WWE Piper’s Pit review – Roddy Piper, Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff (2026)
It’s hard to quantify exactly how impactful Piper’s Pit was to the Rock ‘n Wrestling era of the WWF. Piper’s Pit was the essential segment for so many WWF angles from 1984-1987. From the coconut shot heard round the world, the shaving of The Haiti Kid to Andre the Giant challenging Hulk Hogan, it played out on Piper’s Pit.
There would be other WWF style interview segments from The Flower Shop, The Snake Pit, The Funeral Parlor and Brother Love’s Show, but none could top the impact of Piper’s Pit.
Mattel WWE collectors have been clamoring for set play sets featuring some of these memorable shows so of course it made sense for them to start off with Piper’s Pit. To sweeten the deal, this set also includes two figures synonymous with Piper’s Pit — Rowdy Roddy Piper and his bodyguard, Cowboy Bob ‘Ace’ Orton — along with their pal, Paul Orndorff.
Let’s see if this set was worth the wait or if this is simply the pits.
Packaging: Mattel hasn’t been shy about cranking out themed three-packs. This one might be the first where the figures aren’t the main draw.
The packaging features a Piper’s Pit theme with the set sigils and scroll prominently arranged against a vintage style tan backdrop. On the right side is a kilt pattern while the left side has that in the background with classic pictures of Piper, Orton and Orndorff.
Over on the back are larger portraits of the trio with reference pictures in the background. Fittingly, there’s a few more Piper/Orton images compared to the ones including Orndorff.
The bio explains the importance of Piper’s Pit and why Orndorff was included as the segment’s first guest.
Likeness: I won’t go into as much detail with the figures as normal since they’re not the main point of the set and there’s no real difference from previous full reviews I’ve done. For reference you can check out those respective reviews: Cowboy Bob Orton, Paul Orndorff and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Piper uses the intense yelling head sculpt from the Coliseum Collection figure. Besides the addition of double-jointed elbows this is the same Piper model that Mattel has used from the start.
Orton is different as this is Ace in his bodyguard outfit with jeans instead of wrestling gear. That’s actually handy. Like Piper, this is the first Orton to get double-jointed elbows. He also has his faithful cast over his left forearm.
Orndorff is a typical Mr. Wonderful in his wrestling gear. He also gets his first figure with double-jointed elbows.
Scale: Orndorff was 6’ making him shorter than the 6’1” Orton and 6’2” Piper. They should all be looking up at the 6’8” Hogan and 7’4” Andre the Giant. Orndorff again is far too tall as the Mattel WWE team is using the wrong parts for his legs.
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Paint: Piper’s paint is mostly irrelevant since he was in a T-shirt and kilt during the Piper’s Pit segments. The paint on his head sculpt is fine and his very basic outfit of blue tights and maroon boots with RP on them came out very clean.
Orton’s face print is likewise nicely implemented while his jeans are a simple dark blue. Ace didn’t rock stone washed jeans.
Orndorff has a bit more paint requirements with his white trunks and red tongue. That’s always a tricky paint application, but it’s done pretty well here. The 1nderful tampo on the back of his trunks is wonderfully (heh) done.
Articulation: Piper and Orndorff are all set to wrestle since they’re also in wrestling gear. As usual, the figures benefit from the addition of the double-jointed elbows. With an Ultimate Edition version of mid-80s Piper available, this Elite version is fine though not definitive.
Orndorff is an 80s icon in need of a UE figure, but for now this is his most articulated figure.
Orton has the same articulation scheme as the others though he’s better served as Piper’s heavy who grabs opponents, takes some cheap shots on the outside or comes off the top rope for a cast shot.
Piper’s Pit Piper, Orndorff and Orton have:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows (double-jointed)
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: The Mattel WWE team put in some quality work with the accessories here considering the Piper’s Pit play set as well.
Piper has a soft goods t-shirt with Hot Rod on the front and his signature kilt (and belt). He also has a set of pointing hands for when he’s getting animated during an interview and a microphone with the adjusted old school WWF logo.
Orndorff has a soft goods WrestleMania T-shirt — a pretty fun bonus accessory — and a set of clutching hands to make for an easier piledriver.
Orton also has some fun extras. First is his usual hat, a must-have inclusion. He also has a soft goods shirt — a Saturday Night’s Main event one(!) — making for a clean sweep of cloth shirts for the trio.
Orton also gets a set of punching hands, but his final accessory is the coolest. He’s got a pink cowboy hat symbolizing the time he turned on Piper to be Adorable Adrian Adonis’ bodyguard on The Flower Shop.
Now onto the main attraction — Piper’s Pit itself.
The play set is a basic wall with enough heft that it can stand on its own with no trouble.
On either side are portraits of Hot Rod. It’s not configured in the way the set was normally done but thanks to the modular setup, you can swap the walls to be more accurate, which is a very welcome bonus.
The set was constantly being tweaked, but the aesthetics are mostly accurate from the smaller early 84 look with the portraits in front of a kilt pattern backdrop. The pictures of Piper kept changing though the Piper sigil in the middle is correct.
In a nice surprise, Mattel actually went with the proper style of chairs used on the set. They weren’t folding chairs but actual patent leather like chairs. These turned out very nice and thankfully there’s no issues having the figures sit in them.
Finally, is the blue table with the WWF tweaked logo in silver. The walls are modular so they can be folded in and rearranged whichever way you’d like to display them.
Worth it? Piper’s Pit regularly retails for $70. Even if the figures were the old school price of $20 each, that means you’re just paying $10 for the set. When you factor in the newer price of $24.99 that makes the play set less than $5. That’s a great deal especially when you factor in various Target sales.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Even if the Piper was superfluous, you’re getting a bodyguard version of Orton and the most articulated Orndorff along with a highly requested play set in Piper’s Pit. That’s an all-around big win.
Where to Get It? The Piper’s Pit pack is a Target exclusive set so you can grab it in stores or at Target.com. You can also get more WWF 80s era figures at Amazon.
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