Hammer Time: Rowdy Roddy Piper

Steven Lang
by Steven Lang

Some people just don’t get ‘it’. My wife can’t understand why I like Davesfarm videos and Bruce Springsteen. I can’t understand why she listens to whiny effeminate men who pretend to be musicians. Fair enough… we’re living up to our gender driven destinies. But then there’s the myth of an ‘educated’ person.


Enlightened folk of modern times are not supposed to like ‘childish’ things such as streakers, muscle cars, belching, and most of all.. professional wrestling. But all of those things still put an ear to ear grin on my middle-aged face… taste police be damned. So let’s take two of those things, cars and wrestlers, and have some fun with it. I’m going to write a simple phrase that describes an old wrestler AND a car company (living and dead). You figure out who and what it is. Note: I will accept more than one right answer if need be.

More or less peaked in the mid-1990’s. Never had a lot of charisma but technically excellent for a very long time. The only reason why folks are willing to pay for em’ now is for the ‘reputation’ of days of yore.

Quirky and fun as hell. Looks a bit funny in person and always at it’s best when hyper and high strung. Rose to prominence in the 1980’s and been part of the scene ever since. One goes through ruts, the other coconuts.

Elderly genetic freakshow. Only old men would bother to buy into the act. You can’t help to find them both on TV every week somewhere. Both the brand and the person are part of organizations that bought out the competition at various times.

Damn! Truly rugged and been around for decades. If our nation went to war they would still be fine.

Bulky and incredibly difficult to maneuver. Overpriced and not entertaining at all in person. Both of them ‘married’ into the business.

Perfection… but not really. Both had the reputation of being leaders but struggled for decades to go beyond the ‘bland cliche’. One is surviving and the other sadly passed on.

Tries to be hip and youthful… and yet both eventually appealed to middle aged women. The get up may look good on a teenager. But on the real thing it’s just plain dumb.

A sterling reputation for always lasting a long time. Yet it will break the bank and eventually make you lose lots of money… been doing that for decades. The pinnacle was reached during the 1970’s to mid 1980’s. When it’s all over you’ll go, “Wooooo!!!”.

Both are well known for motorcycles. Even when the styles change, the substance of what makes them awesome is still there. One is best when small. The other is a big man and seven feet tall (supposedly).

Real Americans. They wore their colors through the decades and have always identified themselves as American when the going got really tough. Long time industry critics love to hate them.

Steven Lang
Steven Lang

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  • Texlovera Texlovera on Mar 19, 2010

    It's funny, once pro wrasslin' got really big in the 80's (WWF, Hogan, Flair, etc.) I didn't really follow it much. But I was pretty heavily into it back when it was a more "regional" thing in the late 60's to early 80's. San Antonio had All-Star (later World Class) Wrestling. Ivan Putski, Joe & Tully Blanchard, Mil Mascaras, The Brute - I remember watching them at the old Municipal Auditorium, Hemisfair Arena, and the Wrestlethon. And the Spanish-language KWEX showed Lucha Libre from Los Angeles - great stuff. In a way, that paralleled my interest in cars - much greater prior to the mid-80's (although that's picked back up in my old age...)

    • See 1 previous
    • Texlovera Texlovera on Mar 19, 2010

      And just to complete the wrasslin'-automobile nexus, I remember that at one time, World Class Wrestling had a local Chevy dealer as its big (maybe sole?) TV sponsor. I even remember the one announcer also did the ads! Ah, the godd ol' daze.

  • Steven Lang Steven Lang on Mar 19, 2010

    And now for the answers (at least my answers)... 1) Bret Hart and Toyota 2) Piper and Subaru 3) Vince McMahon and Cadillac 4) Ron Simmons and Jeep 5) HHH and Hummer 6) Curt Hennig and Lexus 7) John Cena and Scion 8) Ric Flair and Mercedes-Benz 9) Undertaker and Honda 10) Hogan and Chevrolet NOTE: The writer is a big fan of all these guys (really). All write-up's that were negative were only meant to reflect the 'public persona' of a heel and not the awe inspiring respect I genuinely have for what these guys have done. But then again, to put it in the words of a Dwayne Johnson, "I challenge any of these jabrones I've mentioned to step inside THIS ring and write an article about their travels." The challenge is open...

  • ToolGuy "Honey, someone is trying to cross the moat again"
  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
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