Rick Rude

Aug 8, 2010 - by Jamie Cruickshank

Real name: Richard Erwin Rood
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 251 lbs.
Date of birth: December 7, 1958
Date of death: April 20, 1999
Hometown: Robinsdale, Minnesota
Trained by: Eddie Sharkey
Pro Debut: 1983
Retired: May 1, 1994
Finishing move: The Rude Awakening (neckbreaker)

Biography

– Rude made his in ring debut in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
– Rude landed in Memphis, TN and was managed by “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.
– On June 11, 1984, Rude defeated Jerry “The King” Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight title in Memphis.
– Rude and King Kong Bundy defeated the Fabulous Ones in the finals of a tournament on October 8, 1984 to capture the AWA Southern Tag Team title.
– In January 1985, Rude move to the Florida region and accepted the managerial services of Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer).
– On January 16, 1985, Rude defeated “Pistol” Pez Whatley for the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight title.
– Rude and partner Jesse Barr claimed the Florida version of the NWA United States Tag Team title on April 16, 1985 by beating Jay and Mark Youngblood.
– On July 5, 1985, Rude won a tournament to capture the vacated NWA Southern Heavyweight title. He defeated Mike Graham in the finals.
– On September 2, 1985 at the Battle of the Belts, Rude retained the Southern title by defeating Billy Jack Haynes.
– A short time later, Rude and Pringle headed to the World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas.
– On November 4, 1985, Rude defeated “Iceman” King Parsons for the NWA American Heavyweight title in Ft. Worth, TX.
– When the World Class territory seceded from the NWA in early 1986, Rude was recognized as the promotions first world champion.
– Rude and Pringle had a falling out, and as a result, Rude fired the portly manager.
– On May 5, 1986, Rude beat Lance Von Erich for the World Class Television title.
– By the end of 1986, Rude agreed to join Jim Crockett Promotions. He found yet another manager, “Number One” Paul Jones.
– Rude and the “Ragin’ Bull” Manny Fernandez downed the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express on December 6, 1986 in Atlanta, GA.
– “Ravishing” Rick Rude arrived in the WWF in October 1987 and secured the managerial services of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.
– At Wrestlemania IV, Rude and Jake “The Snake” Roberts battled to a time limit draw.
– At the 1988 Summerslam in New York, Rude defeated the Junkyard Dog via disqualification.
– Rude defeated the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania V in Atlantic City, NJ for the Intercontinental title.
– Rude and Vince McMahon had a major falling out, causing Rude to leave the WWF in favor of WCW.
– At the 1991 Halloween Havoc, Rude (wrestling under the Halloween Phanton mask) made short work of Tom Zenk.
– Rude joined the New Dangerous Alliance with Steve Austin, Madusa, Paul Heyman, Larry Zbyzko, Arn Anderson, and Bobby Eaton.
– On November 19, 1991, Rude defeated Sting in Savannah, GA for the WCW United States title.
– Rude successfully defended the U.S. title at the 1992 Superbrawl in Milwaukee, WI against Ricky Steamboat.
– At WCW’s Clash of the Champions XIX on June 22, 1992, Rude and Austin defeated Zenk and Marcus Bagwell.
– On August 10, 1992, Rude pinned Shinya Hashimoto in Tokyo, Japan, and Kensuke Sasaki the next night.
– At WCW’s Clash of the Champions XX, Rude and Roberts were the only survivors in their elimination match with Sting, Nikita Koloff, and the Steiner brothers.
– Due to an injury, Rude was stripped of the United States title.
– Rude defeated Ric Flair on September 19, 1993 for the WCW International title in Houston, TX.
– Rude successfully defended the International title against Flair in a rematch at Halloween Havoc ’93.
– At Starrcade ’93, Rude defeated The Boss.
– A week after dropping the International title to Hiroshi Hase, Rude regained it on March 24, 1994 in Kyoto, Japan.
– In a match against Sting, Rude suffered a career ending back/neck injury.
– In 1996, Rude popped up in ECW under a mask and taunted “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. While in ECW, Rude occasionally did commentary with Joey Styles.

– In 1997, Rude rejoined the WWF and became Shawn Michaels’ “insurance policy” within Degeneration X. However, Rude never signed a contract, and eventually jumped to WCW. Rude actually appeared on a live “Nitro” and on a pre-taped episode of “Raw” in the same night.
– On May 10, 2003, Rude was honored at CZW’s (Combat Zone Wrestling) 10th Anniversary show for Viking Hall (ECW Arena) in Philadelphia, PA.
– On May 31, 2010 Rude was inducted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame.
– On March 31, 2016, Rude was inducted into the WWE hall of fame.

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