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WWF The Main Event - February 3, 1989

by Scrooge McSuck

- From the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. We open the show highlighting the formation of the Mega Powers. Enter the Big Bossman, who kicked off his program with Hulk Hogan with a brutal attack on the Brother Love Show. Bossman was soon joined by Akeem, forming a duo known as the Twin Towers, and Randy Savage, through his association with Hogan, became part of the mix. All the while, Savage was becoming more and more insecure about Hulk Hogan's friendship with Elizabeth, and subtle hints were thrown out there that Savage was growing more frustrated with Hogan, including leaving him to get worked over by both Akeem and Bossman, only making the save once Elizabeth involved herself. Tonight, it'll all come to a head when the Mega Powers take on the Twin Towers. Oh, and Hercules goes one-on-one with Ted Dibiase (a year later, and Dibiase is the throw away on the Main Event).

- "Mean" Gene Okerlund is standing by with the Twin Towers and the Slickster. They pretty much guarantee victory, because three men will always beat two men (but one of those men is HULK HOGAN!). Vince McMahon throws things to an awful video highlighting the "friendship" between Hogan and Savage. This is so cheesy, it makes me hate the 80's. The storyline itself thought was fantastic, so don't let my negative attitude over this production bit reflect on my attitude towards the Mega Powers. We get comments from the Mega Powers (and their stupid handshake), and Gene coins the phrase "demolish the Twin Towers." I'm sure Demolition used the line tons of times during their summer program with the duo.

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (w/ Elizabeth) vs. The Twin Towers (w/ Slick):

This is one match worthy of a Pay-Per-View. I know that it's Slick's music, but the Bossman just doesn't scream someone who comes to the ring to "Jive Soul Bro." Randy Savage is the reigning WWF Champion, but that title almost seems to be an afterthought because Hogan's spotlight hogging. Bossman wants some of Hogan, but Savage wants to start... but Hogan gets his way, of course. Hogan quickly unloads with rights and takes shots at Akeem and Slick. Hogan with an atomic drop to send Bossman over the top rope, and the Mega Powers celebrate. Back in the ring, Bossman drives a knee to the midsection and unloads with rights. Hogan blocks being sent to the turnbuckle, and instead introduces Bossman to it 10 times. Irish whip, and Bossman takes a hike before Hogan could dish out any more punishment. Instead, Savage attacks from behind, sending Bossman into the ring post. You know, I would've liked to see a Savage vs. Bossman match from this time frame... I know, that was random. Akeem tags in, and takes a beating from both men. Hogan comes off the ropes with a clothesline, and Savage comes off the top rope with a double axehandle. Savage charges into the corner with an elbow, and Hogan comes off the second rope with his own axehandle. Akeem shifts the momentum and tags out to Bossman, who lays hogan out with a clothesline, and plants him with a piledriver. Hogan dumps Bossman out of the ring, then sends him into the post. Slick gets involved, and takes a boot from Savage for his sacrifice. Whip to the ropes, and Bossman with a spinebuster on Hogan for a two count. Savage gets the hot tag, and hangs Akeem across the top rope, then comes off the top with a cross body press for a two count. Slick nails Savage with Bossman's nightstick coming off the ropes, and now Savage gets to play face-in-peril. Akeem tosses Savage out of the ring, then does it again, this time landing right on Elizabeth, who took a man-sized bump for that one. Hogan comes over to check on his fallen allies, and carries Elizabeth back to the dressing room for medical attention, leaving Savage all by himself, ignoring Savage's pleas to get back into the match.

The Towers drag Savage back in the ring, and put him down with a double slam, but a double elbow drop misses. Savage rams the Towers together, but distracts himself watching Hogan carrying 'Liz, and gets knocked from the apron for his lack of vision. Savage gets worked over in the ring, while we stay with Hogan performing some B-Level acting that makes his performance in No Holds Barred look Oscar worthy (a bad year, though). Elizabeth wakes up from her temporary coma to go all Adrian on us and tells Hogan to go back to the ring and fight (the WWE DVD cuts Hogan asking if the camera was rolling, sadly).Hogan finally returns, trying to play hero all of a sudden. The Towers showcase their lack of teamwork, connecting on a double back breaker. Savage somehow manages to fend the both off and tosses them out of the ring, but he won't tag out to Hogan. Hogan calls Savage over, so Savage slaps Hogan across the face and takes off. He returns briefly, but only for grabbing his WWF Championship from the timekeepers table. Hogan takes a beating from both men for a brief moment, but it seems like they keep hurting themselves, rather than taking punishment from Hogan. Akeem crushes Hogan in the corner and comes off the ropes with a splash, but it's time for Hogan to go through his Hulk Up routine. Hogan with rights and a big boot to Akeem, followed by the leg drop, and it's all over at 18:36. Bossman and Slick attempt to cuff Hogan to the ropes, but he outsmarts them and takes off to avoid further damage. Solid tag match, but the Mega Powers storyline was clearly the main focus... and it's not over yet.

