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"Rowdy" Roddy Piper (born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954) is a Canadian professional wrestler. Raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he is billed from Glasgow, Scotland and is known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He earned the nickname "Rowdy" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage, spontaneity and quick wit, and is also nicknamed "Hot Rod". He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working on the RAW brand making special appearances.
Career
AWA (1973-1975)From 1973-1975 Piper was a jobber in the AWA, Kansas City, the Maritimes, and Texas working for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion and in Dallas working for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Wrestling. While in Texas Piper impressed many of the guys including Red Bastien who arranged for him to go to Portland. However, what was supposed to be a brief run in California turned out to be a long term stint as booker Leo Garibaldi and publicist Jeff Walton were impressed with Piper and saw the money making possibilities he had as a heel. NWA Years (1975-1980)By late 1975 and early 1976 Piper was a top heel for Mike & Gene Lebell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 77-78 also started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the L.A. office. Los Angeles was where Piper developed his Rowdy Character as one of the most hated heels in Los Angeles since the days of Classy Freddy Blassie, with one of his most notorious doings being the continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community, which he later promised to amend by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing "La Cucarahca" on the bagpipes instead [1]. Piper also served as manager for several heels in Los Angeles and worked as a referee from time to time. Piper feuded with all the faces in the area and had a long and bloody feud with Chavo Guerrero. As part of the L.A. storyline Roddy Piper feuded with Chavo and the whole Guerrero family for about 3 years in the L.A. territory. The feud started innocently enough during a TV bout in early 1976 where Chavo was defending the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy against Piper. Late in this match, Gory Guerrero (who had been in Chavo's corner giving him advice throughout the match) was slapped by Piper. Chavo "lost his cool" and starting punching Piper, getting DQ'ed and losing the Scientific Trophy for "breaking the rules". A short time later, Piper then defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title and these two were the top feud in Los Angeles for the better part of three years. They main evented against each other often during this era (1976 through 1978). The hair match gimick was one of the top stipulations between these two, resulting in Piper getting his head shaved. Another top stipulation was when Chavo beat Piper in a "loser leave town" match and Piper immediately reappeared as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper actually teamed with Chavo to battle the heel Americas Tag Team Champions (Gordman and Goliath) and Piper turned on Chavo late in the match, causing Chavo to get pinned. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero.
The Mid-Atlantic Years (1980-1983)In late 1980 Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory where he grew to achieve even bigger fame. He beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title and Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a huge feud. In 1981, Piper started with the Georgia territory as an antagonistic heel commentator. This is where he started to get worldwide attention. In 1982 due to showing up late for a match he was fired and reportedly blackballed. Piper maintains this in his book, but others dispute this. He did receive an offer from Gary Hart to go to World Class Championship Wrestling but the money was not good enough. Instead he went to Puerto Rico for a month or so and was able to get booked again by Jim Crockett shortly thereafter. It was in Crockett's promotion that Piper was attacked by a fan, leading him to turn face. In Wrestling to Rasslin', Gerald W. Morton and George M. O'Brien described the transformation: "the drama finally played itself out on television when one of his [Piper's] hired assassins, Don Muraco, suddenly attacked the commentator Gordon Solie. Seeing Solie hurt, Piper unleashed his Scottish fury on Muraco. In the week that followed, like Achilles avenging Patroklas, he slaughtered villain after villain.... In the arenas fans chanted his name throughout his matches."[2] As a face, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and more notably Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a famous dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine would end up damaging the eardrum in Piper's left ear with the collar's chain leaving Piper with permanent hearing loss. The WWF Years (1984-1996)Around this time WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who however insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett. Piper started in the WWF in late 1983 and at the same time fulfilled dates with Crockett. On his way out of Crockett's promotion he turned heel which set the stage for his WWF run in 1984. He started as a manager at first, due to the injuries he sustained during his dog collar match with Greg Valentine, but soon started wrestling full-time. Piper came in as the manager for Paul Orndorff, and soon began to wrestle with Paul Orndorff as well. Later that year, he was given his own interview segment called Piper's Pit, in which he talked to other