Rowdy Roddy Piper Tribute
Rowdy Roddy Piper, whose incredible work as a heel outright changed the complexion and history of pro wrestling, passed away at his Hollywood home, in his sleep on 7/30, at the age of 61.
Piper was found dead the next morning. According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office, Piper, born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954, suffered a blood clot in one of his lungs, which, combined with suffering from hypertension, caused a fatal heart attack. There was no evidence that anything past that caused the death and there is set to be no further examinations.
Piper was found dead the next morning. According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office, Piper, born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954, suffered a blood clot in one of his lungs, which, combined with suffering from hypertension, caused a fatal heart attack. There was no evidence that anything past that caused the death and there is set to be no further examinations.
When Vince McMahon started his national expansion by doing a television taping in St. Louis, MO, on December 27, 1983, Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, David Shults (Hogan's rival at the time in AWA) and announcer Gene Okerlund (the AWA's top announcer) were expected to be the key new players.
Unlike many who left their companies like the AWA with no notice and just never came back to work, Piper went to Jim Crockett and told him the offer he was getting. Even though Piper was Crockett's second most popular wrestler at the time, behind only world champion Ric Flair, Crockett, not fully realizing what McMahon was planning, encouraged him to take the offer, and Piper even came back after working WWF tapings to finish up his last week of dates with Crockett, including coming back for a series of dog collar matches with Greg Valentine. Out of respect for Piper, Crockett didn't even have him lose in all the key cities on the way out, as he won his last match in almost every key market.
In March, he actually worked four dates for Owen that he had promised before signing with McMahon, teaming with former heel rival turned face Buddy Rose. At another point, he raised the ire of McMahon, as he agreed to work Don Owen's biggest event of the decade, the May 21, 1985, Owen Family 60th anniversary show in Portland, and even though he had just done the first WrestleMania and was the biggest heel wrestling had seen in the modern era on a national basis, the fans in Oregon considered him a returning hero, showing his local visibility that had for the most part ended in 1980, five years later, meant more in that area than all the national television of the prior several years.
When McMahon expanded nationally, Piper went so far as to tell McMahon he would not work any dates for WWF in either the Carolinas or Oregon because of how well Crockett and Don Owen treated him. And for years, he kept to his word. Not one other wrestler during that expansion period would do that past aside from Giant Baba loyalists like the Funks who at the time would not go to Japan against Baba when WWF still worked with New Japan.
Unlike many who left their companies like the AWA with no notice and just never came back to work, Piper went to Jim Crockett and told him the offer he was getting. Even though Piper was Crockett's second most popular wrestler at the time, behind only world champion Ric Flair, Crockett, not fully realizing what McMahon was planning, encouraged him to take the offer, and Piper even came back after working WWF tapings to finish up his last week of dates with Crockett, including coming back for a series of dog collar matches with Greg Valentine. Out of respect for Piper, Crockett didn't even have him lose in all the key cities on the way out, as he won his last match in almost every key market.
In March, he actually worked four dates for Owen that he had promised before signing with McMahon, teaming with former heel rival turned face Buddy Rose. At another point, he raised the ire of McMahon, as he agreed to work Don Owen's biggest event of the decade, the May 21, 1985, Owen Family 60th anniversary show in Portland, and even though he had just done the first WrestleMania and was the biggest heel wrestling had seen in the modern era on a national basis, the fans in Oregon considered him a returning hero, showing his local visibility that had for the most part ended in 1980, five years later, meant more in that area than all the national television of the prior several years.
When McMahon expanded nationally, Piper went so far as to tell McMahon he would not work any dates for WWF in either the Carolinas or Oregon because of how well Crockett and Don Owen treated him. And for years, he kept to his word. Not one other wrestler during that expansion period would do that past aside from Giant Baba loyalists like the Funks who at the time would not go to Japan against Baba when WWF still worked with New Japan.
Weeks before his WWF debut, Piper was in perhaps the second biggest match, underneath the Flair vs. Race match, at the first Starrcade, where he beat Greg Valentine in a bloody dog collar match after an angle where Valentine destroyed Piper's ear and in storyline, took away much of the hearing in one of his ears. In actuality, the injury was to set up Piper going on a tour of All Japan Pro Wrestling, but Piper would always insist the injury was real and that he had lost much of his hearing in one ear. When Piper had to do a Piper's Pit with Valentine, McMahon was all about pretending that everything that happened elsewhere had never taken place, but Piper subtly brought up that even though both were heels, that the two had their problems in the past.
Piper was actually brought in to be a wrestler/manager. At the time Piper was considered the best talker in the business, but there were concerns over his size. In 1979, after he was already established as a money drawing heel for years in Los Angeles.
By that time had moved on to Oregon, he was brought to Madison Square Garden for a few prelim matches, given the Wednesday night matches from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles aired in New York on a two-week tape delay, a large part of the fan base was already familiar with him. There was talk of bringing him in as a heel contender for champion Bob Backlund, but after seeing him, Vince McMahon Sr., felt he was too skinny and it was felt he largely flopped.
Piper claimed that Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper's bagpipes with toilet paper, and his gimmick that made him unique from early in his career was playing the bagpipes before his matches. He started to play and nothing came out, and he in one second, turned into opening match comedy. Whether true or not, after he'd gotten a couple of prelim wins at the Garden over Frankie Williams (who he later had a memorable Piper's Pit with more than five years later) and Steve King, in his third MSG bout, he faced prelim veteran Johnny Rodz on the July 30, 1979 show.
Rodz pretty much ate him up, making him look weak, before putting him over in 2:49, but it was in the most unimpressive fashion. Piper was scheduled to start at television the next day to build for a run with Backlund. But he looked so unimpressive against Rodz that the plans were dropped.
Over the next five years, Piper's star grew greatly. He became the most popular babyface the Pacific Northwest had seen since the heyday of Lonnie Mayne.
Piper was actually brought in to be a wrestler/manager. At the time Piper was considered the best talker in the business, but there were concerns over his size. In 1979, after he was already established as a money drawing heel for years in Los Angeles.
By that time had moved on to Oregon, he was brought to Madison Square Garden for a few prelim matches, given the Wednesday night matches from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles aired in New York on a two-week tape delay, a large part of the fan base was already familiar with him. There was talk of bringing him in as a heel contender for champion Bob Backlund, but after seeing him, Vince McMahon Sr., felt he was too skinny and it was felt he largely flopped.
Piper claimed that Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper's bagpipes with toilet paper, and his gimmick that made him unique from early in his career was playing the bagpipes before his matches. He started to play and nothing came out, and he in one second, turned into opening match comedy. Whether true or not, after he'd gotten a couple of prelim wins at the Garden over Frankie Williams (who he later had a memorable Piper's Pit with more than five years later) and Steve King, in his third MSG bout, he faced prelim veteran Johnny Rodz on the July 30, 1979 show.
