Today would have been the birthday of Mr Roddy Piper, one of the greatest trash-talking heels in wrestling history.
Rowdy Roddy Piper began his wrestling career in the mid-70s, wrestling little folk for the entertainment of lumberjacks in Canada. Piper, who's real name was actually Roderick George Toombs, earnt the Piper moniker as he used to have friends play bagpipes for him as he entered the ring, leading to a commentator unaware of his full name to christen him Roddy the Piper.
By the mid-80s Piper was wrestling full time for the WWF, his peak quite possibly being that one time in 1985 when he had to fight Hulk Hogan and Mr. T for the World Heavyweight Champion belt, and ended up kicking Cyndi Lauper in the head after he was disqualified - a terrible way to repay Lauper for putting him in the video for Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
As well as his illustrious wrestling career which saw him inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, Piper also had a fairly commendable acting career, his stand out film of course being the nameless hero in John Carpenter's They Live. Other notable acting roles under his belt include Da' Maniac in Always Sunny, Sam Hell in Hell Comes to Frog Town, and Don John in Adventure Time.
Sadly, Piper passed away in his sleep due to a stroke in 2015, because clearly the only way to take out the man who came to chew bubblegum and kick ass was for some sneaky, cowardly stroke to get the jump on him while he was sleeping. Disgraceful.
Roddy Piper, thank you for creating some of the most memorable wrestling moments of our time, and thank you for stopping those aliens from taking over the Earth with their subliminal messages. You are fondly remembered.
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