superstars, and which would frequently end in a fight between Piper and his guest. The Piper's Pit segments were very popular and helped create the feuds Piper would have with other wrestlers. He even went as far as insulting superstars, such as André the Giant, Mr. T, and preliminary wrestler (jobber) Frank Williams. According to Piper's autobiography, Piper's Pit was completely unscripted, and was in fact so popular that it was taken on the road. In addition to pleasing many of his fans who wanted to see the Pit in person, it accomplished other things: it gave Piper the opportunity to heal some nagging injuries while still retaining his heat with the fans. In one infamous Piper's Pit, Piper had an interview with Jimmy Snuka. Piper started insulting Snuka's Polynesian heritage by bringing out pineapples, bananas, and dropping coconuts onto the table, to make Snuka "feel at home" as remorse after Snuka was not given much time to speak the previous times he was on Piper's Pit. Snuka took offense to this and Piper then attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut and shoving a banana in his face. He followed this up by whipping Snuka with his belt. Snuka was legitimately knocked woozy allowing Piper to leave before Snuka, now seriously enraged, could fight back. This incident led to a long feud between the two. Another feud, this time between Piper and Hulk Hogan erupted soon after, and became what was at the time the highest-profile feud in wrestling history, thanks to the involvement of pop singer Cyndi Lauper. In 1985, MTV broadcast "The War To Settle The Score", featuring a main-event matchup between Piper and Hogan. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Piper and Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T. Mr. Wonderful would be pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan with his trademark "injured" arm covered in a plaster cast. In Born to Controversy, Piper would recall how he had to keep Mr. T busy with tie-ups and other shoot wrestling moves to keep Mr. T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans, thus ruining the match. . From this situation, Piper and Mr. T's real-life relationship would become hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another. Piper would once again face Mr. T, this time alone, in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Piper lost the match by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T. In Born to Controversy, Piper admits that he is embarrassed looking back upon this match and wishes he had just taken Mr. T out in the first place. Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned to find his Piper's Pit segment replaced by The Flower Shop, a segment hosted by the then effeminate wrestler Adrian Adonis. Piper (returning as a babyface) spent weeks crashing Adonis' show and trading insults, leading to a "showdown" between the two segments that ended with Piper being assaulted and humiliated by Adonis, Piper's former bodyguard Orton (now in Adonis' employ) and Don Muraco. The trio would leave Piper with his face covered in red lipstick lying in the middle of the remnants of the Piper's Pit set which had been destroyed. In response, Piper stormed the set of Adonis' show and destroyed it with a baseball bat. This led to their Hair vs Hair match at WrestleMania III, which was billed as Piper's retirement match from wrestling before becoming an actor full-time. Piper won the match with the assistance of the newly turned face Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who had been sheared by Adonis shortly before the match. Piper would return to the WWF with a live Piper's Pit at WrestleMania V. Where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher. He also wrestled part-time, while serving as an on-air host and commentator, most notably at that time feuding with Ravishing Rick Rude after playing a part in Rude losing his Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam 89. Piper wrestled Bad News Brown at WrestleMania VI in 1990. The match ended with both men being counted out of the ring, but the real highlight of the match was Piper's choice of ring attire. In true 'Rowdy' fashion, Piper cut a promo and came to the ring with half his body painted black in a strange attempt to play head games with Bad News. In 1991 he supported Virgil in his feud against Ted DiBiase and was present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and Summer Slam. He also renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Championship. However, he lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII, in what is regarded as one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history. After playing the bagpipes at Summer Slam, he disappeared from the WWF. He re-emerged in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. Notable during the course of the match, was commentator Jerry Lawler, remarking that he hated Piper. Lawler would continue to taunt Piper on his King's Court segment on Monday Night RAW, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a skinny teenager in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet. Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. Piper used his feud with the heel Lawler as an opportunity to turn face, saying he had "made a mess of most of his career as a heel", and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children's hospital in Ontario. Leaving the WWF again, he soon returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. The appearance would turn out to be a one-time-only deal. In 1996, Piper was named as interim WWF President, following Vader's malicious assault of Gorilla Monsoon, following the Royal Rumble. As president, Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust, and would do so at WrestleMania XII, in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl." While the contest began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, Goldust would jump into his gold Cadillac and run Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco, which when viewed from aerial footage, looked amazingly similar to the O.J. Simpson "slow-speed" chase from two years prior. (The WWF had attempted to be humorous and recycle the footage with Vince McMahon quipping on commentary, "This footage looks awfully familiar.") The two would eventually return to WrestleMania XII, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of WrestleMania XII, Piper would once again leave the Federation. This match was meant to be Razor Ramon vs. Goldust, however, Scott Hall was suspended in the weeks before Wrestlemania and was replaced by Piper. According to Born to Controversy, the original premise was to have Piper wrestle O.J. Simpson but this was seen as in bad taste, hence the match with Goldust. The WCW Years (1996-2000)Later in 1996, Piper joined WCW. He appeared at Halloween Havoc to "break Hogan's monotony." In his first appearance, Piper famously asked Hogan, "Do you think [the fans] would've loved you so much, if they hadn't hated me?" Piper's WCW tenure is best remembered for his long-running feud with Hogan, at the time a heel, over which of them was wrestling's true icon. Piper and Hogan wrestled in a non-title match as the main event of 1996's Starrcade, WCW's biggest pay-per-view event of the year. Piper defeated Hogan with a sleeper hold. Piper faced Hogan in a title match at SuperBrawl VII. This time, Hogan beat Piper when Randy Savage interfered and joined the New World Order. Promos showed Piper locking himself in the Alcatraz prison and vigorously exercising in order to prepare for the highly anticipated match. During the spring of 1997, Piper would join forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. Shortly there after, Piper and Flair would feud before Piper disappeared from the scene. Piper briefly returned in October 1997 to face Hogan once again in a steel cage match. In early 1998, Piper once again returned to feud with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Bret Hart. In early 1999, Piper had a short run as United States Champion, became WCW Commissioner, and resumed his feud with Ric Flair over control of WCW. Piper also had a short feud with Buff Bagwell in the summer of 1999. In late 1999, Piper would once again be featured on WCW Television, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be" (an un-seen power that was controlling WCW). At Starrcade 1999, Piper was the special referee in the WCW title match featuring Bill Goldberg & Bret Hart. Forced by Russo, Piper called for the bell when Hart locked in the Sharpshooter on Goldberg, when it was apparent that Goldberg hadn't submitted. The feud between Piper and the Powers That Be ended shortly after and Piper disappeared, never to be seen on WCW TV again. In the fall of 2000, WCW terminated Piper's contract. Return to the WWE (2003)In November 2002, Piper's autobiography, In the Pit with Piper: Roddy Gets Rowdy, was released. At WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, Piper ran in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon bloodbath, and made his second WWE heel run by attacking Hogan with a steel pipe. He brought back Piper's Pit on the April 10, 2003 edition of "SmackDown!", and after aligning with Sean O'Haire, Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Rikishi, a relative of Snuka. At the Backlash PPV that month, Rikishi returned the favor to Piper. Piper was then put in a program against "Mr. America", aka Hulk Hogan wearing a mask. The storyline was Hulk Hogan had been bought off WWE television forever by the evil Vince McMahon. Hulk Hogan returned "incognito" although the joke was that everybody knew who he really was. This infuriated Vince McMahon. At this point Piper and O' Haire were basically portrayed as McMahon's lackeys attempting to unmask Mr. America, though Piper's charisma wouldn't let him take too much of a back seat. Around the same time on Monday Night RAW, Chris Jericho started The Highlight Reel a show similar to Piper's Pit. The two even verbally sparred on TV, with Jericho calling Piper fat and telling him to "call him when he lost some weight", and Piper's famously retorting, "I have seen Chris Jericho wrestle. I have heard Chris Jericho talk. I have even heard Chris Jericho sing. So I'll make you a deal: I promise you that when I lose some weight, I'll call you. And when you get some talent, you call me." At the 2003 Judgment Day pay-per-view, the two met again, with Jericho telling Piper he made a wrong turn and missed the senior's home and alluding to the incident where Piper ripped off a fan's (later revealed to be Zach Gowen) leg and used it as a weapon, mentioning there were some midgets and lepers he could thrash and while patting Piper's stomach, asked if he ate the leg. Piper responded by blasting him for ripping off the Piper's Pit idea and drilling it into the ground and called Jericho's birth an "accident". In June 2003, WWE decided to stop using Piper (who was working without a contract at the time) after a controversial interview with HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in which Piper discussed the darker side of the wrestling business. On his 2006 DVD, Piper claimed that HBO took parts of his interviews out of context to make wrestling look worse. TNA Stints (2004)In 2004 Piper appeared for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, hosting several "In