol. 4” Coliseum Video, but it also aired on the May 8, 1985 edition of Prime Time Wrestling, which you cannot watch on Peacock. This match has a very strong reputation and I remember watching it years ago and just not being that into it, because for a tag team match from 1985, it wasn’t matching my Crockett-led tastes at that time, but I’ve gotten more into the sort of pre-Hogan and early-Hulkamania WWF over the years, sort of that 1980-86 period.

(Ko-fi)

The Magnificent Muraco vs Ricky Steamboat (WWF, 9-22-1985)

WWF, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

A lumberjack match at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gorilla and Jesse on the call, the best commentary team of all time for my money. Don’t worry, Rene Goulet is here as a lumberjack, it’s cool.

Ricky Steamboat vs Bob Orton (WWF, 7-20-1985)

WWF Prime Time Wrestling, Landover, MD

The actual match date is July 20, 1985, this also aired on the Aug. 6, 1985 edition of Prime Time Wrestling. Orton and Steamboat had been in Mid-Atlantic together but actually had minimal ring time together that I can tell, working a series of tags in late ’83 that had Orton paired with Greg Valentine and Dick Slater and Steamboat with Youngblood.

Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (NWA, 11-24-1983)

NWA Starrcade, Greensboro, NC

Picked a random WWE comp DVD out of my rack tonight, wound up on Ricky Steamboat, let’s watch some Ricky Steamboat matches. This is from the first Starrcade, Briscos defending the NWA world tag team titles against Steamboat and Youngblood, a team very underrated in the last 30 years or so.

Edge, Big Show, Matt Hardy, Kane & Chris Jericho vs John Cena, Ricky Steamboat, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk & Jeff Hardy (WWE, 4-6-2009)

WWE Monday Night Raw, Houston, TX

Request via Ko-Fi. I have never seen this match. Low point years for my wrestling fandom, which is less to do with any quality or lack thereof than just where I was in life. This is the night after WrestleMania XXV, and this is billed as the “WrestleMania All-Star Tag Team Match.”