Rodz pretty much ate him up, making him look weak, before putting him over in 2:49, but it was in the most unimpressive fashion. Piper was scheduled to start at television the next day to build for a run with Backlund. But he looked so unimpressive against Rodz that the plans were dropped.
Over the next five years, Piper's star grew greatly. He became the most popular babyface the Pacific Northwest had seen since the heyday of Lonnie Mayne.
He went to the Carolinas, the most talent-rich promotion in the U.S., where his talking and wrestling was strong enough that he became a super heel, and then the company's No. 2 babyface.
He was introduced in Georgia as a television announcer, the sidekick of Gordon Solie. While he was not the first heel color commentator, he was the first to play the role on a national basis. He was an enormous success in the role. In 1981, Georgia Championship Wrestling, airing from 6:05 to 8:05 p.m. on Saturday nights, averaged a 6.4 rating and was the second highest rated cable television show in the country. The highest, believe it or not, was the Sunday one hour highlights package, which averaged a 6.6.
At a time when pro wrestling was filled with great talkers, Piper was largely considered the best. But the WWF clearly had its qualms, introducing him more as a manager who sometimes wrestled, as opposed to a main event wrestler. It really wasn't until three months later, a March 25, 1984, Madison Square Garden show where Piper & Shults wrestled Andre the Giant & Jimmy Snuka. The show drew a double sellout, both Madison Square Garden and the adjacent Felt Forum, with roughly 24,000 fans (billed as 26,092), for a rare WWF show without a WWF championship match on top. While Backlund vs. Greg Valentine was the main event and the Piper tag was second from the top, the super heat between Piper, Snuka and Andre blew away the reaction of anything else on the show.
The key was that Andre (who liked Piper from years earlier) sold big for Piper's boxing-style offense. Andre usually would only sell like that for the biggest heels. But the people bought it, and the WWF largely pulled him from the manager role and went with him as their top heel. They gave him "Piper's Pit," a talk show segment built into the television show, where Piper had free reign to get over as a heel, and where many of the top angles were shot. It was a remake of "Rogers Corner," with Buddy Rogers, except Rogers played the role of sage veteran babyface while Piper as the ultimate smart-ass punk heel.
He exploded with one of the most remembered angles of all-time, the Piper's Pit segment with Snuka where he hit Snuka in the head with a coconut and Snuka fell through the Piper's Pit backdrop. Piper vs. Snuka headlined everywhere, and drew big in most places, equal to Hogan in the biggest markets. Piper was so hot that on November 26, 1984, he headlined Madison Square Garden against the Tonga Kid, a replacement for the "injured" (actually in rehab) Snuka and sold Madison Square Garden out without much of an undercard.
He was introduced in Georgia as a television announcer, the sidekick of Gordon Solie. While he was not the first heel color commentator, he was the first to play the role on a national basis. He was an enormous success in the role. In 1981, Georgia Championship Wrestling, airing from 6:05 to 8:05 p.m. on Saturday nights, averaged a 6.4 rating and was the second highest rated cable television show in the country. The highest, believe it or not, was the Sunday one hour highlights package, which averaged a 6.6.
At a time when pro wrestling was filled with great talkers, Piper was largely considered the best. But the WWF clearly had its qualms, introducing him more as a manager who sometimes wrestled, as opposed to a main event wrestler. It really wasn't until three months later, a March 25, 1984, Madison Square Garden show where Piper & Shults wrestled Andre the Giant & Jimmy Snuka. The show drew a double sellout, both Madison Square Garden and the adjacent Felt Forum, with roughly 24,000 fans (billed as 26,092), for a rare WWF show without a WWF championship match on top. While Backlund vs. Greg Valentine was the main event and the Piper tag was second from the top, the super heat between Piper, Snuka and Andre blew away the reaction of anything else on the show.
The key was that Andre (who liked Piper from years earlier) sold big for Piper's boxing-style offense. Andre usually would only sell like that for the biggest heels. But the people bought it, and the WWF largely pulled him from the manager role and went with him as their top heel. They gave him "Piper's Pit," a talk show segment built into the television show, where Piper had free reign to get over as a heel, and where many of the top angles were shot. It was a remake of "Rogers Corner," with Buddy Rogers, except Rogers played the role of sage veteran babyface while Piper as the ultimate smart-ass punk heel.
He exploded with one of the most remembered angles of all-time, the Piper's Pit segment with Snuka where he hit Snuka in the head with a coconut and Snuka fell through the Piper's Pit backdrop. Piper vs. Snuka headlined everywhere, and drew big in most places, equal to Hogan in the biggest markets. Piper was so hot that on November 26, 1984, he headlined Madison Square Garden against the Tonga Kid, a replacement for the "injured" (actually in rehab) Snuka and sold Madison Square Garden out without much of an undercard.
For the most part, Piper was kept apart from Hogan during that first year, even though Hogan was the champion and top face, and Piper was clearly the top heel. They worked a few house shows, in San Diego, Buffalo, Boston, Salt Lake City and Phoenix, all with disqualification or count out finishes. There were two reasons. One was that with WWF running two shows per night, it made sense to have Hogan and Piper on different shows as much as possible. The other is that Piper outright refused to lose clean to Hogan. The way Vince McMahon liked to book, Hogan did programs, like Bob Backlund, Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales before him, where there may be DQ finishes and such in early matches, but in the end, there was a blow-off match that the champion won clean.
Piper said what everyone else knew but wouldn't say, which was the WWF track record was that heels would get hot, have a big money drawing run, lose to the champion, and then mostly work midcards. He felt that as long as he never lost to the champion, he would have enough steam to continue to be a main eventer.
In fact, during his first run in WWF, through his first announced retirement angle in 1987, Piper only lost one match via pinfall, a Fijian death match to Snuka on July 20, 1984, at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis in their third singles meeting in the city.
So while the guys like Valentine, Iron Sheik and David Shults continued to have jobs, they weren't headlining so much after their runs with Hogan. Randy Savage, years later was an exception, as was Piper.
So it was one of the biggest matches in the history of Madison Square Garden, "The War to Settle the Score," on February 18, 1985. Even though the main event would air live on MTV, both Madison Square Garden and the Felt Forum were sold out with 24,000 fans for Hogan vs. Piper, in what was actually meant as an angle to set up what would be the biggest until that time, and with the benefit of historical perspective, the most important pro wrestling event in history.
The show drew a 9.1 rating, to this day, still the highest rated pro wrestling show in the history of cable television. Hogan beat Piper via DQ, but the result was less important than Piper attacking just-turned-babyface Lou Albano, and threatened rock star Cyndi Lauper, until Mr. T made the save, to set up the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985.
