In 1983, Roddy debuted as a fan favorite in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a dog collar match at the first Starrcade. Valentine broke Piper's left eardrum during the match with the collar's chain, causing Piper to permanently lose 50–75% percent of his hearing.
Before entering the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) full-time in 1984, Piper wrestled five matches with the WWF under Vince McMahon, Sr. in 1979 at Madison Square Garden. In his very first match in WWF, he defeated jobber Frankie Williams on January 22. Before one match, Freddie Blassie stuffed Piper's bagpipes with toilet paper, so they would not play in front of the Garden crowd.
In 1983, Piper debuted in the WWF as a manager because of injuries he suffered during a dog-collar match at Starrcade; he managed "Dr. D" David Schultz and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Eventually Piper's run as a manager quietly ended and Piper started wrestling full-time. He was given his own interview segment called Piper's Pit on Championship Wrestling and Wrestling at the Chase in 1984, starting a run of the segment that ended in 1987. During one Piper's Pit, Piper insulted Jimmy Snuka's Polynesian heritage and attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut. Piper also insulted Bruno Sammartino during a Piper's Pit segment, which led to a feud that ended in a steel cage match which Piper lost.
Piper's next major storyline was with Hulk Hogan and also involved pop singer Cyndi Lauper. In 1985, MTV broadcast The War to Settle the Score, which featured a main-event match between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Lauper, Captain Lou Albano, and Mr. T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Paul Orndorff and his former manager Piper against Hogan and Mr. T. Orndorff was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan. Piper faced Mr. T in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986, which Piper lost by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T.
Following a leave of absence from the WWF, Piper returned as a face, during a television taping of Championship Wrestling on August 23, 1986 against A.J. Petrucci. As part of the storyline, the returning Piper was distressed to find his Piper's Pit segment replaced by The Flower Shop, a segment hosted by Adrian Adonis, who had also hired Piper's former bodyguard Orton. Piper spent weeks crashing Adonis' show and trading insults, leading to a "showdown" between the two segments that ended with Piper being assaulted and humiliated by Adonis, Orton, and Don Muraco, resulting in Piper's face turn. In response, Piper stormed the set of Adonis' show and destroyed it with a baseball bat. This led to their Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania III, which was billed as Piper's retirement match from wrestling. Piper won the match.
In early 1987, Piper's Pit also served as the backdrop for Andre the Giant's heel turn and challenging Piper's old foe, Hulk Hogan, for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III, and Hogan ultimately accepting the challenge.
In 1989, Piper returned from a two-year hiatus. Although WrestleMania V was billed as his return, he actually made his first appearance on March 19 in Denver, CO at a house show when he hosted a live Piper's Pit and interviewed Brother Love. Two weeks later at WrestleMania V he did make his official return with another live Piper's Pit, where he hosed down a smoking Morton Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher. He made his return to the ring on May 12, substituting for Jake Roberts and pinning Ted DiBiase on a house show in Los Angeles. Piper would gain several more victories against DiBiase that month, and also against Randy Savage in June.
After this, Piper co-hosted Prime Time Wrestling from July 17, 1989 to December 25, 1989, with Gorilla Monsoon, feuding with Bobby Heenan, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, and Brother Love, he would return to the show in 1991 as well. Piper returned to the ring when he interfered in Rude's Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship defense against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam, costing Rude the title. The feud was heavily promoted on television and Piper would face Rude in many matches throughout the house show tours, including steel cage and lumberjack matches. The feud was so prominent that a Survivor Series match was built around it which saw both men captain a team and simultaneously be eliminated by countout during their brawl, though Rude's team would go onto win the match. The feud came to a head when the stipulation stated that if Piper beat Rude, Heenan would have to dress as Santa Claus for an episode of Prime Time. However the feud would continue until March 1990 with Piper winning the majority of their matches throughout 89-90 including a win over Bobby Heenan. He then feuded with Bad News Brown who was upset at being eliminated by Piper at the 1990 Royal Rumble. Brown would go on to mock Piper for wearing a "skirt". At WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Piper cut a promo towards his opponent Bad News Brown before the match with half his face and body painted black. Subsequently, the match would end in a double countout, with the issue between the two never being resolved. In 1991, he supported Virgil in his feud against "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Later in 1991, Piper was involved in a motorcycle accident, but was still present at their matches at WrestleMania VII and SummerSlam. He renewed his feud with Ric Flair and at the 1992 Royal Rumble defeated The Mountie for his first, and only, Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. He lost it soon after to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII. Following his title loss to Hart, Piper made a handful of appearances at television tapings for Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars. Four Piper's Pit segments were recorded - two with Steve Lombardi and two with Shawn Michaels. None aired, and Piper disappeared from the WWF. He made his return playing the bagpipes at SummerSlam.
