WRESTLER PROFILES

[Rick Rude Gallery] [Heenan Family Gallery] [CAREER RECORD: Ravishing Rick Rude] Article: Remembering the Ravishing One	Wrestler: Ravishing Rick Rude (1958-99) Real Name: Richard E. Rood Birthday: December 7, 1958 Hometown: Robbinsdale, Minnesota Marital Status: Married to Michelle Height & Weight: 6'3" - 251 lbs Trained by: Eddie Sharkey Debut: 1983 Previous Names: Smooth Operator WCW Phantom Finishing Move: Rude Awakening Back-to Belly Piledriver Favorite Moves: Figure Four Leglock Top Rope Knee Drop Delayed Backbreaker Notable Feuds: Austin Idol Jerry Lawler Bruiser Brody The Von Erichs Chris Adams Wahoo McDaniel Paul Orndorff The Big Bossman Jake Roberts Ultimate Warrior Sting Ricky Steamboat Dustin Rhodes
AWA Southern Heavyweight title defeating Jerry Lawler (June 11, 1984); AWA Southern Tag Team titles w/King Kong Bundy defeating Steve Keirn & Stan Lane [Tournament Final] (October 8, 1984); NWA (Florida) Southern Heavyweight title defeating Pez Whatley (January 16, 1985); NWA (Florida) United States Tag Team titles w/Jesse Barr defeating Mark & Jay Youngblood (April 16, 1985); NWA (Florida) Southern Heavyweight title defeating Mike Graham [Tournament Final] (July 21, 1985); WCWA (World Class) World Heavyweight title defeating Iceman Parson (renamed NWA American title) (Febaury 20, 1986); WCCW (World Class) Televison title defeating Lance Von Erich (May 5, 1986); NWA (Mid Atlantic) World Tag Team titles w/Manny Fernandez defeating The Rock'N'Roll Express (December 6, 1986); WWF Intercotinental Heavyweight title defeating The Ultimate Warrior (April 2, 1989); WCW United States Heavyweight title defeating Sting (November 19, 1991); WCW International World Heavyweight title [Awarded] (September 19, 1993); WCW International World Heavyweight title defeating Hiroshi Hase (March 24, 1994);
In The Beginning Rick Rude and Nikita Koloff attended the same high school.. Rick Rude worked as a bouncer at Gramma B's in Minneapolis before he was discovered, working with the Road Warriors & Barry Darsow.. Rick Rude was trained by Eddie Sharkey, who also trained the Road Warriors, Barry Darsow, and Nikita Koloff.. Getting Into The Business Rick Rude started wrestling on the small circuits in Minnesota and Canada.. Rick Rude moved on to the Mid-South territory in 1984 and paired up with manager, Jimmy Hart, as part of the "First Family" stable.. Rick Rude was given the name "Ravishing" by Memphis promoter Jerry Jarret.. Rick Rude had some great matches with Mid-South stars like Austin Idol, and a breif feud with Jerry Lawler.. Rick Rude saw some success by winning the Southern tag team championship with King Kong Bundy.. Rick Rude moved on to Florida in early-1985, where he paired up with manager, Percy Pringle.. Rick Rude simply dominated the Florida territory for nearly a year, winning the heavyweight & tag titles on more than one occassion.. World Class Championship Wrestling October 1985: Rick Rude & Percy Pringle moved on to the Fritz Von Erich territory, World Class Championship Wrestling.. Rick Rude quickly won the American Heavyweight title.. Rick Rude was declared the first WCCW Heavyweight champion when the NWA withdrew sanctions from World Class.. Rick Rude, for a time, was managed by his sister Raven in the World Class promotion.. July 1986: Rick Rude lost the WCCW title to Chris Adams.. National Wrestling Alliance Rick Rude moved onto the National Wrestling Alliance.. Rick Rude re-kindled his feud with Wahoo McDaniel, which was started in Florida years earlier.. 