All language subtitles for WWE Rivals - Season 5 - EP-02 - Rowdy Roddy Piper VS. Mr. T

- Mr. T and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
nose to nose

in the center of
the ring.

- Mr. T.

Serious point of contention.

- Describing Roddy Piper,

how about wild card-

- Oh, let's go.

- -renegade.

main eventer all day long.

- Roddy Piper has just gone
bananas.

- And then there's the
definition of pop culture icon.

- Wait a minute.

Hold on.

Here comes Mr. T
ladies and gentlemen.

- Mr. T was huge at that time.

- Whoa, Mr. T making an entrance
here.

- Now, chaos, I'm going to bring
it.

- Roddy Piper wasn't a guy that
anything was given to him.

He hated the act of someone
coming into the business,

and getting it handed to them.

- You're looking at someone that
will take your life.

- Everything he had worked so
hard from a young teen,

it just couldn't be taken down
by some actor

walking in the ring.

- If you bring me somebody
outside our business,

I'm going to eat his lunch.

- They didn't know that I knew
my stuff.

This is for real.

I can hold my
own.

I wasn't a powder puff.

- There was so much animosity.

There was no love in that ring.

- Oh, what is going on?

- Pandemonium.

- I want Piper.

I want Piper.

- You look like

[bleep] idiot.

- Look what Roddy just did.

- Good right.

- Have a nice day.

- I am coming to end your
career.

- I don't know how much more
personal it can get.

- When two legends collide,

their rivalry stays pinned in
our minds forever.

This is where we break down the
legendary stories

behind the greatest rivalries
of all time.

I'm Gabriel Iglesias

and this is

WWE Rivals.

- The war has just begun.

- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
versus Mr. T.

Having celebrities coming in

to be, uh, part of this world
wasn't always so welcoming.

And Piper, I felt, was one of
those guys who was just

old school, and it just needed
to be the people

that needed to be there,

not someone else coming
in to maybe take the limelight

away from those that worked so
hard to be there.

- I think the biggest thing with
Roddy Piper is he felt that he

wasn't really respected or
appreciated by-by Mr. T

in some sort of way

because I can't see Roddy Piper
just hating Mr. T.

- I can.

[laughing]

- I know, Roddy.

- What I think this guy is doing
to wrestling

is damn right sickening, man.

- There is that thing of him
wanting to protect the business.

and as far as the celebrity
being in the ring.

- Right.

- I think that's what
bothered Roddy.

- Because he felt it wasn't
earned.

- The fact that you're
prostituting my work,

just eats me inside.

- I didn't know Roddy Piper very
well, but I met him a few times.

It seemed to me like he had a
chip on his shoulder-

- Absolutely.

- -all the time.

About how good he
was,

how he thought people should
give him more credit

for how good he was,

and, you know, and then, you
know,

Mr. T's kind of a tough guy.

He's not tougher than me.

- Piper just didn't like him.

Just plain, flat out
did not like him.

Just never liked him from day
one.

- Roddy was born in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan.

It was a hard upbringing.

He always kind of felt like he
was an afterthought

in his family,
is what he would tell me.

Not a lot of hugs.

Not a lot of verbal
I love you's.

- I left home when I was 13.

I lived on the street for two
years.

So I had
a lot of, uh,

I had a lot of abandoment issues
and,

I was-I was angry.

I was lost.

- About this time was also when
he was visiting youth hostels

and going to gyms to work out,

and a owner of the gym and
promoters there

saw that he had something
and he fell into wrestling

and the right people saw him
and said,

"Hey son, you want to do this?"

And-and he did.

- Roddy Piper.

- And it just rolled and rolled
and rolled because he put

everything into it like he does
with everything.

- I'm so fortunate to have
wrestling,

and the way it evolved.

If it hadn't-

I-I would have been dead,

there's no doubt about it.

- Here's who I am in a nutshell.

I got seven brothers and four
sisters

living on the south side of
Chicago.

Welfare.

Food stamps.

My mother had to knock on her
neighbor's door

to borrow a quarter or 50 cent,

so I can have something to eat
when I go to school.

She would knock on Miss Johnson
door,

said, "Miss Johnson,
I hate to bother you,

but could you loan me a quarter
or 50 cent?

I'll give it back to you when
my welfare check come."

I want to give it to my kids."

- Like Roddy Piper,

Mr. T had to find his own way,

and the tough part of Chicago,

he had to fight to avoid
falling into all of the traps.

- Wrestling.

That's what kept me away from
the crime and drugs

and all the other stuff.

