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Roddy Piper
Ring name(s)	"Rowdy" Roddy Piper[1] The Canadian The Masked Canadian[2][3]
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Born	(1954-04-17) April 17, 1954 (age 58)[2] Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada[2]
Resides	Hillsboro, Oregon[2]
Billed from	Glasgow, Scotland[1]
Trained by	Tony Condello[2] Stu Hart Alfred "The French Mad Dog" Peloquin
Debut	1973

Roderick "Roddy" George Toombs (born April 17, 1954),^[2] better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE. Although he is Canadian, due to his Scottish heritage, he was billed as coming from Glasgow in Scotland and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. He earned the nickname "Rowdy" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage, spontaneity and quick wit. Despite being a crowd favorite for his rockstar-like persona, he often played the villain. He was also nicknamed "Hot Rod". Never a world champion, he accumulated 34 championships in various promotions during his career. Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Early life[link]

Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father was an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba.^[4] After being expelled from junior high^{[citation needed]} and having a falling out with his father, Piper hit the road and stayed in youth hostels wherever he could find them.

Professional wrestling career[link]

By the age of 19, he made his pro debut in Winnipeg, against Larry Hennig. Piper lost the match in ten seconds. He was a boxer and an amateur wrestler before he started to become a pro wrestler. He won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a Black Belt in Judo from Gene LeBell, American Judo champion, instructor, stuntman, and professional wrestler.^{[citation needed]}

American Wrestling Association (1973–1975)[link]

From 1973 to 1975, Piper was a jobber in the AWA, Kansas City, the Maritimes, and Texas working for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion and in Dallas working for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Rasslin. What was supposed to be a brief run in California, however, turned out to be a long term stint as booker Leo Garibaldi and publicist Jeff Walton were impressed with Piper and saw the money making possibilities he had as a villain.

National Wrestling Alliance (1975–1980)[link]

By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top villain for Mike and Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 1977–78, he also started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the L.A. office. Los Angeles was where Piper developed his Rowdy character and became one of the most hated villains in Los Angeles since the days of Classy Freddy Blassie. During this time, he made continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community; he later promised to amend by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing "La Cucaracha" instead.^[5] Piper also served as manager for several villains in Los Angeles and worked as a referee from time to time. Piper feuded with all the fan favorites in the area and had a long feud with Chavo Guerrero, Sr..

As part of the L.A. storyline, Roddy Piper feuded with Chavo and the whole Guerrero family for about three years in the L.A. territory going so far as to routinely wear a T-Shirt to the ring reading "Conqueror of the Guerreros". The feud started during a TV bout in early 1976 where Chavo was defending the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy against Piper. Late in this match, Gory Guerrero (who had been in Chavo's corner giving him advice throughout the match) was slapped by Piper. Chavo "lost his cool" and starting punching Piper, getting DQ'ed and losing the Scientific Trophy for "breaking the rules". A short time later, Piper then defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title; the two competed in the top feud in Los Angeles for the better part of three years. They main evented against each other often during this era (1976 through 1978). The hair match gimmick was one of the top stipulations between these two, resulting in Piper getting his head shaved. Another top stipulation was when Chavo beat Piper in a loser leave town match and Piper immediately reappeared as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper actually teamed with Chavo to battle the Americas Tag Team Champions (Gordman and Goliath) and Piper turned on Chavo late in the match, causing Chavo to get pinned. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero.

By late 1978-early 1979, Buddy Rose talked Piper into leaving the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest Territory where he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks, Rick Martel, and Mike Popovich to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper also won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Mid-Atlantic (1980–1983)[link]

In late 1970s, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory. He beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title and Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a huge feud. In 1981, Piper started with the Georgia territory as an antagonistic villainous commentator. In 1982, due to showing up late for a match, he was fired and reportedly blackballed. Piper maintains this in his book, but others dispute this.^{[citation needed]} He did receive an offer from Gary Hart to go to World Class Championship Wrestling but the money was not good enough. Instead, he went to Puerto Rico for a month or so and was able to get booked by Jim Barnett shortly thereafter. It was in Barnett's promotion Georgia Championship Wrestling that Piper became a fan favorite to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from an attack. In Wrestling to Rasslin', Gerald W. Morton and George M. O'Brien described the transformation: "the drama finally played itself out on television when one of his [Piper's] hired assassins, Don Muraco, suddenly attacked the commentator Gordon Solie. Seeing Solie hurt, Piper unleashed his Scottish fury on Muraco. In the week that followed, like Achilles avenging Patroklas, he slaughtered villain after villain.... In the arenas fans chanted his name throughout his matches."^[6] Eventually, Piper moved back to Jim Crockett Promotions. As a fan favorite, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine broke Piper's left eardrum during the match with the collar's chain, causing Piper to permanently lose fifty percent of his hearing.^[7][8]

World Wrestling Federation[link]

Piper told Arda Ocal of The Score Television Network in an interview that before entering the World Wrestling Federation full time in 1984, Piper had a match with the WWWF under Vince McMahon Sr in the mid 70s at Madison Square Garden. As a rib to Piper, Freddie Blassie stuffed his bagpipes with toilet paper, so they wouldn't play in front of the Garden crowd. Piper was not invited back for several years.^[9]

1984–1987[link]

Heel run[link]

Around this time World Wrestling Federation (WWF) owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett. Piper started in the WWF in late 1983 and at the same time fulfilled dates with Crockett. On his way out of Crockett's promotion he became a heel, which set the stage for his WWF run in 1984. He started as a manager at first, due to the injuries he sustained during his dog collar match with Greg Valentine, but soon started wrestling full-time. Piper came in as the manager for "Dr. D" David Schultz and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, and soon began to wrestle with Orndorff as well.

Later that year, he was given his own interview segment called Piper's Pit, in which he talked to other superstars and which frequently ended in a fight between Piper and his guest. The Piper's Pit segments helped create the feuds Piper had with other wrestlers. According to Piper's autobiography, Piper's Pit was completely unscripted and was in fact so popular that it was taken on the road. In addition to pleasing many of his fans who wanted to see the Pit in person, it accomplished other things: it gave Piper the opportunity to heal some nagging injuries while still retaining his heat with the fans. An early guest on Piper's Pit was his Mid-Atlantic nemesis Valentine, who also arrived to the WWF. In a rare occurrence for WWF programming at the time, the two made reference to their history in the rival organization and hinted at rekindling it, but as the two were now top villains, they both agreed that they had mutual respect for each other, and it was left at that. In one Piper's Pit, Piper had an interview with Jimmy Snuka. Piper started insulting Snuka's Polynesian heritage by bringing out pineapples, bananas, and dropping coconuts onto the table; this was to make Snuka "feel at home" in an act of "remorse" after Snuka was not given much time to speak the previous times he was on Piper's Pit. Snuka took offense to this and Piper then attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut and shoving a banana in his face. He followed this up by whipping Snuka with his belt. Snuka was legitimately knocked woozy allowing Piper to leave before Snuka, now seriously enraged, could fight back. This incident led to a long feud between the two. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a Piper's Pit which led to a feud between the two, ending in a steel cage match which Piper lost.

