Roddy Piper is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but did you know when his first and last WWE match was?
Roddy Piper WWE Debut
Roddy Piper’s WWE debut took place at Madison Square Garden on January 22nd, 1979 The former WWE Intercontinental Champion wrestled his first match for the company in a singles bout against Frank Williams, a late wrestler who passed way at age just 51.
Back then, the company was still called the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF), although they would drop the second W later that year. The company was still under control of Vince J. McMahon, the father of current WWE owner Vince K. McMahon.
Little is known about this match. Roddy Piper was 24 at the time of the match and already wrestled all over the United States and Canada. He was making his name as “Roddy Piper” due to his ability to play the bagpipes – although he could not remember where or from who he learnt those skills.
The match lasted under 13 minutes and Roddy Piper was victorious in his WWE debut, although no footage of the encounter currently exists.
Hot Rod’s Final WWE Match
Roddy Piper’s Last WWE match in WWE was against The Miz on the June 13, 2011 episode of Raw. The bout came after The Miz and Alex Riley had been guests on an episode of “Piper’s Pit”, during their break-out feud in 2011. Riley had turned on his partner the month prior, attacking The Miz after he blamed Riley for costing him the WWE Championship at Over The Limit 2011.
The pair appeared on opposite sides of the aisle on Piper’s Pit, hosted by WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. The back and forth between the two rivals turned into a confrontation between The Miz and Roddy Piper. Two of the most supreme mic workers of all time battled back and forth before Alex Riley suggested a match between The Miz and Roddy Piper.
After feigning disappointment and claiming he was going to “get his butt kicked”, he put a $5000 bet down with The Miz for the winner. Then, guest Raw GM Steve Austin appeared on the screen to make the match official and add an extra bit of spice to the bout – Alex Riley was the special guest referee.
The match kicked off with The Miz still in his sleep. Piper looked in surprisingly good shape and had a short but memorable brawl with the former WWE Champion. Piper locked in his classic Sleeper Hold on Miz to almost win the match, but Miz got the upper hand. However, special guest referee Alex Riley distracted his former, giving Piper the chance to roll up his opponent and win his final WWE match.
Roddy Piper’s Last Match Ever
Roddy Piper’s last match ever surpisingly took place in Juggalo Championship Wrestling
The final match of the long and illustrious career took place in 2011. It came in Juggalo Championship Wrestling, the hardcore promotion ran by the 90s hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse. It was a strange place to end Mick Foley’s career, but fitting that it came in the promotion inspired by the legendary ECW promotion.
The match itself was star-studded. Mick Foley teamed up with Terry Funk, taking on the WWE Hall of Fame duo of ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton and ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. The event itself was billed as “JCW Legends & Icons” and featured huge match ups such as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs the Midnight Express, and the dream match of NWO vs DX.
The show was main evented by Orton/Piper vs Foley/Funk, with the former team picking up the win. It was a lacklustre match that barely lasted four minutes, but sent the crowd home happy having seen four legends of the ring competing together one last time. Just four years later Piper would pass away, aged 61.
