The red, white, and blue ropes, bow ties and light blue
referee shirts, the iconic Saturday Night’s Main Event theme
song, steel barricades, and Jesse Ventura’s feather boas
were all on display last night on SNME as WWE returned to
NBC for the first time since 2008.

Over 15,000 fans turned up for the event, held at the Nassau
Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York, the
same location of the first-ever Saturday Night’s Main Event
on NBC held on May 11, 1985.

Joe Tessitore opened the broadcast as a host running down
the card, sporting a red bow tie as a tribute to Mean Gene
Okerlund. He then brought out Jesse “The Body” Ventura for
some added flair before the action was thrown to ringside,
where Pat McAfee was introduced as the guest commentator for
the night.

The two-hour night had five big matches which started with
Drew McIntyre keeping his 100% record against Sami Zayn. Liv
Morgan and Iyo Sky for the WWE Women’s World Heavyweight
title was up next and despite Morgan being on the receiving
end of a nasty knee to the face, she still won with the
Oblivion. A triple threat for the WWE World Heavyweight
title followed, with Gunther against Damian Priest and Finn
Balor. It was a very good match which Gunther won. Chelsea
Green then made history by becoming the inaugural WWE
Women’s United States champion, defeating Michin in the
tournament final with the Unprettier. The Long Island crowd
was certainly behind Green and popped huge for the victory.

The main event had the extra color commentary of Jesse “The
Body” Ventura, who informed Cole and McAfee that the snake
skin on his jacket used to be Damian, the pet snake of Jake
“The Snake” Roberts, who he said stole and turned it into a
jacket! Yikes!

Cody Rhodes, who came out with the beautiful Winged Eagle
WWE championship for one night only, then defeated his
frenemy Kevin Owens to close the night and send everyone
home happy after a Cross Rhodes on a steel chair in a match
which also saw two referee bumps.