Roddy Piper was known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Although Canadian, he became famous over time thanks to the character of the Scotsman Roddy Piper, a grumpy and irritable who always wore a scarlet kilt and whose entrance music was a classic Scottish song performed on the bagpipes. He earned the nicknames Rowdy, thanks to his characteristic Scottish anger, his spontaneity and his humor.

Wrestling veteran Ric Flair hailed him as the most gifted entertainer in wrestling history. Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and was ranked number one as the greatest villain in wrestling history by WWE.

One of the most recognizable wrestling stars in the world, Piper main evented several pay-per-views, including WrestleMania I. He won 34 titles in various promotions during his career and his best known rivals include Greg Valentine, Adrian Adonis and Hulk Hogan, whose feud with the latter also involved Captain Lou Albano and singer Cyndi Lauper and is considered the beginning of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.

He also embarked on a prolific acting career, having to his credit more than thirty films. The most famous interpretation of him is that of John Nada, the protagonist of John Carpenter's horror film They Live (1988).

On July 31, 2015, he died at his home in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California of cardiac arrest, at the age of 61. According to TMZ, Piper's death was caused by a blood clot in her lung, which caused her heart to stop; Piper had had high blood pressure for years.