The Importance of…10.03.08: Rick Rude

-Speaking of both Smackdown and No Mercy, I’m sure I’m not the only one who is underwhelmed by the build to Triple H-Jeff Hardy. I know Hardy shot himself in the foot with the airplane incident recently, but regardless of whether he was going to win the title, fans should be more excited for this match than they are right now. Remember the build to Hardy-Orton in January? There were a lot of people who actually thought Hardy might get a short run with the strap. This time around, I don’t think anyone believes. Most, if not all of the main event build over the past two weeks has been centered around Vladimir Kozlov. I actually like that Kozlov is getting a push, and think he could have a decent monster program with Trips. What I can’t understand is him getting this push when Hardy is still the guy challenging for gold. Now, it’s just a question of whether Hardy gets beat, or Kozlov (and maybe Khali) come in to the destroy both of them before we get a clean finish. However things turn out, there’s no mistaking the fact that Triple H is not dropping the title, and that Kozlov will be challenging for it. The best Hardy can hope for is a place in a triple threat or fatal fourway at the next PPV.

-Naysay all you want. The fact of the matter is, DX still draws, and WWE was smart to have another quick reunion on Raw. Both Triple H and Shawn Michaels are over as hell, and combining them in this context always gets a pop. I’m not saying we should see this happen with any regularity, but there was nothing wrong with what went down on Monday.

On to our regular column…

When compiling a list of the top heels of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there are several names that leap to mind. From a kayfabe perspective, the WWF’s big men force their way toward the top of the list—Andre, King Kong Bundy, Earthquake. Heck, there are even a small handful of average-sized wrestlers who got into the main event mix, like Ted Dibiase and Randy Savage. For those who were fans of the NWA and early WCW, Ric Flair is an obvious addition, as are Sid Vicious and Big Van Vader. Among all of these stars, it can be easy to overlook a man who spent virtually his entire career in the mid-card—a man who, despite being uber-talented in the ring and on the mic, never got much more than a whiff of the main event scene. Rick Rude deserves more respect than that. An innovator, and a true talent, Rude was among the most important figures from his era of wrestling.

Rick Rude established the modern prototype for self-obsessed wrestlers, who think of themselves as sex symbols. Throughout the latter half of the 1980s, Rude prefaced every match by cutting essentially the same promo—disparaging every man in the crowd, and inviting the ladies to take a look at “what a real man is supposed to look like.” Off came the robe, a-swiveling went the hips, in one of the most memorable poses in wrestling. Using the “Ravishing” persona, Rude established a gimmick that laid the groundwork for many, many stars to follow, including “The Narcissist” Lex Luger, “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters, “The Porn Star” Val Venis and even “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. With the exception of Michaels, Rude was, by far, the most successful performer in using this gimmick, having not only the body, but the in ring ability to back it up.

Complementary to his egotistical, sex symbol persona, Rude also set a precedent in the way he used women to get in the heads of his opponents. It was a regular occurrence for Rude to pull plants from the crowd to romance before squash matches. Beyond that, he went after other competitors wives, most famously pursuing Cheryl Roberts, Jake “The Snake”‘s hubby. In the instance of Roberts, Rude went so far as have her face painted over the crotch of his tights—the ultimate provocation. Again, Rude established a legacy to be followed in variations by countless other stars. Val Venis used a similar schtick in several mid-card feuds during the Attitude Era. Ric Flair himself played a similar card in his program with Randy Savage, leading into Wrestlemania VIII, referencing a past, and potential future romantic connection to Miss Elizabeth. Loosely interpreting Rude’s precedent, Christian played a similar card, stealing Trish Stratus from Chris Jericho to earn immense heat at Wrestlemania 20. This is a timeless and universally understandable plot device, and one that Rick Rude established perfectly.

Rude had a great deal of success in taking a traditional wrestling maneuver, and getting it over as a deadly finisher. While he was not necessarily unique in this role, Rude’s conversion of the standing neckbreaker to the “Rude Awakening” was one of history’s most effective conversions of a standard move to a move uniquely attached to one particular star. It really was the perfect finisher for Rude. He performed it in such a way that it truly looked devastating. The physical application of the hold set it up to show off Rude’s physique one last time before he put an opponent to rest. And the addition of Rude’s name to the move made it an easily identifiable maneuver, which would always be associated with the man.

Rude never got a run with a legitimate world title, but did make the most of his championship opportunities. He enjoyed his fair share of time with the Intercontinental strap in the WWF, and the US title in WCW, in each instance doing a great deal to not only get himself and the belt over, but also to help advance the careers of men with whom he was performing—most specifically, The Ultimate Warrior and Dustin Rhodes. The pinnacle of Rude’s singles success, though, came with the WCW International Title—a dissociated NWA belt, which the company tried to pass off as a legitimate world title for a spell. Rude did as much as he reasonably could to get this strap over, acting as a legitimate star, treating the title as if it really was important, and proceeding with feuds against Ric Flair, Sting and others.

Rude was a major part of several of wrestling’s great stables. Rude was the cornerstone of the Heenan Family in the 1980s. While he was rarely the highest man in the card in that group, he was almost always the one who was putting on the best matches, and was always among the top names. Later, in his initial WCW run, Rude took his rightful place as the lead figure in The Dangerous Alliance—a stable that’s overshadowed by more high profile super groups today, but which was quite over in its own right at the time. From there, Rude had another brief run in WWE, and added much needed veteran credibility to a fledgling Degeneration X group—losing the last remnants of his “Ravishing” persona, and donning a suit as the stable’s no-nonsense “insurance policy.” Lastly, he was an established name to further the NWO’s reputation as a force to be reckoned with, as the group expanded in 1997 and 1998.

Speaking of Rude’s NWO run, Rude started it by making one of the most noteworthy inter-company jumps in wrestling history. In November of 1997, Rude became the first man to ever appear on Raw and Nitro on the same night—pre-taped for the WWF, and live on WCW. This was landmark moment in the Monday night wars, was enough of an embarrassment for the WWF, the company had to recognize the importance of taking its show live on a far more regular basis. While Rude was basically a pawn in this stage of the Chess game between the two major companies, it’s impossible to ignore his importance in this instance.

Rick Rude died of heart failure, apparently linked to drug usage, in 1999. Although rumor has it that he was training for a full-time return to the ring, Rude’s best days as an active performer were likely behind him. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to consider what more Rude might have accomplished had he had a few more years in the ring. Furthermore, it’s interesting to consider what might have been, had politicking not gotten in the way. It’s popular belief that Hulk Hogan refused to work with Rude in the WWF, not seeing him as a big enough star. This left Rude with no feud greater than his runs against The Ultimate Warrior, for which he was just the talent in place to make the Warrior look good. While Rude had more kayfabe success in WCW, he similarly never broke through to get his legit world title reign. It’s been suggested that Flair, and later Hogan held him back in WCW as well. Had Rude made the right friends, who knows the levels of success he might have achieved. Regardless of how underappreciated he may have been, the man still stands out as a figure of tremendous importance in wrestling history.