Teal Piper

Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), 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 (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1984 and 2000. Although he was Canadian, because of his Scottish heritage he was billed as coming from Glasgow and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. Piper earned the nicknames "Rowdy" and "Hot Rod" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" short temper, spontaneity, and quick wit. According to ''The Daily Telegraph'', he is "considered by many to be the greatest 'heel' (or villain) wrestler ever".

One of wrestling's most recognizable stars, Piper headlined multiple PPV events, including the WWF and WCW's respective premier annual events, WrestleMania and Starrcade. He accumulated 34 championships and hosted the popular WWF/E interview segment "Piper's Pit", which facilitated numerous kayfabe feuds. In 2005, 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, 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''.

Early life

Roderick George Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on April 17, 1954, the son of Eileen (''née'' Anderson) and Stanley Baird Toombs. He was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father was an officer with the CN Rail Police (Canadian National Railway) while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba. After being expelled from junior high for having a switchblade in school and falling out with his father, Toombs left home and stayed in youth hostels. He picked up odd jobs at local gyms, running errands for several professional wrestlers. As a young man, he became proficient in playing the bagpipes, though he repeatedly stated that he was unsure exactly where he picked them up. His childhood (and lifelong) best friend was ex-NHL player Cam Connor.

Professional wrestling career

Training and early career (1969–1975)

Piper was an amateur wrestler before he started to become a professional wrestler. He claimed to have won the Golden Gloves boxing championship, though their lists of champions don't include any of his names. He was awarded a black belt in Judo from Gene LeBell. He 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. He soon began earning money wrestling while still going to school. His first match in a famous organization was with Larry Hennig in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). Friends of his played the bagpipes during his entrance while he was handing out dandelions; meanwhile, the ring announcer had to announce something, but all he knew was that Piper's name was Roddy. Subsequently, after seeing the pipe band, he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, here comes Roddy the piper." This gave birth to the name "Roddy Piper". From 1973 to 1975, Piper was a jobber in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), NWA Central States territory surrounding Kansas City, and Eastern Sports Association in the Maritimes. He also worked in Texas for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion, and in Dallas for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Rasslin.

National Wrestling Alliance territories (1975–1983)

California and Portland (1975–1980)

By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top villain for Mike and Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 1977–78, he also started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the Los Angeles office, where Piper developed his Rowdy character. During this time, he made continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community; he later promised to repent by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing " La Cucaracha" instead, which in turn caused a riot. Piper also managed a stable of wrestlers in California.

In the Los Angeles area, Piper feuded with Chavo Guerrero Sr., and his father Gory Guerrero. Piper and Chavo Guerrero faced each other in several matches for the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy. Piper also defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title. During the feud, Piper lost a hair match and had his head shaved. Piper appeared in several loser leave town matches and was forced to leave the territory. He also appeared in the territory as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper teamed with Chavo in a match against Black Gordman and Goliath for the Americas Tag Team Championship. Piper and Guerrero lost the match and faced each other two days later, with Piper defeating Guerrero for the Americas Heavyweight Championship. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero.

By late 1978-early 1979, Piper left the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen's Portland-based Pacific Northwest territory. He teamed with Killer Tim Brooks and Rick Martel to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper also won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Georgia and Mid-Atlantic (1980–1983)

In the early 1980s, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory where he beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title. He also defeated Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a feud. From 1981 to 1982, Piper served as a commentator on Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and feuded with the likes of Bob Armstrong, Dick Slater, and Tommy Rich. During the summer of 1982, Piper became a fan favorite after knocking out Don Muraco and Ole Anderson to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from Muraco, who had grown angry at Solie questioning his tactics. 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 iper'shired 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."

In 1982, Piper was fired because of showing up late for a match. He went to Puerto Rico for a month and was booked by Jim Barnett shortly thereafter. Piper returned to the Georgia area in the summer of 1983 to aid Tommy Rich during his rivalry with Buzz Sawyer. Eventually, Piper moved back to Jim Crockett Promotions. As a fan favorite, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine broke Piper's left eardrum during the match with the collar's chain, causing Piper to permanently lose 50–75% percent of his hearing. This became known as "The Year of the Ear".

World Wrestling Federation (1979, 1984–1996)

Early appearances (1979)

Before entering the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) full-time in 1984, Piper wrestled five matches with the WWF under Vince McMahon Sr. in 1979 at Madison Square Garden. His first match in WWF he defeated jobber Frankie Williams on January 22. Before one match, Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper's bagpipes with toilet paper, so they would not play in front of the Garden crowd.

