Three things got me into wrestling when I was very young: my Piper-loving dad who got me watching shows like Superstars and never stopped talking to me about legends like Bruno Sammartino and Johnny Valentine, Coliseum Video VHS releases which I’m pretty sure I had my dad rent every one of from the video store at least once at the ripe young age of 4, and Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The Saturday night showcases, as well as the rarer offshoots simply titled “Main Event” (one of which featured the infamous Hogan vs. Andre title change match), were staples growing up. I always looked forward to them. If my dad didn’t outright let me stay up, he woke me up when they started and let me watch. And in the off-chance I was too tired they always got taped so I could watch it the next morning regardless.
They were that important to me when I was young, and with us specifically even though over time my other tastes evolved and I got into more things like basketball as opposed to hockey, movies not involving cowboys and music made after the 1980s — wrestling was always the constant. It didn’t matter what it was, we watched it. For example, for the longest time he, my brother and I would all still watch the WWF/E and WCW shows live on the nights they aired. I even got him into TNA at one point.
WWF shows became appointment viewing, and it all really started with Saturday Night’s Main Event.
I have a lot of memories from the original run of the series, as well as its sister show. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I remember a match between Hulk Hogan and Harley Race that had a table spot Race was injured during. That was really the beginning of the end of Race’s WWF run. I remember watching another old Hogan match with Paul Orndorff in a steel cage on a Coliseum Video release where they used a split screen to show both men climbing down the cage on opposite sides. I remember the company using the Main Event shows to further along the implosion of the Mega Powers story through the latter part of 1988 into 1989 when Savage returned to being a full blown heel. I remember Hogan kicking out of Curt Hennig’s Perfect Plex during a WWF title defence and finally I remember Shawn Michaels capturing his first singles title from the British Bulldog on what would be the final Saturday Night’s Main Event until 2006.
Moments made those shows, and separate from nostalgia the moments in them are what we hold on to; not just nostalgia for its own sake. That’s what the mid-late 2000s revival felt like, compared to the originals which felt like they had purpose and were willing to do something big and unique a part from regular programming. That’s what made them worth watching. Piggybacking off the name does more harm than good and at least for me left an awful taste in my mouth. For example, the main event of the 2007 show was Kane, Eugene and Doink vs. Umaga, Kevin Thorn and Viscera. Really? Although John Cena did wrestle on the card, he lost to the Great Khali. Further, you might ask what else was on the show. Well, Finlay and Hornswoggle took on the Boogeyman and… “Little Boogeyman” in another showcase match.
That those two matches even happened in featured positions is mindboggling. While that isn’t to say Vince McMahon didn’t end old shows that were top heavy with stars with duds like Red Rooster vs. the Brooklyn Brawler, those shows at least had substance to them and weren’t just ripe with low-brow nonsense. They mostly pushed feuds and stories forward, or in the case of the Mega Powers wove threads to build to WrestleMania. In HBK’s case it propelled him toward the main event scene.
WWE needs this iteration of Saturday Night’s Main Event to be more of the latter and less of the former.
SNME in 2024
The question then becomes, “why do Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2024?” I think one thing we can say about the current makeup of the WWE braintrust is that they do things “just because” much less than Vince McMahon did, or at a minimum I feel as though decisions are more thoughtfully considered before acting upon the core ideas. I think when you look at this show, holistically it’s a more sensibly crafted lineup compared to those 2000s shows with the aforementioned “barn burners.” The card doesn’t feel random, even though something like Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn only has a couple weeks of focused build behind it.
While I think that match could easily be swapped out for something else, the other four have the benefit of longer-term planning akin to how the original format was used to make impactful movements to push the story along. That potential exists even in Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky where regardless of how the match ends, I think we can fairly assume Rhea Ripley will get involved to push her story with Morgan along to its next phase.
When you look at the triple threat match between Gunther, Damian Priest and Finn Balor, you have the benefit the history between Gunther and Balor in terms of the desire to have a match, and then obviously 2.5 years of association between Priest and Balor that has seen them be opponents over the U.S. title, members of Judgment Day and tag team champions, and now adversaries once more with the big prize in their sights. As for what can happen: likely Gunther retains, but maybe Balor wins by pinning Priest. Maybe the reverse happens. Regardless, it’s a match to look forward to and with the substance of it, when you look at the undercard of some of those older shows, this stands above it almost objectively because of how we got here and how long term this story truly is. There’s potential for something cool here even beyond what is probably going to be the second best or outright top match of the night.
