I think that, with deathly seriousness, Rowdy Roddy Piper is the greatest heel in wrestling history. When Piper said that Hogan owed all of his popularity on Piper's lack of, I firmly believe truer words have never been spoken about professional wrestling. Hogan fit the bill well, because he was so marketable, but I could have walked into that match at Wrestlemania 1 and been the biggest babyface in the building. WWF had put everyone behind Hogan, and that was because everyone was against Piper. That's the reason Hogan never pinned Piper in WWF: you can't kill that heat. The second Piper is put down, people are satisfied. Doesn't it say enough that their entire satisfaction was based around Piper getting pinned, not whether or not Hogan won? Piper drew more heat than anyone in the history of the business. Period. If Piper could have made Hogan a bigger babyface, Hogan might have been elected President. I don't mean to give Hogan any credit, because he did his job so perfectly during that time too, but Piper set him up so high that there was no way he could mess it up. It was a magic time, and Piper was the best in the WWF. He was the human heat machine if there's ever been one.
Now, clearly I love Piper. I'll admit my bias and announce to anyone who doesn't know that he's my favorite ever. But, was he good in WCW? Absolutely not. The only good that came from his feud with Hogan was that it delayed the Sting feud for another year. I liked that he got the clean win over Hogan, because he had earned that after all the years and it was amazing just to see Hogan do a job. But, it was sad to watch Piper try and lull around with that artificial hip, and it was all just a poor attempt by WCW to steal WWF's magic from 12 years before it. They could have pushed someone else, they could have given the time to a younger star, but they gave it to a man who, though I will always love and appreciate for enriching my childhood, should not have been performing, at that time. The WCW days were a waste, and I feel bad just looking back on it.