#363: Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper, NWA Starrcade (11/24/1983).

This is a Dog Collar Match. Despite being the US Champion, Valentine’s title is not on the line in this match.

If you know your old school wrestling, then this will definitely be a match you recognize. It’s one of the most famous matches of its era, and it’s one of the most legendary matches ever to come from the NWA in the 1980s.

This event as a whole – dubbed “A Flare for the Gold,” in honor of the torch passing main event between Harley Race and Ric Flair – is very important to pro wrestling. It was the first major wrestling event broadcast to Closed Circuit Television, which was a precursor to the PPV model. This happened a year and a half before the WWE did it with the inaugural WrestleMania. Starrcade 1983 set the wrestling world up for success going forward in the decade, and that can’t be forgotten about.

Piper and Valentine had been feuding for months, ever since Valentine ended Piper’s second reign as champion. The big selling point for this match, and its brutality, is the fact that before this, Valentine injured Piper’s ear. That will surely place a role in this one.

The bell sounds, and both men quickly try to survey the scene. They tug at the chain, in an attempt to size up the other. Each man grabs the chain, and meets in the middle. Piper is the first to strike, as he whips Valentine right on the arm with the chain. Valentine goes to swing the chain, and Piper is able to avoid it. They separate, and they continue to yank at the chain with their necks. They meet in the middle again, and they exchange right hands.

Piper with a quick whip to the leg, and now he closes in on Valentine in the corner. He wraps the chain around his fist, and he strikes Valentine in the head repeatedly. Piper gets the chain stuck in the crotch, and crotches Valentine hard! The Hammer elbows Piper atop the head, and now he uses the chain to strike Piper on the forehead. Now he’s hitting Piper on the bad ear! Snap mare by Valentine, and now he wraps the chain around Piper’s face and yanks backwards. The chain is literally on his eyelids.

Piper fights back with a high knee lift, and he wraps the chain around Valentine’s head. It’s in his mouth! In a sick visual, it goes up to his nose. Piper punches the chain while it’s on his head. He wraps the chain around the ring post, and he pulls on it like a wench to choke Valentine. Valentine is busted open bad, as Piper continues to lay in punches. Valentine drives him to the mat, and chokes him, Taichi style. They go to the floor, and Piper whips the chain at Valentine.

Valentine uses the chain to punch at Piper, who responds by pulling Valentine to the apron and continuing his punches. Valentine sneaks in a shot to the ear with the chain. He mounts him on the apron, and pounds on him with punches. He throws him into a row of chairs at ringside next. Valentine returns to the ring, and Piper is having trouble coming to his senses. Looks like Piper is bleeding from the ear, as Valentine attempts to kick him away.

Back in the ring, Valentine punches Piper with the chain right on the injured ear. He mounts him, and continues these punches. Piper tries to strike back, but Valentine stays on the offensive and attacks the ear. He goes for a suplex, and Piper uses the chain to strike the midsection. They continue to throw heavy shots, until Valentine drops him again with an ear shot. Elbow drop by Valentine, and Piper kicks out at 2.

Another elbow, and Piper kicks out again. Valentine goes for it one more time, but Piper yanks the chain and brings him to the mat. He then charges at him with rapid punches, and the crowd pops hard. Piper sees his own blood, and whips the chain at Valentine’s head. A hard whip to the back of the head, and you can hear the sick thud of the steel against bone. Piper follows with another to the top of the head, and now he wraps it around his fist.

Piper drops a fist to the head with the chain. They throw fisticuffs in the corner, and Piper somehow drops him, despite losing his balance. Piper lands a punch, and Gordon Solie on commentary says “that one came from the backyard.” What does that even mean, Mr. Solie? Valentine wraps the chain around Piper’s head, and chokes him against the ropes. Valentine lands a jumping knee to the chest, and it gets him several nearfalls.

Another wrapped chain punch by Valentine, and Piper again kicks out. Valentine goes for a suplex, and it’s blocked. Piper lifts him up and lands a beautiful suplex. Piper’s blood from the ear is all over Valentine’s midsection. The referee goes to count both men out, as they look exhausted. They return to their feet, and continue to punch at the other. Valentine with a sleeper hold on Piper next. He hasn’t given up yet, and he wraps the chain around his fist.

Just before passing out, Piper lands that punch to Valentine, and breaks the hold. Valentine recovers first, and comes off the middle rope with an elbow to the head. He lands another to the chest, and then goes to the middle rope. Piper yanks the chain, and pulls him to the mat. He whips him ferociously with it all over the body, and then makes the cover. That’s enough for the win for Piper to win the war. This match would be the final hurrah for both men in the NWA, as they’d both end up in the WWE just a few short months later.

This was a really strong bout, and a brutal one for its time. It’s less a match, and more of a fight, and both men did a great job of selling that to the audience. Piper was a valiant babyface, who battled against all odds with his ear injury, and managed to stay up with the Hammer. Valentine was a craft heel, who wasn’t afraid to use the chain at any point, and he looked ruthless in his attacks on the ear. Credit to both men for their selling of the pain and exhaustion of the match, too.

Despite going just over 16 minutes, both Piper and Valentine sold their respective beatings like they’d been in an Iron Man Match. Not to sound like an old man who can’t change with the times, but this kind of selling in a violent gimmick match like this should be happening more in modern wrestling. They didn’t just go spot to spot like nothing was happening. In their selling, they were constantly reminding you of the brutality and the physicality of what they were going through, and did so in a way that didn’t slow the match’s pace down.

If I had one negative about the match, it’s that it does get a bit repetitive towards the end with all the punching. At its core, this is really just a match full of punches. But, with this being a feud ending match, it does make sense that it would go into something like that. These two don’t give a shit about chain wrestling and reversals. They just want to beat the hell out of the other. Still, a switch up in offense wouldn’t have hurt this.

All in all, this is a classic 1980s face/heel fight, and it really worked. It’s violent for its time, and it set a standard for dog collar matches going forward that some say has never been matched.