WWF The War to Settle the Score (February 18, 1985)

 

Original Airdate: February 18, 1985 

Your Hosts are Alan Hunter and Gene Okerlund from the studio

Roddy Piper is so worked up and excited about facing Hulk Hogan tonight that he can hardly contain himself

WWF Champion Hulk Hogan is taking a poll, trying to figure out just how much punishment he should dish out to Roddy tonight

A look at the origins of the Hogan/Piper feud, and how it grew out of Cyndi Lauper’s beef with Captain Lou Albano

Various wrestlers and celebrities react to Piper’s actions. Gloria Steinem appearing on a wrestling show is not something I ever realized happened - and I never would have guessed it. Roddy fuming “I hate all of you” is just perfect

Piper history vignette. Apparently, Roddy is the way he is because he drank ‘polluted water’ from the rivers of Scotland as a child. Yeah, I’ve heard that can make you act like a jerk

Hogan history vignette. He’s the most honest, hardworking man in America

Various wrestlers and celebrities predict how the match is going to go. Dee Snider, in particular, seems to be having the time of his life cutting wrestling style promos on Piper

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Roddy Piper: From New York City on February 18, with Gorilla Monsoon and Gene Okerlund doing commentary. Bob Costas is also on hand as the guest ring announcer. Piper trolls the fans by wearing a Hulkamania t-shirt, and Mr. T shows up in the crowd to support Hulk. Slugfest to start, and it drops to the mat, where they trade mounted punches. Hulk gets control, and delivers a pair of bodyslams to set up an elbowdrop. Corner whip, but Piper reverses, and follows in with a clothesline for two. Roddy puts the boots to the champion, and he grabs the sleeper. Hulk fades, but gets a second wind, and drops into the corner to shake Roddy off. He’s still in bad shape, however, and Piper rakes the eyes, then deploys Bob Orton to take some cheap shots. Hogan fights Orton off, and goes on the comeback trail on Piper. That draws Paul Orndorff to ringside, as Hulk delivers an atomic drop on Piper. Another one, but the referee gets bumped this time, and Piper calls Orndorff in. Paul dives with a flying kneedrop, so Cyndi Lauper jumps onto the apron to protest. The heels corner her, so Mr. T jumps the guardrail to cut them off. He gets Lauper out of harm’s way, and he gets into a big showdown with Piper. Piper hits him with a cheap shot, and Paul jumps in to double team, as Hogan recovers. We get a big showdown, and the heels bail, as the crowd loses their minds. Meanwhile, the referee is still down, as security swarms the ring to prevent the brawl from getting bigger, and eventually Hulk is announced as the winner by DQ at 7:40. This wasn’t a workrate classic, but man was it a happening. This was pure chaos, and the perfect blend of celebrity and wrestler. This is what we’re talking about when we say ‘sports entertainment.’ It’s amazing how much of this presentation was repeated when they did the Steve Austin/Vince McMahon/Mike Tyson angle in 1998, and it kickstarted massive eras both times. *

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with Hulk and Lauper, who are fuming about what happened out there. Hulk, of course, knows just how to sell this, and get the talking points over. Mr. T then shows up, and he had no intention of getting involved, but when he saw what was happening to Cyndi, how could he call himself a man if he didn’t?

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with Andy Warhol, who is speechless - blown away by what he saw out there. Poor Andy looked completely lost here, but he seemed genuine 

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with Joe Piscopo, and it’s clear that they’re literally pulling people out of the hallway and throwing them on TV. Joe compares it to a Springsteen concert

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with Billy Squier, who is furious that Orndorff smashed up one of his guitars 

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with Danny DeVito, who thinks Captain Lou is the greatest, and he’ll be doing a movie with him. Piper storms in mid-interview, still in a towel and dripping wet from the showers, in a nice touch. Roddy, of course, shifts blame to Hulk for ruining the match by bringing an outsider into it

BUExperience: I get that this was a joint production with MTV, but even with that in mind, I’m shocked at the level of celebrity access they were able to swing for this. Anyway, this is a touchstone of the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling era, and well worth a look.