20 Most Iconic WWE Wrestlers Of All Time

12. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

If it wasn't for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, would the inaugural WrestleMania have been as successful as it was? That's a question that you could spend an age debating. To some, Roddy Piper is just as important to the wrestling business as Hulk Hogan. As the old saying goes, every good hero needs a good villain. But Piper was more than just a great bad guy. Whatever side of the fence he was on, Roddy Piper was and is someone you just can't take your eyes off. Never the most technical of grapplers, Piper was a brawler with a mouth. That mouth was his key, though, with him able to talk you into the building to either see him get his a** whipped or to see him as the one dishing out the punishment. When Piper talked, fans listened. Simple. Like "Superstar" Billy Graham, Roddy Piper is one of the very first people in the WWWF/WWF/WWE to masterfully utilise the microphone as a true piece of their arsenal. And through his interaction with the likes of Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper, he was someone who truly transcended the wrestling industry and grabbed the interest of non-wrestling fans.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 dayjob, 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.