Piper said what everyone else knew but wouldn't say, which was the WWF track record was that heels would get hot, have a big money drawing run, lose to the champion, and then mostly work midcards. He felt that as long as he never lost to the champion, he would have enough steam to continue to be a main eventer.
In fact, during his first run in WWF, through his first announced retirement angle in 1987, Piper only lost one match via pinfall, a Fijian death match to Snuka on July 20, 1984, at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis in their third singles meeting in the city.
So while the guys like Valentine, Iron Sheik and David Shults continued to have jobs, they weren't headlining so much after their runs with Hogan. Randy Savage, years later was an exception, as was Piper.
So it was one of the biggest matches in the history of Madison Square Garden, "The War to Settle the Score," on February 18, 1985. Even though the main event would air live on MTV, both Madison Square Garden and the Felt Forum were sold out with 24,000 fans for Hogan vs. Piper, in what was actually meant as an angle to set up what would be the biggest until that time, and with the benefit of historical perspective, the most important pro wrestling event in history.
The show drew a 9.1 rating, to this day, still the highest rated pro wrestling show in the history of cable television. Hogan beat Piper via DQ, but the result was less important than Piper attacking just-turned-babyface Lou Albano, and threatened rock star Cyndi Lauper, until Mr. T made the save, to set up the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985.
The main event was Hogan & Mr. T vs. Piper & Paul Orndorff, with Snuka and Bob Orton Jr. (who played Piper's bodyguard "Ace," with the perpetually broken arm and cast he would use as a weapon) in the respective corners. Muhammad Ali was to be the referee, although the day of the show, when it became clear Ali was so far gone that he could not handle the job, it was switched and Pat Patterson took over. That had a secondary purpose, as Patterson, the booker, being in the ring, could help guide Mr. T, who was totally inexperienced and just told to do what he knew from his days as a champion high school wrestler. All Ali did, was when given the cue, he counted as Mr. T pinned Orndorff.
Mr. T got cold feet the day of the show and nearly no-showed. A tough street fighter and bouncer, Mr. T, unlike most Americans who saw his scowl and delivery, and bought that the B.A. Barackus character on "the A Team" was real and thought he was one of the toughest bouncers and street fighters, he knew his limitations. One of the reasons for the success of WrestleMania is people didn't believe the wrestlers were real, but they believed Mr. T was very real, and that the fake big mouth Piper's was going to pay for his taunting him.
Mr. T felt if he got beat up, his character and image would be dead. A few months earlier, one of the WWF wrestlers, David Shults, evidently mad because Mr. T had come into his profession, went after him at a show in Los Angeles. Shults was a lot bigger, and had his own street fighter rep in pro wrestling as being a tough guy. He never got to T, and ended up being fired by WWF, but T didn't know if somebody would try and make a real world reputation off him.
Piper was supposed to get pinned by Mr. T at the first WrestleMania, since he was the guy who the heat was with. He refused, and Orndorff instead did the job.
It was that reputation that was the reason the second WrestleMania match, a boxing match with Piper vs. Mr. T, was such a disaster, although the disaster led to Piper's babyface turn.
Because of the boxing gloves, even a worked boxing match requires a degree of boxing training just for the conditioning of the arms and shoulders and legs to move and believably and be able to hold up gloves past a short period of time. Piper had a boxing background and went to train as a boxer for the fight. Mr. T was supposed to train with Joe Frazier, but would never show up. He had told people he couldn't afford to, because if he sparred and some real boxer put him down, the boxer would gain a worldwide reputation, and his reputation would be shot. So he showed up out of shape for such a match. He and Piper did a few practice runs of the match and they were disastrous. From those who saw them, the finished product of that match was actually better than expected, even though it was still pretty bad.
While Hogan and Piper as the two big stars were generally drawing well, Vince McMahon's business tactics of spending big money to buy television time in the different markets, the huge cost of running so many shows nationally and the problems they were having in drawing in some markets left the company in financial straits. They had fallen way behind on some of their television and production bills. But there was an influx of cash from New Japan Pro Wrestling to book talent, and a $1 million check from Jim Crockett Promotions to buy the TBS contract, so at the time they were very much solvent.
Mr. T got cold feet the day of the show and nearly no-showed. A tough street fighter and bouncer, Mr. T, unlike most Americans who saw his scowl and delivery, and bought that the B.A. Barackus character on "the A Team" was real and thought he was one of the toughest bouncers and street fighters, he knew his limitations. One of the reasons for the success of WrestleMania is people didn't believe the wrestlers were real, but they believed Mr. T was very real, and that the fake big mouth Piper's was going to pay for his taunting him.
Mr. T felt if he got beat up, his character and image would be dead. A few months earlier, one of the WWF wrestlers, David Shults, evidently mad because Mr. T had come into his profession, went after him at a show in Los Angeles. Shults was a lot bigger, and had his own street fighter rep in pro wrestling as being a tough guy. He never got to T, and ended up being fired by WWF, but T didn't know if somebody would try and make a real world reputation off him.
Piper was supposed to get pinned by Mr. T at the first WrestleMania, since he was the guy who the heat was with. He refused, and Orndorff instead did the job.
It was that reputation that was the reason the second WrestleMania match, a boxing match with Piper vs. Mr. T, was such a disaster, although the disaster led to Piper's babyface turn.
Because of the boxing gloves, even a worked boxing match requires a degree of boxing training just for the conditioning of the arms and shoulders and legs to move and believably and be able to hold up gloves past a short period of time. Piper had a boxing background and went to train as a boxer for the fight. Mr. T was supposed to train with Joe Frazier, but would never show up. He had told people he couldn't afford to, because if he sparred and some real boxer put him down, the boxer would gain a worldwide reputation, and his reputation would be shot. So he showed up out of shape for such a match. He and Piper did a few practice runs of the match and they were disastrous. From those who saw them, the finished product of that match was actually better than expected, even though it was still pretty bad.
While Hogan and Piper as the two big stars were generally drawing well, Vince McMahon's business tactics of spending big money to buy television time in the different markets, the huge cost of running so many shows nationally and the problems they were having in drawing in some markets left the company in financial straits. They had fallen way behind on some of their television and production bills. But there was an influx of cash from New Japan Pro Wrestling to book talent, and a $1 million check from Jim Crockett Promotions to buy the TBS contract, so at the time they were very much solvent.
But WrestleMania itself was a gigantic gamble. It was an expensive undertaking. PPV was in its infancy.But over the last week, WrestleMania exploded, largely due to doors that were opened by the star power of Mr. T. The show drew 400,000 fans in 133 closed-circuit locations, and ended up as a major success. McMahon had taken in more money in one day that most of his competitors did in a year. While there were markets it did not do well in, the dye was cast and the existing promoters no longer had the type of economic resources to compete. As Ernie Ladd said days after the show, "The war is over, it's just that they don't know it yet."
