Wall of Death - History of the Wall

"Daredevil reaps 'Rotten' Reward"

The News Herald
Panama City, Florida

By Daniel Jackson

Kim Giordano turner her head away with a gentle wince when her husband passed her on a motorcycle he rides horizontally inside a giant barrel known as The Wall of Death.

Thunder Beach 2002 was not the first time whe'd seen Rhett "Rotten" Giordano defy gravity. The "dips and dives of death" have fed their family for almost a decade. But even if you're used to the stomach-churning spectacte, it's hard to hold on to your tacos when you're watching Rotten speed around cylindrical walls at 50 mph with his hands behind his back.

"We've had quite a few crashed in here," Rotten said. "I've broke my legs, arms, ribs, face, lungs. It's hard-core. You've got to have a focused mind."

Rotten carries his barrel to motorcycle rallies and car shows all over the country, performing his dizzy stunts at $5 a head. He set up in the parking lot of the Shoppes at Edgewater in Panama City Beach on Saturday for Thunder Beach, an annual extravaganza that draws hundreds of bikers.

"I bought it (The Wall of Death) out of the classified section of a newspaper in Long Island, New York, in 1993 right after I graduated high school," he said. "I was going to make a living riding my bike. That's all I've ever wanted to do."

In 2004, Rotten says, he'll attempt a stunt that could break something more than bones - breaking the Guinness World Record, which is 7 hours and 13 seconds or 12,000 laps in the barrel.

The barrel, 12 feet high and 30 feet around, was built in 1941, well before veteran bikers Pigiman, 58, and Bill Kintz, 59, got their first motorcycles.

Pigiman - the single name is how he identifies himself - and Kintz rode over from Walton County Saturday morning to hang out at Thunder Beach.

Kintz is on his 15th Harley-Davidson, but he said he doesn't travel like he once did. He has settled near Navarre Beach, where he owns a tattoo parlor.

"I ran with the wrong crowd for 30 years. You can tell by all my scars," he said pointing to his arm, covered in tattoos like his torso. "I got tired of drifting."

Pigiman said he still does some traveling on his motorcycle, which is approaching 300,000 miles, but he's taking it pretty easy. As for the younger generation of bikers, Pigiman said, "They're gonna learn. We lay back. They're anxious."

Suddenly it's time for Rotten's trick riding. He begins his tricks by making the sign of the cross and telling "Kim G." and his mother, Patricia Hart, he loves them. He doesn't appear anxious. But they certainly do.

CENTRIFUGAL FORCE: He speeds around cylindrical walls at 50 mph

Daredevil motocyclist Rhett "Rotten" Giordano cicles a 12-foot-tall wooden track on his 1957 Harley-Davidson Hummer during his Wall of Death show at the Thunder Beach motorcycle rally at the Shoppes at Edgewater Saturday.

Please Click Event to View Article

Death-defying stunts inside the Wall of Death
2006

A Rotten Interview
December 2006

Rhett Rotten Work can be a barrel of fun
December 2006

Another round trip along Wall
October 21, 2006

Puerto Rico Bike Weekend
Metal @ Work
February, 2006

Circular Sicko
January/February 2006

"Indian Larry He was my Friend"
December, 2004

"The Wall of Death is His Life"
June 19, 2004

"Biker Barrel"
October 4, 2003

"Driving Himself Up a Wall"
September 12, 2003

"'Baddest Man on Two Wheels' Wows Crowd"
August 7, 2003