The WWE superstar left a big gap in the wrestling world after his untimely death midway through the year. Roderick Toombs’, but popularly known by his ring name of ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, unexpected death came on August 1, when it was reported that the star had passed away in his sleep at his Hollywood home. He was said to have died due to a cardiac arrest during his sleep.
Roddy, who was a professional wrestler for 45 years, had a history of high blood pressure and hypertension, which ultimately undid him.
Roddy was considered a wrestling icon especially in the 1980s when he was considered one of the biggest stars in the WWE. He even wrestled in 'Wrestlemania I' back in 1985, famously against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Piper and Hogan battled for years and headlined some of the biggest matches during the 1980s. Hogan and Mr. T beat Piper and Paul Orndorff on March 31, 1985, at the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden.
Piper was a villain for the early portion of his career, once cracking a coconut over the skull of Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. He hosted a popular WWF [previous version of WWE] talk show segment called 'Piper's Pit' in the 1980s and later starred in the movie 'They live.'
The sportsman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and he was also one of the top 50 villains in the history of the WWE. He was last seen wrestling regularly in 2008 but appeared on a number of different shows up until 2014.