How Good Was Roddy Piper Actually?

6. Cultural Significance

They Live Roddy Piper
Universal Studios

Roddy Piper, despite his almost unprecedented firebrand charisma, did not really establish himself in Hollywood like the Rock. He still holds the distinction of being the leading man in the best movie to star a pro wrestler: John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’. In that film, he famously improvised the line “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass - and I’m all out of bubblegum”. This isn’t just one of the hardest, most iconic, and fondly remembered lines in action movie history; it’s incontrovertible proof that the art of the classic pro wrestling promo is as worthy as any line typed out by an acclaimed screenwriter. Piper, in a small but not insignificant way, shaped the American lexicon.  As cool as ‘They Live’ is - they’ll probably play it on 1980s nostalgia nights in independent cinemas for another quarter of a century at least - if Piper was such a crossover star, he wouldn’t have returned to the WWF.

‘Hell Comes To Frogtown’ barely qualifies as “so bad it’s good”, and if you scan the rest of Piper’s filmography on Wikipedia, some of those movies are so low-budget that they don’t even have a page of their own. 

Piper was fantastic in ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’, on which he made two guest appearances as a gruff, despondent, past-it wrestler whose apparent love for the main cast absolutely terrifies them. The critical darling of a sitcom is known for its vast, extended cast of minor characters; Piper did very well to stand out. 

Piper starred during a major fad in 1980s wrestling, and his Hollywood career amounted to a one hit wonder. By wrestling standards, though, Piper was more famous than most. 

8/10

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!