Rowdy Roddy Piper graced Manchester with his presence last night for his A Tour to Settle the Score… and boy did he settle it.
The event, which gave fans the chance to hear about Roddy’s career and a Q&A opportunity, was held Deansgate’s Comedy Store.
Despite the start time not being billed as 8pm, by 6pm there was already a huge crowd of Hot Rod t-shirt wearing fans that had filled the building, excitably shouting Ric Flair’s notorious ‘wooo’.
The night was divided into two tickets, general admissions and those lucky enough to have VIP, which allowed an additional meet and greet with Roddy.
In a previous MM interview the Hot Rod admitted he’s not afraid of any type of question and he’s never cut off an autograph line. He sure stuck to these morals.
STILL ROLLIN’: Rowdy Roddy Piper faces questions from the crowd
The wrestler gave time to every fan who had bought a VIP ticket with the 8pm starting time being pushed back to 9pm.
Chris Brooker, a Manchester-based comedian who introduced Roddy to the stage, said: “If the only problem is that Roddy Piper has too much time for his fans, well, that’s a pretty good problem to have.
“If any one of you expect Roddy to behave by the rules, you’ve come to the wrong fucking show.”
The stage was set up simply with a table sporting Coca Cola, Red Bull, water and a chair sat in front of a projector screen.
After Chris introduced the Hot Rod, of course to his iconic bagpipe entrance music, Roddy made his long awaited entrance wearing a merchandise t-shirt saying villain and a bad ass leather jacket.
“This coat was made for me because I was stabbed,” the Hot Rod exclaimed as he went into detail about what he used to carry in his iconic leather jacket.
Stabbed three times, crashed in an aeroplane, electrocuted and survived cancer – you can see why the ultimate rebel needed a tough custom made leather jacket.
SENTIMENTAL: Hot Rod performing the song created by the deceased Jay York
In the first half, the wrestler went into detail about his early life living in YMCA’s and bagpipe busking on the streets.
Roddy also shared with the audience how he initially broke into wrestling when he was 15 years old and weighing 167lbs, although his first ever match only lasted 10 seconds, as well as telling an amusing story involving wrestler Mad Dog Vachon, a diner and a fake heart attack.
Roddy then went on to tell the audience about drunken anecdotes involving a Manchester hotel, pranks that wrestlers got up to, and of course his notorious best wrestling pal, Ric Flair.
The second half allowed the audience to ask questions to Roddy, which caused Roddy’s notorious catch phrase to be reversed, just when Hot Rod thought he had all the answers, the audience changed the questions.
An audience member asked Roddy who he would have liked to have faced in the wrestling ring but never had the opportunity too.
Roddy joked: “Vince with a chair, no, no, but in all seriousness, it would have to be Gorgeous George.”
Another audience question that stalled the wrestler for an answer was who would be your dream manager, as Roddy has never had one through out his career.
Roddy said: “Dream manager? I’d do it myself man.”
The show ended with a sentimental musical debut from Roddy with the song created by the deceased Jay York for the movie Roddy starred in called They Live.
A tearful Roddy explained what the song meant to him and passionately played the harmonica with guitar accompaniment, which left the crowd in rapturous applaud as the Hot Rod exited the stage.
The show was a fantastic opportunity for wrestling fans to meet and listen to stories about the ultimate rebel, and it had crowd revellers in laughter, shock and chants.
