By the time 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper first showed up on WCW television in late-1996, he was a shadow of the in-ring performer he'd been during the 1980's. Looking at the situation plainly, Piper was only really brought into the mix in WCW to rekindle his infamous feud against Hulk Hogan that had dominated the WWF of the mid-to-late-80's. Hogan was running riot in late-'96 as the head of the notorious New World Order faction, one which hadn't yet been watered down to the point of ruining the core idea. In many ways, it then made perfect sense for Roddy Piper to show face and challenge the domination of this new Hollywood Hogan, but the match quality was never going to be anything special. His body ravished by years of punishment, Piper hobbled around awkwardly during the Starrcade 1996 battle with Hogan, who was no spring chicken himself. Nonetheless, Piper lasted right up until late-2000 in WCW, a company who would pay him in excess of $1 million per year to perform. Facing Hogan at Starrcade 1996, SuperBrawl VII and Halloween Havoc 1997, the man received substantial bonuses for how well those Pay-Per-Views performed at the box office, but was guaranteed a $1 million payout regardless.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