Hogan heads back to the dressing room (again), muttering under his breath, mostly jibber-ish other than calling for Macho Man. We see Savage is with Elizabeth, chewing her out, I guess. Savage is fed up with Hogan's spotlight stealing, and for using Elizabeth to get under his skin because he's jealous and he knows he can't beat the Macho Man. Savage accues Hogan of having lustful eyes, then lays Hogan out with the belt. Elizabeth tries to break things up, but gets thrown across the room for her efforts. Suddenly Brutus Beefcake comes in and gets laid out (it's like a guy in a horror movie making the save and being killed seconds later). Pat Patterson gets thrown across the room too, no doubt taking his frustrations out on everyone who's allegedly sleeping with the Hulk (rim shot). And there you have the set-up for the WrestleMania V Main Event.

Hercules vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil):

Congralulations, you guys get to follow up the Mega Powers exploding. Hercules' face-turn and push to super-stardom really didn't go over, so here's the quasi-blowoff to the whole "Dibiase buys Hercules to be his slave" storyline, and Hercules would soon be shuttled down to near JTTS levels before his heel turn in the Summer of '90. Hercules attacks before Dibiase could get his gear off, and quickly clotheslins him back out. Virgil heads to the top rope for the purpose of being slammed off, then thrown into Dibiase, knocking him off the apron. Hercules brings Dibiase into the ring with a sling shot, and throws Dibiase across the ring with a press slam. Dibiase offers a cheap shot, but Hercules blocks, and sends Dibiase out of the ring with an atomic drop. Hercules keeps attacking Dibiase out of the ring, but goes to the well too many times, and Dibiase takes Hercules over with a snapmare. Dibiase brings it back in the ring, and lays Hercules out with a clothesline. Dibiase with his signature fist drops, but that only gets a two count. Irish whip, and Dibiase with a knee to the midsection. Dibiase to the second turnbuckle, and he comes off with an elbow to the top of the head for another two count. Hercules blocks a suplex, and takes Dibiase over with one of his own. Dibiase somehow gets up first and rakes the eyes. Whip to the corner is reversed, but Hercules tastes boot on a charge. Dibiase with a back breaker for a two count. Hercules blocks being sent to the buckle and instead rams Dibiase into it ten times (thanks to the crowd for counting for me). Hercules catches Dibiase off the ropes with a powerslam, but misses a running knee lift and feels the turnbuckle instead. Virgil wraps Hercules' chain around one of the buckles, but the plan backfires, and Dibiase feels it instead. That only gets two, though. Hercules rams Dibiase again, then slaps on the torture rack (simply called a back breaker), but Virgil interferes, allowing Dibiase to roll Hercules up, and a handful of tights is enough for the three count at 7:14. Hercules attacks after the match, slams Dibiase down, and chases everyone away wioth the chain. Decent match, but this program really held no interest for me, and I don't recall Hercules ever getting the best of Dibiase.

- Mean Gene is back to get a word with Hulk Hogan, who is selling that belt shot from earlier as if he were shot in the side of the head. Hogan rambles nonsense for a bit, and when we cut backstage, Hogan is running around looking for Randy. Hogan takes shots at Jim Neidhart, throws Shawn Michaels into a wall, then grabs Bret Hart by the hair. Hogan to Marty Jannetty: "... get out of my way." That's a shoot, brother! And so ends another broadcast of the Main Event.

Final Thoughts: While not nearly as epic as the debut of the Main Event, this one holds up pretty well, with a couple of decent matches, and the final straw to trigger Randy Savage's heel turn, forcing the Mega Powers to explode, and setting up our Main Event for WrestleMania V. Kudos to Elizabeth, for taking not one, but two pretty big bumps during the course of the show: The first, having Savage thrown into her, and the second, when Savage tossed her clear across the room backstage, following the match. The Hercules/Dibiase stuff is skipable material, and the rest is featured on the Best of Saturday Night's Main Event DVD set.

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