I was a couple years in high
school wrestling champ.

One time Muhammad Ali visited
the school.

He got on the public address
system.

He said, "I want the baddest cat
in school

to meet me in the gym room.

and the baddest kid out
here, his name is T,

the wrestling champ."

Muhammad Ali,
my childhood hero.

So that's my first wrestling
experience.

After high school, I was a
bodyguard and a boxer,

and a bouncer at the disco.

I had a reputation, you know,

being the tough bodyguard,
the bouncer,

and that's who I am.

At the same time,

NBC had this contest.

- Games People Play.

- They wanted to find out
who was the toughest bouncer

in America.

so I entered the
contest on NBC.

- And all of a sudden,
here is this colorful character,

and he comes across like a
genuine badass,

and then you never know who's
watching, right?

- Sylvester Stallone.

He goes to one
of the biggest

movie franchises in the
history of America,

and being a toe to
toe legitimate rival

to Rocky Balboa,.

- You know, you've got a big
mouth, you know?

- Why don't you come down and
close it Balboa?

Come on,
come on.

- Mr. T was unlike

anything, anyone had really seen

when he burst onto the pop
culture scene in the 80's.

- At the time, Mr. T's probably

one of the most
recognizable celebrities.

- It just keep getting bigger.

I was invited to the White
House.

Kid from the ghetto get invited
to the White House

to meet the President Ronald
Reagan, wife, Nancy Reagan.

Me.

Wow.

- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

What an ovation.

- Roddy Piper

in the mid 80's has

gone to WWE,

and you now have the top bad guy
in the entire business.

- The boss is back.

- Everything Roddy got in this
business, he earned it,

and I don't think anyone did it
like Roddy Piper.

- Just when they think they got
the answers,

I change the questions.

- Mic skills top 1%.

- 'Cause I was rowdy before
rowdy was cool.

At that time-

- During the 80's,

the wrestling business was
changing.

- You have just tuned in to the
Rock and Wrestling Connection

right here on MTV.

- It was a crazy time frame to
see suddenly

the biggest celebrities
in the world,

and you're seeing
them with wrestlers.

- I have a gold and
platinum record

to give to

the World Wrestling
-- and the fans.

- WWE starts to become

this pop culture thing.

- You gotta remember too,

without us, they're nothing.

- Oh look out.

- Either way this became
mainstream popular.

- This was different.

There was something really big
going on,

like bigger than I ever
imagined,

like this was huge.

- And so, for Mr. T

WWE would be a natural venue
for that kind of personality.

Without doubt.

- WWE was trying to figure out
who the key players were

in pop culture,

who were willing
to play ball,

and also who made sense as a
brand fit.

- We were watching the A-Team.

We sure as heck were watching
Rocky III,

and there were big brains and
big voices that said,

"These are the eyeballs we
need on our product."

- I was in the Rocky movie

and Mr. T had been a friend of
mine from the movie.

We had a conversation.

One thing led to another, and
we got this

whole new plan in motion.

You know, we said we could do
business with him.

It was strictly business.

- WWE was establishing what it
was going to become.

It was saying, this wrestling
thing is great,

but if we add a more clear layer
of just outright entertainment,

then we have a spectacle.

- And welcome to Madison Square
Garden.

Tonight, ladies and gentlemen,
the War to Settle the Score.

The hottest ticket in town.

- At the time, I had a rivalry
with Piper,

and the War to Settle the Score
was a big blow off

between me and him.

- And tonight, Heavyweight
Champion Hulk Hogan

with a title defense against
challenger "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

In the corner of "Rowdy" Roddy,
his bodyguard,

his arm in a sling,
Ace "Cowboy" Bob Orton.

- He had Orton.

I had Cyndi Lauper.

I mean, it was just crazy.

- Cyndi Lauper she was a female
vocalist of the year that year.

That has nothing to do with
business,

and it's stupid.

I mean, just one on one stupid.

- Madison Square Garden will be
roofless,

minutes from now.

They'll blow the top off this
joint.

[bell rings]

- It's underway.

- Eventually,

unforeseen circumstances work
their way into the match.

Paul "Mr. Wonderful"Orndorff,

Roddy Piper's flunky gets
involved.

- Orndorff.

- Oh, come on please.

- Look out.

- Oh, you got to be kidding me.

- Cyndi Lauper up on the apron

trying to come to the
Hulk's assistance.

- Wait a minute.

What in the world is going on
here?

- Well, guess who's sitting in
the front row.

- Wait a minute.

Hold on.

