Emotional Piper speaks out, will receive treatment

Emotional Piper speaks out, will receive treatment

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"I'll walk down that Raw ramp again, or I'll be dead."

Those were just a few of Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper's words on Monday afternoon during a phone conversation with WWE.com in which he repeatedly thanked the WWE fans.

Piper was sent home early from WWE’s early-November tour of the United Kingdom and hospitalized. While in the hospital, he underwent a four-hour surgery, where doctors removed a mass at the spinal cord with an enlarged lymph node. The mass was completely removed, but the lymph node was positive for lymphoma.

"This is the second time wrestling, and the wrestling fans have saved my life," said an emotional Piper. "When I was 15, it took me off the streets and kept me out of jail. This time, thanks to the WWE fans who voted me in for Cyber Sunday, I was able to find cancer."

Finding the cancer was just the first step in Piper's ordeal. On Thursday, the legend will begin receiving radiation for the low grade lymphoma, which will last for four weeks. Piper told WWE.com that on January 15, upon the completion of radiation treatment, he expects to walk out of the hospital with a clean bill of health.