Must-See Matches and Moments That Made WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Special
Saturday Night's Main Event returns to WWE on Saturday at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York with a show headlined by Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens.
Elsewhere on the show, Gunther defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Damian Priest and Finn Balor, Liv Morgan defends the Women's World Championship against Iyo Sky, Sami Zayn battles Drew McIntyre, and the first women's United States champion will be crowned.
Ahead of the return of SNME, relive these matches and moments that previously made it can't-miss television listed in the order in which they occurred.
Uncle Elmer's Wedding (October 5, 1986)
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On the second edition of the prime-time event, Uncle Elmer married Joyce Stazko in a legitimate ceremony. The spectacle created media interest, and while the two were genuinely married on that October night in 1986, things did not go off without incident.
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, arguably the best and hottest heel in the company at that point, interrupted the proceedings and hurled insults as only he could.
It was a moment that proved anything could happen at Saturday Night's Main Event.
More importantly, it emphasized the entertainment part of "sports entertainment" and gave fans an idea of what they could expect from WWE as it started to enter major arenas as part of a national expansion.
Halloween (October 31, 1985)
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The Halloween-themed show in October 1985 dripped with nostalgia.
There were the holiday decorations and costumes, the top stars of the time dressed as other recognizable faces, and hosts Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura hamming it up.
Another instance of Vince McMahon introducing a national audience to his brand of professional wrestling, filled with colorful characters and over-the-top skits, it was great fun and a fondly remembered episode.
A Sickening DDT (May 3, 1986)
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WWE fans received their first taste of the dangerous and calculating Jake "The Snake" Roberts on May 3, 1986 when he delivered one of the most sickening DDTs in company history.
Amid a grueling battle with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Roberts took his fight to the floor where he proceeded to deliver his devastating finisher. Steamboat's head bounced off the concrete and left the future Hall of Famer in need of medical assistance while Roberts watched.
It was the introduction on a grand scale to one of the most captivating and dangerous Hall of Famers in WWE history and the onset of a feud that would carry on throughout the summer before culminating in another showdown on a fall edition of the show.
Steel Cage Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff (January 3, 1987)
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"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff's jealousy of Hulk Hogan, and the perception that he was the WWE champion's tagalong or "Hulk Jr." led to a shocking betrayal that saw him turn heel by delivering a vicious piledriver to wrestling's most popular competitor.
The intensely personal rivalry culminated in a steel cage match on the first Saturday Night's Main Event of 1987 with The Hulkster's title on the line.
A controversial finish saw both men hit the floor simultaneously, causing assigned official Joey Marella to call for a restart.
Hogan then delivered his trademark legdrop and exited the cage, giving him the win and bringing his feud with his fellow future Hall of Famer to a close in one of the more memorable matches in the show's initial seven-year run.
The Mega Powers Unite (October 3, 1987)
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"Macho Man" Randy Savage was on his way to reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship on the October 3, 1987 show having dropped his famous top-rope elbow on The Honky Tonk Man.
The Hart Foundation's Bret Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart had other plans, interfering and drawing the disqualification to preserve their associate's title reign.
The Honky Tonk Man shoved Miss Elizabeth to the mat, sending her to the back for help while the champion delivered a guitar shot to Savage's head.
Enter Hogan, who cleared the ring and helped Savage, officially forming The Mega Powers and kicking off a storyline that would dominate WWE for well over a year. It culminated in one of the biggest matches in WrestleMania history in April 1989.
'Macho Man' Randy Savage vs. Bret Hart (November 28, 1987)
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Take two of the best wrestlers in the company, book them against each other and give them nearly 13 minutes to showcase their abilities on a national stage.
McMahon did that in November 1987 when he pitted Savage and Hart against each other in a logical follow-up to the big angle of the previous Saturday Night's Main Event.
For just over 12 minutes, they wrestled a technically sound matchup that set aside the showmanship, glitz and glamour of WWE's sports-entertainment and focused on the art of professional wrestling.
Savage won the match, predictably, setting himself up for a monumental run that would conclude the following April with his first WWE title victory, while Hart proved he was among the best wrestlers on the planet and more than capable of performing up to the moment.
A Savage Delay (January 7, 1989)
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It was apparent by January 1989 that the bloom was off the rose for The Mega Powers. Not everything was copacetic between WWE champion Savage and Hogan, with some suggesting jealousy had permeated their friendship.
Fans got their latest example on the first SNME of the year when Savage watched from the locker room as Akeem and Big Boss Man beat down his friend and did nothing to help, only finally rushing to his aid when the villains threatened Miss Elizabeth at ringside.
It was the first indication Savage had grown tired of being upstaged by Hogan and he was on to the former champion's too-close-for-comfort relationship with Elizabeth.