He reemerged once again in 1994 at WrestleMania X as guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Bret Hart and Yokozuna. During the match, commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler remarked that he hated Piper and continued to taunt Piper on his King's Court segment on Monday Night Raw, eventually culminating with Lawler bringing out a young, skinny impersonator in a Piper T-shirt and kilt and forcing him to kiss his feet. Enraged, Piper agreed to wrestle Lawler at the King of the Ring, where Piper emerged victorious. In spring 1994, Piper began hosting a regular weekly segment on All-American Wrestling called "The Bottom Line" where he commented on various happenings in the WWF, as well as on his feud with Lawler. Piper's segment aired regularly until the Summer of 1994, when Piper would disappear again.
Leaving the WWF again, he briefly returned in 1995 at WrestleMania XI, once again in a referee capacity, for the submission-only match between Hart and Bob Backlund. After this match, Piper became the host for the replay editions of WWF pay-per-views for a brief period of time, commenting on the matches that had just happened, before disappearing again a few months later.
On the January 29, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw, Piper returned for another regular role, as he was named as interim WWF President after Gorilla Monsoon had to take a leave of absence due to an attack by Vader. On February 24 at a house show at East Rutherford, New Jersey he made his first match appearance in almost two years. As a substitute for Razor Ramon, Piper defeated The 1-2-3 Kid after hitting him with a ring bell. He wrestled twice more against the Kid on house shows that month.
As president, one of Piper's first acts was to reinstate The Ultimate Warrior back into the WWF after a letter campaign written in by fans. Piper had become the object of affection for Goldust. Enraged, Piper claimed he would "make a man" out of Goldust at WrestleMania XII. The match, dubbed a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl", began in an alleyway behind the Arrowhead Pond, but Goldust jumped into his gold Cadillac and ran Piper over, ultimately escaping (allegedly) onto the highways of Anaheim. Piper pursued in his white Ford Bronco. The two eventually returned to the arena, where Piper disrobed Goldust in the ring, effectively ending the confrontation. With Gorilla Monsoon back in control of the WWF by the end of the night, Piper once again left the company.
Piper joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the fall of 1996. He made his surprise WCW debut as a fan favorite at the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view in October to insult the nWo leader and the World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan. On the November 18 episode of Nitro, Piper revealed that Eric Bischoff was a member of the nWo, which ended with the nWo attacking him. On the December 9 episode of Nitro, Piper told Flair that he didn't need the Four Horsemen's help in beating Hogan and he was going to do it on his own. Piper defeated Hogan with his signature sleeper hold in the non-title main event of the company's flagship pay-per-view Starrcade, which earned him a title shot against Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl VII, where Piper was defeated. Piper then joined forces with Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen in their battle with the nWo. On the March 10, 1997 episode of Nitro, Piper and his family joined forces with The Four Horseman in their battle with the nWo. At Uncensored, Piper competed in a triangle elimination match where he captained a team of Horsemen Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett against the nWo and WCW's team of Lex Luger, the Steiner Brothers and The Giant. His team lost the match. On the March 31 episode of Nitro, Piper and Flair agreed to team up and stand side by side to fight. Piper moved on to feud with other members of nWo. At Slamboree, Piper, Flair and Kevin Greene defeated nWo members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Syxx in a six-man tag team match. The following month, at The Great American Bash pay-per-view, Piper and Flair unsuccessfully challenged The Outsiders for the World Tag Team Championship. On the June 23 episode of Nitro, Flair and the Four Horsemen turned on Piper and attacked him. This led to a match between Piper and Flair at Bash at the Beach, which Piper won.
