A Rude Awakening. The Hall of Fame of the Deceased

[lawlessgrandma]

As a Wrestling fan it is sometimes hard to read the latest news and have to recognize that another idol has to Rest in Peace. So many of my favourites have lately passed away and this is a reason to create a Hall of Fame for the Deceased (but don't be toooo serious and remember they are nearer Satan now, ha, ha...)
So the first Wrestler in this Hall of Fame has to be Bam Bam Bigelow!
6 ft 3! 360 lb of pure energy. I saw Scot Bigelow for the first time in a match versus The One Man Gang and what a Clash of the Titans that was in 1988. Bigelow pinned the Gang in the end after displaying his signature move : a moonsault from the top rope. "If you play with fire you're gonna get burned." Shortly before that he joined the Heenan family and once built a TagTeam with King Kong Bundy. Wow, don't wanna meet these two in a fight. He had major succes in New Japan Wrestling and in the ECW where he became Heavyweight Champ. Remember the scene when he threw poor Spike out of the ring right into the audience? In a match I think against Taz, correct me if I'm wrong, he tried a headbutt from the top rope and when he landed the ring just broke down! In WCW he became Tag Champ with DDP. There his finisher was Greetings from Asbury Park- a crushing Sitdown Piledriver. Very dangerous. He also played a starring role in the movie Ready to Rumble in 2000. So Bam Bam R.I.P. "Get outta my way!"

[MetalBlade]

Amen brother.
Great thread, Grandma. This is what this forum is all about.
I was a great admirer of Bam Bam Bigelow. For a guy his size - pushing 400lbs - he could move around the ring like a big cat, and was as graceful and comfortable in the air as he was on the mat.
(Man, that rhymes. We should write a song all about Bam Bam...)

Highlights that stuck out in my mind were obviously from his ECW days, especially at the end of the match he had with Taz when Taz got him in the Tazmission and instead of tapping out, Bam Bam launched himself onto his back and through the ring, crushing Taz underneath him.
But Taz being the hard-assed son of a bitch he was, climbed out of the gaping hole in the canvas to stand tall (or as tall as a five foot 4 guy can).
Great days, great days.

Another fond Bam Bam memory was when he took on NFL legend Lawrence Taylor in the main event of WrestleMania 3 or 4 (my brain hurts, no doubt Grandma will correct me).
The match itself was a bit crap really, thanks to Taylor's limited wrestling ability, but on the whole it had a fantastic main event feel to it.
Bigelow did a grand job of carrying Taylor throughout, and really showed him what pro wrestling was all about. It was a pretty hard-hitting encounter, as all Bam Bam's matches tended to be, but he justified Vince McMahon's faith in him by rising to the occasion on the grandest stage of all.

I recently saw a shoot interview with Bam Bam from about 1999, and he came across as a very genuine guy who hated watching wrestling but loved the business.
He had a few funny stories to tell of life on the road, and also a few choice words about a certain Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
He said HHH was probably the only guy in wrestling who he would never shake hands with, and cited the reason being that he could never forgive him for being a brown-noser who literally carried Scott Hall's bags for him while Hall was in the WWF.

Bam Bam seemed like a real honest blue collar worker who never kissed anyone's ass to get ahead. An admirable trait.

Rest In Peace, Triple B

My next inductee will follow soon.

[lawlessgrandma]

(The match vs Taylor was a lil`later: Wrestlemania XI, when Diesel defeated Shawn Michaels for the title and Bret Hart made loony Bob Backlund quit.)

[MetalBlade]

God, that seemed so long ago too. I was about eight years out.
What a jobber I am!
Wrestling time passes so quickly. It seems almost a lifetime ago when Foley took the dive off the cage against Taker. Yet that was only 1998.

[lawlessgrandma]

The dive itself took seven months or something...

[MetalBlade]

After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that the next inductee to the Deceased Hall Of Fame should be the man who inspired the the title of this thread, "Ravishing" Rick Rude.

I first saw Rick Rude when he faced The Ultimate Warrior in a posedown at the 1989 Royal Rumble, where he proceeded to nail Warrior with a steel bar. (I still believe to this day that Rude won the posedown fair and square, but what can you do when the fans are conditioned to mark for Warrior?)
Rude then famously beat The Ultimate Warrior at the following WrestleMania to lift the Intercontinental Title, only to lose it back to Warrior at Summerslam 1989.
Despite this loss, I saw in Rude a man who had the movie star looks, oozed confidence, charisma and attitude, and had a phenomenal chiseled physique without looking like a musclehead.
Basically all the ingredients to make a bona fide superstar of wrestling.

