1970s Rowdy Roddy Piper begins his wrestling career at age 15.
Year unknown Piper's first professional wrestling match is a loss to Larry "The Axe" Hennig ("Mr.
Perfectly-Annoying" Curt's dad).
1975 Roddy gets his first big push in Los Angeles, where he also wrestled as the "Masked
Canadian".
1976 Roddy Piper wins the NWA Americas Tag Team Title three times; twice with Crusher Verdu
and once with The Hangman.
1977 Piper takes the NWA Tag Team Title in July with Keith Franks, who would later become
Adorable Adrian Adonis. Later that same year, Piper again takes the title, this time wrestling as
"The Canadian" with Chavo Guerrero sr. He also wins the NWA World Light Heavyweight title by
defeating Chavo Guerrero sr.
1978 Piper takes the NWA Tag Team Title twice, first with Ron Bass and second with Pak Choo
(Kengo Kimura).
1980 Piper and Rick Martel win the tag belts in both Portland and Vancouver.
1980 Piper wins the Mid-Atlantic T.V. Title in a tournament.
1981 Piper wins the Mid-Atlantic U.S Heavyweight belt from Ric Flair in January, then defeats
Jack Brisco for the Heavyweight Championship in November.
1982 In July, Piper again takes the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title. Piper and Flair travel to Santo
Domingo, defeat local hero Jack Vonino, and are beat up by fans and nearly shot by mark
soldiers.
1982 ProWrestling Illustrated (PWI) names Piper "most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year."
1983 Piper wins the U.S. Heavyweight title from Greg Valentine on April 16th, but loses it back
to him on April 30th.
1983 Starrcade: Roddy Piper beats Greg Valentine in the infamous "Dog Collar" Match.
1983 Roddy wins the Mid-Atlantic T.V. Title in March, then defeats Greg Valentine for the
N.W.A. U.S. Heavyweight Title on April 16th. Happy Birthday a day early, Hot Rod! Piper leaves
Mid-Atlantic for a larger fed.
1984 Piper signs with the WWF.
1984 Piper is named "Most Hated Wrestler of the Year" by PWI magazine.
1985 Piper and Hogan have the "War to Settle the Score" on MTV. Hogan wins with help from
Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T.
1985 Piper and Hogan start the craze with Wrestlemania 1. Piper and Paul Orndorff tag against
Hogan and Mr. T; Hogan pins Orndorff. PWI names this "Match of the Year."
1985 Piper is once again named "Most Hated Wrestler of the Year" by PWI.
1986 Wrestlemania 2 features a boxing match between Hot Rod and Mr. T. Piper is disqualified
in the fourth round when he becomes frustrated and scoop slams Mr. T. The match is filled with
totally annoying commentary by Susan St. James.
1986 Piper is named "Most Popular Wrestler of the Year" by PWI. How's THAT for a
turn-around?!
1987 Wrestlemania 3 showcases Piper's "retirement match" vs. Adorable Adrian Adonis in which
the winner gets to cut off the loser's hair. Roddy is loving the attention of the 90,000+ crowd
who unfurl huge banners that read "We will miss you Hot Rod" and "Don't retire Hot Rod". The
clearly pro-Piper crowd chants his name repeatedly throughout the match. Piper wins with the
sleeper and Brutus Beefcake Barber does the haircutting honors. Roddy said later that it was the
first time the crowd "wasn't booing me or stabbing me or throwing popcorn at me!".
1989 Wrestlemania 5: Roddy does a Piper's Pit segment in the ring with Brother Love (who does
a dead-on Piper impersonation but calls him 'Rodney'--it's Roderick, Brother) which is hysterical
and with Morton Downey jr. which is pretty lame. All in all, the segment goes on too long.
1989 Survivor Series: The Rude Brude (Rick Rude, Curt (yuck) Hennig, Jacques and Raymond
Rougeau) defeat Roddy's Rowdies (Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and the Bushwhackers).
1990 Wrestlemania 6: In a grudge match against "Bad News" Brown, Roddy paints himself half
black (A move of questionable taste, although when you view it today it's vaguely reminiscent of
Braveheart). The match results in a double count-out when both men brawl all the way to the
dressing rooms.
