In the Pit With Piper: Roddy Get Rowdy Paperback – January 1, 2002

I've been a fan of Roddy Piper's since I was a kid, so when I got his autobiography book, I couldn't put it down. I read the whole thing, all 240 pages in about 4 1/2 hours! No, I didn't skim or speed-read through it, but read every word. After reading some of the reviews/comments here, I admit there are some events and details of his life that were completely left out or barely touched upon. I do recall reading online that Roddy admitted his memory of his early years is fuzzy and that he had to base some of his recollections on the memory of his wresting friends. So I agree, the history is choppy. If I wasn't already familiar with Roddy's history to automatically fill in the blanks, I may have been confused and lost too.Roddy's book is all about his career as a wrestler and only mentions his acting career briefly when talking about the movie "They Live," other then that, he kept his acting career out of the book. Another topic he barely brushed upon was his private family life, which he keeps to a bare minimum. So I was alittle disappointing not to get the scoop on his personal life outside of wrestling, but he must have his reasons and probably wants to protect his family's privacy. Instead Roddy skips his earliest childhood and jumps to the chase as a teenage runaway living on the streets and youth hostels. Although Roddy doesn't explain in his book why he fled his home at the young age of 13, I've seen/read interviews with Roddy where he reluctantly hints of an abusive and empty relationship with his strict alcoholic father. It must've been pretty traumatizing, because when discussing it Roddy always becomes downcast and you can just see his mind spinning with bad memories that he rather keep to himself. Anyways, by a twist of fate, 15 year old Roddy is drawn into the wrestling world to earn a meager living. You'll read how Roddy's been through hell and back during his early career as a pro wrestler and how cut-throat the business really is.Before I read his book, I thought I had an idea who Roddy Piper was and had somewhat of a grasp of the hard lifestyle of a pro wrestler...boy was I wrong! In his book, Roddy doesn't hold back on what a difficult and harsh path it was. He paid his dues big time! The cruel ribbings he took from the veteran wrestlers and promoters would've driven a lesser person away, but not Roddy Piper! It only pushed him harder. So he came up with new and creative ways to stand out, even if it meant being the laughing stalk of his peers with his kilt and bagpipes. Eventually he earned the respect and acceptance he so desperately wanted and had a group of father-figures and brothers to call family...something he always wanted and never had before. He also learned from the veterans the strict Code of Wrestling, and as brutal as it was at times, he always stuck by it.We then read how Roddy evolved and moved to the forefront with his obnoxious over-the-top persona and unprecedented talent with the microphone during promos. Thus Piper's Pit was born. This boosted his notoriety and he became the greatest Heel that wrestling will ever see. He was the man everyone loved to hate. This fame as a villain didn't come without a price. Since Roddy was "Rowdy" Roddy Piper 24/7, he was attacked, stabbed, and harassed by crazed fans; not only at the sports arena, but out in public, and even at his home! Which explains his move to a remote ranch in Oregon.We also learn in Roddy's book about the rival between him and Hulk Hogan both on and off camera. Here's one example: after the huge success of WrestleMania 1 at Madison Square Garden (thanks to the outlandish promos and hype which Roddy was just as much a part of...maybe more so), Hulk Hogan and Mr. T left the Garden with a police escort in a limo and preceded to party all night at clubs on Vince McMahon's tab. Meanwhile back at the Garden, Roddy and Cowboy Orton were completely abandoned by the promoters and left to fend for themselves through a mob of irate fans and took a cab back to their hotel. So you can't blame Roddy for being jealous of the favoritism and special treatment that Hogan got, when Roddy was just as big a name in wrestling as he was. There's also the rival with promoters, most of all, Vince McMahon. Roddy was a non-conformist and he resisted doing anything that was against his conduct, morals, or beliefs in the world of wrestling, even if it meant getting fired.So between his alter ego, the pressure and bias treatment from promoters, dealing with crazy hater fans, the stresses of tight schedules, physical abuse of his body night after night, prescription drug abuse, and being away from his family, it's no wonder Roddy became moody and ornery. He had become someone you didn't wanted to pester at a bar for an autograph and ask "is wrestling real or fake?" Because one thing was for sure, you'd find out the hard way that Scottish temper of his is real! I think it's safe to say that nowadays Roddy has mellowed out and now most fans find him very amicable and down-to-earth, but that doesn't mean the question if wrestling is real or phony doesn't still annoy the hell out of him.Roddy goes on to tell us the Wild Side of wrestling, which is similar to that of a rock star (booze, drugs, girls, and crazy shenanigans). Then he talks seriously about the Dark Side of wrestling and what it does to the mind of a pro wrestler. He calls it the "Sickness." You'll read his heartfelt description in chapter 12. In a nutshell, from my understanding, the Sickness triggers something in the psyche of wrestlers to do what they do (the abuse) to themselves and to each other, and then fans getting off on it, and then in turn the wrestlers getting off on the fans' reaction, so they do worse things to themselves and each other. A masochistic cycle. This twisted cycle is further fed by the manipulations and head games by the promoters. Promoters have wrestlers believing they're invincible -the best thing to hit wrestling- and then the next day their replaceable. Wrestlers prides are always challenged to see if they'll break and be the promoters' bitch. A wrestler would break his body for the business, only to be tossed out like an old shoe and forgotten. This caused many to turn to substance abuse and for some...suicide. Many of Roddy's friends are dead or their lives ruined by the Sickness and if it wasn't for Roddy's wife, it could've destroyed him as well. As Roddy states the Sickness is real and it's still out there claiming wrestlers and something needs to be done about it. So if you ever wondered if Roddy's shoot on Vince Russo at TNA was real, it was!One of the reasons Roddy wrote this book was to tell his side of the story on why someone like him, who got fame and fortune from wrestling, could be so bitter. As he put it, he wasn't seeing the green of the trees in the forest because he was running with his head down. Years of dealing with all the bulls***and clawing his way to the top every inch of the way and then fighting to stay on top, made him an arrogant and angry person. He would say the "Sickness" got to him bad and again, he credits his wife for bring him back to his sense. Although the anger and frustration is still there, it no longer fuels his alter ego, but instead drives him to raise awareness and improve the industry, and hopefully save the lives of today's pro wrestlers. He's also turned-off by how trashy and even degrading wrestling has become, and would like to clean it up and bring back fun family entertainment. So that is why Roddy is vocal and comes off as being bitter, because he loves wrestling.

