Roddy Piper Reflects on The Olympic Auditorium for One of His Last Interviews in New Documentary

– Per Deadline, the documentary 18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival this week. The film, directed by Stephen DeBro, looks at the LA landmark that previously hosted the 1932 Olympic Games. The film also features interview footage with late WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper that was recorded before his passing in July 2015.

The Olympic Auditorium was a wrestling hotbed, where top names such as Gorgeous George, Andre the Giant, and Roddy Piper all performed throughout their careers. The article also features interview footage with Piper from the film. It was likely one of the last interviews before his passing later in 2015. The YouTube channel for the film released the original interview footage of Piper for the documentary in early June 2015.

Additionally, it should be noted that Piper did make an in-studio guest appearance on DirecTV’s The Rich Eisen Show on July 24, 2015. He tragically passed a week later on July 31.

In the interview footage, Piper comments on performing in the legendary arena. He stated, “I know what a gladiator in Rome must’ve felt like.” He added, “You come out, and you’re behind them, which is good.”

Piper continued on the arena, “The people who sat there they had boxes of popcorn, and they’d stick the knife up in the box of popcorn. It was the first time I got sliced, you know. When I’d go by, they’d go ‘schft’ [makes slicing motion] and they’d be gone…The crowd would close.”

Arclight Cinemas will be hosting a premiere screening of the film, featuring the Piper footage, at the Vineland Drive-In on February 25 at 7:30 pm. Tickets for the event are reportedly sold out. You can also check out some additional footage of the 2015 interview footage with Roddy Piper from the film below: