Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional 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, Piper was billed as coming from Glasgow, Scotland and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music, in reference to his Scottish heritage. 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".
As one of wrestling's most recognizable stars, Piper headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including the WWF and WCW's respective premier annual events, WrestleMania and Starrcade. He accumulated 34 championships and hosted the popular WWF/WWE 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, he took the lead role of John Nada in the 1988 cult classic They Live, and a recurring role as deranged professional wrestler 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), a Scottish-Canadian and Stanley Baird Toombs, an Anglo-Canadian.The Adam Carolla Podcast, January 8, 2010, Interview with Roddy Piper. He had family roots in British Columbia and Wisconsin, and was of partial Scottish descent on his mother's side. He was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father was an RCMP officer while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba.
After being expelled from junior high school for having a switchblade and falling out with his father, Toombs left home and stayed in youth hostels. Several professional wrestlers hired him to run errands as he picked up odd jobs at nearby gyms. 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.
Piper was an amateur boxer before he became a professional wrestler. He sometimes claimed to have won a Golden Gloves championship, though their lists of champions do not include any of his names. He was awarded a black belt in Judo from Gene LeBell.
Professional wrestling career Training and early career (1969–1975) 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 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 make up for this 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 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling where he beat Jack Brisco for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. He also defeated Ric Flair for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) 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 [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."
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 Starrcade '83: A Flare for the Gold. Valentine broke Piper's left eardrum during the match, causing Piper to permanently lose 50–75% percent of his hearing. This became known as "The Year of the Ear".
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1977, 1978) Piper debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in August 1977 as part of its Toukon Series, teaming with Blackjack Mulligan in a loss to Antonio Inoki and Riki Choshu. Over the following weeks, he faced opponents including Inoki, Choshu, Seiji Sakaguchi, Kantaro Hoshino, and Osamu Kido. Piper returned to NJPW for a second tour in March 1978 as part of its Big Fight Series, this time wrestling under a mask as the "Masked Canadian". His bouts during the second tour included teaming with Masked Superstar in a loss to Haruka Eigen and Strong Kobayashi at the Tokyo Summerland and teaming with Ivan Koloff to defeat Haruka Eigen and Riki Choshu in Tokyo's Kuramae Kokugikan.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1983) Piper debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in May 1983 as part of its Grand Champion Carnival II series, teaming with Dick Slater to defeat Ashura Hara and Mighty Inoue. Throughout the tour, he primarily teamed with Slater to face opponents such as Genichiro Tenryu, Giant Baba, and Jumbo Tsuruta, with he and Slater unsuccessfully challenging Baba and Tsuruta for the NWA International Tag Team Championship. In his final match of the tour, he teamed with Bill Irwin in a loss to Ashura Hara and Takashi Ishikawa in Tokyo's Kuramae Kokugikan.
World Wrestling Federation (1979, 1984–1987)
Early appearances (1979) Before entering the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) full-time in 1984, Piper wrestled five matches with the WWF under Vincent J. McMahon in 1979 at Madison Square Garden. In his first match for the WWF, he defeated jobber Frankie Williams on January 22. On an August 11 episode of All-Star Wrestling, Piper was presented as a babyface, wrestling Jose Estrada to a time-limit draw, and featured an appearance outside the ring by Captain Lou Albano who briefly attempted to taunt Piper. 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 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.