Another feud, this time between Piper and Hulk Hogan erupted soon after and became what was at the time the highest-profile feud in wrestling history, thanks to the involvement of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, where Piper kicked Lauper in the head—and even attacked Captain Lou Albano—with Hogan seeking revenge as a result. In 1985, MTV broadcast The War to Settle the Score, featuring a main-event matchup between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Albano, Lauper, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Piper and Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan with his trademark "injured" arm covered in a plaster cast. In Born to Controversy, Piper recalled how he had to keep Mr. T busy with tie-ups and other shoot wrestling moves to keep Mr. T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans, thus ruining the match. From this situation, Piper and Mr. T's real-life relationship became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another. It was on Right After Wrestling in March 2011, hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas, that Piper explained why WrestleMania didn't feature a 1-on-1 main event. He said it was because that match happened at the War to Settle the Score, before the WrestleMania event actually happened.^[10] Piper once again faced Mr. T, this time alone, in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Piper lost the match by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T.

Face run[link]

Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned during a TV taping on WWF Superstars in 1986 against jobber A.J. Petrucci and received a thunderous ovation from the audience, turning him face. After being slapped in the face by Petrucci twice, Piper placed one hand behind his back and beat his opponent to a pulp.

During Piper's 1986 face run, Piper's Pit played key roles in two storylines memorable to fans: Piper's feud with Adrian Adonis, and the set-up of the Hulk Hogan-André The Giant match at WrestleMania III.

In the Piper-Adonis feud, the returning Piper was distressed to find his Piper's Pit segment replaced by The Flower Shop, a segment hosted by Adonis, who was using an effeminate-wrestler gimmick. Piper spent weeks crashing Adonis' show and trading insults, leading to a "showdown" between the two segments that ended with Piper being assaulted and humiliated by Adonis, Piper's former bodyguard Orton (now in Adonis' employ), and Don Muraco. The trio left Piper with his face covered in red lipstick lying in the middle of the remnants of the Piper's Pit set, which had been destroyed. In response, Piper stormed the set of Adonis' show and destroyed it with a baseball bat. This led to their Hair vs Hair match at WrestleMania III, which was billed as Piper's retirement match from wrestling before he left to become an actor full-time. Piper won the match with the assistance of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, who had been sheared by Adonis shortly before the match.

The first Piper's Pit used to build up the Hogan-André feud came when Hogan was invited on the show to receive a trophy for being the WWF Champion for three years. Shortly after presenting Hogan with the trophy, André – Hogan's "long-time friend" – came out to congratulate Hogan, but closed the segment by simply stating: "Three years to be world champion....it's a long time." After saying this, Andre went to shake Hogan's hand, apparently placing a little too much pressure causing Hogan to wince in pain. The following week, Hogan attempted to return the favor by presenting Andre with a trophy for being undefeated for 15 years, and unwittingly took over the interview. Although the attempt was sincere, Andre couldn't help but notice that the trophy was noticeably smaller than the one Hogan received the week before, and grew irritated when Hogan became the focal point of the spotlight once again. As Hogan was attempting to congratulate Andre, the Frenchman abruptly stormed off the Pit set. The following week, Piper attempted to get some answers and Jesse "The Body" Ventura interrupted the segment, agreeing with Piper that something was amiss in the Hogan/Andre situation; both Ventura and Piper held true to promises to bring Andre and Hogan, respectively, onto the show the following week. On that subsequent program, Hogan was stunned when André appeared with his long-time nemesis, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, at his side; Hogan pleaded with André to explain why Heenan was at his side, and André replied simply, "I'm here for one reason, to challenge you to a championship match at Wrestlemania." Hogan attempted to keep the peace, only to have Heenan order André to attack Hogan to show how serious he was in his challenge; André responded by ripping off Hogan's shirt and gold crucifix necklace, leaving Hogan in hurt and shock and with Piper of all people trying to console his former enemy. In the process of tearing off Hogan's shirt, André's fingernail accidentally scratched Hogan's skin, causing Hogan to bleed, leading Piper to tell Hogan, "You're bleeding." Piper then brought Hogan back the following week to get Hogan to respond to André's challenge. When Hogan sidestepped the issue for several minutes, Piper put it to him bluntly: "Yes or no? Are you or are you not going to face Andre the Giant for the WWF championship at Wrestlemania? YES OR NO?!!" Hogan paused for a brief second only to respond with a thunderous "YES!"

1989–1996[link]

Piper returned from a hiatus with a live Piper's Pit at WrestleMania V, where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey, Jr. with a fire extinguisher. After this, Piper began co-hosting Prime Time Wrestling with Gorilla Monsoon, providing a much needed change of pace from the constant bickering that was caused between Monsoon and Bobby Heenan during Heenan's tenure. Heenan insisted on having his own show opposite Prime Time called "The Bobby Heenan Show". Which was basically used as a catalyst to insult Piper and Monsoon after leaving "Prime Time" on bad terms. Eventually, Heenan's comments began to irritate Piper and Piper finally told Heenan to either "put up or shut up." Shortly after this, Heenan brought "Ravishing" Rick Rude into the mix by inviting him to his show to further insult Piper. The feud reached the physical level when Piper made an appearance on "The Brother Love Show" to address his position on the matter. Brother Love provoked Piper for several minutes by questioning his courage and ring ability. Piper finally had enough and told Love he had bad hygiene. When Love questioned Piper for bringing this up, Piper pulled out a small bag of toiletries and began dousing Love with toothpaste and mouthwash. Rude made his move during this moment and attacked Piper from behind, eventually spewing mouthwash into his eyes rendering him temporarily blind. This eventually brought Piper's return to the ring full-circle as Piper interfered in Rude's Intercontinental Title defense against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam '89, costing Rude the belt. Rude vowed revenge and the two engaged in a very physical and violent feud that lasted the rest of the year. The feud finally came to an end when Piper defeated Rude in a match where the stipulation stated that if Piper won, Heenan would have to dress as Santa Claus for an episode of "Prime Time". Piper was victorious, and Heenan was forced to dress as Claus the following week. Initially, Heenan seemed pleased with portraying Santa and even went so far as to imitate Claus and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. However, as the show progressed, Heenan's true motives were revealed as he began to call Christmas "a sham", and that the children of the world had been "scammed" by their parents. Piper snapped and attacked Heenan, ignoring pleas from Monsoon to stop the attack due to Piper's agreement to abstain from physicality on the "Prime Time" set. Piper refused, and in turn, was fired from "Prime Time." Piper also wrestled Bad News Brown at WrestleMania VI in 1990. The match ended with both men being counted out of the ring, but the real highlight of the match was Piper's choice of ring attire. In true 'Rowdy' fashion, Piper cut a promo and came to the ring with half his body painted black in a strange attempt to play head games with Bad News.

