1. Richard Erwin Rood, better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Rick Rude challenged for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on pay-per-view cards, competing for the former in the main event of SummerSlam in 1990.
In late 1997, Rick Rude founded the D-Generation X stable alongside Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna.
Rick Rude was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.
Rick Rude was born in St Peter, Minnesota to Richard Clyde Rood and Sally Jean Thompson.
Rick Rude attended Robbinsdale High School in Robbinsdale, Minnesota with Tom Zenk, Brady Boone, Nikita Koloff, Curt Hennig, John Nord, and Barry Darsow, all of whom later became professional wrestlers.
Rick Rude was especially close with his childhood friend Curt Hennig.
Rick Rude began wrestling in 1982 as Ricky Rood, a babyface jobber.
Rick Rude lost his TV debut against Jos LeDuc on the November 6,1982 episode of Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
Rick Rude started with Vancouver's NWA: All-Star Wrestling before moving on to compete for Georgia Championship Wrestling and later the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association.
Rick Rude debuted on the May 28,1983 episode of World Championship Wrestling, defeating Pat Rose with a dropkick.
Gordon Solie interviewed Rick Rude the following week, with Rick Rude discussing transitioning from arm wrestling to pro wrestling and dropping weight to increase speed.
Rick Rude returned to Memphis in 1984, this time as "Ravishing" Rick Rude, an overconfident, arrogant heel managed by Jimmy Hart.
Rick Rude feuded with Jerry Lawler and later his former partner, King Kong Bundy.
Rick Rude later debuted in WCCW in a match against Kamala that he lost, and then went on to affiliate Jim Crockett Promotions where he and a variety of tag team partners feuded with The Road Warriors.
Rick Rude was hired by Championship Wrestling from Florida in December 1984, where he was managed by Percy Pringle.
Rick Rude defeated Pez Whatley for the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship on January 16,1985, and lost it to Brian Blair on April 10,1985.
Rick Rude captured the championship again on July 20,1985, when he defeated Mike Graham in the finals of a Southern title tournament.
The NWA American Championship was renamed the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship while Rick Rude was still holding the title.
Rick Rude formed a short-lived tag team with The Dingo Warrior, but the Warrior turned on him and became a face.
In September 1986, Rick Rude returned to JCP and joined Manny Fernandez and his manager Paul Jones in their rivalry with Wahoo McDaniel.
Rick Rude made his World Wrestling Federation debut on Superstars of Wrestling on July 15,1987, as the newest addition to the Bobby Heenan Family.
Rick Rude would kickstart 1988 by challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on January 9, at the Boston Garden but failed to win the title before starting one of his most famous feuds with Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
Rick Rude had a routine where, before the match, he would make a show of removing his robe while insulting the males in the crowd from their hometowns and, after his victories, he would kiss a woman whom Heenan selected from the audience.
One of Rick Rude's trademarks was his specially airbrushed tights that he wore during matches.
Roberts attack on Rick Rude caused the JYD to be disqualified, giving Rick Rude the win.
Rick Rude then feuded with Piper which led to a conflict between their respective teams at the 1989 Survivor Series in which both men brawled to a double count-out.
Rick Rude resumed his conflict with The Ultimate Warrior in the summer of 1990 after Warrior had won the WWF Championship.
Rick Rude began rigorous training in preparation for the Warrior, and took a more serious approach by neglecting women and cutting his hair short.
The feud culminated in a steel cage at SummerSlam 1990, wherein Rick Rude was defeated by the Warrior.
Rick Rude was scheduled to be a part of a team called the Natural Disasters at the Survivor Series, consisting of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and The Barbarian against Hulk Hogan and Boss Man's team, but was replaced by Haku after being suspended indefinitely by Jack Tunney.
In reality, Rick Rude had a dispute with WWF owner Vince McMahon that led to him leaving the company.
Still under contract with the WWF, his former company sent a cease and desist order that prevented Rick Rude from appearing on UWF television.
In July 1991, Rick Rude joined All Japan Pro Wrestling for their Summer Action Series 1991, making his initial appearance at a show in Yokosuka, Japan.
In singles matches Rick Rude was undefeated, beating Isamu Teranishi and Akira Taue.
Rick Rude appeared in International World Class Championship Wrestling, where he had confrontations with The Honky Tonk Man.
Rick Rude led The Dangerous Alliance, consisting of himself, Paul E Dangerously, Madusa, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, and "Stunning" Steve Austin.
On November 19,1991, Rude defeated Sting for the United States Heavyweight Championship and engaged in a number of high-profile feuds, including one with Ricky Steamboat.
Rick Rude challenged reigning World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons on several occasions but failed to win the title.
Rick Rude returned alone in April 1993 and tried to reclaim the title from Dustin Rhodes, who had won it while he was injured.
Rick Rude switched his sights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, making his intentions clear on August 28,1993, when he was the guest on then-champion Ric Flair's "A Flair For the Gold" talk segment.
Rick Rude defeated Flair for the title in September 1993 at Fall Brawl.
WCW created their own championship, dubbing it the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, which Rick Rude lost to Hiroshi Hase on March 16,1994, in Tokyo, Japan.
Rick Rude regained the title just eight days later in Kyoto, Japan.
Rick Rude injured his back during the match when, upon receiving a suicide dive at ringside, he landed on the corner of the raised platform surrounding the ring; unable to wrestle, he was stripped of the title.
Rick Rude collected on a Lloyd's of London insurance policy and did not appear in wrestling again until January 1997, when he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling as a masked man.
Rick Rude went on to repeatedly harass Douglas, at one point spanking Douglas' valet Francine during Crossing the Line Again.
Rick Rude eventually unmasked and became a color commentator before later aligning himself, for a short time, with Douglas and his Triple Threat stable.
Rick Rude was not signed to a full-time contract with the WWF, and was instead performing on a "pay-per-appearance" basis.
Rick Rude was able to negotiate a deal with Bischoff and WCW, in large part due to his anger over the Montreal Screwjob.
Rick Rude appeared on both the WWF's Raw Is War and WCW's Monday Nitro in the same night on November 17,1997.
An hour later on Raw Is War, Rick Rude then appeared with the full beard he had been sporting during his last few weeks in the WWF.
Rick Rude appeared on ECW's Hardcore TV during that weekend.
Rick Rude was still making ECW appearances while he was in D-Generation X, as the WWF and ECW often co-operated in terms of talent.
In WCW, Rick Rude became a member of the New World Order, managing his friend Curt Hennig.
At The Great American Bash, they turned on fellow Wolfpac member Konnan by attacking him after he lost to the then-undefeated Goldberg, resulting in Hennig and Rick Rude both joining nWo Hollywood instead.
Hennig had an ongoing leg injury that year, and Rick Rude was thought to have had testicular cancer which later turned out to be a spermatocele.
Hennig returned to the nWo from his injury at Starrcade without Rick Rude, who was still unable to appear and was not included in the nWo reunion that happened during January 1999.
Rick Rude officially left WCW in April 1999, with his last appearance coming on the April 5,1999 edition of WCW Monday Nitro Backstage Blast.
Rick Rude married his second wife Michelle in 1988, and the couple remained together until his death in 1999.
Bret Hart has stated that in spite of his womanizing, "Ravishing One" persona, Rick Rude was a devoted family man who never took his wedding ring off even during matches, but instead covered it up with tape.
Rick Rude was found unconscious by his wife and died on the morning of April 20,1999, at the age of 40 when he suffered from heart failure.
At the time of his death, Rick Rude was in training for a return to the ring.
On March 6,2017, it was announced that Rick Rude would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.