Piper signs WWE contract?

[goodhelmet]

In a recent article on his new Celebrity Wrestling TV show -- beginning April 23 in the UK -- Roddy Piper claimed that he had just signed a five-year WWE contract.

 

Additionally, Piper -- who is hosting the show -- said he will be doing a movie in China shortly for five weeks.

 

Prior to his Hall of Fame/Wrestlemania 21 weekend appearances with the company, Piper had been on the Smackdown roster of WWE, mostly as a non-wrestler and hosting a new version of "Piper's Pit." Teamed up with enforcer Sean O'Haire and occassionally Vince McMahon, Piper had a short feud with Hulk Hogan (and "Mr. America") as well as one-legged wrestler Zach Gowen.

 

Piper was released from his WWE contract following controversial remarks made on an HBO "Real Sports" special about drug use in pro wrestling. O'Haire, Hogan and Gowen soon also left the promotion.

 

Before Mania, Piper had most recently been seen on NWA: Total Nonstop Action television shows as a member of the "championship committee" / and according to TNAWrestling.com he still is on that committee.

 

Credit: WrestlingObserver.com

 

I cannot see any good coming from this. Sometimes, it is good to let go and go away. i wish these old fuckers would realize this.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

What, you thought they cut Rhyno, Matt Hardy, and Molly Holly for nothing?

[Guest teke184]

Actually, I thought that those guys got cut so that Vince could buy a new ivory backscratcher and so that Stephanie could buy a solid-gold strap-on to use on Trips...

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

What's with their insistence to not only bring old-timers back, but bring the same old-timers back every couple of years?

[Guest teke184]

Because Piper and Hogan are MONEY! Now all I'm waiting on are for Scott Hall and Kevin fucking Nash to come back...

 

and for the newest Diva Search winner to get a Bronco Buster from the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young. That's ratings GOLD there, JR!

[Guest Some Guy]

I was a big fan of Piper when I was a kid but the business passed him by in 97. His humor is so dated that today's fans, by and large wouldn't find it funny so commentating it out, he can't wrestle, and he can't bump so he's no good as a manager.

 

I don't buy this. I can't see them signing Piper for 5 years after what happened last time they signed him.

 

Hogan still has some nostalgia value for me, in that I'll probably buy the Backlash DVD and whatever PPV HBK/Hogan ends up on for $15 (to me this is a no lose, either the matches are better than expected or they are so bad they're entertaining) at Walmart when they come out. I have no interest in Piper, when WM 21 comes out I imagine I'll watch Piper's Pit once and never look back.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

*scratches head and leaves*

[sek69]

Dated as Piper may be, he'd still be way better on commentary than Jerry "PUPPIES PUPPIES!" Lawler.

 

At least Piper could be a real heel commentator for once.

[Guest Some Guy]

Yeah, he'd be better than Lawler but but so would most people at this point. I agree with the need to have a heel commentator. I think Jesse Ventura was the pure heel commentator and he did wonders for guys like Savage in terms of getting him over.

 

Tazz needs to go heel, someone needs to stick up for the heels and explain their line of thinking, as they do it now they have JR, Cole, King, and Tazz all acting like retards everytime a heel does anything unexpected and they do whatever they can to discredit them and prevent them from getting over. Ventura would run down the faces and talk up the heels, he provided balance for Vince and Moonsoon's crappy face schtick.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

The problem is, where do you put Piper? It's clear they'll never break up the stale JR/King combo, and the Tazz/Cole thing seems to be set in stone, too.

[Guest Some Guy]

Stick him on Heat with the rest of the people no one wants to watch.

[Loss]

Rock being the exception, has any major wrestling star ever left the business without being mentally unstable? At least in the modern era? Yeah, Harley Race and Jack Brisco seem to be doing okay for themselves, but look at Hogan. Savage. Piper. Flair. Austin. Luger. Bret. Not exactly the most grounded group of names.

[MyOwnSummer]

Steamboat.

[Guest Some Guy]

Well, Savage and Piper never really were mentally stable to begin with. Flair hasn't left the business, but with all the fights he's started in the last few years (Bischoff, some fan in the back, and Victor Quinones) and the chapters in his book about losing his belief in himself (which was eerily similar to what Hogan said in his book) I'd say that he has gone crazy.

 

Bret was pretty normal until about 96 or so. I think it was arounf the time he had to job to Shawn at WM 12 that he started becoming a total mark for himself, add that never got over Montreal, his brother died, he had his career ended by a sloppy kick, lost his wife, and then had a stroke and you have a crazy motherfucker. Hopefully with the new wife and playing the Genie he has come to grips with everything and moved on.

 

Luger got into drugs after he left the business, or at least his pre-existing drug problems worsened and he killed Liz.

 

Sting seems pretty sane doing his Christian stuff.

 

Bobby Heenan seems alright mentally. Goldberg is probably as sane as he ever was.

 

Former WCW Champion David Arquette is doing fine being married to Courtney Cox.

 

So there are some success stories.

[goodhelmet]

I don't think being a mark for yourself is being mentally unstable. Hogan is a self-promoter and he does it better than anyone. Should he give it up? Of course, but he is no different than any other aging star who's best years are long gone.

 

Bret Hart's problems are caused by wrestling but I think they transcend wrestling also. Death of family. Divorce. Stroke. Even without wrestling, those things would cause tremendous stress on anyone.

 

Agreed that Piper and Savage are lunatics.

 

Luger... Drug addict. Nothing more to it.

 

Sting seems pretty sane doing his Christian stuff.

 

That is an entirely different mental illness.

[Guest Some Guy]

I don't think being a mark for yourself is being mentally unstable. Hogan is a self-promoter and he does it better than anyone. Should he give it up? Of course, but he is no different than any other aging star who's best years are long gone.