In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and was present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He also renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Championship. He lost it soon after to (his real life cousin) Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. After playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam, he disappeared from the WWF.

He reemerged in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. During the match, commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his King's Court segment on Monday Night Raw, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a skinny teenager in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet. Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. Piper wrestled as a fan favorite, saying he had "made a mess of most of his career as a heel", and adding to the face attitude by donating part of his purse from the fight with Lawler to a children's hospital in Ontario.

Leaving the WWF again, he soon returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. In 1996, Piper was named as interim WWF President, following Vader's malicious assault on Gorilla Monsoon, following the Royal Rumble. As president, Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII, in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl." While the contest began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, Goldust jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco, which when viewed from aerial footage looked similar to the O. J. Simpson "low-speed" chase from two years prior (the WWF had attempted to be humorous and recycle the footage with Vince McMahon quipping on commentary, "This footage looks awfully familiar"). The two eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left the Federation.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–2000)[link]

Later in 1996, Piper joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He appeared at Halloween Havoc to "break Hogan's monotony." In his first appearance, Piper asked Hogan, "Do you think [the fans] would've loved you so much, if they hadn't hated me?" Piper and Hogan wrestled in a non-title match in the main event of Starrcade, WCW's biggest pay-per-view event of the year. Piper defeated Hogan with a sleeper hold. Piper faced Hogan in a title match at SuperBrawl VII. This time, Hogan beat Piper when Randy Savage interfered and joined the New World Order (nWo). Promos showed Piper locking himself in the Alcatraz prison and vigorously exercising in order to prepare for the highly anticipated match. During the spring of 1997, Piper joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. Shortly thereafter, Piper and Flair feuded before Piper disappeared from the scene. Piper briefly returned in October 1997 to face Hogan once again in a steel cage match, which Piper did win.

In early 1998, Piper once again returned to feud with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Bret Hart. In early 1999, Piper had a short run as United States Champion, became WCW Commissioner, and resumed his feud with Flair over control of WCW. Piper also had a short feud with Buff Bagwell in the summer of 1999, where he was defeated by Bagwell, whose mother got involved. In late 1999, Piper was featured on WCW Television, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be" (an unseen power that was controlling WCW). At Starrcade, Piper was the special referee in the WCW title match featuring Goldberg and Bret Hart. This match was otherwise notorious for Goldberg legitimately injuring Bret Hart, giving him the concussion that would eventually lead to his retirement. Forced by Russo, Piper called for the bell when Hart locked in the Sharpshooter on Goldberg, when it was apparent that Goldberg had not submitted. Piper apologized for this incident the next night on Nitro and attempted to make the save for Goldberg when Bret Hart and the nWo beat him down, but the nWo also attacked Piper. Piper's last appearance was at SuperBrawl in 2000 where he was a surprise referee in the title match between Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett And Scott Hall. The feud between Piper and the Powers That Be ended shortly after and Piper disappeared, never to be seen on WCW TV again. In the fall of 2000, WCW terminated Piper's contract, and the organization ceased to exist after being sold to WWF several months later.

Before going to the WWE in 2003 Piper was the figurehead and commissioner of the now defunct XWF promotion featured in its earliest live events. (Indiana, Milwaukee, Green Bay)

World Wrestling Entertainment (2003)[link]

In November 2002, Piper's autobiography, In the Pit with Piper: Roddy Gets Rowdy, was released. At WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, Piper ran in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon match and made his second WWE run as a villain by attacking Hogan with a steel pipe. He brought back Piper's Pit on the April 10 episode of SmackDown!, and after aligning with Sean O'Haire, Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Rikishi, a relative of Snuka. At Backlash that month, Rikishi returned the favor to Piper. Piper was then put in a program against "Mr. America". The storyline was Hulk Hogan had been bought off WWE television forever by McMahon. Hulk Hogan returned "incognito" although the joke was that everybody knew who he really was, which infuriated McMahon. At this point, Piper and O'Haire were portrayed as McMahon's lackeys attempting to unmask Mr. America. Despite Piper being a heel he still got cheered due to being a legend.

Around the same time on Raw, Chris Jericho started The Highlight Reel—a show similar to 'Piper's Pit'. The two even verbally sparred on TV, with Jericho calling Piper fat and telling him to call him "when he lost some weight"; Piper's retorted, "I have seen Chris Jericho wrestle. I have heard Chris Jericho talk. I have even heard Chris Jericho sing. So I'll make you a deal: I promise you that when I lose some weight, I'll call you. And when you get some talent, you call me." At Judgment Day, the two met again, with Jericho telling Piper he made a wrong turn and missed the senior's home and alluding to the incident where Piper ripped off a fan's (later revealed to be Zach Gowen) leg and used it as a weapon, mentioning there were some midgets and lepers he could thrash, and while patting Piper's stomach, asked if he ate the leg. Piper responded by blasting him for ripping off the Piper's Pit idea and drilling it into the ground and called Jericho's birth an "accident". In June 2003, WWE decided to stop using Piper (who was working without a contract at the time) after a controversial interview with HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in which Piper discussed the darker side of the wrestling business. On his 2006 DVD, Piper claimed that HBO took parts of his interviews out of context to make wrestling look worse.^[11]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2005)[link]

In 2003, Piper appeared for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, hosting several In the Pit with Piper interview segments. He interviewed former rival Jimmy Snuka at the company's first three-hour pay-per-view, Victory Road, where he dared Snuka to get revenge by hitting him with a coconut. Instead, TNA wrestler Kid Kash eventually used the coconut on Sonjay Dutt. Piper also served as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance Championship Committee, culminating in refereeing a match at Final Resolution between Scott Hall and Jeff Hardy.

