A lot of people don't think of Piper as a Canadian because when he walked to the ring he was accompanied by Scottish music, but he was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Piper had a legendary WWE career that saw him end up in the Hall of Fame in 2005. Best known for his work on the microphone, his Piper's Pit segments are legendary in the sense that here we are nearly 30 years later and people still remember when he broke a coconut over the head of Jimmy Snuka. What made Piper such a great performer was his unpredictability. If you gave him a live microphone you never knew what he was going to say. He was best as a heel and is regarded as one of the best villains ever. That's the role that made him most famous 30 years ago when the first WrestleMania took place. Nobody could rile up a crowd like Hot Rod. His babyface stuff was pretty good too, but his legacy is as a villain. In the ring, Piper was unique in that he wasn't the kind of guy that would really plan out matches in detail ahead of time. He went out there, he brawled, he scratched and of course he poked people in the eye too. Whatever he needed to do to entertain us, that's what Piper did. All of these performers have won a lot of titles in their career, but Piper was never about that. Over the years he's spoken about how he didn't need titles to prove how great he was and he was right. He won the Intercontinental Title once in 1992 and the Tag Team Titles in 2006 with Ric Flair when he was 52 years old. Piper gave us a lot of memorable moments over the years that we'll never forget. He set a standard that other Canadians tried to follow and few surpassed.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