Chelsea Green. What I think you need to appreciate about her is that she’s fearless in terms of her characters, how she portrays herself comedically, and more critically understanding her character has been exceptionally annoying by design. People want to see her get annihilated. And underneath that, consider she trained under Lance Storm — one of the more athletic, technically gifted wrestlers of the last 30 years. She knows what she’s doing, knows what kind of company WWE is in terms of character work taking more focus than wrestling technique, and she works hard and tries everything. For example, I remember an interview she gave after she left the company where she said she would stake out McMahon’s office until she got a meeting with him to pitch all of her ideas for what she could do on the programs. She’s kind of an underappreciated example, because unless you’re wired to look at what happens outside of black and white wins and losses, you lose out on seeing those character moments AND what she does in ring. Mia Yim is great and deserves to be here too, but considering everything Green winning feels right because it’s an earned moment in time that caps off the work she’s put in since her return. And when I think of past big moments, or something that might stick out to you in the future, this might be one. Conversely, should Yim win, that’s as valid because she’s also worked hard since her return to the company and either way there’s a generation of young girls who might be watching and get inspired by either of them winning and becoming the first women’s U.S. champion. That can’t be dismissed so easily because you can never guess what’s going to grab people.
That brings us to Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. There’s so much here, whether it’s their friendship or connection to Dusty Rhodes, to their on-screen fight against the Bloodline leading to their overthrow, or Cody’s teaming with Roman Reigns in a move that didn’t sit well with Owens and has brought us to today. Owens was the first domino to fall coming out of Cody’s big moment (it’s only a matter of time with Randy). The substance here is palpable and the match will probably tonally be the best and most interesting because of the natural emotion ingrained in the makeup of the match. It feels raw, it feels personal, and reminds me of some of the longer term feuds old SNME episodes showcased. For example, so many of Savage and Hogan’s matches were featured on these shows whether they were opponents or partners. While it’s tonally different and I would hardly consider the histories to be on the same level, I would expect a great match with its share of emotion as it has become hyper personal. The kicker of the story is that Owens is 100% right in his criticisms. Even as a babyface the methodology of how Cody got here and what he’s done since WrestleMania is highly egocentric and self-serving when you really break the motivation down. Even though their roles are defined in face vs. heel terms, there’s an equally distinct grey area. While we mostly talk about the good Cody does, or the bad Owens does, in between there are the actions, motivations and truths that give the match substance. Much like the Green-Yim match, we could see something memorable with these two. Even more so should Owens actually win the title.
The WWE championship. That title was defended so much on those old SNME and Main Event shows, with the beloved Winged Eagle debuting in that ME match between Hogan and Andre ahead of WrestleMania 4. That belt design was used for over 10 years to represent the best in the WWF and became synonymous with people like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and obviously Hulk Hogan. It’s also that title that Rhodes has always said he would love to bring back, and in the days leading up to tonight, a video was shared on Twitter/X of HHH giving Rhodes a hard-plastic travelling case that looks to be about the size of a championship belt. The strong implication is that Rhodes will be coming out to the ring wearing the Winged Eagle WWF title. Whether that means Rhodes will lose or retain, or maybe the referee has a twin we’ve never met, regardless the simple act of seeing it connects generations together to create a natural association between the “Then” and “Now” to create a “Forever” moment through the simplicity of a current star carrying a historical title with ties to the stars of the ’80s and ’90s. There might be a parent and child watching tonight where the parent might be explaining the significance of it, even if it’s just as a moment in time where the child might see their mom or dad get excited by seeing the nearly 40 year old title belt. That joy can be infectious and give them something to share.
That’s what got me hooked when I was a kid, and it’s something that just stuck with me. Even if I just watch with my dog (who I’ve empirically discovered is an AJ Styles, Kenny Omega and Sting fan), or just share moments online with others. The purpose and joy is the same, and that all stems back to coming together, watching a show on a Saturday night while some classic ’80s tunes play, with someone like Jesse Ventura acting as the voice of our childhood wrestling memories across the decades.
Those are the things we remember, and those are the reasons we still watch.
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