5 Martial Artists who Would Have Been Great in WWE -- and 5 that were

#3 Was Great: Rowdy Roddy Piper

Roderick George Toombs, better known as Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Rowdy Roddy Piper had a tough upbringing in his native Canada. Of Scottish descent, he learned to play the bagpipes, which would eventually help him greatly in his wrestling career.

In his youth, he trained in amateur wrestling and boxing. He also joined the Canadian military. Piper would win the coveted Golden Gloves designation. He was trained in the art of Kodokan Judo by the legendary "Judo" Gene LeBell.

Once out of the army, he began training for the wrestling ring. Piper was initially a babyface, but once promoters found out about his Scottish heritage and ability to play the bagpipes, he became a hated foreign heel.

Piper nearly caused a riot when wrestling in Mexico City. He told fans he would play the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes but played La Cucaracha instead.

Piper was a fixture of the Rock n' Wrestling connection, main evented the first WrestleMania, and held numerous titles during his wrestling career. He also starred in over thirty films, including the cult classic They Live.

Piper rarely used his Judo training during his wrestling career, but often did so for his movie roles, where he performed many of his own stunts.