20 Most Hated Heel Moves In Wrestling History

Very few people in the world were ever capable of drawing heat in quite the same way as ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. As a vicious, unprincipled, unhinged heel, ‘Hot Rod’ was pretty much unequalled throughout the eighties: let’s not forget that it was his fiery charisma that drove much of the conflict that promoted the first two WrestleMania events, and helped make them as successful as they were.

Well, one of the biggest heatseeking moments in a career full of napalm came in 1985 at the height of the Rock N’ Wrestling Connection’s storylines. In front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden, Cyndi Lauper - one of the biggest pop stars in America at the time - was presented with an award for her achievements in promoting women’s wrestling, thanks to her participation in the inaugural WrestleMania earlier in the year.

Presenting Captain Lou Albano with his own award, the group were ambushed in the ring by Piper, who declared that he wanted to be the one to present Captain Lou with the award. Naturally he’d break it over his head, turning to body slam Lauper’s manager (and real life architect of the whole MTV/WWF collaboration) Dave Wolffe too.

It was the kick to Cyndi Lauper herself that sealed the deal, however. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t the bump to end all bumps: Lauper was already on her hands and knees beside the fallen Captain Lou Albano, and all Piper really did is gently shove her away and over to the side with his foot before he grabbed Wolff.

To the fans in attendance and at home, it was like witnessing first degree murder. Lauper was a tiny little thing, and a bona fide pop star, and ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper had just gatecrashed her award ceremony to kick her in the head and attack her manager. It was unprecedented, and it made Piper the most hated heel in the country for a long time.