If any of the three elements, the wrestling super babyface in Hogan, the mainstream superstar T, and the super antagonist to both, Piper, were not part of the equation, the show would probably not have succeeded. Orndorff could have been replaced by Orton, or John Studd, or almost anyone. Piper, with his wit and race-baiting Mr. T, could not have been replaced. There were only a couple of guys in the business who could have been put in that position and pulled it off.
Years later, Piper always felt he never got his just due when people looked back at the success of that show, and really, the success of the expansion of WWF. The success was credited to Hogan, although really Mr. T was the most important component. But Mr. T just doing pro wrestling would not have meant nearly as much without somebody to beat up, and Piper was not only the right guy, but had the right build up and got some mainstream name recognition from Piper's Pit being the forum of the Cyndi Lauper/Lou Albano angle that this all kicked off from.
If any of the three elements, the wrestling super babyface in Hogan, the mainstream superstar T, and the super antagonist to both, Piper, were not part of the equation, the show would probably not have succeeded. Orndorff could have been replaced by Orton, or John Studd, or almost anyone. Piper, with his wit and race-baiting Mr. T, could not have been replaced. There were only a couple of guys in the business who could have been put in that position and pulled it off.
Years later, Piper always felt he never got his just due when people looked back at the success of that show, and really, the success of the expansion of WWF. The success was credited to Hogan, although really Mr. T was the most important component. But Mr. T just doing pro wrestling would not have meant nearly as much without somebody to beat up, and Piper was not only the right guy, but had the right build up and got some mainstream name recognition from Piper's Pit being the forum of the Cyndi Lauper/Lou Albano angle that this all kicked off from.
After Piper's death, it was written that Piper was one of the greatest heels in pro wrestling history. And while he was, the irony of that is that with the exception of a forgettable run long after his prime, he had not been a heel since the fans turned him babyface in early 1986. It was at WrestleMania II, where he faced Mr. T in a boxing match. Mr. T had started getting passe, and like with most great heels, fans started figuring out how good they were and started to appreciate them. Piper was cheered in the match, and came out of it as a face. Immediately, he was the No. 2 face behind Hogan until "retiring" to start a movie career.
He made repeated comebacks, sometimes treated as a legend, and sometimes not. In the late 90s, during the Monday Night Wars, Piper had surprised WWF by taking a bigger money WCW offer. He started out on top, reviving his feud with Hogan. This time both men were older, and had a different perspective. Hogan put Piper over clean the first time with a sleeper, but in a non-title match, allowing Hogan to then get his clean win when the title was at stake. Hogan vs. Piper was still box office magic in WCW at first. But Piper was one of many stars in the WCW cast of characters and it was a source of great frustration. His mind worked in different ways. He was paranoid and felt disrespected.
For a long period of time, Piper would travel everywhere with Jonny Fairplay, long before Fairplay made a name from reality TV. Once, when both were loaded and Fairplay was trying to get Piper out of a club before big problems erupted, they ended up in a serious car accident. Both were injured. Piper even disappeared. While obviously this wasn't the case, Piper would claim that the guy he hired (Fairplay) had tried to kill him. He felt WCW management, and the younger generation of wrestlers, had little to no respect for what he had accomplished and his role in the history of wrestling. His work wasn't good at this point, but he remained a pushed commodity because he was still a huge superstar to the public that remembered him from his 80s heyday.
After he was fired by WCW in a cost-cutting move in 2000, Piper had his runs in both WWF and TNA. His once great promos were anything but during much of the TNA run. Yet, at times, sometimes out of nowhere, and usually on Raw, he'd be put in a position to work with a top star, like John Cena, Steve Austin or Chris Jericho, and be positively brilliant. Ironically, since he was an experienced actor by that point, he was very good at following a script and excellent at delivery. Left to his own devices, the once charming and amazing rambling promos, if he had to do them on his own, would often go nowhere.
He made repeated comebacks, sometimes treated as a legend, and sometimes not. In the late 90s, during the Monday Night Wars, Piper had surprised WWF by taking a bigger money WCW offer. He started out on top, reviving his feud with Hogan. This time both men were older, and had a different perspective. Hogan put Piper over clean the first time with a sleeper, but in a non-title match, allowing Hogan to then get his clean win when the title was at stake. Hogan vs. Piper was still box office magic in WCW at first. But Piper was one of many stars in the WCW cast of characters and it was a source of great frustration. His mind worked in different ways. He was paranoid and felt disrespected.
For a long period of time, Piper would travel everywhere with Jonny Fairplay, long before Fairplay made a name from reality TV. Once, when both were loaded and Fairplay was trying to get Piper out of a club before big problems erupted, they ended up in a serious car accident. Both were injured. Piper even disappeared. While obviously this wasn't the case, Piper would claim that the guy he hired (Fairplay) had tried to kill him. He felt WCW management, and the younger generation of wrestlers, had little to no respect for what he had accomplished and his role in the history of wrestling. His work wasn't good at this point, but he remained a pushed commodity because he was still a huge superstar to the public that remembered him from his 80s heyday.
After he was fired by WCW in a cost-cutting move in 2000, Piper had his runs in both WWF and TNA. His once great promos were anything but during much of the TNA run. Yet, at times, sometimes out of nowhere, and usually on Raw, he'd be put in a position to work with a top star, like John Cena, Steve Austin or Chris Jericho, and be positively brilliant. Ironically, since he was an experienced actor by that point, he was very good at following a script and excellent at delivery. Left to his own devices, the once charming and amazing rambling promos, if he had to do them on his own, would often go nowhere.
Piper's family set up a private funeral on the morning of 8/11 in Portland, the day after the Smackdown tapings in the city, which would allow the WWE wrestlers to attend. His friends in Los Angeles, where he spent much of his time, have set up a memorial service on 8/17 at the Comedy Store in Hollywood, also by invitation only. The location is fitting because in recent months, Piper had talked with friends about wanting to reinvent himself as a stand-up comedian.
Piper's life before wrestling was difficult to document. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but claimed a bad childhood and left his family and fended for himself by the time he was a teenager. At one point he lived in Toronto, and later found pro wrestling in Winnipeg.
He was trained by Tony Condello, a local independent promoter. He had done some Golden Gloves boxing. He had quick hands, which was evident in his ring style where he used boxing combinations for a lot of his offense. His other unique talent was his ability to play the bagpipes. He became known as Roddy the Piper, as his nickname, so his wrestling name, from day one, was Roddy Piper.
He worked on a small circuit in Manitoba for Condello, starting in the summer of 1973. Piper always claimed that he was 17 years old in his first match, where he wrestled 300 pound Larry Hennig, and set the all-time wrestling record by losing in 13 seconds.
