WWE Vintage Collection Report: November 6th 2011
By Shaun Best-Rajah.com Reporter
Hosted by: Mean Gene Okerlund & Rowdy Roddy Piper
Just when you think you have all the answers, he changes the questions. Yes, Hot Rod himself, the man who refuses to be called “Vintage,” joins Mean Gene in studio this week to co-host his greatest hits. Let’s begin!
WWF Prime Time Wrestling: September 9th 1985
Rowdy Roddy Piper & “Cowboy” Bob Orton vs “Mr Wonderful” Paul Orndorff & Andre The Giant
Orton had cost Piper and Orndorff a match against Hulk Hogan and Mr T at the inaugural WrestleMania, due to a mistimed cast shot from Orton’s gimmicked broken arm. Piper blamed the loss on Orndorff, who got all “bent out of shape,” and challenged Piper to a fight. However, Orndorff aligned himself with Andre, so Piper naturally turned to the “Ace” in his corner. This match is joined in progress. Andre starts to unravel the lining of Orton’s cast, so Piper and Orton use it to choke the Giant. Andre bites Piper and Orndorff sends Orton into the ringpost. Piper and Orton collide mid-ring. Orton gets his knees up to stop Andre from squashing him in the corner. Orndorff clears Piper from the ring. Orton jumps from the second rope, aiming his cast at Andre, but the Giant gets his feet up. Orton falls down and Orndorff covers for the 1-2-3. Winners: “MR WONDERFUL” PAUL ORNDORFF & ANDRE THE GIANT.
After reliving several memorable clips from Piper’s Pit, attention turns to rival show the Flower Shop, hosted by “Adorable” Adrian Adonis. When the two shows faced off, Adonis beat up Piper, with the help of Don Muraco and turncoat Bob Orton, laying waste to Piper’s knee with a crutch. The October 4th 1986 episode of Superstars saw Piper return and destroy the Flower Shop set with a baseball bat, with the crowd taking him in as a fan favourite and chanting “Piper, Piper.” Hot Rod quips in studio that you could put all the dresses in the world on Adonis and he’d still be ugly, but did concede he was tough.
WWF House Show: February 15th 1987
Rowdy Roddy Piper vs “Adorable” Adrian Adonis w/Jimmy Hart
A slugfest starts us off. Piper gives Adonis a backbodydrop and spits at Hart. Adonis beats on Piper with Piper’s own belt. Adonis wraps the belt around his knuckles, but Piper wrestles control of it and throttles Adonis. Hart hooks Piper’s leg. Piper stalks and Hart comically runs into the ringpost. Adonis comes out, but ends up eating the ringpost as well. Hart keeps Piper distracted, enabling Adonis to blind Piper with several squirts from his atomiser. A blinded Piper goes over the barricade, which Adonis uses to crush Piper’s leg.
Piper’s eyes manage to clear enough for him to thwart a top rope splash. Piper throws Hart off the top rope onto Adonis. Piper wipes out the referee after Adonis avoids a charge. Hart throws in a chair, but Piper kicks it into Adonis’ head. Piper briefly has Adonis in a sleeper, before sending him over the top rope and giving him and Hart a double noggin knocker. Hart tries to throw Piper off the ropes and into an Adonis powerslam, but Piper rolls through into a pin attempt. The referee is still out. Hart interjects himself yet again, allowing Adonis to blind Piper once more with the atomiser. The referee finally calls for the bell and awards the bout to Piper, who in a blinded rage attacks both him and the ring announcer, thinking they’re Adonis. Winner via DQ: ROWDY RODDY PIPER. Just one month later, Piper would defeat Adonis at WrestleMania III in a Hair vs Hair match, which coincided with Piper taking a brief sabbatical afterwards. Adonis would tragically pass away a year later following a road accident.
Piper informs us all that he didn’t lose to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. When Piper had the sleeper applied and Bret kicked back off the turnbuckles for the pinfall, Piper says the referee dived down and counted his shoulders and made a mistake. Piper argues he had the offensive move and the referee should have checked Bret’s arm and if it fell three times then Piper was the winner. This links to a rematch the two would have in WCW.
WCW Nitro: February 9th 1999
U.S Title: Bret “Hitman” Hart vs Rowdy Roddy Piper
Defending champion Bret is feigning a groin injury and stalls for time by limping around on the floor. The two slug it out in the ring. Bret chokes Piper in the ropes then falls back incinuating a low blow. A trainer comes to check on Bret, who after a few minutes, proves it was all a ruse as he gets back up to attack Piper.
