How Good Was Roddy Piper Actually?

On November 26, 1984, Roddy Piper, who had proven his box office credentials during a legendary run in Portland, headlined Madison Square Garden. Piper had a tough job drawing a good crowd. His opponent was a substitute - the Tonga Kid deputised for Jimmy Snuka, who had entered rehabilitation treatment - and the undercard was weak. Piper was so white-hot as a heel that he sold it out. 

When Snuka was available, and he toured with Piper in the summer of 1984, their headlining series drew big in most markets, and even competed with Hogan’s main events in the biggest cities. 

Piper’s drawing record was phenomenal as it was, and he could have drawn yet more money. Instead, he made a trade-off. He did not want to lose cleanly to Hulk Hogan, ever. Piper was a very intelligent man with a lot of gumption. Piper had the leverage and power to avoid Hogan in a singles context, which he did, because he knew the formula. Piper knew (or thought) that he’d lose his heat when Hogan packed him up and moved onto the next opponent. Piper instead opted for longevity, drawing a lot of money over the medium-term - 1984 - 1987 - over the most amount of money possible. That’s probably why Hogan Vs. Piper never happened at WrestleMania 2. 

Hogan’s disqualification win over Piper on MTV’s War To Settle The Score set what will remain the all-time highest rating - 9.1 - in the history of cable TV in the United States. That match, held on February 18, 1985, also drew a 24,000 sell-out to MSG. While Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and a very fortuitous last-minute publicity blast drove the success of the first WrestleMania, the most important show in the history of the medium, it probably wasn’t as successful without Piper in the role of antagonist. 

Piper smashed the WCW PPV buy record in 1996 when he headlined Starrcade with Hulk Hogan. The momentum generated by the New World Order helped - Ric Flair had nothing like that going into Bash At The Beach 1994 - but Piper did in fact smash it. Drawing 345,000 buys, Piper obliterated the previous record somehow set by Uncensored 1996 (250,000). That is a staggering 38% increase. 

Piper was a record-breaking draw in at least three territories, and will forever hold the all-time cable TV record barring some unfathomable small screen comeback. He only loses half a point because there were a handful of stars bigger than he was, and he lacked the longevity of Hogan.  

9.5/10