His first recorded AWA match was a loss to fellow local wrestler Bobby Jones on an October 25, 1973, show at the Winnipeg Arena. He worked AWA shots in Manitoba and North Dakota as a prelim wrestler along with the local indie circuit. He was very skinny for the time by the standards of major league wrestlers and he looks to have always lost his AWA matches. There was a Hennig match, on April 25, 1974, that he actually lost in two minutes, but he'd been wrestling about a year by that time.
Piper's life before wrestling was difficult to document. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but claimed a bad childhood and left his family and fended for himself by the time he was a teenager. At one point he lived in Toronto, and later found pro wrestling in Winnipeg.
He was trained by Tony Condello, a local independent promoter. He had done some Golden Gloves boxing. He had quick hands, which was evident in his ring style where he used boxing combinations for a lot of his offense. His other unique talent was his ability to play the bagpipes. He became known as Roddy the Piper, as his nickname, so his wrestling name, from day one, was Roddy Piper.
He worked on a small circuit in Manitoba for Condello, starting in the summer of 1973. Piper always claimed that he was 17 years old in his first match, where he wrestled 300 pound Larry Hennig, and set the all-time wrestling record by losing in 13 seconds.
His first recorded AWA match was a loss to fellow local wrestler Bobby Jones on an October 25, 1973, show at the Winnipeg Arena. He worked AWA shots in Manitoba and North Dakota as a prelim wrestler along with the local indie circuit. He was very skinny for the time by the standards of major league wrestlers and he looks to have always lost his AWA matches. There was a Hennig match, on April 25, 1974, that he actually lost in two minutes, but he'd been wrestling about a year by that time.
In November of 1974, he came to the U.S. and got his first full-time job, as a prelim wrestler, working for Bob Geigel's Central States Wrestling. In January, he came to Dallas. Vachon had recommended him to booker Red Bastien, and liked him so much that Vachon put him over on Piper's first night in the promotion at the TV tapings in Fort Worth. But he ended up just being a guy on the card, and bounced around North America, working East and West Texas, as well as Eastern Canada over the summer. He actually won a couple of opening matches on AWA shows when he got back home to Winnipeg.
His gimmick of coming to the ring wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes was easy heat, and what set him apart and made him memorable. But that alone wasn't going to draw big houses or have any legs.
One of the reasons he was so successful is because he was extreme at everything in life, which also proved to be his undoing at times. During the recreational party period of wrestling, Piper was off the charts. But he treated things as a shoot. He always used the term "fights" instead of "matches." Walton remembered when John Tolos, a babyface at the time, was having a party at his house, and everyone was coming, Piper refused because he thought somebody might possibly see him on the road that wasn't part of the fraternity.
During his nearly three years in Southern California, he was the lead heel most of the time, although had a babyface run as well. He did angles both good and wacked out. His main opponent was Chavo Guerrero. Their angles and interviews aired weekly on the Spanish International Network (now Univision).
While the quality of the wrestling overall at that point had faded greatly from the glory days from a few years earlier, the show aired in more markets around the country than any other wrestling show. Piper against Chavo Guerrero, which also extended to Chavo's father Gori, and his brothers Mando and Hector Guerrero, was one of the decade's most well-known feuds.
His gimmick of coming to the ring wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes was easy heat, and what set him apart and made him memorable. But that alone wasn't going to draw big houses or have any legs.
One of the reasons he was so successful is because he was extreme at everything in life, which also proved to be his undoing at times. During the recreational party period of wrestling, Piper was off the charts. But he treated things as a shoot. He always used the term "fights" instead of "matches." Walton remembered when John Tolos, a babyface at the time, was having a party at his house, and everyone was coming, Piper refused because he thought somebody might possibly see him on the road that wasn't part of the fraternity.
During his nearly three years in Southern California, he was the lead heel most of the time, although had a babyface run as well. He did angles both good and wacked out. His main opponent was Chavo Guerrero. Their angles and interviews aired weekly on the Spanish International Network (now Univision).
While the quality of the wrestling overall at that point had faded greatly from the glory days from a few years earlier, the show aired in more markets around the country than any other wrestling show. Piper against Chavo Guerrero, which also extended to Chavo's father Gori, and his brothers Mando and Hector Guerrero, was one of the decade's most well-known feuds.
Los Angeles was a crazy territory and did a lot of gimmicks with Piper. Some worked, and some didn't. In his three years, he was the top heel, managed a stable, played heel ref after getting his NWA referee's license, and even had a storyline where he learned hypnosis and would illegally hypnotize his opponents (from a failed gimmick Gary Hart did in Australia). He also worked under a mask as Super Scorpion and after losing a loser leaves town, had a run as The Masked Canadian. He worked some for Roy Shire in 1978. In one of the great exposes of the business during that period, Piper & Moondog Lonnie Mayne were a heel tag team in Southern California. The matches from the Olympic Auditorium aired in San Francisco and Sacramento, two of Shire's best cities, on SIN. Shire, on the other hand, had turned Mayne babyface years earlier and he was the U.S. champion, and feuded on top with a heel Piper. I can't say that on its own led to the declining popularity of wrestling in the area at the time, because many factors were at work, but it was absolutely one of them.
Even then, younger wrestlers started imitating his mannerisms, shaking his hair, saying, "Well ya know," and countless people copied his often cocaine-fueled promos with his mind working a mile a minute like pro wrestling's predecessor to a young Robin Williams. Unlike Superstar Billy Graham, who clearly took his promo style from Muhammad Ali, Dusty Rhodes, who took his from Ali and Graham, and Austin Idol, Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan, who imitated Graham, Piper was the original that many imitated and nobody came close to duplicating.
While Piper was no longer consistently great on promos over the past decade, he had his moments of brilliance in some WWE comebacks. Once, after one of them in working with a heel Jericho prior to the 2009 WrestleMania match (Piper's last major WWE match), Jericho said that Piper was the Yoda of pro wrestling promos.
Piper went to Oregon as a heel, but Buddy Rose was the king there with Ed Wiskoski as his sidekick. Piper & Bad News Brooks were the other top heel tag team, and in an angle, Rose & Wiskoski turned on and injured Brooks, since he was returning home to Texas, Piper became a face. Piper vs. Rose was the hottest singles program the area had in about a decade. Piper ended up loving the area so much that he made it one of his two homes. For years, Piper would have one residence in Hollywood, while his family would live just outside Portland in the mountains of Hillsboro, OR.
Piper was already a great talker in Los Angeles, and got even better in Oregon. But it was in the Carolinas, where the standard of workers and talkers were much higher, that he came into his own and rose to being the best promo in the business.
"Ric Flair dates two women at the same time. That way, when he falls asleep, they've got somebody to talk to."
