Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Wrestling Legend, Dead at 61 (Report) .....

WOW.....The Scotsman has died. Rowdy Roddy Piper one of the WWF and WWE Legendary Wrestlers. Another one that starred in a couple of movies and was good with the people. Damn, died of cardiac arrest last Thursday. Still young.....R.I.P. Roddy.






Wrestling legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has died at age 61, TMZ reports. Piper died of cardiac arrest in his Hollywood home, according to the website. Piper (real name: Roderick George Toombs) rose to wrestling fame in the 1980s, and was admitted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Piper was one of the wrestling league’s most popular villains, playing up Toombs’ Scottish heritage — he was actually born in Canada, though his character was billed as from Glasgow — with his signature kilt and the bagpipe music that would accompany him into the ring.

Fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan told TMZ that Piper was his “best friend,” noting, “I will forever miss him.” Piper is survived by his wife Kitty, four children and a grandchild.....snip~

‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Wrestling Legend, Dead at 61 (Report)





Roddy Piper Dead at 61: A Look Back at 'Hot Rod's' Best Moments.....




Wrestling legend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who died Thursday at age 61, according to his rep and World Wrestling Entertainment, was one of the brightest stars for the then-WWF during the 1980s with his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He was nicknamed "Rowdy" because of his rage and bad attitude, which was on display in many of his memorable feuds with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

Roddy Piper Dead at 61: A Look Back at 'Hot Rod's' Best Moments - ABC News

His son is a former MMA fighter.....He even had his own side-show with the WWF. Pipers Pit.....wherein he got into it with Cyndi Lauper. Which propelled his career. They said he liked playing the bad guy. Even the Washington Post carried the story on him. Imagine that.




Piper, a native of Canada, rose to fame in the 1980s as a brash Scotsman who was always ready for a fight. One of his most memorable performances came in the main event of WWE’s (then known as the WWF) inaugural WrestleMania.

Piper and Paul Orndorff lost to Hulk Hogan and Mr. T in the star-studded match that also featured boxing legend Muhammad Ali, New York Yankees Manager Billy Martin, Liberace and even some Rockettes. Fellow pro wrestlers Jimmy Snuka and Bob Orton, father of current WWE star Randy Orton, also got involved.....snip~

WWE legend ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper dead at age 61 - The Washington Post

hmm I wonder if it is all that pounding and stuff they do that shortens their life spans. it seems a lot of wrestling stars are dying pretty young.
whether it is to OD's or just bad health at what is considered a young age.

I wonder what would happen if they did steroid testing in the WWE. I am sure they are going to have a lot of failures.

Piper's pit ruled, so sad he passed away this early. He might have been a heel but he was a great heel and a great personality in the wrestling industry. May he rest in peace.

What i thought was sad was his HBO interview where he said "i won't live to see a pension, let's just face facts."

Turns out he was right. Pro wrestling has a huge drug culture, and it's no coincidence so many of piper's era are dead before 65 or even 50.

OTOH, that is often the price of being remembered by so many....

Peter King said:

Piper's pit ruled, so sad he passed away this early. He might have been a heel but he was a great heel and a great personality in the wrestling industry. May he rest in peace.

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He was able to thrive as a small-medium sized heel in an era when 500 pound behemoths dominated, like ric flair.

Probably the moment i've seen that's my favorite is when he body slammed Mr T during a boxing match. His character had a temper and a street-brawler persona that was irresistible, even as a heel

Ric Flair was not big physically

I don't know about his wrestling career....but he was perfect in the movie "They Live!".


Favorite line: "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum."

ludin said:

hmm I wonder if it is all that pounding and stuff they do that shortens their life spans. it seems a lot of wrestling stars are dying pretty young.
whether it is to OD's or just bad health at what is considered a young age.

I wonder what would happen if they did steroid testing in the WWE. I am sure they are going to have a lot of failures.

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Steroids and narcotic painkillers were the norm for pro wrestlers back then, and probably still are for many today. Even though it's "fake", they really do beat the hell out of their bodies for our entertainment. A lot of times they would get drugged up and perform even though they had injuries like broken ribs. There's an interesting series on YouTube called "wrestling secrets exposed" that discusses some of it.

Binary_Digit said:

Steroids and narcotic painkillers were the norm for pro wrestlers back then, and probably still are for many today. Even though it's "fake", they really do beat the hell out of their bodies for our entertainment. A lot of times they would get drugged up and perform even though they had injuries like broken ribs. There's an interesting series on YouTube called "wrestling secrets exposed" that discusses some of it.

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honestly though, not even just that. To go out there and sustain such high energy for 30+ minutes, you know they gotta be on speed or crack

Binary_Digit said:

Steroids and narcotic painkillers were the norm for pro wrestlers back then, and probably still are for many today. Even though it's "fake", they really do beat the hell out of their bodies for our entertainment. A lot of times they would get drugged up and perform even though they had injuries like broken ribs. There's an interesting series on YouTube called "wrestling secrets exposed" that discusses some of it.

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yea I saw the tv show, but while it is "fake" the falls and stuff they take are real. almost like football in a way.
sure you can lessen the impact but it still jolts and messes with things.

people slam football for how rough it is but I think these guys over the years take a worse beating.
one guy was saying that in order to get blood he scratches his forehead slightly I mean who in their honest mind does that?

we all know it is fake but still the number of deaths that has occurred is astounding.