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5 Wrestlers Roddy Piper Made Look Legit (& 5 He Made Look Like A Joke)

Posted: Jan 26th 2023 By: Michael Weyer

In the course of a fantastic career, Rowdy Roddy Piper got to clash with a lot of wrestlers. Some were in classic feuds that helped elevate both guys and Piper looking tremendous in them. Others were pretty bad, especially in the later part of his career when Piper was physically ailing. Yet thanks to his amazing persona and promos, Piper could spark any feud up and when he was on, Piper could make a lot of wrestlers look good.

But when Piper didn’t like a guy or get along with him, it showed in the ring. That came up when he had some big matches and while he tried to be a professional, it was obvious when Piper and his opponent weren’t on the same page. These are five guys who ended up looking great facing Roddy Piper and five who looked more like jokes as a reminder how tricky it was to clash with the Hot Rod.

10 JOKE: Kevin Nash

Granted, Kevin Nash didn’t get along with a lot of guys in WCW, but he and Piper were different. In a 1997 Nitro episode, Piper and Ric Flair were to face the Outsiders, with the two teams seemingly set for a good match. Instead, Piper went in hard, refusing to sell Nash’s offense and seemingly going into business for himself.

This led to a backstage fight between the pair and Piper would badmouth Nash constantly over the years. For some reason, they never got along in the first place and the result was a terrible match, in which Nash came out looking bad.

9 LEGIT: Rick Rude

As one of the best heels of his time, it was little wonder Rick Rude and Roddy Piper would have some clashes in WWE. It began with Piper costing Rude the Intercontinental Title and they were soon tearing it up on the house show circuit.

Piper was smart to give Rude the rub in the feud, winning most of the matches, but Rude was still able to show his stuff. That included each captaining a team at Survivor Series, with the pair being counted out. They had a couple more encounters, as these two were a great match for Piper to help give Rude a rub.

8 JOKE: Goldust

Originally, Goldust was to face Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 12, but Ramon had to drop out. So WWE had Piper face Goldust in a “backlot brawl.” This was a bizarre “match” as they fought in an alley, then a highway chase and finally into the ring where Piper stripped Goldust down to his underwear.

Instead of looking like a good champion, Goldust looked foolish and Piper seemingly not interested. This backlot project should have been shelved.

7 LEGIT: Bret Hart

Despite being real-life friends, Bret Hart and Piper didn’t interact too much for most of their time in WWE. That changed when Piper won the Intercontinental Title in early 1992. As the former champ, Bret wanted the belt back and their exchanges got more heated.

It led to WrestleMania 8, arguably the best match on the show, with both men giving their all. In a rarity, Piper put Bret over clean for the title and gave him the belt afterwards. It was a great moment to solidify Bret as a champ and a star which he always thanked Piper for.

6 JOKE: Jerry Lawler

This was a feud that should have worked. Piper vs. Jerry Lawler pitted two loudmouths in a great conflict that would have led to a sensational brawl. The first problem was the whole thing being about Lawler mocking underprivileged kids, not exactly a high-stakes feud.

Their King of the Ring match was terrible, neither guy seeming able to get on the same page and Piper looking downright bored with the whole thing. He got the win but it wasn’t the dream match fans had expected and a huge letdown for Piper not caring much for it.

5 LEGIT: Ric Flair

The clashes between Flair and Piper date back to the early 1980s, when Piper upset Flair for the U.S. title. They had several memorable battles across the Mid-Atlantic region, although interestingly, Piper rarely challenged for the NWA World Title. They revived it when Flair joined WWE in 1991, including encounters at Survivor Series and Royal Rumble.

The pair later clashed a couple of times in WCW, each getting wilder with the other in some great conflicts. They memorably won the WWE World Tag Team Championship together, but as enemies, Flair and Piper were a stellar feud.

4 JOKE: Bad News Brown

Bad News Brown was a heel ahead of his time as a tough worker with a brutal edge. He and Piper should have made for a terrific feud. Instead, Piper treated Bad News poorly in their promos and encounters. It led to the now infamous match at WrestleMania 6, where Piper painted half his body black to mock Bad News.

That crossed a line not helped by a pretty bad match. Maybe the reaction to that led to the feud ending quicker than it should have, as the feud with Piper really was bad news for Brown, who never got the big showcase he deserved in WWE.

3 LEGIT: Greg Valentine

Always known as a great worker, Greg Valentine and Piper clicked well in the Mid-Atlantic region. That included a wild feud for the U.S. Title, with Valentine brutalizing Piper to win the belt. They faced off in the classic dog collar match at the first Starrcade, a brutal war that helped elevate both men up.

They had a few more encounters in WWE, with Piper always making Valentine look great in the ring, and while those battles didn’t equal the Starrcade clash, it still showed how brilliantly the two clicked in the ring together.

2 JOKE: Mr. T

Granted, Mr. T was an actor more than a wrestler, but it was still rough how Piper would treat him. He barely seemed to give him much attention in the WrestleMania 1 tag team match, as if thinking Mr. T had no business being in the ring with him.

Worse was their WrestleMania 2 boxing match, a terrible battle that ended with Piper slamming Mr. T down. Piper had bad-mouthed the man in several interviews and never getting along well, so it’s little wonder he didn’t do much to try to make Mr. T look better in the ring.

1 LEGIT: Hulk Hogan

True, their last matches in WCW were rough, but that shouldn’t take away from how great Piper vs Hogan was when both men were trying. The clashes between them in WWE helped lead to huge success, including the first WrestleMania.

While they never had that big blow-off match there, they did work the feud later in WCW with some good (Starrcade 1996) and bad (Halloween Havoc 1997) matches. Yet Piper always made Hogan look better in the ring to help them rise as two of the biggest stars of their time.