What’s up wrestling fans? You’re all probably sick of me by now, but I’m back for round two today, with my review of WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. Since SNME was resurrected back in March of 2006, it has been considered a ratings failure and it’s become apparent that WWE tapes the program out of contractual obligation rather than the desire to put on a quality wrestling show. Because of this, I have to give WWE a lot of credit for the show they aired tonight on NBC. It was book ended by two great wrestling matches, and spent the rest of the time promoting Generation Rescue, a fight against autism foundation created by Jenny McCarthy. WWE did not have to do this. They could have very easily put together a throw away hour long show that no one would watch simply to fulfill their contract responsibilities and leave it at that. But it seems to me like they said to themselves, “since no one really cares about this show as a wrestling event, and we don’t promote it very much, why not use it to raise awareness of an important medical issue?” For this, I commend WWE.
The broadcast began with an 8 man tag team match featuring John Cena, Cryme Tyme and Batista vs Kane, JBL, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. This was an intense match up that saw JBL get the win over JTG after a clothesline from hell. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk joined JR and Lawler on commentary and did a great job. No one ever points out how good Punk is on the mic, and his commentary was smooth and natural. He is believable when he speaks, and I think that’s a large part of his charisma. As for the match tonight, everyone had a chance to look good and the finish was spontaneous and unexpected. Out of a possible 9 stars, I will give this opening contest 6 stars.
Back from commercial break and in singles action we have The Great Khali vs Jimmy Wang Yang. This match was unnecessary. First, it makes no sense to book a guy like Khali against Yang, who is an obvious underdog. Second, ECW had no showing in this broadcast, so why not use this segment to feature an ECW match? WWE is desperately trying to get Khali over with the fans by shoving him down our throats whenever possible, but when their attempts are met with “You can’t wrestle” chants, you’d think management would take the hint. My guess is they get a rise out of the hint.
After a few celebrity videos discussing Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy hit the entrance ramp to talk more about the foundation. I was impressed with the live crowd, they gave her a warm welcome and seemed genuinely positive about her cause.
After a commercial break and a video replaying Vickie’s Hell In A Cell announcement from last week, it’s time for our main event Edge vs Jeff Hardy. This was a great match. Both guys wrestled competitively, and the match saw a few great spots on the outside. Edge picked up the victory with a spear after MVP ran in from the crowd and delivered a stiff kick to Hardy’s head. 7.5 Stars.
Overall this was a fun one hour program. It felt like a SNME taping because the main event was a high caliber, hard fought match. I don’t expect the rating for this show to be very high, since neither WWE nor NBC did much to promote it, but I appreciate WWE’s attempt to make something out of this broadcast. They gave the wrestling fans two fun matches, and used the interim to help raise money for an important cause. Out of a possible 9 stars, I give Saturday Night’s Main Event 7 Stars.
Nick’s Notes:
-I have only one note tonight, and it very well may be the most important note I have ever written. During the main event a guy in the first few rows was holding a sign that said “Mickie James Roast Beef.” Funniest sign I have ever seen. Well done sir, well done. (And I don’t mean the roast beef, that should always be medium rare).
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