A series of fun tales from the road by one of the best psychologists the wrestling world has ever seen. A little too much input from his ghost writer I believe but still a really fun read.

I was never into wrestling but I was in high school when it was hitting big and being from Detroit, I remember wrestlemania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome very well, which Roddy describes as his greatest moment. I bought the book because I am a bagpiper and yes, wear a kilt and I love everything about Scotland, its heritage and anyone who loves it and I remember Rowdy Roddy Piper from his heyday. I would have definitely liked to know how he learned to be a top bagpiper while having such a troubled upbringing and leaving home at such an early age. The Bagpipes take years to learn and to be able to supposedly walk into a championship bagpipe band that won a world championship, seems incredible. I would have liked to know how he did it. I saw some old videos where he is indeed playing well so I don’t know.Throughout the book he glosses over the “entertainment” aspect of big time wrestling. Sometimes talking about plans on who was going to win a match but other times genuinely speaking as if he won the belt like a gold medal in the Olympics. I did find myself looking up images of a lot of the wrestlers, whose names I recognized!At the end, he mentions being a founder of the XWF, to go back to wrestling roots. I looked it up and it said he bailed on the XWF and went back to the WWF. That was disappointing. The XWF only lasted a year. Otherwise, the book was enjoyable and even ordered my Hot Rod tee shirt! RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper!

This is an autobiography and it is really good. When I started I had a hard time putting it down. It's an amazing view of a man in love with his craft and the sacrifices he was willing to make for it. I honestly did not know just how rough pro wrestling could be. In my youth as today I don't see wrestling as fake. Those r atletes out there, maybe the show going on around the ring was an act even the out come but not the actual wrestling. If it was that simple anybody could do it!I had watched A&E's biography on 8 wrestlers and remembered Rowdy Roddy Piper among the others mentioned. Watching him with Bobby the Brain Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon on Prime Time Wrestling was a Monday night staple for my parents and I. I was saddened when I heard of his passing in 2015.I didn't know he had done this book and bought it not long after watching his biography on the tv.I have the 2nd book finished by his children and will be diving into it shortly.I'm hoping Piper's family will see their way to sharing the notes he made thru out his career and both the one's he used, for example the still popular "I'm all out of bubble gum" as well as those he didn't use. They could perhaps make notes when and where he used those that became popular or only used once. That would be a fascinating glimpse into the mind of this man and his craft.

Awesome!

Felt a lot more could have being added.not a lot after mania 3.and time at wcw.as a fan of piperpit podcast roddy told a lot of storys that were not in book which wiuld have made this book a lot better abd funnier

Thank you for book sent in timescale. Enjoyed reading it.

Excellent account of a wrestling legend, I encourage people to read this book if only to read about the bear story

Rip hotrod