RIP Rowdy Rodney Piper
- Thread starter Obliviax
- Start date
I think you mean Rowdy Roddy Piper, just saw him interviewed on the Hogan mess. RIP.
They do indeed die young. I remember once reading that he was sitting in a restaurant when he found out that Randy Savage had just died, at 58, and he broke down crying, saying, "People just don't understand what we put ourselves through." May he rest in peace.
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Guys like Piper entertained the hell out of kids in my generation. Problem was these guys were willing circus animals. It is a tough life indeed, and I think today they make a more informed choice than they did 30 or 40 years ago but nobody deserves to die so young, half brain-addled, or addicted. There's the money and the big stage. Nobody ever made a Victor E. Bell action figure.
Did he die from a fall? Sorry, a bit of dark humor. I liked the guy, although I am not a big wrestling fan. Rest in Peace.
One of the funniest interviews I ever saw was on Channel 5 in Cleveland on their late afternoon magazine program in the late 80's. Wilma Smith, a very pretty (former model ) news anchor and host of the show tried to seriously interview Piper. He ended up having her utterly flabbergasted and tongue tied by the end of the segment. He was a real character and fabulous entertainer.
FLAG! Big O. I have been working in the yard all afternoon and am ready to hit the showers. I could really use that picture of the former model turned tongue-tied and flabbergasted news reader! 
Like, right NOW!
Like, right NOW!
One of the last from the best era of wrestling. When the humor was actually humor and much less mean spirited as today.
Even the bad guys people liked and enjoyed back then.
He is in large part why I went back to watching wrestling on Saturday mornings in the 80s. Piper's Pit was great entertainment.
Pipers Pit and The Body Shop. It was so obvious the heroes were going to get beat up yet you'd watch and cheer etc, anyway. So much fun.
It's not surprising these few had such long careers. They were actors first and excellent at it
FLAG! Big O. I have been working in the yard all afternoon and am ready to hit the showers. I could really use that picture of the former model turned tongue-tied and flabbergasted news reader!
Too much dude.
It's a very addicting job if you're great at it. Look at the Rock, he still does it from time to time because he loves it. Guys like Steve Austin, Curt Angle, and Shawn Michaels risk their lives for one more pop from the crowd.
Being an athlete is addicting. With the story lines in wrestling it's not uncommon to find yourself in the ring when you're long past your physical prime.
Very true. At least these days there's more financial security and better medical care for guys once they make it.
RRP was one of the great all-time personalities. I remember him painting half his body black when he wrestled Bad News Brown.
Was that on Eisen? My friend is the producer of the show, says it was really weird.
So it was on Eisen. I wonder if it's worth it, the "fame" for the moderate pay. I've done some work for WWE, and the non-superstars drive from venue to venue every day, driving rental cars (which is hilarious to see some of the huge guys exiting the kia sorentos). Saw the "Great Khali" attempting to walk around before the show and he could barely walk, was using crutches an hour before the show. Got out there, did his thing and was crippled again after the show. Doesn't seem worth it, in my opinion.
I posted this a few weeks ago, but Piper's interview on the Adam Carolla Show revealed a lot about his troubled childhood and early days of wrestling. very insightful (interview starts about 50 minutes into the podcast, IIRC)
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