102 Facts About Rowdy Roddy Piper

Roderick George Toombs, better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor.

In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 2000.

One of wrestling's most recognizable stars, Rowdy Roddy Piper headlined multiple PPV events, including the WWF and WCW's respective premier annual events, WrestleMania and Starrcade.

In 2005, Rowdy Roddy Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ric Flair, who dubbed him "the most gifted entertainer in the history of professional wrestling".

Outside of wrestling, Rowdy Roddy Piper acted in dozens of films and TV shows, most notably taking the lead role of John Nada in the 1988 cult classic They Live and a recurring role as a deranged professional wrestler called Da' Maniac on the FX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

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Rowdy Roddy Piper was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and attended Windsor Park Collegiate.

Rowdy Roddy Piper's father was an officer with the CN Rail Police while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba.

Rowdy Roddy Piper picked up odd jobs at local gyms, running errands for several professional wrestlers.

Rowdy Roddy Piper was an amateur wrestler before he started to become a professional wrestler.

Rowdy Roddy Piper claimed to have won the Golden Gloves boxing championship, though their lists of champions don't include any of his names.

Rowdy Roddy Piper started wrestling under the care of promoter Al Tomko in Canada, his first match involving "midget wrestlers" in front of a lumberjack audience in Churchill, Manitoba.

Rowdy Roddy Piper soon began earning money wrestling while still going to school.

From 1973 to 1975, Rowdy Roddy Piper was a jobber in the American Wrestling Association, NWA Central States territory surrounding Kansas City, and Eastern Sports Association in the Maritimes.

Rowdy Roddy Piper worked in Texas for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion, and in Dallas for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Rasslin.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared in several loser leave town matches and was forced to leave the territory.

Rowdy Roddy Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero.

Rowdy Roddy Piper teamed with Killer Tim Brooks and Rick Martel to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship.

Rowdy Roddy Piper won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a feud.

Rowdy Roddy Piper went to Puerto Rico for a month and was booked by Jim Barnett shortly thereafter.

Rowdy Roddy Piper returned to the Georgia area in the summer of 1983 to aid Tommy Rich during his rivalry with Buzz Sawyer.

In 1983, WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Rowdy Roddy Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett before starting his WWF run in 1984.

Rowdy Roddy Piper debuted in the WWF as a manager, working with "Dr D" David Schultz and "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, but eventually Rowdy Roddy Piper's run as a manager quietly ended and he started wrestling full-time.

In Born to Controversy, Rowdy Roddy Piper recalled how during the match he had to keep Mr T busy to cover Mr T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans.

In early 1987, Rowdy Roddy Piper's Pit served as the backdrop for Andre the Giant's heel turn and challenging Rowdy Roddy Piper's old foe, Hulk Hogan, for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III, and Hogan ultimately accepting the challenge.

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Rowdy Roddy Piper returned to the ring when he interfered in Rude's Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship defense against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, costing Rude the title.

The feud came to a head when the stipulation stated that if Rowdy Roddy Piper beat Rude, Heenan would have to dress as Santa Claus for an episode of Prime Time.

Rowdy Roddy Piper then feuded with Bad News Brown who was upset at being eliminated by Piper at the 1990 Royal Rumble.

At WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Rowdy Roddy Piper cut a promo towards his opponent Bad News Brown before the match with half his face and body painted black, and wrestled Bad News while painted this way.

Later in 1991 Rowdy Roddy Piper was involved in a motorcycle accident, but was still present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam.

Rowdy Roddy Piper renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

Rowdy Roddy Piper lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII.

Rowdy Roddy Piper made his return playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam.

Rowdy Roddy Piper reemerged in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna.

Enraged, Rowdy Roddy Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Rowdy Roddy Piper emerged victorious.

Rowdy Roddy Piper wrestled as a fan favorite, and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children's hospital in Ontario.

In spring 1994, Rowdy Roddy Piper began hosting a regular weekly segment on All-American Wrestling called "The Bottom Line" where he commented on various happenings in the WWF, as well as on his feud with Lawler.

Rowdy Roddy Piper's segment aired regularly until the Summer of 1994, when Rowdy Roddy Piper would disappear again.

