Saturday Night's Main Event VII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event VII

October 4, 1986 (taped September 13) from Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, OH

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

 

The show starts with the usual SNME intro promo run. Johnny Valiant bleeps himself saying "British bullshit". If only this was on cable. Vince opens up by saying the recently face turned Roddy Piper is expected to be out with an injury. We get a clip from weekly TV of Adrian Adonis and Don Muraco attacking Piper on Piper's Pit, injuring Piper's knee (and destroying the original Piper's Pit set). Mean Gene is with Hot Rod himself, who in true Piper insane rambling fashion says that no doctor is going to order him to not wrestle.

 

To lead into the WWF title match we get the clip of Orndorff flipping back heel by turning on Hogan, kicking off a good, and moneymaking, feud that often gets forgotten because it's sandwiched between Hogan's famous feuds with Piper and Andre the Giant. During his promo Hogan says to Orndorff "You're an old dog that can't even wag his own tail". Euphemism?

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 10:00- As he'd been doing the whole feud Orndorff comes out to Real American and it just keeps playing for Hogan's entrance. Well I think it does. Like a couple of SNMEs ago the audio mix is atrocious, with sub-Thunderdome quality fake crowd noise and Vince & Ventura obviously in studio instead of the arena, burying what little real arena sound there is with Triple H's best young lion shovel. Hogan starts out hot. He no sells Orndorff's punches. Heenan distracts and Orndorff clotheslines Hogan 360 and out. Orndorff tries an apron shot but eats it instead. Back in Hogan with chops and buckle shots. Corner clothesline. Heenan gets on the apron and takes a shot. Orndorff gets a punch to Hogan's throat to take over. Hogan falls off the apron and the timekeeper takes a bump. Hogan tries to get back in but Orndorff gives him a hip attack like shot. Suplex for 2. Hogan reverses a whip and hits a high knee. When he hits the ropes again Heenan grabs his foot. Orndorff charges but Hogan dodges and Orndorff flies over the top and out. The ref boots Heenan. A whole pack of security comes in, physically pick up Heenan and carry him to the back! Hilarious. As we go to commercial they lock Heenan out of the ringside area and ignore his pleas to get back in. Back from break, Orndorff gets Hogan to chase him around the ring and ambushes him getting back in. Orndorff with chokes. Elbow for 2. Short clothesline. Orndorff calls for the piledriver. Hogan backdrops out and starts to Hulk Up. Big running elbow. Hogan hits his own short clothesline! He goes for a piledriver! As he cinches it up Adrian Adonis runs in and his him for the cheap DQ. The heels 2 on 1 Hogan until Piper hobbles to the ring on a crutch and fights them off, giving Adonis a stiff whack in the arm in the process. Hogan and Piper tease a fight but Piper backs off and walks away without the crutch. The match was approaching decentish before the weak finish. **

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 6:19- This is the continuation of the feud that started when Roberts tried to murder Steamboat with a DDT on the bare concrete floor at the last SNME. This is advertised as a "Snake Pit" match like The Big Event but is worked like a regular match. Speaking of Big Event, they show a clip of Steamboat winning that match. Both guys bring out their respective animals again. They open with arm wringer tradeoffs and Steamboat chops. DEEP armdrag. Steamboat drags Roberts to the dragon corner. A Steamboat flapjack leads to a quick cover for 2. They do a nice extended speed sequence out, around, and back in the ring that ends with another deep armdrag. Steamboat dodges a charge and slingshots Roberts into the top turnbuckle. He goes for a splash off the top but Roberts gets his knees up. Gutbuster for 2. Short clothesline. Roberts doesn't go for the DDT, but instead slows things down and taunts Steamboat to get up. He slaps Steamboat! Steamboat fires back with chops. Roberts gets a kneelift. Steamboat keeps getting back up. STEAMBOAT goes the shortcut route with an eye poke! Roberts recovers and hits an inverted atomic drop that Steamboat does a Rick Rude-like sell of. Roberts whips him, but Steamboat comes off the ropes with a shock crucifix and gets a flash pin with it! Roberts attacks him after the bell and rams his back into the post. Both guys go to their corners, and the animals are out. Steamboat and the dragon chase off Roberts and Damien and stand tall. Really good for the short time, but you'd expect no less with these two. ***

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper def The Iron Sheik (w/Slick) in :43- Pedro Morales is in the ring expected to substitute for Piper, but Hot Rod comes down the isle and, ahem, asks Mr. Morales to please vacate the ring. Sheik tries to ambush and gets a crutch in the back for his trouble. A stiff shot, with welt marks on his back. Slick distracts and Sheik tears Piper's shirt off and chokes him with it. He lifts up Piper for a suplex, but Piper rolls it into a Paul Smackage, with a slight handful of tights assist for the 3! 1/4*

 

2 out of 3 Falls Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The British Bulldogs (c) def The Dream Team (w/Johnny Valiant) in 13:09- After two Big Event rematches, now we have a Wrestlemania 2 rematch. Ventura complains about the best of 3 "European rules" because Cleveland ain't in Europe.

FIRST FALL- Dynamite and Valentine start. The faces bounce Valentine around a bit with headbutts. Valentine wastes no time, immediately kicking Dynamite in the knee and going to work on it. Dynamite fights it off and both sides swap. DBS looks extra large tonight. The heels double team and work DBS's arm. After a quick in peril segment he tags out. Dynamite gets some forearm shots. Valentine counters with an inverted atomic drop. Shoulderbreaker for 2. Dynamite tries a suplex but Valentine hits him in the knee again and hooks in the figure four. Dynamite submits.

In between falls we go to Mean Gene with a medical update on Adonis. Apparently it's a separated shoulder from Piper's crutch shot.

SECOND FALL- Valentine stays on the knee. Dynamite pushes out of another figure four attempt. More knee work. Beefcake comes in and doesn't work the knee because, frankly, I don't think he knows how to. Double team for 2. Dynamite dodges a Valentine elbow off the second rope and gets the hot tag. DBS delayed suplex for 2. He hits Valentine with the powerslam but Beefcake runs in. DBS hoists him in a fireman's carry, tags Dynamite in, and Dynamite uses Beefcake as a springboard from the top rope and hits Valentine with a diving headbutt! That gets a pin.

Ventura mentions the final diagnosis for Adonis is a shattered elbow.

THIRD FALL- Since Dynamite's legal again Valentine goes back to the knee. Slugfest. Dynamite headbutts Valentine down. Snap suplex. Valentine dodges a falling headbutt and drops some hammers. Another heel double team for 2. Dyanmite pushes out of the figure four again. Tags on both sides. Big Beefcake clothesline for 2. DBS gets a sunset flip for a long 2. Beefcake hits a high knee. Dynamite comes in to break the pin up. Donnybrook! DBS hooks Beefcake in a Perfectplex to win. Perfectly acceptable tag wrestling. **3/4

Kamala (w/The Wizard and Kim Chee) def "Leaping" Lanny Poffo in 1:44- Poffo tries to speed around. Doesn't work. Kamala hits a few back kicks, a real expansion of his repertoire. Poffo dodges a shot and tries to hit some punches. Kamala no sells it all. Throat shot, slam, big splash, good night. Squashiness. 1/2*