1991 Survivor Series: Piper's team (Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Virgil, and Davy Boy Smith) lose to
Ric Flair's team (Ric Flair, The Mountie, Ted DiBiase, and The Warlord).
1992 Royal Rumble: Piper defeats the Mountie for the Intercontinental Belt. There's a great
moment of true joy after the match when he hears his name announced as the IC Champ. In a
post-match interview, Roddy dedicates his win to his son, Colt. Piper's reign as IC champ lasts
77 days.
1992 Wrestlemania 8: Piper vs. Hart for the IC Belt. First of all, let me just say that Roddy is in
INCREDIBLE shape for this match. Very Buff. The banter between the guys pre-match is vintage
Piper trash talk and pretty funny...well, Brett doesn't see it that way exactly. The match is great.
Hart blades and is pretty messy at the end. Piper goes to hit Hart with the ring bell but has an
attack of conscience which ultimately costs him the match. There's a very cool moment after the
pin where Roddy takes the belt from the ref and places it on Brett's shoulders. He helps Brett up
and then straps the belt around Hart's waist.
1994 Wrestlemania 10: Roddy is special guest referee at Yokozuna v. Hart. (Hart wins.)
1994 King of the Ring: Piper vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler. Piper has NEVER looked so incredibly
buff in his life! Lord have mercy, I'm gonna wear out the rewind button on this one! There is a
great pre-match interview in Piper's dressing room in which he jokes about Lawler's past
behavior towards him. There is a video montage explaining the feud. The match itself is terrific.
Piper plays the hero SO well! You've gotta love this man!!
1995 December: Roddy Piper undergoes hip replacement surgery.
1996 January to March: Piper is named acting President of the WWF after Gorilla Monsoon is
injured.
1996 Wrestlemania 12: Roddy faces off against Golddust in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl which
features a car chase, an alley fight and a victorious Piper parading around the ring with his son
Colt.
1996 Piper appears at WCW's Halloween Havoc to "break Hogan's monotony." Hot Rod sure can
talk the talk!
1996 November 18: Eric Bischoff reveals he is a member of the nWo and orders an attack on
Piper, who holds them off and vows to appear at World War 3 with a contract (for the main
event at Starrcade) in his teeth.
1996 World War 3: Piper and Hogan sign for the main event at Starrcade. Afterwards, Hogan
exposes the scar on Roddy's hip (from his hip replacement surgery), then the nWo attack the hip
and spray paint it.
1996 Starrcade: Piper defeats Hogan with the sleeper hold in a non-title match.
1997 Superbrawl 7: Piper vs. Hogan for the title. Piper wins with the sleeper but Savage drags
Hogan under the ropes, then gives him a hand protector. The ref, after calling for the bell,
decides the match isn't really over and Hogan punks Piper with the brass knuckles for the win.
What a screwjob.
1997 Uncensored: Piper's team and Team WCW lose to Team nWo. Piper is the last man
eliminated from his team when Dennis Rodman holds down the top rope, allowing Hogan to
back Roddy up and over it.
1997 Slamboree: The WCW team of Rowdy Roddy Piper, Kevin Greene, and Nature Boy Ric Flair
defeat the nWo Wolfpack in a knock-down drag-out fight that is very entertaining!
1997 The Great American Bash: Piper/Flair vs. Hall/Nash for the tag team belts. The beginning
of the end for the Piper/Flair alliance. Everything starts out fine, then Flair abandons Piper to the
wolves to chase Syxx backstage. Piper puts up a good fight, but in the end gets trounced by the
Outsiders. This sets up a few weeks of feuding between Piper and Flair which feature some very
funny comments by Ric Flair.
1997 Bash at the Beach: Not even the Horsemen can keep Rowdy Roddy Piper from defeating
Ric Flair in Daytona. After all was said and done it was "Goodnight Ric Flair" and Piper with the
win.
1997 Piper is named "Interim Commissioner" of the WCW after Hollywood Hogan seriously
injures J.J. Dillon.
1997 In a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc, Piper defeats Hollywood Hogan for the third
time in a year.
1998 Piper and The Giant square off against Nash and Hogan in the first ever "Bat Match." Team
Piper is defeated due to the interference of Hogan's Disciple, Ed Leslie.