FanPost

In The Pit With Piper - Bret Hart's foreword

WWE.com

Yesterday, I went to Bookman's to pick up something non-wrestling related. As it turns out, I happened across Rowdy Roddy Piper's book In The Pit With Piper. I grabbed it without a second's thought. Here is Bret "The Hitman" Hart's foreword, verbatim.

In this business, there aren't too many real people. Roddy Pipper is definitely one of the real ones.

A stand-up guy, Roddy always shook everyone's hand in the dressing room - big, small, old, and young. He was polite and different from all the big names I ever met.

When I got to the WWF in '84, Roddy was already on top of the card as their number one heel. He didn't have to give me the time of day - but he did.

Long before cliques in wrestling had become a major angle, the big clique was Don Muraco, Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Mr. Fuji, and Roddy. They didn't hang out together for "political" reasons but for comradeship. One night, after a Hart Foundation tag match, Roddy invited Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and me up to a hotel room for a beer with the boys, and they let us into the fold. It was a privilege to sit with these top stars, soaking up their advise on wrestlers, wrestling, psychology, angles and territories. The camaraderie in those lonely hotel rooms provided some of the most insightful and significant lessons a young apprentice like me would ever get.

One day I mentioned to Roddy that my dad had some relatives on his side by the name of Toombs, Roddy's real last name. As it turned out, Roddy is from Saskatoon, as is my father, Stu, and we found it curious that in North Dakota the Harts and the Toombs were indeed blood-related. To what extent nobody knew. Ever since this discovery, Roddy and I have referred to each other as "Cuz."

One of the greatest moments of my career was when I challenged Roddy for the WWF Intercontinental title at WrestleMania VIII in Indianapolis. We'd never really had any matches together, and to have one this big, in the sold-out Hoosierdome, plus millions more watching live around the world on Pay-Per-View, was going to be a challenge. Roddy had an indifference to pain, working as hard as anyone I ever knew, and at WrestleMania VIII knew he bore the brunt of it for me. To win the Intercontinental title from my mentor was an amazing accomplishment for me.

As the years went by, I found myself in numerous situations where I desperately needed some good advice, and I often joked about shining a spotlight in the sky like Batman and Roddy would always be there. I could always trust Roddy, knowing that his advice wasn't just good, it was the best. I was able to work my way up in the business, forever grateful for his consel.

Being a wrestler was like being in a tribe. The best thing that any of us had going was the feeling of brotherhood we shared. Too many wrestlers end up as wrestling tragedies. For me, I followed Roddy like a Sioux brave followed Crazy Horse. He was a real warrior, who could truly lay claim to being a chief.

In the world of professional wrestling, the true giants don't always face one another, sometimes they stand side by side facing the world.

Thanks, Roddy, for being a true friend and hero.

And that's a shoot

- Bret "The Hitman" Hart

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