Just heard about this bit of sad news.
Iconic wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper died of cartarac arrest earlier today. He was just 61 years old.
Sadly, this continues the trend of professional wrestlers and personalities dying young.
Roddy Piper was one of the most famous wrestlers in the 1980's and into the 1990's. He hosted "Piper's Pit" for the WWF back in the eighties, and he was well known for this makeshift talk show, which he dominated with his colorful personality and free way of expressing himself.
There was a point when I was a kid that I did not particularly care for Roddy Piper, but I suspect, in retrospect, that it was because of his good acting in the role as a heel.
In fact, Piper was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining wrestling personalities out there. Whenever I do start to feel nostalgic for those times in wrestling, he is often the guy that I turn to the most, all of those old episodes of "Piper's Pit" still make me smile.
It saddened and surprised me to hear of his passing earlier today.
Here's to "Rowdy" Roddy Piper!
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Dies Of Natural Causes R.I.P. to one of the legends of the squared circle. by Michael McLaughlin, July 31, 2015:
"Just when they think they've got the answers, I change the questions!" (Said while facing the camera, right after beating the shit out of Frank Williams)
ReplyDeleteThough the funniest Piper's Pit in my view was the one where André was his guest. I'm sure you remember it: after talking a lot of smack about how he'd be able to slam André if given a few minutes to warm up, André stands up and lifts Piper out of his seat with one arm, then tosses him a few feet away like a sack of potatoes gone bad. Then after André is off-camera after walking out of there, Piper yells "You think you're tough?? You ain't nothin'!", at which point he faces the camera again and issues the following warning: "You do not throw rocks at a man with a machine gun!"
Ah, I miss the days when wrestling was at least occasionally funny. And Piper was probably the most entertaining wrestler of them all.
I almost forgot Mean Gene Okerlund's funny contribution to that segment: at the conclusion of that episode of Piper's Pit, right after the "rocks at a machine gun" thing, you hear Mean Gene say "Folks - that is not a happy face."
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