Roddy Piper

Explore about the Famous Wrestler Roddy Piper, who was born in Canada on April 17, 1954. Analyze Roddy Piper’s net worth, age, bio, birthday, dating, height-weight, wiki. Investigate who is Roddy Piper dating now? Look into this article to know how old is Roddy Piper?

Roddy Piper Biography

Known as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, he was one of the World Wresting Federation’s superstars in the 1990s.

He was expelled from junior high school.

He was born in Canada, but played up his Scottish heritage inside the ring.

He had four children with Kity Toombs, whom he married in 1982.

He had a well-publicized wrestling feud with singer Cyndi Lauper.

Roderick George Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on April 17, 1954, the son of Eileen (née Anderson) and Stanley Baird Toombs. He was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father was an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba. After being expelled from junior high for having a switchblade in school and falling out with his father, Toombs left home and stayed in youth hostels. He picked up odd jobs at local gyms, running errands for several professional wrestlers. As a young man, he became proficient in playing the bagpipes, though he repeatedly stated that he was unsure exactly where he picked them up. His childhood (and lifelong) best friend was ex-NHL player Cam Connor. Toombs served a tour of duty with the Canadian Army.

Roderick George “Roddy” Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015) was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

Piper was a boxer and an amateur wrestler before he started to become a professional wrestler, and won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a black belt in Judo from Gene LeBell. He started wrestling under the care of promoter Al Tomko in Canada, his first match involving “midget wrestlers” in front of a lumberjack audience in Churchill, Manitoba. He soon began earning money wrestling while still going to school. His first match in a famous organization was with Larry Hennig in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). Friends of his played the bagpipes during his entrance while he was handing out dandelions; meanwhile, the ring announcer had to announce something, but all he knew was that Piper’s name was Roddy. Subsequently, after seeing the pipe band, he announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, here comes Roddy the piper.” This gave birth to the name “Roddy Piper”. From 1973 to 1975, Piper was a jobber in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), NWA Central States territory surrounding Kansas City, and in the Maritimes. He also worked in Texas for Paul Boesch’s NWA Houston Wrestling promotion, and in Dallas for Fritz Von Erich’s Big Time Rasslin.

By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top villain for Mike and Gene LeBell’s NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 1977–78, he also started to work for Roy Shire’s NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the Los Angeles office, where Piper developed his Rowdy character. During this time, he made continuous insults directed at the area’s Mexican community; he later promised to repent by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing “La Cucaracha” instead, which in turn caused a riot. Piper also managed a stable of wrestlers in California.

By late 1978-early 1979, Piper left the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen’s Portland–based Pacific Northwest territory. He teamed with Killer Tim Brooks and Rick Martel to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper also won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and “Playboy” Buddy Rose.

In the 1980s, Piper also appeared in singer Cyndi Lauper’s music video for the song “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”. Piper performed the song, “For Everybody”, on The Wrestling Album (Columbia Records, 1985), based on the Mike Angelo & the Idols song “Fuck Everybody”, but without any of the profanity heard in the original. He also appeared as a guest VJ on MTV in 1988. In 1992, he released a UK only single and music video for his song, “I’m Your Man”. The single came with the B-side, “Judy Come Back”.

In the early 1980s, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory where he beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title. He also defeated Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a feud. From 1981–82, Piper served as a commentator on Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and feuded with the likes of Bob Armstrong, Dick Slater, and Tommy Rich. During the summer of 1982, Piper became a fan favorite after knocking out Don Muraco and Ole Anderson to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from Muraco, who had grown angry at Solie questioning his tactics. In Wrestling to Rasslin, Gerald W. Morton and George M. O’Brien described the transformation: “the drama finally played itself out on television when one of his [Piper’s] hired assassins, Don Muraco, suddenly attacked the commentator Gordon Solie. Seeing Solie hurt, Piper unleashed his Scottish fury on Muraco. In the week that followed, like Achilles avenging Patroklas, he slaughtered villain after villain…. In the arenas fans chanted his name throughout his matches.”

Toombs and his wife Kitty Jo Dittrich were married from 1982 until his death in 2015. They had four children. His daughter Teal Piper made her professional wrestling debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in August 2019 at AEW All Out. Shortly after that announcement, it was revealed that Piper had signed a contract with Women of Wrestling (WOW).