''Piper's Pit'' (1984–1987)

In 1983, WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett before starting his WWF run in 1984. Piper debuted in the WWF as a manager, working with "Dr. D" David Schultz and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, but eventually Piper's run as a manager quietly ended and he started wrestling full-time. Focusing on one of his strengths as a wrestler, the microphone, he was given his own interview segment called ''Piper's Pit'' on ''Championship Wrestling'' and ''Wrestling at the Chase'' in 1984, starting a run of the segment that ended in 1987. During one ''Piper's Pit'', Piper insulted Jimmy Snuka's Polynesian heritage and attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a ''Piper's Pit'' segment, which led to a feud that ended in a steel cage match on February 8, 1986 at the Boston Garden which Piper lost.

Piper's next major storyline was with Hulk Hogan and also involved pop singer Cyndi Lauper. In 1985, MTV broadcast '' The War to Settle the Score'', which featured a main-event match between Piper and Hogan for the WWF championship. Hogan was accompanied to the ring by Lauper, Captain Lou Albano, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Paul Orndorff and his former manager Piper against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan. In ''Born to Controversy'', 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. 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 on-screen. Piper faced Mr. T in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, which Piper lost by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T.

Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned as a face, during a TV taping of ''Championship Wrestling'' on August 23, 1986, against A. J. Petrucci. As part of the storyline, the returning Piper was distressed to find his ''Piper's Pit'' segment replaced by ''The Flower Shop'', a segment hosted by Adrian Adonis, who had also hired Piper's former bodyguard Orton. Piper 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, Orton, and Don Muraco and the destruction of the original Piper's Pit set, resulting in Piper's face turn and the construction of a more permanent Piper's Pit set. 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 he left to become an actor full-time. Piper won the match.

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

Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion (1989–1992)

In 1989, Piper returned from a two-year hiatus. Although WrestleMania V was billed as his return, he actually made his first appearance on March 19 in Denver, CO at a house show when he hosted a live ''Piper's Pit'' and interviewed Brother Love. Two weeks later at WrestleMania V he did make his official return with another live ''Piper's Pit'', where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher. He made his return to the ring on May 12, substituting for Jake Roberts and pinning Ted DiBiase on a house show in Los Angeles. Piper would gain several more victories against DiBiase that month, and also against Randy Savage in June.

After this, Piper co-hosted ''Prime Time Wrestling'' from July 17, 1989, to December 25, 1989, with Gorilla Monsoon, feuding with Bobby Heenan, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, and Brother Love, he would return to the show in 1991 as well. 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 was heavily promoted on TV and Piper would face Rude in many matches throughout the house show tours, including steel cage and lumberjack matches. The feud was so prominent that a Survivor Series match was built around it which saw both men captain a team and simultaneously be eliminated by countout during their brawl, though Rude's team would go onto win the match. The feud came to a head when the stipulation stated that if Piper beat Rude, Heenan would have to dress as Santa Claus for an episode of ''Prime Time''. However the feud would continue until March 1990 with Piper winning the majority of their matches throughout 89-90 including a win over Bobby Heenan.
He then feuded with Bad News Brown who was upset at being eliminated by Piper at the 1990 Royal Rumble. Brown would go on to mock Piper for wearing a "skirt". At WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Piper cut a promo towards his opponent Bad News Brown before the match with half his face and body painted black, and also wrestled Bad News while painted this way. Bad News would take this display of blackface as being offensive behind the scenes. Subsequently, the match would end in a Double Count Out, with the issue between the two never being resolved despite plans to the contrary. According to a behind the scenes interview, neither man was willing to lose to the other.
In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against "The Million Dollar Man" (Ted DiBiase). Later in 1991 Piper was involved in a motorcycle accident, but was still present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. He lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. Following his title loss to Hart, Piper made a handful of appearances at television tapings for Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars. Four Piper's Pit segments were recorded - two with Steve Lombardi and two with Shawn Michaels. None aired, and Piper disappeared from the WWF. He made his return playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam.

Return and ''The Bottom Line'' (1994–1996)

He reemerged once again in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. During the match, commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his ''King's Court'' segment on ''Monday Night Raw'', eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a young, skinny impersonator 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 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, 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. Piper's segment aired regularly until the Summer of 1994, when Piper would disappear again.

Leaving the WWF again, he briefly returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. After this match Piper became the host for the replay editions of WWF pay-per-views for a brief period of time, commenting on the matches that had just happened, before disappearing again a few months later.

