- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRichard Erwin Rood
- Nicknames
- Simply Ravishing
- Ravishing Rick Rude
- El Plebe
- Height6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
- The wrestler who would eventually become known as Ravishing Rick Rude was born Richard Erwin Rood on December 7th, 1958. He spent his childhood in Robinsdale, Minnesota, and had an early childhood friendship with future pro wrestler Curt Hennig. Rood broke into the business after a stint as a bouncer working with Barry Darsow, 'Joe Laurinatis' and Mike Hegstrand. He had a stint as an arm wrestler before Eddie Sharkey trained him as a professional wrestler. He got his first big breaks working in Memphis for Jerry Jarrett, who gave him his "Ravishing" nickname. He then worked for Dory Funk Jr. in Florida and World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. After working in the upper mid-card of the NWA in the mid-80's, he made his way to the World Wrestling Federation under Vince McMahon in late 1987. He was a slow starter, but eventually won the WWF Intercontinental title from The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V (1989) and headlined against the Warrior at _Summerslam (1990) (V)_. Shortly after that, he left the WWF to work in All Japan and then WCW. This led to arguably his greatest feuds, against Ricky Steamboat (Richard Blood) and Sting (Steve Borden). He won the NWA world title in 1993, but a dispute between the WCW & NWA left this achievement unrecognised. A back injury ended his wrestling career in 1993. He continued on as a manager & commentator, & in 1997 caused controversy when he appeared on _"Raw Is War" (1997)_ and _"WCW Monday Nitro (1995)_ on the same night. This was his last major stint with a company, and on April 20th, 1999, he died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in Alpharetta, Georgia. He was 40 years old.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesMichelle Brown(September 22, 1988 - April 20, 1999) (his death, 3 children)Cheryl Holler(May 17, 1980 - August 6, 1982) (divorced)
- ChildrenRick RoodColton Rood
- RelativesNancy Rood(Sibling)
- Wrestling finishing move "The Rude Awakening"
- After winning a match, would select a good looking female out of the audience to give a big kiss to in the middle of the ring.
- Swaying his hips during matches
- Took his marriage vows very seriously. He always wore his wedding ring even in the ring. He taped his finger.
- During his early 90s run in World Championship Wrestling, Rude was nursing a broken arm. On a night out with some of his peers, he was offended when a night club bouncer informed him that he felt pro wrestlers couldn't be as tough as many thought. Looking to defend himself from the insult, Rude simply opened his hand and cracked the doorman over the jaw. Incredibly, even though he was striking with his weaker, non-broken arm, Rick Rude broke the bouncer's jaw.
- Former member of the Heenan Family & D-Generation X
- Sparked a huge controversy in 1997 when he appeared on the same night on WWF Raw Is War (which was taped) and WCW Monday Nitro (which was live)
- Was trained by Eddie Sharkey, who also trained the Road Warriors, Barry Darsow and Nikita Koloff (aka "Nikita Koloff").
- [addressing the fans before a match] What I'd like to have is for all you fat, out-of-shape sweathogs to keep the noise down while I take off my robe.
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