The Wrestling Classic (7th November 1985)
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper enters first looking focused, with a legion of Bagpipers following him down the entranceway. before we get an interview with WWF Champion, Hulk Hogan. Hogan says tonight's tournament has him hyped, and he's glad the world will get to see Roddy Piper feel the wrath of Hulkamania. “Mean” Gene says if Piper doesn't win tonight a lot of people will consider him going home with egg on his face. Hogan says it will be one hell of a defense. Hulk Hogan enters and in the reverse of “canning”, I guess the live crowd looks happier to see Hogan than the audio makes them seem. (Hogan was in WWE's bad books after the Gawker lawsuit, so maybe this was post-production?) This match has a 1-hour time limit (please don't let it go an hour!)
Hogan waves the championship at Piper and Piper grabs it. There's a tug of war, but the referee is able to get the belt away and to the timekeeper. Piper beats down on Hogan and sends him out of the ring. Piper tries to follow but Hogan grabs at his ankles, getting Piper stuck in the ropes, Hogan finally figures out how to get Piper outside, and they trade right hands outside the ring. Hogan gets the better of it and Piper is sent gingerly over the railing (they hadn't quite perfected that spot, it didn't age well) Hogan then sends Piper back into the ring and hastily follows.
Piper wasn't quite able to ready himself for Hogan and Hogan rakes at the eyes. Piper no-sells it and rakes Hogan's, causing him to go legally blind for 26 years. Shot to the throat by Piper gets a warning from the referee, and he follows it up with a cross chop to Hogan's throat sending him down to the mat. Piper brings Hogan back to his feet and thumbs him in the eye. Hogan backs into the corner, checking his vision, and reverses an irish whip, sending Piper into the turnbuckles. Hogan clotheslines Piper in the corner, causing him to collapse as Hogan poses for the crowd, who's actually sounding behind him now. Hogan hits a big right hand to Piper and follows with a back suplex, Hogan keeps Piper down with a scoop slam, and he hits 2 big leaping elbow drops and he beats Piper down. Hogan with big right hands in the corner, but the referee stops in to stop him from getting disqualified, and Piper takes advantage. Piper knocks Hogan down and takes a breather using the ropes. Piper kicks Hogan whilst he's down, but the champ gets to his feet. Right-hand puts him back where he was and Hot Rod climbs to the second rope. Hogan's beginning to shake the match off as Piper prepares himself, unbeknownst to Piper, Piper leaps off the second turnbuckle with an axehandle but Hogan catches him in the bearhug! This could be it as the fans are screaming for Piper to tap. Piper blinds Hogan with his fingers and breaks Hogan's grip. The referee warns Piper for cheating again. Roddy Piper runs at Hogan and starts pounding his head with right hands before covering for a nearfall. Jesse Ventura says Piper won't beat Hogan without getting the pin technically perfect, and he didn't have all of it.
Hogan struggles to his feet, giving Piper chance to get in position and hit him with a falling right hand. Piper covers again, but gets 1, again Ventura says he won't keep Hogan down like that. Piper brings Hogan to his feet and sends him across the ring. Hogan bounces off the ropes and gets caught in a Sleeper Hold! Piper has climbed on Hogan's back, using his weight to add pressure. Hogan walks around the ring trying to escape and he has hold of the top rope at one point, which would have caused a break but Piper kept himself between Hogan and the referee. Hulk Hogan grabs at the referee in desperation and Ventura claims Hogan's trying to get himself disqualified. Hogan drops to one knee and ends up sat down. The referee checks Hogan's arm, but Hogan shows fight after the first drop so the match continues. Piper squeezes the sleeper harder and Hogan falls on the mat. The referee checks on Hogan again, and he shows signs of life after the second drop this time. Piper tries to hook Hogan's arm with his leg, but can't get it, and Hogan decides he wants to go home now. He fights his way to his feet and sends both men out of the ring to release the sleeper.
Piper grabs a side headlock but Hogan is able to shove him off at the last second, sending Roddy's arm into the post. Piper shakes feeling back into his arm and hits Hogan with a right hand. Not so effective, a shaken Piper gets another right hand, and Hogan intensely stares at the challenger again. Piper decides to hightail it back to the ring, but Hogan grabs hold of him. Right hands send Piper into the ring, smart, so Piper doesn't have the chance to jump Hogan in the ring. Both men hit right hands but Hogan gets the better of it. He sends Piper across the ring and hits a sloppy big boot, atomic drop by Hogan sets up for another big boot, but Piper reverses the irish whip. Piper hits an axhandle to the back of Hogan's neck, sending him into the referee. Piper goes outside and grabs a chair, hitting Hogan over the back with it. Piper stands over Hogan with the chair raised, but Hogan stops the shot. Hogan pushes the chair towards Piper whilst he makes his way to his feet and boots him in the gut. Chairshot to the back sends Piper into the ropes, and Hogan tries to lock in a terrible sleeper with the chair still in his hand. He eventually drops the chair so he can get the most of the hold, and the referee just wakes up. Bob Orton Jr. runs in! “Ace” attacks Hogan and gets the match thrown out.
WINNER: “ROWDY” RODDY PIPER (BY DISQUALIFICATION)
HULK HOGAN STILL WWF CHAMPION
Besides the few blown spots in the match (we are all only human) and not getting a real conclusion to the match (a pet gripe) this was an inoffensive 1980's Hulk Hogan match. Ventura and Monsoon kept talking about Hogan having a size, strength, and power advantage, and I think that's more important where the “visual test” doesn't give a clear answer. Piper had nothing to lose so he went for Hogan with everything he could, then when Orton realized his guy wasn't going to win the championship, he made sure he didn't REALLY lose the match as a result. I've wanted to see the match for a long time and the non-finish brought a downer to it, knowing there was no televised rematch until both men were in WCW. – Rating: 6.5/10
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