WWE WrestleMania Flashback: Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart

This week’s WrestleMania flashback takes a look at the Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper Intercontinental title clash from 1992

Welcome to the latest installment in the WrestleMania Flashback series here at FanSided taking you all the way in to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando on Sunday, April 2 on the WWE Network.

In our previous journeys back in time, we’ve gone back five years to WrestleMania XXVIII to look at the “Once in a Lifetime” match between John Cena and The Rock and the “End of an Era” Hell in a Cell affair involving The Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, 10 years to look at the “Battle of the Billionaires” from WrestleMania 23 involving the current President of the United States, 15 years to the epic “Icon vs. Icon” battle at WrestleMania X8 between Hulk Hogan and The Rock, and just last week, we went back two decades to WrestleMania 13 to examine the game changer that was Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart.

This week, Bret Hart is back as we hit the Delorean to go back 25 years to examine the Intercontinental Championship match from WrestleMania VIII at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Let’s get to it.

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What you have to remember is that back then, the buildup for big matches had to start very early. Sure, there were weekly shows but nothing like we have today, and some of the bigger bouts at WrestleMania would have their seeds planted months and months in advance. The build for this match actually started at Summerslam in 1991. Bret Hart was breaking out as a singles star after years of being in the Hart Foundation and had a classic match with Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship. The Hitman won his first singles title in WWE that night and Rowdy Roddy Piper was actually on commentary and congratulated his longtime friend in accomplishing something that Piper himself had never done — win a singles title in WWE.

Hart would hold the Intercontinental title for a few months but in what’s always an interesting turn of events, would lose it to The Mountie at a house show just two days before the 1992 Royal Rumble. The story became that Hart was supposed to have a rematch at the pay-per-view but couldn’t compete due to illness and Piper stepped in to take his friend’s place, making a little history of his own by capturing his first singles title in WWE by defeating The Mountie. Soon after, Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper was announced for WrestleMania and we were off and running from there.

Piper initially refused to go through with the match, citing his respect for Bret and the entire Hart family but The Hitman talked Piper into it, saying that he wanted the chance to regain his title. Both men were babyfaces at the time and it almost looked as if Piper was going to turn at any point to make this the traditional good guy vs. bad guy thing but it never really happened; Rowdy came off a bit heelish at points in the buildup but never took it all the way. The respect was there, much like it had been two years earlier in the Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior match at WrestleMania VI, but it also had a bit of an edge to it as both wanted to see who the better man was and it turned into a great match in WrestleMania history.

The backstage interview before the match at WrestleMania VIII was a bit different as Mean Gene Okerlund had both men talking at the same time, something you rarely ever see. Piper tried to be a bit humorous but The Hitman was having none of it, keeping his “I’m all business” demeanor throughout the segment and it worked very well as Piper changed his tune towards the end and we were all set for the match.

Any wrestler always has to be at the top of their game when in the ring with Bret Hart and while Roddy Piper has never been one of the best in-ring technicians, he brought his “A” game to Indianapolis. The match started as face vs. face bouts usually do, with the two trading a couple of holds and nobody getting the clear advantage early on. The two locked up in old-school test of strength, which is sorely lacking in WWE these days, and exchanged wristlocks before Bret took the advantage with a hammerlock, which Rowdy just couldn’t get out of for a minute.

Hart followed it up with a dropkick but the storytelling came into play as Bret “hurt” his own shoulder in the process and Piper attacked. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, who was excellent on commentary as usual, says that Bret is faking and it’s confirmed when he tries a small package for a two-count. Piper gets up and just slaps Bret right across the face; great stuff there. Bret hits him with a crossbody in a bit of an awkward spot and both are out on the floor. Piper is back in first and proceeds to hold the ropes open so Bret can get back in cleanly, which he does, but goes a little heel and pops The Hitman in the eye as he’s lacing up his boot.

Bret is now bleeding profusely all over his all-pink attire and Piper is attacking him now. He nails a bulldog and gets a two-count of it. He then actually bites the cut followed by landing a high knee for another two-count, and just keeps after him until Bret fights back and lands a flying forearm that sends Piper back to the outside. We get another classic face vs. face spot with the double clothesline — Hogan and Warrior did the same thing in Toronto — that gives them both a chance to rest.

Piper’s up and goes to the top rope but Hart is to his feet soon after and slams Roddy’s head into the mat, going full-on Bret Hart with some of his classics: Atomic drop. Vertical suplex. Russian leg sweep. Backbreaker. All classics and all so perfectly executed. Bret sets up for the Sharpshooter but Piper blocks it. Hart drops a quick elbow and heads to the second rope for another but Piper gets a boot up; now the two are battling on their knees. Back on their feet, we get the obligatory ref bump that looked a little sideways but it still worked. Piper clotheslines Hart out of the ring and slams his already-bloodied face into the ring steps and it seems that he’s going to go full heel now as he grabs the ring bell and is going to bust Bret in the head with it. The ref is still out and would be none the wiser but Rowdy decides against it and slaps on the sleeper instead. The ref is moving a little bit now and Piper has the sleeper in deep but Hart walks towards the corner, climbs up and pushes himself off, landing on top of Roddy to get the victory in a beautiful finish to become the new Intercontinental Champion.

This match was a fantastic mix of technical wrestling and brawling and was also one of the few times in history that Rowdy Roddy Piper took a pinfall loss. This match also vaulted Bret Hart to the next level and solidified his position as the future of WWE. He would lose his Intercontinental Championship a few months later in an epic battle with British Bulldog at SummerSlam but would go on to win his first WWE Championship by defeating Ric Flair in the fall.

There are a lot of people who call this match a bit overrated but I think it was a classic example of in-ring psychology and storytelling coming together to create an enjoyable match that had the live crowd and those watching at home invested the entire time. Honestly, while this may not have been Bret Hart’s best match, one could argue that it was Piper’s.

Join us next week for the next installment of the WrestleMania Flashback series as I keep it right here at WrestleMania VIII and try to understand exactly why the dream match everyone was expecting didn’t happen, why the title match we did get went on where it did and dissect the debacle that was the end of the night.