11 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Rowdy Roddy Piper

5. Backstage Politics And Problems With Management

Rowdy Roddy Piper would probably be the first to admit that he had an ego. Both in WWE and WCW, he expected to be booked and treated a certain way. That resulted in the playing of backstage politics, which in turn caused problems with management wherever he went. He had multiple run-ins with Vince, then multiple run-ins with Eric Bischoff. He even ended up suing WCW for age discrimination in 2001. But he was 49 years old at the time, WCW were right to be judging him on age. Wrestling should be a young person's game. To get an idea of Piper's ego, consider that he was booked in the main event of Starrcade 1996. At the age of 42, he was babyface hero taking down the NWO. He actually defeated Hulk Hogan in the main event, although it wasn't for the World Title. You don't end up in that spot by being a nice company guy, Piper was as bad as anyone in that period for keeping himself past his prime.