Roddy Piper

[Migs]

And believe it or not I liked WCW Piper too. Mostly he was just fun to have around but he really held his own in the promo sparring with Hogan(guess that's not suprising but I really liked the feud, too bad the matches were wretched). Also I saw Havoc '97 live in Vegas(my 1st of 2 live shows ever, only WCW show. That match was badd but the cage was a spectacle worth seeing & Savages axe handle from 20 feet was amazing(great all around PPV btw).

This. There was a real great energy to those initial Piper-Hogan confrontations, but as usual WCW pissed it away with their promotion. The main event of Starrcade suddenly being a non-title match for unclear reasons, then dragging out the feud when there was nowhere for the matches to go... just a poor use of resources. But there's no fun in rehashing why WCW shot itself in the foot for years. Just worth remembering that Piper was a hot act at least as late as '96.

[claw64]

The Piper/Bret Hart IC Title Change at WM VIII was much better than I expected it to be.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Johnny Sorrow, I have seen the light, Dick Whirrly is the worst ref ever, but on this day he gets his comeuppance courtesy of the head of the Superfly.


"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Meadowlands 7/15/84

Holy shit what a friggin awesome brawl! You hear all about the Piper's Pit with the coconut-smashing, which is such a great angle from little details like Piper making sure to drop the coconuts on the table to prove they are legitimate to absolute obnoxious delivery. Piper is just so good at getting under your skin. We need a heat-seeking little fucker like him nowadays. However, I have never heard anyone talk about the consequent series that resulted from Coconut Pit. I was expecting a typically fun WWF match, but just did not hold enough water to be considered a classic. I would say this blood-filled, hate-dripping brawl stacks up pretty well during the time period. They both start off red-hot and Snuka overwhelms him early. Piper is begging off and Snuka is just relentless. Snuka is doing a great job keeping everything filled with hate and energy to pop the crowd. Piper gets his first break with an eye-rake. That does not last, but he crashes into the most hated referee in the universe, Dick Whirrly. The opportunity presents itself to crack the Superfly with a chair and of course he comes up sporting quite the gusher. Piper rams his head into the steel post and does a little King of the Mountain. Piper punches and bites the cut. Snuka is bleeding profusely. Both he and Piper are covered in Snuka's blood. Snuka finally realizes he is bleeding. He goes into that Coked Out Zone and it is rubber pants time for the Hot Rod. Snuka looks downright terrifying chasing Piper covered in his own blood, his shredded physique and crazy hair. Snuka beats the living shit out of Piper. Piper tries to escape outside the ring. Snuka follows him BY JUMPING CLEAR OVER THE TOP ROPE CRASHING RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM!!!!! Dick Whirrly lives up to his name and is a total dickwad and counts both men out. So Snuka headbutts Whirrly!!!! SNUKA IS THE GREAT WRESTLER EVER! Snuka continues to exact revenge on Piper until the JTTS crew restrain him. We get the official word that Piper actually won by countout. WHAT THE FUCK? Dick Whirrly is the worst ref ever. Piper sucker punches Snuka as he is being restrained and high tails it is out of here.

 

Awesome, awesome heated brawl that sets up many more rematches. It eventually morphs into a tag feud with Snuka/Tama vs. Piper/Partner, but I hope there is an even better singles blowoff first. Given that is the 80s there probably isn't, but still this is a badass match. ****

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - MSG 8/25/84

 

The big return match for the hottest feud of the summer finally hits Madison Square Garden. 1984 had Sheik/Slaughter, Santana/Valentine and Piper/Snuka. That is not mention all the Hogan matches and Murdoch & Adonis tag match. 1984 WWF was stacked like a brick house. After digging a little deeper, turns out Snuka was having issues with the White Lightning and needed to head to rehab thus stalling out this red-hot feud until coming back for the tag iteration of it later in the year with the Tonga Kid (Tama). Snuka is ready to jump right on Piper, but Piper is cautious on the outside. Piper lets a yell and is ready to do combat, but is easily overwhelmed by the strength and determination of the Superfly. Snuka is definitely more methodical this time around, but Piper does such a great job selling and stooging for Snuka. Piper's only offense comes after the eyepoke, but Snuka is able to gain control with chops. In a scary moment, the ropes are so loose that when Snuka goes to shoot him in, Piper's head gets caught behind the top rope and is almost decapitated. Snuka applies the sleeper to the shock of Lord Alfred and Gorilla. Piper escapes by dragging him outside. Here Snuka sends him into the post and blasts with a chair. This time around Rowdy Roddy is the one bleeding. Until like Snuka, Piper does not enter the Coked Out Zone when he realizes he is bleeding. He just freaks out. Big headbutt by Snuka. Snuka goes up top for the Superfly Splash, but Piper standing directs him into a hotshot on the top rope in a nasty bump to the floor. The ref counts Snuka out, but Piper is not done there. After being bloodied, Piper wants to sends a message to the Superfly and rams a chair into his neck, which the announcers say may have broke Snuka's neck. This is all to write him out to go to rehab. I am loving this feud and as a huge Tama mark I can't wait for him to get involved. I thought the Meadowlands match was a better brawl, but this had a great finish and post-match angle. *** 1/4