In 1982, Piper was fired because of showing up late for a match. He went to Puerto Rico for a month and was booked by Jim Barnett shortly thereafter. Piper returned to the Georgia area in the summer of 1983 to aid Tommy Rich during his rivalry with Buzz Sawyer. Eventually, Piper moved back to Jim Crockett Promotions. As a fan favorite, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and Greg Valentine. Piper’s feud with Valentine culminated in a dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine broke Piper’s left eardrum during the match with the collar’s chain, causing Piper to permanently lose 50–75% percent of his hearing. This became known as “The Year of the Ear”.

In 1983, WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett before starting his WWF run in 1984. Piper debuted in the WWF as a manager because of injuries he suffered during a dog-collar match at Starrcade; he managed “Dr. D” David Schultz and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, eventually Piper’s run as a manager quietly ended and Piper started wrestling full-time. He was given his own interview segment called Piper’s Pit on Championship Wrestling and Wrestling at the Chase in 1984, starting a run of the segment that ended in 1987. During one Piper’s Pit, Piper insulted Jimmy Snuka’s Polynesian heritage and attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a Piper’s Pit segment, which led to a feud that ended in a steel cage match which Piper lost.

Before entering the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) full-time in 1984, Piper wrestled five matches with the WWF under Vince McMahon Sr. in 1979 at Madison Square Garden. His very first match in WWF he defeated jobber Frankie Williams on January 22. Before one match, Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper’s bagpipes with toilet paper, so they would not play in front of the Garden crowd.

In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1984 and 2000. Although he was Canadian, because of his Scottish heritage he was falsely billed as coming from Glasgow and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. Piper earned the nicknames “Rowdy” and “Hot Rod” by displaying his trademark “Scottish” rage, spontaneity, and quick wit. According to The Daily Telegraph, he is “considered by many to be the greatest ‘heel’ (or villain) wrestler ever”.

Piper was a guest on a 1985 Saturday Night Live episode, tormenting hosts Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, and appeared as a special guest on MADtv along with Bret Hart. In the early 1990s, Piper made guest-star appearances on two episodes of The New Zorro on The Family Channel. Piper had a role in a fourth season episode of the Superboy (TV series) as an immortal Alchemist stealing the youth from his gym patrons. In 1991, Piper and Jesse “The Body” Ventura starred in Tag Team, a television film about two ex-professional wrestlers turned police officers. Piper appeared as a wrestler loosely based on himself in an episode called “Crusader” from Walker, Texas Ranger. Piper also appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits series.

Piper’s next major storyline was with Hulk Hogan and also involved pop singer Cyndi Lauper. In 1985, MTV broadcast The War to Settle the Score, which featured a main-event match between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Lauper, Captain Lou Albano, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Paul Orndorff and his former manager Piper against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper’s bodyguard “Cowboy” Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan. In Born to Controversy, Piper recalled how during the match he had to keep Mr. T busy to cover Mr. T’s lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans. From this situation, Piper and Mr. T’s real-life relationship became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another on-screen. Piper faced Mr. T in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, which Piper lost by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T.

Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned as a face, during a TV taping of Championship Wrestling on August 23, 1986 against A.J. Petrucci. As part of the storyline, the returning Piper was distressed to find his Piper’s Pit segment replaced by The Flower Shop, a segment hosted by Adrian Adonis, who had also hired Piper’s former bodyguard Orton. Piper spent weeks crashing Adonis’ show and trading insults, leading to a “showdown” between the two segments that ended with Piper being assaulted and humiliated by Adonis, Orton, and Don Muraco, resulting in Piper’s face turn. In response, Piper stormed the set of Adonis’ show and destroyed it with a baseball bat. This led to their Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania III, which was billed as Piper’s retirement match from wrestling before he left to become an actor full-time. Piper won the match.

In early 1987, Piper’s Pit also served as the backdrop for Andre the Giant’s heel turn and challenging Piper’s old foe, Hulk Hogan, for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III, and Hogan ultimately accepting the challenge.

Deadline Hollywood wrote, “During and after his wrestling days, Piper racked up dozens of film and TV credits, starring in numerous action B-movies and later doing voice work”. The most famous of Piper’s acting exploits was in the 1988 science fiction film They Live, directed by John Carpenter, which spawned the catchphrase Piper came up with—”I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum.”—as well as the long fight scene over sunglasses against Keith David which took three weeks to rehearse. The line and the fight scene have since been parodied in Duke Nukem, South Park and Adventure Time. Entertainment Weekly wrote that Piper’s role in They Live made him a “cult icon” and “some kind of legend”. Rolling Stone wrote that Piper “had a memorable career as a cult actor”, citing They Live and the 1987 film Hell Comes to Frogtown.

