When the circus moved to late night: Saturday Night's Main Event (1985)

 Vince McMahon's national expansion of the then-World Wrestling Federation had hit some bumps in the road.

His brazen usurping of WTBS' coveted Saturday night wrestling program was met with apathy from NWA fans, and in general, after Wrestlemania was in the books at the end of March 1985, two things happened.

First, McMahon gave up the TBS berth. Then, he, with help from NBC, launched Saturday Night's Main Event, which would fill Saturday Night Live's berth a few times a year. In its initial run, the series aired on NBC from 1985-91, then moved to Fox for 2 episodes in 1992. NBC brought it back in 2006 for a series of specials until 2009.

Ahead of the series' 2nd revival on Saturday, we'll take you back to October 1985 and a literal theatre of the absurd, overseen by McMahon & Jesse Ventura.

As was the case from 2006-9, the new SNME will be in primetime, as a sort-of lead-in to Saturday Night Live.

Rating: B+. Sometimes, it got too absurd.