Rowdy Roddy Piper is remembered as one of the best bad guys the wrestling world has ever seen. Piper loved having the fans boo him out of the building as it let him know he was doing a good job. He had some memorable runs in WWE and WCW against legends like Bruce Prichard, Jimmy Snuka, and of course, Hulk Hogan.
But the rowdy one was not only a wild man in the ring. He was just as crazy backstage. From late-night gator hunting to beating up Big Sexy Kevin Nash, there are plenty of tales about Rowdy Roddy Piper.
10 Member Of The Hart Family
What started as an innocent conversation backstage between The Hitman and Roddy Piper turned into an investigation into one another's family heritage. Bret mentioned that he had family from Piper's hometown that shared the same surname as Rowdy's family name.
When they dived deeper, it turned out that the spelling was slightly different, but they didn't dismiss that they could be related. The two would become close and refer to each other as cousins up until the day Piper passed away.
9 Boxing In WCW
Piper must have missed the Brawl For All tournament because he was the one that came up with the idea for his boxing match with Buff Bagwell at Bash At The Beach 1999. According to Eric Bischoff, Piper was getting back into the sport and wanted to show off his talents in a WCW ring.
The idea led to a match with Bagwell, who was accompanied to the ring by his mother, Judy. While the first three rounds featured some boxing, the last one turned in to shenanigans when Judy bit Piper's ear, and Rowdy got a bucket dumped on his head allowing him to be knocked out by Bagwell.
8 Cyber Sunday Saved His Life
In 2006, Piper and his long-time friend, Ric Flair, became tag team champions when Rowdy was voted by fans to be The Nature Boy's partner at Cyber Sunday. The win would see the two go on a European tour to defend their titles, and it was around this time that Roddy knew something wasn't right.
He began to notice that his legs were giving out during matches, leading to him being sent back to the US to visit WWE doctors. It turned out that Roddy had cancer, and Piper said that without the tag team run, he wouldn't have gotten checked out.
7 An Announcer Gave Him His Name
Roddy's first-ever wrestling match happened by mistake. He attended a wrestling event to play his bagpipe with the band. The promoter had a cancellation and knew that Roddy had an amateur wrestling background, so he threw him in the match.
With no training, no experience, and no wrestling name, Roddy made his way to the ring in his trademark kilt, and the announcer introduced him as Roddy The Piper. The name stuck, and Piper would use it for the entirety of his career.
6 The Coconut Incident
It was one of the most infamous episodes of Piper's Pit, but it was Jimmy Snuka who was behind the notorious coconut spot. According to Piper, Snuka gently forced Roddy to hit him over the head with the fruit. Roddy wasn't sure about the idea and questioned Jimmy on it, but Snuka told Piper that he'd better do it.
The rest is history. Rowdy would proceed to throw several pieces of fruit in Snuka's face before clocking him with the coconut. Snuka would need stitches after the episode, but he was happy Piper went through with it.
5 Wrong Face Paint
This was one of the most controversial moments in Piper's career. Just before his match with Bad News Brown at WrestleMania VI, Roddy painted half his face black to stir up his opponent and the fans. Many people called the display racist, but others defended Piper and commented that it wasn't a political statement.
Unfortunately for Roddy, he didn't use regular facepaint and opted for a heavy-duty option. The result was that he wasn't able to wash it off entirely for four months.
4 Almost Electrocuted Himself
Piper was already a very high-energy individual. He didn't need any electro-shock therapy to increase his intensity. However, one fateful night after a wrestling event, Roddy was finishing up a shower in the lockers when he went to reach for a towel in the opposite room.
Instead of grabbing the towel, he accidentally put his finger in an electric socket and immediately fell to the wet ground. He miraculously didn't require any medical attention and lived to tell the embarrassing tale.
3 Pulled A Gun On Jake Roberts
Jake "The Snake" Roberts will always remember his first encounter with Rowdy Roddy Piper. The two met backstage thanks to Greg Valentine, with The Hammer telling Roberts that Roddy loved snakes, which was a lie.
When the two finally got together, Roberts first introduced his snake to Piper, who turned pale almost immediately. Roddy then did the only thing he could think of and reached for a gun in his briefcase. Everyone was in shock, and it was an introduction Roberts will never forget.
2 DIY Gator Skinned Boots
On a road trip through Florida, Piper, along with some friends, decided to make a stop in the everglades. The purpose of their visit was to source materials for some new alligator-skin boots
When the group spotted a gator lurking, they proceeded to shoot the reptile and throw rocks at it to ensure it was dead. As they approached the gator, they quickly found out that it hadn't been killed, and Piper ran back to the car for a hasty escape.
1 Beat Up Kevin Nash
If you needed any more proof that Piper wasn't intimidated by anybody, look no further then his backstage fight with Kevin Nash. Fists were thrown in the locker room after a six-man tag match at Slamboree 1997. Piper and Nash disagreed on how the match should play out and Roddy decided to do the opposite of what was agreed upon backstage.
What happened next is dependent on who tells the story. Piper claimed he leg-dived Nash and threw him out of the dressing room. Big Sexy claimed he face-palmed Roddy to the ground. Either way, the two didn't back down from one another and it made for one hell of a story.