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Tomorrow, the legendary “Rowdy” Roddy Piper will celebrate his 61st birthday. It’s an impressive milestone, considering that Piper has packed every one of those years with more craziness and rash decisions, both good and bad, than most people experience in a decade (or their whole lives).
Piper has spent the large majority of his nearly 61 years immersed in pro wrestling, and he’s marched to his own highland beat the entire time. Piper was a character only pro wrestling could create, but ultimately couldn’t contain. Here are a few things you might not know about Rowdiest man to ever slip on a kilt and lace up the boots…
1. Roddy Piper has been a pro wrestler since he was 15. Sorry to shock you right off the bat, but Roddy Piper wasn’t really Scottish. Well, he had some Scottish blood, but he was born in the Western Canadian city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Piper (real name, Roderick George Toombs) was the son of a Mountie (not to be confused with The Mountie), and he found himself uprooted often as a kid when his father was assigned to new towns.
Around age 13, Piper was expelled from junior high school and had a falling out with his father, so he decided to hit the road because you could just do that sort of thing in ’60s Canada. Eventually, he ended up living in hostels and on the streets of Winnipeg (this town has a thing for collecting lost souls).
Various teachers and social workers tried to help Roddy complete high school (they were unsuccessful), although he did show an interest in boxing and wrestling. His big break came at age 15, when the opponent for Larry “The Axe” Hennig didn’t show at a local independent show. Roddy’s wrestling coach had connections with the promoter, and Piper had already worked some small peanuts pro wrestling shows on northern Indian reserves, so Piper was given the chance to wrestle Hennig for a juicy $25 pay day. Piper lost in 10 seconds, but the seed was planted.
Roddy Piper/Terrance Machalek
This strapping young badass lost in 10 seconds? Get outta town.
2. His ring name was coined by a confused announcer. Roddy’s fateful impromptu match with Larry Hennig was also where he got his ring name. At the time, Roddy was playing the bagpipes in several bands, and he correctly assumed playing them for the wrestling crowd would get them good and riled up.
Aside from knowing he went by “Roddy”, the show’s announcer didn’t know what this scawny 15-year-old kid wanted to be called, so he improvised and introduced him as “Roddy the Piper.” Most of the fans didn’t hear “the,” and the name Roddy Piper stuck ever since.
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The one and only time childhood bagpipe lessons paid off.
3. He earned a black belt from the legendary Judo Gene LeBell. While he would adopt a somewhat more cartoonish style in his later years in the WWF and WCW, Piper had his share of legit tough guy credentials. As already mentioned, he was a trained boxer and amateur wrestler, as well as a black belt in judo. Piper didn’t get his black belt from some strip mall “dojo,” either. He got it from one of the most famous judo champions in history, Gene LeBell, who didn’t just teach Piper judo, he also give him his first big break in the wrestling business when he started promoting shows in the Los Angeles area. Despite Piper being barely old enough to drink, LeBell made him his top heel and booked him in a series of racially-charged blood feuds with various members of the Guerrero family.
Incidentally, it was through LeBell that Piper was introduced to Ronda Rousey (LeBell is one of Rousey’s trainers), which led to Piper officially passing the coveted “Rowdy” title on to her.
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I bet she looks better in a kilt, too.
4. He used to tag team with Rick Martel. Piper was always a bit of a rugged character, so it may surprise you to know his first significant tag team partner was the prototypical narcissistic model wrestler, Rick Martel. After making a bit of a name for himself in Los Angeles, Piper moved to the Portland area, where he lived and eventually tagged with Martel. Piper and Martel may not have been a perfect match personality-wise, but Piper didn’t mind living together…
“I lived in an apartment with Rick ‘The Model’ Martel. Every night I’d come home, there’d be girls in it. We’d climb over the balcony. I used to read letters from girls: ‘Roddy, I think you’re great. Can you get me a date with Rick Martel?’”