RICK RUDE TRIBUTE

Real Name: Rick Rood
Alias: Ravishing
Most Notable Titles: WCW/NWA World Champ, WWF IC Champ, NWA Tag Champ, WCW Us Champ, Mid-South World Champ, Mid-South Tag Team Champ, Florida Champ, World Class Champ

Famous Feuds: Rock and Roll Express, Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, Sting, Ric Flair, Shane Douglas

Greatest Match: Rock and Roll Express, 1987

History: Rick Rude's first taste of national success was in the NWA. He started teaming with Manny Fernandez, and Paul Jones, the remnants of Jone's family. The two worked their way up in the tag scene. Using "We Will Rock You" by Queen, as the theme song, the two made it up the ranks quick, and were involved in a huge feud with the Rock and Roll Express, a feud which many think was the best of the RnR Express's career, and their last great feud. They won the NWA tag titles, but lost them back to the teener-bopper duo. Rude next emerged in the WWF, using his "Ravishing" nickname he coined in the indy's, Rick made it up the roster quick, and won the IC title. Rude got over huge as a heel by insulting the audience, and by hitting on women at ringside. He would pull a girl out of the crowd, kiss her, and she would faint. Rude tried picking up Jake Roberts' wife, which ended up being a mistake. The two got into a huge feud, which was considered Roberts' best ever, and got pretty heated. The WWF showed a bit of where it would be going in ten years when Roberts' tore off Rude's tights, which beared graphcis of Roberts' wife on the front and back, and left Rude in the buff in the ring. Rude ran backstage immediately. Rude feuded with the Ultimate Warrior as well, for the IC title. Rude lost the belt to him, and then went for revenge in a cage match against the Warrior. Hellwig himself proclamed this one of his best matches ever. Rude didn't win, but he showed he could make The Warrior, one of the biggest stiffs in the business, look good.

Rude's next big run was in WCW. He came in and got an immediate push. He won the United States title. He feuded with Ricky Steamboat for a while, in a very classic feud. He won the WCW world title, and lost it to Sting in 1994 when Sting injured him outside the ring during a bad bump, which injured Rude's neck, and ended his in the ring career. Rude sued WCW, and Sting, but later dropped the suits when he reappeared in WCW in 1997. After an absence from wrestling all together, a masked man started appearing in ECW, bashing Shane Douglas. The voice was very recognizable, the minute he said a word in the ring the fans erupted. The masked man kept showing up bugging Douglas, until the first ECW ppv, Barely Legal. During a match against the Bulldogs, a masked man appeared, and was attacked by Douglas. One of Douglas' bodyguard then took of his helmet, to reveal he was Rude. Rude paid off Brian Lee to turn on the Triple Threat. Rude became an annoucner at that point, and was doing an excellent job. He and Joey Styles were naturals together, and were probably the best tandem in wrestling announcing ever. That changed when the Triple Threat bought off Rude, and he went heel. He then began a stint in the WWF as Shawn Michael's bodyguard, while appearing with the triple threat in ECW. He turned on the Triple Threat when he had Bam Bam Bigelow, former Triple Threat member, confront Douglas for a ECW title shot ,and won. Rude then shocked the world by jumping to WCW, who he was suing at the time, while in ECW and the WWF. He was on a WWF taped RAW the same night he debuted in WCW, and the same weekend he appeared on ECW TV, which makes him the only man to be on the big three shows in one weekend. He bashed the WWF for how they handled Bret Hart, and then started managing several wrestlers. His last onscreen role was as Curt Hennig's manager.

Rude was offscreen for a while. He returned to WCW as an announcer on their internet broadcasts. This was viewed as a warmup to getting him back on TV as an announcer. On April 20th, he died due to blockage in his heart, which caused Heart Failure. Rude will be missed by millions of wrestling fans, as one of the greatest heels ever, and a great in the ring performer. He wrestled in nearly every single important territory in the NWA, and held major titles in all of them. He was a main heel in the WCW, WWF and NWA. He helped bring huge credibility to ECW when they were striving for pay per view in early 1997. Rude was an alltime great, and will for ever, always be, "Simply Ravishing...."