- Mr. T, over the railing.

- Cyndi Lauper jumps in.

So then I think Orndorff or
whatever,

they slapped her head off.

- Oh, no.

- You know, then I say, "You
can't do that to no lady."

- Mr. T, to the aid of Cyndi
Lauper.

He got her out of there.

They're fighting him inside the
ring.

- This is so good because he was
a massive star then.

- I mean-

- You're as big as you
get at the time, right?

- About as big as you could
possibly get-

- Yeah.

- -in a legit tough guy, and
everybody knew it.

- Mr. T on his feet.

- Everyone's on their feet.

- So then I came up, and I just-

I wasn't supposed to.

I just came up to T and slapped
him.

- Oh,

Piper nailed him from behind.

[chuckles]

- What is this?

- All of a sudden,

a New York City policeman with a
uniform and a gun

is in the ring,

and then comes another one.

Like everybody that's not
supposed to be in there,

is in there.

What's going on?

- Well, we've got a madhouse
here.

- Three of them come back now.

Security holding everyone back.

- It was-

[laughing]

I live for this now because
it's so old,

and think about it, you know,

it was madder than
The Keystone cops.

- What is going on?

Ladies and gentlemen.

- It's pandemonium.

- What happened to our match?

- It was just wild.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

[bell rings]

the winner of this bout as a
result of a disqualification,

Hulk Hogan.

[bell rings]

- Dude, what about Mr. T?

- Hulk Come on in.

- The dude was just sitting in
the audience, man.

He came by my side like a blood
brother.

I love you, man.

I love you.

- I love you, you know I like
you ever since we did

Rocky III man.

And then when I saw him sitting
around the ring,

I just liked to see a good
match.

I like to go to wrestling,

but I don't like to see no stuff
going on unfair

When the guy hits Cyndi,
I don't like that.

I think that's a chump and a
sissy,

you gotta hit a lady, you know.

- For Mr. T, it was the easy way
to interject him, you know,

in a really high profile main
event way.

- The only way this guy holds
his title is he has this-

he has this stupid guy with some
ridiculous haircut.

If you want this geek, Mr. T, to
come in,

I'll be glad to put an X where
the T is.

I don't really give a damn, man.

- But shortly after that, it was
like crazy.

- It's now official.

It will be Hulk Hogan, Mr. T
against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper,

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff,
WrestleMania.

- We're going to be ready for
these guys

the Piper and Orndorff,
and whoever else he got.

The broken arm-

- Mr. T came in and it was just
like, "Are you kidding me?"

It's Hollywood.

It's WWE that's happening
together.

This is like, "Wow."

- Oh man, that was heat.

- It's just so much heat.

Piper was so entertaining in
this.

- The heat was supposed to be

I feel like between
Hogan and Piper,

but it really was more with
Piper and Mr. T.

- You're looking at someone that
will take you

and make nothing of you.

will take your life and not
even think twice about it.

I have been brought up old, old
school.

One of the
rules is this.

If you bring me

somebody outside
our business,

I'm going to eat his lunch.

I don't care who he is.

If I don't, he's going to come
in, laugh, go ha ha, and go back

out and tell him what a bunch of
baloney we all are.

- Here you have Roddy Piper, who
has devoted time, energy,

sacrifice to this craft.

And then there's the definition
of the gatecrasher,

Mr. T.

Who is he?

- It's Hollywood guys coming in
to our business,

and you feel this human nature
need to-

to try to protect it or insulate
it from the outside.

This is this thing I love.

I don't want people to ruin it
or disrespect it.

- The fact that you're
prostituting my work,

just eats me inside.

You see, this sport saved my
life,

literally,

and it gave me a family

that I didn't have.

I was protecting every one of
those people.

I was protecting the entire
business for everybody.

T, ah Mr. T were supposed to
call him Mr.

Are you ribbing me?

- You knew that that heat was
real.

I remember this interview where
Roddy Piper approached Mr. T,

who was on the set.

- Well, here I am on the A-Team.

Of course, I'm creeping up on
the back of Mr. T, I can tell

you that because it's got it
written right here on the back

of your chair.

- He's telling Mr. T, what is it
like to portray someone like me,

a legitimate badass?

- How does it feel to be
portraying someone like myself?

- Well, you ain't nothing, man.

- Oh.

- You could see the two of them
getting in each other's face.

- Cyndi Lauper, she happened to
be my friend.

You call yourself tough because
you you can punch on a lady.

- Here you are,

you shave your head on both
sides,

she dyes hers orange.

