"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Previews "WWE Legends' House"

After two years on the shelf, WWE will finally debut its highly-anticipated “WWE Legends’ House” reality series this Thursday. The show was shopped around several different outlets, but WWE ultimately figured it would air it on the WWE Network once it was ready for launch. Newsday talked about the show with some of the legends, including “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.

The media was treated to a preview of the show at a recent event, and the outlet described the opening scene.

“During the debut, eight WWE legends — Piper and Duggan are joined by Tony Atlas, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Pat Patterson, Hillbilly Jim, Jimmy Hart and Howard Finkel — meet up at a house in Palm Springs, Calif., for weeks of “Real World”-style bonding. To stir the pot early in the proceedings, the cast is summoned outside by a gong and is surprised to find Hollywood star-turned-troubled soul Gary Busey offering a healing meditation session.”

It was the first time the cast had seen a completed episode since filming wrapped up.

“First thing, I’m uncomfortable,” Piper admitted seconds after the viewing when asked his immediate reaction. “There are some things I forgot — [grimaces] — uncomfortable.”

While many reality shows, such as “Total Divas,” are primarily scripted, this show was generally left loose. Producers reportedly did not tell the stars what to say, and filmed genuine reactions.

“I think it’s very authentic,” Piper said. “Like nobody there is trying to pretend ‘I’m this,’ or ‘I gotta live up to this.’ Everybody in there has been around long enough, they’re just kind of being themselves, like we are here. Nobody’s putting up any airs.”

One of the arcs of the series will also be the verbal spouts between Duggan and Tony Atlas. Piper said that while they didn’t want the guys to fight, it was wrestling protocol to never interfere with one.

“At one point, I went to the producer and said, ‘Listen, if one of us gets into it, who’s gonna stop it?’ Because nobody’s else is going to jump in from our band,” Piper said, talking about pro wrestling protocol not to jump into a backstage fight between two guys with issues. “… We’re not ‘Jersey Shore,’ for sure we’ll go. You don’t want to push that button too much.”

The show will premiere Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The entire article can be found here.

Editor’s Note

I am pretty excited to watch this show. It looks off the wall, and J.R. himself has noted how entertaining it is. These guys are all legends, and should put on quite the program.

Follow Jon Alba on Twitter!