No this article is not about CJ “Lana” Banyashev, it’s about a guy that deserves far more recognition than he gets, and is one that should be in the WWE Hall of Fame as soon as possible, he is Richard Rood, or as us in the wrestling circle know his as Rick Rude, or us older viewers will know him as “Ravishing” Rick Rude.
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As a youngster growing up watching the likes of Rude wrestling, the first thing I noticed, and would always look out for in Rick Rude appearances, is his awesome wrestling attire. Only a man with such a chiseled physique could pull off a long perm, a porn star style mustache and outrageous designs. Not only that, this guy could wrestle, and anyone that could be off a great series of matches with The Ultimate Warrior deserves respect surely?
Whilst many of our younger viewers may heard Rude’s name mentioned with a lot of backstage issues and politics, that went down later in his career and before his untimely death, the fact is Rude did a hell of a lot for the wrestling business. Rude no doubt paved the way for gimmicks such as Val Venis down the line, and let’s be honest Rude totally out moves Venis when it came to dancing and the way with the ladies.
Rude also co-founded one of, if not the, greatest faction in the history of WWE, D-Generation X, and in the same year he appeared on both Monday Night Raw AND Monday Night Nitro on the same evening, now that was special wasn’t it?
Rude may never have won many big titles in the organisations he was in (1 time Intercontinental Champion, 1 time United States Heavyweight Champion) Rude was one of the most technically gifted wrestlers of his time, and when his name was dropped by Bret “Hitman” Hart as one of the two Bret would describe as being the best technically gifted wrestlers of his time, alongside “Mr Perfect” Curt Hennig, that is something to take note of. Rude was also a key figure in Bobby Heenan’s “Heenan Family”, one of the first stables around in the WWE when wrestling really boomed in the late 80’s, so as you can see he had something about him.
Unfortunately Rude died in 1999, which was attributed to heart failure due to a mixture of medications in his system. Rude was training for an in-ring return before his death, and i’m sure if he didn’t pass away he’d have something big happen to him in that early 2000’s period, and would no doubt have a few more titles under his belt.
Now for some reasons unbeknown to me, Richard Rood isn’t in the WWE Hall of Fame and I for one would love to know why. He did so much for the business as I have mentioned in this article, but will his backstage reputation really lead to him not being recognised for what he did do for the business? I really hope not, and one day I hope to see him take his place where he belongs, and if some reports are to be believed it may happen this year? Time shall tell.
For our younger viewers I would encourage you to go and watch some of Rude’s work, especially those matches with Ultimate Warrior and Jake Roberts. You’ll also get to hear some classic commentary from Jesse “The Body” Ventura and numerous mentions of the Jesse “The Body” Awards haha.
Thank you for the memories Rick, I’ve no doubt your legacy will live on.
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