- Watch it now.

Watch it now.

- What you're doing is

you're supporting all these
wonderful children.

- That's right.

- Now, how can they look up to
you,

with you looking like that,
her with long hair.

The children of American today
must be sick

to look at someone-

- Hey, hey, hey, hey

[yelling]

- I have felt the tension of
Piper,

that wasn't scripted, you know.

- You mess with me T,

I'll put an X on your name,
brother.

- As a wrestling fan back then,

I couldn't wait for Mr. T

to get in the ring,
and do something.

Come on out Mr. T,

that wonderful human being.

- The barbaric mindset of Piper
and Orndorff.

He's an actor.

He's not a wrestler.

We're just going to break his
legs.

- This is exactly what you could
end up looking like here.

And there would be no more
A-Team.

No more nothing.

I'm giving you one more chance.

Give it up and get out of here.

- Guys, please.

You guys cannot

hurt him,

break his leg,

knock his teeth out.

- We can do it right now.

I'm a street guy.

I'm a guy from the other side of
the tracks.

I can hold my own.

I wasn't a powder puff.

You really made me mad.

He-he didn't get it at first,
you know,

Just say, hey, "He come in and
make a mockery of our living,

so we're going to try to
brutalize him."

I guess he thought I was just
some guy who come in

and not keep wrestling
in a good light.

They didn't know that

I used to really wrestle in high
school.

They didn't know that I knew my
stuff.

- Mean Gene on the scene.

Hulk Hogan, Mr. T,
"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff,

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper

WrestleMania coming up here for
a training session

that I cannot believe.

- Come on T for Piper, man.

- That was the first round of
WrestleMania.

I said, "I got to get ready.

This ain't no joke."

I said "My reputation is on the
line."

- Come on T.

You gotta stick and move, man.

Come on, stick and move.

- They had to find out

that I wasn't just passing
through wrestling.

I was legit.

I'm honored to be a part.

I'm honored to be with you guys.

I want to give the guys they
respect, and they do.

- Are you ready?

- Let's do it.

- Do it slow and mean.

Come on,
come on.

- Of course, Roddy Piper,
he's not looking at that.

The only thing Piper sees is a
guy coming in,

trying to perhaps taking your
spot.

- They're out training.

You think in three miserable
weeks you can get in good enough

shape to take on us?

- All right, baby.

All right.

We did it, man.

We did it.

All right, brother.

All right, all right.

- You saw that they were taking
this very seriously.

Like he needed to be in peak
condition because

especially if somebody's not a
trained professional wrestler,

that's where things can really
go awry.

- But you also have to
understand the historical

significance of this first
WrestleMania.

This thing doesn't work.

There's not WrestleMania Two

- Maybe not even WWE anymore.

- That's right.

- Because we went into
WrestleMania One,

I remember there was a fear

that the whole company was going
to go bust.

Like WrestleMania One would be
the one big show,

and it's a big flop and kind of
kills the whole business.

- Our whole lives were on the
line.

This is what's either going to
make us or break us.

The whole world knows about
this man, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

That's why we were on every
single show,

every single program.

The schedule was relentless.

- March 31st WrestleMania,
Mr. T, Hulk Hogan,

running wild daddy.

- Hulkamania, hypomania.

- We are the dream team.

The best thing to ever happen
to wrestling.

- To host Saturday Night Live

was being anointed.

Very few celebrities reached
that level.

- About 12 hours from now,

Madison Square Garden,
WrestleMania, that is.

- You see, Mr. T getting a lot
of benefits,

and you're working just as hard

and you're not getting as many
benefits.

I think that there is some
resentment.

It was personal.

- When the very first
WrestleMania came along,

hype was so high.

- Roddy Piper, right here.

- New York, Madison Square
Garden,

whew, it was electric.

- Tickets for Sunday's sold out
brawl at the Garden have been

going for as much as $100 a pop.

- We were all excited about
putting our best foot forward.

This is our opportunity to gain
some more momentum.

Everything was on the line that
night at WrestleMania.

But then I get this crazy call
screaming,

"Hogan, Hogan."

I was ready to have a nervous
breakdown.

- WrestleMania One,

Hulk Hogan and Mr. T

versus Roddy Piper and
"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.

- Piper's gonna get it.

- It's such a big platform,

and of course, it's really
setting the tone for-

for so many WrestleManias to
come.

- Because at the time, like you
said, it was the first one.

And fans typically will-

It's hard to accept someone from
the outside,

and it's a big challenge for
whoever the person is,

whatever, however big a
celebrity you might be.

