This summer has been rough go for wrestling fans and today we some more bad news. The wrestling world lost 1980s icon Rowdy Roddy Piper at the age of 61. Piper was one of the catalyst of the wrestling revolution that began in the decade. Being a part of the first ever Starrcade and the first Wrestlemania, he was at the forefront the explosion of popularity in the sport.
The Rowdy one never had it easy as he left home in junior high school after a falling out with his father. Staying in youth hostels he picked the sport of boxing and actually won a Golden Gloves championship. Piper broke into wrestling at the astonishing young age of 15 and had his first match with Larry ‘The Axe” Hennig. Taking on the massive Axe was dangerous for a grown man so I couldn’t imagine being in the ring with him as a teenager.
Roddy made his way through out territories across the country throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. In the late 1970s Piper started to hit his stride and found that he can be a hated villain. In California he worked for both the San Francisco and Los Angles NWA organizations where he worked as a hated wrestler and manager. His most notable feud at the time was with the legendary Guerrero family with Chavo Sr being the main target. During this time Roddy used the feud to get heat with the entire Mexican community. Little did we know this was the early on set Piper using race throughout his career to get the people going against him hard?
Playing on his Scottish heritage Piper wore his trademark kilt and was accompanied to the ring by sound of bagpipes. He also would play the bag pipes from time to time, something he learned to do a youth. During the 1980s wrestling took off and Piper went right along with it. First in the Mid Atlantic territory where he would feud with and be friends with the legendary “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Although never known for his technical prowess, Piper would get down and dirty and make a fight out of it. The proof is in his dog collar match against Greg Valentine at the first Strarrcade when they had one of the bloodiest matches of all time. He would later in his career would have a backlot brawl against Goldust that is revered as one of the best fights in wrestling history at Wrestlemania.
The career of Rowdy Roddy Piper was all about being ground breaking and taking things to new heights. The first Wrestlemania was built off people not liking him and wanting Mr T and Hulk Hogan to get their hands on the loudmouthed Scotsman. Piper also brought to us the unforgettable Piper’s Pit. Easily the Pit was the most famous and best interview segment by a wrestler. The WWF tried the Snake Pit with Jake Roberts, The Funeral Palor with Paul Bearer and the Barbershop with Brutus Beefcake but none of them matched electricity of Piper’s Pit. No matter whom the guest was or Piper was a face or heel there would be fireworks in the Pit.
Piper was also a trailblazer outside of the wrestling ring. Well before The Rock dominated Hollywood Roddy had the movie bug. Hot Rod has 123 credits as an actor according to IMDB. Some of his most popular movies are They Live and Hell Comes to Frogtown. He spent the better part of his life entertaining fans and has had an appearance in almost every wrestling organization of note. His impact will be felt for years and there will never be one like Rowdy.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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