Rowdy Roddy Piper wrestled twice more against the Kid on house shows that month.

Enraged, Rowdy Roddy Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII.

Rowdy Roddy Piper joined World Championship Wrestling in the fall of 1996.

Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated Hogan with his signature sleeper hold in the non-title main event of the company's flagship pay-per-view Starrcade, which earned him a title shot against Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl VII, where Rowdy Roddy Piper was defeated.

At Uncensored, Rowdy Roddy Piper competed in a triangle elimination match where he captained a team of Horsemen Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett against the nWo and WCW's team of Lex Luger, Steiner Brothers and The Giant.

Rowdy Roddy Piper briefly resumed his feud with Hulk Hogan, beating him in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc.

At the 1998 Spring Stampede pay-per-view, Rowdy Roddy Piper teamed with The Giant in a loss to Hogan and Nash in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match.

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At Slamboree, Rowdy Roddy Piper served as the special guest referee in a match between Randy Savage and Bret Hart, which Hart won but the following night on Nitro, Rowdy Roddy Piper changed his decision and declared Savage as the winner by disqualification.

Rowdy Roddy Piper teamed with Diamond Dallas Page and The Warrior as Team WCW in a WarGames match at Fall Brawl for an opportunity at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the following month's Halloween Havoc.

Rowdy Roddy Piper held the title for only two weeks as he lost the title to Scott Hall at SuperBrawl IX.

At Slamboree, Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated Flair by disqualification after Eric Bischoff reversed a decision that Flair was disqualified for hitting Rowdy Roddy Piper with a foreign object.

Upset with Bagwell getting him disqualified, Rowdy Roddy Piper knocked Bagwell out and joined Flair as vice president, turning Rowdy Roddy Piper heel for the first time in WCW.

At Bash at the Beach, Rowdy Roddy Piper competed against Bagwell in a boxing match with Mills Lane as special guest referee which he lost.

In late 1999, Rowdy Roddy Piper returned to WCW programming as a face, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be".

At Starrcade, Rowdy Roddy Piper was the special referee in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match featuring Goldberg and Hart.

Rowdy Roddy Piper's last appearance in WCW was at SuperBrawl 2000 in February 2000 where he was a surprise referee in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Hall.

Rowdy Roddy Piper returned to WWE on March 30,2003, by conducting a surprise run in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon match at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, where he attacked Hogan with a steel pipe to cement his heel status; Hogan nevertheless eventually won the match.

At Judgment Day, Rowdy Roddy Piper argued with Chris Jericho if Rowdy Roddy Piper's Pit was better than Jericho's talk show The Highlight Reel.

On his 2006 DVD, Rowdy Roddy Piper claimed that HBO took parts of his interviews out of context to make wrestling look bad.

Rowdy Roddy Piper debuted for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion on December 4,2002, at an NWA-TNA pay-per-view and started a feud with Vince Russo, cutting a promo where he blamed Russo for the death of Owen Hart.

At Final Resolution in January 2005, Rowdy Roddy Piper refereed a match between Jeff Hardy and Scott Hall, helping Hardy win.

Rowdy Roddy Piper held an episode of Rowdy Roddy Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21 where he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin.

In October and November 2005, Rowdy Roddy Piper feuded with Cowboy Bob Orton and Randy Orton, after they attacked him during a session of Rowdy Roddy Piper's Pit with Mick Foley.

Rowdy Roddy Piper returned to Raw on September 11,2006, for a six-man tag team match win with The Highlanders against the Spirit Squad.

Rowdy Roddy Piper 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.

In 2007, Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared in February to announce Dusty Rhodes for the WWE Hall of Fame, and in June for Vince McMahon Appreciation Night.

In 2008, Rowdy Roddy Piper made a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match by attacking Jimmy Snuka, but was eliminated by Kane.

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At Cyber Sunday, Rowdy Roddy Piper was one of three choices to be Santino Marella's opponent for the Intercontinental Championship, with The Honky Tonk Man being chosen.

Rowdy Roddy Piper challenged Vince McMahon to a street fight later in the evening, but Randy Orton came out to fight in McMahon's place.