Outside of wrestling, Piper acted in dozens of films and TV shows, most notably taking the lead role of John Nada in the 1988 cult classic They Live and a recurring role as a deranged professional wrestler called Da’ Maniac on the FX comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is also widely known for his role in Hell Comes to Frogtown as the character Sam Hell.

After this, Piper co-hosted Prime Time Wrestling from July 17, 1989 to December 25, 1989, with Gorilla Monsoon, feuding with Bobby Heenan, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, and Brother Love, he would return to the show in 1991 as well. Piper returned to the ring when he interfered in Rude’s Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship defense against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, costing Rude the title. The feud was heavily promoted on TV and Piper would face Rude in many matches throughout the house show tours, including steel cage and lumberjack matches. The feud was so prominent that a Survivor Series match was built around it which saw both men captain a team and simultaneously be eliminated by countout during their brawl, though Rude’s team would go onto win the match. The feud came to a head when the stipulation stated that if Piper beat Rude, Heenan would have to dress as Santa Claus for an episode of Prime Time. However the feud would continue until March 1990 with Piper winning the majority of their matches throughout 89-90 including a win over Bobby Heenan. He then feuded with Bad News Brown who was upset at being eliminated by Piper at the 1990 Royal Rumble. Brown would go on to mock Piper for wearing a “skirt”. At WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Piper cut a promo towards his opponent Bad News Brown before the match with half his face and body painted black. Bad News would take this as being offensive behind the scenes. Subsequently, the match would end in a Double Count Out, with the issue between the two never being resolved despite plans to the contrary. According to a behind the scenes interview, neither man was willing to lose to the other. In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against “The Million Dollar Man” (Ted DiBiase). Later in 1991 Piper was involved in a motorcycle accident, but was still present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. He lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. Following his title loss to Hart, Piper made a handful of appearances at television tapings for Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars. Four Piper’s Pit segments were recorded – two with Steve Lombardi and two with Shawn Michaels. None aired, and Piper disappeared from the WWF. He made his return playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam.

In 1989, Piper returned from a two-year hiatus. Although WrestleMania V was billed as his return, he actually made his first appearance on March 19 in Denver, CO at a house show when he hosted a live Piper’s Pit and interviewed Brother Love. Two weeks later at WrestleMania V he did make his official return with another live Piper’s Pit, where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher. He made his return to the ring on May 12, substituting for Jake Roberts and pinning Ted DiBiase on a house show in Los Angeles. Piper would gain several more victories against DiBiase that month, and also against Randy Savage in June.

He reemerged once again in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. During the match, commentator Jerry “The King” Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his King’s Court segment on Monday Night Raw, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a young, skinny impersonator in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet. Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. Piper wrestled as a fan favorite, and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children’s hospital in Ontario. In spring 1994, Piper began hosting a regular weekly segment on All-American Wrestling called “The Bottom Line” where he commented on various happenings in the WWF, as well as on his feud with Lawler. Piper’s segment aired regularly until the Summer of 1994, when Piper would disappear again.

Leaving the WWF again, he briefly returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. After this match Piper became the host for the replay editions of WWF pay-per-views for a brief period of time, commenting on the matches that had just happened, before disappearing again a few months later.

As president, one of Piper’s first acts was to reinstate The Ultimate Warrior back into the WWF after a letter campaign written in by fans. Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would “make a man” out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII. The match, dubbed a “Hollywood Backlot Brawl”, began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, but Goldust jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco, the aerial footage shown was actually that of the O. J. Simpson “low-speed” chase from two years prior. This was made clear by Piper himself, who recalled the event on an episode of Pipers Pit the Podcast. The two eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left the company. His final appearance came the September 6, 1996 edition of Monday Night RAW, where footage was shown of him participating with other WWF wrestlers at the CNE “Experience” in Toronto.

On the January 29, 1996 episode of Monday Night RAW, Piper returned for another regular role, as he was named as interim WWF President after Gorilla Monsoon had to take a leave of absence due to an attack by Vader. On February 24 at a house show at East Rutherford, New Jersey he made his first match appearance in almost two years. As a substitute for Razor Ramon, Piper defeated The 1-2-3 Kid after hitting him with a ring bell. He wrestled twice more against the Kid on house shows that month.

