Lanny Poffo Comments On Why “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Never Won A World Title
‘The Genius’ Lanny Poffo has discussed why he thinks it would have been impossible for ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper to have become WWF Champion.
Piper’s wrestling career is legendary – gaining national fame and notoriety through the Rock and Wrestling Connection of the mid-1980s, he then headlined the first-ever WrestleMania teaming with ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff to face Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
A WWF Intercontinental Champion, an NWA/WCW United States Champion, an NWA World Television Champion as well as the holder of countless regional titles, the one glaring omission from Piper’s career was never being able to hold a world championship.
Speaking exclusively to Inside The Ropes’ own Keith Elliot Greenberg for issue 8 of Inside The Ropes magazine, Poffo explained:
“Randy was a businessman. He had no problem losing the Intercontinental Title to Ricky Steamboat or the World Title to Hulk Hogan.”
“You know how much I loved Roddy Piper. I still miss Roddy Piper. But you couldn’t have given the belt to Piper because they might not be able to take it off of him. Piper would have done anything to hold onto the title, would have been unreasonable about it. Randy wasn’t like that.”
For a spell in the 1980s, Roddy Piper rarely lost by pinfall, with even the likes of WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, the iconic André The Giant, and even “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino holding wins by countout or disqualification over the Canadian star.
During the conversation, Lanny Poffo also discussed Randy Savage’s insistence that he did not want to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame as a solo act and why Poffo ultimately overruled his brother after his death.
Roddy Piper passed away in 2015, but his legacy will last forever.