LaBar: Piper's influence can't be understated

“I was rowdy before rowdy was cool.”

It made for a good sound bite in a promo 30 years ago, and today it might sum up “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who passed away at age 61 after suffering cardiac arrest in his sleep.

Piper was ahead of the times. He not only marched to the beat of his own drum, he played to the tune of his own bagpipes.

If John Wayne didn't have a bad guy to fight, he wouldn't have been John Wayne. If Roddy Piper wasn't the bad guy he was, Hulk Hogan would have never been Hulk Hogan. Period.

Hogan gets — perhaps I should say ‘got' — love from fervent and casual fans. True fans and students of the sport knew Piper's importance to professional wrestling.

In the 1980s, villains were predictable. Some weren't believable and were something straight out of Hollywood with their size or look. Others played the anti-American role, which played perfectly with Hogan walking to the ring with the song “Real American” blaring.

Piper? He was real and unpredictable. He set the tone for what the audience wanted to see from their heels. Piper was just crazy enough to be an attraction but believable enough that you knew he wasn't to be trifled with.

Piper didn't need anyone to speak for him, nor did he need to intimidate with a silent demeanor. He could recite a nursery rhyme and give you chills while doing it. He had that kind of talent with his words, inflection and facial expressions.

Before there was Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock or CM Punk, there was “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

Piper made wearing a kilt fashionable. He had so many famous quotes — too numerous to list here — you could fill pages writing them down.

He made “Rowdy” more than an attribute of himself; it became a brand. UFC fighter Ronda Rousey is the No. 1 draw in pay-per-view and uses the name “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, to which Piper gave his blessing.

I was able to meet or see nearly every great performer during the 1980s and 1990s in action. The only one I didn't was Piper. I never met him while my grandfather was working in the wrestling business, and I never got to see him wrestle live. That always bothered me.

It made one of the first independent wrestling shows I worked on, in 2011, that much more significant. Piper was featured on the card. The show was called “The Gathering.” It was a yearly production of the rap group Insane Clown Posse, whose members are die-hard wrestling fans.

The show didn't start until midnight and was in the middle of the woods in Illinois, with thousands of rabid fans in attendance. Piper wrestled in the main event, which ended up putting him in the ring at about 3 a.m.

I never got to have a formal introduction with Piper but shared a few laughs with him. As he awaited his music cue, Piper started joking about it being way past his bedtime, what state the colorful crowd was probably in that early in the morning and what they probably wanted to see. It was a brief moment shared, but one I'll never forget.

Over the next few years, I crossed paths with Piper and had some formal introductions. Piper had a brilliant mind for the business of wrestling and excelled in communicating with an audience.

I've never met a performer in the wrestling business who could ad-lib like Piper. Not that he couldn't remember a script, but giving Piper lines was like telling Barry Bonds to bunt. You were taking the unbelievable talent he possessed out of his hands. Piper was so sharp, entertaining and better than anyone with ad-libbing.

The wrestling world has lost another great performer. Rest in peace.

Justin LaBar is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7949 or jlabar@tribweb.com.