“Well, what we’re dealing with is one of the original Village People here, with his manager Jimmy Hart, who keeps kissing the belt leaving all that lipstick on it.I heard the Mountie out here saying, ‘First thing I’m gonna do,’ pounds his chest, I don’t know him, he’s something. ‘First thing I’m gonna do, I’m gonna take Piper’s integrity!’ Sounds like Jacques Cousteau trying to find a dry spot in the ocean. I ain’t go no damn integrity! How do think I got so far?”
” ‘Second thing I’m gonna do, I’m gonna take Roddy Piper’s manhood!’Huh?I come here to fight! I don’t know what you come here to do! I come here to win two titles. I can’t do that ’til I win the first one! I think you’ve been dreamin’ and I think it’s been all wet, too.”-Roddy PiperPre-match interview; WWF Royal Rumble 1992
That’s probably one of my favorite promos. It’s so damn ridiculous and funny.
I didn’t know how to start this. I’m shocked. It’s 2:41 a.m. I’m sitting in a hotel room in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I should be sleeping in preparation for a 10 a.m. autograph signing with Zach Gowen at the NWA Legends Fan Fest. At around 6 p.m. yesterday, as I was driving through West Virginia, I read the news that “Rowdy” Roddy Piper had past away. So instead of resting, I sit here thinking about one of my all time favorite wrestlers.
“Hot Rod” was always quick to remind you– without Roddy Piper, there would be no Hulk Hogan. That statement has never felt truer than it does right now. Hulk Hogan was the ultimate hero in the 1980’s World Wrestling Federation, and Piper was the relentless villian, hellbent on destroying Hulkamania.
Roddy had incredible drawing power in the 80’s because he was a master of a lost art: he had the ability to draw “heat.” I’m not talking about the “You’re A Bad Guy So I’m Gonna Boo You” heat. I’m talking the “I’m Gonna Wait For You In The Parking Lot And Stab You” type heat, the type of heat that no one attempts to do now because of everyone wants to be the “cool” bad guy. As a wrestler with a disability, it seemingly defies logic for a guy like me to be a villian, and yet I go out of my way to be the best villian. I’ve ripped so many pages out of Piper’s play book over the years, though I couldn’t even come close to the “Hot Rod.” Nobody can.
He wasn’t happy with you just hating him– Roddy Piper thrived on making you want to kill him. Fans were willing to buy tickets to the arena and to close circuit TV venues to see Piper get his ass kicked, and it was because of this that it was a no brainer to have Piper headline opposite of Hogan at WrestleMania, before WrestleMania had a number attached to the end of it. Without Roddy Piper, there may have never been a sequel to that first ‘Mania. Hell, one could argue that had it not been for Piper, the WWF and pro wrestling as we know it may not even exist today.
I grew up exposed to the babyface Piper of the early 90’s. His hair was a little longer then, and his allegiances were a tad different, but the presentation was the same. He always walked to the ring with a purpose, fire in eyes, ready to scrap. He was a hellraising, kilt wearing, bagpipes playing bad ass.
It’s hard for the average person to wrap their head around that last sentence. How can someone wear a kilt, play bagpipes and be a bad ass, you ask? Well, just when you think you have all the answers…
Even though Piper played a good guy during the 1990’s, he wasn’t a hero in the traditional sense. He was a rebel. He was the original anti-hero, marching to the best of his own drum. In his own words, he was “Rowdy” before it was cool. If we never had Roddy Piper, we wouldn’t get “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, CM Punk, or Dean Ambrose.
He was the first of his kind, and yet, after all of these years, he managed to remain one of a kind. He had unmatched wit and charisma. He was believable. If you didn’t watch wrestling but saw Roddy Piper, you could look at him, stop and say, “I know everything else in wrestling is phony, but this guy is the real deal.” He was never as big or as strong as Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior, but he made you believe that you ran into him in a dark alley, it’d be in your best interest to get on his goodside.
By all accounts, despite being a certified B.M.F… Roddy Piper was a sweetheart. If he met you, he took time to hear your story, what you were about, and to tell you just how special you are. I never got to meet Roddy. Last month, the idea was being tossed around to have Piper come into AIW in Cleveland for Absolution X, their version of WrestleMania. The idea was to have Roddy host “Piper’s Pit,” with myself and The Iron Curtain as his guests.
For me, to share a ring with “Hot Rod” would have been the thrill of a lifetime. Unfortunately, a deal was never reached, and I ended working with Vader instead (still a surreal moment). Had they got Piper, for absolutely no reason other than the fact that he had done it at WrestleMania VI, I had planned to paint myself half black, all with the intention to pop “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. I laugh just sitting hear thinking about that…
I think my all time favorite Piper match is his bout from WrestleMania VIII with Bret Hart. It was arguably Piper’s best wrestling matches, a helluva story, and one of the few times Roddy actually lost a match clean– a testament to the respect Roddy had for “The Hitman.”
As I finish writing this, it still hasn’t really hit me. First Dusty… now Roddy. I didn’t know these men personally, but dammit, they profoundly impacted my life. I have a hard time wrapping my head around death– just ceasing to exist. After Dusty passed, I probably watched the WWE tribute video for him 50 times. I’m sure the same thing will happen after his airs this coming Monday on Raw. I managed to hold back tears last month for The American Dream, but I can’t make any promises this time.
I really hope that there is a beautiful place that we go to when our time here expires, and if there is, I hope Roddy showed up all out of bubble gum, ready to raise just as much hell beyond this place as he did in it.
