His very first match in WWF he defeated jobber Frankie Williams on January 22. Before one match, Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper's bagpipes with toilet paper, so they would not play in front of the Garden crowd. In 1983, WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett before starting his WWF run in 1984. Piper debuted in the WWF as a manager because of injuries he suffered during a dog-collar match at Starrcade; he managed "Dr. D" David Schultz and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, eventually Piper's run as a manager quietly ended and Piper started wrestling full-time. He was given his own interview segment called "Piper's Pit" on "Championship Wrestling" and "Wrestling at the Chase" in 1984, starting a run of the segment that ended in 1987. During one "Piper's Pit", Piper insulted Jimmy Snuka's Polynesian heritage and attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a "Piper's Pit" segment, which led to a feud that ended in a steel cage match which Piper lost. Piper's next major storyline was with Hulk Hogan and also involved pop singer Cyndi Lauper. In 1985, MTV broadcast "The War to Settle the Score", which featured a main-event match between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Lauper, Captain Lou Albano, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Paul Orndorff and his former manager Piper against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan. In "Born to Controversy", Piper recalled how during the match he had to keep Mr. T busy to cover Mr. T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans. From this situation, Piper and Mr. T's real-life relationship became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another on-screen. Piper faced Mr. T in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, which Piper lost by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T. Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned as a face, during a TV taping of "Championship Wrestling" on August 23, 1986 against A.J. Petrucci.