The Vince Russo/TNA Controversy[link]

One of Piper's more controversial TNA moments came during one of its weekly pay-per-view shows. Vince Russo at the time was at the center of a massive power struggle (kayfabe) between the TNA roster and Russo's stable of young wrestlers called Sports Entertainment Xtreme. Piper had requested a segment to plug his new book, but instead, used the time to basically shoot on Russo and his effect on the world of professional wrestling. Piper touched on subjects from the death of Piper's real-life cousin, Owen Hart, for which Piper held Russo to blame, to the downfall of WCW amongst other touchy subjects. Russo came to the ring basically "in character" to confront Piper. But, when Piper got in Russo's face, Russo made the comment that Piper was "a moron". Piper not only took offense to the remark, but delivered a "potato shot" to the side of Russo's head. Russo immediately realized that Piper's heat with him was legitimate, and quickly backed off unsure of what Piper might do next. When The Harris Brothers hit the ring to try and cool the situation down, Russo became visibly upset as Piper continued to vehemently shoot on him. Russo got so upset that at one point in time it took both the Harrises to restrain him. Piper later said in a shoot interview that everything he had to say to Russo was real and that he was willing to get physical if Russo had taken it that far.^{[citation needed]} Russo retaliated later by saying that he and Owen were very close and that Piper wasn't even with the company the night Owen died so he had no way of knowing how upset he was with Owen's death.^{[citation needed]}

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–present)[link]

Hall of Fame (2005)[link]

Piper in 2006.

On February 21, 2005, it was announced that Piper was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Piper held an episode of Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21 where he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin. The interview was interrupted by Carlito, who was promptly beaten up by both Piper and Austin.

In February 2005 at an event called WrestleReunion, Piper teamed with Jimmy Valiant and Snuka against Colonel DeBeers, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

On the July 11, 2005 episode of Raw, Piper returned as a face to host Piper's Pit with guest Shawn Michaels, who superkicked Piper at the end of the show. This was during Michaels' feud with Hulk Hogan. Piper once again appeared on Raw on October 3, 2005 for Raw Homecoming. He hosted Piper's Pit with guest Mick Foley; later in the segment, Randy Orton and "Cowboy" Bob Orton appeared and attacked both Foley and Piper.

SmackDown!; Feud with The Ortons (2005)[link]

This event sparked a mini-feud between Piper and The Ortons. On the next SmackDown! after Homecoming, Piper took on the Ortons in a handicap match. Piper won with a roll-up on Bob Orton after a distraction by The Undertaker. On October 28, Piper teamed with Batista and Eddie Guerrero to take on Randy Orton, Bob Orton, and Mr. Kennedy. Piper won after applying the sleeper hold to Bob Orton. Piper's feud with The Ortons came to an end on the November 4, 2005 episode of SmackDown! with a DQ victory over Bob Orton.

World Tag Team Champion (2006)[link]

Piper returned to Raw on September 11, 2006 for a six-man tag team match win with The Highlanders against the Spirit Squad. He also appeared on the Raw Family Reunion, along with Money Inc. and Arn Anderson to accompany Ric Flair ringside for a match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad. On November 5, Piper won the World Tag Team Championship with Ric Flair from The Spirit Squad at Cyber Sunday, after being chosen to be Flair's partner by voters at WWE.com over Sgt. Slaughter and Dusty Rhodes. On the November 13, 2006 episode of Raw, Piper and Flair lost the title to Rated-RKO. Piper never made it to the ring, as he was attacked by Edge with a con-chair-to before the match. On November 17, 2006, WWE announced on their website that Piper was flown from the UK to his home state of Oregon and had surgery for what was originally believed to be kidney stones, but was speculated to be a disc problem in his back. It was later determined to be cancer. As a result of the procedure, it was announced that he was withdrawing from the Survivor Series match which would have pitted himself (as a co-captain), along with Flair, Anderson, Sgt. Slaughter, and Dusty Rhodes against the Spirit Squad. He was replaced with Ron Simmons.

Various storylines (2007–present)[link]

He made a return to Raw on an episode taped February 12, 2007, during which he announced that his friend Dusty Rhodes was to be the first person inducted into the 2007 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During his appearance Umaga, with manager Armando Alejandro Estrada, entered the ring and laid out both men. He then returned on the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw as part of "Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night", where he introduced a video of some of McMahon's most embarrassing moments. In 2008, after finishing his therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, he made a brief appearance in the Royal Rumble, primarily focusing on "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Both men were eliminated by Kane shortly after they entered the ring.

Piper returned to Raw on April 28, 2008. He was a backstage visitor, and was confronted by Santino Marella. Marella poked fun at Piper's weight, which resulted in Santino getting slapped by Piper. The next week, Piper was a guest on Carlito's Cabana and Carlito and Santino were about to double team Piper when they were chased off by Cody Rhodes and Cryme Tyme. On May 12, Piper's interference stopped Santino and Carlito from beating Rhodes and Hardcore Holly for the World Tag Team Championship. Santino then threatened Piper with retaliation, culminating in a confrontation with Piper during the May 16 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He wrestled his presumed last match on April 18, 2008 one day after his 54th birthday at Newburgh Free Academy’s Spring Slam.^[12] On October 26, 2008, however, Piper appeared on WWE's Cyber Sunday as one of the three choices fans could choose to face Marella for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The other choices were Goldust and The Honky Tonk Man. Honky Tonk Man was chosen and won via a disqualification due to interference by Beth Phoenix and therefore did not win the title. Goldust then entered the ring, followed by Piper. The three candidates then fought Santino, afterwards celebrating together in the ring. Piper appeared on the October 27 episode of Raw as a special guest commentator, along with both Goldust and Honky Tonk Man, for Marella's match against Charlie Haas.

Piper with Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka before their match with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXV in 2009.

On February 16, 2009 Piper returned to Raw to confront Chris Jericho after Jericho continued to act disrespectfully towards the Hall of Famers. After the segment, Jericho attacked Piper. One month later, on the March 16 episode of Raw, Piper would get his revenge when he, along with Ric Flair, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat, attacked Jericho. For the first time since Wrestlemania XII in 1996, Piper wrestled at WrestleMania XXV along with Snuka and Steamboat with Flair in their corner to go against Jericho in a three on one handicap match. Jericho won the match; Piper was the second of the three to be eliminated. Piper later guest hosted WWE Raw on November 16, 2009 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Piper challenged Vince McMahon to a street fight later in the evening only to have Randy Orton come out to fight against, then shortly after Kofi Kingston came out to stop Randy's assault on Piper. He inducted Wendy Richter to the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010. He also appeared the next night on Raw as one of the Legend Lumberjacks in a match that involved Christian and Ted Dibiase. Two months later, Piper turned heel for one night only by hiring DiBiase to capture guest host Quinton Jackson so he could "gain revenge on BA", but was unsuccessful.