Piper took a hiatus from television before making his return to WCW on the September 8 episode of Nitro, where he was appointed the new on-air Commissioner of WCW, which reduced his in-ring work. He briefly resumed his feud with Hulk Hogan, beating him in a steel cage match at Halloween Havoc. On the March 23, 1998 episode of Nitro, Piper and Randy Savage battled to a no contest. On the March 30 episode of Nitro, Piper defeated Hogan by disqualification. At the 1998 Spring Stampede pay-per-view, Piper teamed with The Giant in a loss to Hogan and Nash in a Baseball Bat on a Pole match. At Slamboree, Piper served as the special guest referee in a match between Randy Savage and Bret Hart, which Hart won but the following night on Nitro, Piper changed his decision and declared Savage as the winner by disqualification. At The Great American Bash, Piper and Savage lost to Hogan and Hart in a tag team match. On the September 7 episode of Nitro, Piper and Diamond Dallas Page defeated Sting and Lex Luger by disqualification. Piper teamed with Diamond Dallas Page and The Warrior as Team WCW in a WarGames match at Fall Brawl for an opportunity at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the following month's Halloween Havoc. Page won the match for his team. On the September 14 episode of Nitro, Piper confronted Bret Hart.
On the February 8, 1999 episode of Nitro, Piper defeated Bret Hart to win his third United States Heavyweight Championship. Piper held the title for only two weeks as he lost the title to Scott Hall at SuperBrawl IX. In late 1999, Piper was featured on WCW television, in an angle with Vince Russo, who was now portraying himself as the "Powers That Be" (an unseen power that was controlling WCW). At Slamboree, Piper defeated Flair by disqualification, and the following month at The Great American Bash, Flair defeated Piper by disqualification for control of World Championship Wrestling. At Bash at the Beach, Piper competed against Buff Bagwell in a boxing match with Mills Lane as special guest referee where he lost. At Starrcade, Piper was the special referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match featuring Goldberg and Bret Hart. Forced by Russo, Piper called for the bell when Hart locked in the Sharpshooter on Goldberg, when it was apparent that Goldberg had not submitted. The feud between Piper and the Powers That Be ended shortly after. Piper's last appearance in WCW was at SuperBrawl 2000 in February 2000 where he was a surprise referee in the World Championship title match between Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Hall. In July 2000, WCW terminated Piper's contract.
Piper returned to WWE on March 30, 2003, by conducting a surprise run in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon match at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, where he attacked Hogan with a steel pipe to cement his heel status; Hogan nevertheless eventually won the match. Piper went on to align with Sean O'Haire; at Backlash in April, Rikishi hit Piper with Piper's own coconut, but this led to O'Haire defeating Rikishi.
In May, as Hulk Hogan had been banned in storyline from television by Vince McMahon, Hogan returned under a mask as Mr. America, and continued his feud with Piper, O'Haire and McMahon, who tried to reveal Mr. America's true identity. This storyline also saw Piper tear off the fake leg of one-legged wrestler Zach Gowen, who was playing a Hogan fan. At Judgment Day, Piper argued with Chris Jericho if Piper's Pit was better than Jericho's talk show The Highlight Reel. Later at the event, Piper lost to Mr. America.
Piper and O'Haire then moved on to challenge Tajiri and Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but in June 2003, he was released by WWE.
