I was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, and quite frankly, I got worn out playing football. I got tired of it. With wrestling, there were so many variables that could go with it, so many directions you could go. Every night, it was different. Every night. It was a different town 7 nights a week and twice on Sunday.
Paul Orndorff
Bret Hart was a nobody from Canada, and Hogan was the greatest star in wrestling.
I am not bragging - it may sound like it - but there was nobody in this business that had the aggression and had the body that I had - nobody!
You have to realize in this life and in your life that timing is everything.
I like being a bad guy.
Holy cow, she was tough as nails, man. When I was starting, Moolah was the head woman. She could kick 90 percent of the guys' butts.
I knew how to upset the people, and I did it in such a way that it was believable. That's how I made a living at it for 20 years. I don't regret a thing I done or said in wrestling. Nothing.
Tito Santana was one of the hardest working guys in the business. When Tito used to make that comeback, the people went crazy because he had so much fire. He had so much damn energy. He could just go and go and go.
I can go any style - hook up, lock up, take you down - and do all kinds of amateur moves.
I believed in making it look real. I was probably hard to work with because I wanted it to make real, and I knew how to wrestle.
When Terry Funk, Harley Race had world titles, it meant more.
I don't care much for Canadians.
The good Lord gave me something, and he gave me intensity. He gave me a body, and he gave me the work and how hard I worked the body the way that it was.
I went to the gym six days a week, three hours a day, and it was part - and it was my life.
I could have been Mr. America if I wanted to be, but I chose wrestling. I could have played pro-football, but I chose wrestling.
I was drafted by the New Orleans Saints and was tired of dealing with injuries. I just got tired of playing football, if you want to know the truth, and I was sitting on the floor at my father in-law's house and started to watch pro wrestling. I've watched it for a little bit before, so I thought to myself, 'You know what? I can do that!'
God made me to be a sports player. He didn't make me to be a professor or any of that other crap.
I like contact sports like football. I like collisions, and I was good at it.
I worked every night, and I'd go 25, 35, 45 minutes, and that is what made me, and that is that I knew how to work, and I knew how to work the people.
Roddy actually was in the business longer then I was and started sooner than I did, and Roddy was a smart guy.
I used my body, and Roddy used a lot of his brains.
There'll never, ever be another Vince McMahon. Whether you like him, dislike him, love him, or whatever, the guy was a smart man. He knew what to do, and he knew how to do it.
In wrestling, if there is a legend, Roddy Piper is a legend, no doubt about it. Nobody was ever like he was.
Nobody was ever better than Roddy Piper was when it came to interviews. He didn't pull no punches. He wasn't afraid of nothin' or nobody. He was a trip, and he was good people, too. He was a good friend. A damn good friend.
I know him as Terry. Hulk Hogan has probably done more for wrestling than anybody has. He got Hollywood involved in wrestling. Hogan was a big guy, but that big ol' guy could move, and he knew how to get those people going. He had it all. He got pro wrestling to a whole new level.
The fans can either hate you or like you, and they either hated me or liked me, but they always remembered me. I'm very proud of that.
I tried to be different; I didn't want to be like everybody else.
When they hated me, it was hell. I used to fight the crowd before I even started my matches. It was crazy.
Wrestling, it's all about playing with people's emotions. You need to be better than just a great athlete; you need to be the best. At one time, I might have been. When I look back, I remember how much I enjoyed it.