Even then, younger wrestlers started imitating his mannerisms, shaking his hair, saying, "Well ya know," and countless people copied his often cocaine-fueled promos with his mind working a mile a minute like pro wrestling's predecessor to a young Robin Williams. Unlike Superstar Billy Graham, who clearly took his promo style from Muhammad Ali, Dusty Rhodes, who took his from Ali and Graham, and Austin Idol, Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan, who imitated Graham, Piper was the original that many imitated and nobody came close to duplicating.
While Piper was no longer consistently great on promos over the past decade, he had his moments of brilliance in some WWE comebacks. Once, after one of them in working with a heel Jericho prior to the 2009 WrestleMania match (Piper's last major WWE match), Jericho said that Piper was the Yoda of pro wrestling promos.
Piper went to Oregon as a heel, but Buddy Rose was the king there with Ed Wiskoski as his sidekick. Piper & Bad News Brooks were the other top heel tag team, and in an angle, Rose & Wiskoski turned on and injured Brooks, since he was returning home to Texas, Piper became a face. Piper vs. Rose was the hottest singles program the area had in about a decade. Piper ended up loving the area so much that he made it one of his two homes. For years, Piper would have one residence in Hollywood, while his family would live just outside Portland in the mountains of Hillsboro, OR.
Piper was already a great talker in Los Angeles, and got even better in Oregon. But it was in the Carolinas, where the standard of workers and talkers were much higher, that he came into his own and rose to being the best promo in the business.
"Ric Flair dates two women at the same time. That way, when he falls asleep, they've got somebody to talk to."
He was the top heel in the Carolinas, feuding with the likes of Flair, Wahoo McDaniel, Ricky Steamboat and Jack Brisco. He would wear T-shirts that read, "I Scare Flair."
Jim Barnett saw his work and came up with the idea of having him as the heel television announcer for Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Barnett told me he hired Piper for $5,000 per month (Piper in his book claimed it as $5,000 per week), at the time a ton of money for a guy who only came in on Saturday mornings and still worked full-time in the Carolinas as a headliner. Given what he was likely earning in the Carolinas, Piper was among the highest paid wrestlers in the country by 1981. That wasn't always the best thing to be a 27-year-old heavy partier who was a television celebrity, good looking, and with a lot of cash in your hands.
He shined in that role, and may have been the best ever at it. Or perhaps he wasn't but it seemed that way because he was the first to do it on national television. He was a heel, but not over-the-top. He actually called things, well not exactly straight down-the-middle, but only leaned slightly heelish. He was always respectful to lead announcer Gordon Solie. He'd put over the faces, but then take a heelish dig by talking about how he'd approach the situation differently and how he'd beat them. It started out subtly and his heel persona started getting stronger as time went on.
The first signs of a heel turn came in remarks made by Piper about Bob Armstrong. Armstrong was an older veteran, himself a top talker, whose son Brad, had just started. The two were a father-and-son team who surprised everyone by winning the annual Thanksgiving night tag team tournament at the Omni in Atlanta in 1981.
Piper would make remarks about Armstrong, who had the huge arms but he didn't have big legs, and make fun of him. Armstrong would compare his body to that of a racehorse, saying he was a "Southern-born, Southern-bred thoroughbred." Piper would start criticizing the Armstrongs tag team strategy saying that the key to tag teams is having one guy work and take the beating for as long as possible, so he can tag the fresh partner while the opponents were the most tired. He said that Bob as a father, would not let his son take the beating for a long enough time. Piper outtalked everyone, drawing more and more ire out of the fans, except he'd always sell for Flair (who was a heel in Georgia but the world title was always put over big) and Armstrong's verbal jousts.
Finally, after months, it exploded with a studio brawl between Piper and Armstrong which was the hottest moment of the year on Georgia television.
"He's as strong as an ox, and almost as smart (about Ole Anderson)"
Ole Anderson was the booker at the time. While the ratings of Georgia Championship Wrestling were through the roof and it was the first legitimate hit in the history of cable television, business was not that strong at the time. The closing of the Atlanta City Auditorium meant that, since the tradition was to run weekly, they would run the Omni regularly. Atlanta went from being the major profit center for the promotion to mostly a break-even proposition, drawing about 5,000 paid per week. That would have been awesome to draw that three times a week in the smaller building and then do a big show at the Omni every month or so that drew much bigger because they brought in outside talent and it was the Omni. But when every week was the Omni, the expense of the bigger building and with running the Omni no longer making it inherently special, it was a struggle.
Barnett had been patient, giving Piper nearly a year to get over. The program with Armstrong had built perfectly. Barnett was not attending the matches the night of the first Piper vs. Armstrong match, but the advance was the strongest of the year. Barnett usually stayed out of the booking, but he told Anderson, whatever you do, Piper has to win. Anderson had other ideas. Even though Armstrong was not his top babyface, he was a high-midcarder but underneath Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rich and Mr. Wrestling II, and Piper was clearly the best heel, Anderson booked a non-finish, saying he didn't want a guy who wasn't full-time with his promotion (Piper was still going to be a Crockett guy and only work big shows for GCW) beating one of his full-time babyfaces. The show drew 12,000 fans. Barnett noted to me that Piper not winning softened the heat, as the idea was to use Armstrong as a stepping stone for Piper to face the bigger stars. When he never beat Bob, while he was a solid main event heel, he never popped a house like that again.
While the fans turned Piper face in the WWF, it was a fan–in a very different way, who did it in the Carolinas and Georgia.
Piper was getting incredible heat, working a singles program with Jack Brisco. There was a famous story that Flair once offered Piper money if he could take Brisco, who in 1965 was the NCAA champion, down during a match. The idea is Piper would have the element of surprise going for him. Somehow, instinctively, Brisco figured it would and everyone got a laugh out of Piper blowing himself up and getting nowhere. Brisco told him after that Piper could take him down anytime he wanted as a work, but not when it's a shoot. In Raleigh, Piper got stabbed by an irate fan. Since he'd been getting so much heat this was not his first dangerous situation, the decision was made to turn him babyface.
"He looks like he just gave birth to a litter of Kangaroos" (about Jerry Lawler)
In Georgia, there wasn't even an angle. Gordon Solie just went on television with a story about how there was a mad man at a schoolyard with a knife threatening children. Piper, in protecting children and subduing the man, got stabbed. To drive the matter home, Piper and Don Muraco ended up in an argument. As it got physical, Solie was in the middle and was accidentally knocked down.
Keep in mind that Solie was virtually never part of wrestling angles. Even as a heel, Piper was always respectful to "Mr. Solie," and went crazy seeing his older legendary broadcast partner knocked down. Piper was instantly the top face, but his problems were such that after car wrecks and missing a main event, or two, Anderson fired him. Crockett had also fired him during that period. But, because he was so popular, and entertaining, and he spoke to everyone like he was so humble and gracious at all times, not to mention he was big draw, Crockett brought him back.
