Roddy Piper

Roderick George Toombs
Born	(1954-04-17) April 17, 1954 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Rowdy Roddy Piper The Masked Canadian The Piper Machine Hot Rod Roddy the Piper Roddy Piper Roderick Piper Piper
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight	234 lb (106 kg; 16.7 st)
Billed from	Glasgow, Scotland
Trained by	Tony Condello, Stu Hart
Debut	1969

Roderick George Toombs (born April 17, 1954) better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian professional wrestler, and film actor. Raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, attending Windsor Park Collegiate. 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. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Career

After being expelled from junior high and having a falling out with his father, Piper hit the road and stayed in youth hostels wherever he could find them. By the age of 16, he was the youngest wrestler in the history of professional wrestling and he made his pro debut in Winnipeg, against Larry Hennig. Piper lost the match in ten seconds. He was a boxer and an amateur wrestler before he started to become a pro wrestler. He won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a Black Belt in Judo from American Judo champion, instructor, stuntman, and professional wrestler, Gene LeBell. He has held more than 38 professional wrestling titles and has won more than 7,000 professional matches.

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, Oregon. 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 (1975-1980)

By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top heel for Mike & Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 77-78, he 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 and became one of the most hated heels in Los Angeles since the days of Classy Freddy Blassie. One of his most notorious doings was the continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community; he later promised to amend by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing "La Cucaracha" instead. 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 competed in 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 gimmick 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.

By 1979, he left the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest Territory where he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks, Rick Martel, and Mike Popovich to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Title. Piper went on to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Mid-Atlantic (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 turned face to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from an attack.

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." 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 damaged the eardrum in Piper's left ear with the collar's chain leaving Piper with permanent hearing loss.

World Wrestling Federation (1984-1996)

1984-1987

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 "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff, and soon began to wrestle with 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 frequently ended in a fight between Piper and his guest.

The Piper's Pit segments were very popular and helped create the feuds Piper had 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; this was to make Snuka "feel at home" in an act of "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, where Piper kicked Lauper in the head- and even attacked Captain Lou Albano- with Hogan seeking revenge as a result.

In 1985, MTV broadcast The War To Settle The Score, featuring a main-event matchup between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Lou Albano, Cyndi Lauper, and Mr T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Piper and Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T. Mr. Wonderful was 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.

Later in 1985, Piper paid tribute to Portland promoter Don Owen, who first set him on the road to superstardom, by making a special appearance at the PNW 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza on May 21 in Portland. Although he was competing as a heel in the WWF at the time, Piper played the face role in his match at the PNW supercard as he defeated Buddy Rose.

In Born to Controversy, Piper recalled 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 became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another. Piper once again faced 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 left 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.

1989-1996

After a hiatus Piper returned 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 SummerSlam. 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 SummerSlam, 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 continued 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 was a one-time-only deal.

In 1996, Piper was named as interim WWF President, following Vader's malicious assault on 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 jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran 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 eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left 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.

World Championship Wrestling (1996-2000)

Later in 1996, Piper joined WCW. He appeared at Halloween Havoc to "break Hogan's monotony." In his first appearance, Piper 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 Starrcade 1996, 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 joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. Shortly thereafter, Piper and Flair feuded 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 was 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, and the organization ceased to exist after being sold to WWF a few months later.

World Wrestling Entertainment (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 edition of SmackDown!, and after aligning with Sean O'Haire, Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Rikishi, a relative of Snuka. At Backlash that month, Rikishi returned the favor to Piper. Piper was then put in a program against "Mr. America". 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, which infuriated Vince McMahon. At this point, Piper and O'Haire were portrayed as McMahon's lackeys attempting to unmask Mr. America.

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"; Piper's retorted, "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 Judgment Day, 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.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (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 Final Resolution.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2008)

Hall of Fame

On 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 ITV1. This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the program was to be canceled, due to a huge drop in TV ratings but instead was moved to Sunday mornings to finish its final episodes.

