WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Review - May 11, 1985

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The U.S. Express and Ricky Steamboat def. George "The Animal" Steele and WWF Tag Team Champions The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff

U.S. Express and Steamboat had Lou Albano in their corner while Steele, Sheik and Volkoff had Freddie Blassie in their corner. For a match that was around eight or nine minutes long, this was perfectly serviceable. It was weird seeing Steele work as a heel, but then he turned babyface afterward by fending off Sheik and Volkoff and the crowd loved that. This was pretty much what it needed to be.

Mr. T Saved Paul Orndorff From Roddy Piper and "Cowboy" Bob Orton on Piper's Pit

Piper always played his role as the host of Piper's Pit so well. He was fantastic when it came to being an antagonizing, over-the-top heel and bringing the best out of his guests. That was the case here with Orndorff getting over as a fan favorite because Piper was the perfect foil for him. They discussed their loss from WrestleMania earlier in the year before the heels double-teamed him and Mr. T came to his aid on the outside. This was really well done. I know Piper and Mr. T faced off one-on-one at WrestleMania 2, but I don't think the bad blood between Piper and Orndorff was ever blown off on a big stage, unfortunately.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan def. "Cowboy" Bob Orton by Disqualification

You'd think this would've been saved for the main event spot, but apparently not. Hogan entered to his classic "Real American" theme, but was he still walking out to "Eye of the Tiger" at this point and it had to be edited on Peacock? Regardless, this was pretty good while it lasted. I appreciated the pace, too. Piper's interference caused the contest to be thrown out, leading to Orndorff cementing his face turn afterward by helping Hogan and Mr. T fend off the heels.

WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter def. The Fabulous Moolah

I legitimately didn't remember if this was where Moolah got the belt back, so the outcome was actually unpredictable for me while watching it. Although Moolah didn't win here, she did regain the gold a little later on in the year for some reason. She was in her early 60s at this point and had no business competing for the title, but that's just the stranglehold she had on women's wrestling for multiple decades. This bout was brief, but as you'd expect, it was abysmal. Moolah's offense was awful and Richter eked out the win at the end.

Junkyard Dog def. Pete Doherty

This was a standard squash. Doherty didn't even get a televised entrance. Dog, though, was super over with the crowd and his charisma carried the match. Obviously, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this whatsoever, but it was kept short and sweet and Dog's mom being out there was a nice touch. Speaking of which, a Mother's Day celebration hosted by Lauper was what closed the show.

Overall Show

This was a fun blast from the past. The only other Saturday Night's Main Event I've seen in full was the last one they did in 2008 (I may rewatch/review that one next). These were some of the biggest shows WWE/WWF was doing up until Raw premiered in 1993 and I'm excited for them to returning as quarterly specials on NBC. I'm sure there are better installments than this one, but this had historical significance, two title matches and some enjoyable moments. At an hour long, it's definitely worth watching.

SEE MORE: Saturday Night's Main Event Reviews, Retro Reviews