10 Facts Learned From Roddy Pipers A&E Biography

Publish date: 2024-05-17

The cable station A&E has recently formed a tag team with WWE for a new set of Biography episodes. Focused solely on their stars, the series’ latest episode was on the legendary Hot Rod, Rowdy Roddy Piper. While some fans might think that there’s not much more that die-hard fans could learn about the legendary Hall Of Famer, rest assured there is.

Related: Every Version Of Roddy Piper, Ranked From Worst To Best

So far, one of the best parts about this series is that there are bits of information and embellishments on stories that fans have known for a long time. He was trained by Judo Gene LeBell, but did you know that LeBell also taught him how to be a heel? Or how close he actually was to the Hart family or "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey. There are plenty of new nuggets to learn in the special.

10 Bret Hart Explains The Cousin Story

For the past decade or so, it has been revealed that Roddy Piper is a cousin of The Hart Family, which was not disputed by anyone. Considering there were 12 kids, certainly a random cousin here or there could’ve also been part of the wrestling industry. Bret would explain that the cousin relationship was more of a term of endearment. Piper, much like Hart patriarch Stu grew up in Saskatoon, and he and Bret would joke that they have to be related somehow based on that location.

9 Rough Upbringing

Some wrestlers talk about growing up with a hard life. But it seems like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper really did. According to Piper’s son, Colt, Piper grew up moving around and always getting into fights so that he would garner a reputation of being the toughest and the other kids would leave him alone.

Related: Roddy Piper's 5 Most Treacherous Acts (& 5 Most Heroic)

Meanwhile, his daughter Ariel explained that her grandfather would beat Roddy. His widow, Kitty further explained that as the youngest of the family, Roddy always felt like an afterthought. He seldom wanted to talk to anyone about his early days, they were just too dark.

8 Leaving Home

After graduating high school, Roddy grabbed his bagpipes and left home. To survive, he lived in youth hostels, begged for change during the day, and fought hard for survival at night. Unfortunately, he even had to steal to get decent meals from time to time.

According to Hot Rod, it was Father O’Malley in the hostel who suggested he head into wrestling for 25 dollars a night. His first match was getting trounced by Larry The Ax Hennig. Eventually, an announcer would announce him as Roddy The Piper, and the name stuck for life.

7 Piper’s Notebook

Throughout the special, footage of Piper’s notebook was shown. Hot Rod would think of all kinds of one-liners and would jot them down. It helped make him so quick-witted in the ring and in the movies as well.

Related: 5 WCW Wrestlers Roddy Piper Loved (& 5 He Hated)

He handed director John Carpenter this notebook while filming They Live. Carpenter took the movie’s most famous line right from Piper’s book - “I’ve come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubble gum.”

6 Playing The Bagpipes

From an early age, Roddy Piper played the bagpipes. According to Hot Rod, he was able to be pulled away from everyone and it became his hideaway. One fun story was when Roddy was in the California territory, feuding with the Guerrero family, his first real break thanks to his trainer Judo Gene LeBell. He told the fans that one week he would return and be able to play the Mexican National Anthem in tribute to them and apologize for attacking the Guerreros. Ever the heel, Piper played “La Cucaracha,” a song about a cockroach instead. The incident had the predominantly Mexican audience ready to attack the ring.

5 Meeting Kitty

Roddy never if ever spoke about his personal life, so it was nice for his fans to meet his children and widow, Kitty, and hear their stories of their dearly departed husband and father. When Piper headed to the Portland territory, that’s when he met Kitty way back in 1979. She was a waitress working the graveyard shift and according to Kitty all of the wrinkles on her face were from Roddy making her laugh. He would always ask her out, but it was eventually Piper’s tag team partner, Killer Tim Brooks who got them together. He asked Kitty to please give him his phone number because I’m getting beat to heck out there because all he does is think about you.

4 His Intro To Mid South

When Piper left the west coast and headed to Mid South, a new way to introduce a wrestler was born. Since Hot Rod’s mouth was his biggest asset, he came in as a color commentator. Little by little, his heel tendencies would peek through in his commentary. Until finally the real Hot Rod showed up. The nice suits were shed in favor of the traditional bagpipes and kilt and the region was finally introduced to the real "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, the guy “nuts enough to throw sticks and stones.”

3 The History Of The Leather Jacket

For years, Hot Rod wore a leather jacket, even to the point where it became an iconic part of his character. His son, Colt even gave it to Ronda Rousey so she could wear it during her shocking debut.

According to Colt, the jacket and any leather jacket he wore was lined with Kevlar, in order to protect the mega heel Piper from getting stabbed by wild fans, since several times over, he actually was stabbed.

2 The Birth Of The Pit

After Vince McMahon tried to teach Roddy how to be Roddy, Hot Rod said “give me the microphone and get out of my way.” As usual, Vince knew that he should play to a Superstar’s strengths and handed Rowdy his own talk show.

Related: The 10 Greatest Wrestlers To Never Be World Champion Anywhere

Everything about Piper’s Pit was unscripted, including the infamous coconut smash. Snuka might have known the shot was coming, but what he didn’t know was that Hot Rod grabbed the wrong coconut that hadn’t been gimmicked. No wonder Snuka was peeved off for the rest of their careers.

1 Refused To Job To Mr. T

According to Kitty, with Piper being very old school, he did his best to cooperate during the Rock N Wrestling Connection. He knew it was good for the business, but he always wanted to appear strong. Fans have long known that Hot Rod plain didn’t like Mr. T. Heading into WrestleMania, both McMahon and Hogan tried to convince Hot Rod to do business and lay down for Mr. T. Piper continued to refuse and at the first WrestleMania, still didn’t take the pinfall for the loss. Bret Hart also acknowledged this, knowing full well that when he defeated Piper at WrestleMania VIII, Piper wouldn’t lay down for just anybody.

Next: 10 Things About DDP's Career That Made No Sense

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