Occasional appearances

Piper, who turned face once more due to a feud with the Ortons 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 the July 11 2005 episode of RAW, Piper returned to host Piper's Pit with guest then heel, Shawn Michaels. At the end of the show, Piper was superkicked by Michaels. This was during the time when Michaels was in a feud with Hulk Hogan.

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 segment, Randy Orton and "Cowboy" Bob Orton appeared and attacked both Foley and Piper. This event sparked a mini-feud between Piper and The Ortons. On the next SmackDown! after Homecoming, Piper took on Randy Orton and Bob Orton in a handicap 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 Batista and Eddie Guerrero to take on Randy Orton, Bob Orton, and Mr. Kennedy. Piper won after applying the sleeper hold to Bob Orton. Piper's feud with The Ortons came to an end on the November 4 2005 episode of SmackDown! with a DQ victory over Bob Orton.

Piper 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!, The Great Khali appeared on his show, and after insulting both Khali and his manager Daivari, Piper was attacked.

Piper returned to RAW on September 11 2006 for a six-man tag team match win with 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 2006, after being chosen to be Ric Flair's partner by voters at WWE.com over Sgt. Slaughter and Dusty Rhodes. This was his first ever tag team championship in the WWF/E, and only his second title in the WWF/E ever. This was also his first time winning a championship since he won the United States Championship in WCW. On the November 13 2006 edition of RAW, Piper and Flair lost the title to Rated-RKO. Piper never made it to the ring, as he was attacked 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. He 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 2007 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During his appearance Umaga, with manager Armando Alejandro Estrada, entered the ring and laid out both legends. He then returned on the June 11 2007 edition of RAW as part of Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night, where he introduced a video of some of McMahon's most embarrassing moments.

For the first time he made an appearance on the June 26 2007 edition of ECW and started to sing Happy Birthday to Matt Striker very poorly. Piper then put the cake in Striker's face and started to walk off when a moment later the Boogeyman appeared and Striker proceeded to exit the stage. Then, Piper flew Striker back in the ring and was body slammed and fed worms by the Boogeyman.

In 2008, after finishing his therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, he made a brief appearance in the Royal Rumble, primarily focusing on Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Both men were eliminated by Kane shortly after they entered the ring.

In wrestling

• Nicknames
  • "Rowdy"
  • "Hot Rod"

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Sleeper hold
  • Piledriver
  • Eye poke / Eye rake
  • Bulldog
  • Running knee lift
  • Belly to back suplex
  • Inverted atomic drop
  • Low blow
  • Fist drop

• Wrestlers managed
  • Sean O'Haire
  • Virgil
  • Paul Orndorff
  • Dr. D. David Schultz
  • Big John Studd

Piper's Pit

Main article: Piper's Pit

Piper's Pit was an interview segment featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper which was a mainstay on WWF television from 1984 to 1987, although Piper also hosted similar segments while wrestling for other promotions.

Championships and accomplishments

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling | World Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big John Studd
  • NWA Television championship (2 times)
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times) (First)
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹

• NWA All-Star Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Rick Martel

• NWA Hollywood Wrestling
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Crusher Verdu (2), Adrian Adonis (1), Chavo Guerrero (1), Kengo Kimura (1), Ron Bass (1), and The Hangman (1)
  • NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)²

• NWA San Francisco
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Ed Wiskoski

• Pacific Northwest Wrestling
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Killer Tim Brooks (1), Rick Martel (3), and Mike Popovich (1)

• World Class Championship Wrestling
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bulldog Brower

• World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ric Flair

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

• Class of 2007

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award in 1982.
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1984.
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1985.
  • PWI Match of the Year award - with Paul Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T in 1985.
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award in 1986.
  • PWI ranked him # 17 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Interviews award in 1981 (tied with Lou Albano)
  • Best Interviews award in 1982
  • Best Interviews award in 1983
  • Best Heel award in 1984
  • Best Heel award in 1985
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

• Other Titles
  • Manitoba Amateur Wrestling Championship (167lb)

¹The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was typically defended in the NWA Hollywood promotion, though it was occasionally defended in other promotions. The NWA records don't show exactly which NWA affiliate Piper was wrestling for when he won the championship for the first time. ²The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship is no longer recognized or sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance.

