Rowdy Roddy Piper

Roddy Piper was born Roderick Toombs on April 17, 1951 in Glasgow, Scotland. He lived in Canada as a child and his family moved around a lot. He started his wrestling career at the tender age of 15. In addition to wrestling, Piper was a golden glove boxer. Hot Rod has been in many memorable matches and feuds in his 25 + years in professional wrestling. He was stabbed by a fan in Raleigh, NC in the early eighties. While at WWF, he hosted his own "talk show" called "Piper's Pit". Roddy is also an actor who has starred in numerous action/adventure and comedy films. The Icon resides in the Portland, Oregon area with his wife Kitty and their SEVEN children

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 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.

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.