WWF The Main Event III 2/23/1990

WWF The Main Event III 2/23/1990

The Macho King Randy Savage says he has the most powerful right hand as it's packed with madness. He says Buster Douglas better stay in line or he will give him a thrill. He says if the right one don't get ya, the left one will.

Jack Tunney talks to Earl Hebner and Buster Douglas with instructions. Buster's trainer tells him to call it like it is and says if things get tough in there, think of Mike Tyson and knock someone else.

Hulk Hogan does a promo. He says when you take Macho and add Buster Douglas and Hulk, something's gonna explode.

Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon welcome us to the show. Vince says The Ultimate Warrior defends the Intercontinental Title against Dino Bravo with Jimmy Hart and Earthquake in the corner. Vince says Mike Tyson's management pulled him out of the referee role tonight for Macho vs Hogan but says Buster Douglas is now the ref. Jesse says Buster knocked Tyson out and is the only man who can stand in the ring between Macho and Hulk.

Macho King Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri are interviewed. Macho is glad Tyson pulled out. He said Tyson's grandmother was a Hulkamaniac and there's no way Tyson could have called it down the middle. Macho says there's a new kid on the block and asks who is Buster Douglas? Sherri says Hulk won't be defending the WWF Title at Mania 6 as he will lose tonight. Macho tells Sherri to take her place beside him.

Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan. Hulk says him and Douglas have a lot in common but he hasn't met him. He said it seems like Douglas had to scratch his way to the top like him and says they share the same dedication to God and the country. He says Douglas chosen to lead the masses to higher ground. He says it's the last time he will face Macho in the ring. He says if Douglas is a flash in the pan and if he doesn't call it down the middle, he says he will be both the WWF champ and the boxing champ too. He says whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you?

Thoughts: They really aren't putting over Douglas too strong so far with neither guy knowing him and accusing him of being biased.

Buster Douglas is interviewed by Mean Gene. He said he upset Tyson for him, his country and his mother. Gene says if you work hard enough, your dreams will come true (not always true). Gene asks why he agreed to be here. Douglas said he has an obligation to boxing and said he needed to step up when Tyson ran. He said they advertised the world champ and that's him, not Tyson. Douglas says he will call it as he sees it 50/50 and if anyone gets out of line, boom, he will knock them out like Tyson.

Thoughts: This was actually a good promo from Buster Douglas here.

WWF Title - Special Outside Referee: Buster Douglas - Hulk Hogan (c) vs "Macho King" Randy Savage

Buster is outside the ring here so he's more of an enforcer than a true ref. Hulk shoves Macho over then Macho slides out. Hulk shoulders him over and Macho goes out. Macho hits shots on Hulk and pulls his neck over the top rope. Macho jumping knees Hulk in the back, sending him out of the ring.

Sherri gets on the apron, Hulk grabs her then Macho knees Sherri on accident. Hulk hits shots and a lariat on Macho. Hulk running back elbows Macho in the corner and Macho drops down for it. Hulk hits corner punches Hulk running lariats Macho.

Hulk slams and elbow drops Macho. Hulk hits mounted punches. Hulk hits an atomic drop then Sherri trips Hulk. Hulk grabs Sherri then Macho leg lariats Hulk on the ropes. Macho lariats Hulk then knee drops him. Sherri chokes Hulk right in front of Buster. Buster counts at her and actually ejects her. Wow, he's already better at reffing than most of the refs are. Douglas escorts Sherri to the back as we go to break.

We return and they ring the bell for some reason. Macho has Hulk in the sleeper. Hulk hulks up. He hits elbows to Macho's gut then Macho hits a stiff lariat on him. Macho throws him out then top rope double axe handles him outside. Macho then top rope double axe handles him inside.

Macho hits punches then slams him. Macho hits a top rope elbow drop for 2. Hulk hulks up as Macho punches him. Hulk facekicks him and Macho facekicks him outside. Hulk punches Macho, who falls into the ref. Hulk hits the legdrop and Douglas comes in to count the pin for Hulk. Hulk wins as Macho seemingly kicks out.

Thoughts: Macho really tried here with some athletic offense and selling. Hulk did a little bit more than usual but I wouldn't say it was great. It was fine for what it was though with Hulk winning as expected. It looked like Savage kicked out of the pin which maybe helps him save face some and gives him reason to be mad at Douglas.

Macho yells at Douglas after as Douglas explains the count. Macho gets up in his face and makes some boxing motions. Macho slaps Douglas and tries to box him more. Hulk pushes Macho into Douglas and Douglas puts him down with two punches. Jesse rightfully complains about this.

Thoughts: This wasn't done well here. Hulk pushed Macho into Douglas. Douglas somehow didn't see this then punched Macho twice since the first shot didn't really hit. There was no real reason for Hulk to push Macho and the two punches from Douglas looked bad.

Douglas poses some with Hulk after.