Bret goes outside and pulls MADtv’s Will Sasso over the guardrail to pummel on the floor. (Bret had just appeared in a pre-planned skit on MADtv and beat up the cast for making fun of wrestling.) Piper comes to Sasso’s rescue by choking Bret with a ring chord. Back inside, Piper delivers a couple of suplexes for nearfalls. Bret quickly escapes a sleeper by backing Piper into the referee. Both clothesline each other. Bret pulls out some brass knux. Piper hooks a small package, but no referee. Bret wipes Piper out with the knux. Bret and Sasso have a tug of war with the referee, who’s still down. Piper takes advantage to roll Bret up for the 1-2-3. Not a patch on their WrestleMania matchup. Bret and Sasso would actually have a grudge match a week later. Winner: ROWDY RODDY PIPER.
From singles gold, to tag team gold, we move ahead to Cyber Sunday 2006. Piper was voted in (46%) ahead of Dusty Rhodes (35%) and Sgt Slaughter (19%) to team with longtime rival and a man he’s “fought more than anyone else,” Ric Flair. Piper jokes that Flair dates two girls at the same time so they have someone to talk to when he falls asleep. Ouch! Piper reveals this was the first time they teamed up.
WWE Cyber Sunday: November 5th 2006
World Tag Team Titles: The Spirit Squad vs Ric Flair & Rowdy Roddy Piper
Piper attacks all five of the Spirit Squad. Kenny breaks up a sleeper on Mikey and the two work Piper over for several minutes. The tide turns after Mikey gets on Kenny’s shoulders and the two miss a splash from the top rope. Flair combines with Piper to clothesline Kenny to the floor and give Mikey a backelbow and suplex. Flair slaps on the figure four, which is broken up by Kenny’s guillotine legdrop. Flair hooks a cradle for a nearfall, then re-applies the figure four to Mikey. Piper takes care of Kenny and Mikey taps. The crowd goes crazy. Dusty Rhodes and Sgt Slaughter join the new champions in clearing the Spirit Squad out of the ring. Piper credits being voted into this match for diagnosing his Hodgkins Lymphoma, which he would successfully beat. Rated RKO would win the belts the following week on Raw. Winners: RIC FLAIR & ROWDY RODDY PIPER.
Just two days after saving Bret Hart from a post match attack by new Intercontinental champion the Mountie, Piper would challenge the Canadian law enforcer to a title match at the Royal Rumble. In the studio, Piper likens the Mountie character to someone out of the YMCA.
WWF Royal Rumble: January 19th 1992
Intercontinental Title: The Mountie w/Jimmy Hart vs Rowdy Roddy Piper
Piper attacks Mountie with his kilt then stops him from leaving prematurely. Mountie throws Hart in Piper’s way to get a brief advantage. Piper drops an elbow to stop a monkey flip attempt, rams Mountie’s head into the corner and lands a bulldog. Piper outbrawls his opponent, but Mountie telegraphs a dropkick by holding onto the ropes and Piper goes down.
Mountie ties up Piper’s arm to send his head repeatedly into the corner. Mountie bites away and lands a flying backelbow for two. Piper punches back and scores with a backbodydrop and gut punch. An atomic drop sends Mountie out of the ring, but he holds on and skins the cat back in. Piper avoids a charge and Mountie sends Hart flying from the apron. Piper sinks in a sleeper and it’s nite nite for the Mountie. After the bell, Piper confiscates the shot stick from Hart and gives Mountie a zapping (complete with sound effects.) On a sidenote, get well soon Jacques Rougeau. Winner: ROWDY RODDY PIPER.
Okerlund invites Piper back next week. Piper says he’s coming back whether we want him to or not. You’re always welcome Roddy.
The guest host concept worked really well. It’s feasible they could have someone like Bret Hart, Hacksaw Jim Duggan or Shawn Michaels alongside Mean Gene for any future shows like this one. For a one time greatest hits show they got this right on the money. Most of Piper’s big WrestleMania moments have already been shown numerous times, so they did well to condense these and let other memorable moments air. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Piper in person almost three years ago and he was a class act. Very friendly, down to earth and attentive to all.
See you next week!
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