Real name: Richard E. Rood
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 251 lbs.
Date of birth: December 7, 1958
Date of death: April 20, 1999
From: Robbinsdale, MN
Pro debut: 1983
Trained by: Eddie Sharkey
Finishing move: Rude Awakening
Biography
- Rude made his in ring debut in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Rude landed in Memphis, TN and was managed by "The Mouth of the South"
Jimmy Hart.
- On June 11, 1984, Rude defeated Jerry "The King" Lawler for the AWA
Southern Heavyweight title in Memphis.
- Rude and King Kong Bundy defeated the Fabulous Ones in the finals of a
tournament on October 8, 1984 to capture the AWA Southern Tag Team title.
- In January 1985, Rude move to the Florida region and accepted the
managerial services of Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer).
- On January 16, 1985, Rude defeated "Pistol" Pez Whatley for the Florida
version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight title.
- Rude and partner Jesse Barr claimed the Florida version of the NWA United
States Tag Team title on April 16, 1985 by beating Jay and Mark Youngblood.
- On July 5, 1985, Rude won a tournament to capture the vacated NWA
Southern Heavyweight title. He defeated Mike Graham in the finals.
- On September 2, 1985 at the Battle of the Belts, Rude retained the
Southern title by defeating Billy Jack Haynes.
- A short time later, Rude and Pringle headed to the World Class
Championship Wrestling in Texas.
- On November 4, 1985, Rude defeated "Iceman" King Parsons for the NWA
American Heavyweight title in Ft. Worth, TX.
- When the World Class territory seceded from the NWA in early 1986, Rude
was recognized as the promotions first world champion.
- Rude and Pringle had a falling out, and as a result, Rude fired the
portly manager.
- On May 5, 1986, Rude beat Lance Von Erich for the World Class Television
title.
- By the end of 1986, Rude agreed to join Jim Crockett Promotions. He
found yet another manager, "Number One" Paul Jones.
- Rude and the "Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez downed the Rock 'n' Roll
Express on December 6, 1986 in Atlanta, GA.
- "Ravishing" Rick Rude arrived in the WWF in October 1987 and secured the
managerial services of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
- At Wrestlemania IV, Rude and Jake "The Snake" Roberts battled to a time
limit draw.
- At the 1988 Summerslam in New York, Rude defeated the Junkyard Dog via
disqualification.
- Rude defeated the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania V in Atlantic City, NJ
for the Intercontinental title.
- Rude and Vince McMahon had a major falling out, causing Rude to leave the
WWF in favor of WCW.
- At the 1991 Halloween Havoc, Rude (wrestling under the Halloween Phanton
mask) made short work of Tom Zenk.
- Rude joined the New Dangerous Alliance with Steve Austin, Madusa, Paul
Heyman, Larry Zbyzko, Arn Anderson, and Bobby Eaton.
- On November 19, 1991, Rude defeated Sting in Savannah, GA for the WCW
United States title.
- Rude successfully defended the U.S. title at the 1992 Superbrawl in
Milwaukee, WI against Ricky Steamboat.
- At WCW's Clash of the Champions XIX on June 22, 1992, Rude and Austin
defeated Zenk and Marcus Bagwell.
- On August 10, 1992, Rude pinned Shinya Hashimoto in Tokyo, Japan, and Kensuke Sasaki
the next night.
- At WCW's Clash of the Champions XX, Rude and Roberts were the only
survivors in their elimination match with Sting, Nikita Koloff, and the
Steiner brothers.
- Due to an injury, Rude was stripped of the United States title.
- Rude defeated Ric Flair on September 19, 1993 for the WCW International
title in Houston, TX.
- Rude successfully defended the International title against Flair in a
rematch at Halloween Havoc '93.
- At Starrcade '93, Rude defeated The Boss.
- A week after dropping the International title to Hiroshi Hase, Rude
regained it on March 24, 1994 in Kyoto, Japan.
- In a match against Sting, Rude suffered a career ending back/neck injury.
- In 1996, Rude popped up in ECW under a mask and taunted "The Franchise"
Shane Douglas. While in ECW, Rude occasionally did commentary with Joey
Styles.
- In 1997, Rude rejoined the WWF and became Shawn Michaels' "insurance
policy" within Degeneration X. However, Rude never signed a contract, and
eventually jumped to WCW. Rude actually appeared on a live "Nitro" and on
a pre-taped episode of "Raw" in the same night.
- On May 10, 2003, Rude was honored at CZW's (Combat Zone Wrestling) 10th Anniversary show for Viking Hall (ECW Arena)
in Philadelphia, PA.
