10 Wrestlers Who Flirted With Other Careers (And Then Came Back)
4. Roddy Piper
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.