Watch Trailer for New ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper Documentary
A new documentary chronicling the life of wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is now available for streaming on NineLegendsFilms.com for $7.99. Titled “Roddy Piper: In His Own Words,” a percentage of all sales will go to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, which had a “special place in Roddy’s heart.”
“This project meant a lot to me to put together,” Nine Legends director David Sinnott said in a press release. “I have fond memories of working with Piper on another project and it didn’t sit well with me that so much great footage was locked away in a vault. I recall his daughter was present for the entirety of our film shoot and it was clearly evident that he was a decent family man. It was important for me to connect with Roddy’s wife, Kitty Toombs, for input on this project.”
Piper is widely regarded as one of the greatest villain wrestlers of all time. His feud with Hulk Hogan in particular propelled the WWE to new heights in the 1980s. The two faced off in WrestleMania 1 on March 31st, 1985 at Madison Square Garden. They were joined by Mr. T and Paul Orndorff in the main event, as well as Muhammad Ali, who was a special guest referee.
Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. The WWE announced in 2006 that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Piper revealed in November of 2014 that he was cancer-free. He died less than a year later, however, from a heart attack at the age of 61.
Outside of wrestling, Piper appeared in a number of movies, including John Carpenter’s cult classic, They Live. He also played the character of Da’ Maniac on FXX’s It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.