On February 21, 2005, it was announced that Piper was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Piper held an episode of Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21 where he interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin. On the July 11, 2005 episode of Raw, Piper received a superkick from Shawn Michaels, the guest for Piper's Pit. In October and November 2005, Piper feuded with "Cowboy" Bob Orton and Randy Orton, after they attacked him during a session of Piper's Pit with Mick Foley. While Piper defeated both Ortons in a handicap match and submitted Bob in a six-man tag match, the feud ended with Randy interfering in a singles match between Piper and Bob, disqualifying Bob, but beating down Piper.
On the June 2 episode of SmackDown, Piper held an episode of Piper's Pit with The Great Khali who attacked Piper. Piper returned to Raw on September 11, 2006 for a six-man tag team match win with The Highlanders against the Spirit Squad. He also appeared on the Raw Family Reunion, along with Money Inc. and Arn Anderson to accompany Ric Flair ringside for a match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad. On November 5, Piper would gain what would be his final championship in WWE, winning the World Tag Team Championship with Flair from The Spirit Squad at Cyber Sunday. On the November 6 episode of Raw, Piper and Flair defeated Edge and Randy Orton to retain the titles in a no disqualification match with help from DX. On the November 13, 2006 episode of Raw, Piper and Flair lost the title to Rated-RKO.
In 2007, Piper appeared in February to announce Dusty Rhodes for the WWE Hall of Fame, and also in June for Vince McMahon Appreciation Night. In 2008, Piper made a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match by attacking Jimmy Snuka, but was eliminated by Kane. Piper then had a series of confrontations with Santino Marella. At Cyber Sunday, Piper was one of three legends to chose to be Santino Marella's opponent for the Intercontinental Championship, with The Honky Tonk Man being picked. The match ended by disqualification and after the match, Piper and Goldust made their way down to the ring confronting and attacking Marella.
On the February 16, 2009 episode of Raw, after Chris Jericho insulted WWE legends, Piper interrupted him and was attacked by Jericho for it. The feud culminated in Jericho defeating Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania XXV in a handicap match. Piper later guest hosted Raw on November 16, 2009 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Piper challenged Vince McMahon to a street fight later in the evening, but Randy Orton came out to fight in McMahon's place. Kofi Kingston came out to stop Randy's assault on Piper.
He inducted Wendi Richter into the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010. He also appeared the next night on Raw as one of the Legend Lumberjacks in a match that involved Christian and Ted DiBiase. Two months later, Piper hired DiBiase to capture guest host Quinton Jackson so he could "gain revenge on BA", but was unsuccessful.
At WrestleMania XXVII, Piper made a cameo by hitting Zack Ryder with a coconut. On the June 13, 2011 episode of Raw, The Miz and, later, Alex Riley were guests on Piper's Pit; this led to Piper defeating Miz in a match (to win $5000) because of help from Riley, the guest referee; this was Piper's last documented WWE match. John Cena was a guest for Piper's Pit on the November 28, 2011 episode of Raw.
On the April 10, 2012 episode of SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee were guest of Piper's Pit. On the June 18 episode of Raw, Piper reunited with Cyndi Lauper. At Raw 1000, Piper and various other veterans helped Lita defeat Heath Slater. On the August 13, 2012 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho was the guest for Piper's Pit, but Dolph Ziggler and the Miz interrupted.
On the January 6, 2014 episode of Raw, The Shield were guests for Piper's Pit. On the March 31, 2014 episode of Raw, Piper hosted Piper's Pit with superstars who would compete in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which ended in a brawl with Big Show clearing the ring and Piper raising his hand. At WrestleMania XXX, the four men who wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania I—Piper, Paul Orndorff, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T—buried the hatchet in a backstage segment. On the December 22, 2014 episode of Raw, Rusev and Lana were guests for the final edition of Piper's Pit. At WrestleMania 31, Piper and other legends appeared in a backstage segment after Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship.
On July 31, 2015, Piper passed away.