Saturday Night's Main Event

• 1. Introduction

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  Saturday Night's Main Event was taped on the 10th of May 1985 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. NBC broadcast the taped show the next night, headlined by champion Hulk Hogan against Bob Orton for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The series is a run of American professional wrestling television specials produced by WWE, which was once called the World Wrestling Federation. It lasted until 1992, disappeared for years, returned, disappeared again, and then returned once more. Decades after that first night, the show would come back to the very same arena. How did NBC come to give wrestling a place on its late-night schedule? What did this program offer that ordinary weekly wrestling television did not? And why does a show built around occasional Saturday nights keep getting revived?

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• 2. The Ebersol Deal

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  Two WWF specials on MTV, The Brawl to End It All and The War to Settle the Score, drew high ratings in 1984-85. Dick Ebersol, then executive producer of Saturday Night Live, saw those numbers. Reruns of that sketch comedy normally filled NBC's late-night Saturday slot. Ebersol struck a deal with WWF owner Vince McMahon to produce a wrestling show for that hour, and the first edition drew an 8.8 rating.

  From 1986 onward, the show settled into a predictable calendar. Editions arrived on New Year's weekend, in late February or early March, in late April or early May, in late September or early October, and on Thanksgiving weekend.

  The summers of 1989 and 1990 each brought an extra edition, promoted as a Summertime Bonus Edition. Promotion also happened on talk television. Some of the wrestlers appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, where Arsenio Hall interviewed them himself to build excitement for the specials.

  The shows were recorded ahead of time, and the gap could stretch for weeks. The fourth edition was taped on the 19th of December 1985, but viewers did not see it until the 4th of January 1986.

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• 3. Star Power

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  The broadcast of the 5th of October 1985 put Hulk Hogan in a Flag match against Nikolai Volkoff for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Matches like that were the point of the series. Weekly wrestling programs of the era mostly ran squash matches, in which an established star easily beat a lesser performer. Saturday Night's Main Event offered almost nothing but star against star, including title defenses and specialty matches that television rarely showed.

  Hogan himself rarely wrestled on the WWF's syndicated and cable shows. Saturday Night's Main Event was the free television program where most viewers could actually watch him in action.

  The edition that aired on the 14th of March 1987 drew an 11.6 rating, which remains the highest any show has ever scored in that time slot. Its headline attraction was a 20-man battle royal featuring Hogan and Andre the Giant. The two were already slated to meet at WrestleMania III, and it was the first special since Andre had turned villain several weeks earlier.

  That success produced a spin-off called The Main Event, which aired on Friday nights in prime time. The first one, on the 5th of February 1988, featured a rematch between Hogan and Andre from WrestleMania III. It drew 33 million viewers and a 15.2 rating, still the highest for any wrestling show in American television history.

  Even late in the run, the numbers held up. The edition that aired on the 27th of January 1990 teamed Hogan with Ultimate Warrior against Mr. Perfect and The Genius, and it drew an 11.1 rating.

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• 4. Storylines Built Live

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  During the second edition, which aired on the 5th of October 1985, a wedding took place on camera. Uncle Elmer was legitimately married to Joyce Stazko.

  The steel cage match between Hogan and Paul Orndorff, which aired on the 3rd of January 1987, ended in confusion. Both men escaped the cage at roughly the same moment, and referees Joey Marella and Danny Davis disputed the finish. Davis played up his crooked referee gimmick. Officials called the footage "inconclusive," so the match restarted, and Hogan won it decisively.

  On the 3rd of October 1987, Randy Savage faced The Honky Tonk Man. Honky and The Hart Foundation beat Savage down, and Hogan ran in to save him. That rescue formed The Mega Powers, an alliance of Hogan, Savage and Miss Elizabeth.

  When Andre the Giant accompanied King Kong Bundy and Bobby Heenan to the ring in November 1987, referees threw Andre out of ringside for interfering. On his way back to the locker room he shoved a WWF cameraman to the floor. After the match, Hogan injured Heenan with a series of hanging necklifts, setting up a rematch. At the next edition, Andre sneak-attacked Hogan and choked him to the brink of unconsciousness, building toward the Hogan-Andre match on The Main Event.

  On the 12th of March 1988, Harley Race tried a diving headbutt from the ring apron onto Hogan, who lay across a table outside the ring. Hogan moved, and Race crashed through the table. The injury was real, and it eventually forced Race to retire in 1991.

  The edition that aired on the 7th of January 1989 planted seeds of a split between friends. Savage declined to rescue Hogan from Akeem and Big Boss Man, then rushed to ringside the moment Miss Elizabeth was threatened. Afterward he questioned Elizabeth as she tended to Hogan. The scene foreshadowed Savage's later turn to villain at The Main Event II in February.