On the July 12, 2010 episode of Raw, it was hinted that Piper could possibly be the Anonymous General Manager as on an e-mail sent to Michael Cole, the GM said "Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions." The idea was abandoned on the July 24 episode of Raw when Cole said " And if you're not down with that I got two words for you" which was Triple H and Shawn Michaels trademark line as D-Generation X, but again this idea was dropped. On the November 15, 2010 episode of Raw, Piper quickly turned face during a return of Piper's Pit telling John Cena to do the right thing by calling the WWE Championship match at Survivor Series between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton down the middle. He went on to point out that legends such as Ricky Steamboat, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Jimmy Snuka, and himself had never won a World Championship in WWE. On January 29, 2011, Piper made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend, defeating nineteen other men, last eliminating Terry Funk, to win the Legends Battle Royal.^[13][14] He appeared in a backstage segment at WrestleMania XXVII where he hit Zack Ryder in the back of the head with a coconut, reminiscing of what he did to Jimmy Snuka. Piper made an appearance on the June 13, 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw, hosting Piper's Pit once again. His guests were The Miz and Alex Riley, which led to a match with The Miz with Riley as the special guest referee. He went on to win the match, and won $5,000 out of The Miz's money per the pre-match stipulation. Roddy Piper noted that he was paid $5,000 for his appearance on the June 13th RAW for Piper's Pit with The Miz and Alex Riley. Piper currently co-host the WWE Vintage show with Gene Okerlund. He recently made a television appearance in WWE and hosted a Piper's Pit segment featuring John Cena on the November 28, 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw.^[15] He also appeared on November 29, 2011 special holiday edition of SmackDown. Piper returned on the April 10, 2012 special edition of Smackdown: Blast from the Past, in which he hosted Piper's Pit featuring Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee.

Other media[link]

Piper featured in the wrestling documentary Bloodstained Memoirs.^[16][17] Piper was a guest on a 1985 Saturday Night Live episode, tormenting hosts Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, and has appeared as a special guest on MADtv along with Bret Hart. In 1991, the pilot episode for "Tag Team", a television program about two ex-professional wrestlers turned police officers, starred Piper and Jesse "The Body" Ventura.^[18] Piper appeared as a wrestler loosely based on himself in an episode called "Crusader" from Walker, Texas Ranger where his name was Cody "The Crusader" Conway. Piper appeared as a prison antagonist in an episode of The Outer Limits TV series. Piper was the host of ITV's Celebrity Wrestling in the UK. Piper appeared as a character named Commander Cash on RoboCop: The Series. Piper appeared as a choice in the "Wheel of Destiny" segment of The Man Show. Piper also starred in the 1988 John Carpenter cult classic, They Live. Piper played a drifter turned saviour of the human race after discovering a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the world's elite for what they truly are, money hungry aliens with a new-world-order-like agenda. That same year, he starred in the cult classic Hell Comes to Frogtown. He also starred in an episode in the second season of the Highlander TV series, and appeared in the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode "The Gang Wrestles For the Troops" as "The Maniac", a parody of Mickey Rourke's role in the film The Wrestler.

In 2007, Piper became the second pro-wrestler, the other being Sgt. Slaughter, to have their likeness crafted in a G.I. Joe figure. According to his filecard, he is a trainer for Destro's Iron Grenadiers.

In April 2005, Piper co-presented Celebrity Wrestling in the United Kingdom on ITV1. This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the program was to be canceled, due to a huge drop in TV ratings but instead was moved to Sunday mornings to finish its final episodes.

In the 1980s, Piper also appeared in singer Cyndi Lauper's music video for the song "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough."^[19] He also appeared as a guest VJ on MTV in 1988.

Wizard's list of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time ranked Roddy Piper as #35.^[20]

On October 29, 2009, Piper appeared as pro-wrestler named "Da' Maniac" on season 5 episode 7 ("The Gang Wrestles for the Troops") of the sitcom It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, parodying Mickey Rourke's role in The Wrestler.

In UGK'S "International Players Anthem" DJ Paul pokes fun at Andre 3000 asking him why is he dressed as Roddy Piper.

On March 14, 2010, Piper appeared in an episode in CBS's 'Cold Case' playing a wrestler named Sweet Sil. The episode was titled 'One Fall'. The team reopens the case of a dock worker who was moonlighting as an indy-circuit wrestler until he was shot dead in 1986.

In September 2010, Piper appeared in a FunnyorDie.com video, fighting against childhood obesity in a PSA parody. The clip included him using wrestling moves on children eating junk food and the parents who feed junk food to their kids.

In 2010 Piper was expected to appear in a reality series from Red Line Films the producers of Dhani Tackles the Glode and the Ocho de Cinco Reality Series [2]^{[citation needed]}

In December 2011, Piper appeared in several segments of the Air Farce's "Not the New Year's Eve Special", which aired on January 1, 2012, on the CBC Television Network in Canada.

It has been confirmed that Piper will appear on WWE Network's WWE Legends' House which is currently in production.^[21]

Personal life[link]

Piper and his wife Kitty live in Hillsboro, Oregon, and have four children: daughters Anastacia Shea, Ariel Teal, and Falon Danika and son Colton Baird. Anastacia has a child, making Piper a grandfather. His son Colt Toombs is also an aspiring professional mixed martial arts fighter. His daughter Ariel Teal Toombs is following her dad's lead in Hollywood as an actress. Piper was notable for wearing his wedding band during his matches, a rarity among professional wrestlers. Piper is also a cousin of the Hart wrestling family.^[22][23]

On April 4, 2006 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Piper was issued an award by the Mayor, Sam Katz. On July 27, 2006, he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch of a St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

On November 27, 2006, it was announced on WWE.com that Piper has Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he finished radiation therapy on January 15, 2007.^[24] This was also confirmed on Piper's official web site where he posted messages of thanks to all his fans and stated that had the fans not chosen him as Ric Flair's partner at Cyber Sunday he would not have been taken to the hospital and diagnosed as having his disease in time.

In November 2008 a video spread around the internet showing Piper smoking pot and taking a hit from a bong in front of a crowd cheering him on, although he later acknowledged his use of medicinal marijuana "to alleviate the symptoms associated with cancer."^[25] This was reiterated on a blog from Jim Ross.^[26]

On July 2, 2009, TMZ.com reported that Piper was arrested on suspicion of DUI in the early morning hours in Hollywood, California. Piper was stopped by police at around 1:00 a.m. and given field sobriety tests. He was then arrested. His bond was set at $5,000.