Piper joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the fall of 1996. He made his surprise WCW debut as a fan favorite at the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view in October to insult the nWo leader and the World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan. On the November 18 episode of Nitro, Piper revealed that Eric Bischoff was a member of the nWo, which ended with the nWo attacking him. on the December 9 episode of Nitro, Piper told Flair that he didn’t need the Four Horsemen’s help in beating Hogan and he was going to do it on his own. Piper defeated Hogan with his signature sleeper hold in the non-title main event of the company’s flagship pay-per-view Starrcade, which earned him a title shot against Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl VII, where Piper was defeated. Piper then joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. On the March 10, 1997 episode of Nitro, Piper and his family joined forces with The Four Horseman in their battle with the nWo. At Uncensored, Piper competed in a triangle elimination match where he captained a team of Horsemen Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett against the nWo and WCW’s team of Lex Luger, Steiner Brothers and The Giant. His team lost the match. on the March 31 episode of Nitro, Piper and Flair agreed to team up and stand side by side to fight. Piper moved on to feud with other members of nWo. At Slamboree, Piper, Flair and Kevin Greene defeated nWo members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Syxx in a six-man tag team match. The following month, at The Great American Bash pay-per-view, Piper and Flair unsuccessfully challenged The Outsiders for the World Tag Team Championship. on the June 23 episode of Nitro, Flair and the Four Horsemen turned on Piper and attacked him. This led to a match between Piper and Flair at Bash at the Beach, which Piper won.

Piper took a hiatus from television before making his return to WCW on the September 8 episode of Nitro, where he was appointed the new on-air Commissioner of WCW, which reduced his in-ring work. He briefly resumed his feud with Hulk Hogan, beating him in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc. on the March 23, 1998 episode of Nitro, Piper and Randy Savage battled to a no contest. On the March 30 episode of Nitro, Piper defeated Hogan by disqualification. At the 1998 Spring Stampede pay-per-view, Piper teamed with The Giant in a loss to Hogan and Nash in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match. At Slamboree, Piper served as the special guest referee in a match between Randy Savage and Bret Hart, which Hart won but the following night on Nitro, Piper changed his decision and declared Savage as the winner by disqualification. At The Great American Bash, Piper and Savage lost to Hogan and Hart in a tag team match. on the September 7 episode of Nitro, Piper and Diamond Dallas Page defeated Sting and Lex Luger by disqualification. Piper teamed with Diamond Dallas Page and The Warrior as Team WCW in a WarGames match at Fall Brawl for an opportunity at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the following month’s Halloween Havoc. Page won the match for his team. on the September 14 episode of Nitro, Piper confronted Bret Hart.

Piper took a hiatus from television before making his return to WCW on the September 8 episode of Nitro, where he was appointed the new on-air Commissioner of WCW, which reduced his in-ring work. He briefly resumed his feud with Hulk Hogan, beating him in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc. on the March 23, 1998 episode of Nitro, Piper and Randy Savage battled to a no contest. On the March 30 episode of Nitro, Piper defeated Hogan by disqualification. At the 1998 Spring Stampede pay-per-view, Piper teamed with The Giant in a loss to Hogan and Nash in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match. At Slamboree, Piper served as the special guest referee in a match between Randy Savage and Bret Hart, which Hart won but the following night on Nitro, Piper changed his decision and declared Savage as the winner by disqualification. At The Great American Bash, Piper and Savage lost to Hogan and Hart in a tag team match. on the September 7 episode of Nitro, Piper and Diamond Dallas Page defeated Sting and Lex Luger by disqualification. Piper teamed with Diamond Dallas Page and The Warrior as Team WCW in a WarGames match at Fall Brawl for an opportunity at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the following month’s Halloween Havoc. Page won the match for his team. on the September 14 episode of Nitro, Piper confronted Bret Hart.

Piper debuted for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion on December 4, 2002, at an NWA-TNA pay-per-view and started a feud with Vince Russo, cutting a promo where he blamed Russo for the death of Owen Hart. From September to December 2003, Piper gave video-tape messages and on the October 8, 2004 episode of Impact!, Piper crashed the Impact Zone and announced his talk segment In the Pit with Piper. In November 2004 at Victory Road, he hosted In the Pit with Piper and interviewed Jimmy Snuka, who refused to accede to Piper’s demands of hitting Piper with a coconut. On the December 24 episode of Impact, Piper hosted another In The Pit with Piper and interviewed Hector Garza but was interrupted by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. At Final Resolution in January 2005, Piper refereed a match between Jeff Hardy and Scott Hall, helping Hardy win. This was Piper’s final appearance for TNA.

Before going to the WWE in 2003, Piper served as the commissioner of the Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF). On November 5, 2002 Piper’s autobiography, In the Pit with Piper: Roddy Gets Rowdy, was released.

In an HBO Real Sports interview conducted by Piper in 2003, he had predicted that he was “not going to make 65” because of his poor health, and that he made his 2003 return to WWE because he could not access his pension fund until reaching the age of 65.

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