1987: Rick Rude teamed with Manny Fernandez to win the NWA World tag team titles.. February 15, 1987--MoscaMania 2: Rick Rude & Manny Fernandez defeated Ricky Morton & Bob Armstrong in Hamilton, Ontario.. Rick Rude still held half of the NWA tag titles when he signed with the WWF.. ~~~The NWA later claimed that the Rock 'n' Roll Express regained those titles in a match that never actually took place.. World Wrestling Federation July 9, 1987: Jerry Allen pinned Rick Rude with a sunset flip in Rick Rude's WWF debut match.. July 1987 - TV Taping (aired August 9, 1987): Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan pinned Lanny Poffo (Rude's TV debut).. ~~~"Ravishing" Rick Rude would do his routine of beating his opponent and then kissing a female audience member.. Rick Rude started a feud with Jake Roberts, after Rude propositioning his wife, Cheryl Roberts, who was sitting at ringside.. January 1989: Rick Rude began a feud with the Ultimate Warrior, attacking the Warrior during a "posedown" challenge.. Wrestlemania V: Rick Rude defeated the Ultimate Warrior for the Intercontinental title.. August 1989: Rick Rude drops the Intercontinental title back to the Warrior.. Summer Slam '90: Rick Rude challenged Ultimate Warrior (WWF Champion) in a cage match for the title, and lost.. October 1990: Rick Rude and the WWF had a dispute, and Rude went packing down to WCW.. World Championship Wrestling October 27, 1991 - Halloween Havoc: Rude returned, wearing a mask going as the WCW Phantum, revealing himself after defeating Tom Zenk.. ~~~Rude was managed by Paul Dangerously, who called Rude the "cornerstone" of the Dangerous Alliance.. Beach Blast: Rick Rude competed in an Iron Man Match with Rickey Steamboat.. August 12, 1992: Masa Chono defeated Rick Rude in a tournament final for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title.. Rick Rude began a feud with NWA World champion, Ric Flair.. September 1993: Rick Rude defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Title.. Shortly after, WCW withdrew from the NWA and the title that Rude held was renamed the "WCW International title".. 1994: Rick Rude vs Sting faced off and Rude suffered a neck and back injury that would put him on the shelf for quite some time.. Extreme Championship Wrestling Rick Rude dissappeared out of the spotlight for two years, before showing up in ECW in 1996.. Rick Rude's Goal: To make Shane Douglas' life a living hell in the promotion.. Rick Rude jumped ship to the WWF while still on the ECW roster.. World Wrestling Federation - DX September 1997: Rick Rude made a return to the WWF as an "insurance" policy for Shawn Michaels and DX.. November 17, 1997: Rick Rude made history by being the FIRST man to ever appear on WWF RAW and WCW Nitro on the same night.. ~~~This was made possible because RAW, was taped 6 days earlier, and Nitro was live.. World Championship Wrestling - nWo November 1997: Rick Rude contacted Eric Bischoff, voicing his displeasure over the way Bret Hart was treated in the WWF.. ~~~Considering the fact that Rude was paid per appearence, that meant he could go wherever he wanted.. ~~~November 17th: Rick Rude appeared on the taped edition of RAW, with a beard.. ~~~Just moments later, Rick Rude appeared on the live edition of WCW Monday Nitro, clean shaven! ~~~Rude was announced to the world as the newest member of the nWo.. ~~~As soon as he was given a mic, he let loose on McMahon, and the WWF, by calling the federation the "Titanic".. ~~~From that day forward, the "Rick Rude" clause became a part of WWF contracts, so they'd never have that problem again.. Rick Rude managed Curt Hennig while he was a member of the new World order.. 1998: Rick Rude dissappeared from WCW once again.. Rick Rude's Life Rick Rude began training for his ultimate comeback to a WWF wrestling ring.. Rick Rude was the only foreign talent to make the finals of G-1 Tournament in Japan.. April 20, 1999: Rick Rude passed away after a heart attack at the age of 40..... Rick Rude was survived by his wife, Michelle, and three children..