Piper responds to being ranked as wrestling's greatest villain

WWE CLASSICS: How does it feel to be ranked as the No. 1 villain in sports-entertainment history?

RODDY PIPER: Actually, I?m quite honored and I?ll tell you why. The very first individual that breaks out in my mind as a top villain is Gorgeous George, and it?s hard to beat the first guy.

WWE CLASSICS: How did you become a great bad guy?

PIPER: There was a lot of work that people don?t know about that I did to establish my villain persona. There were a lot of miles on the road that went into it, thousands upon thousands of hours of writing on yellow pads while driving in my car with the dome light on. I can?t begin to tell you how many individuals in the industry would school me 24 hours a day. I would then perform at night and they would tear me up afterwards, over and over, to help me perfect my craft. So, from my point of view, I?m humbled, and I take this recognition by WWE.com as a complete honor. It blows me away. (SEE THE FULL LIST)

WWE CLASSICS: Piper?s Pit was a unique concept. How did the segment benefit you as a villain?

PIPER: Piper?s Pit was totally unscripted, everything just happened, thus innovation was a challenging must to accomplish. One of my early Pits involved a fellow named Frankie Williams, and I didn?t have a clue as to what I was going to do. So I asked him where he was from, and in the thickest Hispanic accent he said I?m from Columbus, Ohio. Bang, we?re on!

WWE CLASSICS: WWE fans still talk about that segment today.

PIPER: I felt that that interview more than any other put Piper?s Pit on the map. And what was a positive for me was that I didn?t know who was going to be on. I honestly had no idea. Things changed on a dime back then. But I had a personal knowledge of just about everybody in the business, and I had that banked in my back pocket, so if I got stuck I would go there. But in the Pit I had to be biting and original and controversial, all at the same time. Plus I set a personal bar to top myself each and every week. That became difficult. But I believe that I did just that, and the rest, as they say, is history. (WATCH: THE WILDEST PIPER'S PITS)

WWE CLASSICS: What would you say was your most villainous moment?

PIPER: Probably when I had my altercation with Cyndi Lauper in 1984. She was the female entertainer of the year that year. And I also broke her gold record over the head of Captain Lou Albano, all in the same night. After all was said and done I turned around and there was a New York City policeman in uniform with a gun, standing in the middle of the ring at me. I looked at him like, ?What are you doing here?? It got pretty warm in there pretty quickly. (WATCH)

WWE CLASSICS: Over the years, the jeers turned to cheers for you. Did you set a course for that to happen in your career, or did you want to remain a villain all the way?

PIPER: I?m a villain at heart. I?m a born villain. But at WrestleMania 2, when I boxed Mr. T, they started chanting my name. I didn?t know why they did that, but it?s never stopped from that moment. And quite frankly, to that end, if I might tweak an original ?Piper-ism?: Just when you thought I had the answers, they changed the questions!

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/classics/piper-responds-to-being-ranked-as-wrestlings-greatest-villain

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