Tuesday, August 4, 2015

From the Archives: Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T at WrestleMania 2

Piper the Pugilist
Photo Credit: WWE.com
The first WrestleMania main event included six intrepid characters. Hulk Hogan teamed with Mr. T with Jimmy Snuka in their corner, while Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff had Bob Orton as a second. Hogan's path as Champion sent him down a different path for the sequel event, namely into the big blue bar cage against King Kong Bundy. Piper and T, however, kept their hostilities going, and boy, the hostilities were definitely more real than what anyone was letting on. Basically, Piper legitimately disliked T because T treated all their encounters like it was real.

So in retrospect, maybe putting them in a boxing match wasn't the best idea. Hell, promoting a boxing match between an actor and a wrestler isn't the best idea in general, but WrestleMania 2 was a weird, weird event that didn't conform to most norms. It wasn't a good match, but it was interesting for the aftermath. Even if the whole thing went to hell, Piper ending the match on the disqualification turned out to be yet another piece of flair added to his legend.


Roddy Piper vs Mr.T WWF Wrestlemania 2 1986 by LindenMurry