In this Saturday Night’s Main Event 1/7/89 review, Hulk Hogan goes one-on-one with Akeem as the tension builds with The Mega Powers.
Let’s jump in.
- Show: Saturday Night’s Main Event
- Date: January 7, 1989
- Location: USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL
Ron Bass vs. Brutus Beefcake – Hair vs. Hair Match
Well this should be special. It feels like this feud has been going on for centuries at this point. Bass jumps on Beefcake immediately and chokes him with Betsy the lasso. Beefcake steals it away and Bass retreats. He keeps trying to get back in the ring but Beefcake keeps pummeling him before he can make it back.
Lots of punches from Beefcake but Bass lands the atomic drop to take over. Bass in full control and Beefcake’s hair could be in control. Just kidding. Bass continues the destruction in the corner and then hits a piledriver. But like any good moron he stops he the ref’s count and keeps working on Beefcake. He stops the pin yet again and I’m not sure if Bass has ever seen a wrestling match, but this strategy will not end well.
So he finally goes for an actual pin and Beefcake kicks out at two. Then Beefcake ducks the clothesline and locks on the sleeper to win it at 7:40. Bass gets the choppy choppy of his hair after the commercial break.
BACKSTAGE: Gene Okerlund with Boss Man and Akeem. Slick hypes his two awesome dudes while Okerlund rambles. Then we get the Hulk Hogan interview. Okerlund says he’s outmanned and here comes Randy Savage.
Akeem (w/Slick and Big Boss Man) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth)
We get the cut-in backstage during Hogan’s entrance, with Savage and Okerlund watching on a TV. Savage seems to be a little concerned when Hogan holds the ropes for Elizabeth. I SMELL JEALOUSLY. Hogan makes Akeem look like an idiot early and then decides to make Boss Man and Slick look like idiots as well.
Back in the ring, Hogan tries to go for the slam but Akeem turns the tide. Now we’ve got Hogan back on top and he knocks Boss Man off the apron. Akeem takes hold of the arm but Hogan comes back and knocks Akeem down with the elbow to the dome. And then Boss Man looks stupid again after Hogan throws Akeem into him on the apron.
Hogan throws Akeem to the corner and Akeem pulls the ref in front of him. REF BUMP. Naturally Akeem and Boss Man go to work. Then we get another backstage cut-in with Okerlund essentially asking Savage if he’s gonna help him. Savage says he’ll be fine. SAVAGE MOVE. Noe Liz goes running around backstage trying to find Savage. Hogan is down and out in the ring.
Another cut-in of Savage and Liz yells at him to come out and help. Okerlund’s acting here is must-see because of how truly awful it is. This is also where Jesse starts leaning Savage’s direction, saying if he came in he could get Hogan DQ’d. Hogan starts hulking up and making his comeback, with Savage happy backstage and saying he told everyone he’d make the comeback. Big boot time and then he slams Akeem. Boss Man trips Hogan before he can get the leg drop for the DQ at 8:06.
Elizabeth is in here watching Hogan getting beat with the nightstick. Then they go after Elizabeth and here comes Savage with a chair. After all this, Savage gets more jealous that Elizabeth is all over Hogan trying to help him. Jesse smells a rift. JESSE IS NEVER WRONG.
Beautiful storytelling. He wouldn’t come down for Hogan, but he would for Elizabeth. The match was nothing, but the storyline advancement was outstanding.
Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. (c) The Ultimate Warrior – IC Title
Brawling on the outside early, which results in Warrior pressing Honky and throwing him in the ring. Back and forth and then Jimmy throws Honky the megaphone while the ref’s back is turned. Honky hammers Warrior with it several times.
Even more shenanigans with Jimmy choking Warrior while Honky distracts the ref. Warrior back in control and he bounces Honky’s head off the turnbuckle about 95 times. Then it’s clothesline and running splash time, but Honky gets the knees up. But the flying tackle scores the win for Warrior at 5:07. This was what it was.
BACKSTAGE: Slick is ecstatic that the Twin Towers destroyed Hogan. He also plants more seeds about how close the Mega Powers actually are.
MORE BACKSTAGE: Jesse interviews Bobby Heenan and Red Rooster. They make fun of Rooster for a few minutes.
Red Rooster (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Tito Santana
Heenan is mic’d for the match. He pretty much gives Rooster hell from the very beginning. Then Heenan goes over and yells back and forth with George Steinbrenner. Rooster and Tito are working hard but the big focus is Heenan yelling at Rooster.
After several minutes, we get the shoving match on the outside between Heenan and Rooster. This continues on for a while until Tito gets the roll-up on Rooster for the victory at 7:27.
After the match, Heenan slaps Rooster and then Rooster clocks him in the corner several times before throwing him off the turnbuckle.
BACKSTAGE: Mr. Perfect talks about the birth of the PERFECT PLEX. It’s here.
Mr. Perfect vs. Koko B. Ware
Koko tries to make the fans think he has a chance. He doesn’t. He does get a lot of momentum early, and Jesse even points out that he’s out-wrestling Perfect. That won’t last long.
But Koko destroys himself in the corner and then Perfect Plex happens to give Perfect the squash win at 3:10. Perfect was out there SQUASHING JOBBERS.
BACKSTAGE: The Mega Powers seem to be just fine. Hogan has no problem with Savage’s delay in helping him. They breathe the same air, drink the same water, and sleep the same sleep. That’s what Hogan says. Then Savage says his body hurt when Hogan was getting attacked. Hogan then says he felt like he was getting choked when Elizabeth was getting choked by Boss Man. SUPER HANDSHAKE TIME. Everyone seems happy and weird at the same time. I’m sure this will work out well for them.
OVERALL
The Mega Powers tension was good stuff. They had good foils in Boss Man and Akeem, and obviously we all know where this is headed. Enjoyable show here, and you also have the debut of the Perfect Plex. Fine all the way around.
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