Get The Fuck Off My Screen

[wandshogun09]

I've never been a great fan of Piper either. Certain stuff like the Bret Hart match at WrestleMania, the Valentine dog collar match and his heel stuff with Hogan in 85 I enjoyed but never really got into anything else. I actually think he was more suited to being heel, because I never found him that likeable as a babyface.

 

Also, I never liked his commentating in the early 90s. His shoutiness just gets old and overbearing for me after a match or so. And his WCW run in 96/97 I'll mostly remember for him boring the arse off me with those rambling never ending in-ring interviews with Mean Gene on Nitro, seemingly every bastard week.

 

I really found him a general annoyance in 97. No wonder Nash slapped him about backstage.

 

But with all that said...

 

EDIT: The match on that video with Mr Perfect was just brilliant, but the rest stands.

 

Which video was this? I didn't know they had a singles match, wouldn't mind having a watch of that.

[NEWM]

Raid will confirm it as I remember discussing it with him before, but ill say 'Battle of the Superstars 2', I think. I always get the Coliseum releases mixed up though. It's awesome though.

[Reznor]

Raid will confirm it as I remember discussing it with him before, but ill say 'Battle of the Superstars 2', I think. I always get the Coliseum releases mixed up though. It's awesome though.

You're right - it;s easy to remember from the double clothesline on the cover

 

Didn't you like the Piper/Rude cage match from late '89 that's on one of the Supertapes? It's outstanding, one of my fave cage matches ever.

[wandshogun09]

Cheers, I'll look for it in a bit.

 

Never seen the cage match with Rude either to be fair. I'm a massive fan of Rude so no doubt I'll enjoy that.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I loved Roddy Piper when I was growing up. I never normally grow out of liking a wrestler, but I pretty much got sick of him from about 97 onwards. He seemed to turn into a mad bastard for a while there. But growing up, he was the man. His feuds with Rick Rude, Ric Flair, Bret Hart and Goldust were awesome, and he was on the Rock n Wrestling cartoon. They Live was a proper good film as well. These days he's a proper headcase, but he was the man when I was a kid.

 

This promo shows how great he was at connecting with a local audience. He hits so many British references of the time, it is quite something to see. I remember my Mam even loving this promo.

[Arch Stanton]

That Albert Hall show was the first video I ever owned and Piper was ace on it. Real babyface fire about him as he entered the ring for the Battle Royal last and went straight for Flair. That show totally sold me on him as a kid. I loved him back then. Never really saw the best (before my time) or worst (WCW) of his career really, so in my head he's pretty much always been 1991 Rowdy Roddy Piper or the mad old bastard we see occasionally on TV now.

[King Coconut]

Isn't that the one where he called Flair a fucking feathered freak? Me and the boys used to rewind that bit to death.

 

- A quick click on the link would've answered that, I see.

[Devon Malcolm]

I was one of the few people (I think!) who thought that Piper's Pit he did with John Cena during the Kane / Embrace The Hate feud was excellent, although it was ultimately proved to be a waste of time.

[Sexy Dad]

That was a damn sight better than some of the more rambling nonsensical Piper's pits we have come to see. The one with Cena just before the Orton vs Barrett match at Survivor Series was pretty good too, I suppose Piper had something to get his teeth into with them story lines.

 

Unrelated to Piper, its mad to think that Orton and Barrett headlined a couple of pay per views together considering where they both are now. Barrett's been wasted, either give him the ball or send him home, he's never going to steal the show trading wins with R-Truth.

[Arch Stanton]

Barrett is a midcarder, that's his level. He hasn't been wasted, because he hasn't shown anything to suggest that he's any better than a midcarder. Not everyone has to be pushed to the top or sacked, what kind of thinking is that?

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I'm not looking for an argument regarding Piper. I personally haven't looked into his career as it's never been something that has interested me. I have a rather tainted opinion of the bloke and haven't ventured to his work in the 1980's - Which sound like it'd be worth looking judging from this topic.

 

I'm glad to see his match with Hogan from 1997 got the 'worst worked match' award. I'm presuming this was his SuperBrawl match as I am unsure if they had any other matches in 1997. Talking of the SuperBrawl match I really felt Piper was completely out of his depth in this one and on his part ruined the match. I hate the whole 'he carried him' argument but if it wasn't for Hogan this would have been a much worse match. Plus I love HH.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I was never that into Piper as a kid, he was like the Sheamus of the day. I hated him kicking the shit out of Flair at that Survivor Series (I've always been heel bias). I enjoy going back and watching his 80s promos though, he toned down the wackiness as a bad guy and was proper menacing at times. He had a promo style that distinguished him from the pack (Jake also) and has dated better than a lot of the other guys.

 

Fuck off? Brother Love can fuck off. Instant fast forward.