Legacy[link]

Piper is considered one of the greatest heels in wrestling history. Piper's Pit interview segments were considered innovative, especially in an atmosphere where only the people like the World champion got to talk, and the wrestlers were the interviewees - never the interviewers. Many of the people on Piper's Pit never got to be World champion, but were main eventers. According to Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, he could just leave Piper in a room and return twenty minutes later with Piper having done a class-A promo.^[27]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Sleeper hold^[1][2]

• Signature moves
  • Belly to back suplex^[28]
  • Bulldog^[29][30]
  • Figure four leglock^[31]
  • Inverted atomic drop^[28]
  • Low blow^[28][32]
  • Multiple jabs^[2]
  • Poking or raking the opponent eyes^[31]
  • Running high knee strike^[28]

• Managers
  • Bob Orton Jr.

• Wrestlers managed
  • Sean O'Haire
  • Virgil
  • Paul Orndorff
  • Dr. D. David Schultz^[28]
  • Big John Studd^{[citation needed]}

• Nicknames
  • "Rowdy"
  • "The Rowdy One"^[3]
  • "Hot Rod"^[3]
  • "Hot Scot"^[3]

• Entrance themes
  • "Green Hills of Tyrol" from the Chappell Production Library (WWE/WCW/TNA)
  • "Hot Rod" by Jim Johnston (WWE)
  • "Bonnie Lass of Fyvie and Scotland the Brave" (WWE/TNA)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Reel Member Inductee (2001)

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / World Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[33]
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big John Studd^[34]
  • NWA Television Championship (2 times)^[35]
  • NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[36]

• NWA All-Star Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Rick Martel^[37]

• NWA Hollywood Wrestling
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (5 times)^[38]
  • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Crusher Verdu (2), Adrian Adonis (1), Chavo Guerrero (1), Kengo Kimura (1), Ron Bass (1), and The Hangman (1)^[39]
  • NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^1[40]

• NWA San Francisco
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)^[41]
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Ed Wiskoski^[42]

• Pacific Northwest Wrestling
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[43]
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Killer Tim Brooks (1), Rick Martel (3), and Mike Popovich (1)^[44]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1982)^[45]
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1984, 1985)
  • PWI Match of the Year (1985) with Paul Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T at WrestleMania
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1986)
  • PWI ranked him # 17 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2007^[46]

• World Class Championship Wrestling
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bulldog Brower^[47]

• World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[48]
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ric Flair^[49]
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)^[50]
  • Slammy Award for Best Personality in Land of a Thousand Dances (1986)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Interviews (1981) tied with Lou Albano
  • Best Interviews (1982, 1983)
  • Best Heel (1984, 1985)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year (1986) vs. Mr. T in a boxing match at WrestleMania
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year (1997) vs. Hulk Hogan at SuperBrawl

¹The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship is no longer recognized or sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance.

Lucha de Apuesta record[link]

Filmography[link]

Voice acting[link]

In 2006, Roddy Piper ventured into the realm of voice acting, appearing on Cartoon Network's animated series Robot Chicken (as himself), as well as providing the voice of The Pyro Messiah in the Night Traveler multimedia adventure series produced by Lunar Moth Entertainment. He will also be doing voice for Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roddy Piper

• Official website
• [3] Rick Bassman Talent agent
• Roddy Piper at the Internet Movie Database
• WWE Hall of Fame Profile of Roddy Piper
• Roddy Piper in Slam! Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Roddy Piper Slam! Wrestling Career Archive

Arda Ocal (Turkish: Arda Öcal) (born May 7, 1981, in North York, Ontario) is a Turkish Canadian TV personality, announcer and writer, currently with The Score Television Network. He was formerly a co-host of the daily lifestyle program Daytime on the Canadian channel Rogers Television in Mississauga, Ontario, before beginning to host and provide color commentary for their flagship Brampton Battalion OHL hockey broadcasts. Previously, he also served as editor-in-chief for Think Impact (a division of Impact, one of Canada's largest entrepreneurial organizations).

He is currently an on air personality on The Score Television Network. Ocal hosts "Aftermath TV" which appears twice weekly on The Score Television Network following the broadcasts of Monday Night Raw on Tuesday afternoon and Friday Night Smackdown, as well as "Aftermath Radio" after WWE Monday Night Raw, which he hosts with former WWE referee Jim Korderas. In 2011 Aftermath Radio won a Wrestling Radio Award for Show of the Year.^[1] He is also a broadcaster with the Score Fighting Series, a Score created Canadian MMA weekly televised program. Ocal also provides MMA fight picks on the Score's flagship application, ScoreMobile. In the course of his duties he has interviewed a variety of notable international superstars and aired segments of these interviews on his show. These include: Bret Hart,^[2] former WWE champion Sheamus,^[3] Honky Tonk Man,^[4] The Iron Sheik,^[5] Drew McIntyre,^[6] Chris Jericho,^[7] Gail Kim^[8] and Sgt. Slaughter.,^[9] UFC president Dana White, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, among many others.

Ocal is also a noted broadcaster in other sports. On top of OHL hockey, Ocal has provided play by play commentary for IBL Baseball, CSL soccer, high school football, numerous junior hockey games and tournaments, as well as boxing, where in 2011 he most famously called a bout with hall of fame boxing broadcaster Al Bernstein, on which one bout between Samuel Vargas and Ahmad Cheiko became a candidate for Canadian Boxing fight of the year.

Ocal holds a degree in Mathematics and Business Administration from the University of Waterloo. While there, he spent three years hosting a variety show on CKMS in Waterloo, Ontario, and released Warrior Nation, a compilation disc of the University of Waterloo's best musical talents, which sold over 4000 copies.

