This past month, longtime wrestler ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper died of a heart attack at the age of 61. For those of you familiar with him, Roddy played the role of ‘crazy bad guy’ to perfection. He was a trendsetter in introducing the likeable, antagonstic ‘heel’ into wrestling that would later be replicated by guys like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin to rule the WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment).
On a recent road trip, I was having a discussion with my wife (who was a wrestling fan back in the day) about our favorite grapplers. She put Rowdy Roddy at the top of her list. I was not a much of a fan of his back then, but had an affection of other likeable heels of those times. Here is a list of my top 5. This list is relegated to the 1980s, the days of my youth when my brothers and I were big fans of the WWF (which stood for Worldwide Wrestling Federation before the World Wildlife Fund won a battle over that acronym). We had the rubber action figures & the wrestling ring…
We even had the wrestling album (album means a group of songs on a 12-inch round piece of vinyl for you youngsters).
Honorable Mention: King Kong Bundy, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan, Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snooka, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, The Iron Sheik.
Note that Ric Flair deserves to be on my list, but I didn’t watch him much back then since he was in the WCW on TBS. He might be the best interview ever with his swagger. I periodically use his catchphrase with my basketball teams:
TO BE THE MAN…..YOU GOTTA BEAT THE MAN……WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
#6….
HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I had to expand my list to six to include a man who carried around a 2 x 4 as his signature weapon of choice. Can’t beat a guy spending $2.39 for that kind of protection! Jim’s character had a great mix of innocence, patriotism, ‘dumb wisdom’, craziness, and humor.
#5……….
THE BUSHWACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These Australian tag teamers were at the towards the end of my years of wrestling fandom. I loved when they would break into their ‘Bushwacker’ march when the momentum turned their way.
#4………..
ANDRE THE GIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man, he was simply a giant! Look at how big his hand is around this can!
It’s a shame they turned him into a bad guy at the end of his career in order to reap the big money of him fighting Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania III. He also turned in a beautiful, charming performance in the classic movie, The Princess Bride…
#3………….
JESSE ‘THE BODY’ VENTURA!!!!!!!!!!
By the time I started watching wrestling, Jesse wasn’t wrestling much anymore due to injuries. But he was the main color commentator for the WWF. He was a smart guy who did a great job of incorporating wit, sarcasm, and put-downs to keep the audience entertained. I guess that unique blend of gab gifts helped him become the governor of Minnesota! And, of course, he had a classic line in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Predator….
#2…………….
GEORGE ‘THE ANIMAL’ STEELE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The hairy back. The cave man vocabulary. The eating of the turn buckles. As I was experiencing the troubles and tribulations as an angst-ridden teenager, He was the one person in the world that that I could relate to to help me get through those difficult times.
Well maybe not.
But I thought that last sentence made me sound like a profound, deep-thinking professional writer!
My 9th grade friends and I incorporated George’s primary two-word vocabulary, “AYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEE………………… YOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!! Into a great chant at high school basketball games to heckle opposing players when they committed fouls. We did such a good job, we got an all-league player to flip us off!
Here is a question for you: who would win in a beauty contest between George the Animal, The Bushwackers, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan?
#1……………
‘MACHO MAN’ RANDY SAVAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Macho Man was a great interview, mixing in arrogance and humor into his gravelly voice. I could do a great imitation of his favorite phrase:
OHHHHHH, YEAH! Macho madness all round!
And my wife does a really cute version as well! Ask her to do it sometime! And tell her that she is my Miss Elizabeth.
You don’t need to even ask her if I am her “Macho Man”!
OHHHHHHHHHHHH, YEAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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