President of the WWF (1996)

On the January 29, 1996, episode of ''Monday Night RAW'', Piper returned for another regular role, as he was named as interim WWF President after Gorilla Monsoon had to take a leave of absence due to an attack by Vader. On February 24 at a house show at East Rutherford, New Jersey, he made his first match appearance in almost two years. As a substitute for Razor Ramon, Piper defeated The 1-2-3 Kid after hitting him with a ring bell. He wrestled twice more against the Kid on house shows that month.

As president, one of Piper's first acts was to reinstate The Ultimate Warrior back into the WWF after a letter campaign written in by fans. Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII. The match, dubbed a " Hollywood Backlot Brawl", began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, but 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, the aerial footage shown was actually that of the O. J. Simpson "low-speed" chase from two years prior. This was made clear by Piper himself, who recalled the event on an episode of ''Pipers Pit the Podcast''. 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 company. His final appearance came the September 6, 1996, edition of ''Monday Night RAW'', where footage was shown of him participating with other WWF wrestlers at the CNE "Experience" in Toronto.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–2000)

Feuding with nWo (1996–1998)

Piper joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the fall of 1996. He made his surprise WCW debut as a fan favorite at the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view in October to insult the nWo leader and the World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan.
On the November 18 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper revealed that Eric Bischoff was a member of the nWo, which ended with the nWo members attacking him. on the December 9 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper told Flair that he didn't need the Four Horsemen's help in beating Hogan and he was going to do it on his own. 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 Piper was defeated. On the March 10, 1997, episode of Nitro, Piper and his family joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. At Uncensored, 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. His team lost the match. On the March 31 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper and Flair agreed to team up and stand side by side to fight. Piper moved on to feud with other members of nWo. At Slamboree, Piper, Flair and Kevin Greene defeated nWo members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Syxx in a six-man tag team match. The following month, at The Great American Bash pay-per-view, Piper and Flair unsuccessfully challenged The Outsiders for the World Tag Team Championship. on the June 23 episode of Nitro, Flair and the Four Horsemen turned on Piper and attacked him. This led to a match between Piper and Flair at Bash at the Beach, which Piper won.

Piper took a hiatus from television before making his return to WCW on the September 8 episode of ''Nitro'', where he was appointed the new on-air Commissioner of WCW, which reduced his in-ring work. He briefly resumed his feud with Hulk Hogan, beating him in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc. on the March 23, 1998, episode of Nitro, Piper and Randy Savage battled to a no contest. On the March 30 episode of Nitro, Piper defeated Hogan by disqualification. At the 1998 Spring Stampede pay-per-view, Piper teamed with The Giant in a loss to Hogan and Nash in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match. At Slamboree, 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, Piper changed his decision and declared Savage as the winner by disqualification. At The Great American Bash, Piper and Savage lost to Hogan and Hart in a tag team match by submission. After the match, Piper wrestled Savage in the next match, which Piper defeated Savage by submission. On the September 7 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper and Diamond Dallas Page defeated Sting and Lex Luger by disqualification. 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. Page won the match for his team. On the September 14 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper confronted Bret Hart.

Various storylines and departure (1999–2000)

On the February 8, 1999, episode of ''Nitro'', Piper defeated Bret Hart to win his third United States Heavyweight Championship; the first two reigns being in JCP. Piper held the title for only two weeks as he lost the title to Scott Hall at SuperBrawl IX. At Slamboree, Piper defeated Flair by disqualification after Eric Bischoff reversed a decision that Flair was disqualified for hitting Piper with a foreign object. 8 days later on the May 17 episode of ''Nitro'', Piper called out Bischoff for what Bischoff did to him in 1996, before Bischoff apologised to him and WCW fans. Piper and Bischoff were interrupted by Randy Savage and his Team Madness, before Savage and Team Madness attacked him and Bischoff until Kevin Nash saved him and Bischoff. The following month later at The Great American Bash, Flair defeated Piper by disqualification for control of WCW after interference from Buff Bagwell. Upset with Bagwell getting him disqualified, Piper knocked Bagwell out and joined Flair as vice president, turning Piper heel for the first time in WCW. At Bash at the Beach, Piper competed against Bagwell in a boxing match with Mills Lane as special guest referee which he lost. In late 1999, Piper returned to WCW programming as a face, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be" (an unseen power that was controlling WCW). At Starrcade, Piper was the special referee in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match featuring Goldberg and Hart. Forced by Russo, Piper called for the bell when Hart locked in the Sharpshooter on Goldberg, when it was apparent that Goldberg had not submitted. The feud between Piper and the Powers That Be ended shortly after. Piper's last appearance in WCW was at SuperBrawl 2000

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