- The day of WrestleMania,

I get this crazy call screaming

"Hogan, Hogan, Mr. T is
downstairs and he's leaving."

There's like a spiral drive up
to the Garden.

I went running down the spiral
and right when I got there,

there was this extra long white
stretch limo,

and Mr. T's got, like, 15 people
he's herding in the car.

"We're out of here.
I'm done.

I ain't wrestling."

- Mr. T was so hard to do
business with

even the day of the Garden.

Mr. T wanted two limousines of
people.

Frank Sinatra
doesn't but T does.

He, "Oh, then
I'll just leave,"

you know, doing that old
baloney.

- He was looking for a reason
not to get in the ring,

basically, he was getting cold
feet.

- I wasn't surprised.

Eat my shorts.

- I stopped the limo driver.

"You're not going anywhere."

I said "He's not getting out of
my sight."

So I sat in a room with him for,
like, 3-3.5 hours.

And, man, he was just soul
searching.

- There's a lot of distractions,
you know, I'm trying to think

about what I got to do.

Everybody's trying to calm me
down.

"It's all right.

Just remember the stuff we
practice on.

Don't forget your move
that you're supposed to do.

Concentrate on that."

- Once we got out to the ring
in, that red light came on.

He was there.

- Welcome, everyone, to
wrestling extravaganza

of all time,
WrestleMania.

- The first WrestleMania,

it was electric, first of all,
because there was no game plan.

There was no book.

Nobody knew how we were going to
get anywhere.

- This was just a mega event.

It was all brand new, so it all
seemed like a spectacle.

- There he is.

- Billy Martin, guest ring
announcer.

One of the greatest baseball
managers in history.

- You got Billy Martin there.

You got the Liberace and the
Rockettes.

Man, you got Muhammad Ali.

- The Greatest, looking
tremendous.

- Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper.

This is the genesis of the first
WrestleMania,

but the real life heat between
Piper and T-

- Look at the look on Piper's
face.

One of disdain and disgust.

- -this felt even more
dangerous.

- Mr. T and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
nose to nose

in the center of the ring.

- Hulk Hogan said "Man, watch
that guy, man.

He's really mad."

- Wow.

Slap across the face and a
return slap by Mr. T.

- He slapped me,

and I slapped him back and he
said, "Don't hold back on me and

I won't hold back on you."

- Oh.

Piper now goes behind quickly
takes him down to the canvas.

- I demanded that with T,

the only thing I'd do is
amateur wrestling with him,

because I heard he was an
amateur wrestler.

- Piper pushed his animosity
aside and he told Mr. T,

"Pick me up in a fireman's
carry."

- Oh, nice fireman's carry.

- Piper's a total professional.

He wanted the match to be
memorable.

- Oh.

Drops him like yesterday's
newspaper.

- And that was the photo that
went all over the world.

- Look out T now in the wrong
corner.

Here comes the Hulk.

- And all four of them are going
at it in the corner.

Ace Bob Orton is getting into
the ring.

- Cowboy Bob Orton, who is
supposed to be Piper's

bodyguard, scampers up the
ropes.

- Look out.

- Oh, he hit Orndorff.

- His intended target is, uh,
Hulk Hogan and, um,

he winds up hitting
Mr. Wonderful,

and it ends in the most chaotic
fashion.

- He got him.

- He got him.

Unbelievable.

Pandemonium here in the Garden.

- And the winners of the main
event, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

- The ending was, for a lot of
fans, a bit unsatisfying.

- There were a lot of different
scenarios that were discussed

for that match, but there was no
payoff for this whole rivalry

between Roddy Piper and Mr. T.

- We're left hungry.

We want to see what will
ultimately happen when we do get

Roddy against T,

and so we set on a path where
that happens,

just not exactly in the way
people thought it would.

- Just when
the WWE

believes it knows
all the answers,

the Rowdy one changes the
questions.

His latest bombshell is boxer
Bob Orton.

- Bob Orton, of course, was like
the ne'er do well bad guy friend

of Roddy Piper.

- We thought that we would
put an open contract

out for anybody who has ever had
the wrestling trunks on.

It's a funny thing, the boxing
match at a wrestling show, if

- If you nt to put the gloves
on, this is all you got to do.

- But again, this was going to
become something bigger.

- You just got to step up and
say "Boo."

- Roddy Piper, he starts
issuing, you know,

open challenges.

Who wants to get some of this?

- Well, Bozo visits the zoo,
my goodness.

Are you kidding?

