WWF Saturday Night's Main Event VII (October 1986)

Original Airdate: October 4, 1986

From Richfield, Ohio; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

During the opening roundup, we get perhaps the most disturbing promo of all time (wrestling, or otherwise), as Jake Roberts shows us his snake while taking a shower.


Opening WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Paul Orndorff: Orndorff tries to unload on him to start, but gets no-sold, so Orndorff manager (and constant Hogan foil) Bobby Heenan distracts the Hulkster, and allows Paul to clothesline him to the outside. He tries to bring him back in, but runs into chops, and a cross corner clothesline. Heenan gets involved again, allowing Orndorff another cheap shot, and he drops a pair of knees. Like, literally. He grabbed some knees from under the ring, and dumps them on Hogan. He's hardcore! Suplex gets two, but Hogan catches him with a high knee off of a criss cross. Big boot, and he goes for the Legdrop - but Heenan gets involved again. Security decides to eject him from ringside, so Orndorff lures Hogan into a chase - catching him with more knees on the way in. Backbreaker, and an elbowdrop get two. Piledriver, but Hogan counters with a backdrop. Orndorff stays on him, but walks into a HULK UP!! Fists of fury! Clothesline! Piledriver! - but Adrian Adonis runs in to break it up, and give Hogan the disqualification victory at 10:00. They do a beat down, but Roddy Piper (on crutches, after a recent beat down from Adonis) makes the save. He and Hogan don't pose together, however, as Piper's face turn was more a result of everyone starting to cheer the character than actually having a change of heart, and becoming a true babyface. Match was nothing - just a chapter in the WWF's big money making angle of 1986. ½*

Snake Pit Match: Jake Roberts v Ricky Steamboat: A 'Snake Pit Match' is basically fancy talk for a No Disqualification match - a rematch from The Big Event in August, where both Roberts (snake) and Steamboat (dragon) weren't allowed to bring their reptiles across the Canadian border. Steamboat works the arm to start, locking him in an armbar, and dropping him with a flapjack. Flying splash viciously hits the knees, however, so Steamboat tries to unleash the dragon. Jake responds with a gutbuster, and a short-clothesline gets two. Bodyslam, and Jake works the shoulder - driving his knee into it. Snapmare gets two, and an inverted atomic drop blows up Steamboat's ball sack. He tries to finish, but Steamboat catches him with a crucifix for the pin at 6:19. They were building into working a decent little match (though not at all taking advantage of the stipulations - it may as well have been contented under standard rules), but the time constraints resulted in too much fast-forward style booking. ¾*

Roddy Piper v The Iron Sheik: Pedro Morales is initially slated to face Sheik, as a replacement for the injured (kayfabe) Piper. Piper doesn't like the idea of anyone fighting his battles for him, however, and steps in - shooing Morales out of the ring with the threat of his crutch. He then bashes Sheik with it, and pins him with an inside cradle at 0:43. It was character moments like this that got people to cheer for the heel Piper to begin with. DUD - but a good segment.

WWF Tag Team Title 2/3 Falls Match: The British Bulldogs v The Dream Team: Dynamite Kid and Greg Valentine start, with Kid controlling, but Valentine overpowers - steamrolling into the corner – and he hammers the leg. Tag to Brutus Beefcake for a hanging vertical suplex, but Kid tags Davey Boy Smith before Beefcake can capitalize. Smith works the arm, but walks into a flying elbowsmash from Valentine for two. The Dream Team cut the ring in half, but Valentine misses an elbowdrop – allowing a quick tag back to Kid. He gets quickly caught in an inverted atomic, however, and a shoulderbreaker gets two. Clothesline for two, and Beefcake tags to help properly cut the ring in half. They work Dynamite over, and Valentine manages to capitalize on the earlier legwork - getting a submission off of a figure four at 5:00. The Bulldogs get plenty of recovery time (Mean Gene Okerlund updates us on various going-ons in the back, and a commercial), but it's not enough to keep Valentine from brutally attacking the knee again when the action resumes. 2^nd rope elbowdrop misses though, and Davey is a house of arson. Hanging vertical suplex gets two, and the Running Powerslam looks to finish - but Beefcake breaks it up. That triggers a four-way brawl, and Dynamite hits a flying headbutt on Valentine to win the second fall at 9:00. They run another commercial break to allow both teams to recover, and come back with Kid and Valentine again. The Hammer... hammers him, and a 2^nd rope elbowsmash gets two. Figure four again, but Kid tosses him off, and tags Davey. He runs into fresh Beefcake, however, and a backdrop gets two. High knee for two, and Valentine with a suplex for two. Four-way brawl breaks out again, but another Beefcake high knee misses, and Davey finishes him with a fisherman's suplex at 13:09, to retain the titles. Fun, well paced, well worked action - if a bit repetitive in some spots. **

Lanny Poffo v Kamala: Kamala tries to jump him, but Poffo (brother of Randy Savage) uses his array of leaps to dodge. He eventually gets caught (he missed an échappé when everybody knows he should have been going for a fouetté jeté), and Kamala finishes him with a splash at 1:44. Kamala was useless - though thankfully they kept this short. DUD.

BUExperience: This outing was kept light on skits – instead focusing on true angle development, and in-ring action. While the earlier SNME’s were certainly not bad – this was a definite improvement upon segments like ‘Mean Gene’s Pool Party’ – and the Tag Title match carries the show nicely, underneath the hot Hogan/Orndorff angle.