Terry Taylor

Terrance Taylor

In early 1988, Taylor debuted in World Class Championship Wrestling, where he and Chris Adams feuded until early June.

In 1988, Taylor signed with the World Wrestling Federation. He made his initial debut in a house show defeat to Tito Santana on July 10, 1988 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Three days later, he made his televised debut as babyface **Scary Terry Taylor**, where he teamed with Sam Houston against The Conquistadors on the August 1, 1988 airing of *Prime Time Wrestling*. After Houston was pinned, Taylor got on the mic and berated him for losing the match, before attacking him and turning heel. Taylor soon acquired Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his manager and was rebranded "**The Red Rooster**", a gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat and, later as a babyface, style his hair like a rooster's comb and strut like a rooster. Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was described by Heenan as a novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from his manager, despite objections from announcers such as Gorilla Monsoon who would recall him showing considerable promise in matches prior to Heenan's involvement. The Rooster made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of Survivor Series '88, where he was the first wrestler eliminated from the match.

On the January 7, 1989 episode of *Saturday Night's Main Event XIX*, the Rooster lost a match to Tito Santana due to being distracted by an argument with Heenan. Following the loss, Heenan slapped Taylor. Taylor, tired of Heenan's demeaning style of coaching, turned against his manager and attacked him. He became a face as a result, though he retained the Red Rooster gimmick. Heenan feigned wanting to make amends with Taylor on *Prime Time Wrestling*, but it was a set-up for Taylor to be ambushed by Heenan's new protege, long-time enhancement talent Steve Lombardi, who Heenan reinvented as The Brooklyn Brawler. The two feuded, leading to the Rooster defeating the Brawler on the March 11, 1989 episode of *Saturday Night's Main Event XX* and then defeating Heenan in a thirty-second squash at WrestleMania V. Taylor would then primarily be used to put over other talent. While he still earned victories against enhancement talent, he was usually on the losing end against established stars. He worked a program with Mr. Perfect, losing to him at SummerSlam '89 and again on the November 25, 1989 episode of *Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV*. At Survivor Series '89, he was part of Dusty Rhodes' "Dream Team". Though Taylor was eliminated from the match, the Dream Team was victorious. The Rooster's last pay-per-view appearance was as a participant in the 1990 Royal Rumble match (replacing The Widow Maker), where he lasted only two minutes before being eliminated by André the Giant. Taylor left the WWF in June 1990.

Taylor signed with World Championship Wrestling two months later, making his return in a win by disqualification over "Mean" Mark Callous. He debuted as **Terry Taylor** and unsuccessfully challenged Arn Anderson for the WCW World Television Championship on several occasions, with most of the matches ending in time-limit draws. At The Great American Bash, he teamed with “Stunning” Steve Austin in a scaffold match, but lost when they were defeated by P.N. News and Bobby Eaton. Taylor then began a short feud with Michael Wallstreet, which ended abruptly after Wallstreet jumped to the WWF. Taylor took Wallstreet's place in The York Foundation and was renamed **Terrence Taylor**. He feuded with Tom Zenk, Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Eaton, and won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championships with Richard Morton and Thomas Rich. Taylor was the senior wrestling member of the York Foundation throughout its existence. For a time in late 1991-early 1992, Taylor teased a face turn by arguing with manager Alexandra York and the rest of the group. After the York Foundation disbanded, Taylor (billed as 'The Taylor Made Man') remained heel and formed a tag team with Greg Valentine in 1992. They held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship for three months.

On September 21, 1992, Taylor returned to the WWF as "**Terrific Terry Taylor**", defeating Jim Brunzell at a *WWF Superstars* taping in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He continued wrestling as a heel and was undefeated for his first month, gaining a series of house show victories over Jim Powers. In November, he began a house show program with Max Moon, followed a month later with a series against Lance Cassidy. Taylor was primarily used to put over other talent. His most high profile match during this time was a loss to Randy Savage on the December 14, 1992 airing of *Prime Time Wrestling*. He appeared in the 1993 Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated in twenty-four seconds by Ted DiBiase. He worked house shows in the spring against Typhoon, then became a broadcaster and backstage interviewer, wrestling his last on screen match on the May 22, 1993 edition of *WWF Mania* against Tatanka. Taylor would leave the company in August 1993 after his final match, which was a house show match where he lost to Brutus Beefcake in Sheffield, England.

Taylor returned to WCW again in September 1993, doing both commentary and in ring business. In January 1994, he teamed with Erik Watts in a televised loss to Pretty Wonderful on *WCW Saturday Night*. Wrestling as a face, Taylor began a program with Diamond Dallas Page and defeated him at SuperBrawl IV on February 20. As in the WWF, Taylor began commentary work and teamed with Tony Schiavone on play-by-play for *WCW Power Hour*. After wrestling The Honky Tonk Man and Tex Slazenger during the spring and summer, he ended his run with three straight victories over Jean Paul Levesque on an August house show tour of Texas.

He made his return to the ring on April 20, 1996 in Little Rock, Arkansas, when he defeated Steve Regal, and would occasionally wrestle on house shows over the next two and a half years. His last match came on September 23, 1998, when he faced Steve McMichael in Utica, New York.

Taylor returned to the WWF in 1998, doing interviews backstage and sometimes commentary on WWF television. As with WCW, he would occasionally wrestle on live events. His first match would be against Kurt Angle on May 15, 1999 in Baltimore, Maryland. His final match was against Joey Abs on September 23, 1999.

After conducting backstage interviews for a year in the WWF, Taylor returned to WCW yet again. He appeared in a backstage segment with Kimberly on *Monday Nitro* on November 15, 1999. During this run in WCW, Taylor co-hosted and provided commentary for *WCW Saturday Night* with Larry Zbyszko. He remained with the company until WWF bought it out in March 2001.

In September 2002, Taylor returned to the now renamed WWE as a road agent. He lasted in this capacity until July 14, 2003, when he was released from his contract.

In 2012, Taylor was re-signed by WWE to work as a trainer in its developmental territory *NXT*.