I had a different Blog ready for publishing, but I felt the need to weigh in on this subject because of how recently all of this happened these past 48 hours.
Two days ago, on Friday July 31st 2015, Roderick George Toombs (known to the world as WWE Legend "Rowdy Roddy Piper") passed away.
I won't go on and on about how big of a fan I am of "Hot Rod", but I will just say he was one of the most influential pro wrestlers of all time. His aptly named "Pipers Pit" was a maelstrom of interviews with whichever current superstar in the company needed to be put over, under the radar jokes and ribs from backstage, and bits that looked like works designed as shoots (that's all in wrestler's lingo too). On this groundbreaking segment every week, Piper would bring on all sorts of different guests and berate them until the end when both the guest looked great and he was more hated. The most famous of all the Pipers Pit, hands down, is the segment with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka where he threw a banana at him, made fun of his heritage, and smashed a coconut on his head. Classic.
In fact, some of the greatest bits and hits of WWE (which was called WWF back then, as I knew it) belonged to Roddy Piper. He had so many great moments in and out of the ring. Feuding in what seemed like real-life heat between himself and Mr. T, kicking Cindy Lauper in the head at Madison Square Garden, or spraying Morton Downey with a fire extinguisher gave him some of the most memorable Wrestlemania moments as well.
He was one of the few faces that WWE produced that became marketable in Hollywood too. Teaming up with legendary filmmaker John Carpenter, they broke the mold in 1987 with one of my favorite films of all-time, the cult-classic masterpiece known as "They Live".
Needless to say, despite a very rough childhood and growing up in the wrestling biz, he accomplished more than anyone given the hand he was dealt could ever have asked for. I won't get into all that, but he lived a very harrowing life. If you're interested, I encourage you to look it up this great man's colored past.
I suppose a few years ago, Roddy resurrected his acclaimed interview segment as a podcast on the award-winning website, and home to many other podcasts, Podcast One. I had been wondering why Roddy had not posted any new podcasts for like the whole month of June because I was obviously a big fan. Then, he suddenly popped back up a few weeks later with less than flattering to say about none other than the rattlesnake, former WWE star Stone Cold Steve Austin getting him fired from his own podcast. Outraged, Piper returned in his show on Episode 63 - July 6th 2015 in an emotionally charged rant raging, "Who the fuck do you think you're playing with?!"
Now, to be fair, I listened to that specific show when it first came out because I was ecstatic Hot Rod was back and confused as to why he was taken down in the first place. When I heard him accuse Stone Cold of such a thing, it peaked my interest because I had been following both podcasts religiously. The episode that had landed him in so much hot water continued and Will Sasso did his best Stone Cold Steve Austin impression. His "Stone Cold" was asked why he didn't show up to Wrestlemania and why he quits so much, as well as other things, but nothing that would illustrate in my mind any malice or slander in any sorta way.
A few days later, Austin released his latest podcast (episode 235) addressing the situation firsthand. He stated, in short, that Roddy was called into the Podcast One office after Austin had made a slight remark about it to the Podcast One owner. When Roddy was called into the office, he already had plans to quit because he had been threatened with being fired for the episode over the phone by the president of Podcast One.
Hot Rod then moved his podcast to Soundcloud. He did two more shows and that was it before he died last Friday.
Hot Rod then moved his podcast to Soundcloud. He did two more shows and that was it before he died last Friday.
I don't want to lean any way on this; I'm just telling you the facts as they were presented before me. Overhearing a few people demonize Stone Cold Steve Austin for "getting Rowdy Roddy Piper fired" though has made me feel it was for me to get both sides of the argument and present them forth. By all means, go download or stream the episodes for yourself. But I feel like it was something that could've easily been avoided if it hadn't of been trumped up so high by Podcast One. I don't think anyone did anything wrong on either side, as this is a business based on ridiculous antics. I love both of these Legends and I just hope they buried the hatchet before all was said and done. But that's my modest opinion about it.
Either way, we lost one of America's most beloved entertainers yesterday and I am so happy to see so many people feel the same way. Godspeed, Rowdy Roddy Piper.
You can find both Pipers Pit and The Steve Austin Show for free on iTunes.
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