Biography of Rick Rude
Name, Aliases: RICK ROOD; "Ravishing" Rick Rude.
Born: December 7, 1958
Died: April 20, 1999
Hometown: Robbinsdale, Minnesota USA
Finishing Move: "Rude Awakening" neck breaker
Titles Held (WWF/WCW): Intercontinental; U.S. Heavyweight (2); WCW International (3).
Titles Held (other): World Class American; NWA World Tag Team (Manny Fernandez); Florida World Heavyweight.
Career Description: A former U.S. arm wrestling champ, Rude made his professional wrestling debut in Memphis in the mid-80's for World Class Wrestling, where he won the World Class American title (later to become the WCCW World title when the Von Erichs seceded from the NWA). He eventually left and worked in Mid-Atlantic, the largest of the NWA promotions. In 1987, Ravishing Rick Rude made his WWF debut. The largest promotion in North America was well-suited to Rude's flamboyant gimmick, and he eventually became one of the WWF's all time top heels. During his stay there he began many feuds with the Ultimate Warrior, Ricky Steamboat, and of course Jake Roberts -- Jake's wife was targeted and sought-out by Rude for months. However, in the middle of a key rivalry with the Big Boss Man, he left for the WCW. He continued to have great success there, winning several belts and raising everyone's ire. In 1992, Rude competed in the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament to determine a new NWA World Champion and made it to the final before losing. Later in his WCW International title fights, he beat Sting in what would be his final match. During the match Sting landed awkwardly on Rude's neck and fractured vertebrae, forcing him to retire... as a champion, quite fittingly. The WCW let him go shortly thereafter, and following a lawsuit by Rude he disappeared for nearly four years. He resurfaced in the ECW as "the masked man" which sparked several angles, including a convoluted ECW vs WWF storyline. Not suprisingly he showed up in the WWF soon after and joined Degeneration X as its "insurance policy" against the Undertaker. Since Rude wasn't under a WWF contract he was free to leave as he wished -- and he did, following Bret Hart's exit. In a controversial move, Rude appeared on a live Nitro while he had been prerecorded on Raw, which was being aired simultaneously. Rude became the spokesman for the hugely popular NWO and the manager of his close hometown friend Curt Hennig. Cancer was soon discovered in Rick and the WCW decided it would be best to keep him off-camera, thus turning him into an NWO-loyal commentator. Unfortunately this lasted for only a few weeks as Rick died in his home of a heart attack, presumably cancer-related. He was only 41 years old.
In My Opinion: Like Owen, although in a clearly different way, he was ahead of his time (Val Venis, eat your heart out). His arrogant and cocky demeanor instantly made him one of the most anticipated grapplers and one of my favourite heels. His conflicts with Jake Roberts and his wife were legendary and at the time, outrageous. In fact, his "What I'd like to have right now..." speech before each match and interview were hilarious and it gave me something to look forward to every time, if not for his great in-ring skill. The fact he never gained the Heavyweight title was a huge blunder on the WWF's part. It's very disheartening to know that there was so much he didn't have the chance to accomplish in his career, and also perhaps in his life.
