Piper's Pit

In 1986, Roddy Piper was a huge influence on the WWF crowds and, he was proving to be a major factor in the company. He had been feuding with Adrian Adonis. They both had talk shows. Roddy was the host of Piper's Pit, an evolutionary idea thought up by Hot Rod himself. Adrian, who often wore makeup, had the Flower Shop. On the set, he graced himself as a garden and bad-mouthed Roddy and various others. On this day twenty-one years ago at a Baltimore TV Taping, both shows were being filmed simultaneously. "Magnificent" Don Muraco was Piper's guest at the time when Adonis and ally "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr. ran over and destroyed the Pit and its host with the help of Muraco. Later in the taping, even though it was aired differently from the Pit's end, Piper showed up with a Louisville Slugger at the Flower Shop set. He took the bat to Adrian's home, and ultimately gained revenge. Not long after Piper's Pit was destroyed, a new set was revealed. The Flower Shop would never be reproduced. In its original three year run from 1984 to 1987, Piper's Pit would go on to be one of the most influential segments in WWF history.
Piper's Pit produced several other memorable moments in its brief history. Here is a list of major events excluding the Adonis encounter. In an early edition, it looked as if Piper and his guest Jimmy Snuka were getting along until Piper started to insult Snuka's heritage. After a round of jokes, Piper turned around and belted Snuka in the head with a coconut. That would go on to be the defining moment of the Pit. Following that moment in 1986, Piper and Orton Jr., then allies, kidnapped the Haiti Kid and shaved his head. Another edition involved Andre the Giant. Piper said it was amazing that Andre had a "big body and a teeny, weeny brain". After Andre pushed Piper around, Piper shouted "Andre, do you want to fight? You don't throw rocks at a man whose got a machine gun." In 1985 , an ongoing staple was insulting Mr.T which would led to Orndorff turning on his friend Piper after they lost to Hogan and T. One of the first guests was jobber Frankie Williams whom Piper attacked a shouted ,"Just when they think they've got the answers, I change the questions!" Andre actually turned on good friend Hogan with the persuasion of Bobby Heenan on a 1987 episode of Piper's Pit. At Wrestlemania V after many attempts to stop Morton Downey Jr. from smoking, Piper sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. In 2003, Sean O'Haire smashed a coconut over Rikishi's head on the Pit set. The most recent edition was in June'06 when The Great Khali was the guest. The Pit will probably continue to make sporadic appearances over the years. The basic fact is that without The Pit, Roddy Piper would have never been the man that he was and the performer that created hilarious skits. "The Hot Rod" added something more than wrestling ability to the sport, he added comedy. Therefore, he will always be remembered as the trouble making comedian that he was.