the Pit with Piper" interview segments. He interviewed former rival Jimmy Snuka at the company's first three-hour pay-per-view, Victory Road, where he dared Snuka to get revenge by hitting him with a coconut. Instead, TNA wrestler Kid Kash eventually used the coconut on Sonjay Dutt. Piper also served as one of their NWA Championship Committee members, culminating in refereeing a match at their Final Resolution pay-per-view event. WWE Hall of FameOn February 21, 2005, it was announced that Piper was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Piper held an edition of Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21 where he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin. The interview was interrupted by Carlito, who was promptly beaten up by both Piper and Austin. In April 2005, Piper co-presented Celebrity Wrestling in the United Kingdom on ITV. This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the program was to be cancelled, due to a huge drop in TV ratings but instead was moved to Sunday mornings to finish its final episodes. 2005Piper who turned face once more due to fan reaction continues to make periodic appearances on WWE TV, occasionally wrestling but usually hosting Piper's Pit segments. He makes appearances for both the RAW brand and the SmackDown! brand. On July 11, 2005 episode of RAW, Piper returned to host Piper's Pit with guest Shawn Michaels. At the end of the show, Piper was superkicked by Michaels. Piper once again appeared on RAW on October 3, 2005 for RAW Homecoming. He hosted Piper's Pit with guest Mick Foley, later in the segement, Randy Orton and Bob Orton Jr. appeared and attacked both Foley and Piper. This event sparked a mini-feud between Piper and the Ortons. The SmackDown after RAW Homecoming featured Piper taking on Randy Orton and Bob Orton in a handicapped match. Piper won with a roll-up on Bob Orton after a distraction by The Undertaker. On the October 28, 2005 episode of Smackdown!, Piper teamed with Dave Batista and Eddie Guerrero to take on Randy Orton, Bob Orton and Mr. Kennedy. Piper put Bob Orton to sleep with his trademark Sleeper Hold. Piper's feud with the Orton's came to an end on the November 4, 2005 episode of SmackDown with a victory by DQ over Bob Orton. 2006-2007Piper then hosted a memorable episode of "Piper's Pit" on the January 13, 2006 episode of SmackDown in which the Boogeyman ate the mole off of WWE diva Jillian Hall's face. On another episode of SmackDown! Piper had the giant Great Khali appear on his show. After insulting both Khali and his manager, Daivari, Piper was mauled and left for dead. Piper returned to RAW on September 11, 2006 for a six-man tag team match win with the The Highlanders against the Spirit Squad. He also appeared on the RAW Family Reunion, along with Money Inc. and Arn Anderson to accompany Ric Flair ringside for a match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad. On November 5, 2006, Piper won the World Tag Team Championship with Ric Flair from The Spirit Squad at Cyber Sunday. This is his first ever tag team championship in the WWF/E, and only his second title in the WWF/E ever. This is also his first time winning a championship since he won the United States Championship in WCW. On the November 13, 2006 edition of WWE Raw, Piper and Flair lost the titles to Rated-RKO. Piper never made it to the ring, as he was attacked outside it by Edge with a con-chair-to before the match. On November 17, 2006, WWE announced on their website that Piper was flown from the UK to his home state of Oregon and had surgery for what was originally believed to be kidney stones, but was speculated to be a disc problem in his back. It was later determined to be cancer. As a result of the procedure, it was announced that he was withdrawing from the Survivor Series match which would have pitted himself (as a co-captain), along with Flair, Anderson, Sgt. Slaughter and Dusty Rhodes against the Spirit Squad, and was replaced with Ron Simmons. He made a return to RAW on an episode taped February 12, 2007, during which he announced that his friend Dusty Rhodes was to be the first person inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for the 2007 class. During his appearance Umaga, with manager Armando Alejandro Estrada, entered the ring and laid out both legends. Piper's PitPiper's Pit was an interview segment featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper which was mainstay on WWF television from 1984 to 1987, although Piper also hosted similar segments while wrestling for other promotions. Some notable moments include:
Personal lifeHe is currently married with four children. On April 4, 2006 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Piper was issued an award by the Mayor, Sam Katz. He will be starring in the motion picture Sin-Jin Smyth as U.S. Marshal, Trent Polly. The film is expected to be released sometime in 2007. Piper currently lives in Portland, OR. On November 27, 2006, it was announced on WWE.com that Piper has Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and is to undergo radiation therapy [1]. This was also confirmed on Piper's official web site where he posted messages of thanks to all his fans and supporters. Other media
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
FilmographyImage:Roddypiperblindeye.jpg Roddy Piper in the film, BLINDeye (2006)
Voice actingIn 2006, Roddy Piper ventured into the realm of voice acting, appearing on Cartoon Network's animated series Robot Chicken, as well as providing the voice of The Pyro Messiah in the Night Traveler multimedia adventure series produced by Lunar Moth Entertainment. Trivia
References
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