One of professional wrestling's hottest renegades and all-time great interviews, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has been a headliner for over 25 years. Piper, whose real name is Roderick Toombs, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but spent most of his early years in Canada. He was a gold glove boxer who began his wrestling career at the age of15. Piper headlined cards in California and the Pacific Northwest throughout the 1970s. While wrestling in Georgia in the early 1980s, he received national attention through exposure on Ted Turner's WTBS Superstation. In a "sport" that receives much criticism for its "authenticity" (or lack thereof), Piper has fashioned himself as one of the twentieth century's more prominent television personas.

Piper's ability to rile a crowd and "draw heat" almost cost him his life in 1982 when a fan stabbed him. His subsequent "turn" into...