Face or Heel: Rowdy Roddy Piper

[JerryvonKramer]

The other person who jumps out a mile as being just an incredible heel from those early SNME shows is Hot Rod.

Now I think he'd count as the number 1 heel in the company at that point and his charisma is just off the charts. His range of real life references and insults to Hogan or Orndorf, or Hillbilly Jim, or whoever is in a different league to most of the talent at that time.

But in the matches themselves there are tons of subtle little heel touches that Piper does to work the crowd. Not just the blatant stuff like the poke in the eye, but more subtle stuff too. Adam Nedeff has a good couple of lines on this in his review of SNME #4 on 441:

I have a new appreciation for Piper as a heel lately. Even when he was acting like a badass instead of coming right out and acting like a coward, there were little things about his style of wrestling that would reveal his “true nature.” He never tags in unless his opponents are clearly in trouble, and he only taunts when he’s obviously safe. It’s just really subtle and fun.

Let's not forget he also had Cowboy Bob Orton as his ambiguously gay sidekick who watched his back and did his dirty work for him, which just added to his overall villainy.

Now for me Piper was never quite as good as a face, which I think he was from his 1988 feud with Bad News Brown onwards. Did Piper ever have another run as a heel after that? As with Savage, to my way of thinking: it's a waste of a great heel to make Piper face. It's not like he ever did anything that memorable in his face run either. He was a fairly annoying sub for Heenan on color commentary, he helped Virgil defeat Ted DiBiase, only for Ted to beat Virgil a few weeks later. He had a brief and not that memorable run as IC champ in 1992. Then nothing much of note until WCW and the finger poke of doom.

So, again, my question is: do you think Piper was better used as a face or as a heel?

 

[Reverend Truth]

I think you have to break this down by era. Ultimately, I'd say Piper is best known as a heel. I can remember as a kid that he could scare me at times, but I always wondered what he would do next. In our current times, I think the majority of fans love him and do not want to see him as heel. It's that "Stone Cold" bad-ass face that works better for him now. I would love to see him come back on RAW pissed off that Jericho used his set and berated Jimmy Snuka. Piper would have the set back up, or at least, the pieces of it lying around. Piper could summon up some anger and give one hell of a promo and not look weak like he did a few weeks ago when Jericho was kicking him in the ring.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

I loved Piper as a heel and as a face, depending on what his goal was at the time, but overall I dig Piper as a heel because he made Hogan's character more popular than he would have been if he was not opposed by a classic heel like Piper early in the "mania" days.

 

[kingkong317]

personally i think piper pulled it off great both ways but WAS best when he was a heel. today i can see piper going heel like he did in 2003 but it doesnt have the same feel for me as his heel time in wwe and wcw had.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Piper was about as much as a face as Stone Cold Steve Austin as he had a huge fanbase, people cheered for him and he fueded with the heels, but like austin I don't know if I could actually consider Piper a face. Piper was basically a heel his whole career (like Austin), who got pushed as a face because he was so good at what he did. Piper was definetely better as a Heel because that is what really made him a face, acting like a heel to other heels (instead of faces).

 

[RVDgurl]

Piper is one of the greatest heels in the history of the wrestling business- plain and simple. This is a guy who should have gone his entire career without a run as a face. Piper helped make Hulk Hogan as popular as he was in the mid '80's by creating a crazy amount of heat for himself. As a heel, Piper was innovative, original and way before his time. He said things on the mic that made you blush or yell at your TV in anger. He demanded the crowd to react whether it was to his words or actions.