Roddy Piper on How Theatrics Ruined Wrestling (2002) 

He seemed so touched that Howard read his book and even cited a fact from it.

"They Live" was one of the greatest movies ever made. Roddy made the right choice doing it.

Love the part where Howard tells him about his wrist and that he read his book, the look on Roddy’s face, you can tell that meant a lot to him, RIP Hot Rod!!

Roddy had a point. Wrestling is dead when the improv is taken away.

RIP PIPER

Wow and this was in 2002 and he thought wrestling was bad then?? He should see the garbage now

RIP Mr. Piper. An absolute legend. So, so many fond memories of him in WWF. One of the greatest talents on the microphone and in the ring. Greatly missed.

Roddy Piper is a Canadian treasure. Miss him.

Vince: my ass does tricks!🤨 Piper: I've been knowning that for years🤯😂

when I was a kid Piper was my favorite. everyone at school loved Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair or the Ultimate Warrior or Macho man. for whatever reason I always rooted for Roddy Piper

You just dont get wrestlers like this anymore. RIP.

The sad irony here is Hot Rod predicted the future of WWE and was spot on.

Yet “They Live” is a cult classic that is referred to this very day, up there with 1984.

If Roddy was alive now... The absolute state of WWE these days.. It's more theatrics than wrestling.

Roddy Piper & Ric Flair are 2 of the best heels in the last 40 years.

I’ve never been a wrestling fan, but I appreciate the fact that Roddy was intelligent and articulate. And not boring.

I respect any man that stands up for what is right even if it costs him his fame and fortune. God bless you Roddy. You are sorely missed by this fan.

Fun fact, when Roddy did They Live, he was in such good shape, Carpenter said he was accused of photoshopping Piper's head on someone else's body in some scenes.

Roddy Piper was absolutely right. Making stories for wrestlers to follow ruined wrestling.

this was 20 years ago and his words ring truer then ever

Damn I am so sad this man is dead.....such a good dude.

so honest about everyone and everything. and thats why vince didnt like having him in all the time

They Live was based on a book written in 1963...dude knew what was up.

Piper's Pit where he smacked Jimmy Snuka in the head with a coconut.....thats entertainment.

Theatrics did ruin wrestling. I was never a fan, but as a kid it was fun to watch time and again.

I cried my eyes out when Roddy left this earth...NO FEAR

Always liked hot Rod. His raw emotion in Piper's pit was second to none.

I came hear to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I’m all out of bubblegum

He didn't get it back on track unfortunately it's worse than ever now.

Everyone should learn from how everyone speaks about Vince. He got drunk on his own power and turned into a bad person who people only respect because they have to, not because they want to. That’s never how you want to be viewed.

Piper is so underated. When you talk about the greats in wrestling, you have to include Roddy Rowdy Piper. 🙏🙏🙏

every interview i see Roddy do there was always "I love you, thank you" to anything the man was so pure I wish he was still with us today

Roddy was my favorite wrestler of all time. His spontaneity made it a joy to watch his performances. RIP, Roddy.

Must be wrestling week for Howard TV. Love it!

I met Roddy right before he passed. We talked quite a bit. He was my favorite heel, and my favorite wrestler. It seemed to me that it was exciting for him to meet some regular dude that grew up watching him. Maybe he could tell that I was a legit fan, maybe he just liked to talk to the guy willing to take the time to be first in line. I ended up having to talk him into letting me move along so that he could talk to other fans. Anyway, he was a great guy from what I could tell, very gracious of the fans that helped him get where he was. He seemed so genuine. I'm so sorry for his families loss. RIP

Rest in peace Roderick Toombs. Always and forever our rowdiest of pipers

I still miss Roddy! I never met him, never even got to see him wrestle live, yet I loved him so much all the same! To lose both him and Dusty in such a short space of time was just heartbreaking!

Rod Piper's best work was still "They Live"

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."

18 years later, this is still the biggest problem in pro-wrestling (i.e., being overly-scripted).

Starting at 5:10, this was the meat of this great interview! From explaining the steroids side effects, to Roddy asking Howard what he truly thinks of the book. Amazing stuff!!

I miss Roddy. The man always spoke his mind!

Rowdy Roddy doing Canada proud! 🇨🇦Good 'Ol Saskatoon boy. RIP man.

Roddy quoting Bob Dylan, liking this guy more and more.

The greatest of all-time. Miss Hot Rod!

This guy is genuine. Someone you could value for a true friend.

It made me feel good that piper was touched by Howard reading his book

Hated him while he worked, but loved how he handled himself outside the ring. Great guy, rip.

His real name is Maniac, he used to have kids, he loves chesnuts and he's a top earner for Invigaron

Miss Roddy, watched him since the Pacific Northwest days to the WWF. Met him a couple of times and after his death I became friends with his manager. He told me some of the best Roddy stories!

RIP Hot Rod a legend who was old school and stood his ground

I have tried to watch wrestling again after growing up with it in early 80s-90s. All I saw was flips, choreographed dives, high spot after high spot, super kicks and then more flips. Turned it off and now watch the classics on RU-vid.