As part of Bobby Heenan's Family, it was always a pleasure to see Heenan accompany Rude to the ring and stand by as The Ravishing One berated the guys in the audience before laying on the charm for the girls. He looked every bit the superstar up there in the ring, and commanded the attention of the crowd.
Rude usually tended to use a variation of this standard speech, changing the wording to suit the city they were performing in.

"What I'd like to have right now is for all you fat, out of shape, Pennsylvania Pissants to keep the noise down, while I take my robe off and give the ladies a good look at the next World Wrestling Federation Champion.
Now hit MY music!"

And he was no slouch as an athlete either, putting in some fine performances on TV and PPV alike, once again meeting The Ultimate Warrior one year later at Summerslam 1990, this time for Warrior's WWF world title in a steel cage - back when steel cages actually looked dangerous and imposing.
Again he came out the loser, but I believe guys like Rude don't really need titles to be over, as their persona does the job better than any title can.
The closest examples of this type of wrestler we have today are Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Ken Kennedy.

I always maintain that Rick Rude is the greatest wrestler never to win the world title, and I would hope many agree with me.
Even later on in his career when he joined WCW, he still had the huge star-power which made him into the consummate heel in wrestling.
Hooking up with WCW's Bobby Heenan equivalent Paul E. Dangerously, he captured WCW's United States Championship, and formed a solid alliance with Stunning Steve Austin and The Dangerous Alliance.
The "Simply Ravishing" gimmick I feel was really an extension of his real life pesonality, as he seemed to always live, breathe and inhabit his character with such conviction, that I imagine what we saw on TV was closer to the real Rick Rude than many people would have thought.
He even changed his name legally to Rick Rude, from his real name Richard Rood.

After a short but memorable stint in the golden years of ECW, he once again returned to where he made his name - the WWF - as an associate of the heel Shawn Michaels, before finally embarking on a second stint in WCW.
When his death was announced in 1999 I was devastated but not entirely shocked, as he always had the look of a man who frequently used steroids, even after the big scandal of 1994.

His death left a legacy which shows that belts and achievements are not the be all and end all of making it in the business.
He was a prime example of what wonders you can do with just simply having a larger-than-life personality that's not actually very far from the real you.

Something that the increasingly irritating John Cena could learn a valuable lesson from.

Rest In Peace "Ravishing" Rick Rude 1958-1999.

[lawlessgrandma]

"The Ravishing One". The entry of maybe one of the most unique heels in WWF history brings back many memories of unforgetable matches and angles. We should state that the fued with the Warrior paved the way to his and the Warrior's success in the late 80s and 90s. Rude made the Warrior the warrior. The PPV with the steelcage match back then was cut in two halves and I remember me having to sit and wait for one week to finally see the end of the match.
Let me mention the angle I first got aware of Rick Rude in 1988. Rude vs Jake the Snake. It started when Jake's wife sat in the audience and after a "Ravishing" match refused to give him the kiss, he always got from one girlie-fan. Instead of that she slapped Rude in the face, he grabbed her by the hair and then of course Mr Roberts made his run-in to nearly kill Rude with his bare hands. In the following weeks Rick did not get tired of making jokes about the Roberts family and every time Jake appeared another member of the Heenan family was there, ready to beat the shit out of Jake together with Rick. It culminated in one memorable match at Saturday Night's Main Event (the matches in this format - still a part of the best matches in WWF ever, in my eyes!) that took over 30 minutes which was very long at that time. At the end and after escaping the Rude Awakening for several times Jake was able to DDT Rick Rude. Right when he wanted to cover the "unconscious" Andre the Giant came down and attacked Jake with his devastating headbutts. But then Jake grabbed his sack and let out Damian who was thrown around Andre's neck. That knocked the Giant to the floor. From that moment on Andre at least was afraid of something : Snakes. So Jake looked like the winner, but never really pinned Rick Rude.
I agree with Meatalblade that the character and the man behind it must have been quite similar, 'cause if one heel was authentic Rick Rude was. I loved to hate him! So rest in peace "Ravishing One" and in our hall of fame.

