5 Wrestlers That Roddy Piper Had Beef With (& 5 That He Loved)

Ask any wrestling fan who was the greatest talker ever. More likely than not, the Hot Rod Rowdy Piper will always be in the conversation. The bombastic and unpredictable Piper was one of the key spokes in the cog of the early days of Hulkamania. He helped make the first WrestleMania main event special. As a true wrestling villain, he famously started a near-riot in San Francisco playing La Cucaracha in the bagpipes as the Mexican National Anthem - years before causing riots at Madison Square Garden.

He’s one of the most beloved superstars of all time and was able to do it by being one of the vilest heels of the eighties. Backstage was a different story, like any job there are coworkers you like and coworkers you don’t. Here are 5 Wrestlers That Roddy Piper Had Beef With (& 5 That He Loved).

10 Beef - Vince Russo

Owen Hart’s tragic death might have been ruled accidental, but that didn’t mean that the people who wrote the idea and approved weren’t held responsible in the eyes of Owen’s family. When you’re the guy who wrote the bit, and you’re one of the most vilified people in wrestling, you might have awoken the ire of the Hot Rod.

On an early PPV of TNA, Roddy Piper came to the ring and confronted Vince Russo about the reasoning behind writing a bit that put his cousin Owen in a rig that ultimately ended his life.

9 Loved - Bruce Prichard

When Piper came back to the WWE in 1989, he was immediately booked into a jaw-jacking promo with Brother Love, aka Bruce Prichard. The pair became friends and stayed that way right up until Piper passed away.

The Hall Of Famer left a voicemail on Prichard’s phone the night before he passed away. For years, whenever he came back, Piper would only deal with Prichard, such as when Bruce and his brother Tom smuggled Piper into WrestleMania XIX.

8 Beef - Hulk Hogan

As Hulk Hogan began his meteoric rise to immortality, the Hot Scot was there was the ever-present thorn in his side. The two superstars did battle, headlining several big main events including The Big Event and WrestleMania.

They worked so well together as heated rivals because in the locker room, they WERE heated rivals. Their beef had begun because of Piper seldom getting the credit he deserved from being the big heel at the beginning of Hogan’s run.

7 Loved - Ric Flair

“You might be cool, but you’ll never be as cool Ric Flair driving a Jeep Wagoneer with Roddy Piper riding shotgun cool” is what the meme says, and in a lot of ways truer words were never typed before.

The two legends were great friends dating back to their days in JCP and it continued throughout both of their careers, despite usually beating the tar out of each other on TV, Flair and Piper loved one another off of it.

6 Beef - Mr. T

Long before guys like Tyson Fury, Cain Velasquez, Stephen Amell, and various other celebrities were cashing in, megastars like Muhammad Ali and Andy Kaufman were also cashing in on their love of wrestling big time.

But for some reason, Mr. T’s involvement was still looked down upon by many in the business. Some of the boys were unimpressed by a TV Star, albeit the biggest star of the day headlining ‘Mania. Plenty of guys were hoping Piper would really lay into T, but despite Piper feeling the same way, he was professional.

5 Loved - Rowdy Ronda Rousey

For years before she even started her run, Judo and UFC champion Ronda Rousey idolized the Hot Scot (seriously, who didn’t?!). When she began training, she like Piper also learned from “Judo” Gene LeBell. Because of her attitude, she was always referred to as Rowdy Ronda, but she respected Piper too much to market it for herself.

Then Roddy gave her his blessing and the two had a friendship that was built on mutual respect. Rousey dedicated her fight on the night he passed to Piper and of course debuted at the Royal Rumble wearing Roddy’s exact jacket.

4 Beef - Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Hot Rod versus Stone Cold would have been an epic feud. As two of the best men on the stick and brawlers ever, both men in their prime could have done what Seth Rollins claims he does - burn it down every night. But the two icons had an unfortunate real-world beef towards the end of Piper’s life.

Apparently, the heat between the two came when Piper had Will Sasso on his podcast and Sasso did all kinds of impersonations, including Austin. Piper was then let go from his Podcast and WWE Legends deal. Most wouldn’t think Austin would be that petty, but the timing of everything was too coincidental and Piper blamed the Rattlesnake.

3 Loved - The Harts

Piper heaved Russo right under the bus for whatever hand Piper perceived that he had in Owen’s death. But can you blame the guy, they’re family. Roddy Piper has long since stated he’s a cousin of the family.

That relationship was never exploited in storylines, but the love that Roddy had for the Hart family runs deep. According to Bret, he was the only one to visit him after his stroke.

2 Beef - Kevin Nash

If you think a little thing like being 7-feet-tall and 300 pounds is going to stop Roddy Piper from picking a fight, just talk to Kevin Nash. This fight all started because of the big six-man tag match set for WCW’ Slamboree. Their argument nearly led to a big fight.

The match was supposed to be Piper, Flair, and Kevin Green against, Nash, Hall, and Syxx. Besides not wanting to lose in Flair country, Piper didn’t think that the Kid had enough star power to be in the same ring as him.

1 Loved - Cowboy Bob Orton

For the bulk of his main event run in WWE, Roddy Piper always had an Ace up his sleeve in the form of “Ace” Cowboy Bob Orton. When Piper passed, the Cowboy had nothing but praise for his friend and fellow Hall Of Famer, who brought him along for the ride.

In an interview with a NBC News Affiliate, Orton said "He could always make you laugh," Orton said of Piper. "No matter how you felt, how down you were, how much the road could get to you, he could always make you laugh. Just a great guy. Everybody loved him."

Next: 10 Underrated Raw Matches You Probably Forgot About