In the mid-80s, despite my young age, I was an avid fan of Saturday Night Live. Friday and Saturday nights meant staying up late and watching television until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.
On March 14, 1987, SNL was preempted by a wrestling program titled Saturday Night’s Main Event. I was disappointed that one of my favorite shows was taking a night off, but since I was already booked for the next 90 minutes, I stuck around to see what it was all about.
What followed was a cavalcade of WWF (now WWE) Superstars, featuring the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Jake “the Snake” Roberts, the “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and George “the Animal” Steele.
The entire show served as an advertisement for Hogan and Andre’s upcoming match at WrestleMania III, arguably the biggest and most important pro wrestling event of all time.
The show was a result of a partnership between NBC’s Dick Ebersol and the WWF’s Vince McMahon. The experiment worked, as SNME served to reel in a generation of wrestling fans, myself included.
The show has come and gone a couple of times over the past 39 years, but tomorrow night, it will return to NBC. It will begin at 8 p.m. instead of the SNL timeslot at 11:30 p.m. Eastern. The WWE will use Obsession by Animotion as the opening song, and our staff is hopeful that Phil Collins’ Take Me Home will close out the program.
Also returning is Jesse “the Body” Ventura on color commentary. The lead commentator in the 1980s was the late Gorilla Monsoon, and those duties will be handled by Michael Cole going forth.
The WWE has also booked several retired Superstars to appear, including Ted Dibiase, Tito Santana, Jimmy Hart, and Greg Valentine.
The format will remain consistent, with top talent featured across the entire card. Here are the four matches that are scheduled and the lines that have been created for them at WWE betting sites.
Singles Match
Drew McIntyre -1500
Sami Zayn +600
Undisputed WWE Championship
Cody Rhodes (Champion) -1000
Kevin Owens +550
Women’s World Championship
Liv Morgan (Champion) -1500
IYO SKY +600
World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat
Gunther (Champion) -3000
Finn Balor +800
Damien Priest +1200
The WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the Women’s World Championship are on the line tomorrow night.
Title changes are usually reserved for Premium Live Events, but SNME is different in that it is a hybrid between a PLE and a television show. Still, the odds suggest that all champions will retain, with large payouts offered for the underdogs.
SNME odds are offered at three of our top pro wrestling sportsbooks as of this morning.
WWE Odds Provided By BetOnline AG | Official Website of the WWE