When news surfaced on Sunday afternoon that Alex Trebek had passed away at age 80, fans began posting tributes to the TV host on social media. Several talked about big moments from his time hosting Jeopardy! while others discussed his time interviewing professional wrestlers. One fan even posted a video of Trebek chatting it up with WWF star Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
The interview took place earlier in Trebek’s career. Specifically, he spoke to Roberts at WrestleMania VII on March 24, 1991. The event in Los Angeles featured a high-profile matchup between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter in which the former secured the victory and the WWF heavyweight title. Roberts also took part in the event, defeating Rick Martel. He proceeded to frighten Trebek while taking part in the interview and campaigning for his snake to be a contestant on Jeopardy!
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Alex Trebek at WrestleMania 7 with @JakeSnakeDDT. #RIPAlexTrebek pic.twitter.com/Wp8SEuIc0q
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) November 8, 2020
“I’ll tell you the truth, snakes do make me nervous,” Trebek said while leaning away from Roberts’ pet. “As a matter of fact, Jake, any time that we have them as a category on the show, I get a little scared. I’m not too comfortable with them.” He ultimately ended the interview early in order to run away from the snake.
Despite dealing with a fear of snakes, Trebek continued to conduct interviews. He spoke with Demolition and Master Fuji before their tag team match against Tenryu and Kitao. Photos of this interview made it appear that Trebek was having a much better time due to the lack of reptiles.
In addition to conducting interviews backstage, Trebek also headed to the ring for the main event. He served as a ring announcer for the battle between Hogan and Slaughter. Trebek had the perfect view of the highly-anticipated WWF heavyweight battle.
The longtime Jeopardy! host was not the only beloved TV host on hand for WrestleMania VII. The late Regis Philbin, who passed away at the age of 88 in June due to natural causes, also took part in the event. He conducted interviews with the Undertaker and his manager, Paul Bearer, and also headed to the ring with Trebek. The professional wrestler did not actually answer Philbin’s questions, simply opting to conduct measurements. The lack of answers did not slow Philbin down at all. He just continued to make jokes while entertaining viewers at home.
