RIP to Rowdy Roddy Piper

**check two** · 07-31-2015, 05:53 PM

Wrestling superstar "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has died at age 61. Multiple reports indicate that Piper died in his sleep at about noon Pacific Time from a heart attack.

Piper, whose real name was Roddy Toombs, is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, and was one of the core members of the '80s-era WWE (then known as the WWF). He competed in the very first Wrestlemania, working a faux-Scottish angle, and quickly became one of the sport's most hated villains.

Piper's rivalries with Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka, and even Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper set the tone for the WWF, helping the wrestling organization achieve the nationwide prominence that it enjoys to this day.

Piper's key gimmick was "Piper's Pit," a mock talk show in which Piper would sit down with fellow wrestlers to talk out the issues of the day. Naturally, the talk lasted less than a minute before the fists flew.

Just last week, Piper was on the Rich Eisen Show, talking of his life and times as well as his old rival Hulk Hogan.