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I can’t tell you how sad and upset I am to hear about the passing of the late, great Roddy Piper at 61 years old. Much like when Dusty Rhodes passed away in June, when I was on the air with Stuart Carapola, I feel like I was hit in the face with with a baseball bat. Hot Rod? Dead? That can’t be. THAT CAN’T BE.
It sure as hell shouldn’t be.
Sadly, it is. Roderick Toombs has left us, far too soon, at just 61 years old. And just like when Dusty passed, I am sad, in a deeply personal way. I feel like I have lost a member of the family, and in a lot of ways I have.
When Dusty passed, Stu and I processed what we were feeling in real time. Today, I wasn’t on the air when I heard he passed, but I feel the exact same way. I am processing now. And I am just as wrecked as I was on June 11.
For those of you that have been in the PWInsider.com family for a while, you know my story. I grew up in the Northeast and as the WWWF was the promotion that ran here, I wasn’t a wrestling fan. And then, in 1979, my best friend (who had family in an area with cable, yeah I know how old I sound) told me about this guy he saw on TBS. “Rodney Piper” he said, is one crazy son of a bitch. He guaranteed if I watched him, I would be hooked.
He was right.
When Roddy Piper came to WWE to feud with Hulk Hogan, cable was still in its infancy. But while America was cheering for the superhero with the long blonde locks, I was rooting for the guy who busted the coconut on Jimmy Snuka’s head. That was what I wanted to see and he gave it to me.
When Roddy came on the screen, you never knew what he would do. He was “Anything can happen in the WWF” before Vince McMahon ever coined the term. He was the original must-see TV national wrestling act.
Now, he is gone and I am sad. I am sure a lot of you are as well. But we should also remember of the story of the kid who came from nothing and captivated the world. That was Roddy Piper.
It’s kind of ironic that as I am writing this, One Republic’s “I Lived” is playing in the other room. If anyone ever lived, it was Roddy Piper. He didn’t get cheated in life. I always respected and appreciated that. I live my life the same way. If I die tomorrow, I won’t have any regrets. Roddy Piper lived his life that way.
Now he is gone, but he will never, ever be forgotten. He made his mark. He mattered. He left his impression on the world.
When Dusty passed, I eventually, through catharsis on the air, came to the realization that if he had never come into my life, I wouldn’t be doing what I am today. Well, if Roddy Piper didn’t come along first, I would have never gotten to see the great work of Dusty Rhodes. Roddy is the one who brought me into this crazy business. He showed me how it can be at its very best.
I am going to cut this short because it is making me too sad to keep writing. Piper wouldn’t want that. Hell, I wouldn’t want that either when I died. I live by the mantra “Live Every Day” and he did too, so I will close with this.
Rowdy used to do promos where he would say: “When RP talks, brother, people listen!”
He was right. I listened RP. I am typing this today because of what he said more than 30 years ago.
Thank you. Rest In Peace Roddy Piper. You lived and you meant more to many than you probably every knew.
When you talked, we listened.
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