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Rowdy Roddy Piper's children reveal the man behind the wrestler

Posted: Oct 6th 2016 By: www.cbc.ca

He was one of wrestling's most famous villains — but to Ariel and Colt Toombs, Rowdy Roddy Piper was just "dad."

The Saskatoon native, who stormed the ring with his Scottish persona, signature kilt and bagpipe uniform in the '80s and '90s, died last year at the age of 61. In honour of their father, Ariel and Colt have written a new biography about him titled Rowdy: The Roddy Piper Story.

"He had talked to us about it and he had done some groundwork already," Ariel explains to Candy Palmater, of the book's origin.

"For me, it was about finishing the book — he was just an amazing person who lived 10 lives in one lifetime. It was neat to fill in gaps for the rest of the family and discover things about him."

Much more than a villain

Discovery was part of the process of writing this book, but Ariel and Colt also wanted to demystify Rowdy Roddy Piper for fans, to shine a light on his true integrity.

"When you're a villain, it's much harder and people aren't supposed to like you," Colt says. "But he just had this thing about him, he did everything everybody wanted to do but didn't have the chutzpah to do it.
"That drew you to him. Back in the old days, you weren't hired and given a script. He was hired as Rowdy Roddy Piper. Nowadays, that's lost. By having control, that's how he kept integrity."