Rick Rude

**Richard Erwin Rood**, better known by his ring name of **"Ravishing" Rick Rude** (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999) was a professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, most notably World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, in the 1980s and 1990s.

## Professional wrestling career

After graduating from Anoka Ramsey Junior College with a degree in Physical Education, Rood began wrestling in 1983 as **Ricky Rood**, a babyface jobber. He started with Vancouver's NWA All Star Wrestling before moving on to compete for Georgia Championship Wrestling and later Memphis-based Mid-Southern Wrestling.

He later left and joined the National Wrestling Alliance affiliate Jim Crockett Promotions where he and a variety of tag team partners feuded with The Road Warriors. He returned to Mid-Southern Wrestling in 1984, this time as **"Ravishing" Rick Rude**, an overconfident, arrogant heel managed by Jimmy Hart. Rude feuded with Jerry Lawler and later his former partner, King Kong Bundy.

Rude was hired by Florida Championship Wrestling in December 1984 where he was managed by Percy Pringle and feuded with Billy Jack Haynes and Wahoo McDaniel, while teaming with Jesse Barr. After a year, he jumped to World Class Championship Wrestling along with Pringle, where he feuded with Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich and Chris Adams.

After losing the WCCW Championship to Adams in July 1986, he fired Pringle and briefly replaced him with his sister, Raven. He formed a short-lived tag team with The Dingo Warrior, but the Warrior turned on him and became a face.

In September 1986, Rude returned to Jim Crockett Promotions and joined Manny Fernandez and his manager Paul Jones in their rivarly with Wahoo McDaniel. Rude and Fernandez won the NWA World Tag Team Championships on December 6, 1986 from the Rock 'N Roll Express, and began an epic feud that ended only when Rude left the promotion for the World Wrestling Federation in April 1987. To explain the sudden departure, Jim Crockett, Jr. aired a pre-taped non-title match where the Express defeated Rude and Fernandez and claimed that Rude had been injured as a result.

Rude made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut on *Superstars Of Wrestling* on July 15, 1987 as the newest addition to the Bobby Heenan Family.

His first feud in the WWF was with Heenan's former muscle bound charge "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (who Heenan had dropped after Rude joined the Family), and then challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on January 9, 1988 in the Boston Garden before starting one of his most famous feuds with Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Rude had a routine where, before the match, he would make a show of removing his robe while insulting the males in the crowd (usually calling them "fat, out-of-shape sweathogs") from their hometowns and, after his victories, he would kiss a woman whom Heenan selected from the audience. One of Rude's trademarks was his specially airbrushed tights that he wore during matches. In the Roberts angle, Rude tried to get Roberts' real-life wife, Cheryl, to participate (though not knowing when Heenan chose her that she was in fact Roberts' wife).

After Mrs. Roberts rejected him and revealed who she was there to see, Rude became angry (after she slapped him), grabbed her wrist, and berated her on the microphone when Roberts ran from the dressing room to make the save. To retaliate a few days later, Rude came to the ring with a likeness of Cheryl stenciled on the front of his tights. A furious Roberts charged the ring and stripped Rude, appearing to television viewers to leave him naked (as indicated by black-spot censoring Rude's genital area), although the live audience saw him actually stripped to a g-string.

Through mid-1988 Rude continued to wear a second pair of tights under the one he wore to the ring, including during his match against the Junkyard Dog at the inaugural SummerSlam at Madison Square Garden. During the match Rude had the JYD on his back and had climbed to the top turnbuckle.

While up there he pulled down his tights to reveal a second with Cheryl Roberts printed on them. After hitting the Dog with a flying fist, he was attacked by Roberts who had seen the action from the dressing room. Roberts attack on Rude caused the JYD to be disqualified, giving Rude the win. Rude's feud with Roberts came to its conclusion when Roberts pinned Rude following a DDT during the 1988 Survivor Series.

Rude's next big feud was with The Ultimate Warrior and began in January at the 1989 Royal Rumble pay-per-view in a "Super Posedown" that ended with Rude attacking Warrior with a metal pose bar. With help from Heenan, Rude won the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship from The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V, before dropping it back to Warrior at SummerSlam that same year, due in large part to interference from "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

Rude then feuded with Piper which led to a conflict between their respective teams at the 1989 Survivor Series in which both men brawled to a double count-out.

Rude would go on to have many matches with Piper including inside a steel cage, losing the majority of them, before having a brief program against Jimmy Snuka getting a win over him at WrestleMania 6. Rude resumed his conflict with The Ultimate Warrior in the summer of 1990 after Warrior had won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Rude began rigorous training in preparation for the Warrior, and took a more serious approach by neglecting women and cutting his hair short (a style he would maintain for the rest of his career).

The feud culminated in a steel cage at SummerSlam 1990; wherein, Rude was defeated by the Warrior. Next, he was scheduled to feud with Big Boss Man, which had its start when Rude's manager Bobby Heenan started to make degrading comments about Boss Man's mother. Rude would later backup the statements and call out the Boss Man.

Rude was scheduled to be a part of a team called the Natural Disasters at the Survivor Series, consisting of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and The Barbarian against Hulk Hogan and Boss Man's team, but was replaced by Haku after being suspended indefinitely by Jack Tunney. Tunney explained that Rude's comments towards the Boss Man were the reason for his suspension and that his manager Bobby Heenan was obligated to wrestle the Boss Man in his place. In reality Rude had a dispute with WWF owner Vince McMahon that led to him leaving the company.

