10 Awesome WWE Promos You Probably Don't Remember

Superstars, October 26th 1991

The late ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper’s another star from the eighties that’s had rumour about an alleged massive cocaine habit dogging him for decades.

Whether you believe those rumours or not - and I’m not here to talk about the lifestyles of the rich and shameless - there’s no doubt that Hot Rod was one of the premier promo artists and hype men of his or any other era.

Like ‘the Macho Man’, Piper had a reputation for his unhinged interviews: but Savage’s ‘Macho Madness’ was a cartoon caricature, all giant shades, hunched shoulders, dayglo costumes and ‘ooooh yeaaaaah’.

With Piper, babyface or heel, it was easy to believe he was a hepped up version of your garden variety pub psycho. If you stared at his pint, or spilled his girlfriend (or is that the other way around?), it would be a short and eventful trip to the emergency room.

Nowhere is that more evident than in this promo from late 1991, promoting his feud with ‘the Nature Boy’ Ric Flair and their upcoming match at Madison Square Garden two days later.

Speaking directly to camera from a seated position sans interviewer and lacking his usual bombast, Piper speaks almost conversationally to Flair, as though they were at the same table. It’s the classic casual intimidation tactic that’s sparked off a hundred thousand bar fights: and if you’ve never been in one, then it’s easily recognisable as the same technique that Tommy uses in Goodfellas, or Begbie in Trainspotting.

It’s a masterclass in menace as Piper sarcastically tears strips off Flair’s claim to being the ‘real’ world champion, having brought the WCW’s top title to the WWF with him. Of course, Flair Country - the NWA’s heartland - was a long way from the Garden, and Piper made sure to put Naitch on notice.

The days of the territories might be long gone, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t start a p*ssing contest to mark his own.