RD Reynolds

Randy Baer, better known by his ring name RD (Real Deal) Reynolds is a former professional wrestling manager and is also the co-creator of the professional wrestling website WrestleCrap. He has also authored two books, WrestleCrap and The Death of WCW, the latter co-authored with Bryan Alvarez). Baer resides in Indiana with his wife and son.
==Wrestling career ==
Before starting WrestleCrap, Baer became involved in several local Indianapolis independent wrestling federations. According to Baer's self-published DVD set, The Worst of RD Reynolds, he first became involved in wrestling as a commentator for Jeff Cohen's Championship Wrestling of America (CWA) promotion.
Baer caught the attention of CWA by perpetrating good-natured pranks with Casey Stephon, later known as masked wrestler "Trash Losagain" at CWA's expense which included leaving humorous messages on CWA's wrestling telephone hotline and having Domino's Pizza delivered to him at CWA shows. The pizza deliveries were a direct rib against CWA wrestler Superstar Junior Carr and CWA sponsor Jack's Pizza, as Carr owned several Jack's Pizza shops. Baer worked for CWA under his real name as "The Real Deal" Randy Baer and has since lampooned himself frequently for those performances; calling himself a "pizza-shilling babyface dork."
According to Baer's DVD commentary on The Worst of RD Reynolds, he was "relieved of his duties" due to a prank on one of CWA's top performers at the time, a wrestler named Mike Samples. Baer published a wrestling program with profiles of CWA wrestlers and asserted that Samples' previous career involved managing an Orange Julius stand. Samples was, apparently, not amused by the prank.
===Pro Wrestling International===
Some time after being involved with CWA, Baer worked with another wrestling promotion in Indianapolis called Pro Wrestling International (PWI, not to be confused with Pro Wrestling Illustrated). Baer started out as a heel commentator and used the pseudonym RD Reynolds. He commentated alongside friend Casey Stephon, who used the name "The Live Wire". Stephon also wrestled for PWI under a mask as "Trash Losagain" (Trash Lose-again). Baer made the transition from commentator to manager, with the storyline being that he was the nephew of Burt Reynolds and that he had come to take over PWI so that "Uncle Burt" could convert the arena in which PWI events were held into a dinner theatre.
Baer, as RD Reynolds, managed Stephon, as Trash Losagain and a littany of other heels in a stable known as The Cannonballers. Baer and Stephon were also involved with booking the storylines for PWI which they now refer to as being terrible and making no sense. The two frequently mock themselves on the Worst of RD Reynolds commentary when they re-live "The Hat Angle" wherein they base a wrestling feud on Trash Losagain stealing the hat of PWI wrestler "Drill Sergeant Nelson".
Baer and Stephon booked their wrestling storylines in a comedic style that usually resulted in RD Reynolds getting his come-uppance in some humiliating fashion. Not a wrestler himself, Baer would book his character into matches against other non-wrestlers with very unconventional stipulations. Quite often the matches would have the "Death Match" moniker even though the matches' stipulations were far from dangerous. Three such "Death Matches" that Baer makes known on the Worst of... DVD set are the "Rosalyn Bakery Death Match" (loser gets hit in the face with a pie), the "Irish Spring Death Match" (loser gets their mouth washed out with soap), and the "Shoe Shine Death Match" (loser must shine the shoes of the winner).
Baer & Stephon did share the stage regularly with a few wrestling personalities that went on to have successful careers as wrestlers on a national scale, such as Chris Parks (now wrestling in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as "The Monster Abyss") and Madman Pondo.
===NWA Indianapolis===
Baer (as RD Reynolds) managed Madman Pondo in the co-main event against New Jack in the first and, to date, only show run under the "NWA Indianapolis" banner. The show was run and promoted by Merle Vincent Griggs. Baer mentions on his DVD commentary that he found New Jack very scary to be around and that he (Baer) very intentionally stayed far away from New Jack once he came through the curtain.
===Ohio Valley Wrestling===
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which occasionally runs shows in Indiana using local talent, has utilized RD Reynolds on one occasion when he managed power-lifter Mark Henry in a match against The Big Show. Show chokeslammed Reynolds during the course of the match and significantly injured him. Later, RD himself took responsibility, citing his own inexperience and lack of training as the reasons for the injury.
==Writing career==
Baer has written humorous wrestling-related books. One called WrestleCrap with an introduction by John Tenta. Reynolds also co-authored The Death of WCW, with wrestling journalist Bryan Alvarez. A new book, The WrestleCrap Book of Lists, is scheduled for a Summer 2007 release. He isalso a featured columnist for British pro wrestling and MMA magazine FIGHTING SPIRIT.
==See also==
*WrestleCrap
*Bryan Alvarez
*John Tenta
==External links==
*RD Reynolds's WrestleCrap website
Category:Living people