Rowdy Rowdy Piper is a #LEGEND

I met Piper. He took a picture with me, and signed a picture for me. He was really down to earth. I miss him😢 So he said WWE wrestling was dead back then? It's definitely dead now. Untill WWE stops micromanaging, and scripting everything word by word, it will continue to be dead ⚰️

Roddy was right about Vince and wrestling.

Wow, about to say what he wrote to Vince and Howard had to open his mouth and go to a completely different topic.

Almost 20 years later and Jon Moxley says almost thing about being scripted

What's funny is, most people think wrestling is fake, but they still hated Roddy for all his antics.

This is an amazing interview. Both Stern and Piper are at their best...great sports journalism.

So cool to see Roddy on Howard Stern. Miss you Roddy! Love you! Thank you for this!

"Lock Pipper in a room with a mic and he will give you an A class promo in one take" Bobby Henan's words, arguible Pipper is one of the greatest wrestler this business have seen, so honest and straight up guy. The world of wrestling really needs a character like Rowdy nowadays to bring the emotion back.

Seriously? No love for "Hell Comes to Frog Town?" We miss you, Piper!

I always LOVED the improv in wrestling! Theatrics is great but to a point. You need the good choreography, too.

"They Live", one of my fav movies...

Piper was the best, he was one of the greatest heels ever, when I was a kid, I believed this. That's how good he was. I wish I had a chance to meet him. In these interviews he is so humble. Awesome dude. Favorite quote. a lot of them, but, "Evert time you think you know the answers, I change the questions, also, I was rowdy before rowdy was cool.

Vince was so bitter when Hogan, Jesse and Piper jump off to Hollywood.

Let's not forget Hot Rod was the inspiration for Duke Nukem's best lines😉

There are several things that ruined wrestling. One was no longer presenting it as a legit sport. Even though everyone knew it was fake, when they presented it as if it were real it was much better. Two, comedy. For quite some time, wrestling has been a comedy show, but sadly, it's rarely funny. Three, when they stopped caring about how real moves looked and focused on how 'cool' they looked. Moves like the Canadian Destroyer, which could never happen in a million years in a real fight, or all of these ridiculous dives, they take all the legitimacy away from what you're watching. And finally, when you have the same people writing lines for everybody, everybody sounds the same. There is no individuality in wrestling anymore. Everything and everyone is so cookie cutter and by the numbers. There's more reasons, but you get the idea.

"i love my kids" Howard: Oh you got kids? "Nahhhhh, not anymore"

RIP Roddy Piper

Piper was spot on. Wrestling/the magic show did die around 2002/2003. Hulk vs Rock at WM. It never recovered, and never will.

wow i want to see the entire interview

Roddy was right. I watched wrestling when I was a kid, I've got a son now. I'd love to take him to some family-friendly matches where we could cheer the faces and boo the heels. That kind of wrestling is long dead.

Thanks for choosing they live, roddy. One of my favorites. R.I.P

Man, when I was a kid, we scheduled our Saturdays around wrestling. I miss those days & I miss those wrestlers. Tito Santana will always be my favorite!

I have read Roddy's book, he had nothing to hide and until his passing he kept Kayfabe alive as best he could. I.C.O.N.

Definitely one of the best of all time and still missed today.... RIP Roddy piper.....

His voice is amazing. He could have a killer career in audiobooks.

He was such a great genuine man and it shows even in this short clip.

A piece of my childhood.

Roddy Piper was a real Catch Wrestler, boxer and Judo black belt

RIP to Roddy. One of the best and an absolute fan favorite We miss him greatly

Lady:your not as big as you used to Roddy Piper:piss me off and watch me grow. Lolz that's why he was Rwoddy RIP.

They Live is one of the greatest movies ever made, and its the real story of whats actually going on in the world

*I love Piper. Straight shooter and funny dude. Vince McMahon, uh, nope.*

I just watch the A&E special about him yesterday.... wow!!! I forgot how entertaining he really was, Felt like watching wrestling on Sunday morning back in the day..... even as a bad guy he was awesome.... we will miss you...(I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of bubblegum)..😂❤️👍🏻🤟🏻🙏🏻

Funny that Piper says Vince wanted nothing to do with him if he did the movie considering that Piper would be a hot commodity after the movie and be More valuable to the WWF. I get it that Vince wanted to protect Hulk and ensure that he was the biggest star in the company but I don't think there was reason for them to feel threatened by Piper, Perhaps there is more to the story.

His last sentence of this clip couldn’t have been more true.

RIP Hot Rod!

Odd how this applies to today's wrestling times 10. Roddy was ahead of his time with these comments. Rest easy to a legend

Piper was one of the nicest guys.

I had no idea hot rod was on stern! Can you guys upload the whole interview? 🙏

He came back a year after that during the match of Hogan Vs McMahon @ WM19

Piper is a legend, Vince is a legend, both for very different reasons, but love both as they played a huge part of my best childhood memories.

I think Roddy would say today that wrestling is, in fact, dead.

Roddy piper has a point when the cinematic over takes the in ring action pro wrestling stinks

R.I.P. Maniac

I would love to see the full interview 😆From Sara in London England 💂

One of the celebrities whose passing still affects me. I’m really sad I’ll never have a chance to meet him.

I like that you’ve been posting these pro wrestler clips the last few days. Will the full interview be posted?