Personal life

Piper and his wife Kitty live in Hillsboro, Oregon, and have four children; daughters Anastacia, Ariel Tiel, and Fallon Danica and son Colton (who was seen at WrestleMania 12 after Piper defeated Goldust). Anastacia has a child, making Piper a grandfather.

Piper employed Jonny Fairplay as his production assistant before his stint on Survivor, and they were in the same car wreck that almost ended Piper's life.

On April 4 2006 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Piper was issued an award by the Mayor, Sam Katz. On July 27 2006, he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch of a St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

On November 27 2006, it was announced on WWE.com that Piper has Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he finished radiation therapy on January 15 2007.. This was also confirmed on Piper's official web site where he posted messages of thanks to all his fans and supporters.

On July 27, 2007, Piper was set to team up with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake in a tag team match against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Chris "The Crippler" Costello at Clash at the Cove 9, Costello's promotion IAW's yearly event at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. However, allegedly, due to a family emergency, Piper had to leave the stadium early to tend to his family. The match was then made a triple threat and Costello won by a countout in under ten minutes.

Other media

• Piper appears in the Bloodstained Memoirs Movie, a wrestling documentary.
• Piper was a guest on a 1985 Saturday Night Live episode, tormenting hosts Hulk Hogan and Mr. T
• Piper has appeared as a special guest on MADtv along with Bret Hart.
• Piper appeared as a wrestler loosely based on himself in an episode called "Crusader" from Walker, Texas Ranger where his name was Cody "The Crusader" Conway.
• Piper appeared as a character named Commander Cash on the RoboCop TV series.
• Piper appeared as a choice in the "Wheel of Destiny" segment of The Man Show.
• Piper will be the next celebrity to have their likeness in a G.I. Joe figure. According to his filecard, he will be a trainer for Destro's Iron Grenadiers.
• Piper appeared as a prison antagonist in an episode of The Outer Limits TV series
• Piper was the host of ITV's Celebrity Wrestling in the UK.

Filmography

• Bloodstained Memoirs (2008)
• Super Sweet 16: The Movie (2007)
• Honor (2006)
• Blind Eye (2006)
• Night Traveler (voice) (2006)
• Sin-Jin Smyth (2006)
• Three Wise Guys (2005)
• Cyber Meltdown (2005)
• Code Black (2005)
• Shut Up and Shoot! (2005)
• Jack of Hearts (2000)
• Legless Larry and the Lipstick Lady (1999)
• Shepherd (1999)

• Hard Time (1998)
• The Bad Pack (1998)
• Last to Surrender (1998)
• Dead Tides (1997)
• First Encounter (1997)
• Sci-Fighters (1996)
• Jungleground (1995)
• Marked Man (1995)
• Terminal Rush (1995)
• Tough and Deadly (1995)
• Back in Action (1994)

• Immortal Combat (1994)
• No Contest (1994)
• Highlander: The Series "Epitaph for Tommy" (1993)
• Tag Team (1991)
• The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage (1990)
• Buy and Cell (1989)
• They Live (1988)
• The Highwayman (1987)
• Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987)
• Body Slam (1987)
• The One and Only (1978)

Voice acting

In 2006, Roddy Piper ventured into the realm of voice acting, appearing on Cartoon Network's animated series Robot Chicken (as himself), as well as providing the voice of The Pyro Messiah in the Night Traveler multimedia adventure series produced by Lunar Moth Entertainment.

In the cartoon series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, Piper is the leader of the villainous wrestling group. He did not, however, voice his character.

External links

• RowdyRoddyPiper.com (Official Website)
• WWE Hall of Fame