  The edition of the 30th of April 1988 was the first without Hogan in any televised match or interview, because he had taken leave to film No Holds Barred. A year later, Tommy Lister Jr. appeared in character as Zeus, the film's villain, and beat down Hogan before his steel cage match with Big Boss Man. Zeus interfered again at the show of the 29th of July 1989, which helped set up the main event of SummerSlam. That same show also brought the first title change in the program's history.

  On the 10th of February 2009, WWE released a three-disc DVD set preserving these moments. It includes more than 30 full matches, Uncle Elmer's wedding, and Mr. Perfect smashing Hogan's championship belt. The set also carries the six-man tag team match that opened the series. In it, the U.S. Express of Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham teamed with Ricky Steamboat to beat Nikolai Volkoff, The Iron Sheik and George "The Animal" Steele. Two Main Event matches are included as well. Hogan against Andre led to the WWF title being vacated until WrestleMania IV. The Mega Powers against the Twin Towers of Big Boss Man and Akeem led to the breakup of the Mega Powers, and Hogan eventually beat Savage for the title at WrestleMania V.

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• 5. Voices and Music

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  Vince McMahon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura hosted the show for much of its run, with Bobby Heenan sitting in occasionally in 1986 and 1987. In 1990, Ventura left the WWF, and Roddy Piper took over as McMahon's broadcast partner. The two Fox editions paired McMahon with Heenan.

  Four pop songs defined the early sound. From 1985 to 1988, the NBC opening theme was "Obsession" by Animotion, and the closing theme was "Take Me Home" by Phil Collins. Show bumpers used the start of "Take On Me" by a-ha. Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" also served as a closing theme.

  The edition that aired on the 4th of October 1986 introduced a cold open of short wrestler promos. They were set to a loop of the beginning of "Traveling Music" by Lee Ritenour, from the American Flyers soundtrack. In February 1988, an original instrumental theme created by the WWF replaced the songs. That theme had first appeared at the 1987 Slammy Awards. The February 1992 edition used yet another opening theme.

  On the 1st of March 1986, viewers saw the first airing of the video for "Real American," Hulk Hogan's entrance theme. Another video debuted on the 3rd of October 1987. It was for "Piledriver" by Koko B. Ware, the title track of the WWF's second album of entrance music and performances by its wrestlers.

  Selected episodes also reached Britain. ITV showed them in its Saturday lunchtime World of Sport slot, mainly thanks to the popularity of The British Bulldogs.

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• 6. Fade to Fox

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  A 7.2 rating on the 28th of July 1990 was a sign of things to come. Ratings had stayed strong through 1990, but they began to fall soon afterward. At the same time, NBC had just acquired the rights to broadcast NBA games nationwide, and its interest in wrestling cooled. The network dropped the specials.

  The final NBC airing came on the 27th of April 1991, taped in Omaha, Nebraska. About 9,400 people attended, of whom 7,000 paid, and the broadcast drew a 7.7 rating.

  Cassettes kept the memory alive. During the original run, Coliseum Video released Saturday Night's Main Event's Greatest Hits, with six matches from 1985 to 1987, and More Saturday Night's Main Event, with nine matches from 1988 to 1989. In 1992, the WWF released Best of Saturday Night's Main Event (Collector's Edition) through Columbia House, with five matches from 1988 to 1990.

  Fox picked up the series in 1992 but aired it only twice. The first Fox edition, on the 8th of February 1992, came from Lubbock, Texas. It drew an 8.2 rating and 14.3 million viewers. A stipulation on the Roddy Piper and The Mountie match for the Intercontinental Championship said that Bret Hart would face the winner at WrestleMania VIII. The Legion of Doom were scheduled to face The Beverly Brothers but were replaced by Sgt. Slaughter and Jim Duggan. The telecast ended with Miss Elizabeth celebrating with Randy Savage after his win over Jake Roberts. A week later on Superstars, viewers learned that Roberts had planned to hit Elizabeth with a steel chair backstage, until The Undertaker stopped him.

  The second Fox edition aired on the 14th of November 1992 from Terre Haute, Indiana. It drew a 6.1 rating and 10.6 million viewers. It was the last edition for almost 14 years.

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• 7. Prime Time Return

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  Raw returned to the USA Network in 2005, and a deal between WWE and NBC Universal brought Saturday Night's Main Event back the following year. The new version was a special series for prime time rather than late night. Wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands all appeared.