In his spare time he formerly served as a member of the board of directors at a well known charity in Brampton as well as the Brampton Symphony Orchestra, and co-owns Maximum Pro Wrestling, where he is also a ring announcer and play by play commentator.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Arda's twitter
• Arda Ocal profile at MaxPro
• TheScore's Aftermath

• Videos

Jimmy Snuka
Snuka at the Top Rope Promotions event held in North Attleboro, Massachusetts on July 31, 2011.
Ring name(s)	Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka[1] Jimmy Kealoha[1] Lani Kealoha[1] Tami Snuka[1] The Superfly[1] Big Snuka[1] Silver Shadow[1]
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Billed weight	250lb (114 kg)[1]
Born	(1943-05-18) May 18, 1943 (age 69)[1] Fiji
Resides	Clifton, New Jersey, United States
Billed from	The Fiji Islands[2]
Trained by	Danny Hodge[2]
Debut	1969[1]

James William "Jimmy" Reiher (born May 18, 1943) is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka was the first ECW Heavyweight Champion and held the title on two occasions. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the early to mid-1980s and is credited with introducing the high-flyer style of wrestling to the WWF.^[2] His children Jimmy Reiher, Jr. and Sarona Reiher are also wrestlers.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career[link]

Reiher was active in amateur bodybuilding in Hawaii in the 1960s. He also enjoyed some success as a professional bodybuilder, earning the titles of Mr. Hawaii, Mr. Waikiki and Mr. North Shore.^[3] Reiher opted to go into the more lucrative career of professional wrestling due to his uncertainty of making a living in bodybuilding.^[4] While working at Dean Ho's gym in Hawaii, Snuka met many of the wrestlers who worked in the South Pacific region and decided to try the sport.^[3] Snuka made his debut as Jimmy Kealoha fighting Maxwell "Bunny" Butler in Hawaii in 1970.^[5] He later moved to the mainland and wrestled for Don Owen’s NWA Pacific Northwest territory where he held the belt as Heavyweight Champion six times.^[5] He first won the title by pinning Bull Ramos on November 16, 1973.^[5] It was in this territory, that Reiher transformed himself into Jimmy Snuka. Snuka also held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship six times with partner Dutch Savage. Snuka also had a two year feud with another rookie, Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

Snuka in 1981, entering the ring at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

Snuka also wrestled in several other National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) regions, including Texas. In 1977, he won both the Texas Heavyweight and Tag Team titles. Snuka then left for the Mid-Atlantic where he formed a tag team with Paul Orndorff. Orndorff and Snuka defeated Baron von Raschke and Greg Valentine to become the tag team title holders in 1979. On September 1, 1979, Snuka defeated Ricky Steamboat to hold the United States title. Snuka also formed a tag team with Ray Stevens while with this promotion. His career eventually led him to Georgia, where he teamed with Terry Gordy to win the NWA National Tag Team Champions by defeating Ted DiBiase and Steve Olsonoski.

World Wrestling Federation (1982–1985)[link]

In January 1982 Snuka entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a villainous character under the guidance of Captain Lou Albano. Snuka lost several title shots at WWF Champion Bob Backlund, including a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden on June 28, 1982 in which Snuka leapt from the top of the cage, barely missing Backlund who managed to escape the cage for the win. The contest would be declared Match of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

Even though Snuka was a villain, the Northeast fans started to cheer on Snuka and his athletic style. An angle was created late in the year which revealed- on an episode of Buddy Rogers' Victory Corner- that Snuka was being financially ripped off by Lou Albano, thus releasing Snuka from Albano's managerial services. Albano then attacked Snuka with the help of "Classy" Freddie Blassie's newest arrival, Snuka's former tag team partner Ray Stevens. The attack solidified Snuka's new role as a fan favorite seeking to settle the score. Snuka brought in his former manager from the Mid-Atlantic territory, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers and embarked on a mixture of tag and singles matches against Stevens and Albano across the region.

Snuka also feuded with "Magnificent" Don Muraco in 1983, which began after Snuka entered the ring for a preliminary match while Muraco, the Intercontinental Champion, was being interviewed. Muraco, enraged at the perceived lack of respect, confronted Snuka at ringside, triggering a wild brawl. This feud led to a defining moment of Snuka's career on October 17, 1983, in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden. The match ended in a loss for the Superfly, but afterward he dragged Muraco back into the ring and connected with the most famous Superfly Splash of his career, off the top of the 15-foot (4.6 m) high steel cage.^[6] Future wrestling stars The Sandman, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Bubba Ray Dudley were all in attendance at the event and cite this match as the reason they decided to aggressively pursue professional wrestling.^[6]

In June 1984, Snuka became embroiled in an intense feud with one of the WWF's top villains, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. In a segment of Piper's Pit, Piper brought bananas, pineapples, and coconuts to the interview to make Snuka "feel more at home" but said he did not get a tree for Snuka to "climb up and down like a monkey." Piper then proceeded to smash a coconut on his head when he turned his back momentarily. The attack led to a series of grudge matches between the two that were played out over venues across the US throughout the summer of 1984. The remainder of Snuka's initial WWF stint would see him frequently tangling with Piper one way or another, often via tag matches or wrestling Piper's closest ally, Bob Orton, Jr. Snuka defeated Orton at The War to Settle the Score and put Orton's left arm in a cast for over a year. The feud played a small part in the first ever WrestleMania in March 1985, when Snuka acted as a cornerman for Hulk Hogan and Mr. T when they faced Piper and Paul Orndorff (with Orton in their corner). The Superfly vanished from the WWF in August 1985, though he still appeared in cartoon form when Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling premiered the following month.

American Wrestling Association (1986–1989)[link]

After a stint in alcohol/drug rehab, Snuka resurfaced in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) replacing the injured Jerry Blackwell as Greg Gagne's partner in a tag team match against Bruiser Brody and Nord the Barbarian at WrestleRock 86. Snuka split his time between the AWA and Japan throughout 1986 and 1987. His most notable feud in the AWA during that time was with Col. DeBeers, who refused to fight Snuka because of his race. However, he was able to sneak-attack Snuka by pushing him off the top rope onto the floor and administering several face-first piledrivers. This led the way for a series of grudge matches in 1987.

World Wrestling Federation (1989–1992)[link]

Like many aging veterans before him, Snuka re-emerged in the WWF at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989 to help put over younger stars, like Curt Hennig and Rick Rude, losing to the latter at WrestleMania VI.^[7] In 1991, he was the first WrestleMania opponent for The Undertaker at WrestleMania VII.^[8]

Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992–1994)[link]

After leaving the WWF in March 1992, Snuka toured with various smaller organizations in the early 1990s and played a role in the formation of Tod Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) organization along with Don Muraco and Terry Funk. Snuka was ECW's first ECW Heavyweight Champion and toured with the company through 1994. ECW was later taken over by Paul Heyman, who renamed it Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Semi-retirement (1996–present)[link]

Snuka (center) with Ricky Steamboat (right) and Roddy Piper before their match against Chris Jericho in WrestleMania XXV

He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996. He also continued to spend much of his time with East Coast Wrestling organizations through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. During this time, he wrestled the Metal Maniac in a series of matches that spanned across many independent wrestling promotions. Snuka won nearly every one of these matches.