Are you trying to tell me that
you have come out on here

because you want to don the
boxing gloves.

- Hulk Hogan shows up.

Hulk's not a boxer, but guess
who is.

- I don't give a damn whose name
you put on there.

You sign it, he'll fight him.

Mr. T?

- Mr. T.

Mr. T, if I can have your
attention.

T.

- What do you want fool?

Don't you see
I'm trying to work out?

Trying to get ready.

You don't come interviewing
nobody when I'm working out.

Now get that microphone out of
my face.

- Wait a minute.

I was just trying to explain to
our audience

that you're going to be

putting on the gloves tonight
against Bob Orton

- Hulk Hogan signs Mr. T up and
everybody goes crazy.

Now we have this match between
Cowboy Bob Orton and Mr. T.

Well, it made more sense because
T was a legit boxer.

- Come on, get up.

Get up.

- You were going into a boxing
match.

There's an element of danger
there, too.

That's still a performance,

but also this two physical
worlds colliding.

- Of course, Mr. T, we all saw
you in Rocky III.

- Yeah, Rocky III was just a
movie.

But this is for real.

- What are you hiding your
face for huh?

I would hide my face if I was
that ugly.

- As they come to center ring
now

for tonight's ten round
matchup.

Look what-

Look what

Look at what Roddy just did.

- Now, okay, I said, "I'm going
to bring it."

- Look at the jab by T.

Very impressive.

- Mr. T hammering away.

- Roddy Piper on the apron.

- Obviously intentionally
distracting the referee,

and look what happened behind
the referee's back.

Roddy with a right.

Oh, he hit Orton.

Mr. T connects.

T spins around left hand.

Orton over the top rope.

T waiting for Orton to step back
in.

No, did not make the count.

Mr. T wins.

- Mr. T knocks out Cowboy Bob
Orton.

- Here comes Piper.

Wait a minute.

- That leads to an altercation
with Roddy Piper.

- Wait a minute.

- Here comes T.

From behind the knee of Orton
into the back of Mr. T.

It's one on two.

- Oh they clutch-

Look at what they're doing to
him now.

- Oh.

- Oh, come on.

- I wasn't expecting that.

I thought it'd be some clean
fight,

but they're dirty.

- I thank you very much.

He is Mr. T.

Ladies and gentlemen, you heard
what he said.

He wants "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

- And that leads into
WrestleMania Two.

- Standing by on the set of the
A-Team in Los Angeles,

California right now, Mr. T.

- That's right all you wrestling
fans out there,

you seen what happened to
me on March the 1st?

That's right.

So that means it's going to be
Mr. T and Piper

in WrestleMania Two.

- WrestleMania
Two, in 1986,

they pitted myself

against Mr. T in a boxing match.

- I think the boxing thing plays
for a couple of reasons.

We'd be remiss to not point out
how big Mr. T's role was.

in Rocky III.

You're tapping into this part of
people's sort of collective

subconscious that's like,

"I've seen Mr. T be a badass
boxer before,

but at the same time,
Piper is more of a fighter than

a technical wrestler himself."

Boxing is the perfect fit.

- Give me that double underhook.

Come on, underneath.

- Roddy Piper is trained by
Lou Duva,

a legendary figure in boxing.

What's the response from Mr. T?

I'm going to get my help from
Joe Frazier,

who at the time is as iconic a
figure in all of sports

as anyone in the world.

- Right, right.

- Smokin'.

- Both of those guys had that
intensity, that fight in them to

go out there, and neither one of
them was going to back down.

He's got
this vendetta

because he
could not get

a hold of
me last time

at WrestleMania,

now he wants
to box me,

this crazed idiot.

- Yeah, I hope you can see this
here, Piper.

I'm wearing this little funny
skirt that you've been wearing.

It's coming back to me about
the rubber chicken.

This is a chicken because Piper
is a chicken.

It was just so funny, man.

- After this fight, I'll prove
there's two things T can't do

is act and fight.

I suppose we all know he can't
act.

That's why there's nothing left
of the A-Team.

- The A-Team was starting to
decline.

The show would be canceled later
on in 1986,

so he was kind of saying things
that seemed to be

a little bit true.

- You know why I'm talking to
you?

'Cause you got more brains than
T does.

- I don't think they could have
gotten as heated as it did

without having some real
friction.

- Tea?

Tea.

I hate tea.

[sigh]

- There was so much bad blood,

I didn't know what was going to
happen.

- The moment of truth is right
around the corner.

Are you ready?

- Yeah, I'm ready for Piper.