[lawlessgrandma]

John 'Eliminator' Kronus has just been found dead in his appartment on Wednesday. He was one part of the glorious ECW-Tagteam 'The Eliminators', together with Perry Saturn. They held the Title several times and they were famous for their brutal finisher 'Total Elimination'. R.I.P. Kronus.

[MetalBlade]

Oh no. He was my friend on MySpace.
The Eliminators were spectacular. Kronos will be missed.

Damn shame.

Rest In Peace JK

[Mjolnir]

Better Late than Never!!
Heres Mjolnirs top 5 Postumous list.
Mr perfect.......One of The best Technical wrestlers of his time.
Rick Rude........The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Ever!
Owen Hart......Sadly,never showed his true potential.
Brian Adams aka Crush...Im a sucker for Big men and Brian was just that!
Dino Bravo......Found with over 20 Bullet Holes in him in a shack in Canada,Legend!

[MetalBlade]

longers68 said:

Im a sucker for BIG men

Har har! Classic Freudian there dude.

[Mjolnir]

RIP Andrew Test Martin...Another Big and Dumb wrestler goes to the great dumb and big Wrestling school in the sky..

[Mjolnir]

After researching this topic i am now well and truly depressed!!!!
I'd forgotten half of these deaths and theres some i didnt know about..(R I P Jeep)...
(dont expect Benoit as it tears me apart too much)

Chris Adams(Murdered)
Adrian Adonis (Keith Franke) (Car Accident)
Gary Albright (Heart Attack)
Gene Anderson (Heart Attack)
Andre the Giant (Andre Rousimoff) (Heart Attack)
Giant Baba (Shohei Baba) (Cancer)
Art Barr (Heart Attack)
Fred Beel
Jerry Blackwell (Pneumonia)
Fred Blassie (Heart Attack)
Big Bossman/Big Bubba Rogers (Ray Traylor) (Heart Attack)
Dino Bravo (Adolfo Bresciano)(Murdered)
Bobo Brazil (Houston Harris) (Heart Attack)
Bruiser Brody (Frank Goodish) (Murdered)
Leroy Brown (Heart Attack)
Jim Browning
Farmer Burns (Martin Burns)
Earl Caddock
Haystacks Calhoun (William Calhoun) (Diabetes)
Chris Candido (Chris Candito) (Blood Clot After Surgery)
Ray Candy (Heart Attack)
Chri$ Ca$h (Christopher Bauman, Jr.) (motorcycle accident)
Big Daddy Crabtree (Shirley Crabtree) (Stroke)
Mike Davis (Heart Attack)
Alan Dennison (Heart Attack)
Mike DiBiase (Heart Attack)
Dick the Bruiser (Dick Afflis) (Heart Attack)
Dick Dudley (Alex Rizzo) (Kidney Failure)
James Dudley
Bobby Duncum, Jr. (Drug Overdose)
Bertha Faye (Suicide)
Dory Funk sr.
Eddie Gilbert (Heart Attack)
Terry Gordy (Heart Attack)
Gorgeous George (George Wagner) (Heart Attack)
Frank Gotch (Uremic Poisoning)
Eddie Graham (Suicide)
Johnny Grunge (Michael Durham) (Sleep Apena)
Eddie Guerrero (Heart Failure)
Gory Guerrero
Russ Has (Heart Attack)
Georg Hackenschmidt
Hard Boiled Haggerty (Don Stansauk)
Dean Hart(Kidney Failure)
Owen Hart (Accidental Fall)
Stu Hart(Pneumonia)
Shinya Hashimoto (Brain aneurysm)
Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) (Heart Attack)
Giant Haystacks (Stomach Cancer)
Curt Hennig(Drug Overdose)
Gino Hernandez (Charles Wolfe) (Drug Overdose)
Hercules Hernandez (Ray Fernandez) (Heart Attack)
Crash Holly (Mike Lockwood) (Alcohol & Drug Overdose)
Scott Irwin (Brain Tumor)
Youssuf Ishmaelo
Junkyard Dog (Sylvester Ritter) (Car Accident)
Emiko Kado (Head injury suffered during a match)
Andy Kaufman(Lung Cancer)
Pat Kelly(Car Accident)
King Kong Kirk (Malcolm Kirk) (Injuries suffered from match)
Jacob Koch
Kortsia Korchenko (Mike Diamond)
Evan Lewis (Henry Clayton)
Little Beaver (Lionel Giroux) (Emphysema)
Jim Londos
Georg Lurich
Youssouf Mahmout (Hergeleci Ibrahim)
Peter Maivia (Cancer)
Hiro Matsuda (Yasuhiro Kojima)(Colon Cancer)
Matty Matsuda
Sorakichi Matsuda
Wahoo McDaniel (Ed McDaniel) (Stroke)
Gorilla Monsoon (Robert Marella) (Cancer)
Moondog Spot (Larry Booker) (Heart Attack)
William Muldoon
Wayne Munn
Dick Murdoch (Heart Attack)
n-z
Bronko Nagurski
Leo Nomellini
Pat O'Connor (Cancer)
Larry O'Day (Liver Cancer)
Kara Osman
Jackie Pallo (Cancer)
Tony Parisi (Antonio Pugliese)
Eduardo Perez
Miguel Perez
D.J. Peterson (David Peterson) (Motorcycle Accident)
Brian Pillman (Heart Attack)
Pit Bull #2 (Anthony Durante)(Drug Overdose)
The Renegade (Rick Williams) (Suicide)
Rikidozan (Mitsuharu Momota) (Murdered)
Victor Rivera (murdered)
Pat Roach
Antonino Rocca
Rocco Rock (Ted Petty) (Heart Attack)
Buddy Rogers (Herman Rohde) (Stroke)
Dr. Benjamin F. Roller
Johnny Rougeau
Rick Rude (Richard Rood) (Heart Attack)
Tiny Sam
El Santo (Rodolfo Guzman Huerta)
Buzz Sawyer (Heart Attack)
Mike Sharpe0

