Rowdy by Ariel Toombs and Colt Toombs

This book, originally started by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper himself and finished by his kids after his death in July 2015 from a heart attack in his sleep, tells the story of the man we all know and love (and hate, according to some) in the world of professional wrestling. It's cobbled together from what Roddy wrote during a trip through Canada and North America to find out who he really is, stories from people who worked with him both in wrestling and acting and what his kids knew of him

Summary

-Roderick George Toombs was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. His father, Stanley Toombs and mother Eileen Toombs, raised their kids in the strictly Victorian style, which meant that you, more or less, knew your place and worked hard not to stray from it. Roddy was hyperactive and would have an active imagination. His father, Stanley, was a CN Rail Officer. Essentially he was a police officer. He was very strict and had no qualms about physically punishing his kids for the most minor infractions

-As he got older, he and his father started butting heads. Roddy would only take so much of his father's abuse before things got out of hand. To relieve the tension he felt at home, Roddy joined a local bagpipe group, to learn how to play this instrument. It certainly made his mother happy, which is something that was important to Roddy. She was flattered that he was learning an instrument from both her heritage and now his. He joined the group at 13, making him the youngest in the group amongst men

-School was a horrible experience for him. He didn't often pay attention and raised the tempers of most of his teachers. He learned a trick for getting class cancelled. He would stick a toothpick into the lock and break it off. When the teacher would stick the key in, it would push the toothpick farther in. By the time the janitor arrived to unlock the door, half the class was over and it would be cancelled. Soon the teachers were getting suspicious. They started comparing students and found they had one in common-Roderick George Toombs. They accused his friend Cam, but he never told them it was Roddy

-One day things got so bad between him and his father that he ran away. He took what few possessions he had, including his most prized possession-his bagpipes-and ran away at age 13. He slept in homeless shelters and when those were full, he slept on the street. He constantly had to be on guard as older adults would try and physically and sexually abuse him. He got into boxing as a way of learning to defend himself. While in the gym, he befriended a guy named Cam, who was playing for the junior league of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. On days when Roddy didn't feel like going home, he slept on the floor of the gym. His friend Cam also helped get him into high school with a slight fib. His friend told the principal he had only 6 months to live. Unfortunately, this didn't curb his criminal activity. He was engaging in minor petty crime as a way of feeding himself. He says he was not proud of it, but he had to survive. He once robbed a gas station for money. Or he would shoot out windows of homes with a BB gun. One time, the owner of the home he shot BBs at got a hold of him and made him pay back the cost of the window repair

-Boxing would eventually lead to wrestling. He had joined low level wrestling leagues and was now working his way up the ladder. He worked his way throughout most of Canada and into the northern states of the US. One particularly rough time for him was in Fresno, California. He was supposed to wrestle a bear (yes, you read it right, a bear). It didn't end well for him. Someone had put honey on Roddy's hand unknowingly and the bear was on his case all night. As the fight finished, the bear managed to pull down Roddy's trunks and was licking what nature was supposed to leave alone. Roddy screamed in agony. As he got out of there, he tripped and fell on the concrete, all the while trying to pull his trunks up and regain some of his dignity at being seen completely naked

-One thing that rubbed Roddy the wrong way about some of the older wrestlers is that they would try and do highly disturbing, almost sexual things to Roddy because of his young age. If he were talking to someone, one of the wrestlers would come up and put their groin on his hand. Or they would tease him mercilessly, or "rib him" in wrestling terminology. One day, while out and about in Portland, Oregon, he met a woman named Kitty, who would later become his wife. He had lost touch with her for a while. He had regained contact with her and they started dating and eventually fell in love. They would go on to have four kids-2 daughters named Anastasia and Ariel and 2 sons named Colt and Fallon. One thing he could publicly admit and not care about the results of was his strong dislike for Mr. T. He thought Mr. T was making a mockery of wrestling and he didn't care for him much.

Colt Toombs and Ariel Toombs. They finished what their father started

Roddy and wife Kitty

-While out wrestling, he met one person he would consider a true friend until his dying day. A young, just-starting-out fellow Canadian named Bret Hart. He was then part of a tag team with former NFL player Jim Neidhart called The Hart Foundation. Roddy found the young Bret Hart to be a kind, sweet kid and from then on, they remained friends. When they talked, they found they had a lot in common. Like both came from Canada, Bret from Calgary and Roddy from Saskatchewan. Roddy was also familiar with Bret's dad, Stu Hart. He knew that Stu Hart ran one of the biggest wrestling leagues in Canada, Stampede Wrestling.

-As time went on, he and Bret Hart would become close friends. He even gave some thought about acting. Of course, his most famed acting role to this day is the 1980s-era John Carpenter film They Live. This film is about a futuristic society in which subliminal messages are hidden in plain sight. A drifter comes upon a pair of glasses that allows him to see these subliminal messages. As the movie goes on, he finds out a radio tower is the source of energy keeping the messages hidden. He manages to destroy that and suddenly all the people, who were really bug eyed aliens disguised as people and all the subliminal messages, are now clear and visible

-He retired from wrestling because his body simply could take anymore. With so much down time, someone suggested he take up stand up comedy because he has so many great stories. And he did. He took up stand up comedy to make people laugh. As his kids got older, they all followed their own paths. His daughter Ariel pursued acting and of course, he was there to protect his daughter from those with bad intentions. Another night with his daughter ended up with TMZ catching sight of Ariel and Roddy arguing. By this point, Roddy had a small issue with addiction to alcohol and had gone into rehab. He was resistant at first, but learned to conform to the rules of the place he was at and was thankful and grateful for the help in beating his alcoholism

-His son Colt would follow, somewhat, in his father's footsteps. He would pursue MMA (mixed martial arts) and of course, his own father would be standing ringside. Roddy would be very angry when the ring announcers wouldn't say "Colt Toombs", they'd announce him as the son of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Later on, he would give UFC fighter Ronda Rousey his blessing to use the nickname "Rowdy" because he is her favorite wrestler. Before every fight, she would say something to the effect of "I'm going to do you proud, Roddy"

Ronda Rousey, whose nickname is now "Rowdy" in honor of her favorite wrestler

-As time went on, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart stayed extremely close. Bret Hart said in his autobiography Hitman that Roddy was the only wrestler to visit him in the hospital after his 2002 stroke. While Roddy was in the hospital for shoulder surgery, Bret repaid the favor and visited him. Roddy joked that they could be distant cousins because part of Bret Hart's family was related, in some way, to Roddy's family

-July 31, 2015 is a sad day for the Toombs family. Roddy died peacefully in his sleep from a heart attack related to a pulmonary embolism. His wife Kitty said on one hand she was relieved he passed at home with her instead of being out and dying alone. His kids would find out, one by one, that their father had passed. Of course, the wrestling world would find out too and started doing memorials to honor his life.