Hope Piper is ready for me.

- Hi, everybody.

Mean Gene Okerlund

here at WrestleMania Two.

You can cut the electricity in
the air.

- I say this to you.

I say if Mr. T can knock me out
in this fight right here,

I would not only quit
professional boxing,

I would quit and retire
professional wrestling.

I would quit dating girls.

- It's time for the main event.

A scheduled ten rounds of
boxing.

- In WrestleMania Two,

now we boxing.

First of all, let me tell you,
people out there suffering,

it's not my idea to be talking
right before a big fight.

I don't like to do a lot of
talking.

My fists are gonna do the
talking in the ring.

You know, we can talk all day.

I don't know what I might do to
Piper, but I know it's going to

be getting hurt out there.

Oh, look at that.

- We had the gloves on.

[bell rings]

- All right, round one.

- We was punching and whatnot,

so that's what we're going to
do.

- Roddy begins to throw jabs.

- I remember Roddy Piper
throwing the jab

throwing the jab
and Piper always-

he was always good with his
hands.

- Piper, look at this.

- And, Mr. T, uh, you get hit
one time,

the first thing you're going to
do is fire back.

- T with a peekaboo.

Look at this.

Not getting hit at all.

Look at the left hand by Mr. T.

the whole notion that anything

can be completely and totally
scripted is false.

- Oh.

- They wanted me to do a
particular spot.

That spot was

Mr. T catches me
with a left hook,

and I go out of the ring onto
the floor.

I refused again to put him over,

but, um, I said, "Okay, just
this spot."

So it's coming time for that
spot.

- Piper wide open now.

He's catching punches from T.

- I'm doing my job.

I'm doing what I need to do.

So I'm going bom bom bom bom.

Here comes the left hook.

- Oh.

- Oh, right out of the ring.

Right out of the ring.

- The only thing is

he missed.

He missed the left hook,

you [bleep] idiot.

I'd rather you knock my teeth
down my throat

than hit me with a popcorn
punch.

You idiot.

You idiot.

- He said real boxers don't know
how to pull their punches,

but that never was my intention
to hurt him or whatever,

you know.

- We're doing everything
possible

to get Piper back into
the ring.

- I know there's no playbook
here,

but it's a lot more serious
than everybody's thinking

I'm the only one in there.

I take the heat.

You know, I-

there's not many
guys that can hold the line.

Never a sailor was made on a
calm sea,

and I was brought up in such a
stormy weather that I-

You can't make me back up.

You have to kill me.

- Both fighters are weary at
this juncture.

- I got this idiot.

I'm trying to see what's going
on.

I don't know what he's going to
do.

Nobody's telling me nothing.

Nothing.

And I was giving him my heart.

Serious point of contention.

- You can see Piper holding on.

[bell rings]

- End of the round.

- I have to imagine that they
had some semblance of an idea

of how it was going to go,

but did anybody know what was
actually going on here?

You know?

It sort of seems like
real chaos to some extent.

- It can get dangerous in there
if somebody doesn't really

know what they're doing.

- You get out there and get
lost.

Deer in the headlights and
somebody's hurt.

- Yeah, but there's also that,
like, you never know what

Mr. T is capable of.

- Now, look at T over in the
corner of Roddy Piper.

- There's no communication
happening,

so I'm in the ring going,

"What do you want me to do with
this guy?

What if I just took him out?"

[bell rings]

- Oh, look at that.

- Beginning of round four.

- Uh oh.

Uh oh.

I told ya, Vince.

- Oh my.

I told ya.

[bell rings]

- Okay.

If I just take this guy out
without telling him,

What am I
going to do?

I got my business
on my shoulders.

There's a lot of rules

and we'll never
get to them all

to go in there and snake him.

That's just as bad.

- Round four.

They're going punch for
roundhouse punch.

- Oh, and a right hand by Piper.

- Come on, oh.

- One by T.

- Clearly, it doesn't look like
a real boxing match.

It actually resembles a real
fight.

- Oh, what a right hand by Roddy
Piper

knocked Mr. T's mouthpiece right
out.

- Roddy did not want to be
beaten by an actor.

Everything he had worked so
hard from a young teen was now

worldwide.

So this huge image he had built,

it just couldn't be taken down

by some actor walking in the
ring.

- And a right by Piper.

And a left.

- Piper just says, "You know
what, I'm done boxing

and it's a
little more physical.

- Referee trying to get between
them now.

Bring them back out.

Wait a minute.

- Oh, wait a minute.

Come on.

Oh, wait a minute.