Jim Barnett saw his work and came up with the idea of having him as the heel television announcer for Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Barnett told me he hired Piper for $5,000 per month (Piper in his book claimed it as $5,000 per week), at the time a ton of money for a guy who only came in on Saturday mornings and still worked full-time in the Carolinas as a headliner. Given what he was likely earning in the Carolinas, Piper was among the highest paid wrestlers in the country by 1981. That wasn't always the best thing to be a 27-year-old heavy partier who was a television celebrity, good looking, and with a lot of cash in your hands.
He shined in that role, and may have been the best ever at it. Or perhaps he wasn't but it seemed that way because he was the first to do it on national television. He was a heel, but not over-the-top. He actually called things, well not exactly straight down-the-middle, but only leaned slightly heelish. He was always respectful to lead announcer Gordon Solie. He'd put over the faces, but then take a heelish dig by talking about how he'd approach the situation differently and how he'd beat them. It started out subtly and his heel persona started getting stronger as time went on.
The first signs of a heel turn came in remarks made by Piper about Bob Armstrong. Armstrong was an older veteran, himself a top talker, whose son Brad, had just started. The two were a father-and-son team who surprised everyone by winning the annual Thanksgiving night tag team tournament at the Omni in Atlanta in 1981.
Piper would make remarks about Armstrong, who had the huge arms but he didn't have big legs, and make fun of him. Armstrong would compare his body to that of a racehorse, saying he was a "Southern-born, Southern-bred thoroughbred." Piper would start criticizing the Armstrongs tag team strategy saying that the key to tag teams is having one guy work and take the beating for as long as possible, so he can tag the fresh partner while the opponents were the most tired. He said that Bob as a father, would not let his son take the beating for a long enough time. Piper outtalked everyone, drawing more and more ire out of the fans, except he'd always sell for Flair (who was a heel in Georgia but the world title was always put over big) and Armstrong's verbal jousts.
Finally, after months, it exploded with a studio brawl between Piper and Armstrong which was the hottest moment of the year on Georgia television.
"He's as strong as an ox, and almost as smart (about Ole Anderson)"
Ole Anderson was the booker at the time. While the ratings of Georgia Championship Wrestling were through the roof and it was the first legitimate hit in the history of cable television, business was not that strong at the time. The closing of the Atlanta City Auditorium meant that, since the tradition was to run weekly, they would run the Omni regularly. Atlanta went from being the major profit center for the promotion to mostly a break-even proposition, drawing about 5,000 paid per week. That would have been awesome to draw that three times a week in the smaller building and then do a big show at the Omni every month or so that drew much bigger because they brought in outside talent and it was the Omni. But when every week was the Omni, the expense of the bigger building and with running the Omni no longer making it inherently special, it was a struggle.
Barnett had been patient, giving Piper nearly a year to get over. The program with Armstrong had built perfectly. Barnett was not attending the matches the night of the first Piper vs. Armstrong match, but the advance was the strongest of the year. Barnett usually stayed out of the booking, but he told Anderson, whatever you do, Piper has to win. Anderson had other ideas. Even though Armstrong was not his top babyface, he was a high-midcarder but underneath Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rich and Mr. Wrestling II, and Piper was clearly the best heel, Anderson booked a non-finish, saying he didn't want a guy who wasn't full-time with his promotion (Piper was still going to be a Crockett guy and only work big shows for GCW) beating one of his full-time babyfaces. The show drew 12,000 fans. Barnett noted to me that Piper not winning softened the heat, as the idea was to use Armstrong as a stepping stone for Piper to face the bigger stars. When he never beat Bob, while he was a solid main event heel, he never popped a house like that again.
While the fans turned Piper face in the WWF, it was a fan–in a very different way, who did it in the Carolinas and Georgia.
Piper was getting incredible heat, working a singles program with Jack Brisco. There was a famous story that Flair once offered Piper money if he could take Brisco, who in 1965 was the NCAA champion, down during a match. The idea is Piper would have the element of surprise going for him. Somehow, instinctively, Brisco figured it would and everyone got a laugh out of Piper blowing himself up and getting nowhere. Brisco told him after that Piper could take him down anytime he wanted as a work, but not when it's a shoot. In Raleigh, Piper got stabbed by an irate fan. Since he'd been getting so much heat this was not his first dangerous situation, the decision was made to turn him babyface.
"He looks like he just gave birth to a litter of Kangaroos" (about Jerry Lawler)
In Georgia, there wasn't even an angle. Gordon Solie just went on television with a story about how there was a mad man at a schoolyard with a knife threatening children. Piper, in protecting children and subduing the man, got stabbed. To drive the matter home, Piper and Don Muraco ended up in an argument. As it got physical, Solie was in the middle and was accidentally knocked down.
Keep in mind that Solie was virtually never part of wrestling angles. Even as a heel, Piper was always respectful to "Mr. Solie," and went crazy seeing his older legendary broadcast partner knocked down. Piper was instantly the top face, but his problems were such that after car wrecks and missing a main event, or two, Anderson fired him. Crockett had also fired him during that period. But, because he was so popular, and entertaining, and he spoke to everyone like he was so humble and gracious at all times, not to mention he was big draw, Crockett brought him back.
While people often remember the two big shows in 1983, the Steamboat & Youngblood vs. Slaughter & Kernodle show and the first Starrcade as the shows that launched Jim Crockett Promotions to new heights, it was months earlier, at the annual Thanksgiving show at the Greensboro Coliseum on November 25, 1982, that Flair vs. Piper in a babyface vs. babyface match for the NWA title set a then-territory record with 15,496 paid.
While Piper's best heel work was undoubtedly in WWF during the original Piper's Pit era, his mic work peak really was in the Carolinas and Georgia. It was probably his in-ring peak as well. Even though he worked a crazy schedule of almost nightly matches, the travel was far more grueling and taxing in that WWF era where they'd cris-cross the country back-and-forth, often in the same week.
After the Mr. T match at WrestleMania II, Piper's contract had expired. Because he was so famous, and actually could box, boxing people tried to recruit him, figuring he'd be a super drawing card as a white heavyweight. He turned down the offers. He came back, and was a babyface in a gay-bashing angle with Adrian Adonis.
Adonis and Piper went way back. When Adonis was early in his career as Keith Franks, the two were tag team partners in California, as well as opponents. In one of the sillier angles in a promotion that had a lot of silly angles, Piper said he would be able to get Adonis to quit smoking. They were also together in Oregon, where Ron Starr & Adrian Adonis was a regular babyface tag team that worked against Piper & Brooks. Adonis then became a major star in the AWA as a heel tag team partner with Jesse Ventura, and was later part of one of the best tag teams of that era with Dick Murdoch.
By this point Adonis, a super talent, but badly overweight, was playing the most overtly gay character possible. Piper's race baiting promos that made him a heel became babyface gay bashing promos as a face. None of these would fly today.
