WrestleMania Rewind : WrestleMania VIII - Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

#3 The Fall-out

Rowdy Roddy Piper took a hiatus from the WWE after Wrestlemania 8, but by the end of 1992, Bret Hart had won the WWE Championship from Ric Flair. He went on the become “ The best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be”, serving as the face of the company for 5 years, until the notoriously infamous Montreal Screwjob played out. The match that Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart had with Rowdy Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 8 had served as a turning point in his career, propelling him towards top gold in the company. If not taken in that context, then purely as a match, it entertained nonetheless.

Rowdy Roddy Piper later remarked that he would have liked to have a longer run as a face, and it was perhaps with the audience reaction to this match in mind that he felt that way. And justifiably so, for it was truly one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches in history. It had solid in-ring action that hardly slackened off the pace, on the back of some fantastic promo work from Piper in setting up the match. The audience was invested heavily in the match and the outcome of the match was the right result for everybody. It might have been the more technically sound Bret Hart who walked away with the victory, but the brawler Roddy Piper made the match.