Largely a Piper and Muraco heat-seeking exhibition, but Piper going out of his way to make a crowd throw objects at him will never not be entertaining and Muraco looked like he could be halfway arsed on the night, so overall it was a fun time. Tony Atlas might be as cranked as I've ever seen a wrestler. His traps have traps and almost look like wings sprouting from his shoulders. He didn't have the best punches, however. In most circumstances that might've been an active detriment to the part of the match where he and his partner engage in a fist fight with their opponents, but this was salvaged by Piper and Muraco being stooges. At one point Muraco jumped up on the middle ropes to tell people to shut up and took an amazing banana peel tumble. Piper's oversell of a legdrop to the midsection is the stuff of legends and then in the end he and Muraco have a falling out and Piper flips him the bird and walks away. Apparently this was Piper's first appearance in the Philly Spectrum. I reckon he made an impression.
Roddy Piper v Andre the Giant (WWF, 3/31/84) - GOOD
A magical wee five minutes. Right away Andre rips the shirt off Piper's back and whips him with his own belt, and from there's it's basically Piper trying to get close enough to do something underhanded without getting caught and clubbed in the face. Piper retreats to the apron and stands behind the post, foolishly thinking he's found temporary respite, then Andre reaches out and grabs him by the arms and yanks him into that same post. As soon as Piper steps back in the ring Andre corners him and butt bumps him, so Piper undoes his tape and goes to the choking. So Andre just takes the tape from him, wraps it around Piper's throat and chucks him out the ring. That was what wrestling Andre was like. It was a mountain to climb, only this mountain was actively trying to throw you off it at every turn. After the third time Andre grabbed Piper's entire head in his one hand and punched him with the other Piper decided enough was enough. It's hard to blame the man, really.
Roddy Piper v Ivan Putski (WWF, 5/21/84) - SKIPPABLE
I may have been premature in declaring Tony Atlas the most cranked wrestler I've ever seen. I forgot about the existence of Ivan Putski. He must be about 5'4 and absolutely housed to the moon, redder than a well-skelped arse, paper-thin skin, just a walk monument to PEDs. How is that man still alive? I don't even remember the last time I watched a Putski match but he wasn't good and this didn't make me want to do a deep dive. He wasn't for giving Piper anything early and threw a bunch of crazy windmill punches like someone trying to swim for the first time. Piper soon realises he's getting no offence so opts to just run away, then absorbs a bunch of Putski's shots, rakes his eyes and does a delayed Greg Valentine-style fall on his face. Piper finally takes over with a foreign object shot and I love how his entourage of bagpipe and drum players come out to ringside to punctuate the shift in momentum. In the end Putski accidentally wallops the referee with one of his blind overhands and you know what? I bought that. Anyhow this wasn't the best.
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