[Dirty Eddie]

Barrett is a midcarder, that's his level. He hasn't been wasted, because he hasn't shown anything to suggest that he's any better than a midcarder. Not everyone has to be pushed to the top or sacked, what kind of thinking is that?

 

As head of the Nexus, with Cena doing his bidding he was getting heat as strong as any heel at the time. I thought he brought the goods with his promos too, being a totally unlikeable prick. At that point, with a strong heel faction behind him and loads of momentum, there were plenty who though a WWE Title run was just a matter of time.

 

Of course, all that good work has been long flushed away, but he was nearly a proper top guy for a moment there. To go straight in at the top like that and get over on the level of people like Orton and be feuding with Cena without looking way out of his depth was pretty impressive.

 

Bores the arse off me now, mind. Current Wade Barrett is total mid-card, but he had a fair crack at it before he became another afterthought.

[air_raid]

Raid will confirm it as I remember discussing it with him before, but ill say 'Battle of the Superstars 2', I think. I always get the Coliseum releases mixed up though. It's awesome though.

 

Sorry, I was out. Yes, 2nd Annual Battle of the Superstars holds the Perfect/Piper match. Upon first watch other than Perfect getting pulled in and out of his leotard the thing that stood out was that Piper kicked out of the Perfect-Plex, but I'd come to learn in the intervening years that he made a habit of that, doing so in title matches on the MSG network in December '90 and an episode of Superstars in Feb '91. I'm always slightly embarrassed watching SummerSlam '91 when Bret kicks out of it and The Brain shouts "nobody's ever kicked out of that!" when by that point Hogan, Warrior and Piper all had on television, not even including Tornado and Bulldog that did it on the house show circuit.

 

The tape is also notable for a Warrior/Savage title match which is an absolute grade A squash, the likes of which I haven't seen since Sid Vicious vs Lee Scott. Seriously, Warrior lamps Savage, gives him fuck all, gets his shit in and pins him in a matter of about five minutes. An utter waste of the Macho King, and a genuine "why the fuck is this on the tape" puzzler. Probably why it's only mentioned in small letters on the box whereas Bushwhackers vs Nasty Boys and the Hacksaw Duggan profile are really pushed.

 

Didn't you like the Piper/Rude cage match from late '89 that's on one of the Supertapes? It's outstanding, one of my fave cage matches ever.

 

Supertape II. A decent tape which has a "main event" of Hogan/Beefcake v Perfect/Genius which follows nicely from the Hogan/Beefcake v Savage/Zeus cage match ending to Supertape I. Also notable for a truly bizarre choice of matches for the Rockers profile where Shawn & Marty get beat by the Powers & Pain and need a Dusty finish to beat the formidable duo of Dino Bravo and Hammer. Ridiculous. Also, the Orients beat Demolition at the Garden right before Mania VI with the same salt shenanigans that would do for the Rockers at said mega event. Why the Orients were getting these big wins at the time, I'll never know. The Rockers should have been permitted to beat them at SkyDome, they were expendable, and since Demolition were going to turn, it would have made the Rockers credible challengers.

 

Personally, I actually first saw the Piper/Rude match on the Wrestling Superheroes tape, one of the first I owned, which is blinding. It has a cracking non-title champion v champion match between Savage and Warrior from MSG, the aforementioned Piper/Rude cage match, Demolition v Powers of Pain & Fuji from WrestleMania and randomly a Hogan/Herc match from 1986 which was a bit less one-dimensional than the "routine Hogan match" which he employed against virtually every heel from 1989-1992.

 

But yeah, Piper. I loved the character and he was very good at making me want him to win, other than WrestleMania VIII. Him putting the Mountie away at Rumble '92 is one of my favourite combination moments of feeling happy for a long serving babyface to finally win big, and "fuck you" to the heel that cheated my hero out of the belt to begin with. And Piper's contribution to the Rumble itself was brilliant for me, only Hogan was more vital to telling the story of the eventual winner in my eyes. Although it still wasn't fair to Flair.

 

I'm glad to see his match with Hogan from 1997 got the 'worst worked match' award. I'm presuming this was his SuperBrawl match as I am unsure if they had any other matches in 1997.

 

It was the SuperBrawl VII match. They also had the cage match from Halloween Havoc, derided as "Age In The Cage" and mocked by Jim Cornette on Raw for WcW as having "the gall to say "this is the greatest cage match in history," but it was only the greatest in three weeks since Hell in a Cell."

[NEWM]

That Warrior/Savage match is indeed a strange fruit. It's obviously just something at the end of one of the mammoth Superstars/Challenge tapings just to send the fans home happy, but it's a fucking odd one to include on a tape. The above description is bob on, Savage is nothing in that match. When he isn't getting the fuck kicked out of him he's running away killing time before his next beating.