Simply ravishing is the best way to describe one of the greatest heels in professional wrestling history. Rick Rude carried himself with a charisma that was nearly unparalleled. He insulted the “overweight, stinking sweat hogs” wherever he went during his WWE career, and was more than a match for anyone in or out of the ring. It’s because of his lasting legacy as a wrestler and person that today on this day in wrestling history, April 20, we remember Rick Rude. Another wrestler that left us far too early in 1999.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7w5s4zDoQY
Storied career
Rude worked for several promotions, most notably WWE, WCW, and ECW, but he’s better known from his time in the WWE (then the WWF) as Ravishing Rick Rude and a member of the Heenan Family.
Because of him usually being the foil for the promotion;s top faces like Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in the WWE, Rude won several titlesacross the many promotions he worked for. To name a few, he was WCW International World Heavyweight Champion three times, and had a single reign as the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion. He also competed on pay-per-views for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Two of his greatest achievements, yet unknown or unremembered by many fans, were his co-founded on De-Generation X with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna in 1997.
He also has the distinction of being the only person to appear on both WWE’s Raw and WCW’s Nitro on the same night. This happened during the Monday Night Wars and achieved this as the WWE pre-recorded their shows.
Whether heel or face, these are two awesome achievements.
He was eventually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, 18 years after his passing and while he deserved it, it felt much too late for what he had accomplished for professional wrestling.
A heel in the ring, face out of the ring
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_MLBLkpnb_/
With the lines between reality and fiction blurred in professional wrestling, it’s great to hear stories about how many of our favorites were outside of the ring and when no one was watching. The following excerpt was shared by the @awrestlinghistorian and it’s telling of what kind of person Rick Rude was.
“Rick Rude was anything but…rude. In any circle of friends and phonies you take the good with the bad. And the bad makes you appreciate the good even more.
“At the height of my road days, when 300 fights in 300 towns/year was normal, strangers became family and family became strangers. You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends. Rick Rude was one of the best picks I ever made. He was a real friend. It’s not easy to make a bunch of road weary toughians laugh, but Rick did. He always put a smile on my face and everybody else’s.
“He was a great family man. He loved his wife. He was one of those kind of guys who never took his wedding ring off. He put a white piece of tape around it when he went into the ring. He was the kind of guy that when you needed someone to back you up, he wouldn’t flinch at all. Not for money. Not for anything.
“When McMahon and his sidemen barged into the dressing room in Montreal, Rick was there. He was one of the guys who refused to budge. Refused to allow me to be put in a compromising position. Rick Rude stayed there to make sure my back was watched.
“There were and are some people who think the whole thing that happened between McMahon and I was a hoax.
“Rick was the one who called Eric Bischoff and said, ‘I was there. I was in the room and this is what happened.’ When I was forming new business relationships in WCW, Rude’s call protected me and saved me from a lot of doubt because even Bischoff had to question whether this was a setup or not. I was always grateful to Rick for making that call and for being with me in the room that day.” – Bret Hart The Calgary Sun column April 24, 1999
Whatever we may think of someone in the ring, it’s important to know they’re probably different outside it, and they’re putting on a show for us so we can escape the real world and enjoy ourselves for those few moments. Thank you, Rick Rude. You were truly one of the greats.
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