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The outpouring of grief and shared memories following the death of Roddy Piper yesterday continued throughout the evening.
Notes and tweets from the wrestling community were expected, as were those from Hollywood, where The Rowdy One made an impression on the creator he worked with in television & movies on and off throughout this life.
A couple of professional athletes are among those with very public tributes to the man. And while baseball player Josh Reddick of the Oakland As and UFC women's bantanweight champion Ronda Rousey are well documented big wrestling fans, that the public and large knows exactly who they're paying their respects to without much explanation, is testament to how influential Piper was, the reach of his influence into the culture at large.
The Oakland outfielder, loser of a "beard-off" with Daniel Bryan last year, started things off by changing the music they play while he walked to the plate to Piper's legendary bagpipes:
Man @WWE lost a legend today. RIP to Rowdy.
— Josh Reddick (@RealJoshReddick) July 31, 2015
Can't find any video of the walkout itself, but there are too many reports and Tweets confirming it to not be true. Here's the theme, because you can never hear it too many times, and certainly not today...
Rousey is a little bit more well known than Reddick right now, due to her domination in mixed martial arts and UFC's marketing of her, and her connection to Piper is a little more personal.
After her training team started calling her "Rowdy", the story goes, Ronda was hesitant to use it publicly because she didn't want to disrespect Hot Rod. The two met, he gave her permission to share his nickname and they became friends.
Rowdy Ronda Rousey defends her title against Bethe Correia in Brazil tonight, and she's promising something special to honor her friend's passing.
Thank you for the name.... And so much more.... Will do it justice and do you proud tomorrow.... This one's for you Roddy....
Tune in tomorrow to find out if Rousey is planning a Reddick-esque entrance, or to take an arm for Roddy, or both.