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He was good one,i can still see him in the ring with his[kilt]on,ready to dropkick somebody...r.i.p.
Sometime around 1986 or so, my brother came home from leave in the Air Force. He told me to turn on the USA Network so we could watch WWF. I told him I hadn't watched that fake stuff since we tuned in to watch 'Big Time Wrestling' on Saturday mornings as boys 15 years earlier. I was amazed at what I found.
WWF had superheroes and villains that captivated the imagination, making the fakeness of the event irrelevant. The good guys were too good. The bad guys were too bad. There was Hulk Hogan, Captain Lou Albano, Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Randy 'Macho Man' Savage [[local boy, BTW), the Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, Sergeant Slaughter, Hillbilly Jim, Kimala the African Giant, George the Animal Steel, and Jimmy Hart. And Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Roddy Piper was Batman in the WWF's universe of superheroes, a guy who didn't possess the over the top physical attributes or character of his peers, just a crazy man who was born to do something well. And he seemed to love it. The glint in his eyes when he was on the microphone made you wonder if he was actually insane. The way that he spat when he ranted into the microphone made you wonder if he was insane. Seeming to be the man that you saw in the ring and in the studio made you wonder if he was insane. I still don't know that he wasn't.
Based largely on this remarkably unremarkable man, the WWF built a brand. Wrestlemania changed the game for pay-per-view events and professional wrestling and his match with Hulk Hogan will forever be remembered as the moment that it all flipped. You see, before that, wrestling was a regional attraction. Some pros barnstormed and went from one low-paying gig in the southwest to another one in the northeast. Nobody really watched it. Matches were held in high school gyms and at county fairs. The stands contained a couple of hundred die hards and a few hundred empty seats.
The WWF changed that. Vince McMahon realized that he had something and when he put it on USA Network, he obliterated the rules of regional territories. His guys were bigger and better [[thanks largely to steroids) and they had personality out the ass. Every one of his top wrestlers had tens of thousands of ardent followers and they tuned in by the millions every Monday night. I found myself to be one of them. I didn't have a favorite wrestler but I enjoyed Rowdy Roddy more than all of the other ones.
He struck me as someone who had something bothering him that he wouldn't disclose. I read his autobiography about ten years ago and I still don't know what it was. But that's okay. On the strength of him and Hulk Hogan's personalities, the WWF grew and grew until it became the only national wrestling brand of import. I no longer watch pro wrestling. Since they were busted for distributing steroids, the tiny men who 'compete' in it are not compelling to me. But the memories I have from 30 years ago are vivid and still larger than life. And Rowdy Roddy Piper was larger in spirit than he was physically in the ring. I'm sorry to hear of his passage but I pray that his family knows that he brought enjoyment into the living rooms of a great many people in his prime and that there will never be another one like him.
Wow, this is has not been a very good week. Rest in peace Roddy.
A really wonderful write-up, Jerry. Heartfelt and insightful. Thanks very much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz