Roddy Piper the worker

[Vern Gagne]

What kind of worker was Roddy Piper?

[The Decemberists]

I won't admit to have seeing *loads* of his work, but for the most part it was pretty much modern "WWE style" brawling I think, long before anyone else was doing it anywhere near that well though.

 

He would have been the post neck injury Austin to Ric Flair's Benoit I think would be a somewhat fair comparsion. Great matches, but not great technical displays of wrestling, if you know what I mean.

[Shanghai Kid]

I only saw late 80's, early 90's Piper, but I thought he was pretty good at telling a story and using his facial expressions/physical movements to get his points across.

 

Roddy vs Bret Hart is one of my favorite matches, really tells a good story.

 

Regardless, Piper will be remembered for his promos.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'll say it:

 

He sucked.

 

Hard.

 

He couldn't sell. He couldn't work. Psychology was non-existant.

-=Mike

[MillenniumMan831]

He looked to be really uncooperative in his 1980s heel WWF run as well. He made few, if any, look good. But bless his heart, I'll always love my Rowdy Roddy Piper's Greatest Hits video.

[TheFranchise]

No. Piper was a good wrestler. When he was NWA before he joined the WWF, he could bloody wrestle.

 

But as someone else said, he'll always be known for his promos and entertainment. But he could wrestle rings around 90% of the WWE 'stars'.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Piper, during his WWF run from 1984-1987, was as mentioned, never known to cooperate with his opponents (ranging from the biggest jobbers to Hogan), and got seriously over because of his mouth rather than his actually in-ring ability. Pre-WWF Piper was probably a good wrestler, but I haven't seen much of it, so I can't comment.

[strummer]

Keller wrote a great article on Piper around 2000/2001. Basically Piper knew that he wasn't a great wrestler and knew that to stay over he could never job or give his opponents a lot of offense. He would refuse to job time after time and knew he could get away with it because of his drawing power. When he turned face he still never got beat down or swerved, he was always a step ahead of his opponents. He was quoted as saying "losing isn't my thing"

[Guest MikeSC]

Piper, during his WWF run from 1984-1987, was as mentioned, never known to cooperate with his opponents (ranging from the biggest jobbers to Hogan), and got seriously over because of his mouth rather than his actually in-ring ability. Pre-WWF Piper was probably a good wrestler, but I haven't seen much of it, so I can't comment.

I've actually seen numerous of his earlier matches.

 

He wasn't that great then, either.

 

He really, really couldn't sell.

-=Mike

[Betty Houle]

I'll say it:

 

He sucked.

 

Hard.

 

He couldn't sell. He couldn't work. Psychology was non-existant.

-=Mike

He was a very good worker for a time. He drew big money and put on matches that entertained people and he had charisma and could talk like a bastard. He didn't suck in the slightest.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The match with Bret Hart at Mania is about the only good match that I can think of him in. Very similar to Austin in 2001/2002 when he was completely falling apart as a worker. His matches are extremely predictable as well. If you've seen a few Piper matches you've seen them all.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

All I remember of him is that he could find ways to poke people in the eyes in a creative fashion.

[Jingus]

Piper has had a few damn good matches, the ones with Bret and the dog collar with Greg Valentine being the most obvious examples. But he had to be in the ring with someone who knew how to adapt to his style. Piper didn't adapt to anyone, he did the same thing every night.

 

And yes he could sell. Ever seen him fly backwards like he'd taken a 12-gauge round to the solar plexus after being hit by Andre?

[Guest DVD Spree]

All I remember of him is that he could find ways to poke people in the eyes in a creative fashion.

So true.

 

Although I'm npt the best person to ask, since I never cared for Piper's in-ring work and I couldn't stand his promos either.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

As far as drawing money goes, Piper was a great worker. As far as ring work goes, everything before him joining the WWF was ok, but once he joined the WWF he was terrible, but it didn't really matter, because he was drawing the people in with his mic work anyway.

[Guest M. Harry Smilac]

The only person who might have thrown an uglier wimpy looking clothesline then Sting.

 

 

Still two of my top favorites though.

[iggymcfly]

The match with Bret Hart at Mania is about the only good match that I can think of him in. Very similar to Austin in 2001/2002 when he was completely falling apart as a worker. His matches are extremely predictable as well. If you've seen a few Piper matches you've seen them all.

Actually, I really liked Austin's work in 2001. He had the 2/3 falls match with HHH, the match with Rock at WM X-7, the series on Raw and Smackdown with Benoit, the SS match with Angle, a great Smackdown match with RVD, and several other very good matches during that time period.

 

If anything, that seemed to be his peak as a worker, as he was trying to ignore the neck problems, and focus on putting on good matches. It obviously cost him, as he was pretty much forced to retire shortly afterward, but I have no complaints whatsoever about his ring work from that period.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

I'll say this much, his match with Bret at WM8 is one of my favourite and the psychology in it was supoib.