10 Wrestlers Who Flirted With Other Careers (And Then Came Back)

4. Roddy Piper

Lex Luger WBF
Universal Pictures

Whereas Hulk Hogan was largely a flop when it came to transitioning to a career in acting, long-time Hulkster rival 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper was far more successful on the silver screen.

Piper may not have hit the A-list status that both he and Hogan were vying for, but he became a cult icon thanks to turns in cult favourites like Hell Comes to Frogtown and They Live. As a result of his acting pursuits, Piper was a fleeting presence in the wrestling business throughout the late-1980s and into the '90s, and it wasn't really until landing in WCW in 1996 that Hot Rod became a full-time wrestler once more.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has clearly taken things to a whole other level when it comes to successfully transitioning from pro wrestling to Hollywood, yet Roddy Piper was the first grappler to do so with any sense of credibility and any sort of positive reception. Then again, so often RP just played slightly skewed versions of RP in his movies - and seeing a version of Roddy Piper kicking alien ass was, and still is, never a bad thing.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.