For many pro wrestling fans, Saturday Night’s Main Event at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale brings back childhood memories of the golden age of sports entertainment, led by names like Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Rowdy Roddy Piper.

But nearly 40 years after the then-WWF launched its revolutionary program on NBC – it aired during the comedy show’s 11:30 p.m. break on Saturday Night Live – the wrestling juggernaut returns to its Long Island roots this weekend .

The five-match card of Saturday Night’s Main Event, airing live from the Coliseum on NBC at 8 p.m., is expected to be a nostalgic showcase.

In addition to returning to the site of its first-ever Saturday Night’s main event, WWE is reviving the show’s theme song – “Obsession by Animotion” – and is expected to bring back its on-screen graphics and 1980s-style performances through the crowd, a departure from the of Current shows characterized by pyrotechnics.

Then there’s the homecoming of the series’ original color commentator: Jesse “The Body” Ventura.

The former Minnesota governor, who last appeared on WWE programming in 2009, said the show will be a “time machine” for 1980s wrestling.

“What you’re going to get is a setback,” Ventura, a WWE Hall of Famer who was in the broadcast booth for the first Saturday Night’s Main Event, said in an interview with Newsday on Friday. “You’ll experience what happened years ago, in the same building where we hosted the very first Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC. We thought it appropriate to return to the same building for this new episode.”

The first Saturday Night’s Main Event took place at the Coliseum on May 10, 1985 – months after the first WrestleMania – and aired the following night.

The main event saw Hogan, the WWF Champion, defending the title against “Cowboy” Bob Orton, while other matches included The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, George “The Animal” Steele, Junkyard Dog and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.

Ventura, a brash former Navy SEAL, remembers approaching NBC executive Dick Ebersol after he was handed a script for the first show.

“I said, ‘You’re going to tell me you have someone at NBC who can write for Jesse The Body Ventura,'” he said. “They don’t have anyone who can do it. Dick sat there for a minute and said, ‘You’re right.’ He said, ‘Get rid of that thing.'”

Wrestling historian Evan Ginzburg of Forest Hills said SNME helped bring the WWF – the company changed its name in 2002 – to a mainstream audience that was once interested in the sport.

“Suddenly it took on the same cultural significance as Saturday Night Live because it aired at the exact same time on the same network,” said Ginzburg, who was an associate producer of “The Wrestler,” a film starring Mickey Rourke. “And it helped make the wrestlers mainstream celebrities.”

Rockville Center native Brian Shields, co-author of the WWE Encyclopedia, said fans have a special place in their hearts for wrestling in the 1980s, when the sport came into the public consciousness.

“The fans love the idea of ​​going back in time and experiencing things as they were,” said Shields, who teaches digital marketing and social media at LIU Post in Brookville. “And it’s a little different, or maybe a lot different, than today’s (Monday Night) Raw and (Friday Night) SmackDown presentations. So this will be very special.”

Nicholas Hirshon of Forest Hills, a journalism professor at William Paterson University in New Jersey and author of a photographic history book about the Coliseum, said the arena has always been synonymous with professional wrestling, with legends dating back to the mid-1970s such as Bruno, Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Andre the Giant.

But decades later, the future of the Colosseum remains uncertain. The New York Islanders haven’t played at the UBS Arena in Elmont for a long time, and a planned new casino construction at the Nassau Hub that could involve demolishing the arena could be the final nail on the cake for the venue.

“There’s always the possibility that the next big event at Nassau Coliseum will be the last,” said Hirshon, who is attending Saturday’s show. “That makes it even more special. Like so many Long Islanders, I grew up in this arena. We have so many wonderful memories. I’ve been to so many other arenas around the country, but nothing can quite replicate that “Old Barn” feel.

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a graduate of Queens College and American University.