[Ricky Jackson]

Fuck, I need to see that Meadowlands match

[Johnny Sorrow]

Wohrle.

[JerryvonKramer]

[Superstar Sleeze]

Still by any name he is a Dick.

 

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Philly 7/7/84

Instead of Piper's Pit, it is Rudman's Rendezvous hosted by Killer Kal with Rowdy Roddy, who talks some good smack, but can he back it up? Snuka is ripshit and overwhelms Piper with chops and headbutts. He rams Piper's head into hard objects. How does your own medicine taste, Hot Rod? Piper calls for timeout, but Snuka drags him over the top rope by his hair and then throws him down face first into the mat. Snuka is a roll, but cracks heads with Roddy slowing him down. He goes for a Thesz Press, but he and Roddy go over the top and Superfly takes worst of it. Piper slams him into the steps and bites his forehead, but no blood. Piper only gets a one off his signature kneelift. Piper recognizing the match is getting away from him, drops Snuka on his coconuts on the top rope triggering the DQ and hightailing it out of there. This a great first match in the feud. You get over the hatred and the chaos. Snuka is not looking for a victory, he is looking for revenge. Piper is hoping to survive. It sets the tone for the rest of this blood feud.

 

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"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Tonga Kid - Championship Wrestling 10/84

 

YES! YES! YES! TAMA IS BACK, BABY! For those who don't know, after watching pretty much every Islanders match ever, Tama became my man, but before that he was the plucky young cousin of the Superfly looking to exact revenge on Rowdy Roddy. After Piper broke Snuka's neck at MSG, The Tonga Kid had been pleading for a crack at the Hot Rod and he was finally granted his opportunity on TV. At first, it looks like The Kid had bitten off more than he can chew as he gets to close to Piper and Piper trips him. Piper punches, chokes and spits on Tonga Kid, but then makes the mistake of trying to trying ram Tonga Kid's head into the turnbuckle. Here comes Tonga Kid with headbutts and a stomp to low, low, low abdominal region that triggers a big pop from the crowd. Piper in desperation sends Tonga Kid flying over the top crashing to floor. Just another big ass bump from one of the most underrated wrestlers of the 80s. Piper looks to break Tonga Kid's neck like he did The Superfly with a chair, but connects with the turnbuckle. Diving headbutt by Tonga Kid, but he does not go for the pinfall. This has gone way beyond pinfalls and submissions. He goes to town on Piper with the chair and would not let up until the heel locker room (Valentine, Sheik, Volkoff) restrain him. What a badass angle to reinvigorate the feud as Snuka was set to return and also create a brand-new red-hot babyface star in the Tonga Kid. Great, great TV!

[Johnny Sorrow]

The best is a bit from Saturday morning TV where Piper and Orton are cornering Tonga Kid in the ring and all of a sudden the camera switches to a close up shot of Snuka coming thru the crowd wearing the neck brace .Vince and Bruno are all "Is that? It is!" Snuka gets in the ring tears off the brace , screams while extending his arms doing the Superfly fingers and the SHIT IS ON. I haven't seen this segment since it aired.

[rainmakerrtv]

The best is a bit from Saturday morning TV where Piper and Orton are cornering Tonga Kid in the ring and all of a sudden the camera switches to a close up shot of Snuka coming thru the crowd wearing the neck brace .Vince and Bruno are all "Is that? It is!" Snuka gets in the ring tears off the brace , screams while extending his arms doing the Superfly fingers and the SHIT IS ON. I haven't seen this segment since it aired.

 

Does this look like the one?

 

Tonga Kid v. Dave Barbie (Roddy Piper comes down to ringside to interfere and JIMMY ‘SUPERFLY’ SNUKA

comes down to run Piper off! Tonga Kid is interviewed afterward) WWF TV 11/10/84

[Johnny Sorrow]

 

 

The best is a bit from Saturday morning TV where Piper and Orton are cornering Tonga Kid in the ring and all of a sudden the camera switches to a close up shot of Snuka coming thru the crowd wearing the neck brace .Vince and Bruno are all "Is that? It is!" Snuka gets in the ring tears off the brace , screams while extending his arms doing the Superfly fingers and the SHIT IS ON. I haven't seen this segment since it aired.

