This is going to be a long post so bear with me. I'm heartbroken right now since I was supposed to meet him again next weekend.
You do not throw rocks at a man with a machine gun!
Sooner or later, everybody pays the Piper!
Just when they think they got the answers, I change the questions!
I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum.
I was rowdy before rowdy was cool!
No retreat! No surrender!
Quotes to live by. I didn't know Roddy Piper personally, but I felt like I did ever since I first saw him at Wrestlemania III jogging down the long aisle. I grew up watching the guy. He was a spitfire, just so full of energy, you couldn't help, but be enthralled by Hot Rod. As a heel, you wanted to see him get his ass kicked and as a babyface, you wanted to see him kick ass.
He truly was larger than life and if it wasn't for him and Hogan, the WWE wouldn't be where it is now. The charismatic patriot against the Scotsman with attitude. Like Batman and Joker, its like these two were destined to battle forever. It was the feud of its time that led the way to Wrestlemania.
He had a way with words on the mic and that got him to become IMO the greatest trash talker in pro wrestling history. The Piper's Pit segments were always entertaining and even if the matches weren't great, he had you excited for his upcoming battles against Hogan, Valentine, Savage, Rude, Hart, Lawler, Goldust, Flair, and Duncan MacLeod. He made you believe kayfabe!
For so many years, I wanted to meet this man then I finally got my chance in 2011 following the CAC awards. And he blew me away during our encounter. Keep in mind, it took me 22 years to have this opportunity and he treated me like an old friend he hadn't seen in years! I couldn't believe how kind this wrestling legend was!
After some small talk where he told me his favorite match was against Adonis at Wrestlemania III, I asked for a picture with him also asking him not to apply full force since I heard horror stories of him making fans pass out. He was snug anyway. I should've known better, but it was totally worth it as it would be for any fan of his.
It was a great honor that night in Las Vegas, but fast forward to last year in San Diego.
After Tommy Dreamer's House Of Hardcore show ended, Piper came out to do Piper's Pit (we gave him a loud "Thank you, Piper!" chant that he was touched by) with his guests: Zeus, Matt Striker, Terry Funk, and Don Frye in front of a bunch of fans for an hour, which sounded like a great idea, but then the fans went into business for themselves. The first couple of chants were funny, but after that, they just hijacked the show. I felt bad for Piper. He could barely get a sentence out due to some of the fans being attention seeking assh*les! He signed my copy of his book after his Podcast recording was over.
The following morning, Roddy Piper was at the VIP breakfast, the final event for the 3 day convention, and he remembered me when I brought up the submission pose we did at CAC a few years ago. He then gave me a hug. We talked about the Piper's Pit broadcast from last night and he wasn't happy with it because of the rude fans and was thinking about not using it, but I told him to keep it since he had a great line-up of guests (thankfully, he heeded my advice and uploaded it a few months later after some excellent editing skills).
His limo then arrived and he had to go, but I had one final request on behalf of all his fans out there: to pose with the missing crown jewel of his career. "Yeah! Let's do it.", he said enthusiastically. It was the highlight of my trip!
And that my friends was my final memory of him. After getting in The Grim Reaper's face yesterday, he said to him
My name's Roddy Piper and you ain't seen nothing yet!
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