The wrestling world was leveled Friday by the news that the legendary Rowdy Roddy Piper, one of the most-hated and most-beloved wrestlers in history, had died. The Rowdy Scot was 61. Pipers death caps a month that saw the two central figures of the WWFs rise to national prominence in the 1980s fall from grace. Both Piper and arch-rival Hulk Hogan landed on the outs with WWE during July, Piper being released from his WWE Legends contract and Hogan being erased from history last week when eight-year-old racist remarks surfaced. Roddy Piper was a polarizing figure in the world of wrestling. A gifted talker, Pipers talent sometimes served to get Hot Rod into hot water. But Piper was one of the architects of the Rock n Wrestling Connection that put WWF on the national map, launching professional wrestling into the mainstream and becoming a pop culture phenomenon. While Hulk Hogan was the hero, the knight in shining armor, Piper was his counterpoint, the devious villain who whipped fans into a frenzy. As Piper notably reminded Hogan at WCWs Halloween Havoc 1996, If they didnt hate me so much, you think they wouldve been cheering you so much? Throughout his lengthy career, Piper has had many memorable moments. This list will take a look back as some of his biggest moments throughout the past 30 years. Whether it was headlining the first WrestleMania or the numerous unforgettable Pipers Pit segments, theres plenty of memories of Rowdy Roddy Piper to go around.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
