10 Times Vince McMahon Allowed Smoking On WWE TV
3. Morton Downey Jr.
Downey was a minor celebrity in the 80s who hosted a television show where he’d chain-smoke and endlessly stir up controversy. Imagine The Jerry Springer Show but angrier and with more politics. He’s credited with pioneering ‘trash TV’ after all. He’d get up in guests faces and heckle them so they’d heckle back so Downey would heckle louder and blow mouthfuls of cigarette smoke right in their faces.
He really was as in-your-face as they come, provoking and bullying people at every opportunity. That’s why the perfect adversary for him at WrestleMania 5 was “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Piper was just as eccentric as Downey, but more unpredictable and quicker witted.
With the roles reversed a Piper's Pit segment was on the card with Morton Downey Jr. as the guest. Before this took place Brother Love came out to Piper’s music complete with a kilt for heat and did a remarkably good Rowdy impression inside the ring. Morton then made his way down to jeers and lit up (all the way through the segment). Love told him he looooves him and Morton said something along the lines of he doesn’t want a man who wears a skirt to love him because I don’t know - Morton doesn’t like gay people apparently? Then Hot Rod came out to cheers, chased Brother Love and his kilt away and had it out with Downey. Morton relentlessly blew smoke into Roddy’s face, pissing Piper off (for real). He continued doing so until eventually Piper in his erratic swagger grabbed a fire extinguisher nearby and sprayed/blast Morton in the face as he withered on the mat.
Piper later stated there were two extinguishers, one full and one half empty which was the one they’d intended to use in the ring, but Piper, who did not get along with Morton in real life and had pissed off Roddy enough that he replaced it with the full one and showered Morton with so much smoke he couldn’t breathe.
Take it from Roddy Piper, if some !*$% smoking near you keeps blowing smoke in your face make a quick look for the closest fire extinguisher.