During the later half of the 1990s, Snuka appeared for both major wrestling promotions, the WWF and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He would make periodic appearances for the WWF, such as competing at the 1996 Survivor Series. Snuka received a lifetime achievement award from WWE (formerly the WWF) in 2002 at Madison Square Garden and began to be thrust into skits by WWE in 2004/2005. Snuka also appeared on WCW Monday Nitro in early 2000, where he gave Jeff Jarrett a Superfly Splash off the top of a steel cage. Snuka also participated at the first XWF TV tapings, accompanying his son, Jimmy Snuka, Jr. to the ring for some matches, including one match where they both delivered the Superfly Splash to prone opponents.

Snuka in a match against Bob Orton, Jr.

On June 22, 2002 Snuka won the International Wrestling Superstars (IWS) United States Championship by pin fall against King Kong Bundy in Atlantic City, New Jersey, proving to the world that he could still fly.

In 2005, he appeared at the WWE Homecoming, where he delivered a Superfly Splash to Rob Conway with a ring full of legends at his side like Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham. He also took part in a backstage skit, chasing after a partially disrobed Mae Young with a wad of Ted DiBiase's money. He was a part of the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view, where fans voted for him (ahead of Kamala and Jim Duggan) to team with Eugene against Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko. Snuka won the match, pinning Conway after a Superfly Splash. He also appeared at the 2007 WWE draft edition of Raw in a vignette for Mr. McMahon appreciation night. On June 24, 2007, Snuka was introduced as Sgt. Slaughter's tag team partner in the open invitational match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance, but he was ultimately pinned by his son. In 2008, Snuka appeared in the Royal Rumble. He was in the match less than 5 minutes and primarily focused his efforts on onetime nemesis, Roddy Piper. Both were quickly eliminated by the next entrant, Kane.

On the March 2, 2009, edition of Raw, he was attacked by Chris Jericho during a parody of Piper's Pit. This was part of a storyline where Jericho was disrespecting and attacking legends. Two weeks later on the March 16, 2009, Raw, Snuka, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat attacked Jericho. It was announced that at WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009, Snuka would be teaming with Steamboat and Piper to face Jericho in a Legends of Wrestlemania Handicap match. Flair was also in their corner. Snuka was the first eliminated by Jericho, who eventually won the match.

On November 28, 2009 he teamed with his son at an NWA Upstate event. They faced the NWA Upstate Tag Team Champions Hellcat and Triple X in a non title match. The Snukas won the match via pinfall.

On November 15, 2010, Snuka made an appearance on an "old school" edition of Raw, where he stood by his daughter Tamina, in the corner of The Usos during their match against Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.

Personal life[link]

Snuka and his wife have created a reality show called The Superfly Challenge. It was recently shot in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. Filming took place at the New Berlin Diner and Nikolai Volkoff's farm. He also is the part-owner of Bodyslam University in South Florida and teaches there once a month. Snuka is also an avid poker player. He was at the Poker4Life tournament in New York City and raised $100,000 for the charity.

Nancy Argentino Death Mystery[link]

On May 10, 1983, a few hours after Snuka had performed at a WWF TV taping at the Lehigh County Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Snuka placed a call for an ambulance. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene at Room 427 of the George Washington Motor Lodge in nearby Whitehall Township, they found Snuka’s girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, injured. She was transported to Allentown's Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she died shortly after of "undetermined craniocerebral injuries." Deputy Lehigh County coroner Wayne Snyder said, “Upon viewing the body and speaking to the pathologist, I immediately suspected foul play and so notified the district attorney." Snuka was the only suspect involved in the subsequent investigation. Charges were not pressed against Snuka, although the case was left officially open, meaning no official judgment on whether the incident was accidental or homicide was ever made. In 1985, Argentino’s parents won a $500,000 default judgment against Snuka in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, although Snuka appears not to have ever paid, claiming financial inability to do so.^[9]

In wrestling[link]

Snuka in a match against "Cowboy" Bob Orton

Characteristic pose of Snuka

• Finishing moves

• Superfly Splash^[1][2] (Diving splash)

• Signature moves

• Diving crossbody^[1]
• Diving headbutt^[1]
• Jumping headbutt^[1]
• Knee drop^[1]
• Various knife–edged chops^[1]

• Nicknames
  • "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka^[1][2]
  • "The Phenom"^[1]

• Entrance themes
  • "The Superfly Theme" by Jimmy Hart and JJ Maguire (WWF)
  • "Supa Fly" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• World's Strongest Tag Team League (1981) – with Bruiser Brody

• Cauliflower Alley Club

• Other honoree (1996)

• Continental Wrestling Association

• CWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with JT Southern

• East Coast Pro Wrestling
  • ECPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[10]

• Eastern Championship Wrestling

• NWA ECW Heavyweight Championship (2 times, Inaugural)¹
• NWA ECW Television Championship (1 time)

• Georgia Championship Wrestling

• NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Terry Gordy

• International Wrestling Superstars

• IWS United States Championship (1 time)

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (2 times) – with Paul Orndorff (1) and Ray Stevens (1)

• National Championship Wrestling
  • NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Gunn^[10]

• National Wrestling Federation

• NWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time, last)^[10]

• National Wrestling League

• NWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Northeast Wrestling
  • NEW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[10]

• NWA All-Star Wrestling

• NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) – with Don Leo Jonathan

• NWA Big Time Wrestling

• NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gino Hernandez

• New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2010

• Pacific Northwest Wrestling

• NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
• NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Dutch Savage

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Match of the Year (1982) vs. Bob Backlund in a cage match on June 28
• PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1983)
• PWI Tag Team of the Year (1980) with Ray Stevens
• PWI ranked him #29 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

• Class of 2012

• Universal Superstars of America

• USA Heavyweight Championship (2 times, first)^[10]

• USA Pro Wrestling

• USA Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wide Wrestling Alliance

• WWWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[10]
• WWWA Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[10]

• World Wrestling Federation

• WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

• Tag Team of the Year (1981) with Terry Gordy
• Best Flying Wrestler (1981)
• Best Wrestling Maneuver (1981, 1983) Superfly Splash

• Other titles

• Tri-State Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• SXA United States of America Championship (1 time)

Notes[link]

¹Jimmy Snuka's reigns occurred while the promotion was an NWA affiliate named Eastern Championship Wrestling, and was prior to the promotion becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling and the title being declared a world title by ECW.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Foley, Mick (1999) Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-060-9299-1.

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jimmy Snuka

• Official Website
• Jimmy Snuka at WWE Hall of Fame
• Jimmy Snuka at Online World of Wrestling
• HitTheRopes.com Interview