Rick Rude

Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

Rude wrestled from 1982 until his 1994 retirement due to injury, with a final match following in 1997.

Among other accolades, he was a four-time world champion, a three-time WCW International World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion.

He began wrestling in 1982 as Ricky Rood, a babyface jobber.

Rude lost his TV debut against Jos LeDuc on the November 6, 1982 episode of Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

He started with Vancouver's NWA: All-Star Wrestling before moving on to compete for Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and later the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association (CWA).

Rude debuted on the May 28, 1983 episode of World Championship Wrestling, defeating Pat Rose with a dropkick.

Gordon Solie interviewed Rude the following week, with Rude discussing transitioning from arm wrestling to pro wrestling and dropping weight to increase speed.

He returned to Memphis 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.

He later debuted in WCCW in a match against Kamala that he lost, and then went on to (NWA) affiliate Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) where he and a variety of tag team partners feuded with The Road Warriors.

Rude was hired by Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) in December 1984, where he was managed by Percy Pringle.

He defeated Pez Whatley for the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship on January 16, 1985 and lost it to Brian Blair on April 10, 1985.

He captured the championship again on July 20, 1985, when he defeated Mike Graham in the finals of a Southern title tournament.

He held the belt until October 2 of that year when he dropped it to Wahoo McDaniel, who was booking Florida during this time.

While teaming with Jesse Barr, he won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship on April 16, 1985, and feuded with Billy Jack Haynes and Wahoo McDaniel over the belts, losing the straps to McDaniel and Haynes on July 9, 1985.

Debuting on October 18, 1985, Rude jumped to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) along with Pringle, where he feuded with Kevin Von Erich and Chris Adams.

During his time in WCCW, Rude captured the NWA American Heavyweight Championship on November 4, 1985.

However, WCCW withdrew from the NWA on February 20, 1986, and changed its name to the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA).

The NWA American Championship was renamed the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship while Rude was still holding the title.

As a result, Rude became the promotion's first world champion.

After losing the title to Chris 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 JCP and joined Manny Fernandez and his manager Paul Jones in their rivalry with Wahoo McDaniel.

Rude and Fernandez, known collectively as the "Awesome Twosome", won the NWA World Tag Team Championship on December 6, 1986 from The Rock 'n' Roll Express, and they began a 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 major feud in the WWF was with Heenan's former muscle bound charge "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (whom Heenan had dropped after Rude joined the Family), their feud culminated in Rude defeating Orndorff on November 24, at Madison Square Garden.

He would kickstart 1988 by challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on January 9, at the Boston Garden but failed to win the title before starting one of his most famous feuds with Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Rude also challenged for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on pay-per-view cards, competing for the former in the main event of SummerSlam in 1990.

Following his retirement, Rude managed multiple wrestlers.

In late 1997, Rude founded the D-Generation X stable alongside Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna.

On November 17 of that year, in the midst of the Monday Night Wars, he became the only person to appear on the WWF's Raw and WCW's Monday Nitro programs on the same night, as the former was pre-recorded and Rude had left for WCW in the interim.

He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.

Rude was born in St. Peter, Minnesota to Richard Clyde Rood and Sally Jean Thompson.

He attended Robbinsdale High School in Robbinsdale, Minnesota with Tom Zenk, Brady Boone, Nikita Koloff, Curt Hennig, John Nord, and Barry Darsow, all of whom later became professional wrestlers.

He was especially close with his childhood friend Curt Hennig.

After graduating from Anoka-Ramsey Community College with a degree in physical education, Rude worked as a bouncer for a short period of time and later did a small stint as an arm wrestler.

He would first become known to the world of professional wrestling at that time.

Rude trained as a wrestler under Eddie Sharkey, the same trainer responsible for training other wrestling stars like Bob Backlund, The Road Warriors, Sean Waltman, Austin Aries, and Erick Rowan.