The Ultimate Warrior does a promo. He said the cosmic powers are in the air and talks about the rings of Saturn and the heat of Mercury. He was wearing Valentines Day colors here.

We cut back to Hulk and Douglas posing.

Jesse Ventura interviews Earthquake, Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart. Jesse puts Dino as the world's strongest man and wants to congratulate him beforehand on winning the IC Title. Dino thanks him and says it takes more than brawn to win the IC title. He said it takes brains and says Warrior won't be the IC champ come Wrestlemania. Hart calls Warrior a total maniac. He says Warrior doesn't have earthquake insurance and laughs.

Mean Gene interviews The Ultimate Warrior. He is asked if he has earthquake insurance. He says he doesn't need it or health/life insurance. He said the life that flows through his body is not that of the normals. He says the blood in his veins is a different consistency. He says not even a natural disaster will prevent him from fulfilling the ultimate destiny.

WWF Intercontinental Title - The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs Dino Bravo

Warrior runs in, Dino leapfrogs him and Warrior powerslams him. Warrior top rope double axe handles him and Dino does a big backroll for it. Quake grabs Warrior's foot and Warrior chases him. Dino hits Warrior from behind.

Warrior hiptosses Dino then Quake trips Warrior again. Dino hits a hard lariat to the back of the head. Warrior goes out and goes under the ring. Jimmy Hart is then pulled under the ring. Jimmy comes back and is missing his pants and has his shirt unbuttoned. Warrior throws Jimmy at Quake.

Dino clubs Warrior then Quake slams Warrior on the floor. Dino clubs on Warrior then bearhugs him. Warrior then bearhugs Dino and Dino gets out quick. Dino hits shots on Warrior then side slams him for 2.

Dino double axe handles Warrior and hits him from behind. Warrior headbutts him then running lariats him twice. Warrior flying shoulders him then splashes him for the win.

Thoughts: It was a quick one here and we didn't get a lot of the long awaited Dino vs Warrior battle here (they had been building it for over 2 months). It was pretty much all interference. I have no idea why Warrior took off Jimmy's pants but Warrior was always booked to do weird stuff. It wasn't that bad but this got too much promotional time for how little we got out of it.

Quake decks Warrior after then Warrior gets double teamed. Warrior bangs their heads together then Warrior clotheslines Quake. Dino is thrown out and Quake elbow drops Warrior. Quake gets on the 2nd rope then Hulk Hogan comes out. Hulk stands between Quake and Warrior and knocks Quake off the 2nd rope. Quake points at Hulk.

Warrior gets mad at Hulk and yells at him. They go face to face and shove the ref's away. The refs eventually get in the way and they argument doesn't escalate. 

Vince McMahon is in the locker room and shows clips from The Royal Rumble 1990 with Hulk and Warrior squaring off. We also see clips from the last SNME with Warrior lariating Hulk on accident.

Vince asks Hulk what it's like to feel the power of The Warrior. He said it was the most powerful force that ever attacked Hulkamania. Hulk says he didn't believe Warrior would strike him twice in the same place. He said he could see Warrior was on a mission and it was an accident. Vince asks if tonight was Hulk's way of stealing the spotlight.

Hulk said he didn't want a mark or scratch on The Warrior and said he will watch his back until Wrestlemania. He wants to beat him at his best. Hulk said he saw no fear and sees Warrior is ready for battle. Hulk says Wrestlemania could have went down tonight. He says The Ultimate Challenge has been issued and asks what he will do when Hulkamania destroys him.

Mean Gene interviews The Ultimate Warrior in his locker room. This is a new set with Warrior logos and "Warrior Wildness" written on it. Warrior says what happened tonight was written a long time ago. He said he looked in Hulk's eyes and saw walls built with fear. He said he needed no partners at The Rumble and says every man stands for himself. He said Hulk has mistrust and said he doesn't need his protection. He says his Warriors ride on his back for protection and points to Warrior logos on the wall. He asks if Hulk has what it takes to be the most powerful force in the universe.

Warrior says he is the chosen one and wants to do battle with him at Wrestlemania VI. Warrior says Hulk will fall as we cut away. 

Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon talk. Jesse says Hulk was trying to steal Warrior's heat.

Mean Gene interviews Buster Douglas. He said he had a blast and said Hulk is his kind of guy. He says him and Hulk are going out drinking. He says Hulk is a buttermilk man and he's a whole milk man.

We cut back to Jesse and Vince. Jesse said he's pumped for The Ultimate Challenge and said they will be back for the next SNME in Austin, Texas.

Overall thoughts: This was only 48 minutes long minus commercials so there wasn't much time to work with. They were conservative and only had 2 matches here. This was all about hyping up Wrestlemania VI and featuring Buster Douglas some. Hulk vs Macho wasn't anything too great and Warrior vs Bravo was short with a lot of shenanigans. It did a good job in making you want to see Wrestlemania VI, but wasn't a great show on its own.