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"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Is Always A Suspect

Posted: Mar 12th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Some wrestling icons need no introduction. Or, in the very least, very little. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, one of the most colorful characters in the entire industry, is still one of the most recognized names in wrestling. Whenever the wrestlers of the modern era get asked about their heroes growing up, invariably they'll tag Piper. He's been at most Wrestlemanias, been on lunchboxes, done movies and now he's trying his hand at stand-up comedy.

If you checked out last year's Wrestlemania then you got to see Piper team up with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat to take on Chris Jericho. Last fall, Piper landed a gig on FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a wayward, psychotic wrestler who agrees to join The Gang's wrestling show for the troops. And this Sunday, March 14th, you can see Piper take a dramatic turn on the CBS procedural Cold Case. IGN TV had a chance to talk to Piper about his role on Cold Case, his touring comedy show (which will land at The Improv in LA this Saturday), the WWE Hall of Fame and the roots of pro-wrestling.


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IGN TV: You've got a gig on CBS this weekend. On Cold Case. You're playing a character named "Sweet Sil," is that right?

Roddy Piper: Yes, I am. And he's quite a character too. It was a lot of fun. Those people were great and Kathryn (Morris), the star of the show, she was really got into it so much and she spent extra time on the episode and she was crying like a baby. Bless her heart, man. In the turnarounds, when she was off camera doing her lines ? instead of talking about the character's son, she'd talk about my son, Colt, who's a mixed martial artist. So that kind of heart was put into it. And they're just unbelievably kind people. It was a real thrill to do it. And it was a hard part to do. It was very deep.

IGN: Is your character someone helping in an investigation? Or is he a suspect?

Piper: No, I'm a suspect. As always, I'm a suspect. The story is, back in the '80s a fellow was killed and the gun turned up and so they're re-opening the case and I'm one of the suspects. And they're trying to track down who killed this guy, who left his little boy and his wife behind. And I've got a little boy that I'm trying to make amends with. You know, this piece of work hit a little close to home sometimes. I had an acting coach on the set with me the whole time. And I refused to quit until they were all happy with it. The fellow, Ryan (Farley), who wrote it stayed on the set. A lot of heart went into this one. Everyone worked really hard so I hope the people enjoy the episode.

IGN: Now, we also just recently saw you on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia last year playing a crazy wrestler.

Piper: Oh my goodness. That was great. I just spoke with Burt Reynolds -- the episode reminded me of that because I hooked up with Burt Reynolds after that episode. Burt Reynolds, the first time I met him, he introduced me at Madison Square Garden at Wrestlemania X. We became really good friends and I did two movies with him and he was just in the hospital with a quadruple bypass. I was with Burt Reynolds in his place in Florida and he was showing me "The Bandit." You know the Trans-Am from the movie. He said "let me show it to you," and so he's backing it out of his garage and runs it right into the wall. (laughs) It was priceless stuff watching Burt crash his Bandit. So I was called him because I wanted to give a shout out to him. I know he's going to do well.

IGN: Now driving down Melrose here I see your name up on the marquee of The Improv. It reads "Roddy Piper and Friends." What can fans expect from a Roddy Piper comedy show?

Piper: Holy cow. It's going to be really wonderful. You know I have over four generations of fans. I'm going to Wrestlemania XXVI here in a few weeks for the Hall of Fame and there are now four generations of kids that have grown up and are in their 30s and 40s. And there's even a younger generation coming up, and they're coming to this show and it's going to be kind of like sitting around with Roddy in the basement of his house. And there's a fireplace and you sit around and listen to my stories. You know, I've been through so much, man. I've been stabbed three times. I've had over seven thousand pro fights. I went down in an airplane. I've been in, I don't know, 30 car crashes. I had a guy try to kill me here in LA in Highland. He ran me over. I was put in Cedars-Sinai Hospital. I broke my right ankle. Four ribs. One rib went into my liver. My spleen. My back in two places. I was first ever wrestler to start in a movie, a major motion picture for Universal, They Live. And it's the Guinness Book of World Records for, I think, the longest fight scene in history. It got an award for one of the 10 best fight scenes in history. Please. Look. I'm not trying to blow my own horn but this is just to answer the question "why are they coming to see my show?" or something. All these kids knew me because I was a cartoon figure, I've had four action figures, a GI Joe figure ? and they come and they want to know about guys like Andre the Giant. They want to know what he was like. I must have fought Andre 50 times. They want to know what Hogan was like. What was Master Fuji like? What was it like being in They Live? What was Stallone like? And Mohammed Ali. Dick Clark. Little Richard. Liberace. All these people I've met through Wrestlemanias and movies ? there's just so much stuff. I did a movie once, that could win "Worst Movie of All Time, called Hell Comes to Frogtown where I made love to a frog. It's like a cult classic now. I never thought anybody would watch it. But these people, they want to know why I made love to a frog. (laughs) We all sit around at The Improv and tell stories. A lot of people come and we have a great time. It doesn't matter what age they are either. I've had some grandpas, dads, sons and they sit around and they just become little kids again. I want to give a shout out to another comedian named Steve Simone. I met him at the first Improv show and he's going to be at this upcoming show too and he's a huge wrestling fan and he used to do a set on how he and his little brother and his dad would watch Saturday Night's Main Event back in the day. I've been working at the Comedy Store until about 4 o' clock in the morning. There'll be about 12 people there, but I don't care. They just let me on, so I met Steve there. So the people can come to my shows and have a beer, or a skim milk, and ask questions or I'll tell them a story or we'll talk about the events that are happening in the day. It's a really warm, fuzzy wonderful feeling.

