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RODDY PIPER
Roderick George Toombs was
born on April 17, 1954 in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. At the age of 13, he ran away from
home and earned money playing the bagpipes while
living in hostels or on the street. Two years
later he won an amateur wrestling championship
and shortly thereafter became a pro wrestler.
The National Wrestling
Alliance:
Piper gained national attention while wrestling
for the NWA. His feud with Greg Valentine over
the U.S. title was settled with a dog collar
match at the first Starrcade in 1983. After
being late for a match, he was fired from the
Charlotte territory and was blackballed from the
industry. He wrestled outside the U.S. for a
short time before going to the WWF.
The WWF:
Piper joined the WWF at the beginning of
Vince McMahon's expansion in 1984. He started
off as a manger for the new wrestlers that
entered the WWF and got his own talk show
segment on WWF programming called Piper's Pit.
In this segment, he would antagonize the faces
of the WWF. In the most famous segment, he
smashed a coconut over the head of Jimmy Snuka.
Rock-n-Wrestling
Connection:
Piper quickly became the number one bad guy
in the WWF. After he beat up Cyndi Lauper, Hulk
Hogan wanted revenge. In a match shown live on
MTV, he lost to Hogan by DQ and also beat up Mr.
T. This incident led to the main event of
WrestleMania which featured Roddy Piper and Paul
Orndorff take on Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. At
WrestleMania 2, he competed in a boxing match
against Mr. T.
The Actor Turns Into a
Good Guy:
Piper left wrestling for a short time in
1986 to film some bad B-rated movies. When he
came back, his talk show was taken over by
Adrian Adonis and was renamed The Flower Shop.
The fans hated Adonis and cheered for Piper in
this feud. Their feud culminated at WrestleMania
3 in a hair vs hair match that was billed as
Piper's retirement match.
They Live and he
Returns:
Piper left so he could film They Live.
Unlike his previous movies, this was a good film
and was directed by John Carpenter. He would
also film a pilot for a TV show called Tag Team
that co-starred Jesse Ventura. He returned to
the WWF a few years later as an announcer and
won his first WWF title in 1992 when he beat the
Mountie for the Intercontinental Championship.
WCW:
Piper returned to the ring in 1996 to renew
his feud with Hogan. The difference this time
was that Hollywood Hogan was a bad guy. During
his WCW tenure, he was also commissioner.
Return to the WWE:
Piper shocked the world by interfering in
the Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon match at
WrestleMania 19. He feuded with Hogan again (at
this point Hogan was in a mask and known as Mr.
America). He appeared on an episode of Real
Sports with Bryant Gumble about the death rate
of pro wrestlers. He was fired the day after the
segment was broadcast.
Hall of Fame:
In 2005, Piper was inducted in the WWE Hall
of Fame. He still makes occasional appearances
in the ring and hosting his talk show Piper's
Pit.
WWF & WCW Title History:
WWF
Intercontinental Title
1/19/92 Royal Rumble – The Mountie
World Tag Team Championship
11/5/06 Cyber Sunday – w/Ric Flair beat the
Spirit Squad
NWA/WCW
US Title
1/27/81 – Ric Flair
4/16/83 – Roddy Piper
2/8/99 – Bret Hart
(Sources: PWI Almanac &
In the Pit with Piper by Roddy Piper)
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