  The first revived edition aired on the 18th of March 2006 from the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NBC showed it on a one-hour delay, as did Citytv in Canada, and it drew a 3.1 rating. It was the first edition since the Fox era in 1992, the first on NBC since 1991, and the first to include wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown divisions. The main event was a handicap match with John Cena and Triple H against Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. The edition was later included in full on the second disc of the WrestleMania 22 DVD.

  At that Detroit show, Mickie James tried to kiss Trish Stratus after the two had beaten Candice Michelle and Victoria. James's obsession with Stratus had been growing for months after a women's title match at New Year's Revolution. When Stratus rebuffed her, James attacked and vowed to destroy her.

  The second revived edition, on the 15th of July 2006, was live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The crowd numbered 17,343, of whom 14,500 paid, and the rating was 2.6. It was the first in the series to include the ECW brand, which had been relaunched in June 2006. Three commentary teams covered it. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler called Raw matches, Michael Cole and John Layfield called SmackDown, and Joey Styles and Tazz called ECW. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.

  At the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the edition of the 2nd of June 2007 drew 16,176 people, of whom 14,000 paid. It earned a 2.2 rating. Ashley Massaro, Kristal Marshall, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle and Michelle McCool took turns as guest ring announcers. Madison Square Garden hosted the next one on the 18th of August 2007, with 16,827 in attendance and a 2.5 rating. Tazz called the main event as guest commentator.

  The last revived edition was taped on the 28th of July 2008 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and aired on the 2nd of August. It ran one hour and drew a 1.4 rating from 14,722 fans, of whom 12,000 paid. CM Punk was guest commentator for the first televised match. Five editions had aired in total, and WWE ended the series after that. Starting in 2009, NBC received hour-long WrestleMania highlights specials instead, beginning with The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania: The World Television Premiere.

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• 8. The Throwback Revival

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  In April 2022, WWE reused the Saturday Night's Main Event title for house shows held on Saturday nights. Those events were separate from the television series. The real revival followed in 2024, after WWE SmackDown, which had moved from USA Network to Fox in 2019, returned to USA Network under a five-year agreement with NBCUniversal. As part of that deal, WWE promised four prime time specials per year for NBC. On the 17th of September 2024, WWE announced a second revival, with the first edition airing on the 14th of December.

  The new version borrowed heavily from the 1980s. There was no TitanTron, the ring ropes were red, white and blue, and referees wore formal outfits. Some branding used the WWE throwback logo. "Obsession" by Animotion returned as the theme, this time with vocals instead of an instrumental. Cody Rhodes carried the "Winged Eagle" belt, first introduced in 1988 for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, to represent his Undisputed WWE Championship.

  The December 2024 edition ran two hours on NBC, Peacock, and YouTube in international markets. It was the first special since 2008 and crowned the inaugural WWE Women's United States Champion. On the 6th of December, WWE announced that Jesse "The Body" Ventura would provide commentary, and Pat McAfee also returned to call all matches.

  The edition of the 25th of January 2025 in San Antonio, Texas, featured a contract signing moderated by Shawn Michaels. It set up a ladder match at the Royal Rumble between Rhodes and Kevin Owens. Owens had stolen the Winged Eagle championship from Rhodes at the previous edition.

  On the 24th of May 2025, Rhodes returned in Tampa, Florida, his first appearance since the second night of WrestleMania 41 in April. Bronson Reed also returned after a broken ankle and joined the alliance of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman, later dubbed The Vision.

  Goldberg wrestled his final match on the 12th of July 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia, ending a 28-year career. The edition was his first in-ring appearance since 2022. It aired the same day and in the same city as the NXT brand's The Great American Bash. All Elite Wrestling moved its own show, All In, forward to avoid a direct clash, but All In still ended up airing against both the NXT event and the first hour of this one.

  In August 2025, WWE announced that the show would air only on Peacock in the United States. The move followed the streaming service's loss of main roster live events to ESPN. The edition of the 1st of November 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah, also aired on Sony Sports Network in India the following day.

  John Cena wrestled his final match on the 13th of December 2025 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., closing a 26-year career. His opponent was Gunther, who had won The Last Time Is Now Tournament for the right to face him. The show also pitted NXT wrestlers against main roster wrestlers.

  The edition of the 24th of January 2026 in Montreal was the first in Canada since the Toronto show of 2007. A planned opening match between Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu never happened, because the two men brawled before it could begin. On the 23rd of May 2026, the show visited Fort Wayne, Indiana, for the first WWE televised event there since 2014.

  The next edition was scheduled for the 18th of July 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the first at the Garden since August 2007. It was set for the night before the 2026 FIFA World Cup final in the New York area.

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