Rowdy Roddy Piper inducted Wendi Richter into the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame on March 27,2010.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared the next night on Raw as one of the Legend Lumberjacks in a match that involved Christian and Ted DiBiase.

Two months later, Rowdy Roddy Piper hired DiBiase to capture guest host Quinton Jackson so he could "gain revenge on BA", but was unsuccessful.

At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3,2011, Rowdy Roddy Piper made an appearance by hitting Zack Ryder with a coconut while the latter was being interviewed.

In early July 2015, Ric Flair said Rowdy Roddy Piper lost his WWE Legends contract with the company because of a public feud with Steve Austin, which resulted in Rowdy Roddy Piper leaving PodcastOne.

In February 2005 at WrestleReunion, Rowdy Roddy Piper teamed with Jimmy Valiant and Jimmy Snuka against Colonel DeBeers, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

On January 29,2011, Rowdy Roddy Piper made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend, defeating nineteen other men, last eliminating Terry Funk, to win the Legends Battle Royal.

Rowdy Roddy Piper's last documented match occurred on August 12,2011, at the JCW Legends and Icons event.

Deadline Hollywood wrote, "During and after his wrestling days, Rowdy Roddy Piper racked up dozens of film and TV credits, starring in numerous action B-movies and later doing voice work".

Rowdy Roddy Piper was a guest on a 1985 Saturday Night Live episode, tormenting hosts Hulk Hogan and Mr T, and appeared as a special guest on MADtv along with Bret Hart.

Rowdy Roddy Piper had a role in a fourth season episode of the Superboy television series as an immortal Alchemist stealing the youth from his gym patrons.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared as a wrestler loosely based on himself in an episode called "Crusader" from Walker, Texas Ranger.

Rowdy Roddy Piper was the host of ITV's Celebrity Wrestling in the United Kingdom.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as professional wrestler named "Da' Maniac" during season 5 and reprised this role in season 9.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared as Mr Thurgood in the low-budget film The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens in 2008 and its sequel Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes in 2010.

On March 14,2010, Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared in "One Fall", an episode in CBS's Cold Case, playing a wrestler named Sweet Sil.

In 2012, Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared on a Season 4 episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories, in which he conveyed a story of being visited by the ghost of Adrian Adonis.

In June 2013, Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap, where he swapped wives with Ric Flair.

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Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared as himself in the video game Saints Row IV.

Rowdy Roddy Piper played himself as the protagonist in the 2013 film Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies.

Rowdy Roddy Piper started a podcast; Piper's Pit with Roddy Piper, in association with PodcastOne.

In 2006, Roddy Piper ventured into the realm of voice acting, providing the voice of himself in "Metal Militia"—an episode of Cartoon Network's animated series Robot Chicken—and the voice of The Pyro Messiah in the Night Traveler multimedia adventure series produced by Lunar Moth Entertainment.

Rowdy Roddy Piper provided the voice of Bolphunga in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, and the voice of Don John in the Adventure Time episode "The Red Throne".

Rowdy Roddy Piper voiced his own likeness in the 2013 video game Saints Row IV.

Rowdy Roddy Piper is one of several real people to be immortalized with a 3.

Rowdy Roddy Piper is a playable character in 14 wrestling video games.

Rowdy Roddy Piper made his first appearance in WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge.

Rowdy Roddy Piper appeared in WWE 2K14 as a hidden character in the Superstar Head Creation mode.

Rowdy Roddy Piper had trouble collecting his thoughts and staying focused, often rambling and not answering Eisen's questions.

Seven days later on July 31,2015, Rowdy Roddy Piper died in his sleep at the age of 61 at his summer residence in Hollywood, California.

Hulk Hogan later revealed that Rowdy Roddy Piper had left him a voice mail that he discovered following his death in which Rowdy Roddy Piper said that he was "walking with Jesus".

Rowdy Roddy Piper received a ten-bell salute after the planned salute to fellow former professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, who had died the previous month.

Rowdy Roddy Piper was a great wrestler, a masterful entertainer and a good friend.

Rowdy Roddy Piper is considered one of the greatest talkers and heels in wrestling history.

Rowdy Roddy Piper used a move called Piper's Pit, a reference to the talkshow he held during the WWF.