Does this look like the one?

 

Tonga Kid v. Dave Barbie (Roddy Piper comes down to ringside to interfere and JIMMY SUPERFLY SNUKA

comes down to run Piper off! Tonga Kid is interviewed afterward) WWF TV 11/10/84

 

Could be. The timeframe is right.

[dawho5]

That Piper v. Rip Rogers match was all kinds of fun. Portland may be something I get into one day after many, many other things have come to pass.

[The Man in Blak]

I need to watch more of Piper's pre-WWF stuff but, as far as his mid-to-late career stuff goes, there aren't many other wrestlers that were more perfectly suited for the larger-than-life character work that typified the Rock 'n Wrestling era. When it comes to selling, timing, mannerisms, and engagement with the crowd, he's better than most, even if he's sometimes inclined to go overboard. When he's reined in, Piper can be a very smart worker that gets a lot out of very little, which makes him perfect for short, sprinty brawls and heated blowoffs that don't punish him for being too cute/subversive with no-sells or require greater development of a story through in-ring mechanics. (And hey, what a coincidence, those same matches ring true with his slightly-unhinged "Hot Rod" gimmick as well.)

 

As a talker, he's certainly one of the most over-the-top, evocative guys that's ever been behind the mic -- and being emotive and evocative basically wins the battle by default in professional wrestling -- but he also can tend to be a little one-note at times and I can completely understand why he'd drive people up the wall. Hell, when he spends most of a pre-match promo for the Rude cage match squawking the lyrics to "Roxanne", taking those huge Piper wheezes between every sentence, he drives me up the wall too.

 

I think that's ultimately why the program with Bret through WM8 is my favorite Piper work (that I've seen anyway) and, really, one of my favorite WWF matches ever. I don't know that it would have worked as well in isolation but, both in and out of the ring, the mutual respect angle actually forces Piper to go somewhere other than "crazy," which plays really well against his past history. The interviews aren't exactly nuanced -- he's still Hot Rod after all -- but he ends up dialing back the over-the-top delivery once Bret makes it clear he wants his belt because even Piper, finally a happy fan-favorite champion, realizes that Bret may push him somewhere that he doesn't want to go.

 

And the match at WM8 cashes in on all of that drama, with Piper using his remarkable ability to read and connect with the crowd to tease one betrayal after another, letting the crowd down and bringing them back up. Piper's in-ring work is on point here -- he lays in his shots beautifully and smartly works on the cut mid-match with a nasty headlocked punch and a bulldog, while also selling Bret's retaliations convincingly. Then there's the final sequence, which weaves both the in-ring work and the higher-level dramatic arc into a perfect finish. The match, along with the run-up, masterfully built Bret Hart into a legitimate singles competitor, but this is hardly a carry job; if anything, I think Piper actually does the lion's share of the work from an emotional standpoint.

 

For me, the only other Piper match that comes close is the Valentine dog collar match, though I still need to see more of his territory work. The Valentine match is a brutal struggle that delivers a totally different flavor than the Bret match, but I'm not a fan of the finish and, even though the occasional slowdowns drive home that this is an ugly, sprawling, and potentially uncooperative grudge match, they also make it drag a bit on re-watch. It's certainly worth seeking out, though.

 

I actually think the Piper/Hennig match, fun as it is, showcases some of the worst aspects of both guys. (Plus, the finish sucks.) Hennig gives away so much of the match to Piper and oversells so much that he might as well be wearing a clown nose. Piper, on the other hand, can't help but ham it up and chew all of the scenery that Hennig is giving him, eye-poking him on the ground for a laugh and no-selling a kneelift ten minutes into the match so that he can do a kneelift of his own.

 

And the Piper/Rogers match was all right, I guess, but not really all that interesting without the curiosity of seeing Piper's earlier work. The first few minutes are hot, but it doesn't really go anywhere. (Unless you consider Rogers' busted in-ring double-axehandle "attempt" to be a prime destination, I guess.) The ending is a standard TV heel finish. Maybe I'm just a grouch.

[Johnny Sorrow]

It really can't be said enough how AMAZING and huge Piper's Pit was when he first came to the WWF. Speaking as a guy who grew up watching the WWF, I remember being blown away by this guy who was a burst of evil energy and insanity on the Saturday morning shows that tended to be kinda boring.

[Karl]

Just watched the Meadowlands match - very heated and full of pure unbridled hatred....some I miss so much these days.