WWE: Born to Controversy - The Roddy Piper Story (2006)

Reported by Ernest Aguilar Zevallos

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First, I want to say that Roddy Piper is the reason why I'm a wrestling fan today.

With that said, I'm very disappointed with this DVD set. The extras, which I'll get to

in a minute, are tremendous and it's worth buying this DVD set for them alone, but

the documentary is easily the WORST ever produced by WWE. This documentary makes the

Dusty Rhodes documentary look like pure truth. I was hoping to learn a great deal about Piper,

his days in Portland Wrestling, his legendary feud with Ric Flair over the NWA United States

Title and the truth surrounding his most controversial moments in wrestling. Instead, I get

a documentary that offers no new info that I haven't already heard or read about, and it's almost

entirely presented in kayfabe!?

It's insulting as a fan that Piper and his opponents expect us to believe that they never really

knew how the angles and matches were going to turn out and that they just unfolded. Come on!

For example, both Piper and Snuka talk about their famous Piper's Pit segment as if it were a shoot.

Most WWE documentaries do this from one degree to another, but this is the first that has done it

for nearly the entire feature. Very disappointing. Also, Piper was at his BEST during his stint in Portland

Wrestling and the NWA, but if you blink you'll miss the part about Portland and they only talk about

Piper's Dog Collar match with Greg Valentine from the first Starrcade when talking about his time in

the NWA. Piper came into the NWA and was so hot at the time that he quickly feuded with

Ric Flair and they traded the NWA United States Title! No clips of these matches are even shown or

talked about. Also, speaking of Portland Wrestling, they didn't even show Piper's infamous beer bottle

promo, where he slammed a real and sealed beer bottle into his forehead. The bottle explodes sending

beer and glass everywhere, as he proceeds to cut a promo on the Sheepherders, blood pours out of his head.

THAT is the "Rowdy" Roddy Piper I remember, but all we get here is the watered down kids version of Piper

that we saw in the WWF.

However, with that said, I must say that the extras save this DVD set and the extras are tremendous!

I would have loved to see more Portland and Mid-Atlantic matches, but they did include some

classic moments here. Plus, they included some rare Piper matches from Saturday Night's Main Event

which was a show were Piper really shined during his WWF stint. If that wasn't enough, the WWE has

devoted the third DVD in this set to Piper's Pit! That's right, disc 3 is nothing but the BEST of Piper's

Pit from the WWF and later the WWE. Here's the full rundown of the DVD and the extras...

Disc One:

1. The Documentary

2. Piper Stories - 12 in all!

3. Roddy Piper & Mike Popovich vs. Buddy Rose & Rip Oliver - Portland Wrestling

4. Roddy Piper vs. Buddy Rose Northwest Heavyweight Title - Portland Wrestling

5. Roddy Piper vs. Jack Brisco - Mid - Atlantic Heavyweight Title (Piper's promo after

this match is classic!!!!)

6. Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine - Dog Collar match for the NWA US Title Starrcade '83

Disc Two:

1. Roddy Piper & Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr.T - WrestleMania I

2. Roddy Piper vs. Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff - Saturday Night's Main Event (this was a

great brawl for the time)

3. Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T - Boxing Match from WrestleMania II, easily one of the worst

blunders in WWE history, they even admit it on the DVD. Why it's on here is a mystery.

4. Roddy Piper vs. The Iron Shiek - Saturday Night's Main Event. This is Piper's babyface

turn in WWF

5. Roddy Piper vs. "Cowboy" Bob Orton - Saturday Night's Main Event

6. Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis - WrestleMania III

7. Roddy piper vs. Hulk Hogan - MTV's "War to Settle the Score"

8. Roddy Piper vs. Rick Rude - Steel Cage Match from Madison Square Garden

I'm so pleased to see this match here, it's surprisingly good.

9. Roddy piper vs. Bad News Brown - WrestleMania VI

10. Roddy Piper vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart - IC Title match from WrestleMania VIII

Bret carried Piper to his best wrestling match ever

11. Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie - IC Title Match from the Royal Rumble '92

12. Roddy Piper vs. Goldust - Hollywood Back Lot Brawl from WrestleMania XII

13. Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan - Starrcade '96

Disc Three:

Piper's Pit, the guests are...

1. Robert Debord

2. Andre the Giant

3. Frank Williams

4. The Haiti Kid

5. Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant

6. Jimmy Snuka

7. Mr. T, Hulk Hogan & Jimmy Snuka

8. Salvatore Bellomo & Junkyard Dog

9. Paul Orndorff

10. Bruno Sammartino

11. Jimmy Hart

12. Harley Race & Bobby Heenan

13. Hulk Hogan & WWF Executives

14. Hulk Hogan

15. Piper's last Pit before WrestleMania III (one of the best)

16. Brother Love & Morton Downey - WrestleMania V

17. Vince McMahon & Rikishi

18. Jimmy Snuka - 2003

19. Mr.America

20. Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri

21. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - WrestleMania XXI

22. Shawn Michaels

23. Mick Foley, Randy & Bob Orton

24. The Great Khali

Not a bad selection of Pits, my only gripes are that they didn't show the rest of

TNT after the Snuka Pit where Piper slapped the hell out of Lord Alfred Hayes and

there are no Pits involving the Pit vs. The Flower Shop feud. Otherwise, these were

the best Pits.

There you have it, like I said, the extras really make this release. If the documentary

had been better, this would easily be a 5 star release, but any "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

fan, like myself, will still love this release regardless.

One more comment... fans will be glad to know that Jesse Ventura's commentary

during the Saturday Night's Main Event matches is intact and has not been edited out.