In the angle with Adonis, Orton turned on Piper, and Muraco also joined Adonis in laying Piper out. They ended up putting lipstick on him, while destroying the Piper's Pit set. Piper vs. Adonis was the No. 3 match at the Hogan vs. Andre WrestleMania at the Pontiac Silverdome. It was a hair vs. hair match. Piper had also announced that would be his final match.
While Piper's best heel work was undoubtedly in WWF during the original Piper's Pit era, his mic work peak really was in the Carolinas and Georgia. It was probably his in-ring peak as well. Even though he worked a crazy schedule of almost nightly matches, the travel was far more grueling and taxing in that WWF era where they'd cris-cross the country back-and-forth, often in the same week.
After the Mr. T match at WrestleMania II, Piper's contract had expired. Because he was so famous, and actually could box, boxing people tried to recruit him, figuring he'd be a super drawing card as a white heavyweight. He turned down the offers. He came back, and was a babyface in a gay-bashing angle with Adrian Adonis.
Adonis and Piper went way back. When Adonis was early in his career as Keith Franks, the two were tag team partners in California, as well as opponents. In one of the sillier angles in a promotion that had a lot of silly angles, Piper said he would be able to get Adonis to quit smoking. They were also together in Oregon, where Ron Starr & Adrian Adonis was a regular babyface tag team that worked against Piper & Brooks. Adonis then became a major star in the AWA as a heel tag team partner with Jesse Ventura, and was later part of one of the best tag teams of that era with Dick Murdoch.
By this point Adonis, a super talent, but badly overweight, was playing the most overtly gay character possible. Piper's race baiting promos that made him a heel became babyface gay bashing promos as a face. None of these would fly today.
In the angle with Adonis, Orton turned on Piper, and Muraco also joined Adonis in laying Piper out. They ended up putting lipstick on him, while destroying the Piper's Pit set. Piper vs. Adonis was the No. 3 match at the Hogan vs. Andre WrestleMania at the Pontiac Silverdome. It was a hair vs. hair match. Piper had also announced that would be his final match.
"I came her to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum."
He did a lot of acting over the years, including his most famous role as the lead in the cult classic, "They Live," where he fought aliens disguised as people. The movie had a five minute pro wrestling-inspired fight scene, and featured perhaps his most famous line ever. John Carpenter always claimed that Piper ad-libbed that line while filming.
"Ric Flair, you just called me a woman. Well I want to know, how does it feel to get beat by a woman?"
He came back many times. With the exception of one match with Snuka, and multiple matches with best friend Flair, Piper still refused to lose matches by pinfall in WWF, until the 1992 WrestleMania, where he put over Bret Hart for the Intercontinental title.
Still, Piper was hard to explain. When Vince McMahon commissioned a hit piece on Hart, similar to "The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior," for a DVD release, which saw interviews cut and later discarded when Hart agreed to do a DVD with McMahon, partially to avoid the other tape being done, and long before their ultimate business reconciliation, it was shocking to see that Piper was on the tape smearing him, because Piper always referred to the Hart family as his cousins. But still, Piper and Hart remained close friends.
Piper had unique relations with a lot of people, constantly knocking promoters, including Vince McMahon, for how they abused talent and all the young deaths, yet always making up with him. He quit many times, and was fired once as well, for remarks made on a 2003 episode of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. He blamed the wrestling industry for its horrible track record of young deaths.
"Everybody's dead. They're all dying early and nobody cares about it. They take them and they screw them up so much."
Piper said that the wrestling business has a great entrance plan, quick fame and adulation, but no exit plan. He said he was still wrestling at 49 years old because he couldn't touch his pension plan until he reaches 65.
And then he said, "I'm not going to make 65."
WWE wrote in the release: "Piper stated that he used drugs for many years while working in professional wrestling and that he does not like the person that he becomes when he actively performs as a professional wrestler." They said they would help him out by having him no longer be a pro wrestler.
He then went to TNA from 2003 to 2005, and returned to WWF in 2005, in a deal that included his being inducted into that year's Hall of Fame.
But Piper also credited wrestling fans with saving his life. At the November 5, 2006, Cyber Sunday PPV, Piper was among those to be chosen from to be tag team partner with Ric Flair to face the Spirit Squad that night. The angle was designed to team Flair with Dusty Rhodes, but the fans instead picked Piper. Piper was feeling terrible while on a European tour for WWF, and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, which, because it was caught in its early stages, he beat it.
He did a lot of acting over the years, including his most famous role as the lead in the cult classic, "They Live," where he fought aliens disguised as people. The movie had a five minute pro wrestling-inspired fight scene, and featured perhaps his most famous line ever. John Carpenter always claimed that Piper ad-libbed that line while filming.
"Ric Flair, you just called me a woman. Well I want to know, how does it feel to get beat by a woman?"
He came back many times. With the exception of one match with Snuka, and multiple matches with best friend Flair, Piper still refused to lose matches by pinfall in WWF, until the 1992 WrestleMania, where he put over Bret Hart for the Intercontinental title.
Still, Piper was hard to explain. When Vince McMahon commissioned a hit piece on Hart, similar to "The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior," for a DVD release, which saw interviews cut and later discarded when Hart agreed to do a DVD with McMahon, partially to avoid the other tape being done, and long before their ultimate business reconciliation, it was shocking to see that Piper was on the tape smearing him, because Piper always referred to the Hart family as his cousins. But still, Piper and Hart remained close friends.
Piper had unique relations with a lot of people, constantly knocking promoters, including Vince McMahon, for how they abused talent and all the young deaths, yet always making up with him. He quit many times, and was fired once as well, for remarks made on a 2003 episode of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. He blamed the wrestling industry for its horrible track record of young deaths.
"Everybody's dead. They're all dying early and nobody cares about it. They take them and they screw them up so much."
Piper said that the wrestling business has a great entrance plan, quick fame and adulation, but no exit plan. He said he was still wrestling at 49 years old because he couldn't touch his pension plan until he reaches 65.
And then he said, "I'm not going to make 65."
WWE wrote in the release: "Piper stated that he used drugs for many years while working in professional wrestling and that he does not like the person that he becomes when he actively performs as a professional wrestler." They said they would help him out by having him no longer be a pro wrestler.
He then went to TNA from 2003 to 2005, and returned to WWF in 2005, in a deal that included his being inducted into that year's Hall of Fame.
But Piper also credited wrestling fans with saving his life. At the November 5, 2006, Cyber Sunday PPV, Piper was among those to be chosen from to be tag team partner with Ric Flair to face the Spirit Squad that night. The angle was designed to team Flair with Dusty Rhodes, but the fans instead picked Piper. Piper was feeling terrible while on a European tour for WWF, and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, which, because it was caught in its early stages, he beat it.
Part 2 of our look at the career of Roddy Piper will be posted in the coming weeks.