I knew this was coming.

[bell rings]

- Everyone jumps in the ring.

- Look at this.

All the men in there.

- It turns into complete chaos.

- Piper is right back on top
of him.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
the decision

as a result of a
disqualification, Mr. T.

- So finally, Piper
disqualified.

And is no doubt,

Mr. Piper was bending and
breaking the rules all the way

through the match up.

- It's probably for me,

it's one of the matches I'm most
ashamed of I think.

Um, I should have taken
him out.

- This is not Mr. T's fault, by
the way.

I don't care who you stick
opposite a Piper in there.

You're not going to have a good
working boxing match

to give a big payoff.

It's just stuff like that
just doesn't work.

- Yeah, but while their match
may not have been a five star

match, they still, I mean,

it just shows the
drawing power of that rivalry

that they had.

- Here we are.

Like how many years later and
we're talking about it.

So how can you say that it's
not.

Oh, it wasn't a good match.

Well, we're here talking about
it, brother.

Like, it's it's history.

And a favorite memory.

- Here's the irony of the whole
thing.

For two years, Roddy Piper has
done nothing but complain

about outsider Mr. T,

trespassing on the sacred
wrestling business.

- But wait a second.

What does Roddy Piper end up
doing?

He goes Hollywood.

- In '87, a director asked me if
I would star in his next movie.

I got two kids and another
kid on the way.

What do I do?

I do a movie.

I have come here to chew
bubblegum and kick ass,

and I'm all out of bubblegum.

- The stars coming from
Hollywood,

coming into wrestling.

We're opposed to that.

But wrestlers going in to
Hollywood, that's cool.

- Whether he ever actually sat
down and wrote a handwritten

thank you note to Mr. T to say,

"Mr. T, thank you for showing
me the way to Hollywood."

Somehow I don't think that note
was ever delivered.

- With everything that
transpired between

these two guys,

you fast forward to WrestleMania
30 where Mr. T gets

inducted into the Hall of Fame.

- Whose speech are you looking
most forward to tonight?

- Uh, Mr. T's.

- Yeah?

- I'm glad that he's getting
inducted

into the celebrity
ward.

That's good.

- I am so happy to be here,

and to stand among the very best
in wrestling.

- A bunch of the original
superstars that were in

WrestleMania One were backstage.

- You know something, guys,

30 years of WrestleManias,

we need to bury this hatchet
right now.

Be men about it, Piper.

- And then Mr. T offers his hand
to Roddy Piper.

[groaning]

- Good.

- Done.

[laughing]

- I thought I was going to die
in here tonight, man.

- Thank you.

- Why'd you hit me so damn hard,
man?

You almost killed me
for heaven's sake.

- No, it's alright man.

It's alright man.

- No, it's not alright.

- It's alright brother.

- It showed that maybe there was
finally this closure,

this ending, this-
this peace.

I feel like it just came full
circle for this moment,

for the two of them to finally
put their beefs at rest

and have
this moment.

- Me and Piper.

We just hugged.

We shook hands and we talked.

We came together.

- That day they bonded.

It was the first time Piper was

"Man, I'm so sorry, I was an
[bleep] to you."

"I was an [bleep], too."

And I listened to the
conversation.

It was like two guys that
actually really made friends,

and brothers at that time.

- Roddy Piper versus Mr. T,

we can easily call that the
start of Sports Entertainment.

It's the beginning of a path.

- Bad bunny, crossbody.

- There's another world to go
to,

and Mr. T's involvement,

that was a critical part of all
of it,

and I think it opened the door
for when the rest of the world

crosses over with the business
we love.

- This is exactly what you could
end up looking like here.

- This business owes a lot to
that rivalry between

Hot Rod Roddy Piper and Mr. T.

- They did some special stuff
together.

WrestleMania One and Two were
still huge moments in wrestling,

and that's something that even
if you don't really get along

with whoever you're partnered
with for WrestleMania,

it's a big moment to share with
someone.

- What is going on?

Ladies and gentlemen.

- It's pandemonium.

- Their real life animosity,

it helped, you know, really sell
that rivalry and set the tone

for-for WrestleManias to come.

- I don't know what I might do
to Piper,

but I know he's going to be
getting hurt out there.

- It was just insane

with nothing but excitement
and electricity,

and it sure worked.

- Mr. T connects.

- What a ride.

I can only say what a ride.

- It was competitive and there
was a whole bunch of animosity.

I'll be glad to put an X where
the T is.

I don't really give a damn, man.

Just another day at the WWE.

[laughing]