theSheik(Ed Farhart)(heart attack)

Sky Low Low (Marcel Gauthier)
Davey Boy Smith (David Smith) (Heart Attack)
Louie Spicolli (Louis Mucciolo) (Drug Overdose)
Spider (Dan Quirk) (Accident during show)
Gene "Mr. America" Stanlee (Eugene Stanley Zygowicz) (Natural Causes)
Stan Stasiak (Heart Attack)
Ray Stevens (Heart Attack)
Big John Studd (John Minton) (Cancer)
The Super Swedish Angel (Tor Johnson)
Jeep Swenson (Robert Swenson) (Heart Attack)
Toru Tanaka (Heart Attack)
Chris Taylor(Heart Attack)
Lou Thesz (Heart Attack)
Sailor Art Thomas
Tosh Togo (Harold Sakata) (Cancer)
Tarzan Tyler (Camille Tourville)
Vivian Vachon (Car Accident)
Johnny Valentine
Chris Von Erich (Chris Adkisson) (Suicide)
David Von Erich (David Adkisson) (Drug Overdose)
Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson) (Cancer)
Kerry Von Erich (Kerry Adkisson) (Suicide)
Mike Von Erich (Mike Adkisson) (Suicide)
The Wall/Sgt. A-Wol (Jerry Tuite) (Heart Attack)
Heinrich Weber
Pez Whatley (Peter Whatley) (Heart Attack)
Tim Woods (Heart Attack)
Yokozuna (Rodney Anoai) (Heart Attack)
Jay Youngblood (Steven Romero) (Heart Attack)
Stanislaus Zbyszko
annoucers
Jack Brickhouse
"Lord" Alfred Hayes
Jimmy Lennon
Gordon Solie (Francis Labiak) (Throat Cancer)
Rod Trongard
Ed Whalen
managers
Mrs. Cleavage (Marianna Komlos) (Breast Cancer)
Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette) (Drug & Alcohol Overdose)
The Grand Wizard (Ernie Roth) (Heart Attack)
Sapphire (Juanita Wright) (Heart Attack)
referees
Randy "Pee Wee" Anderson (Cancer)
Wayne Cashman
Mark Curtis (Brian Hildebrand) (Cancer)
Joey Marella (Car Accident)
promoters
Herb Abrams (Suicide)
Jim Barnett
Jim Crockett
Jess McMahon
Vince J. McMahon (Cancer)
Sam Muchnick
Jack Tunney
John Tunney

Theres some history in this list for sure!!!!

[MetalBlade]

You'll be even more depressed when you read my Randy Savage obituary...
Fuckin gutted doesn't quite describe my grief.