Within two months, the schism within the team would be too much and by the time WrestleMania V rolled around in April, The Mega Powers had exploded.
Zeus! (May 27, 1989)
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The arrival of the McMahon-produced motion picture No Holds Barred brought with it an opportunity to cross-promote the film via the introduction of Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. as Zeus to WWE television.
The film's villain made his WWE debut on May 27, 1989, standing in Hogan's way as he attempted to enter the squared circle.
Showing the ferocity and strength that defined his character in the movie, Zeus struck down Hogan with forearms to his shoulders, demanding the WWE champion attempt to move him.
It was the start of a months-long program that wrote its final chapter at SummerSlam. While the creative was so-so at best, the image of Zeus standing in Hogan's path was captivating and made a huge impression on the audience.
Mr. Perfect Destroys Hulk Hogan's Championship (November 25, 1989)
9 of 13Mr. Perfect was in the middle of an unbeaten run in WWE when he assisted The Genius to a count-out victory over WWE champion Hogan.
It was a stunning outcome, with few expecting The Hulkster would ever lose a match to a comedy figure, a glorified manager like Lanny Poffo had become. Making matters even more shocking, and an even greater villain out of Perfect, was what followed the match.
The heels absconded with the WWE title, taking it to the backstage area where they were greeted by "Mean" Gene Okerlund. In an infamous angle, Perfect used a hammer to smash up the title.
The feud between Hogan and Perfect stretch into the new year and concluded with a predictable victory for the babyface.
As for the mangled championship, some believed it resurfaced nine years later when the evil Mr. McMahon presented it to Mankind as the WWE Hardcore Championship.
Sid Justice's Betrayal (February 8, 1992)
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Nothing goes together quite like a betrayal of Hogan and SNME.
In February 1992, just weeks before WrestleMania VIII, The Hulkster teamed with Sid Justice to battle Ric Flair and The Undertaker in one of the most star-studded tag team matches in the show's history.
After Hogan had pulled him to the floor in the Royal Rumble match two weeks earlier, thus costing him the WWE Championship, Justice exacted his revenge by walking out on his partner.
Hogan won the match via disqualification, but the damage was done. The friendship was irreparably fractured, leading to the announcement of a WrestleMania main event between the industry's top babyface and the newly turned heel.
The less said about that one, though, the better.
HBK Strikes Singles Gold (November 14, 1992)
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Fresh off of the Barber Shop incident that saw him betray longtime partner Marty Jannetty and toss him through a glass window, Shawn Michaels struck singles gold for the first time in his career on the final SNME until the 2006 relaunch.
Now airing on Fox after a seven-year run on NBC, the show saw The Heartbreak Kid dethrone "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith to win the Intercontinental Championship, a title Michaels became synonymous with over the next three years.
It was a huge moment in the career of one of the greatest of all time and an announcement from McMahon and his company that Michaels would be one of the wrestlers to watch well in the 1990s.
Mickie James Vows to Destroy Trish Stratus (March 18, 2006)
12 of 13After months of courting Trish Stratus as an obsessed stalker-type, Mickie James finally made her move on the reintroduction of SNME in March 2006, moving in for a kiss from her idol. Stratus, taken aback, rebuffed James.
The result was an assault by James that left Stratus lying as she vowed to destroy the future Hall of Famer.
It was an angle that would ultimately lead to the showdown between the two at Wrestlemania 22, one of the best matches on that card and an appropriate conclusion to one of the great storylines in that era of women's wrestling.
It was also the long-awaited moment when James snapped, turned heel and became even more over with an audience that already appreciated her performance so much to that point.
John Cena vs. Edge (July 15, 2006)
13 of 13John Cena and then-WWE champion Edge were no strangers to one another by the time the July 15, 2006 edition of SNME rolled around having introduced the wrestling world to their rivalry earlier in the year when The Rated-R Superstar cashed in Money in the Bank and stole the top prize in the company from his rival.
Entering the show in the middle of his second reign with the title, Edge defended against Cena in a match that some believed would see the company's top babyface regain the gold.
It did not happen as Cena won, but via disqualification, meaning he would not leave the American Airlines Center in Dallas with the WWE title. His answer to the chicanery that led to the finish? An Attitude Adjustment through the announce table that left the champion unconscious and his challenger standing tall to close out the last meaningful broadcast of the event that WWE had presented for nearly two decades.
SNME continued, but it was often an afterthought as lower ratings and diminishing returns resulted in gimmicky broadcasts that featured Doink the Clown, The Boogeyman, Hornswoggle and Evander Holyfield instead of hot feuds, significant match-ups, and meaningful title changes.
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