WWF Saturday Night's Main Event VII (Version II)

Original Airdate: October 4, 1986

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

Jake Roberts plays with his snake in the showers, while Johnny Valiant and his Dream Team dress for a night of ass pounding, Kamala looks like he got a little too jazzy with a box of powdered sugar donuts, Paul Orndorff wants to dance at Chippendales, and Hulk Hogan is learns about symmetry. That's quite an opening montage!

Backstage, Roddy Piper is really sweaty for a guy on crutches

Also backstage, Hulk Hogan's nipples are fully erect. Well, I think we've explained Piper's sweatiness

Preparing to make his entrance, Paul Orndorff has fun with syllables

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Paul Orndorff: Orndorff is drawing much better heel heat here than in Toronto, and he revels in it - taunting the crowd by coming out to Hogan's music. Hulk goes right after him, and controls a slugfest, but makes the mistake of going after Bobby Heenan, and gets clotheslined over the top. Paul follows for a beating on the outside, but gets reversed into the apron, and Hogan unloads chops on the way back in. Pair of turnbuckle smashes put Orndorff down, and a headbutt sets up a cross corner clothesline. Another Heenan distraction allows Orndorff to takeover, however, and Paul clobbers him with a pointed elbowdrop followed by a kneedrop. Orndorff works him over with a vertical suplex for two, but gets reversed into a high knee, and Hulk bodyslams him. Legdrop, but Heenan hooks the ankle to block it. Paul tries to capitalize, but ends up getting dumped out over the top, and the referee finally has enough - tossing Heenan from ringside. Or, rather, literally having him carried away, kicking and screaming. Orndorff protests goad Hogan into a chase on the outside, and Paul gets the best of it. He goes back to working the champ over, and a forward-backbreaker sets up an elbowdrop for two. Short-clothesline hits, but Hulk manages a backdrop to counter the Piledriver, and it's a HULK UP!! Fists Of Fury! Running Forearm Smash! Short-Clothesline! Piledriver! - but here comes Adrian Adonis with a sneak attack for the DQ at 10:00. He and Orndorff proceed to beat the Hulkster down, but here comes Roddy Piper (on crutches) to make the save. Solid match, before the usual cheap finish to guarantee a few more months of solid gates out of the feud. * (Original rating: ½*)

Jake Roberts is still stroking his python in the showers, as Gene Okerlund tries selling him a set of encyclopedias. No wonder Gene never made a go of it as a salesman. Who tries selling something to someone who doesn’t have their wallet handy?

Snake Pit Match: Jake Roberts v Ricky Steamboat: This is once again a Snake Pit match that has nothing to do with either snakes or pits. They trade wristlocks to start, and Ricky controls with a backdrop for two, then armdrags him over into an armbar. Criss cross goes Ricky's way with a flapjack for two, and another criss cross ends in Steamboat armdragging him back into another armbar. Jake goes to the eyes to escape, but misses a charge in the corner, and takes a slingshot. Ricky with a flying splash, but he wipes out when Roberts lifts his knees, and Jake stays on it with a stomachbreaker for two. Short-clothesline gets two, and a bodyslam sets up a pair of kneedrops to the midsection. Kneelift leaves Ricky on dream street, and Jake snapmares him over for two. Roberts with an inverted atomic drop, but Steamboat manages to counter a clothesline with a crucifix for the pin at 6:19. Big pop for that! Afterwards, Jake lays in a beating to get his heat back, but an attempt to use Damien backfires when Ricky pulls out a komodo dragon! Fun, psychologically sound bout - much more so than the Big Event one. * ¾ (Original rating: ¾*)

Okerlund catches up with Hulk Hogan as he gets out of the showers. I sense a theme for Gene this week

Outside, Slick pulls up in a white stretch limousine

Iron Sheik v Roddy Piper: Pedro Morales is a sub for an injured Roddy Piper, but Piper refuses to allow anyone to fight a battle for him, and sends Pedro home. Sheik doesn't care if he's on crutches or not, and goes right after him, but Piper manages to counter a vertical suplex into a cradle (with a handful of tights for good measure) to win at 0:43. All angle, but fun. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Backstage, The Dream Team are done with their evening of ass pounding, and are ready to face The British Bulldogs

Roddy Piper dumps a Coke on his head. Maybe not the best idea, but it's gotta be better than what most of the boys were doing with coke in those days

WWF Tag Team Title 2/3 Falls Match: The British Bulldogs v The Dream Team: Dynamite Kid starts off with Greg Valentine, and the champs pinball the Hammer in the corner. Greg fires back by going after Kid's knee, and tags out to Brutus Beefcake for a vertical suplex. He fails to cut the ring in half, however, and Davey Boy Smith manages to tag. He overpowers Beefcake through a wristlock exchange, but gets hammerlock-slammed. Tag to Valentine for a flying elbowsmash, followed by an elbowdrop for two. Back over to Beefcake with a kneelift for two, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop from Greg, but Davey rolls out of the way, and tags. Kid levels him with chops, but runs into an inverted atomic drop, and Valentine adds a shoulderbreaker for two. Clothesline gets two, and Beefcake drops a pair of pointed elbows for two. Valentine with a headbutt downstairs, so Kid tries a snap suplex, but Greg cracks the knee, and locks on a Figure Four for the first fall at 4:41. Meanwhile, between falls, Gene Okerlund gives us an update from backstage: Adrian Adonis has suffered a separated shoulder at the hands of Roddy Piper earlier on. Back to action, Valentine attempts to finish them off with another Figure Four, but Kid manages to block. Dream Team punish him by going after the knee while cutting the ring in half, but Valentine misses a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, and Smith gets the hot tag. He's a doghouse of fire, but Beefcake breaks up the cover after the Running Powerslam, so Davey puts him onto his shoulders, tags Kid, and Dynamite springboards OFF of Beefcake's back with a flying headbutt on Valentine for the second fall at 8:10. That would still be a pretty cool spot to see today, but it was downright wild and crazy in 1986. Kid sells the shit out of his knee between falls, and Valentine reads that loud and clear - going right after it. Unfortunately for him, Kid is ready with a headbutt and a snap suplex, but Greg manages to dodge a falling headbutt. The heels go back to cutting the ring in half, but Kid manages to block the Figure Four, and tag. Smith comes in hot, but runs into a knee from Beefcake for two, and gets backdropped for two. Clothesline gets two, and a headbutt to the groin is worth two. Another backdrop, but Davey counters with a sunset flip for two, so Valentine takes a cheap shot from the apron to slow him down. Greg tags in with a vertical suplex for two, and Beefcake's back with a high knee for two - triggering a four-way brawl. Beefcake tries another high knee in the mêlée, but Davey dodges, and he hits the turnbuckles - Smith immediately capitalizing with a bridging fisherman's suplex to retain at 13:09. Good match as usual, but certainly the lesser of their major outings. ** ½ (Original rating: **)

Backstage, Kamala seems jolly, probably because his lips look like a barbershop pole

Kamala v Lanny Poffo: Poffo is dressed and groomed like 1992 Rick Rude here. Except for the fact that he's throwing Frisbees out to the crowd like 1989 Shane Douglas, however. Kamala tosses him around, but Poffo flips and flops around to avoid him. He gets caught in the corner, however, and Kamala blasts him with a backelbow and a series of kicks. Poffo slugs back, but can't build any momentum, and gets slammed to setup a splash at 1:44. Not much to this one, but it made its point. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

BUExperience: A lot of big matches and angle development on this entertaining episode