 

Bret Hart's problems are caused by wrestling but I think they transcend wrestling also. Death of family. Divorce. Stroke. Even without wrestling, those things would cause tremendous stress on anyone.

Hogan is a mark for money and he knows that as long as the Hogan character stays strong that it means he'll make money off it until the day he dies.

 

Bret was a mark for WWF and himself in the same way I was in 96/97. I think Bret really looked at jobbing to HBK as letting his fans down. He intitially refused to turn heel for that same reason, and when he did finally turn he only dd son in America (this turned into a great angle, which is all on the comps I sent you), then Montreal happend and Bret was never the same. He left bitter and jaded, this was worsened when he didn't get a Jesus push (which he should have gotten) in WCW, Then his brother died, then he came back and was put on top by Russo before getting injured. He retired and still hasn't seemingly gotten over Montreal. Having trouble getting over the death of his brother is completely understandable, as well as having you career ended and losing millions by getting released because of it.

 

As, I;ve said before I am a huge fan of the Hitman, but he is a mark for himself to the point where he has deluded himself into thinking he was a bigger star than Flair. Bret was a better worker, IMO, albeit for a shorter time.

 

Sting seems pretty sane doing his Christian stuff.

 

That is an entirely different mental illness.

Yeah, but at least he's not hurting anyone and he seems perfectly happy with his life. I hope he continues to be.

[goodhelmet]

Some Guy, I agree with you about Sting but I was being a smartass.

 

Onto Bret Hart...

 

Was he more jaded about Montreal or the business deal gone bad?

 

Jobbing to Shawn was more of an ego thing and the two did not get along. People refuse to do jobs all the time. Also, knowing he was going to WCW at the time, if his reasoning was to keep the Hitman name financially marketable, and whathaveyou, then if he did so economically, you should def. appeciate that.

 

He left bitter and jaded, this was worsened when he didn't get a Jesus push (which he should have gotten) in WCW

And in reality, these are all business decisions that affected him. In WWF, they damaged his name. In WCW, they prevented him from drawing the money he needed to keep himself marketable. I am thinking of this from a financial standpoint. So, was he bitter over his legacy or his legacy being damaged to the point of not being able to draw money?

 

He retired and still hasn't seemingly gotten over Montreal.

Not that they don't exist, but show me the articles where he still bemoans Montreal. I think enough has happened in his life that Montreal is small potatoes.

 

As, I;ve said before I am a huge fan of the Hitman, but he is a mark for himself to the point where he has deluded himself into thinking he was a bigger star than Flair. Bret was a better worker, IMO, albeit for a shorter time.

I am on Bret's side when it comes to the Flair debate. One of the main reasons is because Flair's book has so many fallacies and inaccuracies, I don't trust his word at all. Also, and you'll see them soon enough, the matches Flair had with Bret tell the story. Flair was completely outclassed by Bret. You may think differently but I think it will really open your eyes.

[Guest Some Guy]

Some Guy, I agree with you about Sting but I was being a smartass.

I know.

 

Onto Bret Hart...

 

Was he more jaded about Montreal or the business deal gone bad?

 

Jobbing to Shawn was more of an ego thing and the two did not get along. People refuse to do jobs all the time. Also, knowing he was going to WCW at the time, if his reasoning was to keep the Hitman name financially marketable, and whathaveyou, then if he did so economically, you should def. appeciate that.

I understand why he refused to job. But he had a 3 year deal for $3 mil per guarenteed.

 

He left bitter and jaded, this was worsened when he didn't get a Jesus push (which he should have gotten) in WCW

And in reality, these are all business decisions that affected him. In WWF, they damaged his name. In WCW, they prevented him from drawing the money he needed to keep himself marketable. I am thinking of this from a financial standpoint. So, was he bitter over his legacy or his legacy being damaged to the point of not being able to draw money?

He didn't need to draw money in WCW. He was going to make $3 mil whether he drew or not.

 

He retired and still hasn't seemingly gotten over Montreal.

Not that they don't exist, but show me the articles where he still bemoans Montreal. I think enough has happened in his life that Montreal is small potatoes.

The last thing I heard from Bret was his awesome dissection of Flair's book, where he mentions Montreal, albeit because Flair brought it up. I'm sure the pain from that has lessened dramatically over the last 7+ years, but it obviously still bothers him a lot, which is understandable to a degree.

 

As, I;ve said before I am a huge fan of the Hitman, but he is a mark for himself to the point where he has deluded himself into thinking he was a bigger star than Flair. Bret was a better worker, IMO, albeit for a shorter time.

I am on Bret's side when it comes to the Flair debate. One of the main reasons is because Flair's book has so many fallacies and inaccuracies, I don't trust his word at all. Also, and you'll see them soon enough, the matches Flair had with Bret tell the story. Flair was completely outclassed by Bret. You may think differently but I think it will really open your eyes.

I think Bret was a better worker than Flair and the book/rebuttal made me want to see those matches even more. But, Flair was a much bigger draw for a much longer time. Flair drew huge houses in the 80s, untilt he booking killed the company. Bret never really was a big draw, he was probably the best WWF had from 93-through 97 though, (i think he and Shawn were roughly on the same level in terms of putting asses in seats, but Bret did it longer so I'll give him the nod) and Austin's popularity was just starting to pick up steam.

 

One of the main reasons I loved making those comps was to see Bret's work. When you get into 97 on the comps, just watch how Bret makes Austin a star. I doubt that HHH, HBK, or even Flair would take the beating Austin gave him on 4/21/97 and then let Austin kick his ass while he was in a wheelchair. Watch their three PPV matches with the angles around them and you'll see how maserfully crafted and executed the whole deal was. Bret slowly but surely allowed Austin to get the upperhand, to the point where people started to beleive that Austin could kick his ass at any time.