Rude returned to Jim Crockett Promotions, now known as World Championship Wrestling, as **The Halloween Phantom** at Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1991. He founded and led The Dangerous Alliance, consisting of himself, Paul E. Dangerously, Madusa, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko and "Stunning" Steve Austin. Rude won the United States Championship from Sting and feuded with Ricky Steamboat, at one point breaking his nose in a gang attack.

In 1992, Rude and Madusa left The Dangerous Alliance and feuded with Nikita Koloff. Rude challenged reigning World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons on several occasions but did not defeat him. He was injured in December and was forced to forfeit the United States Championship. Rude returned alone in April 1993 and tried to reclaim the title from Dustin Rhodes, who had won it while he was injured. The title was eventually held up after several controversial finishes to matches between the two.

Rude switched his sights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, making his intentions clear on August 28, 1993, when he was the guest on then-champion Ric Flair's "A Flair For the Gold" talk show. Rude went on to defeat Flair for the title in September 1993 at Fall Brawl. However, as WCW had recently withdrawn from the NWA, the title could no longer be called the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (WCW had purchased the belt itself, however). The title was renamed the WCW International Championship, which Rude lost to Hiroshi Hase on March 16, 1994 in Tokyo, Japan. Rude regained the title just eight days later in Kyoto, Japan.

After dropping the title to Sting on April 17, Rude pinned Sting on May 1 to become a three time champion. However, Rude was stripped of the title as he was found to have used the title belt as a weapon in the course of the match. Rude retired shortly after due to a back injury suffered while wrestling Sting.

Rude collected on an insurance policy and did not compete in wrestling again until 1997, when he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling as a masked man who harassed Shane Douglas, at one point spanking Francine. He eventually unmasked and became a color commentator. He would later align himself, for a short time, with Shane Douglas and his Triple Threat. During the ECW versus USWA / WWF inter-company competition, Rude helped Jerry "The King" Lawler defeat ECW mainstays, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman.

Rude collected on a Lloyd's of London insurance policy and did not appear in wrestling again until January 1997, when he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a masked man. Rude debuted at House Party, declaring that his New Year's resolution was to "fuck with the Franchise" (Shane Douglas). Rude went on to repeatedly harass Douglas, at one point spanking Douglas' valet Francine during Crossing the Line Again.

He eventually unmasked and became a color commentator before later aligning himself, for a short time, with Douglas and his Triple Threat stable. In the main event of ECW Heat Wave 1997, Rude made a one-off return to the ring in a six-man tag team match, where he partnered with ECW mainstays Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman to face Jerry Lawler and ECW stars Rob Van Dam and Sabu, only to betray Dreamer and The Sandman.

Rude later returned to the WWF as an "insurance policy" of D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna). He assisted with several sneak attacks on The Undertaker. He left the WWF after the *Montreal Screwjob* at the 1997 Survivor Series.

According to Bret Hart, Rude stayed in the locker room during Bret's confrontation with Vince McMahon. Rude then called Eric Bischoff and informed him what had happened was in fact real. As Rude was not signed to a full-time contract with WWF, and was performing on a "per appearance" basis, Rude was able to negotiate a deal with Bischoff and WCW, in part due to his anger over the Montreal Screwjob.

Then, in a memorable evening causing much embarrassment to the WWF, Rude appeared on *both* RAW is WAR and WCW Monday Nitro on November 17, 1997. A clean-shaven Rood appeared on Nitro, which was live, and proceeded to criticize the WWF, calling the company the "Titanic" (a reference to Titan Enterprises, as the WWF's parent company was then known, as the "sinking ship"). An hour later on RAW (which had been taped six days earlier), Rude then appeared with a beard.

Rude appeared on both the WWF's *Raw Is War* and WCW's *Monday Nitro* in the same night on November 17, 1997. A mustached Rude appeared on *Nitro*, which was live, and proceeded to criticize Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, DX, and the WWF, calling the company the "Titanic" (a reference to Titan Sports, as WWF's parent company was then known, as the "sinking ship").

An hour later on *Raw Is War* (which had been taped six days earlier), Rude then appeared with the full beard he had been sporting during his last few weeks in the WWF. Rude also appeared on ECW's *Hardcore TV* during that weekend (November 14–16 as the show was syndicated differently depending on the market). Rude was still making ECW appearances while he was in D-Generation X, as the WWF and ECW often co-operated in terms of talent.

Rude became a member of the New World Order, managing his friend Curt Hennig. When the nWo split, Hennig and Rude joined the nWo Wolfpac and tried to motivate Konnan to defeat Goldberg, who was undefeated at the time.

When Konnan was defeated by Goldberg, Rude and Hennig attacked him, later joining nWo Hollywood, the rivals of the Wolfpac. By late 1998, Rude had left WCW amid rumors that he was training for a comeback to full-time wrestling. He briefly appeared with the WWF as a commentator on their pay-per-view pre-shows.

## Death

Rude was found unconscious by his wife and died on the morning of April 20, 1999, at the age of 40 when he suffered a heart attack. An autopsy report showed he died from an overdose of "mixed medications".

At the time of his death, Rude was in training for a return to the ring. The effects of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a narcolepsy prevention drug, may have contributed to his death.

He is buried at Green Lawn Cemetery in Roswell, Georgia. On March 6, 2017, it was announced that Rick Rude would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat inducted Rude. Michelle, Merissa, and Richard Jr. accepted on his behalf.