IGN: You mentioned that you were headed to the Hall of Fame this year. Will you be inducting someone?

Piper: Yes, I'm inducting Wendi Richter. Yeah, from back in the Cyndi Lauper days. I'm the only one left around that knows anything about her. I said to Vince McMahon, "What am I inducting Richter for?" and he said, "You're the only one alive." (laughs) Thank you, Vince. But she's a really cool gal. You know the guy from the first Super Bowl, Fred Williamson, talks about how great it was to be a part of the first Super Bowl. And that's great because he was a wonderful player. But I was in the first Wrestlemania and I'm at Wrestlemania XXVI. And all the ones in between. Holy Cow, man. Wrestlers are the best.

N: Well, at least both you and Wendi were in the same cartoon in the '80s. Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.

Piper: Heh, you see. That's what people remember too. A stupid cartoon. (laughs) They did things with me in that cartoon, like they had Roddy Piper jousting. Like I was going to joust and they put me on a horse in a suit of armor and I'm jousting against another person with armor on and it turns out to be a girl. Obviously Hogan was writing it. (laughs) I lived in a junkyard and they lived in a palace. I mean, c'mon! Even the Junkyard Dog got to live in the palace.

IGN: Speaking of Hogan, he's taken TNA's Impact show to Monday nights right up against RAW. Have you seen the show?

Piper: I have. I love it. Competition is great. I would hope that everyone would embrace it, including the WWE. It's another place for young, great wrestlers to come up and I hope that everyone lets the talent rise to the top and not step and block. When I was coming up there was a lot of blocking and I had to fight my way through. And I would hope that that parts ended. But you know, good for Hogan for trying to supply other domains. And good for McMahon for supplying the one he's got going. I'm not on either side. I'm a fan of both of them. You know, I started when I was fifteen years old. That's some sort of record too. I was the youngest pro ever in history.

IGN: I heard you wrestled a bear once.

Piper: Jeez. I hate that story. Yeah, I wrestled a damn bear. 650-pound Kodiak bear. I'll save that story for The Improv. It all had something to do with honey. That's all I know. (laughs) No, but it really sucked. You can look that bear up on the Internet too. I think it's Victor Beary or something. Victor the Wrestling Bear. Oh, I hated him. It wasn't a good night for Rod.

IGN: I've talked to a lot of the wrestlers who are in the business today and asked them why they wanted to be a wrestler and they'd say that they were big fans of Hogan or you. Why did you become a wrestler?

Piper: I left home when I was thirteen and I slept wherever I could and when I was fifteen I became the 167 amateur wrestling champion and the Gold Gloves champion in Winnepeg, Manitoba. I was living in a Youth Hostel. Police Athletic League. And my amateur wrestling coach was ? you know pro-wrestling would come through from Verne Gagne's AWA to Canada, and my coach would be a referee. And one night somebody just didn't show up and I was playing the bagpipes, and so my pipe band played me to the ring. And I was just a substitute. I got paid 25 bucks and they took me from there, that night ? after that match they put me in a van and snuck me over the border and I just never quit. I'd never seen a pro-wrestling match before that. You know my mommy was the bearded lady and my father was a Timberwolf. You know, I was raised in that scene. I was taught when I was very young "never carry a dull knife or an empty gun. None of them will do you any good. They'll only get you thrown in jail." And that was a solid rule. You know, don't do that. That's dumb. It's a society unto itself. Do you know how pro-wrestling was started?

IGN: Sort of. Back at the old Carnival At-Shows, right?

Piper: Yeah, Like the Carnival. Just in the short form. Just picture the Carnival pulls into town, one that looks like Little House on the Prairie, and the covered wagons would come through and there'd be the Bearded Lady and the Strong Man and some animals. And then there'd be the Wrestler. And so the night before the carnival on Saturday, there'd be people at the bars. And the people from the carnival would find out who the tough guys were. And they would talk up The Wrestler. And so in the afternoon, the next day, everyone would come down and some local guy would take him on for maybe a nickel or something. And if you won you got fifty cents. And the wrestler would get him in a hold, and there's a hold called "The Sugar Hold" and it's a hold in which it makes all the blood rush to your head and blood comes out of your eyes, nose and ears, etcetera. But he doesn't pin him. So the Wrestler would catch him in this hold and slap him on the ribs and it would make the guy scream. Well, the crowd would get so upset and so angry that all of a sudden a guy would jump up and say, "I'll take you on!" And the promoter would come out and say, "Whoa!" And the Wrestler would let the guy go and the promoter would say, "My guy just fought. You come back tonight!" And they'd all come back that night, but the guy who stood up was part of the carnival. Everyone would come back and pay another nickel. That's how pro-wrestling started.

IGN: Hearing that story, and the roots of the business, did you ever think that wrestling could soar to the heights it's at now?

Piper: Oh, man. I never thought it could. I remember the first Wrestlemania with Frank Sinatra. Jimmy the Greek was taking bets in Vegas. It was nuts. Unbelievably nuts. You know so many guys aren't here anymore. So many guys have died. All my brothers are dead. It's a really serious business and what you see now?no I never thought it would become the corporate business that it is now. I'm really glad for the guys now. The Jerichos. You know, good for you, Chris Jericho. Good for you, Big Show. There's a couple other guys there. Edge. Cena. Batista. They're good men and they deserve to be treated well, and they are. It was a living hell at the beginning. It was really tough.

Tags: Roddy Piper, WWE, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, TNA, AWA, Verne Gagne