Drew McIntyre has revealed that ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper had pitched an idea to work with the Scotsman in his first run with WWE, only to be shot down by Vince McMahon.
McIntyre discusses the advice he received from Piper in his new book, A Chosen Destiny. The former WWE Champion says the two men used to talk on the phone, with Piper even visiting with him over WrestleMania weekend in 2011.
According to McIntyre, Piper wasn’t the only household name looking to work with him:
“That was the general consensus I’d hear from people who were in management, but not from those in the top, top positions. Rey Mysterio, who was a Superstar, told Vince they would like to work with me. The wrestler Christian also went to Vince with well-thought-out ideas of how he wanted to put together a story with me. They could see I represented potential for some great rivalries.”
Drew McIntyre then writes about Piper pitching ideas for the two to work together:
“I used to speak to Rowdy Roddy Piper a lot on the telephone. He was always bubbling over with ideas, and it would have been such a natural story: Rowdy Roddy Piper, from Canada but with Scottish ancestry that entitles him to wear the kilt and play the bagpipes. He was a huge name when I was growing up, battling in the first WrestleMania with Hulk Hogan and co.”
“Roddy also approached Vince to pitch an idea for the two of us, but his plans were shot down. I appreciated all these people, all these legends, trying to make something happen. They still saw something in me, even though management may have had some buyer’s remorse. Yet it was a demonstration of the value of their investment in me that people were still looking at trying to make something happen.”
McIntyre wasn’t on the card for WrestleMania 27 but Piper was still on hand to give him advice. Although the weekend’s festivities had gotten too much for McIntyre’s brother:
“Rowdy Roddy Piper was generous in giving his advice. At WrestleMania in 2011, he and his son Colt came to my hotel room in Atlanta, where I was with my brother, so he could watch one of my matches to critique my performance. I was pitched against Rey Mysterio from SmackDown, the match that prompted Rey to tell Vince that he’d like to do a story with me, but he got shot down.”
“Roddy was giving me advice. His son and I were watching him get animated – he was a very animated guy – as he told me what I should be doing character-wise, things to think about, how to approach things. I looked over and saw my frickin’ brother had slumped asleep on the chair because he had drunk too much. I screamed at him to wake up. There was Rowdy Roddy Piper, in our hotel room, watching my match with his son, while my brother, a huge wrestling fan, had got himself too drunk to hear all this top advice and comments from a legend – stuff that money can’t buy!”
Drew McIntyre also discusses pitching an on-screen moment in his tag team match against The Undertaker and Roman Reigns in 2019.
A Chosen Destiny from Ebury Publishing is available online and from all good book shops.
If you use any of the quotes above, please h/t Inside The Ropes and link back to this article. You can also check out our full review of A Chosen Destiny here.